ABU 49th General Assembly concludes in Seoul

The 49th General Assembly of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union, held in Korea last week, issued the ABU Seoul Declaration, calling on the region’s governments to reserve broadcasting spectrum on both digital and analogue frequencies for public service broadcasting in the public interest.

During the assembly, ABU signed Memoranda of Agreement for greater cooperation with the African Union of Broadcasting (AUB) and the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU). This further strengthens the Unions’ partnership in developing and sharing expertise and resources.

ABU President Dr Kim In-Kyu’s called for greater cooperation between broadcasters in the region and the formal sessions of the General Assembly were officially opened by the President of South Korea, Mr Lee Myung-bak, who urged broadcasters to rise to the challenges of the digital revolution.

 

More than 700 leaders in the fields of programming, technology, communications, regulation and equipment manufacturing gathered in Seoul at the headquarters of the host broadcaster Korean Broadcasting System (KBS).

For eight days leading up to and including the two-day ABU General Assembly itself, experts from the Asia-Pacific engaged with some of the most critical issues facing broadcasting in the digital age.

They shared experiences and solutions to the challenges faced by the transition to digital broadcasting, the expansion of new media and the impact of social media on broadcasters’ traditional ways of doing business.

Delegates from more than 50 countries in the Asia-Pacific and around the world went away with new ideas, solutions and vigour to continue making the 21st Century a success for broadcasters in their countries.

Three new initiatives were launched at the Soul General Assembly:

  • ABU Radio Song Festival
  • ABU Television Song Festival
  • ABU Gender Media Forum
  • Asia – Pacific View
  • ABU Television Market

Two innovations of this year’s General Assembly demonstrated how lively and relevant broadcasting continued to be in the Asia-Pacific. The inaugural ABU Radio Song Festival attracted 26 original entries from 18 radio broadcasters in 15 countries and was won by a boy band, Billy Acoustie, from Korea, while the ABU TV Song Festival showcased 11 of the region’s most popular performers and was recorded for transmission by broadcasters around the world.

One of the most significant new initiatives was a two-day forum Women with the Wave, which focused on gender inequality on-air and in workplaces. It resulted in a call-for-action Statement on practical ways to engender greater involvement by women and girls in the media and technology fields. This statement is available on the ABU website.

Two additional forums – the Super Panel and the News in the New Media Era forum looked at the future of broadcasting and news in a time of great digital change – including challenges from social media to traditional audience bases and media ethics – and how public broadcasting can thrive in radically evolving media environments.

There were special strands on issues such as sports rights, copyright, radio and television and four days of technical workshops, discussions and demonstrations which cemented a core function of the ABU’s service to members – it technical advice, assistance and exchange.

The General Assembly confirmed and adopted the Union’s many new and on-going initiatives and approved a future-focussed strategy – ABU@2020 – which will consider how the Union will position itself to deliver outstanding service and support to its members in the long term. 

The ABU Prizes gala evening saw the awarding of a total of 22 international prizes for radio and television content (see our other story).

The General Assembly ended with the election of RTM’s Deputy Director General Ahmad Jailani Muhamed Yunus as Vice President, the election of All India Radio (AIR) to the ABU Administrative Council as well as the re-election of TRT Turkey , TPT Thailand and TDM , Macao to the Council. Six new members were also approved to join the Union, taking the total number of members to 227.