EBU backs Future of Broadcasting TV initiative

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has become one of 13 founding members of the Future of Broadcasting Television (FOBTV) initiative, Digital TV Europe reports.

FOBTV stresses the unique attributes of terrestrial broadcasting as a flexible and efficient means of wireless media delivery, the EBU said. Its participants want to facilitate the evolution of broadcasting technology to ensure its long-term viability and relevance.

“Terrestrial broadcasting and mobile broadband are both important, but neither technology alone will be able to meet future demand for wireless media,” Broadband TV News quotes Lieven Vermaele, the EBU's technology and development director, as saying.

“We need to innovate using them together, in a complementary way. Broadcast can be the backbone as it can deliver the coverage, quality of service and capacity we will increasingly need. Broadband will extend the range of services and enable access to all categories of user device.”

According to Advanced Television, the FOBTV initiative builds on last November's Future of Broadcast TV Summit, in Shanghai, China, where broadcast leaders formed a framework for the evolution of digital terrestrial television.