INTHEBUSINESS OFMEDIA
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Association for
International Broadcasting. As a not-for-profit, non-governmental membership
organisation, everything AIB does is driven by the needs of its members and for their
benefit. And as AIB is proactively widening its scope, its growth trajectory is getting
steeper – AIB Chief Executive Simon Spanswick gives an overview
ince 1993 there has
been growth on all
fronts ‐ the amount
of work AIB
undertakes has
increased, its
international
reputation has grown, the number
of members has risen. Over the past
few months, companies like
Kazakhstan Republican TV and
Radio Corporation, Africa 24,
Colors, Intelsat, Sunset+Vine and
Rivinet have all joined AIB.
GROWING TEAM
Our world‐class team is growing,
too. John Barton has joined as
Director, Asia and Head of Sport.
Edward Wilkinson is our new
Business Development Executive.
And Les Murray, Head of Sport at
SBS in Australia, has become an
advisor to AIB in Asia.
AIB members elected a new
Executive Committee earlier this
year. This is a six‐person team that
holds office for a two‐year term and
provides governance, helps set the
Associationʹs strategy and ensures
that the membersʹ interests are
looked after. The new ExCo
comprises Klaus Bergmann, DW
(Chairman); Mark Bunting, BBC
Global News; Abubakar Jijiwa,
Voice of Nigeria; John Maguire,
France Médias Monde; Lindsey
Oliver, Bloomberg; and Margarita
Simonyan, RT.
EVENT PARTNERS
AIB is always seeking out new
partnership opportunities with key
organisations. We contribute our
expertise and understanding of the
challenges facing media in markets
globally and use our contacts to
develop highly focused,
inspirational events where these are
in the interests of our members.
For example, weʹre working with
Reed Midem to deliver a special
news‐focused session at MIPCOM
in Cannes in October. As the AIBʹs
chief executive I will chair this
session which will have
contributions from AIB members.
Golden Opportunities in Global News
takes place on Wednesday 9
October. This is our first
partnership with the MIP events
and we are looking forward to a
long relationship that will bring
benefits to MIP, to AIB and to our
members around the world.
In sport, AIB is working on a
range of events that build on the
success of the Post‐Olympic
Broadcast Briefing that we held in
conjunction with Wimbledon last
year. As sports broadcasting
becomes an ever larger business,
with greater competition for sports
rights as well as an increasing
number of sports channels, AIB is
concentrating increased resources
in this area. Look out for news
about this ‐ subscribe to our email
industry briefing to make sure that
you receive information in good
time to allow you to plan your
involvement.
SERVING THE INDUSTRY
This year, AIB has continued its
work in representing members and,
where necessary and appropriate,
in lobbying on their behalf. We
have worked on issues such as the
jamming of English‐language radio
20YEARS
AIB’s
market
intelligence
highlights
opportuni-
ties and
warns of
threats
“
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ISSUE 2 2013
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THE CHANNEL
www.aib.org.uk
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