A Guide to Membership
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About AIB
The Association for International Broadcasting is the only global alliance of media companies that deliver, or support the delivery of, cross-border and multi-platform international broadcasting.
The AIB’s mission is to support, sustain, promote and protect its Members, wherever they are in the world, via a range of specialist services.
The Association was formed to support organisations that face unique challenges by virtue of their remit to broadcast to and publish in multiple global jurisdictions and cultures. Today, thanks to the rapid developments in distribution and accessibility to content, this includes almost every domestic broadcaster since their services have become available to international audiences.
Influencing Policy
Our work programme is active in areas as diverse as Pay-TV regulations, media freedom, spectrum, safety
& security and funding in order to ensure that our Members’ voices are heard by policy-makers across multiple geographies.
We respond to our Members’ needs on key issues that affect them individually or collectively. We help our Members to communicate with those who make major decisions and we assist in positively influencing outcomes.
We monitor media markets internationally to ensure that our Members know when issues of concern arise so that the appropriate response can be formulated, either directly by a Member organisation, or through the Association.
Global Collaboration
The Association for International Broadcasting is inclusive and outward-looking. We seek to collaborate and co-operate with organisations where our Members will benefit from the exchange of information and sharing of knowledge.
We work closely with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) on, for example, the implementation of the dotRadio top level domain, chairing the World dotRadio Advisory Board (WRAB).
We work closely with organisations such as the North American Broadcasting Association (NABA) on key strategic issues such as cyber security.
We benefit from reciprocal membership of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), the Digital Production Partnership (DPP) and the International Association of Broadcast Manufacturers (IABM).
We work with select commercial organisations to deliver additional benefits to our Members, such as speaking opportunities at third-party conferences, or discounts on key events.
We also work closely with many of the key regulators on current issues that affect our members such as Brexit, licensing, trade regulation and spectrum allocation.
Knowledge Centre
The Association for International Broadcasting has been gathering intelligence and monitoring developments in global media for more than a quarter of a century.
We have built an extensive body of information and knowledge about global media which Members can call on to develop strategies or to understand markets.
We are constantly adding to the intelligence that Members can access as part of their membership benefits.
Promotion
The Association for International Broadcasting has global reach through its publications and online presence.
More than 27,000 media leaders in over 150 territories receive our briefings that report on the activities of our Members and provide insight into developments across the wider media industry.
Our main website, www.aib.org.uk, is visited by people on every continent each week. Our Members have the opportunity to share their latest news with our global audience, and to publish profiles of their businesses on the website.
Our proactive promotional work supports Members and offers them a route to reach opinion-leaders in multiple markets.
We also have a dedicated website for the AIBs, our annual competition to find the best in factual programming. www.theaibs.tv
Working Groups
The Association for International Broadcasting uses Working Groups to help members address their key strategic business, managerial and operational issues.
These Groups allow our Members to take part in discussion and debate with colleagues from other organisations on a range of issues that are central to their businesses.
The output of the Groups helps to build consensus among Members on key subjects and helps inform future strategies in Member organisations. Each Group has a chairman elected from the membership to direct its work.
Celebrating Success
The Association for International Broadcasting celebrates success in factual productions across television, radio and online through our publications and primarily our annual production awards, The AIBs.
For the past 15 years, the AIBs have rewarded programme makers and story-tellers on every continent. Today, the AIBs are highly respected, globally recognised and greatly coveted.
Our judges include highly qualified media practitioners throughout the world, reflecting the truly international nature of this important competition: commissioners, editors, producers, journalists and reviewers.
The AIBs winners are those at the pinnacle of factual programme-making who come together for a gala event in London each November – a highlight of the international media calendar. Here, participants not only celebrate their success, they share knowledge, experience and information with colleagues from around the world as part of our work to help support the growth of factual story-telling in markets globally.
Events. Conferences and Networking
The AIB works to bring people in the media industry together, and to share expertise, knowledge and concerns with colleagues and with a wide range of observers, commentators, regulators and parliamentarians.
We provide platforms for the discussion of key industry topics that are relevant to our Members wherever they may be in the world.
We organise large-scale conferences and private networking events, as occasion demands.
The agenda for all our events is driven by the Members, responding to their needs and requirements.
Governance and Management
The day-to-day work of the AIB is carried out by a small Secretariat unit headed by the Chief Executive. Based in an office in rural Kent, south-east of London, the Secretariat serves the Members, providing the services outlined in this booklet.
Governance rests with our Executive Committee, consisting of six people elected by the Members for a two-year term of office. The Executive Committee meets formally four times a year. The Executive Committee receives reports from the Secretariat and the chairmen of all Working Groups and helps to set out the Association’s overall work programme and provide advice and guidance to the Secretariat.
Our governance structure forms an integral part of the way in which the Association delivers its objectives and its strategy.