Mr Sean McAusland
Via email: [FOI #617 email] 4 July 2008
Dear Mr McAusland
Freedom of Information request – RFI20080552
Thank you for your email of 26 May in which you ask:
Can you please tell me how much BBC contributes to the EBU and eurovision?
The reference number for your request is RFI20080552. Please accept my apologies for the delay
in responding to your request.
The BBC pays an annual subscription to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and paid
£9,193,129.65 in total to the EBU in 200707/08. Please note this total figure also includes the
payment to be part of the Eurovision Song Contest. Channel 4 and ITV are also members and pay
separate and different subscriptions.
You may be interested to know the BBC was one of the founding members of the EBU which
came into being in 1950 in Torquay. It is the world’s largest organisation of public service
broadcasters with core members from across Europe and associate members from further afield;
including Australia, US Public Service Broadcasters, Canada, Japan and Korea. It exists to promote
co-operation between broadcasters and sharing material. It has links to equivalent organisations in
Africa, the Arab world and Asia.
The subscription represents extremely good value for money and pays for a huge variety of
broadcast related activities. Specifically, these include the acquisition of sports rights, most
notable of which are the Summer and Winter Olympics. The BBC covers a large number of
sports events each year with the help of the EBU and its other member organisations. There is
also an exchange of news footage and audio material between broadcasters – the Eurovision News
Exchange is a significant source of international news material used by the BBC and the coverage
of major world events such as the D-Day commemoration and the funeral of the Pope are
facilitated through the EBU. The music exchange programme enables Radio 3 listeners to hear
hundreds of concerts from across the globe on a regular basis. Similarly, the work of UK
performers receives global exposure through this exchange of programme material. The EBU
offers a shared technical infrastructure which facilitates co-operation, including satellite and
internet links; it is also a centre for research and development into new ways of broadcasting and,
therefore, defines technical standards, such as digital broadcasting and the fact that you can hear
traffic reports in your car across national boundaries.
In addition, the BBC paid £211,000 to be part of the Eurovision Song Contest this year and this
provides viewers with a 3 hour programme. To put this into context, on average one hour of
entertainment programming usually costs in the region of £300,000. The show continues to draw
in a large audience; in 2008 more than 9 million viewers were watching on BBC1.
Please note that your question about the Eurovision Song Contest is for information outside the
scope of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“the Act”) because the BBC and the other public
service broadcasters are covered by the Act only in respect of information held for purposes
“other than those of journalism, art or literature” (see Schedule I, Part VI of the Act). However,
on this occasion we’re happy to respond to your request.
To further explain, we are not obliged to supply information held for the purposes of creating the
BBC’s output or information that supports and is closely associated with these creative activities.
Information which is not subject to disclosure under the Act because of Schedule I might
otherwise be exempt from disclosure because of the application of other provisions of the Act.
For more information about how the Act applies to the BBC please see
www.bbc.co.uk/foi Please
note that this guidance is not intended to be a comprehensive legal interpretation of how the Act
applies to the BBC.
The BBC makes a huge range of information available about our programmes and content on
bbc.co.uk. We also proactively publish information covered by the Act on our publication scheme
and regularly handle requests for information under the Act.
Appeal Rights
If you are not satisfied with this response you have the right to an internal review by a BBC senior
manager or legal adviser. Please contact us at the address above, explaining what you would like
us to review and including your reference number. If you are not satisfied with the internal
review, you can appeal to the Information Commissioner. The contact details are: Information
Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF, telephone
01625 545 700 or see
http://www.ico.gov.uk/
Please note that the BBC does not offer an internal review when the information requested is not
covered by the Act. This is the case with respect to the second part of your request. If you
disagree with our decision you can appeal to the Information Commissioner. Contact details are:
Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
telephone 01625 545 700. http://www.ico.gov.uk
Yours sincerely,
Richard Curwen
Head of Legal & Business Affairs
