Andoni Ortuzar, General Director of EiTB, the public media group who hosts the Annual Circom Regional Conference in Bilbao along with RTVE, explains the details of this important event, hoping Circom “will come out reinforced from its 25 years of activities and with oxygen for other 25 years more.”

It was a joint proposal of TVE and EiTB. We consider that the case of the Basque Country can be very interesting for the members of Circom. We’re living in a bilingual society, with a very lively information activity and our social presence is very consolidated.
Moreover, TVE and ETB are the first two public media groups of Spain. The first one was created 50 years ago and ETB 25 years ago. We therefore rely on a long experience and have solid projects for the future.

Who does participate in Circom?

Circom Bilbao will gather about 200 representatives from different European television channels. The participants are generally directors, program organizers and news editors. The main European public media groups (BBC, RAI, WDR, France3…) participate in the event.

What is the Conference about?

The Conference has two parts, an academic one and a professional one. In the framework of the Circom Conference some workshops will be organized to analyze the future of public television in Europe. Furthermore the Circom Awards to the best audiovisual productions of the year will be handed over.

What does the programme involve?

The programme starts on Wednesday, May 9 with a welcome reception for all participants, hosted by the Mayor of Bilbao, Iñaki Azkuna.
Thursday May 10 the Conference is inaugurated and will take place the whole day in the Carlton Hotel. In the afternoon a visit to the new headquarters of EiTB in Bilbao is scheduled.
Friday May 11 the Conference goes on and Friday night a gala dinner with a prize-giving ceremony will take place in the Guggenheim Museum.
On Saturday we will end the plenary sessions and visit the Gernika Assembly Hall. 

Which topics would you highlight?

One of the key topics is the public television’s response to the new digital era. A new era we are all preparing for and which implies an updating of the public service that we offer to the society.

What do you expect of Circom Bilbao?

I hope Circom will come out reinforced from its 25 years of activities and with oxygen for other 25 years more. I hope this meeting in Bilbao will be a recognition of the television channels close to citizens and that we take care of boosting the European cultural diversity and promoting our own audiovisual industry.