The 25th Circom Regional Conference kicked off punctually at 9:00. The opening ceremony was lead by Manuel Lombao, representative of RTVE. After welcoming the participants, he asked a one-minute silence in honour of Vanda Condurache, member of Circom and the Romanian Television.

The act was followed by interventions from Anita Bhalla (President of Circom Regional and Director of BBC Birmingham), Peter Sauer (General Secretary of Circom and executive of the public German TV), Ibon Areso (Deputy Mayor at the City Council of Bilbao), Jesus Mari Santos (Director of Presidency Affairs of RTVE Corporation) and Andoni Ortuzar (General Director of EiTB).

Anita Bhalla highlighted the Digital Terrestrial Television and commented on how the different European countries are preparing its launching. Peter Sauer explained Circom’s major strategies for the coming years, stressing, among other themes, the cooperation, the exchange, the formation and the development.

Andoni Ortuzar and Jesus Mari Santos focused on the function of EiTB and RTVE within Circom and within their respective fields. Finally, the representative of the Bilbao City Council, Ibon Areso, welcomed warmly the participants and invited them to enjoy the city’s leisure offers.

The 25th Annual Conference of Circom Regional, the European Association of Regional Television, takes place in the Basque town of Bilbao from Thursday, May 10 to Saturday, May 12 and tackles the future of public television in Bilbao. This international conference hosted by Euskal Telebista and Radio Televisión Española gathers more than 200 professionals from 80 public media groups, from 38 countries.