Digital transition was the theme of day 1 of the 23^rd TV Assembly being held in Bratislava by RTVS (1 - 2 June). Over 60 delegates from 38 Members are gathered in the Slovak capital to hear best practice examples and discuss how public service media (PSM) around Europe is facing the challenges of, and adapting to, the new digital world.

In her opening address the chair of the TV Committee, Riitta Pihlajamaki from Finland's YLE, said that “we need to find ways to support all our Members in this new digital era.”

She continued: “PSM has been under attack in lots of countries. Independence, plurality and diversity must remain the core values of PSM. The EBU and its organs must stay strong and adjust themselves to the future.”

The Director General of hosts RTVS, Vaclav Mika, demonstrated how following the merger of radio and television in 2011 and using a new digital strategy, the broadcaster has gone from strength to strength with increased output in children’s programming and an increased audience share for news in the last 5 years.

“RTVS is now the only growing medium on the free to air platform”, he told delegates. “And we are the 2^nd most trusted institution in Slovakia.”

Members were challenged on their own digital strategy by Jeroen Doucet from ComingNextTV, a consultancy firm specialised in transforming the television industry, who argued that public broadcasters needed to throw off their traditional role to become “Network based multiplatform publishers”.

“Shift your budget towards digital,” he said. “That’s where you should spend your money, efforts and concentration.”

His recommendation to “fire your TV people” surprised the Assembly.

“TV people are not the ones to make the change,” he said. “If you only create for TV and recycle for digital your share of voice will become less and less and the authorities will see it and licence fees will shrink. If you don’t keep your share of voice at a certain level then at a certain point in time you will cease to exist.”

Research from Alexandra Brenkman of the EBU’s Media Intelligence Service highlighted that although over 80% of Members are now offering digital only content, only 47% make specific programmes for digital platforms.

Just under half (49%) of EBU Members define themselves not as broadcasters but “media organisations” where online is as important as TV and radio. The majority though recognise the importance of social media platforms in reaching their audiences. 86% say Facebook is a key strategic platform.

Those Members who have embraced digital showcased some of their achievements at the Assembly.

Petri Jauhiainen from YLE showed how the Finnish broadcaster had merged two TV channels to invest more in a new digital platform Areena, which now reaches around 30% of audiences weekly. RTE’s Head of Digital Muirne Laffan told the Assembly that they have been inviting the best Irish web creators to create content for the RTE Player bringing their huge numbers of followers to a their own platform. 60% of users are under 40 years old.

“Using RTE Player as a platform means we can put more and more services and content onto it. Our end game is to have lots of great content and curate it in the best way possible,” she said. When launched later this year the new generation of RTE Player will also involve mandatory sign on to allow for better personalization.

And reaching the right audiences at the right time was also highlighted with a new tool from SVT which allows the Swedish Member to schedule content both on TV and online to optimum times to achieve this.

As well as discussing digital transition Members also heard from the chairs of the EBU’s TV Expert Groups about the challenges and successes they’ve experienced in creating co-productions and exchanges. You can hear more in the video above.

Drama co-productions were placed in the spotlight with a discussion on how PSM can better compete with the huge budgets and distribution potential of VOD platforms such as Netflix. To address this, Drama Workshops have been held with over 15 Members across Europe to design new models of content cooperation between EBU Members.

The result was a proposal from Dutch Member NPO and VRT from Belgium to create an exchange platform between European broadcasters to encourage acquisition and co-production. The aim would be to boost investment in production value and provide access to the best drama. The target is to buy or co-produce 3 series a year with an aim to have a minimum of 5 Members taking part.

More information about the drama exchange can be obtained from the EBU’s Head of TV and Future Media Jeroen Depraetere.

Day 2 of the 23^rd TV Assembly will look at building trust in public service media with keynotes on diversity and why entertainment is important.