Euronews is a pan-European news television channel broadcasting to most of Europe (and even further afield), by satellite, cable television networks and terrestrially by time-sharing on state television networks.

The Euronews was selected by the European Union (EU) for a "mission of a type of European public service". The channel was selected among seven candidates to produce and broadcast, simultaneously in several languages, news programmes on issues about the European Union. The channel will receive 5 million Euros per year, and 10 per cent or more of its production must be information, foruns and debates about issues of the EU. The channel already focus its programmes in subjects about the EU due to its pan-European formation.

Content

As a rolling news channel, news headlines from Europe and the world are broadcast every half-hour. Magazine articles fill in the remaining schedule time (although this is occasionally displaced for breaking news or live coverage). These regular slots focus on market data, financial news, sports news and results, art and culture, weather, European politics and the lives of European citizens. The channel broadcasts to 102 countries worldwide.

Euronews is broadcast in seven languages, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. Owing to this multilingual approach the channel has no on-screen anchors but rather uses voice-over narration to accompany the news footage. An optional "silent" audio stream without this voice-over is additionally broadcast with some Euronews transmissions. Some short items are also shown without any commentary under the banner "No Comment", often using striking video footage to make a clear point.

History and organisation

EuroNews was created in 1992 in Lyon, France, as an EBU initiative by a group of 11 European public broadcasters:

CYBC - Cyprus

ERT - Greece

ERTV - Egypt

France Télévisions - France (the France 2 and France 3 networks)

RAI - Italy

RTBF - Belgium

RTP - Portugal

RTVE - Spain

TMC - Monaco

YLE - Finland

It began broadcasting, from Lyon, on January 1st, 1993.

SECEMIE (Societé Editrice de la Chaîne Européenne Multilingue d’Information EuroNews) holds the broadcasting licence. It is co-owned by the founders and:

CT - Czech Republic

ENTV - Algeria

ERTT - Tunisia

PBS - Malta

RTÉ - Ireland

RTVSLO - Slovenia

RTR - Russia

SSR-SRG - Switzerland

TVR - Romania

SOCEMIE is the actual operating company producing the channel. Content is supplied by the shareholders and Britain's ITN.

The broadcast switched from analog to digital in 1999. In the same year the Portuguese audio track was added. The Russian audio track appeared in 2001.

EuroNews recently expanded (a report on this was broadcast on EuroNews on 29 September 2004) into Romania with a Romanian language 30-minute bulletin straight after 19 million people watch the main news.

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