Brussels, 12 May 2010 – The Association of Commercial Broadcasters in Europe (www.acte.be) active in 34 European countries and with 30 members representing the commercial broadcasting sector in Europe, welcomes today’s meeting of the EP Intergroup for Media. Supported by a wide range of political groups and including the main players from the European media industry, the Intergroup for Media has debated the fast pace of change of the media landscape in the light of the digital revolution at its second official meeting in Brussels today. The topic of the Digital Agenda ranks among the top policy priorities currently being debated in Brussels, with Commissioner for the Information Society, Neelie Kroes, about to present a Communication on this dossier in due course and the EP having adopted an own-initiative report on this dossier recently.

Chaired by Jean-Marie Cavada (French Christian Democrat MEP), the Intergroup enables Parliamentarians and representatives of the media industry to work on subjects in a more open and wide-ranging manner than is possible in the formal EP committee system.

Commercial broadcasters fully support the initiative to discuss the Digital Agenda at the EP Media Intergroup and welcome the possibility to share our views on the challenges facing the media sector today with publishers, journalists and broadcasters.

Ross Biggam, ACT Director General, speaking at the EP Media Intergroup on behalf of commercial broadcasters, commented: “The creation of this Intergroup enables media issues to be more widely debated within the European Parliament. With these discussions, Parliamentarians demonstrate their willingness to seriously tackle the challenging convergence of media and show their awareness of digital opportunities and economic threats implied. As major investors in original creative content, commercial broadcasters look forward to continuing this useful co-operation”.

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About the ACT:

The Association of Commercial Television in Europe (ACT) represents the interests of the commercial broadcasting sector in Europe. Formed in 1989, the ACT has thirty member companies active in 34 European countries. Our members operate several hundred free-to-air and pay-tv channels and distribute many more channels and new services. The ACT members encompass several business models: free-to-air broadcasters and pay-TV players, digital platform operators and multimedia groups. www.acte.be

Press Contact

Ross Biggam

Director General

Phone: +32 2 738 76 13

GSM: +32 477 407 733

E-mail: rb@acte.be

Utta Tuttlies

Head of Communications

Phone : +32 2 738 76 18

GSM : +32 495 246 467

E-mail : ut@atcte.be