EuroparlTV
 | |
Screenshot  Main page in English as of 17 September 2008 | |
Type of site | Online broadcasting of the European Parliament's activities |
|---|---|
| URL | europarltv.europa.eu |
| Commercial | No |
EuroparlTV is the television station of the European Parliament. The service includes live streaming of parliamentary sessions and committee meetings, archived content, debate programmes and educational videos. Subtitles and voice-overs in the 22 official languages of the European Union (EU) are available for all of the content.
EuroparlTV was launched 17 September 2008. The Parliament awarded the development of the channel to two separate private contractors: the content is produced by Mostra, a Brussels based communication agency. The technical platform (website, hosting and streaming) is managed by Twofour, a broadcasting and communications company headquartered in Plymouth, U.K.. EuroparlTV is funded via the Parliament's budget.
Format
The content of EuroparlTV is divided into three "channels":
- Parliament News: provides comprehensive coverage of the business at the European Parliament. Current affairs and hot issues are presented in a snappy, fast-paced way.
- Young Parliament: a unique step in the direction of teachers and school-age kids. EuroparlTV's virtual character, "Blink", takes centre stage and explains European affairs to youngsters in the A-Z, Backstage and Eureka series.
- Discover Parliament: is less news-focused and explains, taking a step back, what Parliament stands for in the great European scheme of things. The History section takes users down memory lane as it looks back at key moments of European history.
One separate section offers live streaming of the European Parliament's plenary and committee meetings.
History
The European Parliament decided to use external resources to create the service. It organised an external tender to identify two companies, one to set up the web platform and organise the hosting of the service, the other to create material.
The parliament signed contracts in December 2006 and July 2007 with, respectively, Twofour, a UK-based company for the platform, and Mostra, a Brussels-based company for the content.
A prototype of EuroparlTV was unveiled in November 2007.[1]
Since its 2008 launch, EuroparlTV has grown to count as many as 75 partners:[2] local, regional and national TV stations, but also a number of websites across Europe.
See also
- Europe by Satellite, equivalent service for the European Commission
