Europarltv: a brand new webTV for the European Parliament

On September 17th, 2008, the European Parliament launched on the Internet its own webTV channel: Europarltv. From that date, anyone in the world with Internet access will be able to watch a regularly changing set of programmes based around the life of the Parliament. This a modern and creative format to bring the EP day-to-day work closer to EU citizens.

The European Parliament decided to use external resources to create the channel.  It organised an external tender to identify two companies, one to set up the web platform and organise the hosting of the channel, the other to create material for the channel. Contracts were awarded respectively to TwoFour Digital, a UK-based company, for the platform, and Mostra, a Brussels-based company for the content.
 
These two companies have worked for the Parliament (and together) to create first a prototype of the channel, unveiled in November 2007, and, now, the online version, with production estimated a minimum of 300 hours per year, excluding the live proceedings.

The annual budget foreseen for the channel is € 9 million.  The largest part is devoted to programme production and translation, with smaller amounts foreseen for hosting and developing the website and for marketing the channel.

Europarltv is not a single channel but rather is split into four channels, each directed to a different audience:

  • Your Parliament, aimed at those with a particular interest in politics at the EU level: informed citizens, industry groups, social partners, lobbyists, academics as well as those working in the EU institutions.
  • Your Voice, conceived for the general public and providing the possibility of featuring user-generated content.
  • Young Europe, aimed particularly at school-aged children, high users of the Internet and the European electorate of the future.
  • Parliament Live provides continuous coverage of live events in the Parliament, notably debates in the plenary sessions, with a link to the audiovisual archives of previous sessions, as well as in the coming months, the activities of the committees.

Finally, a section entitled "Discovering the European Parliament" was designed to provide background material on the Parliament and including profiles of MEPs and Presidents of the Parliament, programmes on the political groups and committees and on the history and operation of the Parliament.

All programmes will be translated into more than 20 languages, making the site unique in the world.  Some programmes will be voiced-over, others will be made with subtitles. All EU languages will be covered but with more limited material in Irish, following the pattern of the Parliament's website.

Following the EP's commitment to ensure interactivity, the channel will enable citizens to express their views on its contents and to contribute to that them. Programmes are being developed to reflect this commitment.