Current logo of the union (2023─)
The North Broadcasting Union, often referred as NBU is a union of broadcasters from fifty five different countries across Europe, North Africa and the Caucasus Area with its headquarters located in Stockholm, Sweden. Every country that is member of the NBU, is allowed to take part in the North Vision Song Contest. There are a few nations which have tried to join the NBU with some of them being accepted and some of them being declined. In addition to the full members of the organization, there are countries which were accepted as associate members; these members are allowed to broadcast NBU's competitions.
History[]
The North Broadcasting Union was formed in March 2013 by the Hungarian broadcaster. The first production of the union was the North Vision Song Contest which started in March 2013, the same month as the union's formation. The union had forty-three members during the first edition of the contest and currently, there are sixty-nine members including fourteen associate members.
Logo[]
The logo of the NBU has been changed four times in total. The first logo consisted of simple block letters in three different shades of blue and was changed after the fourth edition of the contest. The second logo consisted of the block letters and a colourful spiral in the background.
The logo was changed again in October 2014 and was used until April 2015. The third version of the logo featured the name with letters in dark blue and black shades surrounded by circular shapes of different colors. The full name of the union was also featured below the shape.
The fourth change came in late April 2015. The logo now featured just the abbreviation and the full name of the union. Both were written in aqua letters with a line in the middle separating the two.
The logo was changed again in May 2017; the new logo was revealed along with the intro of the union. The logo had similar concept with the previous one. The abbreviation of the union was written big letters in shades of blue, while the full name was written below in a smaller font.
The new logo was announced on 1 January 2023. The logo simplified to a single-colour scheme, which allows for modifications in future editions. The font was more angular, while the North Vision heart was included on the upper right hand corner.
Members[]
- See also: Heads of Delegations
Active members[]
The North Broadcasting Union has currently 58 active broadcasters from 55 different countries. The newest member of the NBU is Australia, who joined the union in January 2020. Among the current council members, Sweden and Denmark were in the first official council formed during the 5th edition of the North Vision Song Contest.
- Color key
- Council member
- Current host
| Country | Broadcasting organization | Abbr. | HoD | Edition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Albania
|
Radio Televizioni Shqiptar | RTSH | Ilias | #01–#04 #18- |
 Andorra
|
Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra | RTVA | Adrià | #01 |
 Armenia
|
Armenian Radio-Television | AMRTV | — | #15 |
 Australia
|
Australian Broadcasting Corporation | ABC | Maaian | #31 |
| FreeTV Australia | Free | |||
| SBS Australia | SBS | |||
 Austria
|
Austrian Broadcasting | ORF | Sinny | #01 |
 Azerbaijan
|
Azerbaijani Television | AzTV | Ron | #02 |
 Belarus
|
Belsat TV | BTV | Kepanoo | #38 |
 Belgium
|
Flemish Radio- and Television Network | VRT | Michał | #01 |
| Radio and Television of Belgian French | RTBF | |||
 Bosnia & Herzegovina
|
Radiotelevision of Bosnia & Herzegovina | BHRT | Alexandru | #01 |
 Bulgaria
|
Bulgarian National Television | BNT | Gregory | #02 |
 Croatia
|
Croatian Radiotelevision | HRT | Wysteria | #01 |
 Cyprus
|
Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation | RIK / CyBC | Lefteris | #01 |
 Czechia
|
Czech Television | ČT | Levi | #01 |
 Denmark
|
Denmark's Radio | DR | Lux | #01 |
 Egypt
|
Egyptian Radio and Television Union | ERTU | Jakub | #18-#30 #41- |
 Estonia
|
Eesti Rahvusringhääling | ERR | Sylwia | #01 |
 Finland
|
Finnish Broadcasting Corporation | YLE | Santeri | #01 |
 France
|
France Télévisions | GRF | Jens | #01 |
 Georgia
|
Georgian Public Broadcaster | GPB | Tristan | #01 |
 Germany
|
West German Broadcasting | WDR | Julian | #27 |
 Greece
|
Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation | ERT | George | #01–05 #16– |
 Hungary
|
TV2 | — | Gery | #17 |
 Iceland
|
Ríkisútvarpið Sjónvarp | RÚV | Dylan | #01 |
 Ireland
|
Raidió Teilifís Éireann | RTÉ | Andreas | #01 |
 Israel
|
Israel Public Broadcasting Corporation | IPBC | Maxim | #22 |
 Italy
|
Italian Radio-Television | RAI | William | #01 |
 Kazakhstan
|
Gakku TV | — | Arguello | #34 |
 Kosovo
|
Radio Television of Kosovo | RTK | Vaggelis | #41 |
 Latvia
|
Latvijas Televīzija | LTV | Luiri | #01 |
 Lebanon
|
Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation | LBC | Shaun (UK) | #05 |
 Lithuania
|
Lithuanian National Radio and Television | LRT | Dominykas | #01 |
 Luxembourg
|
CLT Multi Media | RTL | Tom (CA) | #01 |
 Malta
|
Public Broadcasting Services | PBS | Antony | #02 |
 Moldova
|
Teleradio-Moldova | TRM | Kostas | #04 |
 Monaco
|
TMC Monte Carlo | TMC | Matilda | #01 |
 Montenegro
|
Radio Television of Montenegro | RTCG | Basil | #01 |
 Morocco
|
La deuxième Télévision | 2M TV | Ashelyn | #20 |
 Netherlands
|
Netherlands Public Broadcasting | AVROTROS | Matt | #01 |
 North Macedonia
|
Macedonian Radio-Television | MRT | Apostolis | #01 |
 Norway
|
Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation | NRK | Vaios | #01 |
 Poland
|
Polish Television | TVP | Mateusz | #01 |
 Portugal
|
Radio and Television of Portugal | RTP | Aless | #01 |
 Romania
|
Televiziunea Română | TVR | Mihai | #01 |
 Russia
|
TV Rain | DOZHD | Alex (NL) | #38 |
 San Marino
|
Radio-Television of San Marino | SMRTV | Ivan | #01 |
 Serbia
|
Radio Television of Serbia | RTS | Niall | #01 |
 Slovakia
|
Rozhlas a televízia Slovenska | RTVS | Adamantinos | #26 |
 Slovenia
|
Radio-Television Slovenia | RTVSLO | Jara | #02 |
 Spain
|
Spanish Television | TVE | Josh | #04 |
| Telecinco | — | #19 | ||
 Sweden
|
Sveriges Television | SVT | Jan | #01 |
 Switzerland
|
Swiss Broadcasting Corporation | SRG SSR | Ivo | #01 |
 Tunisia
|
Télévision Tunisienne 1 | TT1 | Jmain | #28 |
 Türkiye
|
Türkiye Radyo Televizyon Kurumu | TRT | Edoardo | #29 |
 Ukraine
|
National Television Company of Ukraine | NTU | Anton | #06 |
 United Kingdom
|
British Broadcasting Corporation | BBC | Kevin | #01 |
Past active members[]
| Country | Broadcasting organization | Abbr. | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albania
|
Klan Television | Klan TV | #04 | #17 |
 Algeria
|
Canal Algérie | ENTV | #08 | #40 |
| Armenia
|
Public Television of Armenia | ARMTV | #02 | #14 |
| Belarus
|
Belarusian Television and Radio Company | BTRC | #01 | #37 |
 Faroe Islands
|
Kringvarp Føroya | KVF | #09 | #40 |
| Germany
|
North German Broadcasting | NDR | #01 | #26 |
| Greece
|
New Hellenic Radio, Internet and Television | NERIT | #05 | #15 |
| Hungary
|
Hungarian Television | MT | #01 | #14 |
| Hungarian Radio | Duna Televízió | #15 | #16 | |
| Israel
|
Israel Broadcasting Authority | IBA | #02 | #21 |
| Kazakhstan
|
Kommercheskiy Televizionyy Kanal | KTK | #05 | #06 |
| National Television of Kazakhstan | NTK | #07 | #33 | |
 Liechtenstein
|
1 Fürstentum Liechtenstein Television | 1FLTV | #03 | #27 |
| Moldova
|
Moldova Television | MLTV | #02 | #03 |
| Morocco
|
Société Nationale de Radiodiffusion et de Télévision | SNRT | #01 | #19 |
| Russia
|
Channel One Russia | C1R | #01 | #37 |
| Rossijskoe Teleradio | RTR | |||
| Slovakia
|
Jednotka | — | #02 | #26 |
| Spain
|
Radio y Televisión Española | RTVE | #01 | #03 |
| Tunisia
|
NessmaTV | - | #08 | #16 |
| Türkiye
|
Turkish North Vision | TNV | #07 | #28 |
| Ukraine
|
One Plus One | 1+1 | #01 | #05 |
Associate members[]
Countries with Associate NBU Membership.
Any group or organisation member of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), which provide a radio or television service outside of the North Broadcasting Area, are permitted to submit applications to the NBU for Associate Membership. Countries which have this status also pay an annual fee to maintain this status, if a fee is not paid, then their Associate Membership is revoked. The NBU also stated that Associate Members are not granted access into the Northvision system. However, for the twentieth anniversary edition, it was decided that one of the associate members would be allowed to take part in the final of the edition. The country was selected through the Associate Broadcasters Final in which all the associate members were able to send their entries. Due to their top 6 result, Hong Kong was allowed to compete for one more edition.
The list of Associate Members of NBU, comprised the following 47 broadcasting companies from 41 countries as of November 2019. Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Nigeria were the last members to join.
| Country | Broadcasting organisation | Abbr. | HoD |
|---|---|---|---|
 Angola
|
Televisão Pública de Angola | TPA | Kenajabam |
 Argentina
|
Televisión Pública | TVP | Blandine |
 Barbados
|
CBC TV 8 | — | N/A |
 Brazil
|
Fundação Padre Anchieta | FPA | Danny |
 Canada
|
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (Societé Radio Canada) | CBC/SRC | N/A |
 Chile
|
Telecanal | — | N/A |
 China
|
China Central Television | CCTV | Luca (AU) |
 Colombia
|
Canal Uno | Canal 1 | N/A |
 Costa Rica
|
Teletica | — | Jose |
 Cuba
|
Cubavisión | — | Alex Memphis |
 Dominican Republic
|
Corporación Estatal de Radio y Televisión | CERTV | N/A |
 Ecuador
|
Ecuavisa | — | N/A |
 El Salvador
|
Telecorporación Salvadoreña | TCS | N/A |
 Fiji
|
Fiji Television | FTV | N/A |
 Ghana
|
Ghana Today Television | GTV | N/A |
 Guatemala
|
VEA Canal | — | N/A |
 Hong Kong
|
Radio Television Hong Kong | RTHK | Spinfur |
 India
|
Star Plus | — | N/A |
 Indonesia
|
Televisi Republik Indonesia | TVRI | N/A |
 Iran
|
Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting | IRIB | N/A |
 Jamaica
|
Television Jamaica | TVJ | Valensyah |
 Japan
|
Fuji Television | JOCX | N/A |
| Japan Broadcasting Corporation | NHK | ||
 Jordan
|
Jordan Radio and Television Corporation | JRTV | N/A |
 Kenya
|
Kenya Broadcasting Corporation | KBC | N/A |
 Malaysia
|
Radio Televisyen Malaysia | RTM | João |
 Mali
|
Office De la Radiodiffusion Télévision du Mali | ORTM | N/A |
 Mexico
|
Televisa | — | Hayleyb |
 Mongolia
|
Mongolian National Broadcaster | MNB | Valkory |
 New Zealand
|
Radio New Zealand | RNZ | N/A |
| Television New Zealand | TVNZ | ||
 Nigeria
|
Nigerian Television Authority | NTA | Alex (UK) |
 Pakistan
|
Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation | PBC | Justin |
 Peru
|
TV Perú | TVPE | Suyana |
 Philippines
|
Global Media Arts | GMA | Jstarz |
| TV5 | — | ||
 Singapore
|
MediaCorp | — | N/A |
 South Africa
|
South African Broadcasting Corporation | SABC | N/A |
 South Korea
|
Korean Broadcasting System | KBS | N/A |
 Taiwan
|
Taiwan Broadcasting System | TBS | Jacob |
 Tajikistan
|
Televidenye Tajikistana | TVT | N/A |
 Thailand
|
National Broadcasting Services of Thailand | NBT | Kinoshita |
 Tonga
|
Tonga Broadcasting Commission | TBC | N/A |
 United States
|
American Broadcasting Company | ABC | Uhsting |
| CBS Broadcasting Inc. | CBS | ||
| National Broadcasting Company | NBC | ||
 Uzbekistan
|
National Television and Radio Company of Uzbekistan | MTRK | Jordy |
 Venezuela
|
Venevision | — | N/A |
 Vietnam
|
Vietnam Television | VTV | N/A |
Unsuccessful applicants[]
There have been several unsuccessful attempts to participate in the North Vision Song Contest. These countries include Greenland and also countries that were later approved to join the NBU such as Algeria, the Faroe Islands, Kosovo and Tunisia. For broadcasters to participate, they must be member of the NBU and register their intention to compete before the deadline specified in the rules of that edition.
Council[]
The NBU Council is a congress of the heads of delegations of different countries of the North Broadcasting Union to discuss each edition's planning, to accept entries of the participating countries and to discuss general rules and standards of the North Vision Song Contest. It was first formed officially during the fourth edition by the Swedish and the Hungarian heads of delegation.
Members[]
This list shows the current and former permanent or temporary members of the NBU council. Head members are written in bold. The council has currently nine permanent members.
Permanent members[]
|
|
Temporary members[]
|
|
- Timeline
* The council officially existed since the fourth edition but the head member co-operated with other "unofficial" members as the council for the second and third editions.
NBU Competitions[]
The NBU holds contests where only its members can participate.
North Vision Song Contest[]
The North Vision Song Contest, often shortened NVSC, or NorthVision, is a song contest on Youtube held among the members of the North Broadcasting Union since March 2013 and is inspired by the Eurovision Song Contest. The current and official NVSC executive supervisor is Jan Simonis.
Junior North Vision Song Contest[]
The Junior North Vision Song Contest, often shortened JNVSC, or Junior North Vision, is a song contest on Youtube held among the members of the North Broadcasting Union since July 2013 and is inspired by the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. The contest is the junior pendant for the North Vision Song Contest.
Nordisk Melodi Grand Prix[]
The Nordisk Melodi Grand Prix (also known as Nordisk MGP) is an annual music competition organised by the Nordic countries of the North Broadcasting Union.