EBU Announces New Executive Board

The European Broadcasting Union has announced its new board members. Nine members will join the EBU’s new President Delphine Ernotte Cunci of France Télévisions and Vice-President Petr Dvořák, Czech TV to help lead the EBU over the next two years.

Members at the EBU’s 85th General Assembly elected the new executive board, which is responsible for ensuring the implementation of the organization’s strategy and policies.

Thomas Bellut, Monika Garbačiauskaitė-Budrienė and Fran Unsworth all join the executive board for the first time. Alexander Wrabetz re-joins after a four-year absence.

Thomas Bellut has been director general of ZDF since 2012, while Monika Garbačiauskaitė-Budrienė became director general of Lithuanian National Radio and Television in 2018. Fran Unsworth runs the BBC’s news and current affairs programming and is a member of the BBC board. Alexander Wrabetz has served as director general of ORF since 2007 and was previously an EBU board member from 2011 to 2016.

Cilla Benkö has been appointed for her 5th term as an EBU board member, while Marcello Foa, Giacomo Ghisani, Sebastian Sergei Parker and Gonçalo Reis will be serving for a second term.

“I’m glad we could gather a great cast of skills and experience and also keep the balance of the geographical, economical and cultural diversity of the EBU Members in the composition of the new Executive Board. For the first time, I’m also proud to include three women on the board,” said incoming EBU President, Delphine Ernotte Cunci.

Full Executive Board Line-Up
President: Delphine Ernotte Cunci, CEO, France Télévisions (France)
Vice-President: Petr Dvořák, director general, Czech TV (Czech Republic)
Thomas Bellut, director general, ZDF (Germany)
Cilla Benkö, director general, SR (Sweden)
Marcello Foa, president, Rai (Italy)
Monika Garbačiauskaitė-Budrienė, Director General, LRT (Lithuania)
Giacomo Ghisani, acting director general, RV (Vatican State)
Sebastian Sergei Parker, deputy director general, Channel One (Russia)
Gonçalo Reis, president and CEO, RTP (Portugal)
Fran Unsworth, director of News and Current Affairs, BBC (UK)
Alexander Wrabetz, director general, ORF (Austria)

The Board will serve for a 2-year period from January 2021 to December 2022.