DR & EBU WORK ON EUROVISION HISTORY

The 2014 Eurovision host broadcaster DR is working closely with the EBU to create a complete video archive of all the Eurovision Song Contests ever held. The work is being done with the aim to allow journalists access to a library of archived video footage from the contest which can be used. The project was launched in 2011 and is set to be completed in 2015 when Eurovision celebrates its 60th anniversary.

The library won’t be available to the public. However, the EBU will allow fans some access to the archived material. “For the fans of the contest, we will try and provide archive content through the eurovision.tv website. We hope that rights will let us provide some interesting clips”, DR’s Andreas Larsen says.

UPDATE
Responding to Member demands for access to previous airings of the ever popular Eurovision Song Contest, the EBU is working with Danish broadcaster DR—and coincidentally host of the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest—to create a video archive of every Song Contest ever held.

This digital library is being constructed under the auspices of the International Federation of Television Archives (FIAT/IFTA), and will be accessible to broadcasters and journalists covering the event from 2015, when the contest celebrates its 60th anniversary.

After searching for a platform flexible enough to handle the different languages and technical needs of Member broadcasters, the EBU was pleased to discover DR’s open source CHAOS (Cultural Heritage Archive Open System). Project manager Jeroen Depraetere says, “An important aspect for any archive is that it is sustainable and that the content is accessible to broadcasters in the form they require. With all the different languages, video codecs and archive software out there, this was a big challenge to overcome. So we were pleased to have found CHAOS, and in particular, to be working with a fellow EBU Member.”

Videos will be available to the public through the Eurovision.tv website. Song Contest fans will have access to selected items, says DR’s Andreas Larsen. “For the fans of the contest, we hope that rights will let us provide some interesting clips.” (source: ebu.ch)

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