URTI

What URTI does

URTI (Union Radiophonique et Télévisuelle Internationale / International Radio and Television Union) is a UNESCO-partner international non-profit association founded in 1949 and headquartered in Paris at 66 Avenue des Champs-Élysées. The organization operates a bilingual (English/French) web-based audiovisual programme exchange platform through which public and private radio and television organizations contribute, browse, view, and order programme content. URTI also runs two annual Grand Prix competitions — the International URTI Grand Prix for Author's Documentary (44th edition in 2025) and the International URTI Radio Grand Prix (37th edition in 2025, themed 'Radio and climate change') — both awarding $500 to winners, and facilitates selective, invitation-based coproduction forums across radio news, TV news, and combined TV/radio programming. Membership is the gating mechanism for accessing the full media catalogue and coproduction infrastructure.

The organization is staffed by a small team of 8 employees and operates as a member-funded association, with revenue derived from recurring annual membership fees (undisclosed) and nominal Grand Prix prize obligations. URTI's membership spans broadcasters across Europe (RTBF Belgium, RTP Portugal, EBU member broadcasters HRT, NTR, DW, RTE, ČT, RTV SLO, RTVE), Africa (ORTB Benin, RTB Burkina Faso, CRTV Cameroon, RTI Ivory Coast, ORTN Niger, ORTM Madagascar, SNRT Morocco, RTS Senegal), Asia (China Media Group), and the Middle East (PBC Palestine). Strategic partnerships with COPEAM, Prix Italia (RAI), EBU, and CIRTEF extend URTI's role as a clearinghouse for international documentary and radio coproduction, with the most recent initiative being the 2025 launch of the Global South Award at Prix Italia dedicated to broadcasters from emerging markets. The technology stack is a standard bilingual content management platform with no proprietary AI capabilities, mobile apps, or public API endpoints.

Name

URTI

Legal name

International Radio and Television Union (URTI)

Website

https://urti.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

URTI is a UNESCO-partner international non-profit association founded in 1949 that operates a bilingual audiovisual programme exchange platform and annual Grand Prix competitions for public and private broadcasters worldwide. It serves dozens of member broadcasting organizations across Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East through membership-based content exchange and coproduction forums.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership fees: Organizations become members of URTI to access the media catalogue, participate in coproduction forums, and compete in Grand Prix competitions. Membership involves annual fees and provides access to the audiovisual programme exchange platform.
2. Grand Prix participation: URTI organizes the International URTI Grand Prix for Author's Documentary (TV) and International URTI Radio Grand Prix. Participation is free for qualifying organizations (two programmes per channel at most). The competition awards $500 to winners.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

URTI is an international non-profit association that administratively and technically manages a catalogue of audiovisual programme exchanges contributed by and made available to its member broadcasting organizations. It operates a bilingual (English/French) web platform enabling members to browse, view, and order programmes, and runs the annual International URTI Grand Prix for Author's Documentary (TV) and International URTI Radio Grand Prix, plus invitation-based coproduction forums.

Product overview

URTI (International Radio and Television Union) is a UNESCO-affiliated association that operates a bilingual media exchange platform. The core offering consists of a Media Platform providing members access to a catalogue of audiovisual programmes, complemented by annual Grand Prix competitions for TV documentaries and radio programmes. URTI also facilitates coproduction collaborations among member organizations through dedicated forums, and has recently partnered with COPEAM and Prix Italia on the Global South Award recognizing productions from developing regions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• URTI Media Platform A bilingual (English and French) member-only online platform providing access to a catalogue of audiovisual programmes contributed by URTI member broadcasting organizations. Members can browse categorized content (arts, current world, discoveries/travelogues, fiction, history, nature, portraits, sciences/techniques), view data sheets, watch or listen to programmes, and order content. Non-members have limited public access to news and information.
• International URTI Grand Prix for Author's Documentary (TV) Annual international television documentary competition recognizing outstanding author documentaries, with the 44th edition running in 2025. Open free of charge to qualifying TV channels and cultural organizations (up to two programmes per channel). Grand Prix winners receive $500.
• International URTI Radio Grand Prix Annual international radio programme competition. The 37th edition in 2025 carries the theme 'Radio and climate change.' Open to public and private radio organizations and audiovisual associations/institutions (up to two programmes per channel).
• Coproduction Services Collaboration platform enabling URTI members to participate in Radio News Coproduction, TV News Coproduction, and TV/Radio Programme Coproduction through selective, invitation-based working forums that bring together international broadcasters for joint productions.
• Global South Award (at Prix Italia) Special award co-created with COPEAM and URTI, dedicated to broadcasters and productions from Global South countries (Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia excluding Israel/Japan/South Korea, and Oceania excluding Australia/New Zealand). Recognizes innovation and creativity in documentary production even with limited media visibility resources. First edition to be presented at the 77th Prix Italia in Naples.

Named customers8 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• COPEAMflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 April 2025URTI collaborates with COPEAM (Mediterranean broadcasting association) on the Global South Award at the 77th Prix Italia. This special award recognizes innovation and creativity in documentary production from broadcasters in Africa, Latin America, Caribbean, Asia, and Oceania with limited media visibility.
• UNESCOcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerURTI is an association with international character and partner of UNESCO. The partnership forms the basis of URTI's international standing and aligns with UNESCO's mission of promoting cultural exchange and cooperation in radio and television.
• Prix Italia (RAI)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerURTI partners with Rai and COPEAM on the Global South Award at Prix Italia. Daniel Brouyère, URTI Director General, stated URTI is delighted to join Prix Italia in launching this award.
• EBU (European Broadcasting Union)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerURTI collaborated with EBU on the New Neighbours documentary series, an international production involving public broadcasters from multiple European countries under the EBU Intercultural and Diversity Group.
• China Media Group (CMG)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerURTI partnered with China Media Group on the Belgium-China 50th anniversary documentary project (#50years China-Belgium) and collaborated on coverage of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics events.
• EBU Member Broadcasters (HRT, NTR, RTBF, DW, RTE, ČT, RTP, RTV SLO, RTVE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNine European public broadcasters collaborated with EBU and URTI on the New Neighbours documentary series, each telling stories of new neighbours who had to leave their home and integrate into new communities.
• CIRTEFminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerURTI associated organizations including CIRTEF (10 member organizations: ORTB Benin, RTB Burkina Faso, CRTV Cameroon, RTI Ivory Coast, MBC Mauritius, ORTM Madagascar, SNRT Morocco, ORTN Niger, RTS Senegal, RADIO LOME Togo) collaborated on the 'It Looks Like the South' documentary project co-financed by UNESCO and OIF.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• World Radio Day (UNESCO initiative): UNESCO's World Radio Day is an annual international celebration of radio that URTI actively promotes through its platform. While not a commercial peer, UNESCO's radio-focused programming activities directly intersect with URTI's Radio Grand Prix mission.
• International Federation of Television Producers (IFP/Producer's Club): International organizations that aggregate and represent audiovisual producers and content creators parallel URTI's programme-cataloguing role. They share the underlying value chain of cross-border content distribution though they primarily serve producers rather than broadcasters.

Direct peers

• Prix Italia (RAI): Prix Italia is an annual international competition for radio, television and web productions organized by RAI. URTI partners with Prix Italia on the Global South Award and the two organizations jointly recognize outstanding broadcasting productions, making them highly comparable.
• Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU): ASBU coordinates programme exchange, training, and co-productions among Arab public broadcasters. It operates on the same membership-based, programme-pooling model as URTI but is geographically focused on the Arab world.
• CIRTEF (Conseil International des Radios-Télévisions d'Expression Française): CIRTEF is a francophone-focused international council of radio and television broadcasters that collaborates with URTI on initiatives such as the UNESCO/OIF-co-financed 'It Looks Like the South' project. It directly parallels URTI's membership and programme-exchange mission within the francophone world.
• Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU): ABU is a regional broadcasting union promoting programme exchange and development across Asia-Pacific. It mirrors URTI's model of pooling member content and hosting industry events (URTI's homepage links to the ABU General Assembly), making it the closest regional peer.
• European Broadcasting Union (EBU): The EBU is the world's largest alliance of public service media, coordinating programme exchange, co-productions (e.g., New Neighbours with URTI), and events such as Eurovision. It is the most direct peer to URTI in terms of mission — international broadcaster cooperation — though EBU is far larger and Europe-focused.
• Public Media Alliance (PMA): PMA is a membership-based association supporting public service media worldwide, focused on capacity building, knowledge sharing, and international collaboration. It overlaps with URTI in serving public broadcasters across multiple regions, particularly in the Global South.
• COPEAM (Conference of Mediterranean Audiovisual Operators): COPEAM is a Mediterranean-focused association of audiovisual broadcasters that URTI is already partnering with on the Global South Award. It shares the same membership-driven model of programme exchange and cross-border collaboration.

Broad incumbents

• International Association of Broadcasting (IAB / AIR): IAB/AIR is a global industry association representing commercial broadcasters on regulatory and technology issues. While more commercial and policy-focused than URTI's cultural-exchange model, it serves as a broader incumbent peer in the international broadcasting association space.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/urti

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about URTI