Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC)

The Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC), now also branded as ETV (stylised in lowercase), is Ethiopia’s state-owned public-service broadcaster, headquartered in Addis Ababa. It is the country’s oldest and largest broadcaster, with origins in Ethiopian Radio (established 1935) and Ethiopian Television (regular transmission from 2 November 1964). The current corporate structure dates to a 1995 merger that created the Ethiopian Radio and Television Agency (ERTA), which was renamed EBC under Proclamation No. 858/2014, defining it as an autonomous institution accountable to Parliament. EBC operates approximately five television channels (ETV News, ETV Languages, ETV Entertainment, ETV Sport, ETV Afaan Oromo) and three radio services (Ethiopian National Radio, FM Addis 97.1, FM 104.7), with a workforce of approximately 2,500 employees as of April 2026 and a claimed reach of more than 50 million viewers.

Media assets

Television: Nationwide-ETV News, ETV Languages, ETV Entertainment, ETV Sport, ETV East, ETV West, ETV North, ETV South, ETV Representative

Radio: Ethiopian National Radio, FM Addis 97.1, FM 104.7

Ownership and governance

EBC is fully owned by the Ethiopian government and operates under Proclamation No. 858/2014, which formally defines it as an autonomous institution accountable to Parliament. The governing board comprises a chairperson, a secretary and seven members (expandable as needed), appointed by the House of Peoples’ Representatives upon the Prime Minister’s recommendation for a five-year term. In practice, the corporation’s institutional autonomy is widely contested: the board has historically been composed of members affiliated with the ruling party, formerly the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), now its successor the Prosperity Party, and editorial direction has consistently aligned with the federal government’s policy positions.

Fekadu Tessema, a former senior EPRDF figure, has chaired the board since 2019. The chief executive officer is nominated by the Prime Minister and confirmed by Parliament: on 2 April 2026, the House of Peoples’ Representatives approved the appointment of Biniyam Eero (also rendered Bniyam Eero or Biniam Ero) as the new CEO, nominated by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Biniyam succeeds Getnet Tadesse, who had been appointed in December 2023 and replaced long-serving director Nigusu Tilahun. In his inaugural address, Biniyam committed EBC to promoting “multinational unity, national interests, and holistic development” and to balancing “the voice of the public and the interests of the state”, a framing consistent with EBC’s institutional positioning as an instrument of national policy rather than as an independent public-service broadcaster in the European public-service tradition.

Source of funding and budget

EBC’s funding model combines direct government allocations, license-fee revenue, and advertising income, but the corporation’s financial structure remains opaque. The founding proclamation provides only that EBC “shall be financed through government allocations and other unspecified revenues collected in accordance with this proclamation,” and no audited annual financial report is publicly available. Although EBC claimed in 2016 that it was fully self-financed through advertising revenues, this has not been independently verified, and analysts estimate that more than 50 percent of EBC’s current operating budget comes from direct government funding.

The annual television license fee was doubled in November 2022 from ETB 60 to ETB 120 (approximately US $2.20), with enforcement provisions including fines and imprisonment for non-payment, a measure that prompted parliamentary criticism on the grounds that EBC’s content quality should improve before public contributions are increased. Collection rates remain low. The corporation’s budget for the 2023–2024 fiscal year was reported at approximately ETB 600 million (US $10.4 million); 2024–2025 and 2025–2026 budget figures have not been publicly disclosed at outlet level, although parliamentary discussions have referenced increases tied to infrastructure upgrades and digital broadcasting investments.

Editorial independence

EBC’s legal framework does not provide explicit guarantees for editorial independence, and academic and watchdog assessments consistently characterise the corporation as state-aligned. Ethiopian state media outlets are required to “follow the ruling party’s narrative; content that contradicts that narrative is removed,” per the Freedom House 2025 country report. Approximately 90 percent of EBC programming is tied to state policy priorities including agriculture, health, and government development initiatives.

Senior journalists interviewed in 2023 and 2024 reported recurring instances of editorial censorship during politically sensitive coverage including the Tigray war (2020–2022), the ongoing conflict in the Amhara region (the August 2023 state of emergency formally ended in June 2024 but pressures persist), Oromia protests, and the deteriorating Eritrea–Ethiopia relationship through 2025–2026. The Ethiopian Media Authority (EMA), established under the 2021 Media Proclamation as the federal media regulator, has been criticised by RSF for “failing to promote quality journalism or protect media freedom,” and has been used to sanction independent and foreign media: in October 2025, EMA suspended Deutsche Welle’s Ethiopian correspondents, permanently barring two who had covered the Amhara and Tigray conflicts, citing alleged violations of “media and hate speech laws.”

Reporters Without Borders 2025 ranked Ethiopia 145/180 in the World Press Freedom Index, with a score of 36.92, a fall of four places from 141/180 in 2024 and a downgrade from “difficult” to “very serious”. The Committee to Protect Journalists reported seven journalist arrests in a single month in May 2025, citing weaponisation of media and anti-terror laws against critical reporting. Throughout 2025–2026, internet shutdowns in Amhara and parts of Oromia have continued to constrain independent reporting on conflict zones, environments in which EBC’s coverage has consistently mirrored federal government framing.

The June 1, 2026 general elections, scheduled by the National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) following the deregistration of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front earlier in the year, represent the first national vote since 2021 and have positioned EBC as the central state broadcaster for an electoral cycle in which independent regulatory oversight remains fragile.

AI and digital policy

EBC operates a digital portal at ebc.et with English, Amharic and Afaan Oromo editions, an active YouTube channel (@EBCworld), and Facebook (4.7 million followers as of April 2026). The corporation has migrated transmissions to Ethiosat and Nilesat satellite platforms and signed a partnership with global satellite operator SES alongside the Association of Ethiopian Broadcasters to consolidate Ethiopian TV distribution. EBC’s main Facebook page was hacked and deleted on 4 October 2021, with the loss of approximately 2 million followers, but was subsequently restored. No formal AI policy, content-provenance commitment (e.g. C2PA), or disclosure framework for AI-generated content has been published by EBC. There is no public statement on synthetic-media disclosure, automated translation between EBC’s operating languages, or AI use in editorial workflows. The Ethiopian Media Authority, which would be the natural regulator for such a framework, has not issued sector-wide AI or synthetic-media guidance as of April 2026.

April 2026