By Lidija Backovic, RTCG

Thanks to a professional mobility grant programme, I had the opportunity to spend a week at Croatian Radio-Television (HRT) in Zagreb from 19-25 February 2026 – an experience that was as professionally enriching as it was personally inspiring.

During my stay, I saw first-hand how cable and OTT distribution coordination works in practice. I familiarised myself with the organisational structure, licensing processes, and the way EBU Cable Coordination manages the distribution of public broadcaster channels across different platforms and territories. Particularly valuable was observing how the same legal framework is adapted to entirely different market and regulatory conditions – from EU member states to non-EU territories.

What impressed me most was the complexity hidden behind what might look from the outside like administration – but is in fact a constant balancing act between legal, economic, and technological challenges.

The GLA, as the foundational document, must function simultaneously in Germany, Serbia, Sweden or Slovenia. The same document, the same provisions – yet each country has its own legal system, its own economic reality, and its own interpretation of copyright relations. This is the everyday challenge faced by EBU Cable Coordination, the European hub that coordinates the distribution of public broadcaster content through cable networks and OTT platforms across the continent.

The value of a visit like this lies not only in formal sessions. It lies in sitting beside someone who has been solving real cases for years, reviewing actual documents, working through what went wrong and why – knowledge that simply cannot be passed on any other way.

An especially valuable part of the visit was the exchange with colleagues who have been working on these processes for years. Conversations about the challenges of OTT distribution, adapting agreements for different territories, and the future of licensing in public media were extremely useful and stimulating. This mobility gave me the opportunity not only to advance my knowledge and skills, but also to broaden my perspective on how public media manage their distribution in a regional and European context, and to build connections that may lead to future collaboration.

The visit to Zagreb was an inspiring professional episode that deepened my understanding of retransmission processes and provided new knowledge and experience in finding solutions to a wide range of legal, economic, and technological challenges.

Funded by the European Union, the Innovation. Media. Minds Program: Support to Public Service Journalism in the Western Balkans, is managed by the Goethe-Institut on behalf of the European Commission and in collaboration with its implementing partner DW Akademie. The contents of this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.