International Federation of Television Archives
The Fédération Internationale des Archives de Télévision - International Federation of Television Archives is a worldwide association of institutions, commercial companies and individuals managing or with a special interest in audiovisual archiving in general and television archives in particular. Many members are commercial and public broadcasters, but also national archives are involved ever more. In general terms the association wants to connect the members, to spread knowledge in the field of television archiving and to defend their interests on an international level.
Organisation
The goal of the federation is to create cooperation among television archives, multimedia and audiovisual archives and libraries. To meet these goals, FIAT/IFTA provides forums to share knowledge and experience. Some of FIAT/IFTA’s main objectives are to provide a forum for exchange of knowledge and experience between its members, to promote the study of any topic relevant to the development and use of audiovisual archives and to establish international standards on key issues regarding all aspects of audiovisual media archive management. FIAT/IFTA has over 250 members. The office is currently situated at the Raidió Teilifís Éireann.FIAT/IFTA has working relations with other organisations in the field, amongst others as a member of the Coordinating Council of Audiovisual Archives Associations.
Executive Council
FIAT/IFTA is chaired by a president and a general-secretary.The President, the General-Secretary, the Treasurer and the Commission Chairs are ex-officio members of the Executive Council.
Next to these, the other Executive Council members, accumulating to a maximum of 12, are elected every 4 years, by groups of 6 alternating every 2 years.
Commissions
Next to the Executive Council, FIAT/IFTA has got 4 commissions, each with 6 à 12 members and a chair:- Media Management Commission: the only commission existing since the founding of the organisation. It started off in 1977 as the 'Commission Systèmes Documentaires'. In 1981 the name was changed to 'Documentation Commission' and in 2001 to 'Media Management Commission'.
- Preservation & Migration Commission: called into existence in 1982 as the 'Technical Commission' it existed up until 2000. In 2007 it was restarted as the Preservation & Migration Commission.
- Value, Use and Copyright Commission: initiated in 2018.
- Media Studies Commission: started off in 1998 as a bridge towards the academic research world in the field of television studies. It was called the 'Academic Research Work Group' and in 2000 renamed as the 'Television Studies Working Group'. From 2003 it grew to a true commission calling itself the 'Television Studies Commission'. In 2016 the current name 'Media Studies Commission' was adopted.
Initiatives
Conferences and seminars
FIAT/IFTA World Conference
The FIAT/IFTA World Conference is held each year, usually in October. The evening programme includes an opening cocktail, a gala dinner and the annual FIAT/IFTA Archive Achievement Awards gala. The 2017 World Conference was held in Mexico City, the 2018 edition took place in Venice, hosted by RAI. The 2019 edition took place in Dubrovnik and was hosted by HRT. On 25 October 2019, FIAT/IFTA President Bríd Dooley announced that the 2020 edition will be a joint conference of FIAT/IFTA and the International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives in Dublin. Both associations will organise a General Assembly including elections for their Presidency and Executive Council at their 2020 conference.In the even years the World Conference also holds a General Assembly, during which the new president and a part of the Executive Council is elected. The Conference features keynotes speakers, panels discussions, workshops, masterclasses, case study presentations, social events, and networking opportunities.
Regional Seminars
Next to this, FIAT/IFTA organises regional seminars around the globe, in order to focus on regional television archiving challenges. Recent editions were held in Rio de Janeiro, Bucharest and Dubai.Media Management Seminars
The Media Management Commission also organises a biannual seminar called 'Media Management Seminar' since 1998. The proceedings of these seminars are published and printed and freely available online via the FIAT/IFTA website. Recent editions where held in Stockholm, Lugano, Glasgow, Hilversum and Toronto.FIAT/IFTA Archive Achievement Awards
FIAT/IFTA Archive Achievement Awards is a series of three annual awards given for the best use of archival material, the best archive preservation project and the most innovative use of archival material. Several other categories have come up and disappeared over the course of the nineties and 2000s. Occasionally also a Lifetime Achievement Award is attributed to a person with exceptional and enduring merits in the field of audiovisual archiving.FIAT/IFTA Save Your Archive
Save Your Archive is a program designed to help saving endangered audiovisual collections. The ambition is to save the world audiovisual heritage, starting with a few collections. The Program does so by various means, including by providing financial support, training and/or technical assistance. The program speaks to FIAT/IFTA’s core mission – designing useful policies and tools to serve the archival community and developing cooperation among its members. The program works under the umbrella of the Archives at Risk campaign by the Coordinating Council of Audiovisual Archives Associations. In the past projects in East Timor, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Romania, Colombia,... have received help from the programme.History
FIAT/IFTA was founded as an association under French Law on 5 October 1977, when archives directors of mainly broadcasters but also national audiovisual archives felt the need to establish a separate organisation dedicated to television archives, as they weren't accepted as members of the International Federation of Film Archives. Most members knew each other via the European Broadcasting Union. After preparative meetings in the course of 1976-1977 in Paris, London and Rome, the first conference of FIAT/IFTA was held in October 1977 in Paris.After Paris 1977, annual World Conferences took place all over the world:
| Year | Location | Host | Kind of event |
| 2020 | Dublin | Raidió Teilifís Éireann | World conference and General Assembly with International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives |
| 2019 | Dubrovnik | HRT | World conference |
| 2018 | Venice | RAI | World conference and General Assembly |
| 2017 | Mexico City | Fonoteca Nacional, TV UNAM, Sistema Público de Radiodifusión del Estado Mexicano | World conference |
| 2016 | Warsaw | Narodowy Instytut Audiowisualny | World conference and General Assembly |
| 2015 | Vienna | ORF | World conference |
| 2014 | Amsterdam | Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision | World conference and General Assembly |
| 2013 | Dubai | Middle East Broadcasting Center | World conference |
| 2012 | London | BBC, British Library, FOCAL International | World conference and General Assembly |
| 2011 | Turin | RAI | World conference |
| 2010 | Dublin | RTÉ | World conference and General Assembly |
| 2009 | Beijing | CCTV | World conference |
| 2008 | Copenhagen | DR | World conference and General Assembly |
| 2007 | Lisbon | RTP | World conference |
| 2006 | Madrid | Universidad Carlos III de Madrid | World conference and General Assembly |
| 2005 | New York City | CBS | World conference |
| 2004 | Paris | Institut National de l'Audiovisuel | World conference and General Assembly |
| 2003 | Brussels | VRT, RTBF | World Conference |
| 2002 | Antalya | TRT | World Conference and General Assembly |
| 2001 | London | BBC, British Film Institute | World Conference |
| 2000 | Vienna | ORF | World Conference and General Assembly |
| 1999 | Santiago de Chile | Televisión Nacional de Chile | Seminar |
| 1998 | Florence | RAI | World Conference and General Assembly |
| 1997 | Budapest | MTV Hungary | Seminar |
| 1996 | Paris | Institut National de l'Audiovisuel | World Conference and General Assembly |
| 1995 | Washington | Library of Congress, together with AMIA | Seminar |
| 1994 | Bogensee | Deutsches Rundfunkarchiv, together with IASA | World Conference and General Assembly |
| 1993 | Sofia | Bulgarian National Television | Seminar |
| 1992 | Genève | SRG SSR, then known as SSR | World Conference and General Assembly |
| 1991 | Turin | RAI | Seminar |
| 1990 | Tokyo | BPCJ | World Conference and General Assembly |
| 1989 | Lisbon | RTP | Seminar |
| 1988 | Hilversum, The Hague | World Conference and General Assembly | |
| 1987 | West-Berlin | Deutsches Rundfunkarchiv | Seminar |
| 1986 | Montréal | Concordia University | World Conference and General Assembly |
| 1985 | London | BBC | Seminar |
| 1984 | Madrid | RTVE | World Conference and General Assembly |
| 1983 | Stockholm | SVT | Seminar |
| 1982 | Rio de Janeiro | Rede Globo | World Conference and General Assembly |
| 1981 | Monte Estoril | RTP | Seminar |
| 1980 | Ottawa | Library and Archives Canada | Annual Meeting |
| 1979 | Santander | RTVE | Annual Meeting |
| 1978 | Rome | RAI | Annual Meeting |
| 1977 | Paris | Institut national de l'audiovisuel | Annual Meeting |
Regarding the organisation of the federation, next to the ones mentioned above several other commissions have come and gone:
- Training Commission: from 1977 to 1979 and from 1981 until 2006,
- Preservation and Selection Commission: from 1977 to 1986,
- Cultural Use Commission: from 1980 to 1982,
- Information Exchange Commission: from 1984 to 1986,
| Name | Institution | Start year of presidency | End year of presidency |
| Otto Sprenger | ARD | 1978 | 1982 |
| Anne Hanford | BBC | 1982 | 1990 |
| Vittorio Sette | RAI | 1990 | 1994 |
| Tedd Johansen | NRK | 1994 | 1998 |
| Peter Dusek | ORF | 1998 | 2002 |
| Emmanuel Hoog | INA | 2002 | 2006 |
| Edwin van Huis | Dutch Institute for Sound and Vision | 2006 | 2008 |
| Herbert Hayduck | ORF | 2008 | 2012 |
| Jan Müller | Dutch Institute for Sound and Vision | 2012 | 2016 |