Empresa Brasil de Comunicação, aka EBC, is a Brazilian public company, created in 2007 to manage the federal government's broadcast network, TV Brasil. EBC is responsible for the content and management of TV Brasil, TV Brasil Internacional, eight EBC radio stations, the news agency Agência Brasil, audio news agency Radioagência Nacional and the EBC Portal. As part of the services provided by the holding, EBC is responsible for the government's official channel TV NBR, and the radio program A Voz do Brasil. EBC is headed by a Director-President, currently, the journalist Laerte Rímoli, appointed by the President of Brazil, Michel Temer, on 17 May 2016. The previous Director-President for EBC, Ricardo Melo, was dismissed from its functions by then Acting President of Brazil, Michel Temer, and resorted to an appeal to the Supreme Court, arguing that the law which created EBC stated that its Director-President shall remain in its functions for four consecutive years and, as such, could not be dismissed. In June, Supreme Justice Dias Toffoli granted a primary injunction determining that Melo ought to return to its functions as Director-President. The same judge, Dias Toffoli, revoked his decision on September 8, 2016 and decided that Laerte Rímoli had the right to remain on the position of director-president.
History
EBC was created by the Brazilian government on 25 October 2007, when the decree No. 6.246 was published in the Diário da União. The creation of the company was authorized on 10 October 2007, through the provisional measure No. 398, converted into the law No. 11.652 of 7 April 2008. EBC Bylaws was approved on 10 December 2008, by means of the decree No. 6.689. The company, then, was created by merging the patrimony and staff from Empresa Brasileira de Comunicação and of the Federal public assets under the guardianship of the Associação de Comunicação Educativa Roquette Pinto, which was also coordinating TVE Brasil. A new management contract between the Federal Government and ACERP was signed, and ACERP was now a service provider to EBC, which took over the channels concessions made to Radiobrás. EBC creation was authorized through the provisional measure 398. On 1 September 2008, a provisional measure which changes the Law No 11.652, on 7 April 2008, establishing the principles and purposesof the public broadcasting services explored by the Federal Executive Authority or granted to entities that are part of its indirect management and authorizes the Federal Executive Authority to constitute the Empresa Brasil de Comunicação – EBC. This institution is bound to the Secretariat of Social Communication of the Presidency, and is headed by the journalist Laerte Rímoli, appointed to the position of Director-President. EBC headquarters is in Brasília, but there are production centers and regional offices all over the country. EBC holds autonomy and editorial independence from the Federal Government to define productions, programming, and content distribution on the public broadcasting system, which aims to promote the exercise of citizenship. EBC programming is broadcast in television and radio networks, containing subjects of education, art, culture, science and technology, and to also foster the regional, national and independent productions. EBC is structured as anonymous society of closed capital, represented by shares, being the Federal Government its sole stakeholder at the moment. However, it is allowed for entities that are part of the indirect federal, state and city government to hold shares from EBC, up to the limit of 49% of its total social capital. EBC financing comes from the Federal Budget, besides profit from licensing and production of programs, institutional advertisement, and service rendering to public and private institutions. Such as the other public companies, EBC is overseen externally by the Internal Controls Secretariat from the Presidency and by the Federal Court of Auditors.
