The EYM competition began in 1982, with six participating countries and has become one of the most important classical music competitions on an international level.  The aim of the competition is to offer a stage to young talent in the field of classical music and help them embark on an international career. The competition was transmitted live over the Eurovision network. The participating broadcasters were ORF (Austria); VRT and RTBF (Belgium); BNT (Bulgaria); HRT (Croatia); CYBC (Cyprus); CT (Czech Republic); YLE (Finland); ERT (Greece); NPS (Netherlands); NRK (Norway); TVP (Poland); TVR (Romania); KTVC (Russia); RTVSLO (Slovenia); SVT (Sweden); SF, TSR, TSI (Switzerland); RTS and RTCG (Serbia and Montenegro); and BBC (United Kingdom). The new format, introduced in 2006, has been very popular not only with the large audience in Vienna, but also with television viewers throughout Europe. Some of the improvements include the introduction of an on-stage international jury, headed by Sir Roger Norrington.