In this briefing...
NEWS The
AIBs 2016 open for entry | Africanews tackling 'infobesity' | BBC World News expands on Intelsat | Zika radio spots carried by AIB Members
| Solomon Islands TV gets nearer | Welcoming Pyramedia and Marquis Media Partners to the AIB | Free-to-air audiences shaken up in Hong Kong | Fashion runway to take off on MBC
PEOPLE
Amanda Bennett
AIB RECOMMENDS
Key events coming up that AIB recommends
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You can now submit entries to the
AIBs 2016, the 12th annual international awards for factual content.
With 17 categories covering journalism to sport, investigative documentary to children's, the AIBs 2016 are already attracting entries from around the world. You can find full information in the entry book that is available here.
Our international panel of judges is growing. We are delighted to welcome executives, commissioners, editors and journalists from around the world who will be evaluating the work submitted later this year. If you are interested in joining this global panel, please contact
Clare Dance
, Award Co-ordinator to explore the possibilities.
To get a flavour of last year's competition, you can read the Winners Book, available
here
.
The
AIBs
2016 are
open for entry
until
30 June
, so act now to ensure your work is showcased in this global festival of success in factual content.
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Africanews to combat 'infobesity'
Michael Peters, CEO of Euronews and Africanews, has presented the positioning of a new group founded on one vision: promoting a diversity of viewpoints.
After the arrival nine months ago of a new majority shareholder, and the official opening last October of a new world HQ, Michael Peters unveiled the first elements that flow from the new positioning of the group, which now consists of two international news sources: Euronews and
Africanews.
Michael Peters said: "We are engaged in a fight against disinformation and the negative aspects of what we call 'infobesity' - an excess of news entirely lacking in perspective. These new phenomena, amplified by the digital revolution, provide daily fuel for our raison d'être: the urgent need to put pluralism back at the centre of the international debate.
"With the arrival of Naguib Sawiris last July; the willingness of all our shareholders to support Euronews in its sweeping changes; and having settled into a new HQ at the cutting edge of technology, we now have the resources to match our ambitions.
"Euronews is entering a phase of deep transformation. A renaissance that draws its strength from the identity of Euronews and from the unrivalled assets that determine its clear mission: making diversity central to news."
Africanews launched from its headquarters in the Republic of Congo's second largest town, Pointe-Noire, on 20 April.
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BBC World News expands Intelsat contract
BBC World News has renewed and expanded its contract using multiple
Intelsat premier video neighbourhoods and the IntelsatOne® terrestrial network to distribute HD and SD services content across several continents.
Under the multi-year agreement, BBC World News will be delivered to millions of viewers in the Americas and Asia via four of Intelsat's premier video neighbourhoods:
- Galaxy 13 at 127˚ West - a North America cable distribution neighborhood;
- Intelsat 19 at 166˚ East - a Pacific Rim cable distribution neighbourhood and South Pacific Direct-to-Home (DTH) platform;
- Intelsat 20 at 68.5˚ East - a cable distribution and DTH neighbourhood and transcontinental hotspot from Europe to East Asia, and the number one video neighborhood serving India
- Intelsat 21 at 302˚ East - a Latin America cable distribution neighbourhood with the highest cable head-end penetration on the continent.
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AIB Members carry Zika prevention spots
With an apparent resurgence in the Zika virus, UNESCO and the Red Cross are working with the World Health Organisation on raising awareness of the virus and providing education on how to prevent its spread.
UNESCO has produced a series of radio spots in English, French and Spanish that it is encouraging radio stations in the affected regions of the Americas to broadcast.
A number of AIB Members have agreed to carry the spots on their services targeting the affected regions. You can find out more about the prevention campaign
here.
It is the AIB's hope that more broadcasters will collaborate on this important public health campaign, helping to stop the Zika virus in its tracks.
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Solomon Islands TV moves closer
Residents of the Solomon Islands in the Pacific could soon have television services produced locally by the national broadcaster. The Islands - population around 560,000 - currently have a national radio broadcaster, the
Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation [SIBC], with television services from overseas including Australia Network, BBC World News, Deutsche Welle and Al Jazeera English.
After putting forward a proposal to the Islands' government last year, it seems that a pilot service will launch in June. New Zealand and Australia are assisting SIBC, with New Zealand-based consultant Gregory Drummond providing operational advice.
SIBC plans to provide 50% population coverage within five years of launch. Separately, SIBC will host the 2017 General Assembly of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union.
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Welcome to Pyramedia and Marquis
 Founded by
Nashwa Al Ruwaini (pictured),
Pyramedia is a multifaceted media company based in Abu Dhabi that produces TV programmes as well as delivering consulting, marketing and advertising services across the Gulf region and beyond.
Marquis Media Partners
are a group of media, broadcast and business experts who bring hard won industry experience to a range of challenges for organisations.
Marquis Media Partners have a proven international track record for delivering change and managing projects for leading organisations. This experience has provided the partnership with a unique insight into how to deliver world class operations.
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New free-to-air hits HK audiences
Hong Kong's first news free-to-air TV channel in 37 years appears to be gaining audiences at the expense of established channels. Cantonese-language
ViuTV, owned by PWWC, launched on 6 April with a diet of Korean drama.
As the channel launched, Korean drama stars
Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-kyo (pictured) travelled to Hong Kong to promote the Descendants of the Sun drama.
The greatest casualty seems to be TVB. Nielsen ratings show that all TVB's weekday shows, apart from the news, were watched by fewer people than the previous week. Weekend audiences deteriorated at a greater pace, losing 5 to 10 per cent compared to a week earlier, according to the South China Morning Post.
TVB spokesman Tsang Sing-ming told the Post it was "normal" that ratings had ups and downs from time to time, but he believed the ratings would see improvements soon, when the new shows started gaining popularity.
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MBC's Runway to success
The world-renowned designer Elie Saab has partnered with
MBC Group for a unique collaboration involving the production of the Arabic adaptation of 'Project Runway' - the hit international reality programme and competition dedicated to all things fashion - with the regional version confirmed as 'Project Runway ME'. The Lebanese international creative couturier will also serve as the head of the judging panel of industry luminaries, where he will support and offer his expertise to the young, up-and-coming designers participating in the show's debut season.
Joining Elie Saab as a judge is renowned Tunisian-Italian fashion icon, actress and TV presenter Afef Jnifen. The third judge, meanwhile, will be a surprise every episode, with the appearance of a celebrity guest-star or expert.
Rounding up the show's line-up, Saudi national Faris Al Shehri is set to mentor the participants as they take on weekly fashion challenges, while Lebanese-Australian model Jessica Kahawaty is to present the programme which will launch in Q4 2016 on MBC4 and MBC MASR.
Read More
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Much more news...
There's much more news available on the AIB website at
www.aib.org.uk. Click on 'News' to access the latest stories and keep yourself up-to-date on developments across the media scene around the world.
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New Voice of America Director
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author
Amanda Bennett has been appointed the 29th Director of the
Voice of America (VoA).
"We are thrilled to have such a talented, experienced and award-winning journalist as Amanda take the helm at VOA," said BBG Chairman Jeff Shell. "Her unique skills and deep understanding of the rapidly evolving digital news marketplace will serve VOA well."
Bennett served as executive editor of Bloomberg News, where she created and ran a global team of investigative reporters and editors and co-founded the Bloomberg News Women's project. She also served as editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer, editor of the Herald-Leader in Lexington, Kentucky, managing editor/projects for The Oregonian in Portland, and reporter and editor for the Wall Street Journal for more than 20 years.
Keep up-to-date with changes in media companies worldwide at the AIB's website:
www.aib.org.uk
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London, 26-28 April
TV Connect 2016 is the principal global based show focusing on the evolution of the Connected Entertainment industry, bringing together a unique mix of leaders in OTT TV, Pay TV, Broadcast, Cable, Broadband and Telco, with leading Technology Providers.
Taking place in at London's ExCeL Centre on 26th - 28th April 2016, this market leading industry event translates trends, experiences and meetings into actionable business insight through focused content and concentrated networking opportunities, enabling the development of Next Generation Entertainment on a global scale.
AIB Members will be exhibiting and speaking at this event and we'll be in attendance, so meet us there.
The Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum, now in its ninth year, is Germany's international congress which addresses the role of media in politics and civil society. Focusing on a variety of hot topical issues, the conference draws over 2,000 experts in the fields of journalism, digital media, politics, culture, business, development, academia and civil society from all over the world.
AIB Members and staff from the AIB Secretariat will be at the event in Bonn.
Closing date for entries - 30 June
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AIB Calendar of Events
AIB monitors media industry events around the world and we publish a detailed calendar showing the leading events that we know provide relevant insight for AIB Members and the wider industry. See the calendar online at
www.aib.org.uk/media-events-calendar-2016/
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As the trade association for the international TV, radio and online industry, the AIB is constantly working on behalf of its Members.
One of our key areas of focus at present is
cyber security and we're launching an
international working group for our members to share knowledge, experience and expertise. It's designed to help ensure AIB Members are able to protect themselves from the inevitable large-scale cyber attacks we have seen take place over the past 18 months.
The first meeting of this Working Group will take place in May.
The AIB works to promote its Members. We recently published a special
book
to demonstrate the value of radio internationally.
'
The Business of Radio
' provides insight into the radio industry and profiles Members of the AIB who operate radio networks and the service providers that keep radio on the air around the world. The reaction of readers including key opinion-formers in regulators, parliaments and journalistic organisations has been incredibly positive. The book is just one example of the AIB's ongoing work to tell our Members' stories.
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AIB
, the Association for International Broadcasting, is a not-for-profit, non-governmental, industry association founded in 1993 to represent, promote and assist its members. It currently has a membership of over 50 companies from around 30 countries, including major broadcasters serving audiences of hundreds of millions each week.
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Use AIB's contacts
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AIB is in regular contact with broadcasters and others in the media industry around the world on behalf of its Members.
Each week, AIB talks with leading broadcasters and producers on every continent.
This is all part of our day-to-day work, ensuring we know our members and their needs, and ensuring that we understand what's happening in the media industry throughout the world. Find out how you can benefit from our global network of contacts among the world's leading broadcasters.
Call the AIB's Tom Wragg
in London to discuss membership or marketing options on
+44 (0) 20 7993 2557.
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