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Global briefing
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CASBAA Satellite Industry Forumhears calls for governments to lower regulatory barriers to the provision of cross-border
satellite services
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WRN assists Virgin Radio to launch five radio channels on Sky digital
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VOA launches daily “Roundtable
withyou” toIran
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Spain’sRTVE launches interactiveonDTT
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Maldivesmake final preparations to licenceprivatebroadcasters
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BBC’s commercial arm will launch ad-supported site
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GlobeCast launches The Baby Channel and Racing World on
Eurobird
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NHKopposes government proposals to cutTVchannels
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Harris to acquire Aastra DigitalVideo
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ABUDigital Radio
New Zealand’s changing landscape
The government of New Zealand
has announced the country is to get free-
to-air digital TV from 2007. Affected broadcasters Television New Zealand,
CanWest, Maori TV, the TAB and Radio New Zealand have forged an alliance
called FreeView and have leased satellite space to make the
conversion. According to TVNZ Chief Executive Officer, Rick Ellis,
this is the culmination of a lot of hard work over several years:
“Broadcast Communications Limited will deliver transmission
capability, and the concept has been finalised with a great deal
of constructive dialogue with the Ministry of Economic
Development and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage.” TVNZ
is already working on new programming and channel options.
The move from analogue to digital TV will offer viewers a clearer and cleaner
picture, fewer reception problems and ultimately access to more channels. TV
owners will have to purchase a set-top box but there will be no on-going
subscription costs. The government is setting aside NZ$25 million to help
establish FreeView, with the bulk of costs to be met by broadcasters. It will also
provide free access to digital frequencies, estimated to be worth NZ$10 million. It
is anticipated the analogue signal will be switched off in six to 10 years.
ARTE goes for HD
Bizet’s
Carmen
in Berlin
was the initial
HD offering on the German-French public
channel Arte at the beginning of July –
delivered by ASTRA. SES ASTRA’s Chief
Commercial Officer Alexander Oudendijk
said he was pleased that their partner Arte
had chosen SES ASTRA to broadcast its first
HD programme in German. “We have played
a major role in the creation and the
development of HDTV and we will keep on
promoting and supporting our partners for
the great benefit of the TV viewers.”Today,
SES ASTRA is the leading delivery platform
for HDTV in Europe. “We recently succeeded
in showing some important HDTV events in
France, but it is the first time that Arte
provides the German TV viewers with such a
high quality programme”, said Dr. Gottfried
Langenstein, Vice-President of Arte.
New newsroom for Radio Netherlands
Radio Netherlands Worldwide has a new-look
newsroom – the largest foreign newsroom in the Netherlands. At the official
opening Jan Hoekema, Director and Ambassador for International Cultural Cooperation at
the Dutch Foreign Ministry, stressed the importance of Radio Netherlands in delivering
information to countries where press freedom is restricted. The re-designed newsroom
reflects the new policy of “one station, one sound.” The new design is open-plan and is
based around a large, central desk, which is used for the planning and coordination of
news broadcasts in nine languages. Material and ideas will be shared across the different
languages, and there will be more consistency in the way major stories are covered. In
addition to the new layout, all computer workstations in the newsroom and throughout the
Radio Netherlands Worldwide building have been upgraded. RNW Director General Jan
Hoek says of the new-look newsroom “It’s not only a striking symbol of the beating
journalistic heart of our organisation, but also a milestone in its revitalisation and the
introduction of the new working procedures.”
Our cameraman in Guantanamo Bay
Reporters Without Borders has called
for the release of
Sudanese assistant cameraman Sami Al-Haj of Al Jazeera
Channel, who is being held in arbitrary detention in the
US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Arrested
by the Pakistani army on the Afghan border in
December 2001, Al-Haj was handed over in January 2002
to the US military, who initially held him in Afghanistan
and then transferred him to Guantanamo in June 2002.
According to his British lawyer, Clive A. Stafford-Smith, he has
been questioned more than 130 times during the past four years in
Guantanamo, with his interrogators voicing threats against his
family. The interrogations have for the most part aimed at getting
him to say there is a link between Al Jazeera and Al-Qaeda.
From India with…GlobeCast
Content management and delivery
company GlobeCast
now offers teleport services from India, thanks to a
partnership with Lamhas, a leading Indian satellite service
provider. The Lamhas teleport is a full service commercial
teleport from Mumbai - the entertainment and media hub
in India - and is equipped with a range of high end
professional quality equipment capable of providing
production services, origination & associated services, and
transmission services. The teleport also operates multiple
dishes from its facility in New Mumbai and has much room
to expand. This partnership emphasizes the important role
that the large and growing Indianmarket plays inGlobeCast’s
worldwide basket of services. David Justin, CEO GlobeCast
Asia said, “We believe that when GlobeCast’s commitment of
providing high-quality, end-to-end services is coupled with
the professional teleport services available from Lamhas in
this crucial market, it will provide international broadcasters
with a highergrade of service.”The partnership also provides
Indian broadcasters with access to the global resources and
expertise of GlobeCast. With the partnership in place
GlobeCast now offers distribution services over India on the
Indian hot bird satellite Insat 4A. Located at 83°E, Insat 4A is
home to many Indian channels, including the must carry
Indian state channels, which gives it virtually complete
penetration into cable networks.
Arabsat and BBC WS renew partnership
Audiences in Asia, Europe, Africa
and the Middle East can now hear a
range of BBC radio programmes in Arabic and English thanks to a
renewed partnership between BBC World Service and the satellite
operator Arabsat. Khalid Balkheyour, Arabsat President & CEO, welcomed
the expansion of BBC Arabic and English broadcasts on ArabSat, saying
he was honoured by the BBC’s confidence in the extensive penetration of
Arabsat’s constellation of BADR satellites at the 26° East primary fast-
growing DTH neighbourhood. Balkheyour also confirmed Arabsat’s strong
commitment to contribute to its customers’ success by supporting their
growth throughout the Middle East and North Africa.