The Channel | 2004 | September

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Global Brief
The latest news from the international broadcasting industry
8 | the channel
RFE/RLcorrespondent toappeal libel verdict
Melahat Nasibova, a correspondent for RFE/
RL’s Azerbaijani Service, announced that she
would appeal a guilty verdict announced in
July by the Nakhichevan City court, in a libel
case filed by the head of a local drug abuse
rehabilitation centre. The Court imposed a
fine and told her to apologize “on air” to Dr.
Rashadat Nabatov, chief physician at the
“Narcological Clinic” in Nakhichevan city, for
using quotes by Dr. Nabatov about drug
treatment statistics. In her report, aired by
the Azerbaijani Service on April 4, 2004,
Nasibova cites statements made to her by
Dr. Nabatov concerning drug abuse in
Nakhichevan and the number of registered
drug addicts in this autonomous exclave of
Azerbaijan. Nasibova told RFE/RL that she
has also received e-mails containing threats
if she were to publicize details of the case.
RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service broadcasts five
and one half hours of programming a day to
Azerbaijan, produced in Prague and the
service’s Baku Bureau and transmitted to
listeners via shortwave, satellite and AM
signals provided by local affiliate stations.
Azerbaijani Service programming is also
available via the Internet, at the service’s
website and at
Malaysia’s RTM to ‘rebrand’ its stations
State-owned Radio Television Malaysia (RTM)
launched a wave of new programmes for its
TV1 and TV2 channels in August in a move
to freshen the image of the station.
Information Minister Datuk Paduka Abdul
Kadir Sheikh Fadzir was quoted as saying the
ministry was confident that the “rebranding”
would attract more viewers to the two
channels. The minister also announced a
November rebranding of RTM’s radio station.
He said the rebranding of RTM’s television
and radio would attract more advertisements
but this was not the ministry’s primary goal.
Media City for Pakistan?
Pakistan’s Information and Broadcasting
Minister, Sheikh Rashid Ahmad says that the
country’s government is making efforts to
open up electronic media by allowing more
satellite channels. The launch of 22 additional
private cross-media channels reflected the
government’s liberal media policy, he said. He
also said that a Media City [presumably
modelled on Dubai Media City] is to be set up
in Islamabad. Consultations between the
Pakistan Ministries of Commerce and Trade,
and Information Technology and other
possible stakeholders were underway.
More world awards for Radio Netherlands
Radio Netherlands has again won gold at the
annual radio competition, the NewYork Festivals.
The Englishand Latin-American language services
won six prizes: two first and two third plus two
finalists for English productions and a first and
second prize for Latin-American programmes. The
competition recognises “the world’s best work”
in radio programming and promotion.
GlobeCast expands Canal Algérie satellite coverage
GlobeCast has begun distributingAlgerian television station Canal Algerie as well as radio stations
Chaîne 1 and Chaîne 3 via multiple satellites, expanding the network’s coverage overAfrica and the
Middle East via GlobeCast’s C-band Direct-to-Home and cable distribution platform on NSS-7,
and over NorthAmerica via the GlobeCast WorldTV DTH platform on Intelsat Americas 5 (IA-5).
Canal Algérie, Chaîne 1 and Chaîne 3 all originate in Algiers and are fed to the GlobeCast
technical operations centre in Paris where they are integrated into GlobeCast’s NSS-7
multiplex. Simultaneously, GlobeCast feeds the signal via fibre to its NewYork teleport for
insertion into the GlobeCast WorldTV DTH platform on Intelsat Americas 5. This Ku-band
service allows Canal Algérie, Chaîne 1 and Chaîne 3 to reach homes across the continent, as
part of the fastest-growing international broadcasting community on American satellite.
SES ASTRA drives HDTV in Europe
SES ASTRA, in a concerted effort with more than sixty of its European broadcast customers,
hardwaremanufacturersandotherindustrypartners, haveagreedontechnicalaspectsandthetimetable
for the introduction of HDTV services in Europe via the ASTRA satellite system. SES ASTRA
pioneered the transmission of HDTV services in Europe with EURO 1080, Europe’s first dedicated
HDTV offering broadcasting via the ASTRA satellite system at 19.2° East since 1 January.
To ensure a uniform roll-out and avoid a fragmentation of the nascent market in Europe, SES
ASTRA and its industry partners have agreed on the minimum technical specifications for HDTV
broadcasts, based on e.g. the open MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 AVC standards. SES ASTRA and its
industry partners have also agreed on the launch of an “HDTV” label which will be deployed to
identify future-proof HDTV displays. The label is intended to ensure consumer confidence when
acquiring new display devices and will be used in the upcoming HDTV marketing campaigns of
the different manufacturers promoting the pan-European HDTV initiative.
Ferdinand Kayser, President and CEO of SES ASTRA, says: “So far, Europe has been trailing
countries like the United States with respect to the introduction of HDTV services. At the same
time, sales of flat screen displays have been booming. Independent research institutes actually
suggest that in a few years tens of millions of HD enabled TV sets will be deployed in the
different European countries. By agreeing on minimal technical specifications and building on
open standards, SES ASTRA and its partners from the broadcast and hardware industry intend
to ensure that the roll-out of HDTV services in Europe kick-starts as early as this year.”
IBC “must-sees”
The annual IBC convention and exhibition gets underway in Amsterdam on 9 September and
there’s lots to see. In addition to the AIB’s exhibit (stand 9.545), there are free training
sessions laid on by BBC Training and Development in some of the most popular and emerging
areas such as interactive TV and DV shooting and editing.
Subjects include DVAcquisition aimed at journalists and DV self-operating production staff,
giving a better understanding and a real experience of how you get great pictures with DV;
Editing great sequences - also focused on DV - with direct tips and hands-on experience of
how to edit DV content into great sequences; interactive TV - the hottest topic in the industry.
How do you create footage that will work both in a linear medium such as TV and in the non-
linear interactive environment? Practical advice on how to modify the conventional process
to make footage fit for interactivity will be on offer. Other subjects include workflow,
investigative research for the web and a global technology update. BBC T&D is in hall 7.
AIB member You/Com will be demonstrating a GSM reporter interface with a Bluetooth
dongle enabling easy reporting using mobile phones. Alongside this will be the company’s
innovative WebRadio, a stand-alone product that enables listeners to tune into internet radio
with a standard telephone line, MXTS, an advanced multi-channel audio to DVB converter
and the new Diport 10/4, a modern UHF reporter transmitter. You/Com is in hall 8.
CTV selects high-speed Harris
CTV, the Taiwan television broadcast network, has purchased 16 of Harris Broadcast
Communications Division’s NetVX(TM) High-speed Network Systems and upgrades for Harris’
FlexiCoder(R) Encoding System. The equipment is needed for the second phase of the network’s
digital rollout for the distribution of its TV services. At CTV, the NetVX system will receive
feeds from either the Chung Hwa telecom network via fibre or CTV’s digital microwave system
to drive DVB-T transmitters at the network’s remote sites. At regional sites that provide localised
encoding, the NetVX system will be equipped with a SD encoder that will encode audio and
video from the local station to MPEG-2 and multiplex that signal into the final multiplex. With its
ability to establish links with all packet-based (ATM, IP, and microwave) services and receive
satellite signals for news sendback and local news drop and insert, the NetVX system enables
broadcasters to efficiently and cost-effectively move media (analogue or digital video, audio and
data) between physically disparate locations simultaneously.
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