AIB condemns jamming as English to China blocked
AIB has protested the jamming of English-language programming of ABC Radio Australia, BBC World Service and Voice of America on shortwave in China. According to research carried out by broadcasters and independent monitors in Asia, the source of the jamming signals is in mainland China.
While Mandarin-language broadcasts from outside China are regularly blocked, it is unusual for English-language radio to be jammed. It follows a significant rise in the number of hacking incidents affecting Western companies that have been traced to China.
“AIB condemns this latest interference to the broadcasts of the BBC, ABC Radio Australia and Voice of America,” said Simon Spanswick, chief executive of the Association for International Broadcasting. “Free access to information is a universal human right, and this interference is preventing audiences based within China to hear news from outside the country. It comes at a time when China’s own international broadcasters – on radio and television – are expanding rapidly around the world. They do not suffer from attempts by other nations to silence them. AIB calls on China to cease its jamming activities.”
At the same time, access to the website of Rusiya Al-Yaum has been restricted in Libya, leading to a 98% fall in traffic from the North African country to the site.
See more on the shortwave jamming story here and on RT's Arabic website here.

PROGRAMMING, PRODUCTION AND MARKETING
Meteoric rise for RT video
RT’s footage of the Siberian meteor blast became the most watched video of the phenomenon on YouTube. The blast, which hit Russia’s Chelyabinsk region on the morning of February 15, became the most watched video event of all time with 138 million views, and the fastest video event ever to hit 100 million views, according to VideoMeasures, an online measurement company. More than 400 videos across several online platforms were tracked in this calculation.
RT’s montage of several eyewitness videos attracted a record-breaking 28+ million views in just five days on the news network’s YouTube channel. Overall, RT’s videos of the meteor event have already collected more than 45 million views, bringing its YouTube channel within a striking distance of the 1 billion total views mark.
RT has previously set a YouTube record for the most watched news event video of 2011 with footage of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. Pew Research Center’s 2012 study named RT as the largest provider of news video footage on YouTube, the world’s largest video sharing platform.

Klick to win, film for food
This year’s Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum will focus on “The Future of Growth – Economic Values and the Media.” DW’s annual photo competition KLICK! has the same theme, launched at the end of February.
“KLICK! – Your View of a Sustainable Economy” is the theme of this year’s photo competition. Photography enthusiasts from around the world are invited to submit up to three original photographs linked to the topic of a sustainable economy in a global context. The entries might be pictures of an innovative workplace anywhere in the world, or images related to the development of renewable energy technologies or dedicated to specific campaigns, projects and events promoting a sustainable economy. DW is looking for a truly personal perspective.
Full details are here.
Meanwhile, the CBA (Commonwealth Broadcasting Association) has announced its new project for new and emerging film-makers - Thought for Food. Your WorldView is an online platform, providing opportunities for new and emerging filmmakers around the world by showcasing their short films about the issues that affect them. As part of the new Food season, Your WorldView are offering grants of up to £1,000 for short creative films on food.

AIB recommends...events and more
MIP TV | Cannes, 8-11 April
Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2013, MIPTV is the place where TV & online content comes together to make deals, to be inspired and to forge new partnerships.
Not only is the place to source and sell the freshest content globally, it is teeming with opportunities to help you create new business, green-light partnerships and lift-off to co-production projects at the earliest stages of development.
A range of AIB members have major presences at MIP TV including Al Jazeera Media Network, BBC, DW TV, NHK World and RT channel. See one of AIB ‘s reports on MIP TV 2012 here. Meanwhile, AIB is still waiting for press accreditation to the event. We hope we'll be covering it for our global readership and members - over to you, Reed Midem!

FT Digital Media Conference | London,25-26 April
This annual event will bring together leading individuals driving digital change in new and established media businesses, and shed light on the strategies that will turn technological disruption into lasting business models.
The 2012 conference gathered 350+ key decision makers, strategists and visionaries from the music, broadcasting, advertising, publishing, social media and gaming industries from around the world. Join this year's delegates, plus the AIB, in London in late April.

DISTRIBUTION, TECHNOLOGY, BUSINESS
Tanazania regrets analogue switch-off
Reports in the press in Tanzania suggest that analogue switch-off has not gone well. Media owners have gone to the government to ask for analogue signals to be maintained in parallel with digital as so few set-top boxes have been sold in the country of 45million.
"The financial status of the majority of the people of Tanzania is still too miserably low for them to afford decoders and monthly recharge packages, which widens the gap between the rich and the poor all the more," said Media Association of Tanzania (MOAT) chairman Dr Reginald Meng.
MOAT estimates that only around 600,000 STBs have been sold in the country. It fears that media groups will go to the wall as advertising revenues fall along with the number of viewers as operating costs increase.
The Channel - 1 2013 cover

AIB has commented many times over the past couple of years that countries in Africa are not ready for DSO. There are many innovative solutions coming to market (see the latest edition of The Channel for some) but these must achieve significant market penetration before analogue switch-off can occur.

Rogers selects arvarto
arvato Systems, a global IT leader offering integrated software solutions for broadcast management and media asset management, announced it has been selected by Rogers Media to provide a powerful broadcast management solution. Joining the list of arvato Systems’ customers in North America, the company is integrating its rights management, program scheduling and advertising sales processes with arvato Systems’ product suite.
More on this story here.

Tablets and phones become TV guides
Ahead of its Connections conference in Las Vegas in May, research and consulting firm Parks Associates has published new mobile and app research suggesting consumers are increasingly using mobile devices and second-screen apps as alternatives to traditional remote controllers and interactive programme guides. In the US the research firm found 36% of smartphone owners and 35% of tablet owners search for product/service information on the device while watching TV. Over one-third regularly use apps to search for show-related information or check listings while in front of the TV.
"With second-screen offerings for TV shows like Breaking Bad and Glee, companies are catching up to current habits of viewers, who are already interacting with their mobile devices while watching TV," said Heather Way, senior research analyst, Parks Associates.

PEOPLE
AIB has appointed Edward Wilkinson as its Business Development Executive. Edward will take on responsibility for developing partnerships with companies wanting to harness the power of the AIB's constantly growing reach through advertising and sponsorship. He will also develop membership relationships for the AIB and work to increase the number of members AIB has globally.