THE CHANNEL
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MEDIA MARKETS
RTG TV first in Russia
with ULTRA HD
RTG TV, part of Russia's Bridge
Media, is emerging as a pioneer
of Ultra HD via satellite. Its
documentary
Active Recreation in
the Mountains of the Caucasus
on extreme sports in the South
of Russia was produced by RTG
Production Studios in 4K and
shown with the support of
Russia's largest satellite TV
operator, Tricolor TV, in June.
Resolution of the video was 3840
x 2160 pixels, two times higher
than the Full HD frame size
(1920 x 1080). Eutelsat 36A was
used for direct satellite broad-
casting of UHDTV content. RTG
Production Studios, part of the
RTG Group, is one of the world's
largest producers of
documentary films that shoots in
Full HD and Ultra HD (4K).
Until the end of 2013 RTG TV's
English-language service is
available free-to-air in Europe via
Hotbird 6. The channel is
marketing itself to cable
operators and IPTV platforms and
using the FTA window to encourage
greater take-up of the channel.
Ahead with MENA’s HD but is it real?
Luxembourg-based SES, which
broadcasts 28% of all available HD
channels across its fleet of 52
satellites, says the total number
of HDTV channels in the MENA
region is forecast to grow by 250%
by 2020. This compares with an
estimated growth of 50%worldwide.
ChannelSculptor, a Dubai-
based consultancy claims that
over 10% of MENA channels are
HD compared with 9.3% in Europe.
ChannelSculptor also says that
an estimated 650 FTA channels in
the MENA region account for more
than 70% of the region’s total
number of channels. This contrasts
with the global FTA picture where
less than 10% of the approximate
total of 30,000 TV channels are
FTA. Over 50% of MENA’s HD
channels are government-owned
and 80% of these are FTA. This
limits the commercialisation of HD
which requires channel encryption
if there is to be significant future
development of subscription TV
services. Governments in this
IN BRIEF
ADM PARTNERS
WITH TWOFOUR
Abu Dhabi Media and
Twofour have entered into a
long term partnership deal
which will see Twofour’s
UAE arm, Twofour Arabia,
produce a raft of factual and
features programming for the
scheduled grid re-launch in
December. Twofour Arabia,
which is based in twofour54’s
media city, produced hit
documentary
In the
Footsteps of Thesiger
for
ADM last year. The
companies will work
together to ensure
knowledge transfer and
provide on-the-job training
for ADM’s UAE Nationals.
BANGLADESH
UNTAPPED
With a population of 154m,
Bangladesh is the 9th-largest
market worldwide in terms
of mobile subscribers - in
Q1 2013 62m ‘unique’
subscribers were using
112m mobile connections
(i.e. SIM cards). With market
penetration at 40%, there is
tremendous room for double
digit growth. Access to the
internet is over a 2G
connection via featurephones
or low-end smartphones but
GSMA Intelligence reports
that the regulator is
expected to auction 3G
spectrum in the 2100 MHz
band in September, with 3G
services then taking off in
two to three years.
AL JAZEERA
SPORT RIGHTS
Al Jazeera Sport has been
awarded the exclusive
broadcasting rights in the
Middle East North Africa
region for all 380 Barclays
Premier League matches
per season for the seasons
2013/14-2015/16. The rights
were acquired from
international media company
MP & Silva. Al Jazeera Sport
plans to bring its subscribers
complete coverage of the
Barclays Premier League
including dedicated studios
for both Arabic and English
coverage.
region fear that encryption will
stymie emerging HD audiences.
There is also a problem with
many regional channels claiming
to be HD failing to meet inter-
nationally accepted quality
standards. Mohamed Youssif,
CEO of HDTV satellite platform
YahLive cautions viewers against
being duped by ‘nearly HD’
channels or the quantity of
channels - just because you have
a HD TV does not mean you are
getting the channel in HD.
RRsat inks
with Fox
RRsat Global Communications
Network, a leading provider of
digital content management and
global distribution services for
TV and radio broadcasting has
signed a long-term agreement
with Fox International Channels
to support broadcast of its
French channels throughout
Africa. FIC operates more than
300 channels globally, reaching
over 1.6bn viewers worldwide.
RRsat is supporting FIC’s
extended African content reach
with the launch of some of its
main factual TV brands: National
Geographic Channel, NatGeo
Wild, and the travel channel
Voyage via the new RRsat C-Band
platform on AFRICASAT-1a to
viewers throughout the continent.
In June, RRsat opened a new
office in Moscow - it's a key step
towards establishing a presence in
Russia and the Commonwealth
of Independent States, a market
of tens of millions of households.
CEO Avi Cohen says that
strengthening RRsat's position in
the Russian market is a key part
of the company's expansion
programme.
RRsat's Moscow team offers
services ranging from premium
broadcasting solutions through
to end-to-end content
management and extensive
playout services.
85 years of RTI
Radio Taiwan International, the
national broadcaster of the
Republic of China, celebrates 85
years on air in 2013.
RTI was established under the
name of Central Broadcasting
System in Nanjing, Mainland
China. Today RTI broadcasts over
1,000 frequency hours per week
in 13 languages through eight
transmitting stations in Taiwan,
covering central and southern
Taiwan, Mainland China and the
rest of the world.
RTI receives over 200,000
letters each year and uses a
digital video recording studio to
engage with the growing number
of web users.
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ISSUE 2 2013
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THE CHANNEL
