Russian state multimedia
company The Voice of Russia has
launched DAB+ digital radio
broadcasts in German in North
Rhine-Westphalia (NRW),
Germany, reaching a potential
17m+ listeners 18 hours daily. In
2012 VOR launched similar
projects in Berlin and the federal
state Hesse. NRW is a key target
area for VOR - the Land (state)
plays an important role in the
political, economic and cultural
Syria stories share
tales of survival
Syria Stories
is a new online
documentary project from the
Middle East Broadcasting
Networks (MBN) that aims to tell
the stories of the ongoing Syrian
civil war on a very personal,
human scale. The online journal
follows six Syrians, four men and
two women, from different
ethnic, religious and family
backgrounds from across the
country, who blog about the
challenges and triumphs of daily
life and watching their homeland
torn apart by civil war. Some still
live in Syria while others live in
refugee camps or neighbouring
countries. The bloggers were
carefully screened and their
identities protected.
MBN President Brian Conniff
says the bloggers show courage
to share their stories with the
rest of the world. In three
months, the diaries have
amassed a Facebook community
of more than 60,000 Arabs from
the Palestinian Territories, Iraq,
Egypt, Jordan, and Syria, reaching
the “walls” of more than 1.5m
Facebook users each week.
Syria
Stories
is produced in partner-
ship with the Broadcasting Board
of Governors Office of Digital
MEDIA MARKETS
|
THE CHANNEL
IN BRIEF
FOXTEL STARTS
BUDGET IPTV
As reported by AFR,
Australian pay-TV carrier
Foxtel (a JV between News
Corp and Telstra) is launching
its IPTV service in August.
The Play option will allow
viewers to watch programmes
from about 40 channels,
priced from $25 per month,
about half the price of the
basic video package. The
company hopes that this will
encourage people who could
not afford Foxtel before to
get a Foxtel product over the
net onto their PCs and
smartTVs.
RRI REDESIGN
Radio Romania International
has embarked on a redesign
of its website
to
make it more dynamic and
user-friendly, offering
newsletters in seven
languages. RRI is also
expanding its social media
presence through Facebook
profiles specific to each of
its languages, along with a
profile on Pinterest, at
/
rrinternational/. RRI and the
other stations of public
broadcaster Radio Romania
produce EU-related content
in the Romanian language,
as part of the EuranetPlus
pan-European editorial
project financed by the EU.
JAPAN STANDARD
IN AFRICA
Japan and Botswana have
signed an agreement to
launch digital terrestrial TV
broadcasting in Botswana,
starting in the capital
Gaborone. Botswana is the
first country in Africa to use
the Japanese standard.
Under the terms of the
agreement the Japanese
government will share
technology and resources to
help Botswana introduce the
new broadcasting system
smoothly, while the Botswanan
government will help
Japanese companies expand
their business into the TV
market in the African country.
DAB+ for Voice of Russia
THE CHANNEL
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ISSUE 2 2013
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13
HD over 3D in sports broadcasting
In early July, the BBC announced
that it is to drop 3D broadcasts
when the current trial - which
has included the coverage of
major sporting events such as
the Olympics and Wimbledon -
ends. The BBC’s head of 3D, Kim
Shillinglaw, said that many
viewers have found it a hassle to
watch at home and this has led
to small audience numbers. The
inconvenience of wearing 3D
glasses is one of the key
objections cited by viewers.
SatLink Communications'
Director of Sports Services
Mylan Tanzer agrees, saying that
despite all the hype, 3D has not
been adopted in mainstream
sports broadcasting. SatLink CEO
David Hochner said that the BBC
announcement came as no great
surprise as over the past few
years SatLink had not seen a
great demand for the technology.
This is because there is no
practical application of the
technology in terms of the
benefits vs. cost argument.
However, the company is seeing
increasing demand in Ultra HD.
This is also being discussed -
and trialled - by an increasing
number of broadcasters.
Meanwhile at IBC 2013,
SatLink will present the first
European demonstration of its
new OTT solutions including
Multi Screen Technical Delivery
services for Live TV & VOD
aggregation and streaming to all
devices, as well as showcasing
the new Cross Screen Multimedia
Platform service featuring an
end-to-end IP cloud-based
platform providing centralised
content, subscriber &monetisation
management solutions.
Design and Innovation.
Programmes and other
content in more than 40
languages from all five BBG-
supported broadcasters - Voice
of America, Radio Free Asia, the
Office of Cuba Broadcasting,
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
and the Middle East Broadcasting
Networks - are now available
through the online audio
platform SoundCloud.
The strategic partnership is
expected to expand the BBG’s
online audience by introducing
its radio broadcasts to users
through a widely-available
mobile platform and by making
use of content-sharing through
social media.
life of Germany; it includes the
industrial Ruhr region; and is the
most advanced region for digital
radio in the country.
VOR's Chairman Andrey
Bystritskiy (right) says extending
his company’s presence in the
local broadcasting networks of
Europe, Asia and both Americas
is a priority in VOR's strategic
development and in order to
achieve this objective VOR needs
to stay at the forefront of
technological development.
VOR's digital transmissions can
also be received in the UK,
Switzerland and several US cities.
