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Global Brief
The latest news from the international broadcasting industry
Bloomberg debuts new Korean business channel
In a carriage deal that will significantly boost its Asia Pacific distribution, Bloomberg Television
gains access to 2 million Korean subscribers with the launch of its financial news programming
on newKorean channel,
eTomato
. Multiplatform financial information provider,
eTomato
, launched
its new television channel on 4 November via major local cable operators, with Bloomberg
Television as the sole provider of regional and international business and finance news.
Meanwhile in Singapore, Bloomberg’s Catherine Yang has won the title of
Best
News Presenter
at the Asian Television Awards. Yang is the anchor of the channel’s
Asia region morning finance news programme,
Moneycast Asia
, which is broadcast
from Bloomberg’s Asia Pacific studio centre in Tokyo.
The Phoenix rises as China cautiously opens up
Phoenix Satellite Television has won approval to air its Putonghua InfoNews Channel in China,
raising hope at the loss-making firm that the 24-hour channel can boost advertising revenue
and break even by next year. “We are the only 24-hour news channel to broadcast in the
mainland,” said chief executive Liu Changle.
“With China’s entry to the World Trade Organisation, information and
news content are in high demand. We have strong confidence in getting
advertising revenue.” The landing rights, granted by the State
Administration of Radio, Film and Television, enable InfoNews to be viewed legally in luxury
hotels, diplomatic compounds and other specially designated compounds.
Phoenix, in which Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp has a stake, has recorded losses for the past
seven quarters partly because of InfoNews. Launched in early 2001, with an annual budget of
US$20m, it had failed repeatedly to get rights to broadcast in the mainland. It reported a loss of
HK$20.42m for the three months to 30 September last year and has net cash of US$50m.
InfoNews and French state-owned international channel TV 5 are the only two channels owned
by foreign companies to have received Chinese approval over the past two years, although a
new agreement will allow Eurosportnews, the 24-hour world sports news channel, tolaunch in
March 2003 in all Chinese hotel complexes (that’s 5,000 hotels or around 1.6 million potential
daily viewers). Eurosportnews is the first European private TV channel to enter China, and was
chosen from dozens of international channels that applied. The Chinese version of Eurosportnews
will be created during the course of 2003, with negotiations already underway for airing this
version on the Chinese cable networks.
Eurosport has built a strong relationship with the Olympic organising committee for Beijing
2008 and is delighted with this first step, that will allow Chinese viewers to experience all the
Olympic sports broadcast on the channel.
Eurosportnews is the sports information channel of the Eurosport group, providing sports updates
and results every 15 minutes. Launched in 2000, Eurosportnews continues to prevail as a real
“success story”, developing its presence outside of the European boundaries.
Bloomberg Asia has also gained a distribution licence in the People’s Republic. This allows the
financial news channel to have carriage later this year on the Chinese DTH system feeding
hotels, foreign compounds and Chinese government buildings.
(Sources include
South China Morning Post
and BBC Monitoring)
International radio allegedly suffers in China
The US Broadcasting Board of Governors has noted that the Chinese government is allegedly
working to prevent news from getting through to the Chinese people.
“Even as China is actively trying to expand its role in the global marketplace,” says a BBG
report, “it is isolating its people, cutting off the free flow of information and denying citizens
reliable and credible news from the United States, among other places. Not only are the Chinese
government’s actions wrong – they are unfair. While China jams VOA and RFA, the United
States allows China’s government television, CCTV, on many cable systems across the country.
China Radio International, China’s government radio, broadcasts unjammed on shortwave and
on a number of affiliated AM and FM radio stations in the United States.
The bottom line is this: the United States, now engaged in a global war on terrorism, cannot
afford to have 18 per cent of the world’s population misinformed about our country. We need a
concerted strategy involving Congress and the Executive branch to grapple with this problem
- and to stop the jamming.”
Asia TV Award
Germany gains Russian relay
The Voice of Russia has been authorised by
the Berlin-Brandenburg authorities to
broadcast on medium wave for the next five
years. Programmes will go out in German,
Russian and English, 18 hours a day.
“This event is extremely important to the
promotion of domestic radio broadcasting in
Europe,” Armen Oganesyan, chairman of the
Voice of Russia, announced. “The new
information opportunities which have opened
up in front of us are in many ways the result
of the noticeable progress in Russian-German
relations.”
FEBA to cease Indian Ocean short wave…
Religious broadcaster FEBA, the Far East
Broadcasting Association, plans to phase out
its shortwave operations from the Seychelles
and close the transmitting station by the end
of 2003.
FEBA Radio says “Growing difficulty in
maintaining a station, which uses 30-year-
old technology, and increased competition
from less expensive broadcasting outlets,
coupled with the difficulty of broadcasting
to India because of difficulties with sunspots
in 2003/4/5, indicate that the timing is set
for change.”
Instead of broadcasting from its own
transmitters, FEBA says that it will hire airtime
on suitable facilities elsewhere and use newer
methods – presumably rebroadcasting on local
FM.
…while another begins short wave for Pacific
HCJB, another religious radio station, has
launched services to islands in the South
Pacific from studio in Australia.
HCJB is reported to have faced considerable
local Australian opposition to its plans to
bring its programmes to the Asia-Pacific
region and beyond from. Last year the group
won an appeal against the local shire’s
rejection of its plans.
HCJB’s manager, Mike Moore, says the station
aims to rapidly expand its reach, planning to
beam programmes to India and elsewhere in
India.
HCJB operates extensive short wave
broadcasting out of Ecuador, and has
headquarters in the USA.
Russia gets global
Russia is introducing new international channels
and developing distribution of existing output.
RTR-Planeta will carry a round-the-clock service
to Europe, via Hotbird 3, aimed at Russians
living abroad. It will also be possible to watch
the channel in America.
NTV-Mir has launched broadcasts in Australia.
A spokesman for the company’s press service
said that Australia’s TARBS World TV would
enjoy exclusive broadcasting rights.
Full-scale broadcasting of a new Russian-
language television channel NTV America has
begun in the United States. NTV America is
the American version of the international
project of the Moscow channel NTV, NTV Mir,
which since last December has been
broadcasting to Europe and is specially
intended for the Russian expatriate audience
in the USA.
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