broadcasters. He said it would feature digital
production systems, the replacement of tapes
by digital files and local networks. He claimed
that the result would be totally integrated end-
to-end digital operations that reduced costs and
integrated business processes, while bringing
ease of use, scalability and the integration of
metadata based on industry standards like BWF,
MXF and XML. Klein added that no single
company could achieve the required integration,
but Dalet had already been involved in the
installation of third-generation systems for the
German public broadcasterARD- (togetherwith
Sony andAston) and also at CenterTV in Russia.
He argued that the way forward was working
with partners to achieve systems that worked.
Other considerations were the achievement of
Open-IT based systems for complete workflow.
In the discussion that followed,Anne Marie Swift
of AP EPNS said that broadcasters wanted
tailored solutions in
areas such as
graphics. Reinhard
Pensel, of Sony BPE
said that he agreed
that the futurewas in
open standards, but
pointed out that
attention had to be
paid to working out
different workflow
patterns. Ian Fletcher of Omnibus pointed out
that solutions have to be based on customer
requirements and said that an element of the
way forward was designing elegant software
systems. Stephan Schindler, of SGI pointed to a
need for IT companies with broadcasting know-
how to develop systems integration.Ted Taylor,
of Panasonic Broadcast, said he was amazed by
the number of broadcasters who put in new
systems without re-designing workflow, with
the result that savings were minimal.Ian Fletcher,
agreeing, revealed ‘Fletcher’s Law’ - ‘you can’t
remove complexity,you can onlymove it about”.
Content versus proliferation?
It’s the content that viewers and listeners
consume, and they want compelling content,
contendedValerie Geller, of NewYork-based
consulting firm Geller Media International.
She said that programmes are far more art
than science and that it is vital that stations
concentrated on ensuring that they were
good and absorbing on the 360 days in a year
when there wasn’t a war or other major event
to cover. She expounded her main two rules
of broadcasting – to tell the truth always, and
never be boring. She said there were no
boring stories, only boring storytellers and
the trick was to overcome the natural
conservatism of journalists to persuade them
to work with emotion, and humour.
Guy Bisson, of Screen Digest, put the need
for excellent content into context when he
revealed that there were now 1,132
television channels in Europe, with more
launching at the rate of 100 a year, and that
the number of interactive services had risen
to 135 in 2003 from only 14 in 2001. He noted
that channels were failing at varying rates,
but of the 85 launched between 1996 and
1998, 25% had disappeared. He said it was a
hard time for digital channels, but movies,
sport, music and documentaries seemed to
work, with new growth areas in children’s,
shopping and adult services. He outlined the
European league table of channels:
UK – 381
France – 256
Spain -239
Italy – 218
Germany -156
Bisson said that lesser-served areas were
ethnic, male special interest and female special
interest. He added that the pay-to-free ratio of
channels ranged from 1.05 in France to 0.77 in
the UK and just 0.30 in Germany.He predicted
that a second period of consolidation of channel
numbers and ownership was in store, but that
growth in services would continue.
Oliver Mojen, the chief content officer of
German TV, a service operating for German-
speakers in the US, said that the service needed
to find 70,000 viewers to break even in a
challenging marketing environment in which
there were one million German-speaking
households across the US, but had so far gained
only 5,000 subscribers after a year.Susan Hewitt
of TechTV, the US based technology television
service, said it was targeted at young ABC1
viewers and claimed to have 75m viewers in 70
countries across the world. She added that the
programme strategy incorporated high levels
of interactivity and was based on the broad
general appeal of new gadgets and areas such as
plastic surgery. Marco Frasier, of ESPN Classic
Sport, said that in a crowded sports market, its
appeal was being based on the ability to target
all of Europe with the content, combined with
the policy of incorporating local content
wherever possible.
Radio Netherlands has been forced, like most
other publicly-funded international
broadcasters, to cut programmes as budgets
continue to shrink. But out of adversity, it has
built new bridges and proven to be particularly
innovative. It has launched co-productions with
a number of networks abroad, while reducing
traditional shortwave transmission costs.
Jonathan Marks, creative director of Radio
Netherlands, says RNnowproduces 48 percent
of its programmes this way — working with
partners outside of Holland. Balanced
relationships, he believes, are vital: “We share
stories, we don’t shout them.” One RN series
co-produced in Benin in French was distributed
elsewhere in francophone Africa. The series
focused on health issues,democracy,and building
small businesses. RN also has been helping to
stimulate female entrepreneurship in Africa
through exchanges of programmes.
RN ties with some of its 6,000 partner stations
around the world have produced some telling
insights about others’ technical as well as
programming operations. Marks recalls that
a station in Zambia beamed its broadcasts
from a transmitter in a tree.“Every year,” he
said, “the reception gets better and better.”
What the Research Tells Us
InterMedia Survey Institute,a prominentWashington,
D.C. research firm, has summarised principal
characteristics of international broadcast success in a
series of audience surveys since 9-11.Allen Cooper of
InterMedia had this advice for programme managers
and executives at the AIB conference:
*Pretty much wherever you look, news is the main
driver.
*It’s important to be in the region you serve in the
local language.
*Consider yourself a complement to, rather than a
substitute for,local television.
*Recognize that the Internet is used increasingly as a
source of news.
The latter point waswitnessed in dramatic fashion during
the Iraq war.The BBCWorld Service reports that page
impressions on its website increased from120million to
220 million a month, worldwide, during the conflict.
Page impressions on theVOAArabic website restored
just two months before the war tripled, and e-mail
respondents included broadcasters, print journalists, and
educators from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Sudan andYemen.
Roger Gane, of London-based research company Ipsos-
RSL, said that there were two opportunities for
international broadcasters in Europe – those aimed at
‘elite Europeans’, with services covering news, business
and cultural themes, and others focused on ‘popular
culture’ providing genres such as sport, music and
cartoons. He said that broadcasters had to be realistic
in their aspirations and allow for factors such as national
versus international tastes, the existence of strong
national competitors and language barriers. Gane added
that latest research revealed that 10% of the top
European market sector watched international
television channels, and that pan-European television
had an 11% share of all television viewing.
