The Channel | 2002 | June

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the channel | 5
Europe, the Middle East, Asia, India and South Africa, facilitated spot feeds between
small antennae, allowing, for example, broadcasters in Hong Kong to provide services
to small expatriates in communities scattered in other areas within the footprint.
And Noel Matthews of Tandberg TV predicted that the digital revolution would next
move to content acquisition through the deployment of remote wireless cameras which
allowed greater freedom in the field, both for newsmen and outside broadcasts. .
The next session got down to the nitty-gritty by asking bluntly whether technology was
a panacea – or simply a pain in the neck.
Among the highlights was Peter Beardow, of 7E Communications, whose satellite phone
operation surely proved the axiom that being in the right place at the right time was
vital. He revealed that on the morning of September 13, as broadcasters scrambled to
deploy crews in Afghanistan, he sold £1.3m worth of the units, and had since seen them
become a standard part of the newsgatherer’s kit.
Bryan Girdler, of AP ENPS, claimed to be another
technology provider in the right groove, arguing that
with the journalist interface now in use in more than
400 sites, the strength of the product was that it
had been engineered for one reason only – to meet
newsroom needs.
TomWragg, a director of Autocue International, took
a more cautious approach, warning all broadcasters
that to avoid ordering systems that resulted in major
problems, they needed to work out their precise needs putting users first; to avoid
clashes between competing hardware providers; and to work instead with a trusted
supplier who would understood the full range of what was required to enhance efficiency
and reduce costs. He also warned that, to make full use of new kit, broadcasters must
adapt to its potential and discard outmoded working practices.
The focus switched in the next session to sources of finance in the new environment and
underscored four areas where new streams of making money were effectively being
tapped.
Stewart Nolan, a consultant with interactive content developer NeedleworkTV, warned
that, although interactive applications (iTV) were superficially attractive and beginning
to generate revenues, they were costly to develop, sometimes more so than the revenue
they generated.. He argued that the need was to ensure that iTV initiatives were in tune
with what viewers wanted.
Chris Moreton, of the interactive advertising agency Press Red, revealed results which
showed that an interactive campaign run on the Playjam games service had resulted in
a 21% increase in awareness.
George Twumasi, vice chair of the African Broadcast Network, said that his pan-Africa
service launched 18 months ago was beginning to work by providing audience-pulling
programmes to public service broadcasters – with ABN then selling the ad breaks
around them. He argued that there was huge potential through the deployment of
disciplined broadcasting principles because African television currently took just 1% of
the advertising cake (compared to 26% in the UK). Finally, Lee Roberts, of Virgin
Radio, said that the station was expanding its reach and revenues by selling its
distinctively-branded rock music format via the internet.
Richard Sambrook, the BBC’s director of news, opened the afternoon with a passionate
The inaugural conference of the AIB
Manchester, UK, 30 April 2002