12 June 2014
Record breaking audience figures have made the 2014 French Open the best ever on Eurosport.
The tournament attracted an average live audience of 1.36 million European viewers* on Eurosport, a rise of 17% on the 2012 tournament, which held the previous record.
Maria Sharapova’s victory over Simona Halep was the most watched women’s tennis match in Eurosport’s history with an average live audience of 3.8m viewers (+ 24% vs 2012 WTA Miami final Radwanska – Sharapova, previous best match).
The men’s final which saw Rafael Nadal triumph for the 9th time at Roland Garros was the best ever French Open final on Eurosport with over 4.1m viewers in Europe and the second best ever tennis match on the channel, just behind the 2012 Australian Open final Nadal – Djokovic (4,3m).
This year’s French Open saw the highest live average audience rises vs 2013 in Romania and Spain (both +128%), UK (+79%) and France (+49%). Eurosport’s strategy of exclusivities in key markets such as Spain contributed to these figures alongside the performances of national heroes like Simona Halep, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray coupled with line-up Eurosport’s own world class consultants such as Mats Wilander, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Marion Bartoli and Henri Leconte.
Eurosport also achieved great success in audience reach for the tournament. A total of 60.7 million different European viewers tuned in vs 58.8m in 2013 – making it the second best ever Grand Slam reach on Eurosport and Eurosport 2, narrowly behind the 61.2m record (2012 French Open).
Eurosport’s in-house production made a key contribution to the event’s on-air success too. The exclusive daily live show “Game, Set and Mats”, hosted by Mats Wilander in evening primetime, reached 22.5m different viewers throughout the tournament, +17% vs 2013.
Online, over 1.3m daily users** visited the French Open section of Eurosport’s websites on the web and on mobile.
Jean-Thierry Augustin, Eurosport Group CEO, said: “To have the best-ever French Open this year is a fantastic achievement for the whole Eurosport team. The strategy to identify and secure exclusivity in specific European markets on key properties has delivered the expected results. The French Open is definitely one of those key properties. Our on-air coverage has been excellent and clearly matched viewers expectations who enjoyed some incredible tennis and great analysis from our experts. It is especially pleasing to achieve this record in our 25th year, which also marks the 25th broadcast of the French Open on our channels.”
Audience key figures at a glance:
– Best ever French Open on Eurosport in average live audience: 1.36m viewers (+17% vs 2012)
– Best ever women’s tennis match on Eurosport: 3.8m viewers for the final Sharapova – Halep
– Best ever French Open men’s final on Eurosport: 4.1m viewers
– +128% in average live audience both in Romania and Spain, +79% in the UK, +49% in France, compared to the 2013 tournament
– Second best ever Grand Slam reach on Eurosport and Eurosport 2 with 60.7m viewers throughout the tournament
*Sources: AGF/GfK, BARB, SKO, MMS, TNS-Gallup, Kantar Media, AGB NMR, Armadata/Kantar- Techedge
**Sources: comScore/Digital Analytix duplicated audience (web + mobile)
12 June 2014
Intelsat S.A., leading provider of satellite services, today announced that the world’s leading news and sports programmers are using Intelsat’s global satellite services and IntelsatOneSM terrestrial network to televise the 2014 World Cup being held in Brazil beginning 12 June 2014 through 13 July 2014.
Intelsat’s global satellite fleet will support contribution services within Brazil and distribution of the World Feed to the Americas. Intelsat will also support the contribution, distribution and fiber back-up demands of sports and news organizations in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa on an ad-hoc basis using Intelsat’s occasional use service pool. The satellite services provided complement existing full-time capacity arrangements used by sports and news organizations for news coverage emanating from the region.
Programmers have also committed to approximately 500 MHz of capacity reserved on seven satellites for full-time services for the duration of the games, which will be used to distribute the World Cup matches throughout the Americas and Europe. The seven satellites include: Galaxy 19 located at 97.0° West; Intelsat 1R located at 310° East; Intelsat 11 located at 317° East; Intelsat 805 located at 304.5° East; Intelsat 901 located at 342° East; Intelsat 23 at 307° East and Intelsat 21 at 302° East. These satellites offer optimal coverage and power to meet the diverse requirements of media customers from around the world who are covering this event.
The global media companies, programmers, direct-to-home (DTH) providers and content distribution partners that are relying on Intelsat’s satellite network infrastructure to deliver the World Cup to their viewers include Televisa, TV Azteca, OTI, Univision, DIRECTV Latin America, TV Globo, ESPN Brazil, Fox Brasil, Megavision, Andina de Radiodifusion, Globecast, Overon America, Canal 13, Arsat TVN Chile, FF Work, Softbank for TV Asahi, British Media Communications for the British Broadcasting Company (BBC), and in addition the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) is using Intelsat 805 capacity to distribute the World Feed to the Americas.
“Intelsat excels at bringing the world together to share in some of the most exciting moments in modern history. From the 1968 Olympics in Mexico to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, the Intelsat network has delivered many of Latin America’s most exciting sporting events to the rest of the world, “stated Peter Ostapiuk, Intelsat’s Vice President, Media Product Management. “As we mark our fiftieth anniversary in 2014, we are proud once again to support the world’s leading sports and news programmers as we connect billions of people from around the globe with what promises to be some of this summer’s most exciting television.”
In addition to satellite capacity, Intelsat is providing teleport services and fiber connectivity through its IntelsatOne terrestrial network in the United States and in Brazil through its alliance with BT’s GMN fiber network and media PoP in Rio de Janeiro. The company also worked closely with customers and partners to secure the appropriate regulatory and licensing approval needed to support capacity and broadcast services from Brazil.
In total, Intelsat expects to transmit approximately 50,000 plus hours of live coverage during the duration of the World Cup, making it one of the largest events in history in terms of coverage hours. For the full-year 2013, Intelsat had 100,000 occasional use bookings for special events, sports and news broadcasts around the world. (Source: Press release)
29 May 2014
As authorities in Thailand take key national and international channels off air in the country, BBC World Service has increased its shortwave English-language radio broadcasts to Thailand, to continue the delivery of its independent news and analysis to audiences there.
From 01:00 GMT on Monday 26 May, BBC World Service expanded its availability via shortwave to Thailand by adding ten hours of broadcasts to its daily shortwave schedule (all times GMT):
01:00-03:00 on 11600 kHz
03:00-05:00 on 7370 kHz
05:00-11:00 on 11700 kHz
Acting Director, BBC World Service Group, Liliane Landor says: “In times of national crisis, there is an acute need for accurate, trusted and impartial news. This is why, with our international TV news channel off the air in Thailand, we have increased BBC World Service radio broadcasts in the country.”
The above transmissions add to BBC World Service’s six hours of shortwave broadcasts at peak times for Thailand. (Source: BBC press release)
29 May 2014
The Board of the African Media Initiative (AMI) has appointed Mr. Eric Chinje, a Cameroonian national, as the new Chief Executive Officer of AMI. Mr. Chinje’s appointment is for a 3-year term beginning July 1, 2014. He will be expected to build on the successes of his predecessor, Mr. Amadou M. Ba, by:
- Strengthening the role of AMI in improving the quality of media in Africa;
- reinforcing the financial base of the Initiative;
- Liaising with regional and global media institutions to improve the quality of media support interventions on the continent;
- Strengthening management, leadership and professionalism in the African media sector and
- Helping African media houses embrace technology to cultivate new revenue streams and enhance sustainability.
Dr Roukaya Kasenally has been appointed acting CEO until Mr Chinje assumes his new position.
Eric Chinje brings stellar journalism, communications and development experience along with valuable management skills and an unalloyed commitment to Africa’s development.
Mr. Chinje is currently Senior Advisor with the Washington, DC-based International Communications and Trade Relations firm, KRL International, where he has been providing high-level, strategic communications advice to the Governments of Liberia and South Sudan among others. He came to KRL after a stint as Director of Strategic Communications at the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, London.
Eric Chinje was chosen for the wide experience he brings to the position. A veteran broadcaster, Chinje was Head of News and Programs and Editor-in-Chief of Cameroon Television and, at various times from 1984- 1991, a contributing correspondent for CNN World Report, and a stringer for the BBC World Service, Voice of America, and Deutsche Welle Radio.
Mr. Chinje spent over 16 years at the World Bank in Washington, DC and held senior management positions, including leading the Global Media Development Program at the World Bank Institute (WBI) and as Manager of the Africa Region Strategic Communications (AFRSC) Unit where he oversaw a team of over 80 communication professionals located across Sub-Saharan Africa. He was the Bank’s Spokesperson on African affairs.
Keenly interested in the issues of governance, Mr. Chinje’s signature achievement was the launch of the Independent Media for Accountability, Governance and Empowerment (IMAGE) program that ran a series of journalism capacity-building workshops on Economics and Business Reporting, Investigative Journalism, Covering the Budget, Reporting on Agriculture and others, reaching over 2000 journalists in Africa and Asia. He also served as Vice Chair of the World Bank/International Monetary Fund Africa Club from 1996–2002.
Between 2004 and 2008, Mr. Chinje was Head of External Affairs and Communications at the African Development Bank, working at the AfDB temporary headquarters in Tunis.
Mr. Chinje is currently a Visiting Scholar at the George Mason University in Virginia, USA. He received a BA (Honors) from the University of Yaounde, Cameroon (1977), an MSc in Telecommunications from the Newhouse School of Communications, Syracuse University (1981), and was a Fellow for International and Intercultural Communications at the Center for International Affairs, Harvard University (1991). (Source: AMI press release)
28 May 2014
SES today announced the introduction of its latest satellite broadband technologies at the international eLearning Africa conference this week in Kampala, Uganda.
The SES affiliate SES Broadband Services, the Eichstätt-lngolstadt University in Germany and the Permanent Centre for Education of Uganda have partnered for an exclusive demonstration of a live streamed e-learning session and a new satellite Wi-Fi hot spot service.
The demonstrations will see Eichstätt-lngolstadt University in Munich connected live to Kampala via satellite to show the features of the virtual classroom through a satellite connection between teachers and pupils. SES Broadband Services will also launch its new Wi-Fi hot spot service.
“We are continuing to strengthen strategic partnerships with educational content and solution providers such as Teachers Media International (TMI) to offer unparalleled reach in African rural areas. The SES Broadband Services’ solution allows connectivity services at affordable prices, fast deployment and full coverage of large and dispersed areas,” said Patrick Biewer, Managing Director of SES Broadband Services. ”Other advantages are a low power consumption through solar powered equipment, and the ability to integrate creative learning and web-based tools.”
“The new Wi-Fi hot spot service could truly change the lives of African people who live in more rural areas allowing more flexible pricing models and service capabilities,” continues Biewer. “We are committed to helping economic and sustainable growth in developing regions by innovating constantly to bridge the digital divide.”
The eLearning Africa conference is taking place between 28 and 30 May in the Uganda capital Kampala. For more see: www.elearning-africa.com.
