14 January 2013
BSKYB, the largest UK pay-TV provider, began carrying RT in High Definition effective January 2013.
RT, the global international news network, has switched all of its English-language news broadcasting to High Definition format in December 2012, following the network’s move of its studios to a new, state of the art facility in Moscow.
RT was the third most watched news channel overall in the UK in Q3 2012 after BBC News and Sky News according to BARB, reaching 2.5 million viewers*. A survey by Kantar Media showed that UK viewers tune into RT over other channels due to its “different take on news from mainstream media”, “informative news coverage”, and its range of stories of interest to the audience.
BSkyB – British Sky Broadcasting – is the major UK and Ireland satellite platform, and has been carrying RT since 2006. In January 2013 it began carrying RT in HD.
“The switch to HD is an important step for our network, as HD delivery is not yet offered by many other major international news channels. It’s now up to the satellite and cable TV service providers to make the HD signal available to the viewers,” says Margarita Simonyan, RT’s editor in chief. “We’re very happy that thanks to BSkyB our UK audience can now enjoy the best RT programming in HD so soon after we completed the switch.”
RT is a global international news network that broadcasts in English, Arabic and Spanish from its studios in Moscow and Washington, DC, and is available to 550 million viewers worldwide. Pew Research Center’s 2012 study named RT, whose YouTube channel has passed 840 million views, as the largest provider of news video footage on the world’s largest video sharing platform. RT is the only Russian TV channel to garner two nominations for the prestigious Emmy International Award.
BSkyB operates the most comprehensive multi-channel, multi-platform television service in the UK and Ireland. Over 10.3 million households across the UK and Ireland enjoy an unprecedented choice of movies, news, entertainment, arts and sports channels. The Sky platform offers access to over 500 television and radio channels, plus up to 20Mb Broadband and free evening and weekend calls to UK Landlines with Sky Talk. In addition to their choice of Sky TV channels, all customers can receive more than 330 free-to-air television and radio channels and services.
*BARB Quarterly Reach Report- Quarter 3 2012 (BARB weeks 2293-2305) Individuals 4+ ( http://www.barb.co.uk/viewing/quarterly-channel-reach?_s=4 )
Source: RT press release
9 January 2013
The Broadcasting Board of Governors has just launched a transmitter in Misrata, providing Radio Sawa’s latest news and information to citizens in the northwestern Libyan city. The Misrata FM channel marks the third transmitter launched in Libya since the fall of former leader Moammar Gadhafi.
“Getting a clear signal into Libya is critical,” said André Mendes, the BBG’s Chief Information Officer and Chief Technology Officer. “We’re delighted that we’ve been able to complete the installation despite this period of uncertainty in Libya and now can reach a larger audience than ever before in this pivotal country.”
“Radio Sawa is the most popular radio network in the region and we expect that success to continue as the network grows in Libya. Listeners tune into Radio Sawa to hear all sides to the most important news stories of the day,” stated MBN President Brian Conniff. MBN manages and operates Radio Sawa.
The Radio Sawa network can now be heard in the three largest Libyan cities-99.1 FM in Misrata joins 106.6 FM in Tripoli and 88.1 FM in Benghazi.
Radio Sawa’s coverage of the clashes in Libya won a Silver Radio Award in the 2012 New York Festivals Radio Program & Promotion Awards®. The award-winning report covered the violence in Misrata during the fighting that led to the fall of Gadhafi, highlighting the courage and resilience of the city’s inhabitants who continued their fight for democracy in the face of death and destruction.
Recent surveys by international research companies such as ACNielsen show that Radio Sawa has a weekly reach of more than 13 million adults across the Middle East and North Africa. Radio Sawa is operated by the non-profit corporation, the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc. (MBN). MBN is financed by the U.S. government through a grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors, an independent federal agency. The BBG provides oversight and serves as a firewall to protect the professional independence and integrity of the broadcasters.
8 January 2013
Fresh from announcing important new distribution deals in the US and Burma, the BBC’s international television news channel, BBC World News, is unveiling a dramatic new look next week when it re-launches from new studios in central London. The channel will feature a refreshed line-up of programmes and presenters, and will be investing heavily in additional newsgathering capacity around the world.
From 12:00 GMT on Monday January 14th the channel will be broadcast from new state of the art High Definition studios in the BBC’s new London headquarters, the redeveloped Broadcasting House. BBC World News is the first English language channel to go live from the new building.
BBC World News journalists will be at the heart of ‘the world’s newsroom’ where the BBC’s UK and international journalism teams have come together to provide output across digital, radio and television and 27 different languages, reaching an audience of 239 million people around the world each week. Eventually, 6,000 people – more than a quarter of all BBC staff – will be based in Broadcasting House, one of the world’s largest broadcast complexes.
The channel will also debut new on air talent including Yalda Hakim, one of Australia’s brightest international journalists, who has joined the channel as a current affairs correspondent and presenter for a new weekly current affairs programme. BBC World News has also announced that long time BBC News presenter and reporter Jon Sopel is joining the channel to present Global with Jon Sopel, a new weekday international news programme.
From 14th January, BBC World News’ core weekday programming will include:
- Newsday (00:00, 01:00, 23:00 GMT)
- HARDtalk with Stephen Sackur (04:30, 09:30, 14:30, 21:30 GMT)
- GMT with George Alagiah (12:00 GMT)
- Impact with Mishal Husain (13:00 GMT)
- Global with Jon Sopel (15:00 GMT)
- BBC Focus on Africa(17:30 GMT)
- World News Today with Zeinab Badawi (19:00 GMT)
- Business Edition with Tanya Beckett (21:00 GMT)
- BBC World NewsAmerica(23:30 GMT)
Richard Porter, Controller of English for BBC Global News said: “BBC World News is kicking off the new year with an entirely new look and feel. From virtual reality capability to full HD production, new presenters and a programming line-up that goes from strength to strength, BBC World News audiences will have access to not only the best, most dynamic journalism in the world, but also the latest technology to enhance storytelling and bring viewers inside the stories that shape our world.”
Jim Egan, COO of BBC Global News Ltd said: “This re-launch marks the biggest change for BBC World News in at least a decade and is part of a sustained commitment by the BBC to build on our long history of delivering high quality international news by enhancing our TV and digital offers to viewers, advertisers and distribution partners. We aspire to be recognised as the world’s best international news provider and will be making a series of investments this year to support that ambition.”
More information including an embeddable promo on the studio launch is available on the BBC Media Centre website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/worldnews/wn-studios-launch.html.
8 January 2013
YahLive, the Abu Dhabi, UAE-based HD television satellite platform for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, and GlobeCast, a leading content management and delivery company, today announced a new partnership in which GlobeCast will provide YahLive with a 24/7 monitoring and reporting service for YahLive’s satellite signals (video, audio, and data) across the MENA region.
As part of YahLive’s ongoing Customer Excellency (Customer First) program, GlobeCast’s around-the-clock, real-time monitoring and detection services will enhance YahLive’s quality control, maintenance, and incidence response capabilities for its growing channel bouquet.
The local monitoring and reporting initiatives will be done by GlobeCast at Jordan Media City (JMC), inAmman,Jordan. GlobeCast’s global reach and JMC’s regional presence will result in detailed reporting that combines local expertise with global capabilities. GlobeCast is a subsidiary of the France Telecom-Orange group.
The agreement was signed by Georges Baroud, CEO of GlobeCast Middle East, and Mohamed Youssif, CEO of YahLive.
Commenting on the new partnership, Youssif said:
“As the region’s HD television satellite platform, YahLive has become synonymous with ‘Pure HD’ and the company that is spearheading MENA’s SD-to-HD conversion in response to the accelerated demand for premium-quality HD television — partnering with global leaders like GlobeCast ensures that we deliver on our number one commitment to television viewers and broadcast partners — to provide the best in service reliability, quality, and customer service.”
“Our solution offers YahLive the scalability and flexibility needed to meet its demands,” said Baroud. “GlobeCast is the first and only broadcast service provider to offer externalized monitoring services in theMiddle East. In building this monitoring center, we were searching for an integrated system that could do everything a channel needed. Broadcasters are concerned about their quality of service and are looking for professionals to help them.”
YahLive’s mission is to address the rapidly growing HD television demand across the MENA region. It is a strategic joint venture between Al Yah Satellite Communications (Yahsat), and SES, one of the world’s most prominent satellite broadcasting companies. Starting operations less than one year ago, YahLive has already created an exclusive HD bouquet of more than 40 quality channels including GEM Sports TV, Russia Al Youm, Abu Dhabi TV, MBC, Cartoon Network Arabic, and Saudi TV. By year-end 2012, YahLive’s bouquet increased to 50 channels.
GlobeCast operates over a dozen teleports worldwide, delivering the equivalent of 1,000 television and radio channels. The company used its extensive knowledge and experience in the broadcast industry to develop this 24/7 monitoring center, which will provide robust and secure service for clients in the region including satellite operators, broadcasters, and TV channels. This service is part of a catalog of value-added services that GlobeCast has tested in its centers worldwide and is now beginning to implement in theMiddle East.
4 January 2013
Japanese public broadcaster NHK will present the latest iteration of its Super Hi-Vision system at the 2013 NAB Show. It will be featured in the new “NAB Labs Futures Park,” a section of the NAB Show exhibition floor reserved for broadcast-related research and development projects from around the world.
Established in 2009 as the “International Research Park,” the NAB Labs Futures Park will feature high-profile media technologies in development chosen by NAB Labs for presentation to the broad international audience at NAB Show.
A highlight of the 2013 Futures Park will be NHK’s Super Hi-Vision demonstration. It will feature a presentation theater for viewing the system’s 8k video and 22.2-multichannel sound (including content recorded in cooperation with the Olympic Broadcasting Service and the BBC at the London 2012 Olympic Games).
The system’s 7680 x 4320 video format provides 16 times the number of pixels as HDTV, for stunning clarity and an immersive visual experience. Meanwhile, the system’s massive multichannel audio system produces unprecedented immersion into a 3D sound space for viewers located anywhere within a large viewing area.
Besides the presentation in the theater, NHK will also show for the first time outside Japan the real-time, over-the-air transmission and reception of Super Hi-Vision broadcasts, using two UHF television channels.
NHK also plans to show its latest developments in production technology for the system, including a 120 Hz Super Hi-Vision camera, as well as the first compact Super Hi-Vision camera suitable for robust mobile use, and a 22.2 multichannel sound production system. The interactive capabilities of a converged broadband/broadcast service will also be presented in a demonstration of the NHK “Hybridcast” system.
The NAB Labs Futures Park will present a number of other exciting developments in broadcast technology at the 2013 NAB Show. A complete list of presentations planned for the 2013 Futures Park will be announced soon.
About NAB Labs
Created in 2012, NAB Labs is a program of the National Association of Broadcasters that provides a platform for innovation, a venue for forging partnerships and testing new technology, and educational events to create awareness about over-the-air radio and television technology initiatives.
About NAB Show
NAB Show, held April 6-11, 2013 in Las Vegas, is the world’s largest electronic media show covering filmed entertainment and the development, management and delivery of content across all mediums. With more than 90,000 attendees from 151 countries and 1,600+ exhibitors, NAB Show is the ultimate marketplace for digital media and entertainment. From creation to consumption, across multiple platforms and countless nationalities, NAB Show is home to the solutions that transcend traditional broadcasting and embrace content delivery to new screens in new ways. Complete details are available at www.nabshow.com.
