6 September 2012
Deutsche Welle’s new science and technology show is produced
in Hindi and will be aired for the first time in India on September 8.
Deutsche Welle (DW) launches its first television series in Hindi on September 8. “Manthan” will focus on science, technology, the environment and medicine and will be aired every Saturday at 10:30 a.m. on Doordarshan National (DD-1) – the flagship channel of India’s national broadcaster and the most widely available terrestrial television channel in India.
“This is a milestone for DW in India,” said Petra Schneider, DW’s Director of Sales and Distribution. “We have been offering news content in Hindi for nearly 50 years now and providing television programming with a local emphasis was a logical next step.”
Manthan is produced by DW’s Hindi team in Bonn and will cover all aspects of science and technology – with a special focus on the latest developments in
Germany and Europe. The show anchor is Isha Bhatia from Chandigarh.
In addition to presenting the latest scientific developments, the Manthan team will also report on the different aspects of everyday life in Germany and comment on
the sometimes surprising differences between Germany and India. Multimedia content from the series will also be available online at DW’s Hindi website, www.dw.de/hindi, as well as being distributed by DW’s online partners.
Doordarshan is India’s public broadcaster with more than 26 satellite channels and 1,135 local terrestrial transmitting stations. It provides television services to
more than 140 million homes in India. In addition, the DD DTH platform, a free-to-air service, is received in more than 10 million households. DW – the 24/7 English news and information channel of Deutsche Welle is also available on this platform.
In late 2011, Tripurari Sharan and Erik Bettermann, the Directors General of Doordarshan and Deutsche Welle signed a comprehensive partnership agreement to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the field of television.
6 September 2012
RRsat Global Communications Network Ltd. (NASDAQ: RRST), a leading provider of comprehensive content management and global distribution services to the television and radio broadcasting industries, announced today that during the last months it has signed several contracts with TV and radio channels for the distribution to and from Africa, via AMOS-5, the satellite launched in December 2011 by Spacecom.
RRsat’s platforms on the AMOS-5 satellite feature two steerable Ku-band beams, Ku-1 and Ku-3, covering Africa with connectivity to Europe and the Middle East and supporting multiple transponders.
“We see a growing demand for Direct-to-Home (DTH) solutions to Africa”, said Lior Rival, VP Sales and Marketing of RRsat. “Africa is a diverse and vibrant market for DTH providers, representing both a great opportunity and a great challenge for us. We are providing leading TV and radio channels the opportunity to reach this continent with a huge population. RRsat has expanded its sales force for this region, and we see good opportunities for continuing growth.”
About RRsat Global Communications Network Ltd.
RRsat Global Communications Network Ltd. (NASDAQ: RRST) provides global, end-to-end, content management and distribution services to the rapidly expanding television and radio broadcasting industries, covering more than 150 countries. Through its RRsat Global Network, composed of satellite and terrestrial fiber optic capacity and the public Internet, RRsat provides high-quality and flexible global distribution services 24/7 to more than 630 channels reaching multiplatform operators, Internet TV and direct-to-home viewers worldwide and also offers occasional use services for sports, news and events with a fleet of flyaways and over 10 transportable satellite news gathering services (SNG) units. More than 130 television and radio channels use RRsat’s advanced production and playout centers comprising comprehensive media asset management services. www.rrsat.com
3 September 2012
The Broadcasting Board of Governors has called upon the Syrian government to ensure the safety of two of its journalists who were reportedly seized by Syrian forces on Monday, August 20.
Alhurra correspondent Bashar Fahmi and his cameraman, Cuneyt Unal, were reporting from Aleppo when they went missing. A video posted on YouTube by the Free Syrian Army announced that the journalists were detained by Syrian authorities.
It was reported that Fahmi and Unal were traveling with Japanese journalist Mika Yamamoto of Japan Press. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Yamamoto was killed Monday, August 20 inAleppo, where she was covering clashes between Syrian troops and rebels.
“The safety and well-being of these two journalists is of paramount concern to us, and we strongly urge Syrian authorities to ensure their safe return,” said Michael Meehan, a member of the BBG Board and Chairman of the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc. (MBN).
MBN, a non-profit corporation, operates Alhurra and is financed by the U.S. Government through a grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG). The BBG is an independent federal agency which serves as a firewall to protect the professional independence and integrity of the U.S. international broadcasters, including MBN.
28 August 2012
Regional broadcaster, Channel NewsAsia has extended its distribution to Myanmar with its latest signing for carriage with Pay TV operator, Sky Net.
MediaCorp’s Channel NewsAsia signed an agreement in Yangon today with Shwe Than Lwin Media Co. Ltd, which owns Sky Net, a Direct-to-Home (DTH) and Multiplay Service (MPS) provider, with more than 40 local and international channels. The signing ceremony, held at the Chatrium Hotel, was attended by MediaCorp CEO, Mr Shaun Seow, Deputy CEO, Mr Chang Long Jong, Singapore’s Ambassador to Myanmar, His Excellency Mr Robert Chua and Shwe Than Lwin Media’s Chairman, Mr U Kyaw Win. Also in attendance were members of the diplomatic corp and government officials.
Channel NewsAsia’s Managing Director, Ms Debra Soon says, “With Myanmar opening its doors to the world, Channel NewsAsia is privileged to be able to share its unique offering of news and information programmes with the people in Myanmar. As we gear up to take Channel NewsAsia “live” 24 hours from January 2013, we would be reporting even more out of the region. Over the past decade, the channel has been documenting all that is significant in Asia. Being a voice in Myanmar is a step in the right direction. As we embark on the next phase of our growth, we are delighted to partner Sky Net for an important sector in Myanmar.”
Channel NewsAsia will be carried on Sky Net’s Channels 40 and 20 of its DTH and IPTV platforms respectively.
Channel NewsAsia is also available on Forever Group’s MRTV- 4 International platform in Myanmar.
28 August 2012
SatLink Communications Ltd., a leading teleport and HD Playout Centre delivering content to every corner of the world, has today announced the upgrade of their MCPC platform on the premium AsiaSat 5 satellite to DVB-S2. This upgrade will allow International HD, SD & 3D channels to be distributed more cost effectively on Asia’s prime satellite that provides access to 620 million households and hotels in the fast growing Asian market.
The new DVB-S2 platform, which utilises SatLink’s full C-band transponder on AsiaSat 5, will deliver higher throughput and greater bandwidth efficiency, enabling customers to benefit from high quality, cost effective content contribution and distribution solutions to and from the Asia Pacific. AsiaSat 5, at 100.5 ºE, has established a premium international TV neighbourhood and extensive penetration into over 50 countries across Asia, including two of the world’s largest TV markets China and India. Top tier international and national broadcasters are utilising SatLink’s capabilities on AsiaSat 5 to distribute programmes to Asian free to air, Pay-TV and terrestrial markets. News channels and content providers including Thomson Reuters TV, Associated Press, euronews, France 24 as well as other leading International channels such as DayStar Network, Luxe HD, Trace HD and major sporting events are delivered to Asia via SatLink’s teleport.
William Wade, President and CEO of AsiaSat, said: “The introduction of a more efficient DVB-S2 platform on AsiaSat 5 by our teleport partner SatLink is an important move to meet the growing demand for more cost effective end to end transmission services from international broadcasters who are expanding into the rapidly growing Asian market. We are pleased to work with SatLink to continue to provide innovative and comprehensive services to broadcasters through this new DVB-S2 platform.”
David Hochner, SatLink’s CEO commented: “Providing the gateway between East and West, this upgrade will enable broadcasters and content providers to deliver content from Europe, Africa, Middle East and Americas directly to Asia in one hop from our strategic location. Not only will customers benefit from greater bandwidth efficiency but also complete end-to-end broadcasting services including localisation of content via our HD playout centre, live insertions, time delay and encryption (CA) services. This upgrade will be instrumental in providing a high quality level of service and flexibility to broadcasters and channels alike as they look for a partner to deliver rich media content to access all major Pay-TV platforms across the Asia-Pacific region.”
SatLink will also be exhibiting its capabilities including its newly acquired HD Playout Centre, Asia, Africa and Latin American outreach at the IBC conference in Amsterdam, 7th-11th September on Stand A.21 in Hall 5.
