23 August 2012
As part of the major expansion of its offer for African audiences, the BBC has announced the launch of its first ever TV news and current-affairs programme in Kiswahili, Dira ya Dunia (World Compass). From Monday, 27 August, BBC World Service’s partner TV stations – Star TV in Tanzania and QTV in Kenya – will broadcast BBC Swahili’s Dira ya Dunia, bringing the viewers 30 minutes of latest global news and analysis from the world’s leading international broadcaster.
Aired Monday to Friday, Dira ya Dunia will supplement Star TV’s and QTV’s programming with news coverage underpinned by the BBC’s global news services, giving audiences access to world-class news content. The programme also draws on the BBC’s strong presence across the continent, with correspondents in 48 African countries, bringing their regional insights and expertise to Kiswahili-speaking TV viewers.
BBC Swahili’s flagship radio programme, Dira ya Dunia, is a household name for millions of listeners in East and Central Africa as well as the diaspora audiences. With the launch of the new TV news programme of the same title, the BBC is further strengthening its offer, showcasing the BBC Swahili journalism talent – London-based presenters Salim Kikeke and Charles Hilary, output editor Mariam Omar, as well as reporters based in Burundi, DR Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and the UK.
BBC Swahili Editor, Ali Saleh, says: “With the launch of Dira ya Dunia on TV, we are responding to the huge switch in news consumption across Africa we have been witnessing lately, and to the needs of our audience. As we report and analyse regional and global news stories, be it politics, economy, business or culture, Dira ya Dunia wants to be free of clichés often associated with the African news coverage and will deliver BBC journalism in a dynamic and engaging style, based on our long-standing principles of independence, accuracy and unbiased reporting.”
The main presenter of Dira ya Dunia, Salim Kikeke, adds: “I feel privileged and honoured to be part of BBC Swahili’s move to TV broadcasting. We’ve put a huge effort into this project, and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. I hope very much that this new TV programme will soon become essential viewing for audiences across East and Central Africa.”
The unveiling of Dira ya Dunia is part of a range of major new programming launched by the BBC this year for Africa, on TV and on radio. It follows the recent launch of the BBC’s first ever dedicated English-language TV news programme for the continent, Focus on Africa, which is also available via Star TV in Tanzania and now on NTV in Kenya. In July, days before the opening of the Olympic Games in London, BBC World Service launched Newsday – a flagship radio programme aimed largely at the breakfast audience in Africa.
BBC Africa Editor, Solomon Mugera, comments: “Over decades of multilingual broadcasting to Africa, the BBC has forged unique relations with radio audiences across the continent, telling the African story to the world and bringing the world to Africa. The BBC’s growing multimedia offer is evidence of its deep roots and knowledge of the continent. As we embark on this new journey, we are really excited to be partnering with some of the leading broadcasters in the region.”
BBC Dira ya Dunia will be broadcast Monday to Friday, at 21.00 local time on Star TV in Tanzania and at 23.00 on QTV in Kenya. It also will be available for viewing via the BBC Swahili website, bbcswahili.com.
The BBC made its first broadcast to Africa more than 80 years ago. The combined audience on radio and television makes the BBC the largest international broadcaster in Africa.
20 August 2012
Panasonic Systems Communications Company Europe (PSCEU), today announced the world’s first lamp free projector with Digital Link connection. With 20,000 hours of life for the light source, wide installation flexibility and professional features, the PT-RZ470/RZ370 is a new era of reliable projectors.
The conventional lamp has been replaced by LED and laser diodes, which are boosted by Panasonic’s proprietary technology to offer long lasting high brightness of more than 3,000 lm. The first instalment of Panasonic’s lamp free projectors will be offered in two separate series: PT-RZ470 and PT-RZ370 Series. Each series will be offered in two different resolutions, 1080p (1920 x 1080) and WXGA (1,280 x 800).
Designed for educational institutions and professional applications such as museums and digital signage, the PT-RZ470 and RZ370 replaces older projectors still using filter cleaning. The new models offer approximately 20,000 hours of light source operation and provide unsurpassed maintenance reliability from Panasonic. The durability is further supported by the 1-chip DLP™ imaging device. The projectors have a long lasting, high brightness and high picture quality thanks to Panasonic’s optical engineering accuracy and cooling efficiency. The RZ470 Series goes even further delivering a more than 20,000:1 contrast ratio for superb black and detail definition.
The PT-RZ470 and RZ370 are equipped with Panasonic’s proprietary Daylight View technology, where a built in ambient light sensor helps maintain the image quality in changing environmental conditions. In addition, with a vivid and wide colour range, the projector is ideally suited to use in brightly lit rooms. DICOM Simulation mode is also equipped for use in medical training applications2.
Total cost of ownership is important, especially in educational applications. From the time of installation these projectors offer an exceptional total cost of ownership, from the long lasting light source, to the 2x zoom and exceptionally wide lens shift range, which allows the user to easily replace installations without having to reposition the existing universal ceiling mounts.
The PT-RZ470 series supports 360 degrees installation and portrait mode projection. No intricate mirror is necessary to realise these special projections, changing and expanding the way projectors can be used in different applications.
The two series will be available through authorised Panasonic resellers starting from 2012 Q4 and 2013 Q1.
Specifications are tentative and subject to change without notice.
For more information on Panasonic professional projectors, please visit http://panasonic.net/avc/projector/
20 August 2012
SatLink Communications Ltd., a leading teleport and HD Playout Centre delivering content to every corner of the world, has today announced its partnership with Telesat, a premiere global satellite services operator, to deliver TV programming to Latin America on a new Ku-band MCPC DVB-S2 platform utilising Telesat’s Telstar 12 satellite. This new service will provide international broadcasters the means to cost effectively distribute HD & SD channels from EMEA directly to the growing Latin American Pay TV market and to North American East Coast media ports.
Located at 15 degrees West, Telstar 12 is one of the most sought after satellites for connecting Europe and the Middle East to theAmericas. It supports Latin American Pay TV platforms and also carries local and international TV channels directly to broadcast markets in theAmericas. The new DVB-S2 platform offers powerful wide beam coverage toLatin Americaand the East Coast of North America enabling a cost-effective solution for video contribution to these regions.
As a global provider of satellite transmission and broadcast services, SatLink offers full end-to-end solutions to broadcasters including channel localisation, content management and encryption (conditional access) solutions. SatLink also works with local partners inLatin Americato assist clients with studios, editing rooms, dubbing, local content rights, and regulations.
“The launch of this DVB-S2 platform on Telstar 12 is an exciting development for our customers and an example of the types of innovative approaches Telesat is using to serve the Latin American market,” said Nigel Gibson, Vice President International Sales for Telesat. “The partnership between SatLink and Telesat offers broadcasters a number of key advantages for delivering SD and HD content to the region’s rapidly growing Pay-TV markets. We are very pleased to have completed this agreement with SatLink and look forward to establishing our new platform as a premiere solution forLatin America.”
David Hochner, SatLink’s CEO commented: “The Latin American market is growing at a rapid rate and as a result broadcasters and TV Channels within the region are seeking more HD content directly from European and Middle Eastern sources to enrich the viewer’s experience. By building this new DVB-S2 platform on Telstar 12, SatLink is able to cost effectively transmit and distribute content from Europe and theMiddle Eastdirectly into Latin American Pay-TV markets, expanding both revenues and audience reach. This is a new route to high growth markets that broadcasters and channel content providers should consider today.”
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.
www.satlink.tv
16 August 2012
Wildfires, severe weather, civil unrest, terrorist attacks, global sporting and human interest events are just some of the breaking news stories broadcasters need to bring to viewers. But sending camera crews to news hot spots, especially in remote locations, can be difficult, costly and even dangerous. Vizrt recently launched a new service called DigitalGlobe Online that gives Vizrt customers access to DigitalGlobe’s vast satellite imagery library. Part of the DigitalGlobe Online service is FirstLook, a faster, more cost-effective way to capture events from around the world.
As the name implies, Vizrt customers will get a “first look” at any digital satellite imagery captured by one of DigitalGlobe’s three commercial satellites. When an event happens globally, DigitalGlobe activates the service by tasking their constellation of satellites to the event location, taking new high-resolution images. Within hours these images are available to all DigitalGlobe Online customers with the option to purchase. Customers are sent notifications from Vizrt when an event collection is activated and can preview the collected content to decide if they want to purchase them.
Upon launch, the service was providing Vizrt’s DigitalGlobe Online customers with new images from the Olympics, a Typhoon in the Northwest Pacific and images from the Hungarian Grand Prix. Customers could also find images for older stories such as mudslides in Japan, wildfires in the American west and images from the civil unrest in Syria.
From within Vizrt systems—such as Viz World for branded, animated, template-based maps; Viz Trio for live graphics creation; Viz Weather; and Viz Artist for graphics and template design—customers can use search, purchase and incorporate FirstLook images into their own content.
Using Viz World 12.0’s map editing tools, including zoom, crop, pan, trim, or label, Vizrt artists can manipulate FirstLook satellite imagery to create animated maps. They can also string together images that DigitalGlobe satellites captured before, during and after an event to show how the situation progressed over time.
“With the launch of FirstLook into the Vizrt portfolio, we’re pleased to expand our relationship and partnership with DigitalGlobe,” said Petter Ole Jakobsen, CTO of Vizrt. “Not only is DigitalGlobe’s massive online library of satellite imagery accessible to our customers, FirstLook is now available providing a brand new service that addresses the need to show breaking news events as they unfold around the world.”
“Our collaboration with Vizrt is a natural fit for DigitalGlobe because television broadcasters are a primary market for our high-resolution digital satellite imagery,” said Andrea Bersan, international vice president at DigitalGlobe “Being first to air with valuable content is a key objective for any competitive broadcast news organization. For reports on perilous events, like a nuclear power plant accident or tsunami, FirstLook can give everyone a birds-eye view from the safety of an orbiting satellite.”
www.vizrt.com
16 August 2012
OASYS will demonstrate the latest features and functions of its automated playout software on Stand 8.B38C at IBC 2012.
Instant configuration changes will highlight the flexibility and versatility of the OASYS playout software, switching between eight different settings to emphasise the functions that can be performed with just a simple software setting change. This will allow for demonstrations of simple playout, complex branding, simulcasting, multiple channels in a box, time delay playout, multiple branded output, and multiple live inputs.
“Showing visitors a standard set-up that we can change live and on-the-fly is a great way to demonstrate the power and usability that a mature and well developedautomated playout solution can give them, and they are invariably astonished at the broad set of features we can actually provide, and how these can be tailored for the special needs of each broadcaster,” said Mark Errington, CEO, OASYS. “We offer a wide-ranging portfolio of playout configurations for different broadcast requirements, all of which are endlessly adaptable for the individual broadcaster, and all come with the rock-solid reliability and levels of support our clients have come to expect.”
OASYS will also introduce new features including subtitle setup improvements for SD and HD, and IP-based failover routing, while new modules for media connections and file management provide for a range of new functions including file playout from UNC paths, a wider range of IP streaming, and new file purging options.
