5 June 2012
Voice of America English teaching programs will soon air on Burmese state radio under the terms of a breakthrough agreement reached Tuesday in the capital, Naypyitaw.
VOA Director David Ensor, who signed the agreement with Thein Aung, Director General of Myanmar State Radio and Television, said the decision by Burma’s long-isolated government is “a small step, but one that is symbolically important.”
Speaking after the signing ceremony, Ensor predicted that “many Burmese will enjoy learning English through VOA programs, and we hope this will lead to bigger things in the future.”
During his visit, Ensor also held talks with Minister of Information Kyaw San, who expressed his support for greater access to the country, including issuing multiple entry visas for VOA reporters.
“The opportunity to provide our audience with firsthand, eyewitness reporting has become more important now, given the pace of change in the country,” said VOA Burmese Service Chief Than Lwin Htun.
“We commend the government of Burma for this important step in opening up its media landscape. We welcome the efforts to increase information access for the Burmese people,” said Michael Lynton, presiding governor of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees VOA.
Burma, which was renamed Myanmar by military rulers following the suppression of pro-democracy protests in 1988, has been liberalizing since late last year.
Voice of America’s Burmese Service, which provides news coverage on radio, television, Internet and mobile platforms, recently updated the format of its daily TV news magazine and has a wide variety of English language teaching programs and podcasts available.
Under the agreement signed Tuesday, Burma’s radio network will carry VOA’s four-minute feature report (see: http://learningenglish.voanews.com/podcast.html) three times weekly.
www.voanews.com
1 June 2012
Royal landmarks of London will come to life this summer through the video-rich “Diamond Jubilee Tour” iPhone app from AlwaysOnMessage and ITN Source.
Users will be guided on a GPS-enabled walking tour of 15 of London’s most important Royal locations. At each point, Royal fans will be transported to yesteryear as they watch relevant videos of iconic moments from ITN Source’s exclusive video archive. The videos are also available without completing the tour for those abroad.
Particular video highlights include seeing the pomp of last year’s Royal Wedding, the very young monarch feeding the ducks and playing in the gardens of Buckingham Palace from 1937 and King George VI giving a King’s Speech at Parliament in 1950.
The app is for iPhones and is available on the Apple App Store now in time for the Diamond Jubilee weekend and beyond. All footage has been supplied by ITN’s footage licensing arm, ITN Source, which has partnered with mobile agency AlwaysOnMessage in its first foray into providing archive footage for a mobile phone app.
The “Diamond Jubilee Tour” route starts at Westminster Abbey, where users can check in and share with friends on Facebook and Twitter that they are embarking on the tour. The nine mile route finishes at a mystery location, which could be described as the major Royal household. The tour takes about two and a half hours to complete but people short of time or energy can adapt the route or choose to skip particular locations.
“This is a unique and truly regal experience for any visitor to London during the Diamond Jubilee,” said Andy Williams, Acting Managing Director at ITN Source. “The archive footage that we have supplied brings London’s Royal history to life like never before.”
“I think it’s fantastic that we’ve brought new technology to such a historic and traditional event. We’ve worked hard to deliver an experience that makes the jubilee more accessible for people who can’t come to London to experience a very special moment in UK history. The iPhone combined with ITN Source content really brings the event to life,” Peter Swain, CEO AlwaysOnMessage.
Gordon Innes, CEO of London & Partners, the official promotional organisation of London, said, “Royal attractions are already hugely popular, drawing over 3 million visitors each year to the capital. Events like the Diamond Jubilee are a fantastic way to showcase these unique experiences and the Diamond Jubilee Tour app will help visitors learn even more about London’s rich royal history and heritage. The app is a great way of bringing London’s royal story to life by helping visitors to engage with all that the capital has to offer.”
This is the first app to be developed by AlwaysOnMessage using archive footage supplied by ITN Source. After the Diamond Jubilee celebrations, the app will be further developed for more platforms and multiple languages and become a comprehensive Royal Tour app of London, featuring greater functionality and more locations. ITN Source is also investigating other ideas of how its archive footage can be incorporated into themed or event-specific apps.
Full list of locations to be featured on “The Diamond Jubilee Tour” app:
· Westminster Abby
· St James Palace
· 17 Bruton Street
· Old War Office
· Victoria Embankment Gardens
· Victoria Embankment
· St Paul‘s Cathedral
· Millennium Bridge
· London Eye
· Jubilee Gardens
· Big Ben
· House of Parliament
· Horse Guards Parade
· Queens Gallery
· Secret Location – (The user will not see this until they have completed the tour)
www.itnsource.com
1 June 2012
TV audiences across the Eurosport Group rose by 11% in the first five months of 2012 compared to the same period in 2011.
In a TV landscape offering endless choice viewers are choosing Eurosport, attracted by its wealth of live action, expert analysis and high production values.
Despite increasing competition for consumers time and attention from both different genres and an increasing multi-screen home environment Eurosport has cut through to secure growing TV audiences.
All Eurosport TV channels performed strongly during the first five months of the year, with Eurosport’s average TV audience rising by 7% and Eurosport 2 generating an average TV audience rise of +37%.
Audiences have enjoyed hours of live action and strong production on TV so far in 2012 from the Africa Cup of Nations, Australian Open tennis Grand Slam, international cycling and the finale of the Winter Sports season as well as dedicated local content in specific markets such as MotoGP, Bundesliga, Davis Cup tennis.
The strongest growth in average TV audiences has been seen in Poland with a rise of 43% vs 2011. It is joined across the continent with +25% average TV audiences in Italy, +22% in France, +12% in Romania, +11% in Netherlands, +11% in UK and +9% in Sweden.
This has generated impressive reach of audience for the channel’s major TV events in 2012. The thrilling 2012 Australian Open Grand Slam attracted over 56.4M different TV viewers on Eurosport channels, this was closely followed by the Africa Cup of Nations which drew 56.3M different TV viewers. Snooker also made a positive contribution with over 47M different TV viewers for the 2012 World Championships.
Eurosport’s commitment to live action remains unrivalled with over 50% of the television schedule so far in 2012 dedicated to live content.
And the channel’s exceptional year of sport continues in the coming months with action currently from the French Open tennis at Roland Garros, followed by UEFA Euro 2012, Athletics European Championships, Tour de France, London 2012 Olympic Games and US Open tennis.
Eurosport Chairman & CEO Laurent Eric Le Lay said: “Today sports fan consumers have more content and many channels to choose from and they are in control. At Eurosport, we believe providing the best experience possible on TV to viewers is our mission. And that is why sports fans choose us. The figures prove it.”
“It is a credit to everyone at Eurosport that we can announce such a strong start to the year thanks to the strength of our live coverage and production around major events. 2012 is an exceptional year of sport and the coming months represent an unique period in sport so we look forward to welcoming even more fans to our TV channels and across the entire platform of Eurosport channels beyond TV to internet and on all devices.”
Figures were calculated on the period “2nd January 2012 – 27th May 2012”
Sources: AGF/GfK, BARB, SKO, MMS, TNS-Gallup, Kantar Media, AGB NMR, Armadata/Kantar, Auditel, Mediametrie – Techedge, Reach based on people watching a dedicated programme at least 60 seconds
www.eurosport.com
31 May 2012
On May 28th, the Association of Television Professionals from Romania (ATPR) presented their yearly awards. The MARELE PREMIU AL JURIULUI, or Grand Jury Prize, was awarded to ANTENA 3 for overall journalistic excellence.
When announcing the winner, Mircea Diaconu, the Minister of Culture, stated that the jury’s unanimous decision was based on ANTENA 3’s compelling reports, investigations and incisive analysis that made it “the TV station that held our interest all year long.”
In addition to the grand jury prize, ANTENA 3 received awards in 4 separate categories:
GRAND JURY PRIZE: ANTENA 3 (Hosts and programs cited): Mihai Gadea; Daily Summary, Alessandra Stoicescu; 100 Minutes, Radu Tudor; The Meeting Point, Oana Stancu and Adrian Ursu; Power & Position, Razvan Dumitrescu; Subjective, Adriana Ursu; Sequential. (This was the second year in a row that Mihai Gadea & Daily Summary was awarded APTR’s top prize.)
Jean Louis Calderon Award – Named in honor of the French Journalist who died in Bucharest during the 1989 revolution; this prestigious & special recognition was awarded to the team of reporters – Petre Nechita, Simona Botog and Carmina Othman – for their LIVE coverage of the demonstrations from Piata Universitatii (University Square) during January. (Although Petre Nechita was attacked and sustained a head injury he continued his broadcast until an ambulance arrived and took him to hospital.)
INVESTIGATIVE AWARD – Political reporter Ionut Cristache’s uncovered corruption that was happening in the General Secretary’s office. By the time Cristache had finished his reports, a corruption case was launched against Daniela Andreescu, Chief of the Government’s Secretary. Due in large part to the amount of press attention garnered from these reports, the Secretary was dismissed from her post by the Prime Minister.
IMAGE AWARD –Cristian Tamas, cameraman at In Premiera, for his unique camera work on “Pe un picior de iad” (“On the foot of hell).
BEST REPORTING AWARD – In Premiera; Romania’s most diverse, compelling and totally unique investigative show signed a light on everything from the trials of Romanians living abroad and struggling to find work, to the age-old customs of the Royal family, to an interview with a Romanian who owns ½ of an African country.
www.antena3.ro
31 May 2012
Grégory Samak, age 39, has joined the Management Committee of Europe’s leading international news channel. Michael Peters, Chairman of the Executive Board of Euronews, has put Mr Samak in charge of the World Broadcasting and Programme Marketing. His task is to give new momentum to the channel, its schedule and programmes on all media, thanks to his extensive experience in television other communication platforms. One of his first goals will be to showcase to a worldwide audience the high quality of the work done on a daily basis by the 450 journalists from 30 countries who produce the 11 language services of euronews, under the direction of Lucian Sârb.
Michael Peters, Chairman of the Executive Board, stated: “I am delighted to welcome Grégory Samak to Euronews and our management committee. His know-how in managing TV broadcasting and his experience with a range of media will bring new vitality to the channel and enhance the value of its content.
Grégory’s mission encompasses not only the on-air version of the channel but all of its media, since he will also be responsible for building greater synergies between the content base of the various digital platforms (the internet, smart TV, mobile applications, etc.) on a worldwide scale. He will greatly contribute to boosting our strategy to make the channel a global news hub.”
“I am very happy to join Euronews, the top international news channel in Europe, at a time when all media are seeing profound changes in their product offering and when international news has become so fast-paced,” claimed Grégory Samak.
“Euronews is a unique media in the field of news. It is intrinsically multicultural and thoroughly international, with a great variety of programmes. These three pillars give the channel a solid base to maintain its leadership in Europe and beyond. News is a highly competitive and ever-shifting field, but Euronews has what it takes to make the most of its product and reap the benefits of a broader impact on the global market,” he added.
About Grégory SAMAK
Grégory Samak began his career in 1998 with the specialised news channel ABC News, before moving on to AB Group. He became cabinet director for the chairman of the group, then head of the DTT project. During that time, he became Secretary General of the DTT Association and was then appointed managing director of the channel NT1. In the summer of 2005, he participated in the start-up of the specialised news channel BFM TV as deputy managing director in charge of broadcasting and administration. He was then appointed Secretary General of NextradioTV.
Grégory Samak graduated from Institut d’Etudes Politiques of Aix-en-Provence in 1995. He also holds a graduate degree in television and cinema from the Sorbonne and a master’s degree in Media from Ecole Supérieure de Commerce of Paris (ESCP-EAP).
