13 February 2012
OASYS, the pioneering developer of IT-based automated playout solutions, is pleased to announce the appointment of Fraser Jardine as Vice President, Global Sales. As the company extends its global operations, Fraser will manage the OASYS sales team and oversee direct sales, while also building on OASYS network of global resellers to maximize sales in key regions.
Fraser brings twenty years experience in technical sales, pre-sales and business development roles. Most recently he held the role of Vice President, EMEA Partnerships at Kit Digital Inc., where he took full ownership of partners in EMEA as well as having a global remit for the broadcast industry, creating from scratch a reseller sales function in key regions. Prior to this he was Kit Digitals Head of Sales for the UK and Northern Europe.
Fraser has also held various senior roles at digital media and technology organisations including MGt, Aston Broadcasting Systems, the SOFTEL Group, Mindhouse Limited, Connexion 4, and The Fantastic Corporation. He holds an MBA from the University of Connecticut, Stamford, and an MSc (Eng) from Imperial College, University of London.
Fraser Jardine commented, “I am thrilled to be part of the OASYS team. I have known Mark and the company for a number of years and have worked on several projects with them, so I appreciate the power of the OASYS software. I am looking forward to providing these best-of-breed automated playout solutions to OASYS’ current and future customers.”
Mark Errington, CEO, OASYS, said, Frasers knowledge and experience in the global broadcast market, together with his drive and enthusiasm, make him a terrific asset for OASYS, demonstrating the continuing investment in our capabilities across the world and allowing us to be even more customer focused.
13 February 2012
FRANCE 24 has signed a new distribution agreement in the UK and will tomorrow launch on FREEVIEW, channel 110.
The French-language version of the channel will be accessible for free on the new VISION IPTV offer available through all new compliant FREEVIEW HD set-top box boxes. Some 5.2 million boxes have already been sold across the UK.
Thanks to this new agreement, FRANCE 24 will reach 5.2 million additional households in the country with an estimated 12 million viewers by the end of the year.
Available in 235 million households throughout the world, FRANCE 24 is also available in the UK on the SKY platform (English version, channel 513) and on FREESAT (English version, channel 205).
9 February 2012
Sky News Arabia, the free-to-air 24-hour Arabic rolling news channel, launching in spring 2012, today announced the move of its editorial and operational teams into its newly built state-of-the-art studio site in Abu Dhabi city. The new studio and production facilities are considered to be the most advanced in the region.
The channel will deliver breaking news in both HD and SD formats focusing on the Arab world via twelve dedicated bureaus across the region and globally, as well as access to Sky News international bureau network. Nart Bouran, Head of Sky News Arabia, said: The move to the new site is a significant milestone in the Sky News Arabia launch plan, launch plan. We are already carrying out technical rehearsals and will start with full studio rehearsals later this month. Our investment in this high-tech studio complex affirms our commitment to provide fast, fresh live, evolving news across our multiple platforms – television, tablet, mobile and online.
Since April 2011 the technical integration process at the new studio complex, which is now located inside twofour54 the Abu Dhabi media hub , has been supported by Television Systems Limited (TSL), who have worked closely with Sky News Arabias engineering team on the design. Last month, TSL handed over the broadcast system including approximately 208 kilometres of cables into the facility, in addition to over 100 tonnes of state-of-the-art broadcast equipment.
Bouran added: We have appointed a great mix of talented presenters who will be engaged through multimedia platforms in advance of the TV launch. The technical operation we have delivered will allow each presenter to deliver a vibrant and fresh format in news delivery.
Sky News Arabia will broadcast from a single large studio, housing a number of permanent sets dedicated to different programs, providing seamless flow from one area and presenter to another, giving production directors maximum flexibility over their 11 cameras. A massive 10 meter wide video wall will be employed to visually aid in-depth analysis of stories being covered. The studio will be technically advanced with HD equipment and tapeless newsroom production facilities, allowing content to be transferred for near-instant availability across Sky News Arabias regional and international networks.
All these technical specifications at the new studios aim to ensure that Sky News Arabia will deliver fast, breaking news 24-hours a day.
(Source: Press Release)
9 February 2012
Vizrt Ltd., a leading provider of content production tools for the digital media industry, announced today that the Company has signed a deal worth about USD 380,000 for the implementation of Broadcast Graphics products with a newspaper in the Middle East.
Vizrt’s customer is building an entertainment channel that will be launched in July 2012. To accomplish this short timeline to launch, Vizrt is providing a ‘starter graphics package’ that is suitable for a news-based programming and can be easily modified with the station’s custom branding.
The deal includes Viz Artist for dynamic 3D graphic design. Pre-Production and live content will use Viz Trio as the character generator (CG). Viz Engine will handle the channel’s real time HD content. A Newsroom integration system is planned for a later date.
With the customer’s satellite channel scheduled to go live in 5 months, it was decided to build a graphics facility that could meet the demanding timeline and provide the best quality. To this end, the broadcaster decided on an end to end Vizrt solution as this could provide the best combination of top end graphics, real time capabilities, workflow efficiency and channel branding.
6 February 2012
GlobeCast Americas CEO Lisa Coelho announced that Randolphe “Randy” Pike has been named Vice President of Broadcast Engineering. Reporting to Chief Technology Officer Bart Palmer, Pike will oversee all of GlobeCast’s day-to-day technical operations in the Americas, ensuring high quality of service and expert maintenance of systems and equipment for the company’s broadcast clients. Pike will be based in Culver City, California, and will be responsible for overseeing GlobeCast’s facilities there, as well as the company’s Sunrise, Florida, technical operations center.
Prior to joining GlobeCast, Pike was Vice President of Affiliate Engineering and Affiliate Relations for Fox Broadcasting Company, managing Fox’s satellite fleet, VOD encoding, linear product compression, and distribution systems. Prior to this, he was Director of Technology for the Starz Encore Group, where he oversaw satellite transmission, SVOD operations, and affiliate authorizations. He has also held positions at NDTC, TCI, TVN, General Instruments, and Oak Communications.
“Randy Pike’s wealth of network distribution experience makes him the ideal candidate to oversee GlobeCast’s increasingly complex broadcast services in the Americas,” said GlobeCast Americas CTO Bart Palmer.
“Broadcasters throughout the Americas are going to be surprised at the development of services and the high level of quality that GlobeCast will be providing them moving forward,” Pike said. “I’m glad to be a part of it!”
