13 January 2012
A hard-hitting documentary about the last remaining Westerner in Guantanamo Bay, Omar Khadr, will get its first global airing on Al Jazeera English next week. The channel made the announcement today on the tenth anniversary of the prisons establishment.
Four Days in Guantanamo is based on CCTV footage of Canadian agents interrogating their citizen Khadr, who has been imprisoned since July 2002 when he was just 15 years old. The film features interviews with US military personnel, the Canadian journalist who pushed for the release of the footage, as well as Khadrs family and legal counsel.
The film led to criticism of Canada, who has hitherto refused to seek Khadrs repatriation. The film airs on 18th January, almost three years to the day of President Obamas promise to shut Guantanamo within a year.
Paul Eedle, director of programmes at Al Jazeera English, said:
This is a very strong film that we are pleased to bring to our viewers. The raw, split-screen CCTV material together with supporting interviews makes for a disturbing insight into way intelligence agents from a Western democracy behaved in Guantanamo.
Four Days in Guantanamo will be broadcast on Al Jazeera English from 18th January 2012 on television and online (www.ajazeera.com/watch_now).
9 January 2012
Following continued interferences to its satellite transmissions, Al Jazeera has announced a new frequency for Arabsat viewers: 11334V.
Al Jazeera has faced a series of satellite interference events over the past twelve months. These sustained interferences have been an attempt to disrupt the Network’s broadcasts across the Middle East and North Africa.
“We would like to inform our viewers of the new satellite frequency on Arabsat,” said Saeed Bawazir, Director of Technology at Al Jazeera Network. “Over the last few months, Al Jazeera has faced sustained interference to our satellite transmissions. These occurrences will only strengthen our commitment to continue providing our award-winning coverage across the region 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We urge our viewers on Arabsat to tune to this new frequency for uninterrupted coverage.”
In February 2011, Al Jazeera’s satellite services were jammed and an attempt was made to disrupt our services. Al Jazeera responded by launching its channels across various satellites, allowing viewers to receive continuous coverage.
9 January 2012
euronews, the international news channel, announces its first agreement with HOT, the leading cable operator in Israel, for the distribution of the channel all over the country.
Since 30 November 2011, 800,000 digital subscribers have full access to euronews. This deal enables euronews to broadcast 24/7 two of the channel’s eleven services(1) : euronews English and euronews Russian on channel 142.
“We are extremely pleased to have secured the broadcast of euronews in Israel thanks to our cooperation with HOT”, said Sylvie Paulin, Regional Distribution Manager for euronews. This launch is a huge step forward, reinforcing euronews’ presence in the Middle East, where the channel is already available(2) free-to-air in more than 16 million homes. We know that euronews has a role to play in this region. I am sure that the independence of our editorial line will allow us to attract many Israelis viewers as an alternative way to figure out world news”, she added.
5 January 2012
GlobeCast and ARABSAT announced today that the Global Arabic Bouquet (GAB), a grouping of premium Arabic channels from the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) available anywhere in the world, is now located on the 5C satellite over Africa. This satellite, ARABSAT’s newest, was launched in September 2011.
GlobeCast ARABSAT and ASBU’s partner for the worldwide distribution of the GAB is providing all the technical services required for end-to-end delivery. The terrestrial delivery is done from Amman by Jordan Media City. This service via ARABSAT replaces the bouquet’s previous distribution.
Since the launch of their partnership in 2004, GlobeCast, ARABSAT and ASBU have expanded the Global Arabic Bouquet’s potential viewership and footprint, offering a single global coverage to ASBU members.
Philippe Fort, Chief Operating Officer of GlobeCast says, “We are pleased to work with our long-time partners ARABSAT and ASBU on optimizing the delivery of this bouquet of premium Arab content to households across Africa. We’re looking forward to the bouquet’s success in this growing market.”
Khaled Balkheyour, ARABSAT President and CEO, said “Our partnership with GlobeCast has been strengthened with the successful launch of ARABSAT 5C as our fleet is becoming part of the global distribution network of Free-to-Air Arabic channels managed by GlobeCast, specifically the ARABSAT/ASBU Global Bouquet.”
Commenting on the new development, Salaheddine Maaoui, ASBU Director General, said, “ARABSAT 5C will give the Arab broadcasters an opportunity to reach the Arab viewers in the African continent, where C-band still plays an important role. This means that Arab broadcasters can now reach African viewers more easily.”
22 December 2011
The latest edition of the AIB’s regular media industry briefing has been published, providing insight into media behaviour in North Korea, news on business developments in Europe, programming and technology.
You can see the briefing online by clicking on the link below. To subscribe, send your details to register [@] aib.org.uk and we’ll add you to the 26,000+ subscribers around the world.
