19 October 2010
Wednesday October 27th, 2010 at 19:30 CET, euronews launches in Persian, broadcasting 24/7, (www.euronews.net website will launch it on Wednesday October 20th, 2010 at 19:30 CET).
euronews will now be transmitted in 10 different versions. With this new addition of the Persian service, 3 milliard people will now be able to understand euronews. This is equivalent to 44% of the worlds population.
A week ahead of the official TV launch, Persian euronews will be available on the internet site: www.euronews.net on October 20th, 2010 at 19:30 CET (21:00 Tehran).
This launch follows euronews successful bid for a competitive call for tender from the European Union on December 21st, 2009, in Brussels. The channel and the European Commission signed a service agreement to extend the channels programming to include Persian.
Persian is spoken by 126.5 million people in the world. It is an official language in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan but it is also commonly spoken in Bahrain, Uzbekistan and other regions of the world.
The addition of this 10th version represents a very important step for euronews on its multilingual strategy — A strategy that has proven successful in term of audience in Europe, Middle East and Africa, with the channel developing in all areas.
With the Persian language as part of its repertoire, euronews will increase its audience in central and western Asia. The channel can now offer its unique brand of news and information, in all its forms, to a whole new audience. It will also offer the Persian diaspora in Europe, the Middle East and the greater Mediterranean area, a deeper insight to European affairs.
Along with Turkish and Arabic, Persian allows euronews to be broadcast in the three major languages of North Africa and Middle East. It also enhances euronews reputation as a platform for intercultural dialogue in Europe and the Mediterranean.
To accomplish this mission, euronews has recruited 17 Persian speaking journalists who have been integrated into our broadcast operations in our Lyon headquarters over the past few months. During this period the newcomers have been acclimatizing to euronews systems of production and editorial values, and getting used to working with the nine language teams (Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Turkish).
From its launch, Persian euronews will be immediately available on five satellites from its distribution network. It will also be commercialized on covered distribution zones: Europe, Mediterranean, Middle East, and Asia. Satellites: Eutelsat, Hot Bird 6, Arabsat Bad-4, Nilesat 101, Asiasat 5 and Eurobird 1 (which will be launched at the end of 2010). This presence will allow 71 million homes to follow euronews.
13 October 2010
A24 Media, Africa’s first online content generator and sales platform, has announced another formidable partnership with the African Press Organization (APO). Through this partnership A24 will distribute APOs wire service via its portal, http://www.a24media.com .
Through the agreement with the multi-lingual wire service, news releases issued by governments, political organizations, NGOs and United Nations duty stations across Africa concerning the continent’s political, legal and social events will be made available to the hundreds of thousand members of A24medias online community.
This latest partnership reinforces our desire to continue providing current information both from the government and private stakeholders within the continent to our growing audience, said Asif Sheikh, A24 Medias Chief Executive Officer.
“As a global leader in media relations services related to Africa, the African Press Organization is constantly exploring opportunities that provide quick access to current news releases from the African’s most important institutions and companies,” says Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard, APO’s Franco-Gabonese General Secretary.
“Aligning with A24 Media, further cements our position as the global leader in distribution of Africa related press releases,” he added.
About APO
The African Press Organization provides free services to African journalists, innovative communications products to public authorities, companies, and supports many African and international institutions in their strategic communications.
African Union Make Peace Happen 2010 Initiative
Meanwhile A24media has also partnered with Africa Union in a venture titled as Make Peace Happen 2010. Under this initiative, top African personalities such as former and incumbent presidents and business leaders express their opinions on a vision of a continent free of conflict and the resultant benefits.
The partnership with A24 Media is in line with the companys bold vision to provide an authentic voice to Africas people and help in consolidating a brighter future for the millions of inhabitants in the continent.
12 October 2010
Al Jazeera Network is pleased to announce that Al Anstey has been appointed as Managing Director of Al Jazeera English, the award-winning international news channel that currently broadcasts to more than 100 countries around the world. In this role, Anstey will lead the channel in its next phase of evolution and will be responsible for overseeing its day-to-day operations across its 65 international bureaus.
Anstey brings with him extensive experience working within the Al Jazeera Network as well as valuable knowledge of the media industry through his work in the United Kingdom, India, Australia and the United States. Anstey was one of the founders of AJE and was a key member of the channels start up team. He ran AJE’s News Department after the launch of the channel in November 2006 until earlier this year when he took on the position of Director of Media Development for the Network. His appointment as Managing Director signifies Al Jazeeras continued commitment to positioning AJE as a global leader in international news and groundbreaking content.
As Al Jazeera continues to grow, Als achievements within the Network and his proven leadership style will help to ensure that Al Jazeera English solidifies its place as one of the worlds most influential international news outlets, said Wadah Khanfar, Director General of Al Jazeera Network. Im confident that Als experience in the newsroom at Al Jazeera English as well as his success in growing the Al Jazeera brand globally will further propel the channel in its mandate of journalism of depth in international news for our audiences across the world.
In his most recent role as Director of Media Development for the Network, Anstey made great progress in developing a strategy for distribution and new media while expanding AJEs reach worldwide. In his new position he will continue to oversee Media Development responsibilities.
Commenting on his appointment, Anstey stated: I’m delighted to take on my new role in AJE, a channel that has gained international acclaim and worldwide recognition as an invaluable resource for international news. I look forward to working with my colleagues at Al Jazeera to build upon the many journalistic achievements and to grow the channel by expanding our resources around the world, breaking into new markets and exploring new platforms and technologies to bring our content to additional audiences.
Prior to joining Al Jazeera in 2006, Anstey served as Head of Foreign News at ITN in the United Kingdom after many years in the field as Senior Foreign Editor. He also ran ITNs American operations for two years after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Anstey started his career as a Producer at CBS News and then moved to the start-up of Reuters/GMTV as a Reporter and News Editor. He then joined APTN based in New Delhi and then Sydney, before taking on the position of Asia Editor with responsibility for APTN’s bureaus and coverage in the region.
12 October 2010
Vizrt is pleased to announce Håvard Saunes Myklebust as the new Executive Vice President of Marketing for Vizrt Ltd., based in Bergen, Norway. Myklebust fills the post vacated by Dr. François Laborie, who is now Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) for Vizrt Ltd.
Myklebust brings a wealth of experience to Vizrt, including executive positions held at many of Norways top media organizations. He comes to Vizrt from TV 2, the largest commercial television station in Norway, where he held key management roles since 2005. From 2008 up until now, Myklebust was head of products and research & development for TV 2 Sports.
Were extremely excited to welcome Havard to our management team, said Laborie. In his career, Myklebust worked closely with many major rights owners of sports and news media properties and held coveted positions at top Norwegian media organizations. In his many management positions, he has pushed the envelope on technological innovation to advance his companies standings in the market.
Myklebust said, Im delighted to join Vizrt, which is one of the most exciting companies shaping the media industry today. My goal is to provide management direction that supports and reinforces the companys continued growth and follows our future-oriented marketing strategy.
In 2007, Myklebust established the website http://tv2sporten.no and became editorial manager of all live streaming of sports for TV 2 Sumo. Previously, in 2006, he led the startup of the new premium pay sports channel, TV 2 SPORT. In 2005, Myklebust joined TV 2 as the night editor for sports news, then became newsroom editor of football, and served as a co-manager of the largest sports operation in TV 2 history. Prior to his high-level responsibilities at TV 2 Norway, Myklebust worked for several prestigious Norwegian newspapers.
11 October 2010
Eurosport, Europe’s leading sports entertainment group, and MCD Digital, leading Turkish Digital Media Company, announced a partnership to launch Eurosports new locally produced Turkish internet sports portal, tr.eurosport.com.
The new Turkish site becomes the 11th language version to join Eurosport’s international internet network and underlines the group’s strategy to continue geographical and digital expansion by establishing strong local partnerships.
The partnership between Eurosport and MCD Digital will further extend Eurosports online audience, interactivity and sports community in Turkey which is today the fourth internet sport market in Europe, accounting for 9% of European Sport audience.
Eurosport’s Turkish sports portal will deliver the highest-quality online sports experience, with premium-level local and international content, live commentary and quality sports news by top local and international sports writers. The new portal will benefit from Eurosport’s high quality technological infrastructure and development capacities to offer internet users a stream-lined experience featuring superior streaming and advanced web technology.
The Turkish site will be edited in Istanbul, Turkey by MCD Digitals dedicated local team and reinforced by Eurosports international editorial and technology teams. The teams will together provide the best of breed service. Europsorts editorial team will provide top international sports content and MCD Digital’s local editorial team will produce the portal’s local content catering to Turkish fans with strong football and basketball coverage. The editorial objective of the site is to offer out the strongest and widest variety of sports content in the territory with coverage of more than 120 different sports.
“Extending the Eurosport brand footprint in Turkey, a key market, is an important step for our group. Since 2000, Eurosport, in co-operation with MCD Multi Channel Developers, has enjoyed success in Turkey thanks to the popularity (or distribution) of the localised versions of our TV channels Eurosport, Eurosport 2 and Eurosport HD. It was natural for us to expand our media platform to include internet and we are delighted to partner again with MCD to offer Turkish sports fans a new comprehensive digital sports destination. Our ambition is to become the leading sport portal in Turkey” explains Laurent-Eric LE LAY, CEO Eurosport Group.
Building on our successful online operations, which reach an audience of over 13 million unique users every month in Turkey, we are excited to join forces with Eurosport to create the leading sports portal in Turkey. More than just the Turkish fans sports destination of choice, we are confident that tr.eurosport.com will quickly become the digital sports reference in Turkey thanks to the portals quality, exclusive content and ubiquity with social media and other portals explains Cenk Oflaz, CEO MCD Digital
