5 March 2010
Many radio stations and newspapers in Haiti are unable to operate at capacity because of technical and financial problems caused by Januarys devastating earthquake, according to experts appearing at the Voice of America (VOA) Thursday.
Sinclair Cornell, senior media adviser at USAIDs Office of Transition Initiatives, said the destruction was so complete that the national radio station was knocked off the air and a TV station operated under a tent. USAID is providing a range of assistance to help improve communication, allowing people to get vital information, he said.
The VOA event, Rebuilding Haitis Media: The Lifeline of Development, brought government, media and non-government organizations together to examine the current state of media in Haiti and its future after the earthquake. The conference was webcast at http://author.voanews.com/english/About/2010-03-01-haiti-discussion.cfm.
P.P. Youri Emmanuel, an alternate representative at Haitis mission to the Organization of American States (OAS), said there has been an outpouring of support for Haiti since the earthquake. While the destruction is tragic, he said the rebuilding process offers hope for the future.
Ronald Cesar, chief of VOAs Creole Service, recently surveyed the media in Haiti. More than 12 stations in the Port-au-Prince area had their buildings either collapse or damaged by the quake, he said. Although most are back on the air, they are not able to resume their full programming because they lack the resources and equipment.
Moreover, he said, advertising revenues have dropped off across the country, forcing some media companies to lay off staff. VOAs Creole Service (www.voanews.com/Creole) is the largest international broadcaster to Haiti. It produces 10.5 hours of programming a day during the week, and 9.5 hours on the weekends.
Marjorie Rouse, a vice president at Internews (www.internews.org), a non-profit that focuses on media development, said an Internews team created a 15-minute daily show now broadcast on 27 stations in Haiti.
Shanthi Kalathil, a consultant at the World Banks CommGap, urged donors to conduct long-range planning to rebuild the media and prevent distortions in the media market. She also said new media present an opportunity to give Haitians a voice in the rebuilding of their country.
5 March 2010
RRsat Global Communications Network Ltd.,provider of comprehensive content management and global distribution services to the television and radio broadcasting industries, announced today that it has signed an agreement with ISG Media, one of the largest distribution companies for Indian movies and entertainment content in the Middle East. RRsat will provide fiber connectivity, playout and distribution for the first high definition Indian movie channel, for distribution to the Israeli market. RRsat and ISG Media are working together to offer the channel to other multichannel platforms in Europe and North America.
Bollywood film and television industry has grown tremendously in the past few years and it is now producing movies which are watched throughout the world and not just in India, commented Lior Rival, Vice President, Sales and Marketing of RRsat. By cementing ourselves as an enabler of global distribution for high definition Indian movies and content, we believe we can further penetrate this important market. We look forward to working with ISG Media in helping grow their Bollywood distribution franchise.
We are very pleased to be working with RRsat to distribute our Bollywood franchise. This enables us to focus on what we do best- that of sourcing the best Bollywood content for a global audience, while RRsat takes care of all the technical aspects of distribution, commented Shai S Sampson, VP Content and Marketing of ISG Media. Time and again, RRsat has proven their ability to distribute value-added content throughout the globe, and we look forward to growing and expanding our business with them over the coming years.
5 March 2010
The AIB is in touch with 25,000 professionals in broadcasting and related industries including key players in TV, radio, satellite, online and mobile.
As a result, we have built up a huge library of information based on interviews and discussions with leading figures in broadcasters, suppliers, regulators and researchers. We are pleased to annnounce that much of this is being made available online.
The initial collection is now available in the new Resources section of the website.
While AIB members will continue to have first access to all information, and exclusive access to certain key data, we will be publishing more articles on the Resources section on a regular basis so keep a watch for the updates.
4 March 2010
GlobeCasts newly launched Content Acquisition and Distribution division has signed a VOD distribution deal with ZN Animation, one of Chinas biggest animation producers, as well as general and popular entertainment content from Shanghai Media Groups subsidiary, WingsMedia.
Under the deal, GlobeCast – the content management and delivery company and division of France Telecom, will help this top-notch content reach VOD viewers on DTH and pay-TV bouquets throughout Europe.
The contract was signed with Zhejiang Zhongnan Group Animation Video Co., Ltd. (ZN Animation) as represented by their worldwide distributor, CHINAnimax Pte Ltd in Singapore, and Shanghai Media Groups subsidiary WingsMedia.
ZN Animations popular programmes include Chinese animation hits such as RUBI, an educational and entertaining pre-school program, and Zheng Hes Voyages to the West Seas, the adventures of the great explorer, Admiral Zheng He, which won the 2009 Accolade Award of Excellence/TV/Animation and was nominated for Best Animation by The Asian TV Awards 2009.
WingsMedia is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chinas one of the biggest media groups, Shanghai Media Group (SMG). Among its hit shows are talkshow ChenChen All Star and hugely popular dramas such as Love Affairs and Burning Roses.
4 March 2010
For NAB 2010, Pharos will be demonstrating the latest version of its widely adopted Mediator broadcast workflow management platform which now includes its Playtime automation options within a highly integrated solution aimed at improving operational efficiency and driving down costs.
For its ninth year attending the event in Las Vegas, Pharos will show full integration of Playtime into Mediator 4, providing a functionally advanced broadcast automation system that helps broadcasters and service providers publish content for both traditional channels and new media. Mediator 4 now has the ability to separately manage presentation requirements and content independently based on schedule priority and media management workflows.
Additional enhancements to Mediator 4 include an advanced metadata system allowing information to be added as new delivery platforms such as On Demand, .com, podcasting and mobile are launched. Combined with detailed workflow analytics, ongoing system optimization and maintenance can finally keep pace with a constantly evolving business environment.
Over the course of NAB 2010, senior Pharos team members will be available to answer questions and conduct real-time demos exemplifying how its technology has helped international clients across 40 countries including HBO, MTV, Turner CNN, BBC World Service and Ascent Media.
As Glen Sakata, Senior VP, Pharos Americas; explains, The close integration between media asset management, workflow, playout and automation within our Mediator 4 platform is helping to reduce the complexity and costs associated with the repetition of the same tasks across multiple systems.
Pharos Mediator is built around the Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) concept to aid speedy implementation and to provide flexibility for future products and services. Key elements such as the Mediator interface, device control, workflow and messaging are designed based on the best tools for the job and include Oracle, Java, Flash and key industry standards such as MXF and BXF.
Using a Service Oriented Architecture we provide a platform that is able to grow and adapt as our clients explore new business models, processes, delivery methods and content types. This agility is vital in a production and broadcast environment that is evolving rapidly and a key differentiator that defines Pharos as a true innovator within our industry. Sakata adds.
