30 September 2009
The short-listed entries for this year’s AIBs – the international media
excellence awards – have been announced.
Well over 200 entries from broadcasters, production companies, multimedia
producers and technology companies were submitted to this year’s AIBs and the
short-listing process has picked out the very best across all the categories.
You can view the short-list by clicking
here.
Now the short-listed entries have been sent to the AIB’s international panel of
judges and they are evaluating the work and submitting their results.
The winners will be presented with their awards during a glittering gala evening
in London on 4 November when the AIBs return to LSO St Luke’s for the second
year running for this remarkable international celebration of success. Last
year’s Awards evening was oversubscribed, so reserve your place today to ensure
you can meet the world’s best broadcasters, together with editors, journalists,
producers and executives from media companies the world over. Reserve your seat
online – more details
here.
30 September 2009
The Association for International Broadcasting (AIB)
has announced the judges for the 2009 "AIBs", its International Media Excellence Awards.
The awards are renowned for their independent assessment of quality, using external and peer review by respected professionals from the broadcasting and wider media industries. The AIBs are independent of commercial interest and attract entries from throughout the world, representing the best of international radio and TV.
The fourteen different categories cover the broad spectrum from single news events to long-term investigation and from traditional terrestrial broadcasting to innovative use of multi-platform formats.
This year well in excess of 200 entries have come from more than 30 different countries and a shortlist of entries has been compiled from which the judges will make their final selections.
The judges have a vast range of experience in different aspects of broadcasting and are drawn from all over the world. The full list is:
Amir Jahangir, CEO, SAMAA TV, Pakistan; Danforth Austin, Director, Voice of America and Acting Director, International Broadcasting Bureau, US;
Michael Joseph, CEO, Safaricom, Kenya; Billy Wright, Global Head Media & Games Partnerships, Nokia, UK;
Hanh Tran, Chief Executive, Radio Australia, Australia; Nahida Nakad, Deputy Director, Arabic Service, France 24, France;
Darby Sanchez, CEO, Globecast Asia, Singapore; Matteo Berlucchi, CEO, Livestation, UK;
Alla Salehian, Director, Global Media Services Associated Press Television, UK;
Torsti Tenhunen, CEO, Hasan & Partners Oy, Finland; Dirk Beusch, Senior Project Manager, Deutsche Welle TV, Germany; Dr Nabil Khatib, Executive Editor, Alarabiya News Channel, UAE;
Natasha Elkington, AlertNet Correspondent/Humanitarian Crisis Reporter & Online Editor, Thomson Reuters, London;
Russell Grute, Director of Marketing, Pharos, UK; Marcus Metzner, Head of Marketing & Communications, S4M, Germany;
William Bird, Director, Media Monitoring Africa, South Africa; Corne Bouman, Managing Director, ProSkope, The Netherlands;
Lem van Eupen, Head of Strategy, Radio Nederland Wereldomroep, The Netherlands;
Julian Clover, Editorial Director, Broadband TV News, UK; Samuel Attah-Mensah, General Manager, CitiFM, Ghana;
Simon Spanswick, CEO, AIB, UK.
Biographies of all the judges are available on request.
The AIBs will be presented at a gala evening held on Wednesday 4th November 2009 in the stunning surroundings of LSO St Lukes
in London. Full details of the 2009 International Media Excellence Awards can be
found here.
25 September 2009
As reported on the ABU web site:
After years of debate, Hong Kong has decided that public broadcaster Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) will remain a government department, Channel NewsAsia reports.
RTHK will also be given extra funds to set up its own TV channels, provide digital radio broadcasts and hire more staff.
There had been calls for RTHK to be corporatised, to make it a leaner and more cost-efficient body. Since the debate began three years ago, nearly half of the station’s staff have been on put on short-term contract terms.
Franklin Wong, Director of Broadcasting, said now that the uncertainty had been removed, RTHK will be recruiting people and collaborating with broadcasters overseas, on the mainland and local talents.”
The hiring freeze on the station has been lifted, and contract staff can re-apply for permanent positions at RTHK.
In addition, the government will create an advisory body for the station, and draw up a charter to govern its operations.
25 September 2009
From the GSMA Mobile Business Briefing:
Vodafone has officially announced details of its new Internet services initiative, ‘Vodafone 360,’ the UK-based operator’s answer to rival services such as Apple’s App Store and Nokia’s Ovi. Vodafone 360 aims to gather all of a customer’s friends, communities, entertainment and personal favorites (like music, games, photos and video) in one place.
Central to the service is a connected address book – known as ‘Vodafone People’ – which automatically synchs all contacts from a customer’s phone, social networks (such as Facebook) and other Internet messaging services such as Microsoft’s Windows Live Messenger and Google Talk.
A catalogue of 1,000 applications is available at launch downloadable through the Vodafone Shop. The service is automatically backed-up and synchronised between the mobile and a PC or Mac. “Vodafone 360 is the first service of its kind to offer customers the benefits of a truly integrated mobile Internet experience that gathers all their contacts and content, all around them, in one place,” said Pieter Knook, director of Internet Services at Vodafone.
In a statement, Vodafone said that “the full Vodafone 360 experience” will be available initially on two specially-built handsets designed by Samsung. The proprietary User Interface on Vodafone 360 mobiles is based on the Linux-based LiMo platform. Vodafone added that a further four Nokia Symbian smartphones will come pre-loaded with Vodafone 360 at launch and that part or all of the service will be downloadable to over one hundred popular phones. Vodafone 360 will be rolled-out in eight of Vodafone’s European markets this year (Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the UK). Further launches penciled in for 2010 include India, Turkey, South Africa, New Zealand, Romania, France (via SFR), Russia (via MTS) and Australia (via Vodafone Hutchison Australia).
