16 June 2009
Quantel today launched a web initiative that enables Freelancers with experience of operating Quantel systems to offer their services to prospective customers via the new Freelancers section on the Quantel website.
Quantel has launched this new service in response to numerous requests from Quantel system owners looking for experienced freelance talent to cover events such as sudden spikes in demand, holidays, general staff turnover and a host of other short-term challenges. Many Freelancers have also expressed an interest in having their details made available to the widest possible audience.
Were confident that this initiative will attract rapid take-up from Quantel-experienced freelancers around the world, said Steve Owen, Quantel Director of Marketing. We hope that it will turn out to be a really useful and productive resource for our customers and freelancers.
The Quantel Freelancers page can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/kjc8ym, or, when visiting the Quantel website at www.quantel.com by simply clicking on the Community navigation bar at the top right of the page.
16 June 2009
Safaricom subscribers can now watch DStvs menu of TV programs from certain Nokia mobile phones.
And as part of an introductory offer, they do not have to pay any extra cost for the service till April, 2010, as long as they have the right devices.
This follows the signing of a partnership between Safaricom, Nokia and DMTV. This will enable the subscribers to access the service, dubbed DStv Mobile, through Digital Video Broadcast Handheld (DVB-H)-enabled Nokia phones.
To receive the service, which will give them access to TV channels offered by pay TV firm DMTV, Safaricom subscribers will be required to have a Nokia handset specially configured to receive DVB-H broadcasts and programmed for that purpose in Kenya.
Speaking during the launch, Safaricom Chief Commercial Officer Peter Arina said activating the handsets would be easy because unlike the past when subscribers had to get a special SIM card, this time they only needed to buy a DVB-H capable handset and insert their usual SIM card to activate the service.
Upon purchase of an enabled handset, one will enjoy the services without paying a fee until the end of April next year. Coverage is currently available in Nairobi and Mombasa and plans are already underway to extend this to other parts of Kenya.
Speaking at the event, Digital Mobile TV (DMTV) General Manager Felix Kyengo said the partnership with Safaricom and Nokia was an indication of the companies responsiveness to customer needs and devotion to continually improve service delivery.
We are very excited that the delivery of the DStv Mobile service to Kenyans will become even easier and more affordable. Kenya has now joined the first few countries that have a fully commercial DVB-H based mobile service, he said.
The new service will allow Safaricom subscribers to watch live matches of the FIFA Confederations Cup being currently being held in South Africa, ongoing World Cup qualifiers, English Premier League and Spanish La Liga games LIVE on DStv Mobile when the leagues resume in August.
Mr. Kyengo said with DStv Mobile, Kenyans would also be able to watch proceedings in Parliament wherever they might not have access to a television set, ensuring that they miss nothing.
Mobile TV is an emerging technology that allows people to view live television content on their mobile phones or other mobile devices that they ordinarily would only get through traditional cable or pay TV subscription.
Research indicates that mobile phones will remain the central multi-purpose device for the foreseeable future, especially in Africa, outnumbering any other mobile devices like digital media players and pocket PCs. 84 per cent of mobile phone users in countries where Mobile TV has been launched have shown willingness to use the service provided it is commonly available and affordable.
DVB-H is regarded as the worlds leading mobile broadcast technology standard and allows for digital terrestrial broadcast of live television channels to a mobile phone. DVB-H is a one-to-many transmission on a linear basis, unlike 3G that delivers point-to-point services. 3G and DVB-H can, however, be complementary, especially in the provision of return path service for live television for instance, viewer voting for TV shows.
16 June 2009
Reporter Without Borders reports that Radio Erena (‘Our Eritrea’), a Tigrinya-language station broadcasting by satellite to Eritrea, has begun operating in Paris.
The result of an initiative by Eritrean journalists based abroad and supported by Reporters Without Borders, the station is offering freely-reported, independent news and information to Eritreans in Eritrea. Independent of any political organisation or government, Radio Erena is offering news, cultural programmes, music and entertainment. A network of contributors based in the United States, Italy, Britain and the Netherlands is providing the Paris-based staff with Tigrinya-language programmes that are broadcast via Arabsat’s Badr-6 satellite. Eritreans can tune into Radio Erena on the 11,785 Mhz frequency with vertical polarisation (SR 27500, FEC 3/4). The station’s programming will soon be broadcast on the Internet as well, so that the Eritrean diaspora will also be able to listen to it.
Eritrea has had no free press since September 2001, when the few Asmara-based independent newspapers were closed down and their publishers and editors were arrested as part of a wave of round-ups ordered by President Issaias Afeworki. Since then, the only news available to Eritreans in their national language has been provided by the state media – Eri-TV, Radio Dimtsi Hafash and the government daily Hadas Eritrea – which are all closely supervised by the information ministry.
16 June 2009
Iranians today flooded the Voice of America (VOA) with videos, pictures, e-mails and calls from inside Iran as the popular U.S. broadcaster’s Persian News Network (PNN) launched a morning show to cover the country’s tumultuous post-election events.
“We’re leading all the Persian News Network (PNN) shows with news from Iran, giving our viewers the latest information and interacting with our audience inside the country,” said Alex Belida, acting director of PNN, whose original satellite-television broadcasts reach almost 30% of Iranian adults every week.
PNN’s new breakfast show aired for two hours today, from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. Tehran time, and will continue as an hour-long special for the foreseeable future, examining events in Iran in the aftermath of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s declared victory. Supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi have protested the election results. In advance of the election, VOA created new TV satellite paths to circumvent jamming by the Iranian government.
Besides news videos, PNN has received and aired home-made videos and pictures delivered to a YouSendIt address. The videos provide on-the-spot accounts of events inside Iran, including protests which have turned violent in some cases.
PNN’s viewers have emailed comments that are posted on PNN blogs, Facebook, a dedicated YouTube channel and other social media sites. Callers have phoned in to various PNN shows.
PNN journalists have fanned out to cover expatriate communities in the United States, Dubai and Malaysia, and interviewed constitutional experts about the election and its aftermath.
In addition to the new morning show, VOA’s PNN broadcasts seven hours of television daily, repeated in a 24-hour format, and five hours of radio. Broadcasts are available on demand on the Internet at www.VOANews.com/Persian.
Currently, one in four adults in Iran watches or listens to PNN broadcasts at least weekly. Research indicates 96 percent of Iranians daily watch TV, which is the preferred medium for getting news and information.
11 June 2009
Al Jazeera English Channel has been awarded four gold and three silver Promax/BDA Arabia Awards this year in recognition for its originality and creativeness for its on-air promos and titles.
The prestigious Promax/BDA awards recognize outstanding creative on-air promotion and advertising in the field of broadcast media and electronics. This year, where almost 700 entries were received Al Jazeera English won four gold awards for, Best News, Factual Programme Promo: State of the Union, Best Promo Not Using Programme Footage: State of the Union, Best Holiday/Seasonal/Special Event Promo: State of the Union and Best Promotional Campaign: News Maps.
Al Jazeera English also received three silver awards for, Best Promo Not Using Programme Footage: Memorial, Best Promotional Campaign: Wheres and Best Use of English Typography: State of the Union.
Tony Burman, Managing Director for Al Jazeera English stated, We are pleased to have won the Promax/BDA awards which recognize creativity in our on-air promos and titles. As a news organization which continues to win awards every year for our journalistic excellence, its great to see Al Jazeera Englishs creative teams winning awards for their hard work. Well done to the teams in garnering the industrys recognition for their excellence in creativity.
Al Jazeera has previously been awarded Promax/BDA awards winning gold for Best News & Factual Programme Title Sequence: People & Power (2007), silver for Best Set Design: News (2007) for AJEs state of the art news rooms in the 4 broadcast centres and for Best Sports Programme Title Sequence: Sportsworld (2007), as well as bronze for Art Direction & Design (2007), Topical Campaign: Art Direction & Design (2007), and for Image Design and Website News (2007).
