22 April 2009
RRsat Global Communications Network Ltd., a rapidly growing provider of comprehensive content management and global distribution services to the television and radio broadcasting industries, has launched a new service: RRsat Global Internet TV (www.RRsatGlobalInternet.tv). This is a global, managed, end-to-end TV service solution, which delivers TV from broadcasters anywhere in the world to viewers throughout the world, for viewing on television screens, PCs and mobile devices, using the infrastructure of the Public Internet.
RRsat Global Internet TV offers a broad content platform to attract viewers from all over the globe, providing content unavailable from local TV Operators, with viewing on all three screens: TV set, PC and mobile phone.
To Broadcasters, RRsat Global Internet TV affords worldwide exposure through a single global solution. The system utilizes cutting-edge technology to achieve highly-economical, reliable delivery of TV over the public Internet, to unlimited numbers of viewers. RRsat Global Internet TV also enables Broadcasters to further monetize their channels via the services integral ad insertion system which serves targeted, high-value advertising in accordance with each Broadcasters policy.
David Rivel, Founder and CEO of RRsat, commented: We are proud to offer our broadcasting customers an additional category of services, which affords them easy access to audiences worldwide, exposure across all viewing devices, and new revenue streams. We bring to this new service the same responsiveness, quality and reliability that our customers always expect and receive from RRsat.
IN MARCH, RRSAT WON THE 2009 INDEPENDENT TELEPORT OPERATOR OF
THE YEAR AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE
22 April 2009
GlobeCast has strengthened its position in the Americas with the appointment of two key executives. Former GlobeCast Asia CEO David Justin has been named as CEO America while industry veteran Catherine Palaia has joined the company as Senior Director, Business and Product Development.
Charged with boosting GlobeCasts American growth, Justin is expected to take up the position by 1 June 2009 and will manage the companys operations in the region, including facilities in Los Angeles, New York, Sunrise (Florida) and São Paulo.
In his most recent role as CEO of GlobeCast Asia, Justin was the driving force behind the companys 100 % growth in less than three years and its geographic expansion. Justin initiated and carried out the acquisition of PCM in Hong Kong and the opening of a playout and origination center in Singapore. He was also instrumental in the success of several large-scale broadcasting events, most recently the 2008 Beijing Games. Darby Sanchez replaced Justin as CEO of GlobeCast Asia earlier this year.
Palaia, tasked with strengthening and managing the business and product development of GlobeCast America, brings more than 20 years experience with some of the big names in broadcast, media and telecommunications. Palaia spent more than 14 years with satellite giant PanAmSat and later Intelsat, working her way up from Account Manager to VP of Broadcast Services. She has recently worked as a consultant to broadcast companies including VISTA Satellite Communications and Azzuro HD.
The appointment of these two high-profile individuals, whose experience and knowledge are renowned within the industry, shows GlobeCasts dedication to the American market, and opens the region up to even further potential for development.
22 April 2009
The father of Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi says an Iranian court has convicted her of espionage and sentenced her to a lengthy prison term.
Speaking from Tehran, Reza Saberi told RFE/RL’s Radio Farda that his daughter was sentenced to eight years in prison.
He said that he was not allowed into the court, but the family’s lawyer was present with the defendant to hear the verdict on April 18.
“They asked Roxana to sign the verdict, but she refused and said that she does not accept the verdict,” Saberi said. “We are planning to appeal the case.”
Saberi, 31, was arrested in Tehran in January.
Saberi has said she had been arrested for buying alcohol — which is forbidden in the Islamic republic. She was then accused of working without press credentials, but was later charged with spying for the United States.
The trial began on April 13 and was held behind closed doors at a Revolutionary Court.
Reza Saberi said he still hopes the Iranian judiciary will review his daughter’s case and overturn the verdict.
“I hope they will change the verdict and show some degree of fairness and justice. My daughter is innocent, but she has spent almost three months in jail,” Reza Saberi said.
“They put her in jail instead of appreciating what she was doing. She came here [to Iran] to do research on Iran’s history, culture, literature, and the people, but she ended up in jail.”
The government has arrested several Iranian-Americans in the past few years, citing alleged attempts to overthrow its Islamic government. But they were eventually released from prison.
The United States has called for Saberi’s release, dismissing the allegations against her. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton issued a statement on April 18 saying she was “deeply disappointed by the reported sentencing.”
Following the verdict, the Paris-based watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) “firmly” condemned the sentence, saying the conviction was “unjust.”
In a recent interview with RFE/RL, RSF’s Iran researcher, Reza Moini, said the accusations were “baseless.”
“The truth is that no court has been able to prove the spying charges that have been brought not only against Roxana Saberi, but against a number of journalists who since 2000 have been charged with espionage,” Moini said.
“We believe that the charges are baseless and the way the court (trial) was held behind closed doors indicates this,” Moini continued. “Also, the fact that no evidence in the case was provided to journalists and independent observers.”
Saberi has worked as a freelance reporter for several Western news organizations including the U.S. public broadcaster, National Public Radio, and the BBC.
Moini pointed out that seven journalists and two bloggers are currently in jail in Iran. Three of them — Adnan Hassanpur, Mohammad Sadigh Kabudvand, and Mohammad Hassan Falahizadeh — were sentenced to heavy prison terms on the same espionage charge as Saberi.
“Iran is the biggest prison for journalists in the Middle East and freedom of press does not exist in Iran,” Moini said. “Journalists are in a way under a Damocles’ sword of baseless accusations that have nothing to do with their journalistic activities.”
United States severed diplomatic relations with Iran after its 1979 Islamic Revolution and the hostage taking of U.S. diplomats in Iran.
Saberi’s prison sentence could have a negative impact on U.S.-Iran ties. It comes as U.S. President Barack Obama has promised to engage Iran after some 30 years of strained relations.
Iranian officials have reacted by saying that they want to see a change in U.S. actions and not just words.
On April 15, President Mahmud Ahmadinejad said Iran was preparing new proposals aimed at breaking an impasse with the West over its nuclear program.
Saberi is seen by some as a victim of the reluctance by Iranian hard-liners to move towards improving relations with the United States, while others believe Tehran might want to use her as a bargaining chip for its citizens that are in U.S. detention.
14 April 2009
Wohler Technologies Inc. announced that Wohler Mobile, packed with state-of-the-art processing and monitoring products, will be making a stop on the 2009 NAB Show floor. Proudly adorned in Wohler blue, the 22-foot-long trailer demonstrates how easily Wohler products provide key functionality even in the most space-constrained production applications.
“Wohler Mobile provides guests with a hands-on demonstration of how our monitoring products support real-world workflows tailored to the current and future demands of production, acquisition, live broadcast, distribution, and transmission,” said Kim Templeman-Holmes, vice president of global sales and marketing at Wohler. “Wohler gear is built to provide excellent performance in compact, cost-effective designs, and Wohler Mobile highlights the value and convenience provided by our systems in mission-critical monitoring applications.”
Wohler Mobile’s array of products includes intuitive touch-screen systems that simplify video monitoring and routing while providing key functional enhancements, versatile HD monitors for all variety of signal types, and analog and digital audio monitoring systems and level meters that together accommodate virtually every audio input type.
Seven different systems from the robust yet affordable RM LCD video monitoring series are represented in the mobile truck, providing high-quality confidence monitoring of HD/SD-SDI and composite video in configurations featuring two to four widescreen displays ranging from 3.5 inches to 9 inches in size.
Among the Dolby®-capable systems in the trailer are Wohler’s AMP2-E8MDA multiformat audio monitor a 2-RU system capable of monitoring audio from Dolby E, Dolby Digital (AC-3), HD-SDI, SD-SDI, AES/EBU, and analog signal sources and the 2-RU VAMP AC-3/M, a high-resolution color video and stereo audio monitor designed specifically for simultaneous monitoring of HD/SD-SDI digital video and AC-3/Dolby Digital or AES/EBU digital audio, providing the six digital audio channels associated with ATSC/DVB programming. The 2-RU eight-channel E MON-1/M will provide decoding, processing, and monitoring of Dolby E, Dolby Digital, HD-SDI, SD-SDI, and AES/EBU audio signals.
The popular AMP2-16MSDI has been installed in Wohler Mobile to provide instantaneous display for up to 16 channels of embedded audio within a single multirate HD/SD-SDI signal. Following its debut on the NAB show floor, the AMP1-16-3G will tour America for the first time. This model comes complete with HD/SD-SDI and AES inputs/outputs across 16 channels complemented with a video display, all in a compact 1-RU package.
Wohler’s 1-RU AMP1-S8MDA multiformat audio monitor, also integrated into the trailer, gives operators the convenience of processing and monitoring up to eight channels from an HD-SDI or SD-SDI bit stream, two sets of four AES/EBU signal pairs (balanced and unbalanced), or eight balanced analog channels. The VMDA-SUM8 analog/digital summing audio monitor will support eight audio channels, as opposed to the usual four or six, and allow operators to create a small eight-channel mix down into one headset.
Highlighting the robust performance of Wohler’s extraordinarily compact monitoring products, the 1-RU VMMDA-1 audio monitor provides stereo monitoring with fidelity exceeding that of ordinary monitors of equal size.
Finally, the 1-RU VMQ-4 audio monitor will provide simultaneous monitoring of four audio sources on four analog inputs with “voice-quality” fidelity. Featuring level meters with as many as 160 segments, units in the LM Series provide configurable audio metering for analog and digital sources.
Also showcased within Wohler Mobile is the company’s unique 3-RU Touch-it Digital, which features dual 7-inch high-resolution color LCD displays. The left touch screen display is configured to display 16 thumbnail images, and when one of these images is touched, the corresponding video source appears full-size on the right monitor and its HD/SD-SDI source signal is updated as the output signal to feed video displays or other devices.
Wohler Mobile also will be equipped with AJA XENA video capture and playback cards, video servers from 360 Systems, an HD-SDI router from Sierra Video, equipment racks from Middle Atlantic Products, and a black burst generator from Horita.
Wohler Mobile made its trade show debut at the Government Video Expo 2008 in Washington, D.C. Immediately following NAB 2009, Wohler Mobile will tour the U.S. for 10 weeks commencing in Burbank, Calif., and concluding in Orlando, Fla. Please see the Wohler Mobile tour schedule below or visit www.wohler.com/tour.aspx for more information.
14 April 2009
With one of the highest concentrations of RED cameras in the country, Nashvilles production community has been graced with the ability to shoot with a cost effective, high quality, film-like camera on a digital format. The challenge has been in the postproduction. Filmworkers response to this technology-inspired chaos has been to add new equipment, new software, and professional expertise. By working closely with Quantel, the manufacturer of high-end visual effects and editing systems for film and television, Filmworkers can now move productions shot on the RED camera can through postproduction with efficient, high quality, multi-layer editing, and an impressive 4:4:4 RGB color space capability.
The Quantel eQ is a game-changer that gives us the competitive edge, says Jim Harvath, Chief Engineer at The Filmworkers Club. Were the only postproduction facility in town that can offer this level of RED multi-layer edit conforming. We can hit the tight deadlines and not compromise on the quality captured by the RED camera.
One of the biggest advantages is the eQs ability to conform a multi-layer Final Cut project seamlessly from native .r3d files. This new development simplifies postproduction of RED projects as it eliminates the need to convert material before finishing or color correction can begin – cutting the conform time by about 75 percent. The color corrector is fed 4:4:4 RGB, the largest spectrum available in the HDTV arena, and maintains this quality all the way through finishing edit and even deliverables which are available on 4:4:4 HDCAM SR tape. Real time color correction is performed in their state-of-the-art DaVinci 2K Plus by renowned colorist, Rodney Williams.
Everyone needs help navigating through the latest technology and all the choices it brings, says Reid Brody, Vice President and co-founder of Filmworkers. Were taking our role into the digital age so our clients can shoot on any format. Whether its the newest in digital like the RED camera, or the beauty of film, including three-perf 35mm and super 16mm, we make sure that theyll always get the most efficient, high quality postproduction.
Quantel released the RED conform and import for the eQ systems in November 2008, just in time for Filmworkers to finish the RASCAL FLATTS Ill be home for Christmas music video.
