20 November 2006
China Radio International (CRI) has begun a continuous local DRM service to London on its own dedicated channel via the trial 26 MHz service operated by WRN, the London-based broadcast and transmission services company. This collaboration follows a recent visit by the President of CRI, Mr Wang Gengnian to WRN.
CRIs DRM service to London is broadcasting a mix of English and Chinese programming that comes live from its studios in Beijing. WRNs 26MHz service provides CRI with complete DRM broadcast coverage of Greater London and it is being transmitted from the well known Croydon transmission tower, situated in South London and which is operated by Arqiva, WRNs DRM transmission partner for this project. Arqiva provides transmission services for most UK commercial radio stations. Croatias RIZ-Transmitters has supplied the Yagi antenna and transmitter for the duration of the project.
DRM is the international standard for digital Medium Wave, Long Wave and Short Wave broadcasting. This new digital radio standard is exciting broadcasters around the world and with over 750 hours of DRM broadcasts already on air today, DRM is set to revitalise radio markets across the globe for local, national and international transmissions.
Mr Xia Jixuan, Vice-President of CRI says, We are very excited that CRI is now broadcasting its programming on the new medium of DRM in London. The goal of CRI is to inform the world about China and we are pleased to offer the people of London a wide range of our programming. Beijing and London will both host future Olympic Games and it will be very interesting for there to be a mutual dialogue conducted through CRI”.
Gary Edgerton, Managing Director of WRN, adds, WRN is delighted that CRI has chosen WRNs local DRM solution for London. It is part of WRNs portfolio of products that is actively assisting broadcasters to take advantage of the exciting transmission and distribution opportunities that digital radio offers.
20 November 2006
Harris Corporation demonstrated the enhanced capabilities of a prototype of its Intraplex® NetXpress IP network gateway device, which has been optimized for tactical surveillance in a sensor network, at GEOINT 2006 in Orlando, Florida.
The NetXpress prototype demonstrates how ObjectVideo® analytic software can be embedded in a network edge device to significantly improve sensor capabilities and network performance, and automatically produce actionable metadata from its analysis of a video. At the GEOINT exhibition, Harris is demonstrating how ObjectVideo® intelligent video analytics on the new PC board within the NetXpress prototype is used to detect, track and classify objects within a video in real time.
This rules-based video content analysis system can be set to recognize preprogrammed characteristics, such as a vehicle, person, or other object of interest, and automatically generate alert data and metadata in real time. This information, along with the encoded video stream, can be transmitted across a local- or wide-area network or stored locally. The video itself and the video metadata also can be fed into centralized systems such as the Harris® H-Class Content Delivery Platform along with meaningful intelligence about the video content, and the results are immediately searchable. The ability to place additional software processes at the network collection site can reduce the strain on limited network resources and allow the sensors to operate with autonomy.
“This combination of features provides a powerful platform to automate sensor data and metadata collection in any network environment even constrained networks,” explained Lucius Stone, director of sales, Government Solutions, Harris Broadcast Communications Division. “The expanded capability allows users to push intelligence, processing and automated decision-making to the network edge, or collection site, which conserves both network and human bandwidth.”
Current content collection solutions at a network edge are often manually integrated with a separate personal computer, router and other components. The NetXpress system combines all components into one small frame, which can take in multiple sources of content, including sensors, and still host multiple applications.
“This is especially important in applications such as border security and tactical surveillance where having a smaller footprint, using less power and having less weight provide a huge advantage for automated tactical surveillance,” said Stone.
20 November 2006
£25 million cash deal agreed, subject to regulatory approval
Arqiva to acquire customers and operations in France and the USA
Long-term security for customers and staff alike
Arqiva has today announced the signing of a Sale & Purchase Agreement (SPA) with BT to acquire the full-time service components of BTs Satellite Broadcast Services business for £25 million in cash. The deal will include long-term customer contracts, operations and personnel located in the USA, France, Italy and the Netherlands, as well as the UK. Deal completion is subject to regulatory approval in the UK and Germany.
BTs Satellite Broadcast Services business currently provides both full-time and occasional-use satellite services from six teleports, three of which are in the UK, two in the US and one in France. Arqiva will acquire the full-time business, including the US and French teleports and one in the UK, while BT will retain the occasional-use part of the business.
Nick Thompson, managing director of Arqivas Satellite Media Solutions division, said: This acquisition gives us an international footprint with a significant presence in France and the US as well as increasing the scale of our activities in the UK. It will give us improved satellite reach and the ability to serve customers on a world-wide basis. It is an important strategic step for Arqiva.
Barry Bonnett, CEO of BT Media & Broadcast, added: Were delighted to have reached this agreement with Arqiva and believe its an excellent outcome for customers and staff alike. This is core business for Arqiva and they have previously demonstrated successful integration capabilities. A feature of the deal is that Arqiva will become a partner to BT in providing Satellite Broadcast Services to integrate into media solutions for our customers. We expect a smooth transition with no disruption for customers and excellent prospects for staff transferring.
15 November 2006
Harris Corporation announced its collaboration with Tata Sky Ltd., to deliver Tata Sky’s satellite television service to viewers across the country via an end-to-end system from Harris that converts, processes, synchronizes and distributes digital program content. Tata Sky is the satellite television service for the TATA Group and STAR Network in India.
“At Tata Sky, we continuously invest in state-of-the-art infrastructure to provide Indian audiences with a world-class satellite television service, offering unparalleled entertainment with pristine picture quality and sound,” said Vikram Kaushik, managing director and CEO, Tata Sky Ltd. “We are delighted to collaborate with Harris, a company known for understanding the specialized, technological needs of its customers across the globe and for its strong track record of support services. The Harris broadcast equipment will help us boost the quality of our digital transmission, enabling us to deliver top-of-the-line services to our customers.”
Designed to support 120 channels, Tata Sky’s facility houses Harris® NEXIO servers, for use in their test center; Integrator® router for station routing; a Panacea router for clean switching; 6800+ and NEO® modular interface products for video processing; the NEO® MTG-3901 master timing generator system; the IconLogo modular branding solution; an IconStation master control graphics and channel presentation system; Videotek® test and measurement products; the NEO SuiteView multi-source display processor; and the CCS Navigator software application and NUCLEUS user-configurable network control panel for control and monitoring.
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“Tata Sky promises to revolutionize home entertainment in India, and we are extremely pleased to work with them in this venture,” said Tim Thorsteinson, president of the Harris Broadcast Communications Division. “Harris is able to offer customers a total content management platform to fit their needs from the small, local broadcaster to the large broadcaster seeking to distribute programming on a worldwide scale.”
About Tata Sky
Tata Sky Ltd., an 80:20 JV between TATA and STAR, is committed to offering viewers the best of pay television through its nationwide satellite television service. Tata Sky offers subscribers a wide array of programming choices coupled with a host of interactive services. For more information on Tata Sky visit http://www.tatasky.com.
15 November 2006
Teletrax, the global broadcast intelligence company, has reached agreement with Reuters Television to expand its monitoring footprint in key strategic worldwide regions to satisfy the growing needs of the leading worldwide news agency, it was announced today at NewsXchange, the premier international news industry annual conference.
A subsidiary of Medialink Worldwide Incorporated , Teletrax offers the first and only digital video monitoring and content tracking service that provides vital television intelligence on a global scale to video providers such as entertainment studios, news organizations, TV syndicators, and the advertising industry. Teletrax is a joint venture between Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands and Medialink.
During the conference attended by more than 400 delegates from the worlds largest broadcast news organizations, Teletrax executives outlined the expansion of services to be provided to Reuters and Teletraxs development of an array of new services: software tools to watermark content in both standard-definition and high-definition formats; software upgrades for watermarking digital, broadcast-quality MPEG-2 video files and for facilitating network integration into existing production systems; an easier-to-use interface; and an enhanced underlying technology that inserts a more robust, yet still imperceptible, watermark.
Teletrax will add more than 30 new channels to its current global monitoring capability beginning in January 2007. To service Reuters needs, Teletrax will build monitoring sites in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Taipei, Taiwan; Seoul, South Korea; and Istanbul, the Turkish capital and host to the NewsXchange conference. Reuters requested the additional channels to track its news broadcasts more comprehensively across the globe, with these geographic areas becoming increasingly important to its activities. Reuters has been using the Teletrax suite of comprehensive broadcast verification services to track subscribers actual usage of its news video across the world for more than four years.
We have been very pleased with the intelligence Teletrax has been providing us on the use of our news coverage, and appreciate the way that Teletrax has evolved to meet our changing needs, said Tony Donovan, Managing Director, Reuters Television. The data we receive provides us with very valuable editorial, marketing and developmental information, and has become central to our broadcast operations. In a logical progression of our partnership, we wish to expand the territories in which we monitor video so we are able to build a more detailed, complete, and ultimately, more global picture of how broadcasters use our news content.
Reuters Television is an extremely important client for Teletrax, and our legacy as a trusted partner to the organization makes this a highly-valued relationship, said Andy Nobbs, president of Teletrax. We are proud that Reuters relies on our broadcast intelligence to serve as part of the backbone of its operations. We continue to evolve and improve our service to accommodate its swift-moving needs.
