3 October 2006
The Voice of America (VOA) will debut two 30-minute television news programs to Afghanistan beginning Sept. 30. The Saturday-through-Thursday newscasts, which will air in the Dari and Pashto languages in a one-hour block titled TV Ashna (Friend), will offer a new source of regional and world news to Afghanistan’s emergent television market.
TV Ashna will also feature interviews with Afghan and American policy makers and political, economic and security analysts on issues of importance to the people of Afghanistan. The hour-long block will be divided into two different news programs for Afghanistan’s two national languages.
“VOA has proven to be extremely popular on the radio in Afghanistan,” said VOA Director David S. Jackson. “These new shows will now allow us to offer television viewers the same kind of objective and comprehensive news and information that they have come to expect from the Voice of America.”
VOA’s Shaista Mangal will host the Pashto program and Lina Rozbih will host the Dari program from Washington, D.C., with reports from Afghanistan and other cities around the world.
Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA) will initially air the new program at 4:00 p.m. local time in Afghanistan.
VOA’s Radio Ashna programming currently reaches millions of people daily with a 12-hour program in Dari and Pashto via FM, AM and shortwave radio.
3 October 2006
Wohler Technologies, Inc. today announced an addition to its Sales Support and Engineering Team by bringing on board John Sheridan as Senior Applications Engineer. Sheridan joins Wohler, the world leader in rack video and audio monitoring, from ClearCom.
“It is a fantastic opportunity to join Wohler Technologies at this exciting time in the companys development. Wohler continues to provide the latest technology and de-facto standard for critical path monitoring for broadcast applications. Their emphasis on product development and customer focus is refreshing and galvanic. I am excited to be part of the Wohler family.
Carl J. Dempsey, Wohlers President and CEO stated that: Johns appointment demonstrates our continued commitment to delivering the highest quality service and support for our worldwide customer base. Stories of Johns customercentric work ethic are legendary in our industry. One of my favorites is that even though Johns previous employer had a 24/7 customer service center a lot of customers preferred to place Johns cell phone information on the back of their racks. Customers are our top priority at Wohler and John fits in perfectly with our new customer support and application engineering initiatives.
John was previously Customer Service Manager and Applications Engineer for ClearCom Intercoms extensive line of audio communications equipment. Prior to this he had worked for ten years as television production audio mixer specializing in live remote broadcasts.
3 October 2006
RadioScape, a world leader in digital multimedia head-end and receiver technology, has upgraded the Arqiva DAB multiplex that handles BT Movios wholesale Mobile TV service, which was launched on 1 October 2006. The upgrade is to the latest version of RadioScapes DAB Professional Broadcast System Version 5.1 and enables multiplexes to handle Mobile TV broadcasting. The upgrade is part of an agreement that will enable Arqiva to begin upgrading its inventory of 47 DAB digital radio multiplexes in the UK, which forms the worlds largest DAB installation and is used to provide virtually all of the UKs commercial DAB broadcasts.
John Hall, RadioScapes CEO, said, Our leadership in end-to-end DAB technology gives us a huge advantage in developing Mobile TV solutions which are based on DAB. Our Mobile TV platform uses DAB spectrum that is already available in many countries so that working, reliable Mobile TV can be deployed now. This is why it is the solution of choice not only here in the UK but also in China where RadioScape is the leading provider of Mobile TV systems that now cover all the major conurbations. The proof of working Mobile TV in real world settings has resulted in RadioScape being invited to take part in trials around the world. It is a major success story for the company that is driving its growth as a leading player in the Mobile TV market.
Paul Eaton, Head of Radio at Arqiva, has worked closely with RadioScape to finalise this strategically important contract. He added, The move into Mobile TV is strategically important for Arqiva and for those using our infrastructure, such as BT Movio’s DAB-IP Mobile TV service. We have worked with RadioScape for some time now to develop this upgrade and its ability to deliver advanced data capabilities and Mobile TV.
Mobile TV trials
RadioScape provided the Mobile TV broadcast system technology for the following trials:-
The BT Movio trial in the UK in 2005
The recent joint trial by RTÉ, BT Ireland and RadioScape in Dublin
The Centre of Excellence for Digital Broadcasting (CoEfDB) trial in the Netherlands
The DMB/DAB-IP Mobile TV trial in the UK that was announced on the 5th of June 2006
Trials in China that resulted in commercial broadcasts covering all the major conurbations such as Beijing.
3 October 2006
Wohler Technologies, Inc. today announced another valuable addition to its management team by bringing on board Shane Felix as Marketing Manager. Felix joins Wohler, the world leader in rack video and audio monitoring, from Tut Systems the market leader in IPTV headends and digital video networks.
“I am very happy to be part of the famous Wohler Team,” said Shane Felix, Marketing Manager for Wohler. “Wohlers technology, leadership, forward thinking, and channel talent is a combination unmatched in this industry. I am looking forward to further developing the awardwinning Wohler brand.
Carl J. Dempsey, Wohlers President and CEO stated that: Shanes appointment is really exciting for she brings 18 years of industry experience in marketing and marketing communications. She is a veteran with multiple successes developing marketing process, strategy and organization for successful companies. Shanes skills and proven track record will compliment and enhance our new and highly dynamic management team.
Previously, Shane was Director of Marketing Communications at Tut Systems involved in executing Tuts initial and secondary public offerings to achieve one of the most successful IPOs in NASDAQ history. Prior to her time with Tut Systems, Shane held positions in marketing management with ASP Computers Inc., PLI, Everex Systems and as an independent marketing consultant.
3 October 2006
SES ASTRA, an SES GLOBAL company (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG), has announced today that it has signed a new transponder contract with the British commercial TV broadcaster Five. The additional capacity will primarily be used for the companys two new channels Five Life and Five US which will be launched in October. The broadcaster will initially take half of a transponder at the orbital position 28.2° East and ramp up to a full transponder in the second half of 2007.
Five attracts around 30 million viewers a week and generates over £300 million in advertising revenue – around 8.6% of the UK total. The company is owned by Europes largest broadcaster, the RTL Group, which operates 34 TV and 34 radio stations across Europe.
With this additional agreement, we continue to consolidate our position as Europes leading direct-to-home (DTH) satellite company in an extremely competitive environment, said Alexander Oudendijk, Chief Commercial Officer of SES ASTRA. We are very pleased about our strong business relationship with Five and will continue to offer the best service possible to all our customers.
Chris Anning, CTO for Five, said: Five has come a long way since its launch in 1997; we have gone from a standing start to an audience share of over 6%. Considering the huge changes in the broadcast landscape over the last six or seven years thats quite a feat. To meet the challenges of the next few years and further increase our overall audience share we will be launching exciting new channels and this transponder deal will give us the capacity we need to expand.
