8 September 2006
New Platforms, Fresh Futures is WRNs exclusive one day Digital Radio Forum, bringing together speakers and industry experts from the UK to discuss and debate the future potential and impact of key digital radio platforms for the UK radio industry: Sky, Digital Radio Mondiale and mobile. The Forum takes places at the Oval Conference Centre on Tuesday 19th September 2006.
The day starts with a keynote speech from Peter Davies, Director for Radio and Multimedia at Ofcom. Other top level speakers at the Forum include:
Paul Fairburn, Managing Director for Digital Radio Platforms, Chrysalis Radio
James Cridland, Director of Digital Media, Virgin Radio
Ian Valentine, Technical Alliances Director, Sky Interactive
Simon Hughes, Senior Product Marketing Manager, New Product Development and Sales, BSkyB
Steve Buckley, Managing Director, CM Solutions
Andrew Flynn, Head of Engineering, CVC
David Muniz, Commercial Director, Gaydar Radio
Allen Cooper, Research Director, Intermedia
In addition, there will be experts from WRN leading and participating in each session.
Tim Ayris, WRNs Marketing Manager, who is organising the Forum, says WRNs clients and contacts within the UK radio industry will have the opportunity to hear how radio broadcasters that represent the entire vital spectrum of radio businesses in the UK, are using and adapting to new digital radio platforms to reach listeners and increase revenue streams.
The full list of speakers and the latest agenda can be found at www.wrn.org/forum and with limited spaces remaining, those wishing to attend should contact Tim Ayris: tim.ayris@wrn.org.
New Platforms, Fresh Futures is part of a series of events under WRNs Forum brand which has been created to provide a space for broadcasters to meet quickly and conveniently. In October 2005, the inaugural Forum event, a two day meeting in Bratislava, Slovakia, saw WRNs European client base come together to discuss current issues and developments that are impacting their businesses on a daily basis.
In March 2006 a series of online Forums, hosted and organised by WRN with participation from industry practitioners and experts from the UK and abroad, examined broadcast and platform solutions, new technology, pan-European co-productions and how stations interact with their listeners. These online Forums are archived at www.wrn.org/forum
8 September 2006
Harris Corporation announced the release of Layout Designer, a new software application that provides configuration, layout design and control of the Harris® NEO® SuiteView modular multiviewer. The next generation of the NEO® SuiteView Layout Manager, Layout Designer offers customers an improved user interface, enhanced onscreen feedback, and simple-to-implement alarms and audio monitoring.
With Layout Designer, users can configure their NEO® SuiteView system settings, add and configure onscreen input audio and video alarms, calibrate display devices and modify individual Picture-in-Picture (PiP) layout settings to create custom display layouts.
“Layout Designer was developed to make our customer’s experience with the NEO SuiteView multiviewer easier and more productive,” said Tim Thorsteinson, president of the Harris Broadcast Communications Division. “This simple, yet powerful software is designed to be the primary interface with the hardware, allowing the user to work more efficiently. With Layout Designer, users can arrange the video and audio components into multiple layouts that work best for their applications.”
Layout Designer can read and edit all preset layouts/files stored on any locally or network-connected NEO® SuiteView system. When installed on a local or network PC, Layout Designer communicates directly with a NEO SuiteView multiviewer via an RS-232 serial communications port or TCP/IP. With Layout Designer, users can define which input PiP channels are visible on the output display; add objects such as PiPs, audio meters and alarms to a layout using a Windows® drag-and-drop operation; resize and position PiPs with pixel accuracy using direct-entry; configure onscreen alarms and bar meters for up to eight embedded audio, analog audio, and AES digital audio channels for each PiP; configure analog audio and AES digital audio monitor outputs; and monitor all connected multiviewer systems for audio and video alarm conditions.
Beginning September 8, 2006, Layout Designer is included with the purchase of each new NEO® SuiteView and is available as an upgrade to existing customers.
8 September 2006
On September 4, the Voice of Americas (VOA) English to Africa Service launches Inquiry, a 30-minute weekly discussion show that focuses on everyday life.
Inquiry is a lively interactive show designed to provide a forum to discuss the many day-to-day interests of VOAs African audience, said English to Africa Service Chief Sonya Laurence Green. Ghanaian-born host Akwei Thompson will examine everything from where to find the best African cuisine, to African comedy and storytelling, to the impact of cell phones on modern life.
Inquiry will air each Monday at 1730 UTC and will also be available on-demand at www.voaafrica.com.
VOAs English to Africa news service broadcasts targeted programming 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to Anglophone Africa through shortwave, the Internet, and a growing list of more than 40 affiliates, including several 24-hour FM stations in Africa.
8 September 2006
Visitors to the ENPS stand at the IBC conference in Amsterdam will see the latest developments of ENPS version 5.0. Attendees of the ENPS Client Conference will also get a preview of the next generation of Associated Press broadcast technology from ENPS Product Manager Bill Burke and APs Director of Global Video, Mike Palmer.
Among the latest enhancements to ENPS 5.0 is the My ENPS feature, which has been improved to allow users a top-level view of their most critical material. My ENPS now stores dynamic searches of any agency or local content and monitors media folders for new video, still, or graphic content. Journalists using ENPS as part of a group can now see remote running orders and assignment information from remote sights. The new tabbed list window lets users go back and forth between the My ENPS window and the list window.
Additionally, the new script media pane provides an area in which all media (video, audio, stills) can be previewed in line with the text that describes the media. This allows the journalist to see all the visual elements that make up their story at a glance.
Other new features include the new always on briefing bar and the detachable ActiveX window. This new feature allows users to run up to three plug-ins in the window and tab between them. This means that users can, for example, have a web browser, graphics plug-in and a non-linear editor plug-in open simultaneously. The widow can be sized to full screen or displayed on a second monitor.
A good example of this functionality which will be on display at the ENPS stand is the new integration of Apple Computers Final Cut Pro non-linear editor with ENPS. Using a third party plug-in made by Gallery, editors using Final Cut Pro can now see ENPS scripts and rundowns within Final Cut Pro, and with the ActiveX component, producers can review the published Quicktime material in ENPS. The published Quicktime material can also be previewed in the new script media pane.
Visit ENPS on Stand 7.430 at IBC 2006 in the Amsterdam RAI
8 September 2006
GlobeCast has been chosen by the new French international news channel, FRANCE 24, to carry out its broadcast by satellite throughout Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
GlobeCasts satellite platforms, based in key orbital positions, will provide FRANCE 24 with access to several million television households throughout the world.
When it launches, FRANCE 24 will cover these regions with two channels, one entirely in French and the second carrying primarily English-language programming. Programs in Arabic will be added in mid-2007 and in Spanish in 2008.
GlobeCast will supply FRANCE 24 with an end-to-end solution, which will include the reception of programming in Paris, multiplexing, uplink and capacity services on the following platforms:
– ASTRA at 19.2° East (Europe)
– EUROBIRD at 28.5° East (United Kingdom and Ireland)
– NSS7 at 22° West (Africa)
– ArabSat-Badr at 26° East (Middle East)
– Nilesat at 7° West (Middle East)
FRANCE 24 chose GlobeCast for its renowned expertise in the delivery of television channels throughout the world, as well as its presence on five continents. Working independently vis-à-vis satellite operators, GlobeCast is network agnostic and not limited to providing capacity from a single satellite fleet. This permitted GlobeCast to bundle capacities in this first launch phase from five unique satellite operators into a multi-continental delivery platform for FRANCE 24.
FRANCE 24 is scheduled to launch between 25 November and 5 December 2006. The channel represents a 50/50 partnership between the public television group France Televisions and the French commercial channel TF1.
