3 June 2006
Al Jazeera Satellite TV Channel issued the following statement on 2 June:
Al Jazeera Satellite TV Channel today reacted with astonishment and deep dismay at the news of the Spanish Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the conviction of its correspondent in Spain, Taysir Allouni, despite the fact that he was acquitted over alleged links with Al Qaeda. Al Jazeera confirms its full solidarity with Taysir Allouni and is certain of his innocence. For these reasons, Al Jazeera is presently deliberating with the legal team assigned to follow up the case in view of making an appeal to the Constitutional Court to help Taysir Allouni regain his freedom.
“Taysir is recognized by the journalistic community as a distinguished correspondent known for his integrity and commitment to the profession and Al Jazeera will continue to fully support him and the efforts to appeal his case. said Wadah Khanfar, the Director General of the Al Jazeera Network.
3 June 2006
Content management and delivery company GlobeCast has been selected by Sky Italia to provide HDTV contribution for the World Cup of Football from the International Broadcasting Centre (IBC) in Munich to Skys headquarters outside of Milan, Italy. This redundant solution includes both fibre and satellite contribution to ensure a seamless broadcast.
The contribution service provided by GlobeCast is an end-to-end solution including routing and transmission via fibre, as well as the provision of encoding and decoding equipment in HD.
GlobeCast will also provide HD satellite coverage as a backup for the event, using capacity on Eutelsats Eurobird 3 satellite at 33º East. This satellite coverage will guarantee a high level of reliability and service quality, especially with the inauguration of the latest HD-ready member of GlobeCasts proprietary fleet of Satellite Newsgathering (SNG) vehicles. This particular truck is the first such all-HD vehicle in the Italian market.
The service package provided by GlobeCast also includes a 24 hour on-site customer support and technical assistance desk, staffed by GlobeCasts technical experts.
3 June 2006
Ibrahim Helal has been appointed Deputy Managing Director News and Programmes of the soon to launch global English language news and current affairs channel.
Helal is a former editor-in-chief at Al Jazeeras Arabic language channel and most recently served as a project director on the Middle East North Africa Dialogue Programme for the BBC World Service Trust. Prior to his joining Al Jazeera International, he worked in London for the BBCs Arabic service.
Having Ibrahim join us at the English-language channel not only further professionalises our staff with a top-flight newsman, it also solidifies us as a family built around the core spirit of Al Jazeera, said Managing Director Nigel Parsons.
Helal will oversee the Middle East desk and ensure close working relations with the Arabic news channel. Ibrahim will have a quality-control responsibility to assure that news content across the channels is consistentand consistently good, said Parsons.
Al Jazeeras English-channel promises agenda-free news from every corner of the globe carried across fibre-optic HDTV technology. Both firsts, said Parsons. The channel plans a launch later this year.
3 June 2006
VT Communications continues to push the boundaries of digital radio broadcasting by launching its dual-channel Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) transmission service from Crystal Palace in South East London into Greater London. Partnering with Deutsche Welle and UBC Classic Gold VT Communications can now provide two discrete broadcast services over a single 20KHz transmission band centred at 25.7 MHz. This is the first time the double channel mode of DRM has been used for extensive field trials and further enhances VT Communications digital offering.
The 26 MHz band is designated as an international broadcast band, but is underused and could also be used to provide local FM type coverage. Demand for both FM (88-108 MHz) and DAB (band III) spectrum in the UK is very high, and DRM could offer broadcasters access to additional spectrum in addition revitalising existing MF and LF frequencies with enhanced audio quality.
The ability of the 26 MHz band to provide local and digital radio coverage adds to VT Communications existing regional and international DRM capability. In 1999 VT Communications started regular ITU compliant DRM tests from the Rampisham transmitter site in Dorset UK, to Europe. In 2003 a new high power MF transmitter was added to the portfolio, which now transmits the BBC World Service in digital quality to the Benelux countries. In March 2006, VT Communications announced a significant investment in a new high power HF transmitter at its Woofferton (Shropshire, UK) transmitter site. This will be operational by mid 2006.
VT Communications are also investing in a new broadcast centre designed to distribute audio in a totally digital format from studio to listener, including distribution of DRM. This will eliminate audio degradation caused by repeated conversion between analogue and digital, a surprisingly common problem with digital transmissions. The broadcast centre will also be able to format & distribute audio via a number of different routes, including archiving, podcasting, content repurposing and audio on demand. The 26 MHz service in London will showcase the broadcast centre technology, as data channels, Electronic programme guides (EPG) and a 3rd audio service are all scheduled for test during the course of 2006.
VT Communications ongoing investment in DRM 26MHz and HF capability is part of our new Global Media Network says Bryan Coombes, General Manager Broadcast at VT Communications. This underlines our commitment to provide a digital service to satisfy all of our customers broadcasting requirements, from local through to truly international coverage.
3 June 2006
Harris Corporation has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Aastra Digital Video, a business unit of Aastra Technologies Limited. Aastra Digital Video develops and markets video networking, encoding, decoding, and multiplexing technologies used by television broadcasters, telecommunications providers and satellite networks. The heart of their product portfolio is the VideoRunner multi-service video networking system. They have been a supplier to Harris of video networking products for the past eight years, sold under the Flexicoder and NetVX brand names.
Aastra Digital Video is based in Bridgewater, NJ, with approximately 35 employees. Aastra’s customers also include Turner Broadcasting, the National Football League, DIRECTV, Bell Canada, and the Canadian Television Network (CTV). Revenue for the 12 months ended December 31, 2005, was approximately $18 million with EBITDA of $5.7 million, which does not include certain corporate allocations. Harris will acquire the assets of Aastra Digital Video for approximately $35 million in cash, subject to customary closing conditions, and the transaction is expected to be accretive to Harris fiscal year 2007 earnings per share, excluding acquisition-related charges.
“This acquisition adds to our Total Content Delivery solutions for the broadcast industry and will enable Harris to offer networking products that transport media content over a variety of broadcast, cable, satellite, and telco networks, including those supporting new services such as IPTV and Mobile TV,” said Tim Thorsteinson, president of Harris Broadcast Communications Division. “Harris has had an excellent relationship with Aastra for many years, and we believe this acquisition will broaden our engineering resources to address rapidly emerging markets and new services that require expertise in areas such as the distribution and delivery of MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 program streams. This acquisition is a good technology match that creates significant value for our customers.”
