15 May 2006
VT Communications, part of VT Group plc has been awarded the contract to provide the National Physical Laboratorys (NPLs) Radio Frequency Time Signal Service commencing on 1st April 2007. This prestigious 10 year contract with NPL will see VT Communications build new highly resilient transmission infrastructure to deliver the Time Service from its Anthorn transmission facility in Cumbria, UK.
Utilising its extensive experience in delivering similar LF (low frequency) infrastructure projects, VT Communications is well placed to deliver this critical service, which is transmitted at 60Hz and provides both a time and frequency standard.
The proposed solution offered by VT Communications will see the introduction of new time code generation equipment, a remote control and monitoring system as well as a new LF transmitter, which will be installed and integrated at the Anthorn transmission facility. The site at Anthorn will provide NPL with infrastructure to accommodate the service and its geographical positioning provides greater coverage of the entire UK. The VT Communications solution will ensure that the maintenance schedule is minimised, reducing the overall service down time, providing NPL users with a highly reliable service.
The new time code generator will have the ability to accept up to 50 unused data bits which VT Communications will make available to third parties for data transmissions around the UK and near Europe. Utilising the signal allows VT Communications to offer other customers exceptional transmission integrity over a large geographical coverage area.
Doug Umbers, Managing Director of VT Communications, said: We are very proud to be working in partnership with NPL on a programme of national significance. We are excited to be implementing a highly resilient solution, which will provide tangible benefits to all stakeholders.
15 May 2006
Al Jazeera International, the 24-hour English-language news and current affairs channel, headquartered in Doha, announced today plans for their sports offering and revealed their line up of sports presenters.
In keeping with Al Jazeera Internationals fresh approach to news and current affairs the channels international sports coverage will be a mixture of the familiar and the unfamiliar, the expected and the surprising. Viewers will be able to enjoy action highlights from the best of the football leagues in Europe and South America, the tennis grand slam events, the golf majors, cricket test matches, rugby internationals, Formula 1 and MotoGP, North American sports, athletics, boxing, cycling, sailing and winter sports.
The channels weekly magazine programme Sportsworld will also take viewers behind the scenes of some of these major sporting events. The team will interview not only the leading stars but also the unsung personalities – adhering to the channel’s aim of giving our viewers a 360 degree perspective on what is happening in the world of sport, both professional and amateur.
Al Jazeera Internationals Head of Sport, Stuart Young, has assembled a team of experienced reporters and presenters, whose diversity and own areas of expertise complement each other: Carrie Brown formerly of Eurosport; Brendan Connor formerly of CBC Canada; Imran Garda formerly of South Africas Supersport channel; Joanna Gasiorowska who joins the channel from ITVs Evening News; Dara McIntosh formerly of ESPN and NBC in the USA; Rahul Pathak from the UKs Five News as well as Andrew Richardson formerly of Five News in the UK.
Head of Sport, Stuart Young says, “I am delighted to have such a group of individuals whose breadth of knowledge, depth of experience and all-round strengths will take us to the forefront of sports reporting.”
Together, we will work to bring viewers around the globe the latest from the world of sport. From countries often overlooked, on sports often under-reported, we hope to inform and enlighten as well as entertain and excite, he continued.
Stuart Young has been a television journalist for 25 years, joining the BBC TV News team and eventually becoming the then youngest deputy editor of the Nine o’clock News. He has experience of the Middle East broadcast industry, having worked as Dubai TV’s news editor – combining the role with that of sports correspondent, and going on to produce and present the Gulf’s first home-grown sports programme. Start-up operations followed – launch editor at MBC and chef d’edition at Euronews – before Stuart joined Reuters, producing business TV programmes in a number of European countries. That was followed by three years as output editor at CNN International, before moving full-time into sports as weekend editor for SNTV. His first, and still greatest, sporting memory is of being taken by his father to see England beat West Germany to win the 1966 World Cup final.
15 May 2006
The Broadcasting Board of Governors has announced that Jan Brambilla will succeed Brian Conniff as the Executive Director of the BBG, effective June 5, 2006. Brian is leaving the BBG to accept appointment as President of the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc. (MBN).
As Executive Director, Jan will advise the Chairman and the Governors on developments in international broadcasting and serve as the day-to-day liaison with the IBB and the Agencys grantees to ensure that broadcasting activities accurately and effectively reflect the vision and priorities of the Board.
With more than 32 years of Federal service, Jan has served in senior executive positions since 1987 when she was appointed Director of Human Resources for the Voice of America, and subsequently for the U.S. Information Agency. In 1999, she joined the Department of State and served as Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy where she handled financial and human resources. In January 2005, Jan rejoined the BBG as Chief of Staff to the IBB Director.
The BBG Board is also pleased to announce that George Moore has been selected to serve in a newly created position as IBB Deputy Director, also effective June 5, 2006. George will have the same responsibilities as those previously delegated to the IBB Director, pending appointment of a presidential nominee to that
statutory position.
George Moore has more than 35 years experience in broadcast and
telecommunications engineering, and has served for the past six years as Director of Engineering and Technical Services. During his 20-year Foreign Service career with US international broadcasting, he has served in senior management positions in two complex facilities (Munich and Morocco), and more recently in positions of growing responsibility in Washington.
The appointments will ensure continuity and strong, seasoned leadership in the Agencys top management, as well as at MBN, which the board believes is crucial for international broadcasting in the years ahead. The Board congratulates each of these outstanding agency officers, and looks forward to the continuation of their excellent service in support of the mission and goals of U.S. international broadcasting.
15 May 2006
In observance of World Press Freedom Day on May 3, RFE/RL held a roundtable discussion in which three experts gave their assessments of the media in post-Soviet countries. All three agreed that press freedom in this region, with only a few exceptions, has declined in the past year.
Chris Walker, Director of Studies at Freedom House, noted that “independent media [in the former USSR] is under assault.” Press freedoms in this region, in general, have eroded, Walker said, citing the results of a recently-released Freedom House survey that found the media in 10 of 12 countries of the former USSR to be “not free.” Five of these saw further erosions of press freedom in 2005 — and only two, Georgia and Ukraine, improved enough to be categorized as “partly free,” according to the annual “Freedom of the Press” study. Walker called for “keeping lifelines open,” to help journalists who are “under siege” in these countries.
RFE/RL analyst Daniel Kimmage said that the key problem in Central Asia is “distribution and access to information” by non-state media. According to Kimmage, the worst media environments are found in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, where the government controls all local media. The situation is only slightly better in the remaining three countries. In Kazakhstan, independent media exists, but has little penetration outside the capital. In Tajikistan a small group of independent newspapers exists, but the state controls all television broadcasts. In the wake of the Tulip Revolution, Kyrgyzstan’s media experienced a degree of liberalization, Kimmage said, but such freedoms have since eroded.
Robert Orttung, Associate Research Professor at the Transnational Crime and Corruption Center at American University, said that “broadcast media at the national level in Russia shows increasing state control.” Using the state energy monopoly Gazprom, Orttung said, the Russia government is increasingly taking ownership of media outlets. News and information programs have been replaced with entertainment, and Orttung noted that an “informal self-censorship” now exists — “journalists know what the lines are.” Three state-controlled television networks supply the news to 79 percent of the Russian population, according to Orttung, who noted that “A weekly meeting in Moscow provides guidance” to the networks in their coverage and that the “Chechen war is the most sensitive [topic].” The press and radio enjoy “some independence,” said Orttung, who added that there is still a “variety of coverage” by media at the regional level — a situation Orttung expects will change as Russia’s 2007-2008 election cycles approach.
Each of the speakers noted the growing influence of the Internet throughout the post-Sovieet countries. In Russia, “with ten percent of the population on-line,” blogging has opened up new avenues for civic participation at a local level, according to Orttung. Despite the fact that Internet usage remains relatively low, particularly in Central Asia, Kimmage says that the Internet is the “primary alternative media for Central Asia.”
15 May 2006
Worldspace, Inc., one of the world leaders in satellite-based digital radio services, today reported its financial and operating results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2006.
Worldspace finished the first quarter of 2006 with 153,437 subscribers. The Company added 38,131 subscribers in the first quarter of 2006, an increase of 109% over the 18,233 subscribers added in same quarter of 2005. In India, the Company had 111,723 subscribers at the end of the first quarter of 2006, up 50% from 74,574 at the end of the fourth quarter of 2005 and a five-fold increase from 21,730 at the end of the first quarter of 2005.
At the end of the first quarter of 2006, Worldspace had rolled out its satellite radio services in ten cities in India — Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Pune, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, and Kolkata, India’s second largest city, which was launched in February 2006.
WorldSpace’s market distribution is now available to a population of nearly 63 million, including nearly 35 million people in the three market segments targeted by the Company.
“We are continuing to focus very closely on driving subscriber growth, especially in India, as we expand our services to more cities, ensure the availability of our products at more retailers and upgrade our content and products,” said Noah Samara, chairman and chief executive officer, Worldspace. “We are launching more cities and creating innovative special promotions that are driving strong revenue growth. We are confident that we have taken the necessary steps in terms of management changes, enhanced visibility, expanded marketing alliances and improved products that will enable us both to grow and retain subscribers to our ever-expanding unique and exciting content.”
Separately, Worldspace announced today the appointments of Gregory B. Armstrong and Alexander Brown as co-Chief Operating Officers of the Company.
