27 April 2006
WRN, the London-based international broadcaster, today announces the launch of its podcasting service. From 1st May a fantastic schedule of content will be available for download direct from the WRN website at www.wrn.org/podcasting and from iTunes and other podcast directories.
International programme producers providing weekly downloadable shows for the WRN podcasting service include Radio Prague, Radio Poland, Radio Slovakia International, RTE Ireland and Radio Guangdong from China. This list is set to grow over the coming weeks. The WRN Podcasting Team will also be producing exclusive podcast-only content for the service.
Abbie Cunliffe, WRNs Product Development and Distribution Coordinator, comments, WRN is delighted to launch this new service which will make a wealth of international content available as downloadable podcasts. This service follows the WRN strategy of making the content of our international radio clients available across a wide range of media platforms including satellite radio, mobile phones and the Internet.
27 April 2006
New Skies Satellites, an SES GLOBAL company announced that Rede Canção Nova, the Brazilian Catholic broadcaster, has chosen its NSS-806 Latin American satellite to distribute its free-to-air international channel to cable operators, radio and television affiliates and the general public across Latin America and Europe.
New Skies is pleased to welcome Canção Nova to our Latin American video neighborhood on NSS-806, said Jurandir Pitsch, New Skies senior sales director of Latin America and the Caribbean. Canção Novas decision to choose NSS-806 reconfirms the satellites role as Latin Americas most attractive platform for video distribution and further strengthens New Skies position in supporting spiritual and ethnic broadcasters in reaching new audiences outside of their domestic markets. With its global fleet and mediaport network, New Skies offers religious and ethnic broadcasters a compelling satellite solution for all of their program distribution needs.
Canção Nova targets the Portuguese-speaking community in Europe and Latin America and is broadcast 24 hours a day. The channels mission is to spread its message through the use of mass media and to that effect Canção Nova operates a number of radio channels and a domestic television channel in Brazil.
“New Skies operates one of the leading video neighborhoods in Latin America; joining NSS-806 marks a major step in the development of our channel which seeks to reach out to the Catholic community throughout the world. NSS-806s widespread coverage allows us to expand to new viewers across Latin America and Europe,” said Wellington Silva Jardim, President of Rede Canção Nova. We selected the satellite for its high penetration of cable headends, as well as for its superb, high-powered coverage.
About the NSS-806 Video Neighborhood
NSS-806 is located at 319.5 degrees east, which provides an excellent look angle into Latin American markets while also reaching the Iberian Peninsula, the Canary Islands, Western Europe and much of Eastern Europe. New Skies NSS-806 is the platform of choice for many of the regions national broadcasters and cable programmers, as well as a number international entertainment companies. NSS-806s video neighborhood includes ESPN Brasil, Fox, MGM, Universal, Eurovision (EBU), thus forming one of the largest video communities in Latin America. NSS-806 carries more than 120 channels and reaches a community of over 3,500 cable headends and 14 million households in South, Central and North America.
27 April 2006
SES ASTRA, an SES GLOBAL company announced the international launch of its new interactive mobile phone service Blucom at the world`s largest electronic media show NAB in Las Vegas.
The innovative SES ASTRA tool for enhanced and interactive television (iTV) will be offered to broadcasters across Europe, Middle East and Africa and is based on Bluetooth technology. It enables the wireless transfer of broadcast data from the Internet or a Bluetooth-enabled TV receiver to the mobile phone, using text messages (SMS) as a return path. In addition, a GPRS/ UMTS functionality is feasible. Blucom has been developed by SES ASTRA`s German subsidiary ASTRA Platform Services (APS) and is already used by several German TV operators.
Blucom is a very interesting possibility for broadcasters and phone operators to develop enhanced TV by distributing programme related content and creating new interactive functions like voting, shopping or betting, said Alexander Oudendijk, Chief Commercial Officer of SES ASTRA. The service offers a simple, attractive and very cost effective way of creating interactivity between viewers and broadcasters. After its successful commercial introduction in Germany this year, we are proud to offer Blucom to international customers.
Blucom is shown at NAB in Las Vegas at the booth of SES Americom (booth # C4145).
26 April 2006
Radio Netherlands is broadcasting its radio drama The Edges of the Night Watch around the globe in Dutch, English, Spanish and Indonesian from 19 May. The three-part play will be heard around the world directly and through Radio Netherlands partner stations. It is also being broadcast by RAI Tre and Radio Suisse Romande in Italian and French. In the Netherlands, the KRO programme Dolce Vita will broadcast The Edges of the Night Watch. It will also be available on DVD.
The radio drama was produced by Radio Netherlands as part of the Rembrandt Year 400 celebrations and is set in the modern day. The main story is of a worldwide search for the missing pieces of Rembrandts best-known painting The Night Watch. When the painting was moved to the Palace on the Dam in 1715 it proved too big and two strips were cut off. The action includes flashbacks to the life of the master painter in the 17th century, Hollands Golden Age.
DVD
Radio Netherlands has also produced a DVD of the play. This includes all four language versions of the radio drama, an interactive quest based on the play, extra visual material and background information. The DVD is being distributed around the world, partly through Dutch embassies. Deputy Foreign Minister Atzo Nicolai explains: Rembrandt is an important Dutch painter and part of global history. The DVD shows you a great deal about him. About Rembrandt himself and about the Golden Age. The Dutch government regards it as important to have this seen in as many places as possible, particularly abroad. Within the Netherlands the DVD will be available through the Rijksmuseum.
Rembrandt Year 400
To commemorate the 400th anniversary of the painters birth, 2006 has been declared Rembrandt Year 400. Countless exhibitions and events will be taking place in the Netherlands, which are expected to draw around one and half million visitors. One-third of these will be from abroad. In its role as ambassador of Dutch Culture, Radio Netherlands is offering the Rembrandt Year an international, multimedia platform on radio, television and the internet. This will bring tens of millions of people around the world into contact with an icon of Dutch culture: Rembrandt van Rijn.
26 April 2006
A very different set of movie makers will be gathering in Soho tonight (Wednesday 26th April) for their industry’s awards ceremony at the Rex Cinema in Soho. The stars and back room staff of 100 films showcasing University research will be gathering to find out which of their films wowed the most people around the world.
The 100 films were all produced as part of the Research-TV consortium which produce broadcast quality video news releases based on new research which are distributed to television and broadband channels worldwide via APTN’s global satellite distribution service. Over 200 broadcasters in more than 90 countries have used Research-TV stories and each story is used on average by 30 serious news networks within 24 hours of distribution. So far Research-TV has reached an estimated global audience of 250 million people.
Tonight Research-TV are holding a special awards ceremony in the Rex Cinema and bar (21 Rupert Street London W1V starting at 6pm) to mark the release of its 100th story which is Teesside’s Showdown at Red River which can be seen at:
http://www.research-tv.co.uk/stories/science/redriver/
Phil Willis MP, the Chair of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Science and Technology select committee has also kindly agreed to attend the event to present a special award to the best performing Research-TV story Bristol and Darlington College of Arts on Cyborgs, Etem Cells and Vision which was carried by 37 broadcasters and reached around 100 million viewers. It can be seen at:
http://www.research-tv.co.uk/stories/health/eyesight/
There will also be awards for the best performing story in terms of web hits which goes to Kings College London’s story on the “Congestion Charge reducing Congested Chests” and the best all round performing story which goes to Durham for their story on Predicting Landslides.
