27 September 2005
Effective from 30 October, German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle is introducing basic changes to its German programming of DW-RADIO, including two-hour programming blocks, a new programme schedule, more topical information, increased regionalisation and greater flexibility.
Deutsche Welle and Abu Dhabi TV are extending their partnership: on 28 September the first edition of their co-produced talk show “Meet Europe is broadcast, with twelve more editions planned. The cooperation between DW and Abu Dhabi TV also encompasses exchange of staff, technical services and images.
On 3 October Deutsche Welle starts a programme slot for Belarus: the 15 minute long magazine will report on events and developments in the region, with the aim to foster democracy and freedom of the media. The programme slot is subsidised by the European Commission. Initially broadcasts are in Russian.
27 September 2005
SES ASTRA, an SES GLOBAL company has gained the Polish public TV broadcaster TVP (Telewizja Polska SA) as a new customer on its ASTRA Satellite System. According to a new long-term contract, TVP will broadcast its five existing TV channels in digital via ASTRA 19.2° East starting October 1st, 2005. Furthermore, TVP is preparing to launch on ASTRA a new digital bouquet of thematic channels in 2006. TVP is one of the biggest public TV broadcasters in Central and Eastern Europe and commands a total market share of 52% of the TV audience in Poland.
The TVP offer on ASTRA will comprise TVP1, TVP2, TVP3 Regionalna, TVP Kultura and TV Polonia. TVP will use the ASTRA transponder No. 59 (10861.75 MHz, horizontal-polarization, 22 Msymb/s, FEC: 5/6) at the orbital position of 19.2° East.
Ferdinand Kayser, President and CEO of SES ASTRA, said: “With this breakthrough agreement, SES ASTRA will engage in a significant activity in the all important Polish TV market. We are very proud that TVP selected ASTRA for the satellite distribution of its digital programs and the roll-out of its digital bouquet. Partnering with TVP is a milestone in the development of our position in the Central and Eastern European markets.”
Piotr Gawel, Vice President Marketing and Sales of TVP, said: “The progress of digital TV will allow us to overcome the capacity restrictions of terrestrial TV and significantly enhance our offer to viewers. It will allow us to enter exciting new fields like thematic channels and interactive services. With SES ASTRA as our new satellite service provider, we are delighted to provide the highest quality transmission to our customers and viewers.”
The collaboration between SES ASTRA and TVP has been announced today at a joint press conference in Warsaw.
27 September 2005
Radio Netherlands has won the NLGJA/Seigenthaler Excellence in Radio Award 2005. The United States National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA) granted its First Place Award to Radio Netherlands journalist Eric Beauchemin for his documentary ‘In Limbo: Gay Palestinians’. The organisation’s Third Place Award went to another Radio Netherlands journalist, David Swatling, for his programme ‘Vox Humana: Love Exile on the Road’. The awards will be presented in Chicago on 24 September.
The jury said that Eric Beauchemin’s programme made a valuable contribution to reporting on subjects relating to the gay lifestyle. In the documentary ‘In Limbo: Gay Palestinians’ Beauchemin examines the quagmire in which gay male and female Palestinians find themselves. Palestinian gays often flee to Israel because of discrimination within the Muslim community. Many of them end up working as prostitutes because of their illegal status and difficulty finding work.
Beauchemin says: “I think it’s important to cover ‘other’ topics in Israel, not only the well-known ones such as the security barrier and children with war traumas. Human rights are violated in this type of situation, too and many people don’t know about it.” Beauchemin has worked as a journalist for Radio Netherlands for the past twenty years. He specialises in human rights, children and conflict situations.
David Swatling’s documentary centres on Martha McDevitt-Pugh, founder of the Amsterdam organisation Love Exiles. McDevitt-Pugh lives with her wife in the Netherlands because the United States refuses to recognise her marital status – her partner is not allowed to immigrate. Together with 46 other activists, she travelled with the Marriage Equality Express bus from San Francisco to Washington DC to call attention to the issue of gay marriage.
Both Beauchemin and Swatling have been honoured by the NLGJA in recent years for their coverage of gay and lesbian issues. The National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association is made up of journalists as well as others who work in the media such as teachers and journalism students. Its goal is to encourage a fair coverage of gay issues.
13 September 2005
Teletrax has been awarded a top industry prize for its unique ShowTracker television monitoring service at an awards ceremony during the annual International Broadcasting Convention (IBC). Teletrax, a subsidiary of Medialink Worldwide Incorporated, is the first and only global digital video monitoring and media asset management service.
A worldwide panel of 23 industry experts proclaimed Teletrax the winner of the ‘Best Content Protection Technology for Video Broadcast’ competition at Cable & Satellite International magazine’s ‘Product of the Year Awards 2005’. After reviewing a total of 173 entries, in 16 categories, the judges honored Teletrax’s long-form program tracking and monitoring service with the prestigious award in front of an invited audience at the RAI Centre in Amsterdam.
“Teletrax is already providing an important monitoring service for short-form content like news and promotions, but this solution for long-form programming gives content and rights owners much greater clarity about what is happening to their assets once they have been distributed.” said John Moulding, editor of Cable & Satellite International, during the awards presentation.
Moulding, who also assembles the judging panel for the awards, continued: “You don’t need much imagination to realize what a benefit Teletrax’s ShowTracker can be. I think the fact that the judges chose Teletrax ahead of more traditional Conditional Access content protection solutions is testimony to the degree to which the market needs a solution like this.”
The judging panel of industry analysts, consultants and senior engineering managers noted that Teletrax’s ShowTracker enables program distributors to accurately track the number of times a specific episode is broadcast within a contractual period. Producers can also determine if a program was aired in its entirety and track playdates versus schedules to determine pre-emptions. Barter playdates, in which programs are distributed with pre-sold commercials, can also be confirmed with advertisers. In addition, Teletrax tracks clients’ use of promotional material, assisting producers and distributors in computing return-on-investment and highlighting opportunities for increased promotional impact.
“We are extremely proud to have received this prized international recognition,” said Andy Nobbs, president of Teletrax. “This award further highlights our position as a class-leading television content protection and rights management service. With a growing list of content owners such as major movie studios, TV networks, syndicators, advertisers, and news organizations embracing the Teletrax service, we are further solidifying our position as the industry standard.”
Launched in 2002 as a service developed by a joint venture between Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands (NYSE: PHG) and Medialink, with an underlying technology that is patent protected both by Philips and Digimarc Corp. (Nasdaq: DMRC), Teletrax’s technology embeds an imperceptible and indelible digital watermark into video whenever it is edited, transmitted, broadcast or duplicated.
13 September 2005
The Voice of America (VOA) has doubled its Amharic language broadcast and moved the time and frequencies for Afan Oromo and Tigrigna language broadcasts in response to audience requests. Beginning on 12 September, VOA’s Amharic language broadcast expanded to a full hour every day from 1800-1900 UTC (9:00-10:00 p.m. locally/2:00-3:00 p.m. EDT). The half-hour expansion will allow VOA to provide new programs, including a Saturday audience-request music show and other features designed especially for young listeners.
VOA also moved its half-hour weekday Afan Oromo and Tigrigna language broadcasts to new times starting today. Afan Oromo now begins at 1730 UTC (8:30 p.m. locally/1:30 p.m. EDT) and Tigrigna begins at 1900 UTC (10:00 p.m. locally/3:00 p.m. EDT). All three programs will move to common frequencies: 9875, 11905
and 13870 Khz.
VOA Director David Jackson said the changes will make it easier for audiences in the Horn of Africa to listen to VOA’s news, sports, features, and entertainment programming. “The time changes for Afan Oromo and Tigrigna and the expanded Amharic program reflect VOA’s commitment to Africa, and especially to the Horn of Africa,” said Jackson. “These changes mean that VOA’s languages to this important region will be broadcast in an uninterrupted, two-hour time block to accommodate our listeners who want to hear news and programs in more than one language.”
VOA’s Horn of Africa broadcast languages are believed to reach at least two-thirds of the total population of Ethiopia, and have a significant audience in Eritrea. VOA’s Horn of Africa website, which is particularly popular with the diaspora, is also being enhanced to allow greater access to daily broadcasts and an archive of past programs. Visitors can listen and download VOA programs at: www.VOANews.com/horn/index.cfm
