10 January 2005
From 6 January the Arabic programmes of DW-RADIO can be heard on FM in Lebanon. The 60 minute programmes which are broadcast late in the evening can be received in most parts of the country via 11 transmitters in Beirut and other cities. DW director-general Erik Bettermann says that by broadcasting on FM the programmes will reach younger listeners, and he sees the new development as an important contribution to dialogue with the Islamic world.
Germanys international broadcaster signed an agreement with the Voice of Lebanon (VDL) in the autumn of 2004 which made the FM broadcasts possible. The broadcasts reach into neighbouring Syria and its capital Damascus.
DW-RADIOs Arabic Service produces 3 ½ hours of programming daily, broadcast via short wave, in part via medium wave, and via satellite (Nilesat 101). Every day at 19.00 hours UTC, viewers in over 20 countries from Morocco to Saudi-Arabia can also tune into a three hour long Arabic-language TV programme of DW-TV.
10 January 2005
Here are two perspectives Deutsche Welle and Radio Netherlands.
A comment from the Financial Times newspaper of 9 January 2005 on coverage by Germanys international broadcaster Deutsche Welle:
Where other international channels tried to grapple with the delicate isue of giving an appropriate balance between covering local deaths and missing tourists, the Berlin-based network did the best job tackling this difficult balancing act. It delivered the facts about the destruction, to all nations hit by the catastrophe, made viewers aware of what was being done by the federal government and what Gerhad Schröder was up to throughout and made a point of delivering a message that the Luftwaffe had been deployed to bring aid in and take German nationals out.
A comment from Radio Netherlands:
“Here at Radio Netherlands, we are very much aware of the consequences of the tsunami. Our colleague Marijke van der Meer was holidaying in Sri Lanka, and found herself helping to care for the injured as well as sending reports to Radio Netherlands. Victor Goonetilleke has been busy in his role as president of the Radio Society of Sri Lanka, helping to provide communications links. And our colleagues in the Indonesian department of Radio Netherlands are busy organising efforts to restore local broadcasting services in Aceh, which have been devastated. Radio Netherlands’ Hans-Jaap Melissen is also reporting from Aceh. His reports, and Marijke’s, are on our web site.”
“Here in Hilversum, commercial and public broadcasters work together providing fundraising programmes on radio and TV. Radio 555 is the first time in Dutch broadcasting history that so many broadcasters from stations that are normally rivals have come together as friends to raise money for a good cause, and this unprecedented initiaitive has caught the public’s imagination. Already more than 2.5 million euros have been pledged today as a direct result of the radio broadcasts, and the eventual total is expected to be much higher. It’s sad that it takes a tragedy to bring the broadcasters together, but at times like this they can do far more together than separately.
Four radio stations destroyed by the tsunami in Aceh – Muhammadiyah and Prima FM in Banda Aceh, Dalka Radio in Meulaboh and Megaphone in Sigli – will be rebuilt by the Indonesian news radio station 68H, and at least two of them will be back on the air by the end of this month. The cost, some 1.2 billion rupees, will be paid by the US-based Media Development Loan Fund. 15 technicians have already started their work in Banda Aceh. After the work is completed on these four radio stations, there is a plan to rebuild other damaged stations in Simelue, Meulaboh and Banda Aceh, with help from Radio Netherlands and Deutsche Welle.
Many staff of radio stations in Aceh, journalistic colleagues of the Radio Netherlands Indonesian department, people with whom Radio Netherlands had regular contact, are missing. Some stations in Aceh with which Radio Netherlands had worked for many years have been totally destroyed one of them is Radio Nikoya FM in Banda Aceh. Radio Netherlands is starting an action programme to set up a number of emergency radio stations, which will in due course be built up into permanent stations. The Head of the Indonesian department of Radio Netherlands, Indra Titus, said: “We want to help to get the radio stations back on the air, because radio is a very important means of communication in the stricken areas. As help is beginning to flow, communications must be restored to help the search for family members and make information accessible. Even under normal circumstances, radio in Indonesia is a vital means of communication that people cannot be without.” Radio Netherlands will also appeal to its 6000 partner stations around the world to collect money and equipment.
10 January 2005
Neural Audio Corporation, a leading provider of digital signal processing technology for the broadcast industry, and iBiquity Digital Corporation, the sole developer and licensor of HD Radio technology, have approved the Neural Audio 5.1 surround sound digital audio system as compatible with its HD Radio(TM) System. With this approval, Neural is the first spatial audio codec available for HD Radio use.
Neural Audio, teaming with Harris Corporation’s Broadcast Communications Division, has developed the 5225 Mix-Edit Transcoder 5.1 surround sound system, which is scaleable and ensures backward and forward compatibility allowing analog, digital, lossy, linear, stereo, and 5.1 to co-exist in the broadcast environment. The Neural 5225 enables broadcasters to mix, edit and save 5.1 content via Neural’s proprietary “watermarking” system on existing 2.0 stereo equipment. With Neural technology, reception or input at the receiver end of the content is selectively and automatically post-processed and “up-mixed” by the Neural Audio Spatial Environment Engine (SEE) to the available number of speakers (from 2 to 256 channels) in the automotive environment.
HD Radio technology is the digital broadcasting system for terrestrial radio, and is the only digital technology authorized by the FCC for broadcasting in the AM and FM band in the United States. iBiquity has developed and patented HD Radio technology that transmits digital audio and data alongside existing AM and FM analog signals, allowing listeners to enjoy CD-quality sound and virtually eliminating the static, hiss, and pops associated with today’s analog radio signals. Nearly 300 radio stations in more than 100 U.S. markets across 38 states (reaching 67 percent of the U.S. population) have already licensed HD Radio technology.
10 January 2005
Television viewing figures published by the Broadcasters Audience Research Board (BARB) on 10 January reveal significant audience share declines for the BBC amid landmark gains for satellite TV last year.
The BBC’s share of TV audiences fell from 38 per cent in 2003 to just more than 36 per cent in 2004 as multi-channel TV platforms such as satellite, cable and digital terrestrial increased in popularity.
Declining audiences for the BBCs flagship terrestrial channels BBC1 and BBC2 are expected as more households adopt digital TV. But the figures are likely to increase pressure on the BBC to strengthen the performance of its new suite of digital channels. Part of the decline in the BBC’s share of viewing could be attributed to a marked move away from so-called makeover and reality TV shows towards more current affairs programmes and history documentaries.
BARBs figures also reveal that viewers subscribing to British Sky Broadcasting’s satellite service watched more satellite channels than terrestrial for the first time. Non-terrestrial channels accounted for 51 per cent of viewing in satellite homes last year, up from 49 per cent in 2003.
10 January 2005
SES ASTRA and Vodatel d.o.o., a company based in Zagreb, Croatia, have entered into an agreement for satellite Internet services via ASTRA 23.5° East and new interactive entertainment services for Croatian households under the brand name eTV.
eTV provides a variety of multimedia services comprising Video On-Demand with a choice of one hundred movies every month. Users will also have access to more than 100 international and local TV channels. The services are available via the eTV Media Center box connected to a TV set and a satellite dish pointed at ASTRA 23.5° East.
In addition, Vodatel will introduce the Sat ADSL service for the Croatian residential market offering broadband access via satellite to the Internet with speeds of up to 1,024 Kbps.
Mr. Sebastian Popovic, chairman of Vodatel, said: “Our eTV media center box enables interactive home entertainment with very attractive services such as Video-On Demand, TV & Radio, music Jukebox, email and many others. Thanks to our agreement with the leading satellite operator in Europe, SES ASTRA, we are able to provide reliable and high-quality broadband and multimedia services to the residential market in Croatia.”
Commenting on the agreement, Philippe Glaesener, VP and General Manager Sales Broadband and IP of SES ASTRA, stated: “We are pleased that through this agreement with Vodatel, Croatian households can now enjoy new broadband and interactive multimedia services via the ASTRA Satellite System. This agreement further underlines SES ASTRA’s commitment to the region.”
