1 October 2018
Leading global satellite operators – Intelsat (NYSE: I), SES (Euronext Paris: SESG), Eutelsat (Euronext Paris: ETL) and Telesat announced today the creation of a consortium called the C-Band Alliance, or CBA, in a move that could accelerate making mid ‐ band spectrum available for 5G services.
The CBA is designed to act as a facilitator as described in a recent U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) proceeding featuring the companies’ market-based proposal to clear a portion of C-band spectrum in the United States. The formation of the CBA is a significant achievement and demonstrates the industry alignment necessary to make this mid-band spectrum available quickly, thus supporting the U.S. objective of winning the race to introduce terrestrial 5G services.
The market-based proposal was developed in response to a proceeding initiated by the FCC in August 2017, which led to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that was formally approved by the FCC on July 12, 2018 and published in the Federal Register of August 30, 2018. The proposal reflects the unique U.S. telecommunications environment and aims to protect the quality and reliability of the extensive services provided by satellite operators in the C-band spectrum to U.S. broadcasters, media, and data companies. The proposal establishes a commercial and technical framework that would enable terrestrial mobile operators to quickly access spectrum in a portion of the 3,700 to 4,200 MHz frequency band in the U.S., speeding the deployment of next-generation 5G services.
The proposal specifies the use of a consortium, now known as the CBA, to undertake the technical and commercial implementation of the spectrum clearing process. This process is necessary to repurpose the C-band spectrum for use in a 5G environment. The CBA will be led, effective immediately, by Bill Tolpegin, currently CEO of OTA Broadcasting, who will serve as Chief Executive Officer of CBA. Media sector veteran Preston Padden will serve as Head of Advocacy and Government Relations
A significant milestone in the progression of the proposal, the establishment of the CBA signifies that the satellite operators delivering the vast majority of satellite C-band services in the U.S. have agreed upon the key technical and commercial steps necessary to enable commercial implementation of the spectrum clearing process. The CBA also ensures that customer services are protected from potential interference as new wireless services are introduced into the cleared portion of the spectrum.
(Source: Eutelsat press release)
1 October 2018
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) President Thomas Kent has announced he is leaving the organization effective October 1, 2018, after a two-year stint during which the company dramatically expanded efforts to combat disinformation and extremist propaganda in its coverage region.
In farewell remarks, Kent said, “It’s been an honor to lead RFE/RL, an essential source of professional, unbiased journalism for the countries we serve. I leave with gratitude to the entire RFE/RL staff for their commitment to our mission, and especially to our courageous correspondents working in some of the world’s most challenging environments.”
During Kent’s tenure, Current Time TV, a fresh alternative to Kremlin-controlled media, increased its brand recognition as a 24/7 Russian-language digital and TV network, with 84 affiliates in 19 countries and upwards of 540 million video views — at least half from inside Russia — for the 12-month period ending in July 2018. RFE/RL also launched targeted websites providing independent news to Russia’s North Caucasus, Middle Volga, and Siberian regions; laid the groundwork to resume local news coverage in Romania and Bulgaria; and developed high-impact programs providing the only sustained journalistic response to extremism in Central Asia and the Balkans. Under Kent’s leadership, RFE/RL’s measured weekly audience grew by 15.6 percent, from 26.9 million in FY2016 to an estimated 31.1 million in FY2018.
Kent was appointed RFE/RL president in June 2016, after completing a 44-year career as a journalist and editor with the Associated Press.
A successor has not yet been named. In the interim, RFE/RL Vice President and Editor-in-Chief Nenad Pejic is serving as Acting President.
About RFE/RL
RFE/RL relies on its networks of local reporters to provide accurate news and information in 25 languages and 20 countries where media freedom is restricted, or where a professional press has not fully developed. Its videos were viewed over 1.5 billion times on Facebook and YouTube in 2017. RFE/RL is an editorially independent media company funded by a grant from the U.S. Congress through the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM).
(Source: RFE/RL press release)
30 September 2018
Second six-year mandate for Limbourg, first elected in 2013
Peter Limbourg has been re-elected as director general of Germany’s international broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) for another six years, his first mandate having been deemed very successful.
DW celebrated its 65th anniversary this year.
Limbourg’s record was praised earlier this year during a debate at the Bundestag, the lower house of the German parliament on 20 April 2018.
“Impressive track record” at DW
Addressing the Bundestag, the Christian Democrat (CDU) MP Elisabeth Motschmann rejected calls from the far-right Alternative for German (AfD) for changes to the law governing Deutsche Welle.
In her speech Motschmann commended Limbourg’s track record since his appointment in 2013, describing it as impressive. DW is “one of the top three foreign broadcasters” in 27 of the 30 languages in which it reports, and 97 per cent of users surveyed praise the broadcaster’s credibility, Motschmann said.
DW’s weekly audience across all media has gone up from 101 million to 157 million between 2014 and 2017, and its four TV channels in English Arabic, German and Spanish can potentially reach 465 million households, according to DW 2017 Management Report.
International background, extensive journalistic and managerial experience
The son of a diplomat Limbourg spent his childhood in Rome, Paris, Athens and Brussels. He studied law in Bonn and completed a journalistic traineeship at the German television news agency Deutsche Fernsehnachrichten Agentur (DFA) in Bonn and London (1988-1989).
Limbourg worked as a reporter in Iraq, Israel, Algeria and Leipzig, in the former East Germany, before becoming the Europe and NATO correspondent for DFA and private Sat.1 TV in Brussels in 1990.
Limbourg became head of the private TV ProSieben studio in Bonn in 1996 and also occupied senior positions with N24 (now WeltTV).
Limbourg was Senior Vice President of ProSiebenSat.1 (the 2000 merger of ProSieben and Sat.1) from 2010 to his appointment as DW Managing director in October 2013.
DW is set to forge ahead with a wider offer and gain an even larger audience under Limbourg’s next mandate.
27 September 2018
The sacking of ABC Managing Director Michelle Guthrie and resignation of ABC Chairman Justin Milne made the headlines
Dismissal and resignation follow alleged political interference
Following his sacking of ABC Managing Director (MD) Michelle Guthrie on 24 September, ABC Chairman Justin Milne announced his resignation two days later, after hundreds of ABC staff passed motions demanding his resignation, Milne had indicated shortly before that he had no plans to resign.
ABC’s director of entertainment and specialist David Anderson will serve as acting MD until a formal search process finds a successor.
A former Google and Foxtel executive with no experience in broadcast journalism, Guthrie was the first female managing director in the ABC’s history. She was sacked halfway through her five-year term.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported ABC insiders saying that Guthrie had been made aware several weeks ago that her job was in jeopardy.
ABC reports that she was given the option to resign earlier in September, after months of tension with the board, but she refused.
A source close to the ABC board told ABC News that various senior executives were so unhappy with Guthrie they were prepared to quit; a number of ABC staff were also reportedly displeased with her management style.
Milne and other members of the board were becoming increasingly frustrated by what they believed were her leadership failings, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
Guthrie is reported to consider taking legal action.
Political interference
Milne, who was appointed ABC chairman last year, is a friend and former business partner of Malcolm Turnbull, who was prime minister until August this year. Milne denied having failed to maintain the ABC’s independence from government.
However, in an email sent in early May, Milne asked Guthrie to sack ABC chief economics correspondent Emma Alberici following complaints from the coalition government.
“I think it’s simple. Get rid of her. We need to save the ABC – not Emma. There is no guarantee they [the Coalition] will lose the next election,” Milne reportedly wrote.
Alberici told ABC that reports Milne ordered Guthrie to sack her after criticism from the government are “disappointing if true”.
ABC political editor Andrew Probyn was also the subject of formal and informal Coalition accusations of inaccurate reporting, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
For his part Turnbull denied having told Milne to order the sacking of Alberici and Probyn.
What’s next for ABC?
Following the sacking of its MD and resignation of its chairman, in the wake of allegations of political interference, ABC News outlines the following steps:
- Government to appoint an acting chair.
- Report due within days by Communications Department Secretary Mike Mrdak into veracity of media reports about ex-chairman’s complaints against ABC reporters.
- Chairman nomination panel appointed by Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary.
- Panel assesses nominees and the prime minister advises Governor-General, who signs off on new chairman.
- Board appoints new managing director for five-year term.
- Senate inquiry expected to be set up looking at political interference in the ABC, with a view to taking evidence from the ex-chairman, ex-managing director and former PM Malcolm Turnbull.
- Senate estimates committee to hear from acting chairman, acting managing director and senior management from ABC.
Whatever the outcome, ABC governance has suffered significant harm to its credibility and its reputation, which it needs to overcome decisively.
26 September 2018
The TRT World Forum 2018, which is recognised as one of the most significant geopolitical events of the year, will be taking place from October 3-4th in Istanbul. The theme of this year’s Forum is “Envisioning Peace & Security in a Fragmented World”.
TRT World Forum 2018 will bring together over six hundred guests from all over the world including leading policy-makers, academics, journalists and leading experts to discuss and provide solutions for the most pressing global issues of our time with the aim of working towards global peace and prosperity.
Following the resounding success of last year’s TRT World Forum launch, this year will continue the Forum’s aspiration to engage with the most pressing global challenges of our times by building on, and highlighting lessons learned through the inaugural Forum.
It has just been announced that the President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will be making the closing address at the TRT World Forum, a programme of internationally-renowned thought-leaders and humanitarians.
Queen Rania of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is the latest high profile figure to confirm attendance to this year’s TRT World Forum. Speakers will also include the former President of Lebanon Fuad Siniora, former Managing Director of the World Bank Mamphela Ramphele, former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, former Croatian President Ivo Josipovic, President of the People’s Justice Party and prime minister-designate of Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim, President of World Economic Forum Borge Brende, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura, former Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the UK Jack Straw and Francesco Rocca, President of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
The inaugural speech will be given by Ibrahim Eren, Director General and Chairman of TRT. It will be followed by four public sessions: A World in or Out of Order? A Hundred Years since WWI, The EU and its Discontents, The Rise of the Global South and The Leadership of Women in the World of Conflict.
On the second day, the President of the Peoples Justice Party and the Prime Minister-Designate of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, will deliver the keynote speech titled “Exploring a Just Peace in a Fragmented World”. Following the keynote speech the following public sessions will be held: Regional Players and the Shifting Security Equation in the Middle East, New Media and Trust-Formation, Closing Ranks: International Cooperation against Terrorism and Fostering Global Consciousness in Times of Crisis.
The closing ceremony for the two-day conference will include an address titled “In Pursuit of Justice in a Fragmented World” to be given by the President of the Republic of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
From the legacy of the First World War, to counter-terrorism strategies, the future of the European Union and the age of New Media, TRT World Forum 2018 will provide a platform for relevant actors in their respective fields over the course of two days to debate crucial matters and collectively offer actionable strategies for a world in disarray.
For more information about the Forum, visit https://researchcentre.trtworld.com/forum/forum-2018
To join the conversation online;
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TRTWorldRC
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/trtworldrc
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn5Zi9GHEKufp1JRoOaR4Dg
Periscope: https://www.pscp.tv/TRTWorldRC
(Source: TRT press release)
