2 July 2004
SES Astra has entered into a binding agreement to acquire a 75.2% stake in DPC (Digital Playout Center) from German Pay-TV operator Premiere. The transaction, for a consideration of EUR 41.2 million, is subject to approval by competition authorities.
DPC (Digital Playout Center) operates a teleport facility in Munich and offers services comprising play-out, multiplexing, encryption and satellite uplinks to private as well as public broadcasters. Under SES Astras helmsmanship, DPC will diversify its service offering by launching Germanys first and only open Pay-TV platform using Premiere compatible digital set top boxes.
Dr. Georg Kofler, President and CEO of Premiere, explains: SES Astra and Premiere have concluded an agreement which will allow DPC to offer a wide range of services on a neutral basis. We are convinced that DPC under SES Astra Management will be in an ideal position to grow its business and to establish itself as the leading value-added service provider in the fast developing digital market.
Ferdinand Kayser, President and CEO of SES Astra, concurs: With this transaction, SES Astra is extending its position in the value chain and broadening the scope of its service portfolio with the provision of encryption services. DPC will offer its state-of-the-art services to customers on a non-discriminatory and neutral basis. We are convinced that the creation of the ASTRA/DPC open platform corresponds to a true market demand. Using Premiere compatible set top boxes, of which several dozen models from different manufacturers are readily available in the marketplace, German households wanting to enhance their TV line-up beyond the host of free-to-air channels on ASTRA can subscribe to the Pay-TV offer of their choice. DPCs extended service offering will ultimately enhance freedom of choice in the interest of the consumers and provide another overall boost to ASTRA DTH reception. It will also significantly speed up the uptake of digital and support the German governments proclaimed policy of switching off analogue broadcasts by 2010.
DPC, under its new ownership, will retain its corporate identity, name, Munich premises and headquarters, as well as the existing Management and staff. The company is being acquired debt-free and its results, which generated a turnover of EUR 31.5 million in 2003, will be fully consolidated into the accounts of SES Astras parent company SES GLOBAL.
1 July 2004
The AIB Executive Committee, the governance body that oversees the administration and long-term strategy of the Association for International Broadcasting, has elected Dennis Israel of InterMedia Survey Institute as its Chairman.
Other members of the Executive Committee are Mike Chandler, SES ASTRA; Linden Clark, Radio New Zealand International; Tom Dine, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty; Elzbieta Olechowska, Radio Canada International.
1 July 2004
The AIB’s annual summit of the international broadcasting industry took place in Prague in May 2004.
A report of the event appears in the June edition of the AIB’s quarterly magazine, The Channel, and is available online as a PDF document (600kB) by clicking the link below (right click and “Save Target As” to save to your hard drive, or double click to open the report in a new window).
25 June 2004
Mobile users in Norway can now watch TV on their phones. The service from the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) allows people to watch television on their mobiles 24 hours a day.
Alongside the live streaming, people can pick more specialised content such as a news bulletin every hour and a Top Gear style motoring show.
NRK expects the content to become more tailored as the market picks up.
For the moment it is simply testing whether consumers will want and use
TV on their phones. So far the feedback has been encouraging.
The technology behind the video content has been developed by Norwegian firm RubberDuck Media Lab. The service supports 3GP, which is the
standard for mobile TV. This means that users do not have to download a
media player on to their phones and it will also work on all networks.
At the moment the TV company is offering its content free to operators
but plans to start charging for at least some of the content in the
autumn. Users, however, do have to pay a traffic download fee.
24 June 2004
Peter Murimi’s news feature Walk to Womanhood about the female circumcision rituals of the Kuria Tribe in Kenya won both the Arts & Culture Award as well as being judged the best overall journalistic story out of 465 entries from 30 countries around the Continent. The Awards were presented in Johannesburg on 19 June. Camerapix was Executive Producer of this compelling story which brought together the talents of 4 alumni of The Mohamed Amin Foundation’s Television Training Centre — Pete Murimi (Director), Mujo Musinde (Script & Narration), Philip Murungi (Editor) and Andrew Mungai (Camera).
This award going to a graduate of The Mohamed Amin Foundation brings full circle the dream of the Legendary photo-journalist, the late Mohamed “MO” Amin, who was a co-founder of the African Journalist Awards along with Global Media Alliance Managing Director, Edward Boateng of Ghana. Their goal, through these awards, was to encourage and promote young African journalists to tell the African story in order to reflect the African perspective.
To make these stories internationally acceptable, Mo realised that professional training was imperative. In Mo’s last public speech at State House, Nairobi in 1996, his appeal for this training was made public: “…we need the support and commitment of the international media and donor community to establishing a professional training centre. A place where young Africans can learn the skills and techniques that will enable them to continue in the tradition of courage and truth.” The Mohamed Amin Foundation was founded in memory of Mo Amin and remains dedicated to making this training a reality. The Foundation continues to struggle to raise funds in order to continue to deliver and expand its training, giving more opportunities to other young, talented African journalists.
