Arqiva announces significant expansion of Sound Digital DAB radio network

Arqiva announces significant expansion of Sound Digital DAB radio network

15 May 2018

Arqiva, the leading UK communications infrastructure company, has today announced a new agreement which will see the reach of Sound Digital’s commercial DAB multiplex in the UK expand by nearly 4 million people.

 

The agreement with Sound Digital will see Arqiva add 19 new transmitters to the existing network. This will increase Sound Digital’s household coverage by over 1.6m new households in areas such as Devon, Cornwall, South Wales, North East Scotland, East Anglia and Kent.

 

Sound Digital, the second national commercial DAB multiplex, currently carries 19 radio stations on its network, including Mellow Magic, Virgin Radio, Forces Radio, Sunrise Radio and Jack 3. It is the first national multiplex in the UK to use DAB+ technology for some of its services.

 

Steve Holebrook, Managing Director, Terrestrial Broadcast at Arqiva, said: “This agreement to expand the reach of Sound Digital is further evidence of the continued success of DAB radio in the UK, and the fact that more and more people are making it their digital radio platform of choice.

 

“This week’s RAJAR figures are widely expected to show that for the first time ever, the majority of radio listening is through digital means and within that, DAB is by far the largest contributor.

 

“We are delighted to be bringing Sound Digital’s diverse range of content to almost 4 million new listeners for the first time.”

 

European pubcasters looking at funding models

European pubcasters looking at funding models

24 April 2018

In March and April of this year, European public broadcasters in Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland have come under the spotlight as drastic funding changes are announced.

 

April:  Sweden votes to replace licence by a “public service fee tax”

Following a proposal put forward in October 2017 by a parliamentary committee set up to look at the country’s funding of public service broadcasting, Sweden’s Culture and Democracy Minister Alice Bah Kuhnke announced on 12 April that the government was backing the idea of replacing the licence fee with an income-based tax. The new funding model would be introduced in 2019. The current system, which has been around for 60 years, is no longer considered adapted to the new media environment with programmes being accessed through a variety of devices, not just TV sets.

According to Bah Kuhnke the tax will be set at one per cent of taxable income but would be capped to a maximum of 1,300 Swedish kronor (SEK), the equivalent of $154 / £108 / €125 per person per year. Individuals earning less than SEK 13,600 a month ($1,610 / £1,130 / €1,307) will pay a lower fee. But all those over 18 who pay taxes will pay the new fee, whether they have a TV set or not. Currently only those who have a set have to pay the licence fee, and an estimated 11-15% who have one do not pay the fee, according to the parliamentary committee findings. In addition, companies, will no longer have to pay the licence fee.

The current fee (for radio and TV) is SEK 2,400 ($285 / £200 / €230) per household and is the same for all with no reduced fee for students or retirees. It funds both Sveriges Television (SVT) and Sveriges Radio (SR).The tax will be collected by the Swedish Tax Agency, and the need for the specialized licence fee collecting agency, Radiotjänst, will disappear.

The new tax is meant to strengthen independence from politics as the new public service fee is earmarked specifically for funding public service broadcasting and will also be reported separately on tax returns.

March: Denmark scraps licence fee and cuts budget of its public broadcaster by 20%

As reported in the press on 16 March, a majority of Danish parties have decided to scrap the licence fee (currently £300 or €339) and to cut the budget of DR, the Danish public broadcaster, by 20%. The cut equates to a shortfall of 740 million kroner a year (£87m or €99m).

DR’s director general Maria Rørbye Rønn warned that savings of this scale would result in DR producing and broadcasting fewer hours of Danish-language television.

DR TV programmes, such as the widely-acclaimed crime series The Bridge (Broen / Bron – coproduced with Sweden’s Sveriges Television), the political drama Borgen or the police series The Killing (Forbrydelsen), to name the best-known series only, have won many international awards and nominations. DR collaborate with other public service broadcasters within the Nordvision regional partnership, which produces and distributes programmes in the region and abroad. The cut is likely to have an impact on Nordvision.

March: Switzerland votes against change as it votes to keep the licence fee-funded model for broadcasting services.

BBC discusses the future of digital news in the Western Balkans

BBC discusses the future of digital news in the Western Balkans

23 April 2018

The future of digital media in the Western Balkans will be the main theme of a major conference in Belgrade organised by the BBC’s Serbian service. The Balkan media market is facing serious challenges such as the proliferation of fake news, the fragmentation of the media scene and financial instability.

 

The Director of BBC World Service Group, Jamie Angus and senior BBC journalists will come together with leading media representatives from around the region at the one-day conference.   They will discuss some of the key issues facing the region’s digital news industry, and how the BBC’s standards, experience and insights can help serve the regional audiences on digital platforms.

 

Jamie Angus will open the conference, the Future of digital news in the Western Balkans, at Belgrade’s Hotel Zira on Tuesday 24 April. UK Ambassador to Serbia, Denis Keefe, will join Jamie Angus to greet participants.  First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, Ivica Dacic, will join Jamie for the closing of the conference.

 

Jamie Angus says: “Just as our newly launched service, BBC News Serbian, is establishing itself on the regional media scene, I am very happy to welcome our colleagues from Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina to join us in a very timely conversation about reaching and serving digital audiences.”

 

The subjects to be discussed at the conference include:

 

  • Rising to the global challenge: quality news in the age of fakes, fragmentation and financial uncertainty
  • Future of digital news – regional voices
  • The Serbian diaspora and digital news – what are they reading and why?
  • The BBC Newsroom stylebook – creating a standard style for online journalism
  • The business of digital news – where does the money come from?

 

BBC News Serbian (BBC News na srpskom) digital service was launched on 26 March 2018 and in its first week reached over 95 thousand people through its website, bbc.com/serbian and social media (Twitter and Facebook).   BBC News Serbian was the last of the 12 new language services launched as part of the expansion of the BBC World Service between 2017 and 2018.

AFP launches AFPTV live select for TV networks and digital media

AFP launches AFPTV live select for TV networks and digital media

30 March 2018

Agence France-Presse is launching AFPTV Live Select, a new service providing comprehensive, original live coverage by selecting one of four available live video feeds at any time. With afptvlive.com, a new platform dedicated to live coverage, users can control reception of feeds delivered through a secure IP solution that meets the highest standards in the market.

“With AFPTV Live Select and the launch of afptvlive.com, AFP’s video offering is once again standing out from the crowd with its rich content, diversity of angles and quality of the user experience”, says AFP Chairman and CEO Emmanuel Hoog. “The biggest global networks, both news and generalists, already enjoy real-time access to our schedule and can view all feeds broadcast by AFP to choose the one that best suits their editorial line.”

 

From Lima to Johannesburg, from Pyongyang to Washington, AFP allows the world’s media to benefit from live pictures on every topic of interest to their audiences.

 

The new platform’s real-time agenda and planning features are also available to AFPTV Live Essential customers, which offers live satellite video coverage of key current events. “AFP responds to our need for at-a-glance information about their live offers with a clear and intuitive website which my team have found easy to navigate and interact with” says Simon Ward, Assignement Editor at BBC News.

 

Clients also benefit from a direct helpline within the AFP editorial team to answer any query about coverage.

 

AFP will introduce its new service at MIPTV in Cannes, from 9 to 12 April and through customised on-demand demos.

TRT World’s “Journalism for Juniors” initiative empowers refugee youth

TRT World’s “Journalism for Juniors” initiative empowers refugee youth

5 March 2018

  • TRT World keeping promises with “Journalism for Juniors” initiative and enabling future possibilities for refugee children
  • The second round of “Journalism for Juniors” program was held in the Harran Camp on March 2nd-4th 2018, providing more than 60 high school students introductory workshop to mobile journalism and story-telling, designed and run by TRT World staff.

The Syrian War has entered into its seventh year with no end in sight. The conflict has left thousands of children at risk of becoming a lost generation with no access to education.

Turkey hosts the largest number of Syrian refugees with more than 3 million refugees. The Turkish Government is working to provide education to the Syrian refugee children and it has launched numerous campaigns to provide humanitarian aid to those fleeing. Joining these efforts, TRT World has stepped up to help out in welcoming refugee children. TRT World launched its “World Citizen” initiative the first initiative of its kind to be launched by a global media network whose employees are on the ground, working on grassroots humanitarian-based initiatives.

TRT World has institutionalized its commitment to inspiring humanity’s collective conscience with the launch of its  World Citizen campaign. Under the World Citizen umbrella, TRT World introduced a “Journalism For Juniors” programme in October, 2017.

The second round of Journalism for Juniors workshop series took place in the Harran Refugee Camp during 2nd to 4th March 2018 to address the education deficit of Syrian refugee children. The project series hopes to move beyond providing traditional charity for the refugees and instead focuses on providing high school students with the knowledge, skills, and hope for a better future.

With 64 participants (ages 17-18; 36 male and 28 female Syrian teenagers), the three-day introductory workshop to mobile journalism and story-telling, designed and run by TRT World staff, provided young students an opportunity to learn the basics of journalism while empowering them to take control of their own narratives. After lessons in creative story-boarding, digital news-making, responsible social media usage, and verifying news credibility, the students went on to write, film, and edit original stories around the camp. They gained the confidence to tell their own stories and share their voice with the world.

In a special sharing session today, Syrian refugee children got the chance to listen Dr. Jamal Abdullah’s success story, currently a Senior Researcher at TRT World Research Centre, who grew up in Syrian refugee camps as a Palestinian child. Dr. Jamal who survived tough times yet achieved exemplary academic results becoming an academician at Oxford University has acquired 3 masters degrees in international relations, political science and political sociology and mastered 3 languages; English, Arabic and French. Aspiring Syrian refugee participants, Dr. Jamal conducted his training session entitled “A future under construction” to motivate students to dream big and not to lose hope.

Hana, a 12th grade student originally from Aleppo said “I decided to be a journalist when I was 13 the time the revolution started in Syria. Now finally I am given the opportunity to learn more about mobile journalism. With these workshops we had, I am more determined today to achieve my goal to be a journalist one day.”

About TRT World

TRT World, Turkey’s first English broadcasting international news platform is launched in 2015 and headquartered in Istanbul, with four newsrooms and an extensive global bureau network covering major regions and hot spots. Strategically designed to maximise its global reach, it is broadly available in all major English-speaking territories and can be accessed via traditional media, including free-to-air, cable and satellite, and other digital platforms, including mobiles, desktops and social media. A distinctive voice to the global news landscape, this is TRT World.

(Source: TRT World)