25 May 2004
The Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA), today took new steps to stamp out pay-TV piracy in Hong Kong, issuing “cease and desist letters” to a number of bars and clubs in Hong Kong screening pay-TV services without legal pay-TV subscriptions.
Following a High Court ruling and support from the Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) this new action aims to combat Pay-TV signal piracy across the SAR. If these venues fail to immediately discontinue screening pay-TV programming without obtaining legitimate subscriptions to licensed pay-TV services they are liable to further legal proceedings in the High Court of Hong Kong.
The cease and desist letters were issued in parallel with the launch of a “pay-TV piracy awareness” campaign, under which CASBAA will issue letters to 300 bars and clubs in Hong Kong putting them on notice of what constitutes the legal and illegal screening of pay-TV services.
Under Hong Kong law bars and clubs may only display pay-TV channels, such as ESPN or STAR Sports, under an appropriate subscription from a Hong Kong licensed pay-TV operator such as Hong Kong Cable Television Limited (i-Cable). Other pay-TV operators such as UBC of Thailand, Multichoice of South Africa and Dream of the Philippines are not authorised to offer subscriptions in Hong Kong.
In Hong Kong, besides Hong Kong Cable Television (i-Cable), the licensed pay TV operators are PCCW (NOW), Yes TV and Galaxy Satellite Broadcasting (ExTV), all of whom are members of CASBAA.
Simon Twiston Davies, the CEO of CASBAA, said the pay-TV piracy awareness letters and cease and desist letters to the bars and clubs are part of a wider campaign to raise awareness of pay-TV piracy in Hong Kong and across the region. “Pay-TV signal piracy is a major issue for the broadcasting industry in Hong Kong. In October 2003, it was estimated that the gross cost associated with pay-TV signal piracy in Hong Kong amounted to approximately US$27 million (HK$210 million) over a 12-month period. We are all committed to improving this dire situation so the public is ultimately served with a wider choice and better programming. If these vast sums are stolen from the value chain, investment will fall and programming standards will decline.”
25 May 2004
GlobeCast WorldTV announced the addition of Cambodian TV Network, NAT-TV and NAT-Radio, MAC TV, Living Asia Channel, ATN Bangla and Sneha TV to its premiere Asian and South Asian programming bouquets. With the addition of the seven new broadcasters GlobeCast WorldTV expands to 101 international television and radio channels available in the United States via the Direct-to-Home satellite service. GlobeCast WorldTV a subsidiary of satellite service provider GlobeCast is the leading source for international programming via satellite in America, delivering 101 market leading television and radio channels in 30 languages representing 40 countries from Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa, in 30 languages, via Direct-to-Home ku-band satellite on Intelsat Americas 5.
GlobeCast WorldTV furnishes a complete channel distribution package to programmers, including subscriber management and activation, consumer retailing of a private-label receiver and dish package, marketing, technical support and access to a regional installer network. Further, GlobeCast WorldTV facilitates carriage agreements between cable operators and channels to promote access to programmers by cable subscribers. A complete channel line-up is available at www.globecastWTV.com.
Cambodian TV Network (CTN) offers Cambodians at home and abroad a daily look at what’s hot and what’s happening in the Cambodia of today. Broadcasting from its headquarters in Phnom Penh, CTN delivers an eclectic mix of news, culture, drama, entertainment and sport covering the social, political and entertainment scene in Cambodia. Available by subscription.
NAT-TV and NAT-Radio (Network of Asian Television and Radio) are digital satellite entertainment channels offering a variety of programs such as local news, sports coverage, documentaries, dramas, comedies, music videos and home shopping 24-hours a day. The channels will initially focus on Thai and Lao language programs, before expanding to Vietnamese, Myanmar, Khmer, and Cambodian among others. Available free-to-air.
Macroview TV (MAC TV) is Taiwans (ROC) first government television channel created specifically for Chinese-speaking populations overseas. Broadcasting free-to-air since March 2000, MAC TV brings quality cultural, news, financial, and entertainment programs to viewers on five continents around the world. Presented in a 24-hour format, MAC TV offers 12 hours per day of exciting new programming such as daily news reports, travel magazines and news magazines. Available free-to-air.
Living Asia Channel is a 24-hour English-language channel specifically designed for second and third generation Filipinos, Asians and anyone else interested in Asian travel, history, culture, and commerce. Programs showcasing the best of Asian destinations, culture, cuisine, fashion, and people. Available free-to-air.
ATN Bangla is Bangladeshs first private satellite channel presenting a wide assortment of news and entertainment programming to viewers in the US. Cinema, serials, cooking shows, and live news bulletins in Bengali and English headline the ATN Bangla lineup. Broadcasting from Dhaka since 1997, ATN Bangla is now available in over 100 countries around the world. Available by subscription.
Sneha TV is the first 24-hour channel specifically designed for the Telugu speaking population living outside of Andhra Pradesh. The latest news, current affairs, election coverage, sports, and family programming are brought directly to viewers in the US through Sneha TV. Available by subscription.
25 May 2004
Dalet, a leading provider of media management tools, announced that CBC / Radio-Canada will deploy DaletPlus Radio Suite across its national radio networks. This installation will be among the largest systems in existence.
This is the second-generation digital audio production system we are deploying at the CBC, explains Mr. Ray Carnovale, Vice-President and Chief Technology Officer of
CBC/Radio -Canada. We reviewed a number of systems on the market and after detailed evaluation concluded that DaletPlus Radio Suite was the only one that would meet our requirements in terms of scalability and open architecture. This system will
help us in our ongoing efforts to use new technology to operate more efficiently and produce the best programming possible for Canadians.
CBC/Radio-Canada already had one of the largest digital audio system world-wide comments Mr. David Lasry, president of Dalet. CBC/Radio Canada is one of the first broadcasters world-wide to adopt an enterprise media platform nation-wide whereby the corporate WAN becomes a core platform for broadcast production and distribution.
Over 2000 DaletPlus Radio Suite workstations will be deployed across 50 sites in the coming 18 months. The resulting digital audio production network will span across Canada allowing for the exchange of broadcast material over standard IP networks. CBC / Radio-Canada will take advantage of the DaletPlus open architecture to interface its digital production platform with third-party systems. It will provide a unified platform for production and broadcast operations, as well as a media warehouse for consolidating national audio archives. As such, DaletPlus Radio Suite will be used as an Enterprise Media Platform to be deployed across the workflow, from ingest and production, to broadcast, archive and distribution.
19 May 2004
The Musicians Channel (M-channel www.mchannel.tv), set to launch on BSkyB next week, is to use Kingston inmedias fully-managed playout, satellite uplinking and EUROBIRD transponder to ensure that its free-to-air, groundbreaking music education and entertainment programming reaches the UKs 7.3 million Sky subscribers, as well as digital homes across Europe.
The new channel, which will launch on May 26th, is the first and only digital television channel dedicated to encouraging, inspiring and educating all people with an interest in musical activity. M-Channels aims are to stimulate and promote mutual growth for all aspects of the music industry and to encourage participation in music through access and education.
Across the UK and Europe, playing a musical instrument enriches peoples lives at school, at home or in the pub. In fact, as many people play a musical instrument as play football. Our focus is on creating the highest levels of innovative programming, that inspires and educates our viewers and presents a raft of opportunities for our advertisers, says Jon MacDonald, CEO and co-founder of The Musicians Channel. We needed a broadcast delivery partner with a tried and trusted track record in channel launches. Kingston inmedias broad range of services, combined with the companys deep experience and its highly responsive team of people, means that we can be sure that our 24/7 playout and uplinking is conducted to the highest possible standard.
Kingston inmedia has worked with The Musicians Channel to design the most efficient solution for the new channel. By using Kingston inmedias complete DTH broadcast solution, The Musicians Channel can leave the ingest and playout of the new channel, as well as satellite services, in the hands of just one supplier. It is the latest of more than 30 BSkyB channels to select Kingston inmedia as transmission partner. Schedules will be supplied to Kingston inmedia, and the content will then be played out from the fully managed playout centre at Kingston inmedias Gerrards Cross facility. Kingston inmedia will also provide as-run logs as well as compliance recording. The programming will then be uplinked to Kingston inmedias transponder on the EUROBIRD satellite.
Kingston inmedias Director of Sales for Broadcast Services, Matthew Ivey, says: Were delighted to be working closely with The Musicians Channel and to be once again playing a key role in bringing innovative and fresh programming ideas to the Sky platform. Our services are helping to fill gaps in the market for channels like The Musicians Channel, reducing costs and taking them on air efficiently and on time.
19 May 2004
RadioScape has announced that it has now shipped more than fifteen DAB/DMB evaluation systems to Korea. These are being used by leading companies and research institutes to allow them to develop and plan Digital Multimedia Broadcast (DMB) networks and receiver products. The company will be on stand 652 at KOBA 2004 (the Korean International Broadcast Show on 19-22 May, 2004 in Seoul) with its Korean distributor Dizipia. They will be demonstrating this equipment along with new products to help the roll out of DMB in Korea, which is currently pioneering the implementation of this technology.
RadioScape is currently undertaking field trials with WorldDAB to determine the required field strength for high performance DMB networks. It is generally accepted that the tolerable bit error rate for video services is in the order of one in a hundred million. This is much more demanding than the bit error rate for audio of one in ten thousand as the effects can be masked to a large extent by both the receiver and the ear — unlike video where one erroneous bit can corrupt several frames. RadioScape has developed a new measurement and analysis methodology to categorise the performance of enhanced data and video services under a multitude of environmental conditions to ensure that the specifications of new data and video services will provide the high performance required by DMB customers. This is now available in the form of the DMB Field Monitoring Receiver that is being launched at the show.
RadioScape is an extremely well respected provider of digital radio solutions, said Professor Seo, who is a director of the Centre for Advanced Broadcasting Technology at Yonsei University in Korea. RadioScape has a unique position in that it is a leading provider of both infrastructure and broadcast equipment for digital radio giving it end-to-end systems knowledge. The leading broadcasters in Korea are already using RadioScapes digital radio field monitoring equipment to evaluate reception conditions all over the country prior to rolling out DMB services.
