28 February 2018
The Fisherman and the Forest
The tsunami of March 11, 2011 was first and foremost a disaster for humans. More than 22,000 people in Japan’s northeast died or went missing. However, other species were affected too, including creatures of the sea. Oyster farmer Shigeatsu Hatakeyama, known for the phrase “forests are lovers of the sea,” decided to restart oyster farming. NHK captured images of the sea working with mountains to rejuvenate itself, nurtured along by humans.
March 9 Fri. 23:10/ March 10 Sat. 5:10/ 10:10/ 17:10 (UTC)
Tsunami Piano
A ravaged high school piano, soaked by the tsunami, sat stoically after the Great East Japan Earthquake. Renowned musician Ryuichi Sakamoto came across it when visiting the disaster area. The sounds were divorced from conventional tonality, and Sakamoto employed them in his first album in eight years. He also attached sensors to the keys, transforming the instrument into a machine that converts seismic waves into sounds. It was his way of conveying the message that the disaster should never be forgotten. Moving to watch and listen as the teacher and students who had used the “tsunami piano” before the quake react to its new melodies.
March 16 Fri. 15:30/ 21:30/ March 17 Sat. 3:10/ 9:10 (UTC)
J-MELO on Sendai
J-MELO shines the spotlight on Sendai, the largest city in Japan’s northeast, known as the Tohoku region. In the first of two programs, host May J. and friends take a musical journey around town. Sendai proves to be a treasure trove of tunes from up-and-coming rock bands, performers of traditional folk music, and many other kinds of artists. Part two features an appearance by MONKEY MAJIK, a Canadian and Japanese band based in Sendai.
Part1: March 18 Sun. 15:10/ 21:10/ March 19 Mon. 3:30/ 9:30 (UTC)
Part2: March 25 Sun. 15:10/ 21:10/ March 26 Mon. 3:30/ 9:30 (UTC)
Tsuruko’s Tea Journey
In one form of the Japanese tea ceremony, the host serves traditional kaiseki cuisine, sake, and finally tea to the guests. The ritual, established as an art form more than four centuries ago, is believed to be the foundation of Japan’s omotenashi hospitality. One woman has decided to embark on a unique nationwide pilgrimage to immerse herself in the art. Tsuruko Hanzawa is a rare “catering chef” of tea ceremonies. At 70, she loaded her pots, pans, and tools for making tea onto a van and set off in her kimono, serving food using local ingredients and tea to the people she met along the way. Exploring a life devoted to tea, this documentary follows Tsuruko for two years as she battles illness to continue her pilgrimage.
March 30 Fri. 23:10/ March 31 Sat. 5:10/ 10:10/ 17:10 (UTC)
24 February 2018
Nick Moreno, Director of Strategy, Satellite & Media, at Arqiva anticipates the following broadcasting trends at this year’s Mobile World Congress:
“The biggest broadcasting trend we are going to see at this year’s Mobile World Congress is around the shift to new ways of viewing.
“Consumer viewing habits are changing at a significant rate, and we’re already seeing the mobile device becoming the first-screen for younger, millennial audiences watching video content. In the near future, vast amounts of video will be viewed on mobile devices, and to enable that the industry needs much more efficient delivery mechanisms.
“This is pushing new technologies such as 5G into implementation phase, as companies attempt to meet the demands of the modern viewer. 5G offers significant benefits for delivering video at scale to millions of customers, and many will be exploring this at MWC.
“Another trend that will be interesting for broadcasters is the use of blockchain technology.
“We are already starting to see blockchain looked at as a ledger of video rights, so that various industry players can easily view the rights for monetising a certain piece of video content in different territories.
“Blockchain could also have a longer term use case as the enabling technology for ultra-local peer-to-peer distribution of content, allowing content to be distributed closer to the consumer (i.e. local servers, personal PCs) whilst still having legitimately tracked usage rights.”
22 February 2018
Findings of the latest Africascope 2017* survey show the impressive performance of Africanews with annual audience in French-speaking Africa constantly growing at +19% compared to 2016.
The survey conducted in eight countries**, also reveals that Africanews’ awareness is now 45% up 6 points from 2016. This growth is captured by a weekly audience of 3.2 million viewers.
To measure TV audiences and awareness ratings, Africanews relied on Kantar TNS’ expertise through its Africascope survey conducted in 8 French-speaking Africa countries and 9 capital cities representing more than 18 million individuals, aged 15 and above.
According to the survey, Africanews’ audience is young and more affluent than the average of the target population. The majority of its audience are men, who account for 64% of Africanews’ viewers in these eight countries.
Africascope also highlights the strong TV audience in all countries surveyed, with an average 90% of people aged 15 and over watching television daily, which amounts to 16.4 million viewers.
Outstanding rates for Africanews in Congo Brazzaville and Gabon
Barely two years after its launch, Africanews is widely acclaimed in Congo Brazzaville where awareness of the channel reaches 78%.
Since its launch, Gabon has been very receptive of the new Pan-African and multilingual news outlet and the awareness rate remains exceptional at 68%.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon, Africanews also enjoys strong awareness levels of 50% and 46 % respectively.
Elsewhere in French-speaking Africa, the awareness of Africanews continues to see a steady growth. 40% of respondents have heard of the channel in Ivory Coast, 35% in Senegal, Burkina Faso, 33 % and 29% in Mali.
Michael Peters, CEO of Euronews and President of Africanews
“Since its launch, Africanews, as the first pan-African and multilingual media outlet, has been offering to its viewers, innovative and qualitative content produced by Africans and broadcast from our headquarters in Pointe-Noire, Congo.
This dedicated offer to a rising continent has resonated with local people who year after year renew their confidence for access to a relevant, credible and independent information.”
*Africascope 2017 (January-December) in 8 countries.
**Countries surveyed: Burkina Faso (Ouagadougou), Cameroon (Douala and Yaoundé), Congo (Brazzaville), Democratic Republic of Congo (Kinshasa), Gabon (Libreville), Ivory Coast (Abidjan), Mali (Bamako) and Senegal (Dakar).
7 February 2018
At the 2018 HPA Tech Retreat, Signiant Inc, a market leader in intelligent file transfer, will demonstrate new, innovative capabilities that expand the value of its products within the media industry.
Signiant has led the way in cloud-native design, offering a category-defining SaaS platform that provides fast, secure global access to high-value media assets stored in on-premises storage or cloud-based storage. New innovations on show at the 2018 HPA Tech Retreat greatly build on this platform and help media & entertainment companies of all sizes speed up their operations by leveraging Signiant’s patented file acceleration technology, as well as by automating and simplifying file transfer workflows.
Held from February 19-23, 2018 at the JW Marriott Desert Resort & Spa, Palm Desert, CA, the HPA Tech Retreat is an informal gathering of the leading technical and business innovators from all aspects of the media technology sector, to discuss how constantly evolving technology is creating exciting opportunities in the capture, creation and distribution of content.
In the Innovation Zone, Signiant will demonstrate technology enhancements to its SaaS platform that allow professional media assets to be viewed in an adaptive bitrate format without generating a proxy in advance of the play request. The demonstration leverages transfer acceleration technology and cloud-native design to ensure a highly responsive end user experience without additional customer-deployed hardware or software.
“This technology has the potential to help users make better and faster decisions when transferring media,” said Ian Hamilton, CTO, Signiant. “As file sizes continue to grow, it is increasingly helpful to be able to easily confirm that a file contains the desired content prior to transfer, thereby ensuring that valuable time and network resources are not wasted.”
Ian Hamilton will be on-site at the 2018 HPA Tech Retreat to provide a preview of these innovations, as well as to discuss the breadth of technology and capabilities across Signiant’s entire product line.
For more details and to register to attend the HPA Tech Retreat, visit:
http://www.hollywoodprofessionalassociation.com/
(Source: Signiant press release)
6 February 2018
Celebro Media today announces the launch of its new Washington DC live broadcast studio with stunning views of the White House. The multi million-dollar build will be the first US studio to be fully 4K/UHD functioning with pioneering IP technology and multi-camera capabilities.
In the run-up to the 2018 mid-term elections and all year round, news broadcasters will be able to hire the Celebro Media studio on an ad hoc basis with premium views of United States’ most influential building. It will also offer news broadcasters the flexibility to create a last-minute pop-up studio during breaking US Government, or national, stories.
“The White House will play an important part in many upcoming news stories in 2018. This investment is giving broadcasters the chance to hire a flexible production space with premium views in a purpose-built facility that no one else can offer,” comments Wesley Dodd, CEO of Celebro Media. “Celebro’s global reach now means that we can offer broadcasters the chance to link to other studios including our central London location to create more diverse content.”
Stephen Gaisford, Director of US Operations at Celebro Media said, “Using the right technology to future-proof our current studios and upcoming facilities enables us to easily be on-hand for breaking stories and host 24 hours news channels. This studio is just the start of Celebro’s rapid expansion in the US market and we look forward to housing some of the world’s biggest news channels.”
The studio will be fitted with NewTek’s IP Series, a software-driven, modular video production system with virtually limitless access to video sources and video mixing options. It has been designed for the latest IP video-production techniques while also being fully backwards compatible. This makes the new studio and facilities suitable for all formats and transmission protocols. Being a fully customisable IP workflow solution, the IP Series makes the studio highly flexible and able to handle the most demanding production needs.
Rotolight’s new Anova PRO 2 LED lights will supply all lighting, and Riedel will supply all real-time signal distribution, communications and data transport solutions.
To find out more information about Celebro Media’s new Washington DC studio, please visit: http://celebrostudios.co.uk/
About Celebro Media
Celebro Media boasts global fully robotic live television studios in 4K and HD, plus outside broadcasting (OB) facilities in UK, US and Russia. It provides clients with high-quality flexible services that allow content and messages to reach the broadest possible audience and achieve targets.
Celebro Media’s highly experienced team also provides consultancy on IPTV, broadcast strategy, commercialisation, editorial and technical services, public relations and research, as well as access to transmission networks and a diverse catalogue of media content.
Major clients include BBC World Service, MTV, Discovery Channel, TRT World and Reuters. Celebro Media has also produced branded content for Coca-Cola, M&S and Reebok.
[Source: Celebro press release]
