23 February 2004
Kingston inmedia has launched a new point-to-point satellite service between Jerusalem/Tel Aviv and London, in conjunction with RR Satellite Communications of Israel. Kingston can now provide broadcasters with solutions built on end-to-end connectivity from all major studios and facilities companies in Israel, through the hub of RR Sat’s Reem Teleport, then via satellite to Kingston inmedia’s Gerrard’s Cross Teleport. From Gerrard’s Cross, the route extends onward either to London’s Telecom Tower and other UK premises using Kingston’s national fibre network, or to further destinations such as North and South America, via Kingston’s transatlantic fibre and satellite infrastructure.
RR Satellite Communications Limited provides uplink, downlink and turnaround services, and dishes for C-Band and Ku-Band (2.4m to 12m) that are authorised by Intelsat, Eutelsat, Panamsat, Arabsat, Nilesat, Thaicom, LMI, Loral and Amos.
19 February 2004
The BBC’s acting director general has named a six-member team to investigate the editorial lessons of the Hutton report. Mark Byford said ex-BBC news chief Ron Neil would chair the group which also includes ex-ITN chief Richard Tait. The review’s remit is to look at the editorial issues raised by Lord Hutton and to identify any lessons and make any appropriate recommendations.
Mr Byford is leading the review and says he expects to be able to take forward recommendations to the BBC’s executive committee and then board of governors in June. The other members of the review group are Glenwyn Benson, controller factual television; Helen Boaden, controller Radio 4; Adrian Van Klaveren, head of BBC newsgathering and Stephen Whittle, controller editorial policy.
19 February 2004
Telepace, the first and longest running full-time Catholic channel, has chosen GlobeCast to deliver its programming to Europe via its HOT BIRD platform and to North America on GlobeCast WorldTV on Telstar 5.
Telepace is broadcast in Italian, English and Spanish. The channel, which has close ties to the Vatican, features programming primarily dedicated to promoting Christian family values and morals. GlobeCast is providing transmission, uplink and space capacity on HOT BIRD and Telstar 5 for Telepace.
GlobeCast is a member of the AIB.
19 February 2004
After 18 months of consideration the Swedish Parliament’s Committee on Digital Radio proposes a gradual expansion of digital radio in Sweden. On 18 February the committee submitted its final report to the government.
“It’s very constructive that a broad political majority want both Swedish Radio and the commercial stations to make the transition to digital radio,” said Peter Örn, Director General of public broadcaster Swedish Radio. “Now we hope that the government will support the proposal and parliament can pass the necessary legislation by the end of the year, so we can expand our digital broadcasts as early as 2005.”
The committee was faced with three alternatives: a rapid expansion of DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting), continued test broadcasts, or abandoning digital radio transmissions. Since 1995 Swedish Radio has been conducting Sweden’s only test broadcasts of digital radio channels.
The proposal calls for a gradual expansion of digital radio for both Swedish Radio and commercial radio. The broadcasters themselves will determine the pace of expansion. Today Swedish Radio’s digital broadcasts reach 35 percent of Sweden’s population, in the three large metropolitan areas and the northern city of Luleå. A new evaluation in 2008 will determine how well the radio industry has succeeded in attracting Swedish radio listeners to digital radio. Under the proposal Swedish Radio is allocated the entire capacity of a national multiplex, which has room for 5-7 national channels. Commercial radio, which today does not broadcast in digital mode, would be allocated two-thirds of the capacity in the 19 regional DAB ensembles, which will give the opportunity for both local and national broadcasts.
But the report says both the radio industry and politicians believe the transition from analog FM radio to digital radio will take a relatively long time. “It will certainly be 15 years before most radio listeners have replaced their analogue FM receivers with digital radio receivers”, believes Swedish Radio Director General Peter Örn.
Radio Sweden is a member of the AIB.
17 February 2004
RadioScape has released details of the latest addition to its highly successful family of software defined modules for DAB (Digital Audio Broadcast). The new RadioScape RS250H is the world’s first, fully integrated, tri-band micromodule, supporting FM, RDS, Band III DAB and L-Band DAB, that enables handheld radio receivers to be made and used anywhere in the world. The tiny form factor of the micromodule measures only 52 by 37 by 7 mm so that a whole new generation of truly global, handheld portable DAB receivers can be created.
“This module is a breakthrough in DAB miniaturisation,” said Nigel Oakley, VP of Marketing at RadioScape. “The module is smaller than a box of matches and will enable a portable DAB receiver to be made that is less than the footprint of a business card. The size determining factors are now the display and the batteries. 2003 was the year that DAB took off with kitchen radio designs being the main driver 2004 will be the year that handheld designs take off. This small form factor also demonstrates that integrating into mobile phones will soon be possible using RadioScape-based technology.
