17 February 2004
Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company Limited (AsiaSat) announced on 16 February that it is providing back up facilities and services to Star at AsiaSats new Tai Po Earth Station in Hong Kong.
Under the terms of agreement, AsiaSat will provide facilities to house Stars back up broadcast and RF equipment for downlinking and emergency uplinking to AsiaSat 3S and other related services.
AsiaSats Tai Po Earth Station is designed for tracking and monitoring AsiaSats satellites as well as for providing additional value-added services to AsiaSats customers such as C-band and Ku-band traffic uplinking and back up services.
16 February 2004
Alhurra, a new Arabic-language satellite television network, began broadcasting to the Middle East on 14 February 2004.
Alhurra (Arabic for “The Free One”) is devoted primarily to news and information. In addition to reporting on regional and international events, the channel broadcasts discussion programs, current affairs magazines and features on a variety of subjects including health and personal fitness, entertainment, sports, fashion, and science and technology. The channel is dedicated to presenting accurate, balanced and comprehensive news.
Alhurra is operated by The Middle East Television Network, Inc., a non-profit corporation funded by the U.S. Congress through the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG). The BBG is a federal agency that supervises all U.S. nonmilitary international broadcasting. The channel broadcasts from studios in Springfield, Virginia and bureaus throughout the Middle East.
“Our competitive edge in the Middle East is our very dedication to truth and free and open debate. And we will stand out like a beacon of light in a media market dominated by sensationalism and distortion,” said BBG Chairman Kenneth Y. Tomlinson.
Norman J. Pattiz, chairman of the BBG’s Middle East Committee who spearheaded development of Alhurra, said, “Alhurra will present fresh perspectives for viewers in the Middle East that we believe will create more cultural understanding and respect.”
“A key part of our mission is to be an example of a free press in the American tradition,” he added. “We’ve assembled a highly professional group of journalists primarily from the region to provide the kind of news and information that will resonate with our viewing audience and enable them to make informed decisions.”
Alhurra launched with a 14-hour per day program schedule and will expand to 24 hours within weeks. Prime time programming includes two, one-hour in-depth newscasts, a nightly live talk show called “Free Hour,” and Arabic translations of documentary and information programming from producers around the world.
Alhurra is available to viewers in the Middle East on the region’s two major satellite systems: Arabsat and Nilesat.
Arabsat Digital at
26 Degrees East
Arabsat C-band Analogue at 26 Degrees East
Nilesat Digital at 7 Degrees West
The Broadcasting Board of Governors is a Member of the AIB.
16 February 2004
The AIB is initiating a series of networking events exclusively for its members. The first of these took place in Washington DC on 3 February bringing together a range of the AIB’s US-based membership together with a small number of specially invited guests for off-the-record discussion and debate.
For more details about AIB Networking, together with the other benefits of AIB Membership, contact Anver Anderson, the AIB Business Development Director.
13 February 2004
The decision by the management of Ukrainian radio broadcaster Dovira to remove RFE/RL Ukrainian Service programming from its FM schedule with effect of 17 February 2004 has been condemned by RFE/RL President Thomas A. Dine as “a political act against liberal democracy, against free speech and press.
In a letter from TV and Radio Company Dovira First Deputy Director V. Reznychenko to RFE/RL Ukrainian Service Director Alexander Narodetsky, the privately-held Ukrainian network said the move to end radio re-broadcasting of RFE/RL programming was motivated by a decision that the RFE/RL programmes “have to be changed in terms of format.” The abrupt decision to end RFE/RL Ukrainian Service broadcasts surprised Service Director Narodetsky, who noted that his service had enjoyed a “very close and productive relationship with Dovira.” Dovira first began re-broadcasting RFE/RL programmes in 1998, and was named RFE/RL Affiliate of the Year in 2001. The Ukrainian Service worked closely with Dovira’s management to adapt its programmes to a more FM-friendly format.
In a press release issued on 11 February, RFE/RL states that Dovira has been the focus of official Ukrainian pressure to drop RFE/RL Ukrainian Service broadcasting since 2001. The station has stood firmly against the use by Ukrainian authorities of a variety of administrative levers, including allegations that it had breached licensing regulations by re-broadcasting RFE/RL Ukrainian Service programmes. Until the receipt of the termination letter, RFE/RL Ukrainian Service and Dovira management had been working together to resolve the dispute with the government and legislature.
In late January , Dovira was sold to Ukrainian Media Holding, a newspaper and radio holding company owned by Boris Lozhkin, and a new management team installed.
RFE/RL is a member of the AIB.
12 February 2004
In a sequence of events reminiscent of recent upheavals at the BBC in the UK, Olivier Mazerolle, head of news at the French state TV station France 2, has resigned after an inaccurate report on its flagship television news programme. The resignation followed a no-confidence vote in which two-thirds of staff rebuked him and anchorman David Pujadas, who has been suspended, for failing in their public-service mission.
Pujadas attempted to scoop privately owned TF1 to Alain Juppé’s reaction to his conviction on political corruption charges, saying on the strength of unnamed sources at the start of the 8pm bulletin on France 2 that Mr Juppé was about to announce his withdrawal from public life. A few minutes later, on TF1, Mr Juppé told the nation he was going to stay.
Jean-Jacques Aillagon, France’s minister of culture and communication, urged the broadcaster to take measures to avoid similar mistakes, saying the French “have a right to expect information of quality, information that is reliable”.
At Radio France, the state broadcaster, a majority of journalists continued a third week of pay-related strike action that has blacked out news across the public airwaves. The strike, since 11 February also affecting Radio France International, has centred on claims by public-service radio journalists that they should be paid as much as their colleagues in state television.
The crisis in both sections of the French public broadcasting service comes just as Mr Chirac is attempting to mobilise industry professionals to create a CNN à la française.
