12 October 2003
The AIB is a partner in an exciting industry seminar for the US marketplace. Participation TV will explore the integration of media brands and television programming with mobile (SMS, MMS) and telephony (IVR) based interactivity. This combination is generating direct revenues and branding benefits for carriers, broadcasters, content owners and production companies across the globe.
Millions of text message are generated by programmes like Big Brother; music channels in Holland have been developed with 24/7 integrated wireless interactivity, including the killer ‘fotochat’ application. Games channels, SMS chat channels, 2.5 million votes for American Idol finale. The list goes on.
The seminar programme will feature expert contributions from leading US &
International broadcasters, media productions companies, carriers and
technology providers, like ABC, Endemol and TXTme TV. Speakers will detail successful Participation TV case studies from international markets.
Participation TV will take place during the CTIA (Cellular Telecommunication & Internet Association) Wireless IT & Entertainment Expo 2003 (http://www.wirelessit.com/general/). This expo (in its seventh year) is one of the largest annual industry forums and exhibitions with over 10,000 executives scheduled to attend keynote sessions, workshops and special interest seminars October 21-23.
12 October 2003
Marc Tessier, CEO of the state-owned group France Televisions, says that Cll, the French international TV channel called for by President Jacques Chirac, will be “a voice speaking for France, but not France’s official voice. We must avoid the image of operating under orders from above” and said that the public-private partnership between France Televisions and TF1 would work. He explained that the idea from the outset had been of a 50-50 association, with the state providing all the financing. This was, in his opinion, “the only possible type of partnership”. “If things went wrong, the state would be the arbiter, since it provides the financing.”
M. Tessier said also that French news agency AFP would be a major source, and that he had “no objections” to RFI [Radio France Internationale], which participated in France Televisions’s original project, being also “associated with the network”.
12 October 2003
The French TF1 group is to buy up 49 per cent of the Italian company Europa TV for approximately 35m euros [approx 41m dollars]. The plan is to launch the national sports channel “Sport Italia” at the end of the year, in partnership with the financier Tarek Ben Ammar.
Holland Coordinator and Services B.V., Ammars company, is acquiring 100 per cent of the capital of Europa TV for a global price of 70m euros. TF1, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Eurosport, has reached an agreement with Holland Coordinator and Services to acquire 49 per cent of the capital of Europa TV.
Europa TV has coverage rights for 83 per cent of Italy. If the agreements get official approval, the partners plan to launch in time for this year’s Christmas and New Year periods on an unscrambled basis.
12 October 2003
The UK and Ireland will gain greater choice of satellite broadband services following the launch of e-BIRD, Europe’s first satellite specially designed for the provision of 2-way broadband communications.
The satellite will enter service in November at 33 degrees East. The launch of e-BIRD boosts Eutelsat’s commitment to developing resources and technology in Europe that enable satellites to be key players in bridging the digital divide by reaching regions not served by
ADSL and other terrestrial broadband technologies.
6 October 2003
AIB Member VT Merlin Communications took a major step in the development of Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) services by switching on the UKs first medium wave transmitter at Orfordness in East Anglia at the end of September. The transmitter and encoding equipment were supplied by Canadian manufacturer, Nautel and German companies Telefunken and Fraunhofer Institute.
The highlight of the inauguration “pressing the big red button” was performed by Benny Ammar, Head of Go Digital, BBC World Service and Simon Tarrant, Managing Director, VT Support Services, at a ceremony attended by some 60 international guests.
The DRM service will carry BBC World Service programming into the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Northern France on 1296KHz during the day, and may extend into Germany and Poland during the hours of darkness. The digital DRM signal will show a marked improvement in the audio quality and the perennial problems of fading and interference associated with short, medium and long wave transmissions.
“This represents a significant investment in DRM technology,” said Peter Gordon, VT Merlin’s Programme Manager, Digitalisation, “and we’re delighted to be at the forefront of the technology’s introduction.”
