19 September 2003
FollowingIn a pattern seen recently in Australia, Austria and Israel, Swissinfo/SRI [Swiss Radio International] could lose all its government funding by 2006. It would then be up to the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation to guarantee its future financing.
That’s one of the possibilities under consideration as the Swiss parliament debates controversial proposals to cut public spending by SFr3.3 billion (about 2.4 billion US dollars) to avoid massive deficits over the next few years. Switzerland’s national debt is currently SFr120 billion, and the government expects this to increase by SFr3 billion a year. So the government has drafted a radical savings plan which represents the biggest spending cut in Swiss history.
17 September 2003
James Murdoch, youngest son of Rupert, seems set to become CEO of UK satellite broadcaster BSkyB. The company, Britains 18th largest, has 6.8 million subscribers, moved into profit last year for the first time for 5 years, and is 35.4 % owned by the News Corporation.
The contract of current CEO Tony Ball runs out next May, and it is said that there are few UK broadcasting executives able to step into his job. James Murdoch has some qualifications, having been chief executive of News Corps Asian satellite broadcaster for three years, and before that being responsible for the groups US internet activities.
The News Corp group meanwhile is expected to show a profit of 20% over the next two years.
17 September 2003
BBC Post Production is to launch a facility to cater for factual and learning programming in November 2003. The facility will provide both BBC and external production teams with more flexibility in their post production workflows, enabling more streamlined ways of working and potential cost savings, all within a newly designed, comfortable and inspiring environment.
The facility will allow production teams to use new working methods including direct to online editing. Fourteen Avid Media Composer Adrenaline systems are being installed which feature new technology that allows material to be ingested from different formats and mixed on the same timeline. Production teams will have the flexibility to choose to either edit at online resolution or use the traditional offline-conform-online editing route.
In addition, the system offers enhanced effects capabilities, including the ability to animate multiple layers as well as a draft mode to easily preview and refine the final look. The Adrenalines will be linked to the Avid Unity MediaNetwork system allowing teams to work simultaneously on the same material. With an initial storage capacity of 5.7 Terrabytes, production teams will be able to keep their programmes as current as possible.
17 September 2003
Kingston Communications started life as a humble telephone company in the English town of Hull. For a time the company rode high on the technology boom, and spawned numerous divisions. Among these was the business-to-business division which has had a considerable impact on international broadcasting
But all of a sudden, CEO Steve Maine resigned after six years in the saddle, with no reason is given. Malcolm Fallen, who has been Chief Financial Officer of the Group since January 2001, took over.
The word from the company was that trading overall was “within the range of current market expectations”. But it warned the performance of its business-to-business telecoms division was “considerably below our earlier expectations”. Kingston will report its interim results on 25 November 2003.
Chairman, Michael Abrahams said, “Kingston Communications is a strong business in which we have made a substantial investment, supported by an experienced, committed team. “We are confident that Malcolm Fallen, Group CFO, has the skills, knowledge and energy to provide the leadership to initiate this renewed drive. We are grateful for the contribution Steve Maine has made to the development of the Group, and we wish him well for future.”
17 September 2003
Security of content is becoming a vital issue, and at IBC 2003, Tandberg Television demonstrated how it can add this element to its iTTV delivery platform. As more and more Telcos and network operators look to deliver video-centric services such as subscription TV and video on demand over their DSL and FTTH broadband networks, the need for security grows.
Increasingly, network operators are recognising that in addition to their own need to protect their revenue streams through encryption, they are required to be able to demonstrate a secure network to content owners to attract high value programming such as movies and sports.
Visitors to Tandbergs IBC stand saw conditional access (CA) systems from Conax, Latens and Widevine working in tandem with the company’s complete TV over IP head-end package. In addition, Tandberg showed how it plans to integrate its TV over IP system with other leading CA vendors, including VideoGuard from NDS, the world’s most widely deployed TV content protection system.
