16 July 2003
DW s new magazine intensifies the station;s cultural reporting and focus on Europe. The daily format covers “life and culture in Europe”. Television Director Christoph Lanz said: “Germany’s international television is intensifying its cultural reporting while sharpening its profile as a programme from the heart of Europe.”
“Euromaxx” is produced in German and English and takes the place of the previous magazine “Germany Today”. The new magazine will show “Europe in all its variety and fascination with strong images and interesting stories,” explained Rische, head of Society and Entertainment at DW-TV. “We will introduce the continent and its people to viewers around the world: countries and customs, everyday life and atmosphere, society and glamour,”
“Euromaxx” also features a special project: the travelogue “Euromaxx on Tour” – the programmes reporters will be journeying from the North Cape to Gibraltar – 11,000 km from the northernmost point of the European mainland to the southernmost point, passing through 16 European countries.
16 July 2003
US-based Iranian TV channels have been suffering from the presence of an unidentified signal which is causing disruption and interference. The affected stations are in a multiplex of channels targetted mainly at Iran.
The channels potentially affected, according to the Lyngsat satellite information web site, are CTI TV; Da Ai TV; MAC TV; NITV-National Iranian TV; Iran TV Network; Tapesh TV; VOA TV Persian service; Channel One; Azadi TV; Jaam-e-jam International (an Iranian state external TV service); AFN Farsi Net (radio).
16 July 2003
The BBC’s Latin American radio and online service, BBC Mundo, has entered a rebroadcasting agreement with Chile’s longest running radio station, Radio Chilena.
ChilenaSoloNoticias is Chile’s only broadcaster with an exclusively information-led format. Specializing in mainly news and sports, it broadcasts through its 19 stations and partner stations to the whole country on AM, FM and via satellite.
James Painter, Head of BBC Latin American Service, welcomes this satellite rebroadcasting agreement with Radio Chilena: “It will help further extend our presence in Chile, offering our valued Chilean audiences extensive news coverage and programmes instilled with the impartiality that characterizes the BBC. We are also very happy that the agreement extends to the digital media and includes an exchange of hyperlinks and content between bbcmundo.com and radiochilena.cl.”
9 July 2003
Andres Ilves, a veteran broadcast journalist, has been named director of Radio Farda (www.radiofarda.com), the Persian-language service aimed at young listeners in Iran, the Broadcasting Board of Governors (www.bbg.gov) announced.
Ilves, whose appointment is effective immediately, is currently the director of Radio Free Afghanistan, which broadcasts in Dari and Pashto. A graduate of Princeton University, Ilves started working for US international broadcasting in the 1980s. “Andres’ strong commitment to broadcasting will help provide the people of Iran with the information they need about their country and the outside world,” said Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, chairman of the BBG.
Launched in December 2002, Radio Farda broadcasts news, information, public affairs and entertainment to Iran 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Based in Washington and Prague, Radio Farda is a collaboration between RFE/RL and VOA. The radio’s target audience is listeners under 30 who make up about 70 per cent of Iran’s population. Since pro-democracy protests got under way in Iran in early June, Radio Farda, broadcast on AM, shortwave, digital audio satellite and by internet.
9 July 2003
The number of internet users in Japan totalled 56.45m at the end of February, up from 46.2m a year earlier, and the number is expected to reach 61.24m at the end of this year. (Survey by Impress).
Of all households in Japan, 73 per cent had at least one member using the Internet. Of households with internet access, 39.3 per cent used broadband access services. That is up from 18.5 per cent, reflecting the widespread availability of low-cost asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) access services. The number of individuals using broadband services totalled an estimated 15.96m
The number of Internet users in the world totalled 670.8m at the end of 2002. The Asia-Pacific region accounted for 32.1 per cent of the total, surpassing Europe as the world’s largest user by region for the first time. Europe had a 31.9 per cent share.
