Egyptian Information Minister Safwat al-Sharif has signed a cooperation agreement with the French Canal Satellite group in a bid to expand Egyptian satellite channels via new satellites.
Under the agreement, the Egyptian satellite Channel 1 will beam its programmes via the Astra satellite to be seen in all of Europe. Egypt hopes that this agreement will help explain the countrys information, political and cultural role to the world.
Russian news agency ITAR-TASS notes that the Voice of Russia, now taking part in the initial phase of broadcasting in the DRM format, has become the first digital radio station in the country, broadcasting to Europe four hours a day in digital format.
VOR is using only one transmitter for digital broadcasts at present, but according to ITAR-TASS all others are expected to go digital in the very near future to cover all continents by the end of the year. Complete transition to digital should be completed by 2015.
The BBC Latin American Service and Ecuador’s leading daily, El Universo, have launched a joint FM station in Guayaquil called Radiocity 89.3 FM. The station will rebroadcast via satellite 12 hours a day of the BBC Latin American Service programming.
Radiocity 89.3 FM is the result of a close collaboration between the BBC and El Universo which started with a contents exchange agreement between their online sites, bbcmundo.com and eluniverso.com The collaboration was further extended to radio as the BBC Latin American Service provided the budding station with training in journalism and programme making. Under this latest partnership, the BBC will be Radiocity’s exclusive provider of international news and current affairs programmes. The BBC will also bring a wide variety of music, science and entertainment.
And BBC World Service has begun transmitting on FM in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates capital and plans to launch a second FM frequency in the UAE in Dubai, one of the Middle East’s major business centres, this summer. The new 24-hour FM frequency in Abu Dhabi, on 90.3 MHz, is the fifth new FM frequency to be launched by BBC World Service in the Middle East since March. Last month BBC World Service announced it had begun FM broadcasts in Arabic and English in the Iraqi cities of Baghdad, Basrah and Al-Amarah.
Around the world BBC World Service is now present in FM in 140 capital cities.
An English-language version of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s official website is now available on the Internet, Russian Mayak radio reported. The link to the page is located at Putin’s Russian-language website at www.kremlin.ru.
The BBC is underlining its commitment to DAB digital radio, with a major on-air promotional campaign for its complete portfolio of digital radio stations – 1Xtra, Five Live Sports Extra, 6 Music, BBC 7 and the Asian Network.
The five-week campaign, the first by the BBC to promote its family of digital radio services, incorporates TV, radio and online elements. The BBC also confirmed details of the upgrading of its digital radio transmitter network from 65 per cent to 85 per cent coverage of the UK population in 2004.
Jenny Abramsky, Director of BBC Radio & Music and Vice-Chair of the Digital Radio Development Bureau (DRDB) said “For the first time digital radio is on its way to becoming a mass market proposition, rather than the preserve of audio enthusiasts. For the BBC there is also the encouraging sign of digital converts being attracted by new stations, particularly those provided by the BBC.