6 February 2017
Current Time, an up-and-coming player in the Russian media market, will mark on Tuesday, Feb. 7 the formal launch of its 24/7 digital and TV stream.
With a mission to bring real news to Russian-speaking audiences everywhere, Current Time is engaging audiences from Lithuania to Kazakhstan and providing an alternative to Kremlin-sponsored media. The day-long video stream builds on the successes of individual daily news programs started in 2014 and 2015.
First and foremost a digital news and current affairs network, Current Time’s daily lineup features hourly live newscasts and sharp political debate, in addition to innovative programs covering business, entrepreneurship, civil society, and culture. It is also a leading destination for documentary films that are otherwise unavailable inside Russia.
“Led by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in cooperation with the Voice of America (VOA), the Current Time digital network is a signature accomplishment of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG),” said BBG CEO and Director John Lansing. “Current Time embodies all of the priorities I set forth to maximize the agility, efficiency and impact of the BBG networks and allow us to more effectively address the rapidly evolving global media environment.”
Public demand for Current Time’s content is reflected in its wide distribution network, comprising 32 cable affiliates in Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Germany, and Israel. Its live video stream is available across Eurasia, to more than 7.3 million subscribers to 36 satellite, cable, and IPTV services. The stream is also hosted on the digital platforms filmon.tv and MeGoGo, with more than 100 million monthly users, and on the Eutelsat Hotbird-8 satellite, which reaches 135 million households from Iceland to Turkey.
While TV remains the dominant media platform in much of Current Time’s target region, the network’s innovative digital unit takes the network’s content direct to growing mobile and web audiences, who have viewed its clever social videos on corruption, politics, and the ordinary challenges of daily life more than 160 million times in 2016 on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, and Russian social networks such as VKontakte and Odnoklassniki. An average of 1 million people per month visited the network’s website and mobile news and video apps.
The network’s Russian name, “Nastoyashchee Vremya,” has a triple meaning that aptly describes Current Time’s purpose — to provide its Russian-speaking audience content that is truthful, current, and real.
RFE/RL is a private, independent international news organization whose programs — radio, internet, television, and mobile — reach 27 million people in 26 languages and 23 countries, including Russia, Ukraine, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the republics of Central Asia and the Caucasus, and the Baltic states.
VOA delivers news and information in more than 45 languages to a measured weekly audience of more than 236 million people. With 75 years of experience, VOA is a trusted source for accurate information about news events, freedom of expression, civil society, and change.
VOA and RFE/RL are two of the five networks of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, an independent federal agency supervising all U.S. government-supported, civilian international media.
6 February 2017
Simon Fell, Director of the EBU Technology and Innovation Department, has been elected to chair the World Broadcasting Unions (WBU) Technical Committee (TC) for a two year term (2017/18). The WBU brings together the eight broadcasting unions in matters of common interest. The elected management team for the WBU-TC is Simon Fell (Chair), Amal Punchihewa, ABU Technical Director (Vice-Chair), and John Lee, Chairman of the NABA Technical Committee (Vice-Chair).
The WBU-TC has worked together and shared knowledge of broadcast technology and prepared common recommendations on such matters as broadcast spectrum and programme production for many decades. Simon Fell explained: “The world’s broadcasters face many common challenges, which include protecting broadcasters and their customers from IT security threats, understanding the impact of 5G on broadcasting, investigating whether there can be common file formats for programmes, and much more. I am looking forward to working with my colleagues across the world to the benefit of us all.” Simon Fell leads the team spearheading developments in media technologies at the EBU. He has four decades of experience, formerly with ITV as Director of Future Technologies; previously he helped establish Carlton Television where he held several executive positions and helped launch digital broadcasting.
He is currently Chairman of the ETSI Mobile Broadcast Convergence Group and previously has been President of DigiTAG and chaired the Technical Council at the UK’s Digital Television Group, and was Chairman of the HD Forum. Additional roles include Director of Engineering for Rushes, Chief Engineer of 625 and establishing Channel Four. His early career included periods in the USA with Rank Cintel and at YTV in Leeds. He is a Fellow of both the SMPTE and RTS.
Amal Punchihewa is currently the Director of Technology & Innovation at ABU. In that position, he leads a team of specialists, driving innovation of media technology in the best interest of ABU members. He facilitates technical guidelines and standards, providing expertise related to the convergence of media, and involving technical needs. He is an advisor to IET Vision and Imaging Technical and Professional Network, having previously served as an Executive committee member. He possesses more than 30 years of experience in all three sectors of broadcasting; viz. academia, research and industry, including roles in regional capacity building in media and as head of engineering of national TV-Sri Lanka. He graduated with B.Sc. (Eng) Hons. specialised in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering from Sri Lanka, M. Eng. from Technical University of Eindhoven, the Netherlands & PhD from Massey University in New Zealand. He is a Senior Member of IEEE, Chartered Professional Engineer-CEng, Fellow of IET (UK) & Fellow of IPENZ (New Zealand).
John Lee retired in December 2016 as Executive Director, Technology Solutions, for CBC/Radio-Canada, Canada’s national television and radio public broadcaster. In this role, he was responsible for all DTV and Radio transmission facilities, all satellite stations and facilities, telecommunications, mobility, telephony, unified communications; and for IT, including data centers, end-user computers, applications, Information Security and governance. In 2001, he and his project team won the Canadian Gemini Award for Outstanding Technical Achievement for the National Satellite DVC Project and, subsequently, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) International Broadcasting Excellence Award in 2002. He was the executive sponsor of the Next Generation Converged Network (NGCN) project, a high-speed 58 city software defined fibre-optic network which won the 2012 CBC President’s Award for Technical Innovation.
John Lee is a Vice-President of the North American Broadcasters Association (NABA) and is Chairman of NABA’s Technical Committee. He is Vice-Chairman of the World Broadcasting Unions (WBU) Technical Committee.
About the World Broadcasting Unions (WBU)
The World Broadcasting Unions (WBU) is the coordinating body for broadcasting unions who represent broadcaster networks across the globe. It was established in 1992 as a coordinating body at the international broadcasting level. Since then, the WBU has provided global solutions on key issues for its member unions. The North American Broadcasters Association (NABA) acts as secretariat for the WBU.
The broadcasting unions who belong to the WBU are the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU), the African Union of Broadcasting (AUB), the Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU), the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the International Association of Broadcasting (IAB/AIR), the North American Broadcasters Association (NABA) and the Organizacion de Telecomunicaciones Iberoamericanas (OTI).
6 February 2017
Arab Satellite Communication Organization – ARABSAT- is holding its 9th Telecom Forum in Tunis from 14th -15th February 2017. Arabsat holds its Telecom Forum annually to strengthen its professional and operational association with its customers. The 2017 Forum will provide a platform for ARABSAT customers, industry experts, technology and service providers to share their views on latest technological trends.
Arabsat’s CTO Eng. Mueid Al-Zahrani said “This occasion will be a great opportunity to present our reliable high powered capacity to deliver connectivity services to different verticals over extensive coverages in the Middle East, North Africa, North West Africa, Central Asia and South Africa. Our Future High Throughput Satellites (HTS) that are scheduled to be launched in 2018 will complement existing capacities and supply adequate bandwidth and coverage.”
The 9th Telecom Forum will provide a platform for international experts to explore, in-depth, a range of issues pertaining to the market needs for satellite capacity to fulfil the growth of satellite-based broadband solutions, aeronautical in flight entitlements, HTS applications and GSM backhaul.
(Source: ARABSAT press release)
25 January 2017
The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) today announced the unanimous election of Kenneth Weinstein, who has served as a Board Member since October 2013, to the position of Acting Board Chairman, effective immediately. Mr. Weinstein takes over from Mr. Jeff Shell, who served as Chairman of the Board since August 2013. Mr. Shell, the Chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, will continue to serve as a Board Member.
“This transition illustrates BBG’s commitment to ensuring high caliber, accomplished leaders in the agency,” said outgoing Chairman Jeff Shell. “Ken is a consummate professional and a wonderful person to boot, whose contribution to the Board has been invaluable. He is the perfect person to work with CEO John Lansing as he continues to lead key reforms and advance growth at BBG.”
In his acceptance of the Chairman role, Mr. Weinstein said, “Working to advance the mission of BBG throughout the world is truly an honor, and I am excited to work with my fellow Board Members and with CEO Lansing in this new capacity. CEO Lansing’s leadership has been crucial to our continual progress here at BBG. During his tenure, the agency’s total audience grew by 52 million to an estimated total 278 million people weekly, in 100 countries and 61 languages, even as he leads internal reforms that tighten processes, save money, and cultivate impact. I and other Board members continue to support John’s leadership, having voted on January 19 to reaffirm his authority, without objection, and I look forward to working together. I also want to thank Jeff Shell, whose unmatched dedication and strategic leadership of the Board have been critical to the transformation of the agency.”
Kenneth R. Weinstein is President and Chief Executive Officer of Hudson Institute, a think tank focused on promoting American leadership and global engagement for a secure, free, and prosperous future.
A political theorist by training whose academic work focuses on the early Enlightenment, Mr. Weinstein has written widely on international affairs for leading publications in the United States, Europe, and Asia, including Bungei Shunju (Japan), Le Figaro (France), Le Monde (France), The Wall Street Journal, and the Yomiuri Shimbun.
He has been decorated with a knighthood in Arts and Letters by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication as a Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Mr. Weinstein previously served by presidential appointment and Senate confirmation on the National Humanities Council, the governing body of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Mr. Weinstein graduated from The University of Chicago (B.A. in General Studies in the Humanities), the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (D.E.A. in Soviet and Eastern European Studies), and Harvard University (Ph.D. in Government).
Additionally, on January 24, the Board noted the resignation of public diplomacy expert Matthew Armstrong, who served on the Board since August 2013.
In noting Mr. Armstrong’s resignation, Mr. Weinstein stated, “Matt was a pleasure to work with and his accomplishments are many. I wish him the best in his future endeavors.”
(Source: BBG press release)
18 January 2017
Content from BBC Ukrainian is now available to the users of the popular Ukrainian news website, Novoye Vremya, as it now carries news stories from the website bbc.ua, in Ukrainian and Russian, in text and video.
Novoye Vremya (nv.ua) is the website of the Ukrainian weekly social and political news magazine of the same name. It now displays the BBC Ukrainian reporting and analysis of international and regional news relevant to Ukrainian audiences, including the BBC’s coverage of business, art, entertainment and sport.
BBC Ukrainian Editor, Nina Kuryata says: “We welcome the collaboration with Novoye Vremya, a widely respected Ukrainian publication. This new partnership will help us showcase to a new audience relevant and engaging content from bbc.ua.”
Chief Project Manager, nv.ua, Oleg Lysenko, adds: “We want to provide our readers with high-quality and timely information. Our cooperation with BBC Ukrainian – with which we share high journalistic standards, objectivity and impartiality – will deliver just that.”
BBC Ukrainian is part of BBC World Service.
(Source: BBC World Service press release)
