1 November 2016
Arqiva, the communications infrastructure and media services company, has announced a partnership with Alexandra Palace that will see it illuminate the mast which broadcast the first ever regular high definition public television transmission in 1936.
This November 2nd marks the 80-year anniversary of the day the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) launched the world’s first high definition television service and the occasion will be marked with the illumination of the Alexandra Palace mast.
From 1936 until the early 1950s, Alexandra Palace became the major production centre for BBC Television, broadcasting landmark programming and coverage of historical events including the 1953 coronation. Converting former dining rooms and unused spaces to create two experimental TV studios, The BBC Studios became known globally as ‘the birthplace of television’.
Bryan Coombes, Director of Terrestrial Broadcast at Arqiva commented: “We feel incredibly privileged to be able to support the 80th anniversary celebrations at Alexandra Palace, and help deliver what will be an amazing public spectacle befitting of this historic location.
“When you look back on all the incredible things that the television industry has achieved – from the broadcasting of the coronation to the introduction of colour TV – it’s important to acknowledge just how much of the work that was done inside the Alexandra Palace studios all those years ago.
“With the mast standing at 65.5 metres high and continuing to provide TV and radio services to the surrounding area, there’s no doubt its illumination will be the perfect tribute.”
Louise Stewart, Chief Executive at Alexandra Park and Palace commented: “The BBC led the world with the development of television, and the first broadcasts made at Alexandra Palace exemplify a culmination of collaborative invention, pioneered by John Logie Baird, but ultimately carried forward by the Marconi-EMI system.
“It is fitting that we are able to work with Arqiva to the light the iconic mast as part of our celebration of this ground breaking moment in broadcasting history, in the very spaces in which the first opening night of television actually happened.”
Alongside the mast illumination, Alexandra Park and Palace Charitable Trust (APPCT) is marking the anniversary by inviting the public to an evening of talks and comedy in the Palace Suite, with the critically acclaimed comedy troupe ‘Do Not Adjust Your Stage’ as the lead attraction.
Ticket proceeds will be going towards the restoration of the Alexandra Palace studios as a visitor centre and museum capturing the history of television broadcasting in the UK. The Trust has committed to raising £1 million to complete the project, and restore and open the historic studios to the public for the first time in 2018.
For more information about and ticket purchases for the 80th anniversary event, please visit: http://www.alexandrapalace.com/whats-on/
Further details on the Palace’s fundraising and restoration efforts can also be found here: http://support.alexandrapalace.com/east-wing-restoration/
(Source: Arqiva press release)
27 October 2016
The total number of views on RT’s YouTube channels has exceeded four billion, making RT the leader among international TV news channels, including CNN and BBC.
In total, the aggregate number of views on RT’s channels is more than twice as many as that of CNN, three times as many as Euronews, and more than seven times as many as the BBC’s YouTube news channels combined.
VIDEO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CufWXj_o4o&feature=youtu.be
“The future of media is inextricably linked to the Internet. Once you fall behind in this field, it’s difficult to catch up. From the very beginning, RT has focused on developing its digital platforms, and this has been the key to our success,” noted RT Editor in Chief Margarita Simonyan.
“For many years now, RT has been the unrivalled leader on YouTube, the most popular video hosting platform in the world. Four billion views is a new milestone, and we are aiming to raise the bar even further,” said Kirill Karnovich-Valua, RT’s Head of Online Projects.
In 2007, RT became the first Russian TV channel to post video content on YouTube, as soon as the platform became available in Russia. In 2011, an RT clip was recognized as the most popular news video of the year on the platform. The following year, the Pew Research Center named RT the top news producer on YouTube. In 2013, RT became the first TV news channel in the world to hit one billion views on the portal.
In September 2016, RT took home seven Lovie Awards, the pan-European awards honoring online excellence. Last April, it received the People’s Voice Award at the prestigious Webby Awards, garnering user acclaim ahead of BBC News, ABC News, NBC Nightly News, and the New York Times.
(Source: RT press release)
27 October 2016
The release of the new story production tool from Vizrt provides an easy tool for editing video and distributing to any platform including social media and media asset management systems.
Good storytellers shouldn’t need to be technical wizards. They just need the tools to tell their story easily, professionally, and get it to their audience immediately. To accomplish this, Vizrt has created Viz Story, a browser-based (HTML5) editing tool that allows the journalists to quickly create compelling video stories with state of the art 3D graphics, and easily distribute them online and to social media.
Capture
Use video from any source, including professional video shot from the field, mobile phone video, or files from a media asset management (MAM) system. Search your ingested media and add to a timeline for editing. Combine Viz Story with Vizrt’s MAM system for live editing on growing proxy video.
Edit
Edit with multiple clips of any aspect ratio on a timeline. Add high-quality graphics to your video using templates for a fast way to add text and define the style of Text On Video (TOV) content. Graphics are rendered by our state-of-the-art 3D graphics rendering system.
Easily edit videos for multiple aspect ratios. Adjust the position of your video in your project with keyframed panning. This keeps the point of interest always in the center of the frame – even when using 16:9 video in a square video project.
Other editing features include:
- Overlay video, audio and graphics
- Video transitions
- Preview of graphics animations
Share
Instantly publish your final video anywhere, including Facebook, FTP, to disk, or to our media asset management system. The system also includes a third-party REST API for custom publishing workflows.
To find out more about Viz Story, visit vizstory.com and follow the Viz Story Facebook page.
(Source: Vizrt release)
27 October 2016
Euronews is setting up a subsidiary in Singapore and opening its first sales office outside of Europe.
The Asia-Pacific region has been a priority development area for four years. To reflect the channel’s increased distribution to more than 23 million homes across the region and to drive further growth in Asia-Pacific, Euronews has taken a strategic decision to open a subsidiary in Singapore, its first sales office outside of Europe.
Euronews Sales Singapore Pte. Ltd is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the integrated advertising network Euronews Sales SARL, based in Paris.
The mission of the Singapore office will be to develop advertising and increase the distribution of Euronews.
To meet this goal, Guillaume Canard-Duchêne has been appointed Asia-Pacific Sales Director and Maxime Vandenbroucque has been appointed Asia-Pacific Distribution Manager.
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Olivier de Montchenu,
Chief Commercial Officer, Managing Director of Euronews Sales SARL |
“In a few years, Euronews has established itself in the Asia-Pacific region. The main aim is to increase our visibility with advertisers and ad agencies interested in communicating via Euronews media.
Our distribution is now mature enough to reach out to future clients seeking a high-quality media outlet providing global coverage, which Euronews can offer thanks to its distribution in nearly 200 countries. Other clients want to promote their business to Europeans and, there too, Euronews is a relevant choice, because for years we have been the top international news channel in Europe.
We are very pleased to welcome Guillaume Canard-Duchêne and Maxime Vandenbroucque to our team. They will be opening our office in Singapore, our first sales subsidiary outside of Europe.
Their expertise on Asian markets, in addition to their knowledge of the international media market, will support the development of a commercial strategy in this region, and help us get as close as possible to our clients and partners, to drive the growth of our business.”
Guillaume Canard-Duchêne
Guillaume Canard-Duchêne will be managing the Asia-Pacific Sales Department and heading up the subsidiary.
He is responsible for creating and consolidating the sales strategy, with the aim of permanently establishing Euronews on the advertising market in the region, and increasing revenue. The priority targets are China and Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, the Southeast Asian countries and Australia.
He is also in charge of leading and managing a network of seven sales representatives based in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea and Thailand.
Guillaume Canard-Duchêne, 45, is joining the team of Olivier de Montchenu, Managing Director of Euronews Sales and Chief Commercial Officer of Euronews.
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Previously at Eurosport Group, Guillaume, then based in Paris, headed up operations in Asia between 1996 and 2000, and from 2006 when he opened the Hong Kong office, and then the Tokyo office, which he managed until late 2010.
Between 2011 and 2014, Guillaume was based in London, where he was Sales Director for the UK. Until he joined Euronews, he was in charge of Eurosport’s sales teams for western and southern Europe.
A graduate of the University of Middlesex in the United Kingdom, Guillaume spent a few years in Africa before beginning his career in the media. |
“We believe that proximity to our representatives and clients in Asia Pacific results in more efficiency. By getting closer we are able to provide strategic input and better understand our clients’ needs. We are building partnerships delivering multilingual content and helping them reach their communication objectives in the European markets and beyond.”
Maxime Vandenbroucque
Maxime Vandenbroucque is joining Euronews to take charge of developing linear and non-linear distribution with cable operators, IPTV, satellite TV providers and terrestrial broadcasters across the Asia-Pacific region.
He will also lead a network of five local representatives based India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.
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Maxime Vandenbroucque, Asia-Pacific Distribution Manager |
“Asia-Pacific is the market with the strongest growth. The strategic position of Singapore provides the best conditions to develop the distribution of Euronews in the region. Thanks to this new location, we are now as close as possible to our clients in this highly competitive market.”
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Maxime Vandenbroucque, 27 years old, worked at TV5MONDE between 2014 and 2016 as Marketing Manager for the Asia-Pacific region. He also participated in regional development with cable operators and digital distribution businesses.
Maxime did his principal studies in France, followed by specialisations in Mexico and Denmark.
He is a graduate of the Kedge Business School in Bordeaux, with a Master’s degree in Management. |
Source: Euronews press release
25 October 2016
Japanology Plus
Japanophiles: Paul Lorimer
Nov 3 Thu 4:30/ 8:30/ 16:30/ 22:30 (UTC) <28 min.>
Awamori is Okinawa’s signature alcoholic beverage. After three or more years of aging it’s called kusu, a drink frequently noted for its fragrance and smoothness. In the old days the aging process would always take place in a ceramic vessel, and some of the best of these are now made by New Zealander Paul Lorimer, who has lived in Okinawa for 36 years. There are no short cuts for Lorimer. He digs his own clay, makes the vessels in a traditional way, and never stops experimenting as he strives for the ultimate kusu container. Interviewer: Peter Barakan
Dining with the Chef
Okinawan Home Cooking
Nov 4 Fri 14:30/ 20:30/ Sat 2:10/ 8:10 (UTC) <28 min.>
A kingdom once flourished in what is now Japan’s Okinawa prefecture. Even today, one can sense the presence of its culture. 82-year-old chef Ayaka Yamamoto specializes in the cuisine of the Ryukyu kingdom. The healthy food of Okinawa is credited with contributing to long lifespans of the people there. It reflects the tropical environment and history of a place influenced by Japan, China, and Southeast Asia. Gracious hospitality enhances the appeal. Program host Yu Hayami explores the essence of Ryukyu cuisine.
Cycle around Japan
A journey of Yaeyama Islands
Nov 5 Sat 23:10/ Sun 5:10/ 10:10/ 17:10 (UTC) <49 min. 30 sec.>
CYCLE AROUND JAPAN presents invigorating bike rides to hidden sites that have escaped the attention of guidebooks. This episode features the Yaeyama islands in Okinawa, where the lifestyle that has existed since ancient times is still strong. The trip is filled with discoveries, including the sabani boats of Ishigaki island made from logs, the exquisite scenery of Taketomi island, and a woman who carries on the tradition of minsa fabric. A stop on Hateruma leads to the island’s only school, where kids from kindergarten to junior high study together. Immerse yourself in a four-day journey through nature and culture.
J-MELO in Okinawa Part1, Part2
[Part 1] Nov 20 Sun 15:10/ 21:10/ Mon 3:30/ 9:30 (UTC) <28 min.>
[Part 2] Nov 27 Sun 15:10/ 21:10/ Mon 3:30/ 9:30 (UTC) <28 min.>
Over the course of two weeks, J-MELO brings you the grand finale of the “The 6th. WorldWide Uchinanchu Festival.” The event, in Naha, takes place every five years, drawing Okinawan people home from wherever they may be across the globe. This year’s performers include BEGIN, DIAMANTES, Kariyushi58, and RYUKYUDISKO. NHK’s Okinawa station conducted a survey to choose “Songs of Okinawa to present to the world,” and J-MELO host May J. will perform a tune from the list.
(Source: NHK WORLD TV press releas)
