19 September 2016
Euronews harnesses the versatility of Samsung Gear 360 to create 360-degree content for interactive video reporting.
Euronews announced today a project to create virtual reality (VR) news content by leveraging the Samsung Gear 360 to provide viewers an immersive experience.
Fully integrated in the regular workflow of its international newsroom, each week Euronews produces 360-degree news content using the Samsung Gear 360, which launched earlier this year.
As part of this project, supported by funding from the Google Digital News Initiative (DNI) Innovation Fund, Euronews journalists and its network of correspondents are equipped with a Samsung Gear 360 device and trained to maximise opportunities presented by the new platform.
The immersive journalism puts viewers in command by allowing them to choose the angle they want to watch the news – consumers can change the view of the newscast by using a mouse on a PC or by swiping their mobile screen. Original 360-degree content will include reports on current affairs, culture and sports, as well as sponsored content developed in collaboration with advertising partners.
The Samsung Gear 360 is lightweight and easy to use, making it convenient for Euronews reporters to transport while shooting news stories in Europe and around the world. News teams will use the device to capture breaking news and feature stories. The streamlined post-production editing process of content created by the Gear 360 means videos can be published quickly and efficiently for time-sensitive stories.
The interactive videos and images produced in collaboration with Samsung are available on PCs, tablets and mobile devices for consumers’ viewing pleasure – and with virtual reality headsets offering a more advanced viewing experience, there are new opportunities to reach a large audience and promote Euronews’ groundbreaking “All Views” philosophy.
Euronews incorporates the 360-degree news reports into regular workflows and publish content across digital platforms including euronews.com, YouTube, Facebook and VR sites such as Vrideo.
| |
Olivier de Montchenu, Euronews Sales Managing Director |
“Euronews’ immersive journalism project is a very exciting and promising development that will involve journalists and editors from across the company.
Our goal is to develop a sustainable monetisation model for our digital news ecosystem. Today, we are proud to cooperate with Samsung to enhance the work of our journalists and offer an unrivalled degree of reporting from a consumer media outlet, changing the way people view news forever.
In addition, Euronews brings to Samsung an opportunity to promote its Gear 360 device. As a multilingual media outlet, users will be able to watch 360-degree reports about international current affairs in their own language. We are convinced it is a good opportunity to reach a worldwide audience.”
| |
Duncan Hooper, Euronews Editor in chief, digital platforms |
“Our goal with our 360 project is to involve journalists from across our operations. The Samsung Gear 360 is intuitive to use and will allow us to create high-quality videos without requiring extensive technical training. Because it is small and lightweight, we can take it with us on any shoot and the simple post production process means that for the first time, we are able to turn around VR content quickly for time-sensitive news events.”
| |
Heesun Kim, Vice President of Global Marketing,
Mobile Communications Business at Samsung Electronics. |
“This is an exciting time as we push boundaries in the way news content is created and delivered through our collaboration with Euronews. Imagine being able to sit in the stands of a sporting event happening across the globe or standing in the crowd, witnessing an important political debate. With the Gear 360, Samsung makes this possible by offering viewers a truly immersive and interactive 360-degree experience.”
(Source: Euronews press release)
19 September 2016
“Top Chef” arrives in the region. Talented chefs from all over the Middle East set to go head-to-head in the Arabic-language adaptation of the popular reality TV cooking programme Launching on MBC1 and MBC MASR2
The world’s most prominent cooking competition is now available in Arabic
During its debut season, 15 men and women from all over the Arab world will compete in a number of cooking challenges, all taking place under the watchful eyes of a star panel of judges, comprising of Bobby Chinn, Maroun Chedid & Mona Mosly
Episode One of Season One of ‘Top Chef’ will air Wednesday 21st September at
6:30PM GMT/ 21:30PM KSA, and will continue to air every Wednesday
Dubai, September 19th, 2016: It’s certainly not going to be easy. Fifteen chefs from around the Arab world will have to stay quick on their feet as they juggle between balancing weird and wonderful ingredients, coming up with unique delicacies and preparing international-style cuisine – all for the chance to be crowned the Middle East’s very first ‘Top Chef’.
The Arabic-language adaptation of the world-famous reality culinary-competition television series launches this week on MBC1 and MBC MASR2, with all cooking challenges taking place under the watchful eyes of Egyptian-Chinese internationally renowned chef, restaurateur and cookbook author Bobby Chinn; celebrity Lebanese chef Maroun Chedid and Saudi chef Mona Mosly.
Every week, ‘Top Chef’ will see the contestants take part in three segments – a Quickfire Challenge, Elimination Challenge and Judges’ Table. At the end of each episode, one or more chefs are named the winners of the day, while one chef is eliminated from the competition.
The Arabic edition of ‘Top Chef’ is directed by Wassim Succar, while Mona Mosly will present weekly updates in addition to her role as a member of the judging panel.
The programme was unveiled for the first time yesterday at a special launch event for media and other VIPs, held by MBC Group at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai.
Following a sneak preview, guests got the chance to take part in a friendly cooking competition, preparing dishes in similar challenges to the show. This was followed by a special lunch prepared by none other than the show’s celebrity panel of judges.
(Source: MBC press release)
19 September 2016
France 24 has extended its distribution across Turkey by concluding a new agreement with Türk Telekom Tivibu, subsidiary of Türk Telekom.
The channel is now available in French to more than 400,000 new households as part of the Tivibu basic offer, on channel 206.
In addition to this new agreement, France 24 is available in Turkey on the major cable and satellite offers, reaching 8.2 million homes, representing 93% of all digital TV homes.
The channel broadcasts in English and French on D-SMART (channels 306 and 311) and TURKSAT (channels 75 and 74), and in English on DIGITURK (channel 146).
France 24 is also accessible in Turkey via direct-to-home satellite in three languages via Hotbird or Astra.
(Source: France 24 press release)
15 September 2016
This morning the UK Government has published the draft new BBC Charter and Agreement.
Tony Hall, Director-General of the BBC said:
“This hard won Charter is now an opportunity to write the next chapter in the BBC’s history. It will deliver the strong and creative BBC the public believes in. It provides an 11-year Charter and a licence fee guaranteed for 11 years. It endorses the remit, scale and scope of the BBC, and backs it as a great British institution.
I set out my concerns regarding the new board appointments back in May and said we would continue to make the case to the Government. The BBC is a public service broadcaster – not a state broadcaster. I am glad they have reconsidered. There will now be an equal number of board appointed non-Executive Directors alongside the ones appointed by the Government. And there will now be four Executive directors on the board too. An independent and strong BBC is what the public want and demand.
Our position on talent pay has not changed and all major broadcasters have questioned the merit of the proposal. The BBC is already incredibly transparent and we publish what we spend on talent pay – a bill which has fallen in recent years. The BBC operates in a competitive market and this will not make it easier for the BBC to retain the talent the public love. Ultimately, the BBC should be judged on the quality of its programmes.
There has been a passionate debate over the BBC’s future. Overall, we have the right outcome for the BBC and its role as a creative power for Britain. It lays the foundation for more great programmes and journalism. The BBC has always existed to inform, educate, and entertain. We will do that with renewed energy and vigour.”
(Source: BBC press office)
13 September 2016
Iconic Russian voices from the last five decades are on air again in the BBC Russian Voices from the Archive video series.
The first series consists of 12 parts and begins on Friday 16 September on bbcrussian.com.љ It features the voices of Joseph Brodsky, Maya Plisetskaya, Andrei Sakharov, Anna Politkovskaya, Andrei Tarkovsky and other Russian and Soviet personalities, based on their interviews with BBC Russian.
Each episode is introduced by the veteran broadcaster Seva Novgorodsev who conducted many of the original interviews. Other interviewers are journalists such as Masha Slonim, Natalia Rubinstein, Boris Nadan, Tatiana Berg, Diran Meghreblian and Igor Pomerantsev.
Seva Novgorodsev said: “Over decades of broadcasting, BBC Russian has accumulated a great deal of hugely valuable, often unique recordings. I am very proud to be fronting this fascinating new series which brings back the voices of people who, each in their own way, made history. Voices from the Archive is a testimony of times and lives, it’s the BBC at its best.”
The first episode of Voices from the Archive features film director Andrei Tarkovsky and ballerina Maya Plisetskaya, based on BBC interviews from 1981 and 2006.
The following episodes feature:
- nuclear physicist and dissident, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Andrei Sakharov (1978) and singer and philologist Anna Gerasimova-Umka (2001)
- journalists Alexei and Rada Adjubei (Nikita Khruschev’s son-in-law and daughter) (1991)
- musician Boris Grebenschikov (1996) and Countess Anna Shuvalova (1990)
- Natalya Koroleva, daughter of top Soviet rocket engineer and designer Sergei Korolev (2003) and musician Sergey Kuryokhin (1992)
- composer Oleg Karavaychuk (1990) and journalist Anna Politkovskaya (2003)
- physicist and dissident Yury Orlov (1986) and poet and translator Renata Mukha (1990/91)
- politician Galina Starovoitova (1992) and bass guitarist Sasha Titov (1996)
- writer Andrei Sinyavsky (1988) and literary critic Sophia Bogatyryova (2000)
- Nobel Laureate for Literature, poet Joseph Brodsky (1987)
- dissident poet Irina Ratushinskaya (1987) and Red Army general Vasily Petrenko (2001)
- broadcaster and writer Anatol Goldberg who headed BBC Russian during the Cold War (1961).
New episodes of Voices from the Archive series will be published every Friday on bbcrussian.com, after which they will be available on demand. Following the initial 12 episodes, there will be new editions of Voices from the Archive coming soon.
(Source: BBC press release)
