18 March 2016
On March 18, RFE/RL’s Moscow bureau administrator was approached at her home by two unknown men identifying themselves as journalists with Russia’s NTV channel and seeking personal information.
The men, one of whom had a video camera and sought to film the premises, questioned her repeatedly about her income and properties they said she owned in and around Moscow. One of the men said he had received such information from former employees of the Russian Service. The administrator refused to answer the questions.
Nenad Pejic, RFE/RL editor in chief, called the incident “a disgusting example of intimidation,” and said that “authorities in Russia appear to be preparing a case against us because of our journalism.”
NTV is a Kremlin-controlled channel known for conducting defamation campaigns against independent journalists, opposition journalists, and civil-society activists in Russia.
The incident comes one week after an edition of the popular television program News Of The Week With Dmitry Kiselyev, the Kremlin’s lead propagandist, portrayed RFE/RL journalists as spies conspiring against Russia. During the show, Kiselyev announced that a documentary about U.S. international broadcasting would be forthcoming.
RFE/RL’s Russian Service, known locally as Radio Svoboda, operates out of a Moscow bureau and RFE/RL’s headquarters in Prague.
In 2015, Radio Svoboda was the second most-cited radio station in Russian social media, according to the Medialogia agency, right behind Ekho Moskvy.
Last year, 430 million people visited RFE/RL websites, where they viewed nearly 1 billion pages of original RFE/RL content. Within that audience, RFE/RL’s Russian-language sites provided 266 million pages of content to almost 170 million visitors. RFE/RL Russian-language Facebook pages registered almost 23 million engaged users last year.
About RFE/RL and its Russian Service
RFE/RL is a private, independent international news organization whose programs — radio, Internet, television, and mobile — reach influential audiences in 23 countries, including Russia, Ukraine, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the republics of Central Asia and the Caucasus. It is funded by the U.S. Congress through the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG).
RFE/RL’s Russian Service, Radio Svoboda is a multi-platform alternative to state-run media, providing audiences in and around the Russian Federation with timely and balanced news, analysis, and opinion.
(Source: RFE/RL press release)
10 March 2016
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE WILL OFFER VIDEO COVERAGE OF SPORTS NEWS AND MAJOR SPORTING EVENTS FROM APRIL 4.
Aimed at both general media and sports specialists, AFPTV Sports will offer images, interviews and original reporting in an editable format.
This video offer will focus on news and major competitions, covering press conferences, training sessions, supporters and technology, as well as economic, lifestyle and legal issues.
Present in 150 countries, AFP covers sport in all its diversity – from the major European national football leagues to the Champions and Europa Leagues, plus rugby, cricket and other leading sports.
In 2016, a year particularly rich in major sports events, AFP will offer in-depth coverage of the Euro football championship in France, the Rio Olympics and the Copa América Centenario.
“This new product confirms AFP’s two strategic priorities — sports and video,” said AFP chairman Emmanuel Hoog. “With this video product dedicated to sports, AFP further strengthens the quality of service offered to clients and shows again that it has become a leading video agency.”
About AFP
AFP is a global news agency delivering fast, accurate, in-depth coverage of the events shaping our world from conflicts to politics, sports, entertainment and the latest breakthroughs in health, science and technology. With 2,326 staff spread across almost every country, AFP covers the world 24 hours a day in six languages. AFP delivers the news in video, text, photos, multimedia and graphics to a wide range of customers including newspapers and magazines, radio and TV channels, web sites and portals, mobile operators, corporate clients as well as public institutions.
(Source: AFP press release)
10 March 2016
According to an Ipsos survey of TV news consumption conducted in 38 countries out of 100+ where RT broadcasts are available, 70 million people watch RT channels every week1. Half of that number – 35 million – watch RT daily.
RT enjoys its largest regional audience in Europe. More than 36 million people watch RT weekly in 10 European countries, placing it in the top 5 pan-regional news channels2. RT also makes the top-5 list of most watched international TV news channels in the US2, with a weekly audience of more than 8 million viewers.
11 million people watch RT weekly in the Middle East and Africa, where news consumers were polled in 16 countries. In India RT has weekly viewership of 7 million; only the English-speaking population, which accounts for just over 10% of the country’s total, was included in the study.
“For the tenth anniversary of RT’s broadcasting we conducted the most extensive study of our TV viewership in the network’s history, covering 38 countries across Europe, Asia, North and South America, the Middle East and Africa, through Ipsos, a leading firm in audience research,” said Margarita Simonyan, RT’s editor in chief. “35 million people watch us daily, and we are successfully competing with long-established channels worldwide. In 10 years we have truly succeeded in making our voice heard around the world.”
“Ipsos has decades of experience in international audience measurement, and we’ve worked with dozens of premiere broadcasters from around the world. We are happy that RT chose Ipsos to conduct their biggest audience survey yet,” – said Elie AOUN, CEO, Ipsos Connect MENAP.
Notes to Editors
1 The study was conducted in 38 countries, with a representative samples of the total population through telephone or online interviews, between August-November 2015, by Ipsos, a leading global audience research company. The study was carried out in Russia, Poland, Greece, Ireland, UK, Turkey, Germany, Spain, Italy, France, USA, Canada, Venezuela, Ecuador, Argentina, Peru, Mexico, Columbia, Chile, India, New Zealand, Australia, Libya, Palestine, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, UAE, Lebanon, Tunisia, KSA, Kuwait, Oman, Iraq, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Nigeria.
2 In these regions RT was measured alongside CNN, BBC World News, euronews, Sky News, France 24, Al Jazeera, Deutsche Welle TV, China’s CCTV and Japan’s NHK.
(Source: RT press release)
9 March 2016
In the presence of over 1,800 executives and prominent personalities from the business, media, advertising, creative and communication industries in MENA region, the Dubai Lynx Festival, in its 10th edition, awarded “Personality Of The Year” award to MBC Group Chairman Sheikh Waleed Al-Ibrahim, for his outstanding contribution and achievements in developing the media industry and enhancing the advertising scene in the MENA region.
The award comes as an appreciation of the constructive efforts of Al-Ibrahim in strengthening the links between leading international and local brands on the one hand, and consumers on the other hand through the various channels, platforms and services offered by MBC Group.
The award is further considered as a tribute to the role Al-Ibrahim played in outlining the media and advertising sectors in the region, through the provision of better media & entertainment experiences that live up to world class standards.
In a brief speech on the sidelines of the award ceremony, Sheikh Waleed Al-Ibrahim praised the remarkable developments witnessed by the Dubai Lynx Festival, year after year, both in terms of the number of participants, and the positive echo and resonation it has created regionally and globally, which it enjoys today.
Al-Ibrahim stressed on the importance of the concept of “creativity & innovation” embodied in the festival, and its association with the vision and approach that reflects the majestic image of the city of Dubai, led by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
Al-Ibrahim considered the importance of “Personality Of The Year” comes at a time whereby we witness a cross-road and articulate period that requires us to reallocate our media priorities.
Therefore the challenge that remains ahead of us is in our ability to take advantage of the information and communication revolution, and harness it in building knowledge economies to further develop the media industry, promote the advertising industry and the commercial and consumer markets, and enable cultural movements within our societies.
Al-Ibrahim concluded: “I dedicate this award to everyone in both the advertising and communication industries in general, and MBC Group employees in specific, each in his/ her geographic location, that helped uplift our media work flow. And above all, this success wouldn’t have been achieved without our strategic commercial partner, as there is no successful media without advertising partners and returns as well as sustainable commercial revenues”.
From his part, Terry Savage, Chairman, Dubai Lynx, said it had been both ‘an honor and privilege’ to recognize such a prominent and respected figure. “Over the course of 25 years, Sheikh Waleed Al-Ibrahim, has been responsible for multiple, significant contributions to the development of the Media & Entertainment industry in the MENA region and we are delighted that we could celebrate this during the 10th edition of Dubai Lynx.”
Testimonials about Sheikh Waleed Al-Ibrahim:
The award ceremony included a testimonial video promo from prominent CEO’s of major international and regional companies that focused on Sheikh Waleed Al-Ibrahim’s role and mark in shaping the media and advertising sectors:
– Dr. Amina Al Rustamani, CEO, TECOM Business Parks: “I consider myself very fortunate to have the opportunity to work closely with Sheikh Waleed Al-Ibrahim; he is a great mentor, and a teacher, and I definitely learnt a lot from him”.
– Yves Manghardt, Chairman & CEO Nestle Middle East FZE: “The difference between a dreamer and a visionary is that the dreamer has his eyes closed; the visionary has his eyes always open said Martin Luther King. The 2016 Advertising Person Of The Year is a true visionary; in fact, tele-visionary with his eyes always open”.
– Dani Richa, Chairman & CEO IMPACT BBDO: “Sheikh Waleed is the game changer; he changed news in our region to become more objective, transparent, and credible. Sheikh Waleed changed entertainment as the Arab world knows it, taking TV to new heights. I strongly believe that his vision has helped shape relationships between brands and consumers”.
– Mohamed Samir, President Procter & Gamble India, MEA & Africa: “Sheikh Waleed, since the start of MBC, has shown the vision for connecting with people, all across the Arab world in a friendly and high quality way”.
– Sanjiv Kakkar, Execuitve Vice President, Unilever MENA: “Over the years, MBC has truly democratized media across the Arab world, providing a cohesive force across the MENA region, serving to improve the quality of Arab performing arts and content across the region”.
– Akram Miknas, Chairman Promoseven Holdings: “We rose with MBC Group; we rose it to the world standard; today MBC can stand one-to-one with any international television station and can proudly and easily say we are as good if not better in many cases”.
– Raja Fares Trad, CEO Leo Burnett & Publicis Group MENA: “MBC Group’s impact on the lives of people, every second of the day, is a sticking example of how creative content and content marketing can positively affect consumers’ behavior”.
– Roy Haddad, Chairman WPP MENA: “What fascinated me at that time is his commitment to really redefine the media market in the Arab world, which he did; to change the upper cards in the region, which he did; and really force a media revolution. If there is anyone who deserves to be recognized by our industry is Sheikh Waleed”.
– Osman Sultan, CEO DU PJSC: “ For all this, for this achievement, not only we say to Sheikh Waleed how much we admire and appreciate what he did, but we tell him as well how much we love him, for what he is as a human being and how much we are grateful to him”.
– Edmond Moutran, Chairman & CEO Memac Ogilvy: “When you launched the station, I said hey, where is he gonna go? And he said to me, now that we have launched MBC, the sky is the limit. So here we are Sheikh Waleed, I’m on top of a building, and I am as close to the sky as I possibly
can; I think you are gonna go on, and the sky is going to be your limit all over again, so go on…build us a bigger empire Sheikh Waleed”.
– Pierre Choueiry, CEO & Chairman Choueiry Group: “Sheikh Waleed would be considered a visionary pioneer; to some, a creator; to some other, an outstanding entrepreneur; an exceptional leader and mentor; to me he really is all of the above; he definitely is my partner, but above all, he is my friend. Congratulations Sheikh Waleed, Advertising Man Of The Year, and of ALL years as far as I am concerned”. (Source: MBC press release)
8 March 2016
Nearly 4 billion people remain unconnected in the world. Bridging the digital divide is critical to bolstering a country’s GDP growth and ensuring inclusion from a social, political and economic perspective for any community.
Intelsat (NYSE: I), operator of the world’s first Globalized Network, powered by its leading satellite backbone, announced an agreement with SkyNet de Colombia, a subsidiary of Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Bogota ETB, to support the Colombian Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications’s Kiosco VIVE DIGITAL Phase III (KDVIII) project, whose sole aim is to bring broadband and internet connectivity to remote communities and schools in rural areas across Colombia.
Under the multi-year agreement, Skynet de Colombia will leverage the high speed performance of Intelsat 29e, the first of Intelsat’s next generation, high throughput Intelsat EpicNG satellites, located at 310° East. Together, Skynet de Colombia and Intelsat will provide broadband and internet connectivity to approximately 600 remote sites, across 250 municipalities. The services delivered to the communities will include internet access as well as programs that promote the use of technologies in the community.
“Intelsat’s high throughput Intelsat EpicNG satellites are bringing unprecedented power, cost savings and accessibility to broadband connectivity to people living in regions where there is a lack of terrestrial infrastructure,” said Rene Otero, CTO, SkyNet de Colombia. ”With greater access to reliable, high quality broadband services, remote communities can receive the same type of advantages and services that are afforded to those that live in the more developed areas of Colombia. We are happy to partner with Intelsat to support the KDVIII initiative and play an integral role in bringing more people and communities on-line throughout Colombia. ”
Intelsat EpicNG’s efficiency delivers more throughput to the user, the backwards compatibility allows customers to use their existing hardware, and the open architecture enables customers to choose the network hardware that best suits their applications. This delivers unprecedented choice, control and consistent levels of service across the platform at a much lower cost of total ownership, enabling fixed and mobile network operators to cost-effectively enhance their networks to meet growing demands from existing customers while also extending the reach of their networks to capture new growth in remote areas.
“The KDVIII project in Colombia is a great example of the role that public and private partnerships can play in ensuring that digital inclusion is available for all citizens, whether they reside in remote communities or urban areas,” said Carmen Gonzalez-Sanfeliu, Intelsat’s Regional Vice President, Latin America and Caribbean. ”The flexibility of Intelsat’s Globalized Network will allow Skynet de Colombia to take full advantage of the power that our next generation Intelsat EpicNG fleet delivers and ensure that SkyNet’s customers receive a seamless broadband experience that continues to be known for its superior quality and reliability.”
Supporting Resources:
(Source: Intelsat press release)
