Rti named as the AIBs 2023 Event Partner

19 June 2023

Rti named as the AIBs 2023 Event Partner

As Radio Taiwan International marks the 95th anniversary of its founding, the multimedia company demonstrates its support of global journalism and factual productions

The Association for International Broadcasting (AIB) is thrilled to announce that Radio Taiwan International (Rti) has been named the Event Partner for the AIBs 2023, the renowned and respected 19th annual international competition for journalism and factual productions across TV, radio, and digital platforms.

The AIBs, widely recognised as one of the most prestigious awards in the broadcasting industry, celebrate outstanding achievements in journalism and content production worldwide. As Event Partner, Rti will bring its rich heritage, extensive experience, and commitment to journalistic excellence to the forefront of the competition.

This year holds special significance as it marks the 95th anniversary of the founding of Rti. Founded in 1928, the broadcaster has been a beacon of truth, impartiality, and quality reporting across the globe for 95 years. With its steadfast dedication to providing accurate news, insightful analysis, and diverse cultural programming, Rti has long been as a trusted voice in international broadcasting.

“We are delighted to have Radio Taiwan International as our Event Partner for the AIBs 2023,” said Simon Spanswick, CEO of the Association for International Broadcasting. “Rti’s longstanding commitment to objective journalism and its remarkable contributions to the media landscape make them an ideal partner for our competition. As we celebrate the 95th anniversary of Rti ‘s founding, we look forward to highlighting their exemplary work and their continued dedication to informing and enlightening audiences worldwide.”

As the Event Partner, Rti will collaborate closely with the AIB to ensure the success of the AIBs 2023. Together, they will promote the competition, attract top-quality entries, and engage the global broadcasting community in celebrating the outstanding achievements of journalists, broadcasters, and content producers.

“We are honoured to be chosen as the Event Partner for the AIBs 2023,” said Cheryl Lai, Chairperson of Radio Taiwan International. “As we commemorate our 95th anniversary, this partnership allows us to showcase the profound impact Rti has had on international broadcasting. We are excited to collaborate with the AIB in recognising the exceptional talent and remarkable stories that shape our industry. Through this platform, we aim to inspire, inform, and foster a greater understanding of the world.”

The AIBs 2023 feature a diverse range of categories, encompassing news, current affairs, documentary, investigative journalism, natural history, and more. Entries will be evaluated by a panel of international judges, ensuring a fair and comprehensive assessment of the submissions.

The partnership between AIB and Rti promises to elevate the AIBs 2023 to new heights, celebrating the power of journalism and the transformative impact of factual productions. Together, they will continue to advance the industry, recognising excellence and promoting the values of truth, accuracy, and impartiality.

ABC brings home a swag of awards from New York Festivals

26 April 2023

ABC brings home a swag of awards from New York Festivals

ABC content has proven itself to be world class with its screen programmes taking home a number of wins including five gold awards at the 2023 New York Festival Awards.

Factual programmes and the ABC’s in house creative agency ABC Made were the big winners, with Catalyst specials taking home 3 awards and the ABC 90 Years campaign awarded two gold awards.

The two-part Catalyst special Keep on Dancing was awarded a gold in the Health/Medical Information category. The heart-warming special formed part of our ABC Your Move programming and followed a group of over 65’s as they attempted to slow the effects of aging through dance.

Catalyst’s Miracle Babies: Operation Hope was awarded gold in the Health/ Medical Information category. The program took an intimate look at the awe-inspiring world of fetal surgery in a story of hope and trailblazing medicine as parents face agonising decisions about their baby’s future.

Creative National Science Week Catalyst special Australia’s Favourite Tree was awarded a silver award in the Environment & Ecology category. The programme profiled Australia’s unique tree species and saw 270,000 votes cast to determine which tree was Australia’s favourite.

The latest iteration of the incredibly successful social experiment, Old People’s Home for Teenagers also took home a gold award in the Social Issues category adding to the programmes impressive run at home and on the world stage.

This season saw the uplifting series swap pre-schoolers for teenagers to see if they could transform the lives of older people and teenagers amid an epidemic of loneliness.

Of the awards, Richard Huddleston, ABC Acting Head of Factual and Culture said “I am delighted to see our content being recognised at such a prestigious global event. These awards are a testament to the quality of Australian storytelling and an acknowledgement of the creativity and passion that our teams pour into their work.”

The ABC’s brand campaign for our ABC 90 celebration was awarded two gold awards in the Station/Image Promotion and Station/Network ID categories.

Produced in-house by the ABC’s creative agency ABC Made, the campaign was filmed in four locations across Australia with ninety people in each location performing the iconic Bruce Woodley AO and Dobe Newton song, I am Australian.

ABC Director Audiences Leisa Bacon described the campaign as “A true celebration of our commitment to connecting Australians for the last 90 Years.”

The New York Festivals Radio Awards saw podcasts Pink Diamond Heist, Let Us In! and Beauty Queens Who Want to Save the World all recognised as finalists.

BBC World Service commissions Fukushima audio drama

26 April 2023

BBC World Service commissions Fukushima audio drama

BBC World Service has announced that it has commissioned Fukushima, a new seven-part drama series exploring the 2011 nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan.

In March 2011, the largest earthquake ever recorded in Japan’s history triggered a tsunami which sent five to ten metre waves into coastal towns and cities, killing thousands.

Water barrelled over the seawall protecting the Fukushima nuclear power plant, flooding its basements and cutting power. It led to the world’s most severe nuclear accident since Chernobyl.

The stricken power plant became a ticking timebomb, a threat to life in Japan and beyond. As the energy company and politicians in Tokyo lost control, the reactors became unstable and a “suicide squad” of older workers was sent inside.

Akiko is a journalism student who, 10 years after the disaster, goes in search of the story behind the headlines, of how it unfolded and the consequences for the country.

Simon Pitts, Commissioning Editor, BBC World Service English, says: “Fukushima is a compelling drama that powerfully explores the 2011 disaster.

“Through the eyes of a young journalist the story follows events as they unfold, and interrogates the aftermath and the lasting effects. We’re thrilled to have a cast of brilliant and accomplished actors and crew to bring the story to life, and look forward to sharing Fukushima with our listeners across the world.”

Fukushima is narrated by twice Golden Globe nominated actress Romola Garai, and stars Togo Igawa, Ami Okumura Jones and Eiji Mihari.

It was written by Adrian Penket and produced by Toby Swift and Sasha Yevtushenko. It was commissioned by Simon Pitts for the BBC World Service.

Fukushima premieres on Monday 15 May 2023 and each 30 minute episode will premiere weekly thereafter on BBC Sounds as well as other podcast platforms. There are seven episodes. For more information visit: www.bbcworldservice.com/fukushima

It will broadcast as a radio series on the BBC World Service weekly from Wednesday 31 May at 1030 GMT.

ABC and CBC extend collaboration and award-winning programme co-productions

16 November 2022

ABC and CBC extend collaboration and award-winning programme co-productions

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and CBC/Radio-Canada have announced that two projects from the Kindred ABC/CBC Animation Collaboration have been given co-production development deals with ABC Kids and CBC Kids:

My Shadow is Pink, a preschool series for kids ages 3 to 7, from Headspinner/Sticky Pictures and created by Scott Stuart and Ken Cuperus, based on Stuart’s best-selling book; and
The Eerie Chapters of Chhaya, a series for tweens ages 10 to 14, created by Suren Perera, Georgina Love and Thomas Duncan-Watt.

Both projects were chosen from among more than 180 submissions to the Kindred Animation initiative, which was launched earlier this year.

The national public broadcasters also announced the continuation of their successful creative and commercial collaboration. Originally signed in June 2019, the renewed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will allow the ABC and CBC/Radio-Canada to continue co-developing dramas, comedies, factual content, children’s programs, and podcasts, and to increase the reach and impact of this content.

Among the programming commissioned under the MOU is the compelling six-part TV series Stuff the British Stole, based on the hugely popular and multi-award-winning podcast of the same name. The radio programme/podcast won the top prize in the AIBs 2022 with presenter Marc Fennell joining the gala event in London via a link from Sydney.

It has also delivered the spectacular and unorthodox science documentary Carbon: The Unauthorized Biography, narrated by Golden Globe winner Sarah Snook.

“I am pleased to continue our successful partnership with the CBC/Radio-Canada, which has already delivered a range of valuable content to our audiences. In an increasingly crowded international content market, it is vital for public broadcasters to find new ways to deliver our national stories to audiences at home and abroad.” said David Anderson, Managing Director, ABC

“This is such a great partnership. CBC/Radio-Canada and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation are leveraging their resources to support more Canadian and Australian creators so that their stories shine on the world stage. Building on the success of our past co-productions we will continue to show how essential public media is to arts and culture and democracy in both our countries.” — Catherine Tait, President and CEO, CBC/Radio-Canada

The announcements were made in Tokyo at the Embassy of Canada to Japan, just ahead of the Public Broadcasters International conference (PBI Tokyo 2022), an annual international gathering of public media executives. Both Mr. Anderson and Ms. Tait will speak at PBI on November 17 (11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. JST) in a session addressing how public media are positioning themselves in a media ecosystem dominated by the so-called “digital giants.”

Mr. Anderson and Ms. Tait will also participate in the first in-person meeting of the Global Task Force for public media on November 16. The Global Task Force comprises the leaders of eight major public service media from around the world: ABC (Australia), BBC, CBC/Radio-Canada, France Télévisions, KBS (South Korea), RNZ (New Zealand), SVT (Sweden), and ZDF (Germany). Established in 2020 and chaired by Ms. Tait, the Global Task Force promotes and defends the values of public media—access, accuracy, accountability, creativity, impartiality, independence and high standards of journalism—all of which underpin informed and healthy democracies.

USAGM attracts record audience of 410 million

16 November 2022

USAGM attracts record audience of 410 million

The measured weekly audience for U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) programming grew to 410 million people in fiscal year 2022, according to the agency’s Performance and Accountability Report submitted on 15 November 2022 to the US Congress.

The audience grew by 16 million adults, in the face of a global environment where autocratic regimes are increasingly impeding access to independent media or criminalising its consumption.

“This audience growth, despite sometimes draconian crackdowns on free media, proves what we’ve long known — that people will go to great lengths to seek out the truth,” said USAGM CEO Amanda Bennett. “The increase in audience and improvements in other impact measures laid out in this report speak to a worldwide hunger for accurate and reliable reporting.”

In FY 2022, USAGM measured audiences grew in key countries and regions around the world. In Nigeria, the audience has nearly doubled since it was last measured in 2018, to more than 37 million adults weekly. In Latin America, new data revealed measured audience growth of 22 percent, adding more than 12 million new consumers to the number reported in FY 2021.

USAGM also continued to reach large audiences in countries of key national security interest, despite efforts to block independent reporting in markets including Afghanistan, Russia, and Iran.

USAGM’s web and mobile traffic continued strong growth in FY 2022, with an average of more than an 18% increase across the networks.

USAGM’s networks — the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, Radio Free Asia, and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks — deliver news and programming via radio, television, and internet in 63 languages.

A sixth USAGM entity, the Open Technology Fund, provides tools to help audiences overcome internet restrictions and surveillance. In FY 2022, visits to USAGM networks’ websites through OTF-supported anti-censorship technologies almost doubled to more than 13 million per week.

“On behalf of those seeking independent, fact-based reporting, I want to thank the many brave women and men at our networks working under difficult, at times even life-threatening conditions, to share free media with the world,” added CEO Bennett.

Research conducted to estimate the agency’s global audience adheres to standards developed by the Conference of International Broadcasters’ Audience Research Service and reports the number of unique individuals who access USAGM content, or what is referred to as the unduplicated audience. This global audience estimate is just one element in USAGM’s annual performance report. The agency also measures impact based on quantitative and qualitative data on a wide range of factors, including program quality and credibility, engagement with content, and audience understanding of current events.

Picture: Henry Ridgwell reporting for VoA News from the Medyka crossing between Ukraine and Poland, February 2022

Arqiva and MainStreaming in streaming video distribution partnership

14 November 2022

Arqiva and MainStreaming in streaming video distribution partnership

Arqiva and MainStreaming have forged a technology and services partnership, to jointly offer distribution services for the media streaming market.

The partners will explore how the combination of MainStreaming’s cutting-edge CDN technology and broadcast-grade streaming experience with Arqiva’s global media infrastructure and managed services capability can offer more scalable, flexible, and programming-centric content distribution services for the media streaming market.

With ever-growing viewer numbers on streaming services and the increasing strategic value of online audiences, the streaming needs of the biggest broadcasters and service providers are greater than ever. The combination of a large audience served, consistently high video quality, and low latency is the tough combination to get right hour after hour. As such, secure, scalable and cost-effective content distribution networks are vital.

Existing streaming distribution networks are not well suited to deliver either the quality of service required by service providers or the quality of experience expected by audiences. The growing carbon footprint of streaming services is also a concern for both providers and audiences. Arqiva and MainStreaming are coming together to address these issues and to challenge conventional approaches to content distribution.

“MainStreaming’s technology makes true edge computing for the media industry a reality, and already delivers important benefits for our industry-leading customers,” said Antonio G. Corrado, CEO, MainStreaming. “We are excited to work together with Arqiva and the media industry to take advantage of our real-time, ultra-low latency, highly scalable streaming capabilities to deliver broadcast-grade streaming and also create new and exciting edge applications for video delivery.”

Clive White, CTO, Arqiva, commented: “The streaming world is changing fast and navigating the commercial and technical issues has never been harder. Arqiva and MainStreaming will be collaborating on a range of new capabilities and service offerings to meet these challenges with a view to optimising the customer experience and adding value to the biggest broadcasters in our core markets.”