26 November 2008
In a new exchange agreement, the International News Safety Institute,
INSI, and the Association for
International Broadcasting have become members of each other’s organisations.
The AIB has worked with INSI since the Institute was founded, providing
promotion and publicity for the news safety organisation. Most recently, the AIB
and INSI presented a joint award to Sami Al Haj, the Al Jazeera cameraman who
was arrested by US forces seven years ago and held without trial in Guantanamo
Bay until earlier this year.
Commenting on the new agreement, AIB CEO Simon Spanswick said "News safety is
of paramount importance to AIB members who provide international and regional
news services. We’re delighted to be able to formalise the co-operative
arrangements we have with INSI and we look forward to a closer working
relationship."
INSI is supported by many international news gathering organisations, and
provides safety training to journalists around the world.
25 November 2008
Sport TV, Portugals leading sports broadcaster, has just placed an order for an Enterprise sQ server system to enable it upgrade its operations to HD. Sport TV produces four premium sports channels; three are distributed via cable, DTH and IPTV platforms in Portugal and one by DTH in all Sub-Saharan Africa. All ingest and editing of the HD programs and promos will be carried out entirely within the new Enterprise sQ system. The order marks the first major move in the Portuguese market towards native HD broadcast production.
The new system will comprise a four port sQ 800 server and will have two eQ effects editors integrated in the system. Sport TV already carries out all of its news production on its existing SD Enterprise sQ system.
This is the first step of the planned migration of all our production facilities to HD, in this case made easy by the fact that we can keep the existing Quantel workflow and editing tools, said José M. Mourão, Sport TVs Technical and Operations Director.
The system was ordered through Ibertelco, Quantels representative in Portugal. We are very happy with this first order for an HD system because it shows that the original system installed to support just one SD channel grew up and it is now both a technical platform and a human structure able to broadcast four independent channels, which soon will become five, said João Pessanha, Ibertelcos Managing Director. Sport TV is a winning story and Ibertelco is proud to be part of that success.
19 November 2008
The World Teleport Associations 2008 Top Teleport Operators league has been announced, and for the fourth year running, content management and delivery company GlobeCast enjoys a high ranking on both the Global Top Twenty and Independent Top Twenty categories.
The list, which provides a unique look into the diverse teleport sector of the global communications industry, is conducted by surveying teleport operators around the world on their facilities, services and business results. According to the World Teleport Association, these rankings provide a unique insight into the often unappreciated realities of the teleport sector.
GlobeCast came second in the Independent Top Twenty category, which excludes operators and recognises companies based on revenue from all sources.
In addition, GlobeCast was sixth in the Global Top Twenty, which ranks companies based on revenues from all customized communications sources and includes operators of teleports, satellite fleets and fibre networks.
This ranking is an affirmation of GlobeCasts strength in its traditional business, while 2008 also saw a number of developments to reinforce its growing role as a content and media management company, including the acquisition of French software company NETIA, the recent upgrade of its London playout centre at Grays Inn Road and the addition of an entirely new playout suite in Singapore. These changes will enhance GlobeCasts range of services and its geographical reach through 2009.
19 November 2008
Moroccan public broadcasting company, SNRT, acquires a stake in Europes leading international news channel.
Moroccos SNRT (Société Nationale de Radiodiffusion et Télévision) became the latest shareholder of euronews at a General Assembly of the channels shareholders in Paris on 22 September 2008. SNRT, a member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), acquired a 0.33% stake in the holding company, SECEMIE*, to join the 22 existing shareholders from Europe and the Mediterranean on the euronews editorial board.
The catalyst for the arrival of the new Moroccan shareholder was the introduction of an eighth language to euronews, Arabic, on 12 July 2008. The Arabic language initiative is supported by the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) and is a topic of great importance for SNRT and the channels other Arabic shareholders.
Launched in January 1993 in five languages, euronews broadcasts round-the-clock in eight languages simultaneously: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese (1999), Russian (2001) and Arabic (2008). euronews is distributed to 250 million homes in 140 countries worldwide and leads its competitors in terms of audience in Europe.
Philippe Cayla, Chairman and CEO of euronews said: “I am pleased to welcome SNRT, whose Managing Director, Sir Ayad, was beside us when we launched in Arabic at the Arab World Institute in July, to the euronews fold. SNRT will be instrumental in promoting euronews in Arabic. Together with Morocco and our other Arabic partners, we will continue to develop the channel and contribute to strengthening the ties between Europe and the Mediterranean region.”
Fayçal Laraichi, Chairman and CEO of SNRT said: “We are delighted to join the other European and Mediterranean partners in the euronews group. Our presence will serve to enhance our promotion of international news in Arabic and we will use all the available resources to make this partnership a reference for excellence in the Mediterranean broadcasting world.”
* SECEMIE: Société Editrice de la Chaîne Européenne Multilingue dInformation euronews. Consortium comprising broadcasters from Europe and the Mediterranean countries.
In alphabetical order: CT (Czech Republic), CyBC (Cyprus), ENTV (Algeria), ERT (Greece), ERTT (Tunisia), ERTV (Egypt), France Télévisions (France), NTU (Ukraine), PBS (Malta), RAI (Italy), RTBF (Belgium), RTE (Ireland), RTP (Portugal), RTR (Russia), RTVE (Spain), RTVSLO (Slovenia), SNRT (Morocco), SSR (Switzerland), TMC (Monaco), TV4 (Sweden), TVR (Romania), YLE (Finland).
19 November 2008
HILVERSUM From 12 to 30 November Amsterdam is the stage for the Amsterdam India Festival. This festival of Indian art and culture is the largest ever presented in the Netherlands. For the first time, Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW) and All India Radio (AIR) will cooperate in radio coverage of this event in English. The Dutch-Indian cultural event will be aired nationwide in India and worldwide by RNW.
The Amsterdam India Festival offers a wide range of activities and events in the area of Indian art and culture, encompassing music, dance, film, architecture, debates, fashion, multimedia and exhibitions of Indian art. The theme of the festival is Blended Cultures, in reference to the enormous diversity of cultures which co-exist in India. A diversity one also finds in Amsterdam.
Public broadcasters RNW and AIR will cover the event in Amsterdam. Commentaries, interviews and reports of performances will give listeners an insight into the events as they happen. All India Radio will broadcast these contributions in their network programming, reaching a potential of 350 million listeners in India. Through its vast network of 229 broadcast centres AIR covers an area of more than 90% of the country.
RNW and AIR will work together for the first time. RNW has recently been actively establishing partnerships with local Indian broadcasters. All India Radio is part of the Prasar Bharati media organisation, and is the leading public broadcaster in India with more than 70 years experience. With this cooperative venture, RNW and AIR have paved the way for a future in which they can exchange and combine even more journalistic, cultural and technical know-how.
Jan Hoek, RNWs Director General explains: “Radio Netherlands Worldwide works together with thousands of radio stations all over the world which broadcast our programmes. Increasingly we see stations keen to work with us on co-productions. It is a gratifying further step that the major radio broadcaster in India has also recognised the added value of our expertise.
B.S. LALLI, CEO Prasar Bharati/ AIR declares: We at All India Radio are pleased to be associated with Radio Netherlands Worldwide to cover the India festival which is taking place in Amsterdam. It gives us a chance I hope , to develop joint programming in days to come. It is indeed a good start and we look forward to a larger cooperation between us in future.
19 November 2008
Iranians are flooding President-elect Barack Obama with personal messages on a special Persian-language website the Voice of America (VOA) created for people to express their views.
VOA’s Persian News Network (PNN) has received hundreds of messages on topics ranging from U.S.-Iranian relations to access to student visas since it invited its audience last week to write to Obama at the website www.VOANews.com/persian/obamapnn.cfm. The messages, posted on the site, will eventually be transmitted to the president-elect’s transition office.
“This enthusiastic response reflects the enormous interest that the Iranian people have in political developments in the United States,” said VOA Director Danforth Austin. “It also illustrates the critical role we have in reaching them with balanced and objective information about the United States and the world,” he said.
“Mr. Obama, your election to this important position is an historical event. I am glad that I am living in an era when such a miracle took place and that I witnessed it,” wrote one viewer from Tehran. Another from Ahvaz stated, “I wish there were at least one media outlet in Iran that could express the joy of Iranians for you. We love America and we respect this great democracy.”
Generally, e-mails from Iran show support for Obama. PNN, in a question of the day, asked Iranians on the Internet and on television, “Now that Sen. Obama will be the new American president, do you believe U.S.-Iranian relations will improve or deteriorate?” Out of 7,947 respondents, 17 percent said they would worsen, 43 percent said they will improve, and 40 percent said they would not change.
Currently, one in four adults in Iran watches or listens to PNN broadcasts at least weekly. PNN’s website, which received 2,574,901 visits in October, had nearly 180,000 individual visits November 4-5 alone.
