EuroNews heads for Arabic markets

10 December 2007

EuroNews is to launch Arabic-language programming for the Middle East, following its successful tender at the European Union.

EuroNews won the European Commission’s tender, launched in June 2007, for an international news channel with the ability to produce and broadcast programming in Arabic, 24 hours a day and seven days a week. A service agreement between the channel and the Commission was signed in Brussels on 6 December 2007.

EuroNews already broadcasts in seven languages simultaneously (English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish). Arabic will become EuroNews’s eighth fully-fledged language and the service will be launched by the channel’s newsroom in 2008.

In the coming months, EuroNews will recruit a team of 35 people who will work at EuroNews’ head office in Lyon, France. At the same time the channel will adapt its technical facilities (production, broadcasting and distribution) to host this new language version. The Arabic service will be broadcast across EuroNews’ entire network of 35 satellites, thus making the Arabic-service signal available worldwide. From the start of 2008, the channel’s sales teams will invite all cable, satellite, ADSL/broadband and mobile-phone operators worldwide to add the Arabic version of EuroNews to their offerings.

In launching an Arabic version, EuroNews will meet two objectives: to cater for Arabic-speaking Europeans and extend distribution of the channel to Arabic-speaking countries.

Philippe Cayla, Chairman & CEO of EuroNews, commented: “The addition of Arabic is a very important milestone in EuroNews’s multi-language strategy. With Arabic, the channel will be able to grow its audience among Arabic-speaking populations in Europe and in the Mediterranean basin. In Europe, the fact that EuroNews is available in Arabic will definitely help Arabic-speaking populations to better understand the framework of European policies and the issues at stake. In the Mediterranean basin and in the Arabic-speaking world in general where EuroNews already has a substantial audience for its English and French versions, the channel will be able to grow its audience very significantly and become the standard-setting international news channel. Television viewers already appreciate EuroNews’s clear, balanced approach to international news, especially Middle East events. EuroNews wishes and hopes that its Mediterranean shareholders in the Arab world (ENTV in Algeria, ERTU in Egypt, ERTT in Tunisia) will help to raise EuroNews’ profile in their respective countries, and that the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) will be able to extend this effort to the other countries in the Arab world.”

6 December AIB media briefing

6 December 2007

AIB Media Briefing 6 December 2007 Welcome to the latest global media briefing, published by the Association for International Broadcasting, the industry association and networking organisation that focuses on cross-border media. In this issue, reaching over 20,000 media professionals: AIB rewards excellence with 2007 Awards Vanuatu island gets Australian broadcaster World Service for Trinidad and Tobago New pay-TV platform in France News Safety gains US foothold Our recommendations Hong Kong gets terrestrial HD Cable looks a rosy investment in SE Asia VoA doubles Somali hours New Indian music channel storms charts About the AIB Visit www.aib.org.uk for more news from the media worldwide. AIB members benefit from our specialist member-only market intelligence briefings. Contact us to discuss how membership can help your organisation. The 2007 AIB Media Excellence Awards were presented in London on 20 November at a glittering ceremony attended by more than 150 guests from all over the world. Hosted by BBC World’s Mishal Husain (left), the winners of the 12 AIB Awards categories collected their trophies – and there were some surprised faces among the winners! You can see the complete listing of winners on the AIB website at www.aib.org.uk and see pictures from the evening – which included two special guests: digital media guru Tomi Ahonen and France 24 COO Jean Yves Bonsergent – on Flickr. We’ll be announcing the 2008 AIB Media Excellence Awards in the first quarter of the new year and the Awards dinner will take place in London in early November. Top of page Radio Australia has increased its reach in the Pacific. The international broadcaster has opened a 24 hour-a-day relay on Vanuatu‘s Santo island. Top of page BBC World Service has opened a 24 hour-a-day FM channel in Trinidad and Tobago. BBC 98.7FM carries the World Service in English and the special regional Caribbean programmes. Top of page A new pay-TV platform launches in France on 10 December, with up to 25 channels including most national channels currently available on analogue and DTT in the country. BIS will be carried on two satellites – Eutelsat‘s Hot Bird at 13 degrees east and Atlantic Bird 3 at five degrees west. Consumers will be able to buy a starter kit from retailers on their local high street which will include a Viaccess-enabled decoder and smart card. The basic subscription cost is 4.90 Euro a month. ABSat is providing the service. Top of page The International News Safety Institute, INSI, has gained US charitable status. The non-profit institute now has charitable status under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code which enables INSI to raise money free of tax and for donors to set their contributions against tax. INSI says this is a major move forward for the organisation as it depends entirely on donations for its work to help journalists covering all kinds of dangerous stories, from wars to crime and corruption to natural disasters. The move comes as the death toll for news media staff around the world climbs to record levels. Last year was the worst on record with 168 deaths; this year so far the toll stands at 168, according to INSI’s count. Top of page AIB recommends… DLD (Digital, Life, Design), Munich, January 20-22, 2008 Bringing together digital innovation, gaming, arts, media and science with thought-leaders from the Middle East, America, Asia and Europe. It’s an event by invitation only although you can ask for registration. The AIB recommends DLD as it’s breaking the mould of traditional media-related conferences and it offers a great opportunity to meet key players in emerging digital media sectors. CBA General Assembly, Bahamas, January 23-26, 2008 The meeting of members of the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association, including directors-general and chief technology officers, editors and programme makers from broadcasters across the Commonwealth nations. The AIB recommends this event as it’s one of the best ways to meet and engage with the most senior people in broadcasting organisations from more than 100 countries. Top of page Hong Kong has launched a terrestrial HD service. Asia Television (ATV) inaugurated the HD trial service on 2 December and the South China Morning Post reported that electronics shops in Mong Kok were “swamped” with shoppers wanting to buy the HD DTT boxes. Most, the newspaper said, were put off by the high cost of the boxes – around HK$2,000 (US$260). Around half of the Hong Kong population will be able to receive the new DTT broadcasts by the end of the year and five new transmitting stations are to be built in 2008. Top of page Acquisitive Australian finance house Macquarie has taken a major stake in South Korea‘s C&M cable TV company. Working with investment fund MBK Partners, Macquarie Bank has secured 61.17% of the company from its chairman, Lee Min-joo. C and M has annual revenues of around US$343million generated by two million cable TV subscribers. Approval is needed from Korea’s Ministry of Information and Communication and the Korean Broadcasting Commission. Macquarie Bank has been actively pursuing cash-generating businesses in the media and media infrastructure industries. It has bought the UK’s Arqiva transmission company which itself has purchased National Grid Wireless‘s transmission business in the UK. However, the UK Competition Commission has said that this acquisition may not be allowed through as it could reduce competition in the UK broadcasting transmission marketplace. Top of page Voice of America has doubled the output of its Somali-language radio service, just ten months after the service was launched from Washington in February 2007. The new programme is on the air at 1600 local time in the Horn of Africa (1300GMT). Top of page New Indian music TV channel, 9XM, has climbed to the top of Indian TV audience ratings just three weeks after its launch. According to 9XM, quoting TAM ratings, the channel has overtaken MTV and Channel V, the most popular music channels in the country. 9XM is one of a range of new channels being launched by INX led by former Star TV executive, Peter Mukerjea and his wife Indira. Top of page The next edition of the AIB’s quarterly magazine is in preparation. Around 7,000 readers receive The Channel in their offices, and more read the magazine at key media events worldwide. See what they get – click here to see the online version, and subscribe here and benefit from this month’s special offer of six editions of The Channel delivered to your office or home for the price of four. And talk to us about using the AIB’s print and online publications to reach an audience of 25,000 media professionals worldwide…call +44 (0) 1727 739 184 and talk to Ollie Kirkman to see how the AIB can help you. Top of page About the AIB The AIB is the industry association for international broadcasting and a networking organisation of more than 25,000 media professionals. We provide our members with exclusive market-intelligence reports, networking events, relevant tender data, marketing support and lobbying. We celebrate excellence and reward success with our annual Media Excellence Awards. The 2008 AIB Media Excellence Awards will be launched in the first quarter of the new year. Top of page The global media source It’s on the desks of major broadcasters from TV Azteca to the BBC, Bloomberg to Al Jazeera. It’s been ordered by major media companies like Tiscali, Arqiva and Google. It’s bigger, brighter and fuller of intelligent source material than ever before. It’s the AIB Directory of Global Broadcasting. More than 147 countries’ broadcasters and media operators are included in this year’s AIB Directory of Global Broadcasting. This new AIB Directory of Global Broadcasting includes more than 2,500 new names of media executives, compared with last year’s edition From the rapidly expanding Indian media market to neighbouring Nepal, Ghana to Venezuela, the Netherlands to Nigeria – the AIB Directory of Global Broadcasting is the only reference work covering TV and radio, plus emerging platforms. It’s the ultimate sourcebook. Published September 2007 Format A4 perfect-bound, 228 pages, full-colour throughout Price £120/US$200/EUR176 (including standard delivery*) To download PDF sample pages of this new, fully revised Directory, click here. To buy, click here. *We ship via the UK’s Royal Mail – first class for UK orders (taking one to two days) and air mail printed papers for other countries. Transit times vary, but are usually between 6 and 10 working days. We can ship via air courier at extra charge. Contact us for details: +44 (0) 20 7993 2557 Also available from the AIB: Czech-Slovak Market Report. An in-depth analysis of the electronic media industry in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, published by Broadband TV News. See here for details. This electronic news briefing reaches the desktop of more than 20,000 media executives, regulators, journalists, editors, parliamentarians and media experts worldwide. Why not use us to help you reach your clients and potential clients? We offer cost-effective ways to maximise exposure and minimising cost. Talk to Oliver Kirkman today about the AIB and how it can help your business. From electronic to on-the-page advertising to sponsorship of major AIB events, we can help you. Call +44 (0) 1727 739 184, or e-mail ollie (@) centuryonepublishing.ltd.uk to discuss the opportunities.

AIB Diner Pensant and Awards, London, 20 November

19 November 2007

AIB Diner Pensant and
Awards 2007
Clothworkers’ Hall, City of London
Tuesday 20 November 2007

Some
cancelled places available

Mishal
Husain, anchor on BBC World – last year’s AIB Channel of the Year
– will host the 2007 AIB Media Excellence Awards in the
wonderful surroundings of Clothworkers’ Hall, one of the City of London’s
ancient livery companies, on Tuesday 20 November.

146 guests from all over the world are attending this
glittering, inspiring occasion where everyone will take something away at the
end of the evening. That’s because instead of simply having a conventional
awards ceremony, the AIB is bringing two inspiring speakers to the event who
will be in conversation during the dinner.

Tomi
Ahonen is a strategy consultant in the mobile space, with an established
career in digital media and communications. A former senior executive at Nokia
where his remit included the company’s 3G research centre, Ahonen is a
best-selling author on media and the digital environment. His latest book,
Digital Korea,
co-authored with Jim O’Reilly, is a study of the most advanced country in
digital convergence, South Korea. While much of the book sounds like science
fiction, it is in fact a portrait of the reality of life in Korea today.

Ahonen will be sharing some of his research
into digital media around the world with the AIB’s guests at its Diner
Pensant, and will be exploring some of the ways in which media owners and
broadcasters need to position themselves for the all-embracing – and rapidly
approaching – digital world.

Our
second speaker is Jean-Yves Bonsergent, Chief Operating Officer at
France 24, the international TV channel operating in French, English and
Arabic that launched in December 2006. Bonsergent will be in conversation with
the AIB, talking about the first 12 months of the channel’s operations, how its
strategy is developing and about its future plans for further language services
for different geographic areas.

As the French government moves its review of
the country’s international broadcasting – which includes Radio France
Internationale, TV5 and France 24 – into its final stages, this is an ideal time
to discuss how France sees itself in the international media marketplace.

On 19
November, we have four cancelled places available so to attend, book now.

Join us for the glamour, fun and insight that the AIB’s
Diner Pensant and Awards provides.

AIB members £90 plus UK VAT @
17.5%
Non members £155 plus UK VAT @ 17.5%

Reserve your place online

here.

Radio Australia in first OB from Cambodia

14 November 2007

Radio Australia is to join in the celebrations and festivities at the annual Water Festival in Cambodia this month.

Radio Australia’s Khmer and English services will broadcast live from Phnom Penh on Friday the 23rd November at King Leper Sculpture.

The broadcast commences at 7am with Breakfast Club program host, Phil Kafcaloudes, sharing a traditional ‘noodle cart’ breakfast with local audiences on the banks of the Mekong River.

Executive Producer of Radio Australia’s Khmer service and Australian of the year finalist, Seda Douglas, will commence Radio Australia’s daily one hour Khmer broadcast at midday, joined by local Cambodian pop star Preap Sovath, as they attract local audiences to explore and uncover what it means to be Cambodian.

Later, the Radio Australia team will join forces with the Phnom Penh International University of Cambodia and popular local identity Khat Sokhim to host a reality style quiz focusing on English learning. This compliments Radio Australia’s bi-lingual English language learning materials available via download from the Radio Australia website.

For three days up to a million Phnom Penh citizens and people from various provinces gather in the capital to celebrate the Water festival on the banks of the Tonle Sap and Mekong rivers.

Participation and attendance at the Water Festival builds on the growing links Radio Australia has established with audiences and partners in Cambodia, and highlights the appeal of Radio Australia’s Khmer service which is broadcast over 90% of the country through a myriad of partner rebroadcasters, as well as the English language service available locally on 101.5FM in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.

NorCom's NCPower Pro chosen by OUTPRO

9 November 2007

NorCom Information Technology AG has gained a further customer for its NCPower Pro newsroom, planning and production system. An innovative new TV broadcaster based in Kempten, OUTPRO will be covering a wide range of outdoor activities when it goes live at the end of the year. It will be primarily offering high-quality reports, service-oriented contributions and exciting documentation for outdoor sports fans and Alpine lovers.

OUTPRO TV was looking for a media production solution containing all workflow components such as ingesting, research, scheduling, playing out and archiving while also being capable of processing video, audio, graphics and text files.

NorCom offers in NCPower Pro a long-term future-proof solution incorporating open standards meeting all of OUTPRO’s requirements and additionally permitting it to react flexibly to changes. All processes – including research, copy-writing and editing – can be performed. As well as this, the status of all contributions from the initial idea to scripts as well as broadcast scheduling and archiving can be monitored at all times. All tasks can be assigned electronically to internal and external, stationary and mobile staff and monitored efficiently. The NorCom solution is being installed on a total of 20 desks at OUTPRO. ‘We have set ourselves the goal of offering an innovative and cost-efficient solution by providing a suitable combination of editorial, technical and creative support,’ explains Viggo Nordbakk, CEO and founder of NorCom Information Technology AG.

OUTPRO is a special-interest broadcaster under the same management as Deutsches Anleger Fernsehen (DAF). After successfully installing NCPower Pro at the financial IPTV broadcaster DAF, NorCom has now additionally been awarded a contract for OUTPRO.

‘We are very pleased to have received the contract for OUTPRO as this confirms the strong trust being placed in NorCom’s NCPower Pro solution for this interesting project,’ adds Viggo Nordbakk. The decision-makers at OUTPRO were particularly taken with the open software architecture and platform independence. ‘The complete end-to-end integration of the Apple editing solution in NCPower Pro was one of the many strong arguments in favor of this product. Most of the systems which we looked at offered only individual standardized solutions. However, the integrated NorCom system contains everything that we were looking for,’
says Peter Rampp, Managing Director of OUTPRO TV GmbH.

VOA Urdu expands to cover Pakistan crisis

9 November 2007

The Voice of America’s Urdu Service has expanded its radio news broadcasts to 12.5 hours daily from five hours in response to the crisis in Pakistan. “The Pakistani government has shut down all independent media inside Pakistan,” said VOA Director Danforth Austin. “We find ourselves, along with the BBC, among the only international broadcasters currently heard inside of Pakistan.”

VOA’s Urdu Service is now broadcasting an all-news format on radio in response to the Pakistani government’s crackdown. VOA’s two television affiliates-GEO TV News and Aaj TV-are off the air inside of Pakistan. However, VOA continues to reach the audience via radio and the Internet.

Today, VOA Urdu added an additional radio broadcast from 11:30 a.m. to 12 noon Pakistan time to supplement its 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. Pakistan time live news and current affairs programming.

Some highlights of coverage include live interviews with Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, two former Prime Ministers of Pakistan, who were guests on the VOA Urdu program Roundtable Discussion, as the news blackout was being imposed in Pakistan. VOA Urdu also interviewed many Pakistani opposition figures, including Iftekhar Gilani, spokesperson of Benazir Bhutto’s party, and religious leaders such as Qazi Hussain Ahmad, along with man-on-the-street reaction in Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta, and Islamabad.

In addition to VOA Urdu, VOA’s six-hour Deewa Radio, live broadcasts in Pashto to the border areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan, also switched to an all-news format to cover the crisis. Deewa has also provided extensive coverage inlcuding the U.S. and international reaction and has interviewed a large number of political, religious and tribal leader inside Paksitan who are under house arrest.