26 September 2007
Veteran Quantel artist and solo practitioner of OliverTwist, Sam Hamann, has acquired a Quantel eQ editing/ effects/ grading/ deliverables system, which in his words will take him into the next decade of HD post production.
Hamann began his career in Los Angeles at Planet Blue in 1986 as a Quantel Paintbox artist. From there he joined post production power house Post Logic where he became one of the first artists to use the revolutionary Quantel Henry effects editor and Hal compositor in 1992. Fifteen years on and Hamann is still making a living with the Henry – that is until mid September, when he takes possession of his eQ.
The Henry is a true workhorse and it has served me well over many happy years and what Ive loved most about it is its easy to use, artist inspired interface, said Hamann. However, lately I have had to turn away jobs because my clients want to work in HD. The eQ and its HD capabilities was a logical next step for me, its interface is similar to the Henry and it has that Quantel thinking that Im a fan of.
Ad agencies make up the majority of Hamanns client-base, the largest of which is Admarketing, a full service advertising, sales and publishing firm. Much of his work revolves around producing retail spots along with on-air promos and network packaging.
Its exciting for us to continue our relationship with Sam and help him expand his capabilities to compete and win business in both SD and now HD, said Lee Turvey, Regional Sales Manager, Quantel. The eQ opens up more revenue streams for Sam. He now has editing, effects, grading, deliverables and more in HD and SD. He can do so much more on the eQ and earn more money with all the new services he can provide. The rich toolset and first class support will help Sam win even more business and its great for us to be a part of that.
Hamann said, I think the eQ will reunite me with many old clients that are delivering material in HD. Theyve fallen away because I didnt have the equipment to do the work. Now I will be able to move into the future while I reach back to reunite with these old clients who are doing work in hi def and are looking to work with me again.
26 September 2007
One of Canadas largest communications companies, Rogers Media, has chosen a Quantel Enterprise sQ server-based production system for its Canadian cable television sports specialty channel, Rogers Sportsnet. System integration will be provided by Applied Electronics.
The Rogers Media system comprises eight sQ servers with 1000 hours of HD storage. Eighty-four sQ Views, 14 sQ edit software and six sQ edit plus systems, two sQ records and four sQ plays round out the news production system. Rogers Sportsnet is seen by 174,000 people a day.
Quantel is a company that understands broadcasting, said Frank Bruno, Vice President, TV Engineering for Rogers Media. They specialize in it and arent trying to be all things to all people. We opted for the sQ for many reasons–the main being that we needed to go HD and we loved Quantels easy to use interface.
In addition, the system they ultimately went with had to be proven technology. Bruno said they werent in the position nor did we want to be in a position to be the first company to use an untested product.
One of our prerequisites was the system had to support 120 users at all times, said Bruno. It had to be robust and possess built-in back up mechanisms and it had to have the toolsets for all these applications to be simple to use. Quantel met all of our criteria.
Rogers Media plans to start rehearsing with the system the first of November.
Enterprise sQ is specifically designed for live broadcasting, providing a true one-stop, no-copy production environment, with ingest, editing and playout all being achieved in the same box.
26 September 2007
As reported in the Moscow Times, the former head of a district in Chechnya has been charged as an accomplice in organizing the murder of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya.
Shamil Burayev, who was detained by police earlier this month in Moscow, was charged with complicity in murder as an accomplice by the Prosecutor General’s Office, defence lawyer Pyotr Kozakov said Friday. He gave no further details, but he later told Interfax that Burayev had maintained his innocence in the face of police interrogation.
Burayev was the head of Chechnya’s Achkoi-Martan district administration for eight years until 2003, when he was fired by then-Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov. He also ran for president of the republic.
Prosecutor General Yury Chaika has said the Oct. 7 murder of Politkovskaya was organized by a Chechen criminal group in Moscow that specialized in contract killings.
Chechnya’s ombudsman, Nurdi Nukhazhiyev, cast doubt on reports of Burayev’s involvement, saying investigators were stacking their evidence to find a scapegoat from Chechnya.
26 September 2007
Vizrt Ltd. announces today that the company has received additional backlog of USD 0.5 million from Poland. The newly signed deal in Q3 is substantiating the repeat sales business model of Vizrt with its customers. During 2006 and the first half of 2007 Vizrt had recorded more than USD 2.2 million in revenues. The company has taken a definitive lead in the Polish market.
The current Polish Vizrt customers are: The public broadcaster TVP, ITI group with its three channels TVN24, TVNBiznes and nSports, satellite channel Polsat and FOX Poland. TVP became Vizrt customer in 2005 and has constantly upgraded and expanded their Viz-installations. The TVP News Channel has currently purchased graphic software for a little under USD 600,000, which is to be recognized over Q3 and Q4 2007.
Vizrt’s product suite is used by the world’s leading broadcasters including: CNN, CBS, Fox, BBC, Sky, ITN, ZDF, Star TV, TV Today, CCTV and NHK. Also, many world-class production houses and corporate institutions, including both the New York and London Stock Exchanges, utilize Vizrt solutions.
26 September 2007
On Thursday, September 27, VOA’s Persian News Network (PNN) launches Today’s Woman, a one-hour daily television discussion program featuring influential women from around the world. The inaugural program will focus on the “One Million Signatures” campaign in Iran, a peaceful and civil effort to influence the country’s Parliament to reform laws discriminating against women.
“This is an important new program, with new faces, compelling topics, and a contemporary look,” said VOA Director Danforth W. Austin. “Each day we’ll tackle issues that affect all women, those inside Iran as well as around the world, and broaden our viewers’ horizons. It’s groundbreaking.”
Today’s Woman will feature a pool of participants discussing and debating a full spectrum of topics, including social, medical, human rights, legal, sports, and business. The show will include international call-ins, original reports, a male perspective, and profiles of women who make a difference.
“The launch of Today’s Woman will bring our expansion of VOA’s Persian-language television from one hour to seven and a half hours a day,” said James K. Glassman, Chairman of VOA’s oversight body, the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG). “This is particularly impressive since we were able to accomplish this in little more than a year.”
VOA has the largest combined radio and television audience of all international broadcasters in Iran, with one in four adult Iranians tuning into a VOA show at least once a week. Programs are also streamed on www.VOANews.com/Persian/.
26 September 2007
The BBC has expanded its availability in Korea with the launch of BBC World Service English language radio programmes on SkyLife digital channel. It is the first international radio broadcaster on Koreas first and only multi-channel digital satellite platform.
Subscribers can access BBC radio programmes 24 hours a day, 7 days a week including BBC World television which launched on SkyLife last year.
Neil Curry, BBC Head of Business Development for the Asia and Pacific Region, said: We are delighted to be partnering with the first digital satellite broadcaster in Korea and to be providing quality BBC radio programmes to its many listeners.
Raymond Li, BBC Business Development Manager for China and North Asia added: We are also thrilled to be joining BBC World Television on Skylife digital platform. Subscribers can now enjoy a range of BBC programmes, including news and analysis, and be kept up to date with the latest developments in global affairs and events.
Dongkoo Surh, President of Skylife, says: It is truly meaningful that SkyLife came to have all the major BBC channels for overseas audiences, with the addition of BBC World Service to our channel lineup. It would also be good news for the opinion leaders of Korean society who know the BBCs reputation and credibility for its impartiality, accurate news reporting and analysis. They must be holding high hopes, I believe, that the BBC could help Korean audiences widen their understanding of the changing world.
