17 April 2007
Following the huge success of its Bosnian-Serbian bouquet, WorldTV the leading aggregator and distributor of international television and radio programming in America has strengthened its offering with the launch of two leading Bosnian channels, BosTel and NTV HAYAT. The addition of these two channels will boost WorldTVs existing Bosnian-Serbian bouquet which includes some of the regions most popular channels BN TV, Pink Extra and Pink Plus TV.
BosTel is the first Bosnian channel to be located in the United States and provides subscribers with a broad mix of programming, which includes traditional music, sport, business, art and technology. BosTel creates its original content of news, events and culture in Bosnia-Herzegovina in close association with other local channels to ensure users are kept up to date with local events as they happen.
NTV HAYAT is a full-time 24 hour Bosnian channel which was launched in 1992, offering a mix of news, entertainment, music, sports, documentaries, childrens and religious programming. The channel won a prestigious CNN World Report Award in 2002 and its primary goal continues to be the production of unbiased, independent reporting through serious and prompt newsgathering and journalism.
Both channels will bring the Bosnian and Serbian communities in the US closer to their homeland and are expected to be highly popular with subscribers. WorldTV is the leading source of international programming via satellite in the United States, offering in excess of 200 global TV and radio channels, in more than 35 languages to 42 countries worldwide.
17 April 2007
Autocue, the leading provider of newsroom, automation and prompting solutions, is pleased to announce that Frank Hyman has been appointed CEO of Autocue Group.
Simon Philips, Chairman of Autocue, said Franks appointment heralds a period of aggressive growth for Autocue, with the commercialisation of QNxt and expansion into new markets and territories. This is a very exciting time for the Group and I am delighted to welcome Frank as CEO.
Hymans appointment marks the culmination of a six month succession plan, with outgoing CEO Kieran Smith set to provide consultancy to the Board for a number of months to ensure a smooth transition.
Simon Philips said, On behalf of the organisation I would like to thank Kieran for his excellent contribution over the last two years. Kieran has done a fantastic job of turning the company around and has laid strong foundations for Frank and the team to build on.
During his six months at Autocue, Hyman has revitalised the sales organisation, adding significant talent to the team and establishing new channels to market throughout Europe, Asia and the Indian sub-continent. This expansion strategy has already unlocked significant revenue gains for the Group and further revenue growth is expected from the commercial launch of QNxt.
Hyman said I am incredibly excited about the future of the Autocue Group. My vision is to develop an organisation that delivers excellent customer service and fosters an innovative culture. This will enable us to continually find new ways of delivering value to our customers and profitable sales growth for our shareholders.
Hyman continued Kieran has put the key building blocks in place and I am confident that with the help of the team around me, we can fully exploit the Groups tremendous potential.
Autocue & QTV have chosen NAB for the global commercial launch of QNxt, its innovative application suite, including QMaster and QBox, the worlds first IP-based prompting system. Following the unveiling of the prototype system at IBC 2006, Autocue has completed multiple beta trials with resounding success and sales orders are now being taken. QMaster represents a step change in prompting technology, unlocking significant benefits for customers in studio and field environments.
17 April 2007
Al Jazeera English today announced plans to begin making clips from its news and programmes available to the YouTube community by launching a branded Channel (http://www.youtube.com/aljazeeraenglish) on the popular video-sharing site.
YouTube is the leader in online video, and the premier destination to watch and share original videos worldwide through a Web experience.
YouTube users worldwide will have the ability to comment on Al Jazeera English clips, rate them, recommend them to friends and post their own video responses to communicate with other viewers.
The new branded Channel will also include links to Al Jazeera Englishs official website (www.aljazeera.net/english).
Content from the new global broadcaster will include segments from top shows such as Frost over the World, Everywoman, Inside Iraq, Inside Story, Listening Post, Riz Khan, One-on-One, The Fabulous Picture Show, Witness and 48.
Al Jazeera English is also planning to release some exclusive web-only programming, starting with Poltical Bytes, a global conversation hosted by UN correspondent Mark Seddon which will ask the YouTube community to carry on the conversation and add video contributions.
Over time, Al Jazeera English will continue to provide new content to the site by adding at least 10-15 new clips each week.
Speaking on the announcement, Nigel Parsons, Managing Director of Al Jazeera English said: We believe that YouTube is a perfect platform to reach out to our audience and to give wide and easy access to new viewers around the world. We have significantly built on our distribution since launch and now reach well in access of 90 million cable and satellite households worldwide. With YouTubes community of millions of online users this is set to dramatically increase.
Commenting on the launch, Russell Merryman, editor-in-chief, Web & New Media at Al Jazeera English: The new Al Jazeera English branded Channel on YouTube will allow us to approach and interact with our viewers in a new way and will give us a chance to target other potential audiences through this new global platform. It is a perfect way to promote our best content and set the news agenda for Internet users around the world.
17 April 2007
RRSat Global Communications Network Ltd.,a rapidly growing provider of comprehensive content management and global distribution services to the television and radio broadcasting industries, announced today that it has entered a 3 year partnership to broadcast the Three Angels Broadcasting Network (3ABN) on the Southern Ku-band beam of the ABS-1 satellite.
“We are very pleased that the Three Angels Broadcasting Network has chosen RRSAT to use RRSAT’s Global distribution network services to expand its broadcasting into Asia. 3ABN is joining over 365 satisfied television and radio channels currently broadcast through our network,” commented David Rivel, CEO and Founder of RRSat. “We look forward to a long-term and fruitful partnership with ABS which allows us to further increase our penetration into Asia.”
“We are excited to welcome 3ABN to our growing neighborhood of free-to-air TV and radio channels on the ABS-1 direct broadcast platform,” said Tom Choi, CEO of ABS. “ABS-1 offers the widest, high-power, Ku-band coverage in Asia. We look forward to working with RRSAT to expand the distribution of international channels across Asia, focusing on key regions such as South Asia, East Asia and the Middle East through direct to home (DTH) reception and cable distribution.”
14 April 2007
The AIB recommends…
events, shows, content
Radio Netherlands Worldwide Open Day
Hilversum, The Netherlands
15 April 2007
AIB member Radio Netherlands Worldwide celebrates is 60th anniversary on Sunday 15 April. As part of the events to mark the occasion, the Dutch international media organisation is opening the doors of its Hilversum headquarters to the public.
MIPTV incorporating MILIA
Cannes, France
16-20 April 2007
One of the most important dates in the
television calendar. A meeting of buyers, sellers and visionaries in television and electronic visual media.
The AIB is attending, capturing the thoughts of inspiring minds in content
creation.
Arab Broadcast Forum
Abu Dhabi, UAE
29-30 April 2007
The second annual meeting of the television
news broadcasting industry in the Middle East. Delegates from channels across the region – and those with services targeting the Middle East – will debate what makes news and how news
channels should cover developments in the region. The AIB’s there, reporting on the conference, capturing the debate. And AIB Members receive a 25% discount on the regular delegate fee – that’s a saving of US$250!
14 April 2007
Jeffrey Gedmin, President of international broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has expressed concern about the fate of Parnaz Azima, an RFE/RL journalist who is currently in Iran and being prevented by authorities from leaving the country.
Azima, a dual citizen of the U.S. and Iran, entered Iran on January 25 to visit a sick relative. On arrival, officials at the airport in Tehran seized her Iranian passport. Since then, Azima has tried unsuccessfully to reclaim the passport on several occasions. During one meeting with authorities Azima was asked to collaborate with Iranian intelligence services. She refused.
Gedmin said, “I call on the Iranian authorities to return Ms. Azima’s passport and to allow her to leave Iran without futher delay. There is no reason to prevent this talented journalist from returning to her professional duties immediately.”
Azima is a broadcaster with Radio Farda, the joint RFE/RL-Voice of America 24-hour, seven-day-a-week Persian-language broadcast service to Iran. She joined RFE/RL in 1998 and is based at RFE/RL’s broadcast headquarters in Prague, Czech Republic. Azima endured a similar situation in Iran during the spring of 2006, when her Iranian passport was seized and held for several weeks before being returned to her.
