26 June 2006
Arabsat, the leading satellite operator in the Middle East and North Africa region, and Mlive announce a five-year agreement to broadcast the Mlive channels on the BADR-3 satellite of the Arabsat fleet. Uplinked from Arabsat’s strategic partner Jordan Media City, the digital distribution platform in Ku-band will allow Mlive to directly access the extensive Middle Eastern and North African audiences via Arabsats constellation of BADR satellites @ 26°East. Furthermore, thanks to its dual-broadcasting on Arabsat’s “SEE-DIGITAL” C-band platform on its BADR-C satellite, Mlive will also dramatically extend its reach towards the numerous sub-Saharan viewers tuned to 26°E already watching a C-band bouquet of 37 digital plus 18 analogue channels.
Mr. Khalid Balkheyour, Arabsat President & CEO, welcomed the launch of the Mlive set of programs as part of the Arabsat rapidly expanding offering of channels, wishing them every success. Mlive is an innovative and attractive new style of channels and we are proud to be their partner in this exciting launch, delivering them immediate reach to an audience of 130 Million individuals in the MENA region alone, and much more beyond” he commented, confirming Arabsats strong commitment to help its customers succeed and steadily support their growth throughout the region. “We are honoured by their trust in our system and confidence in the extensive penetration of Arabsat’s constellation of BADR satellites at our 26° East primary fast growing DTH neighbourhood he concluded.
Frederic Giaccardo, CEO of Mlive, added: We are very pleased to broadcast through Arabsat and to collaborate with CEO Eng. Khalid A. Balkheyour and his team. This global and long-term agreement will ensure that Mlive is widely seen around the Middle East, Maghreb regions and Europe, offering Arabsat viewers a privileged and multilingual host of Music, Fashion and Dance, along with Interactive services and applications such as voting, chat, song dedications or quizzes.”
22 June 2006
The second annual AIB International Broadcasting Awards have attracted more than 85 entries from countries throughout the world.
With nine categories covering television, radio and technology, the 2006 AIB Awards are a celebration of success in international broadcasting.
“We’re delighted that so many broadcasters and technology companies have responded to this year’s Awards,” says Simon Spanswick, the AIB’s chief executive. “The range of entries and their quality demonstrates the vibrancy of the international broadcasting industry. The judges face some hard decision-making!”
Judges, drawn from broadcasting organisations and TV and radio critics in the UK and around the world, have been amazed by the quality of the entries and have asked for more time in evaluating them before choosing the winners.
The winners will be announced during a special event – details will be available online soon.
Organisations entering the AIB Awards 2006
Al Arabiya
Al Jazeera Children’s Channel
BBC
BBC Religion and Ethics, Radio
BBC TV News
BBC World
BBC World Service
BFBS
Camerapix
CBC
Channel News Asia
CNBC Europe
Createcna XXI
Deutsche Welle
Dutch View Holdings/CIRIS
EuroNews
EuroSport
IBB/VoA
Independent Media Corporation/GEO TV
KBS
Link Research
NDSatCom
NDTV
Norddeutscher Rundfunk/ARTE
Omnibus Systems
Proseibensat. 1 Produktion
Public Television Service
Quadrant
Radio France Internationale
Radio Free Asia
Radio Netherlands
Radio Taiwan International
RFE/RL
RR Satellite Communication
Sky News
SSVC-BFBS
SW Radio Africa
Teletrax
Televisa
United Nations
Winetworks c/o Eclat Marketing
WorldSpace
22 June 2006
Radio Netherlands Worldwide, the Dutch International Service, held the official opening ceremony of its new-look newsroom the largest foreign newsroom in the Netherlands – on Monday 19 June. The official opening was performed by Jan Hoekema, Director and Ambassador and for International Cultural Cooperation at the Dutch Foreign Ministry. Mr. Hoekema stressed the importance of Radio Netherlands in delivering information to countries where press freedom is restricted
The re-designed newsroom reflects the new policy of one station, one sound. Whereas previously the working space was divided into clusters for different language services whose staff worked independently of the others, the new design is more open-plan and is based around a large, central desk, which is used for the planning and coordination of news broadcasts in nine languages. Material and ideas will be shared across the different languages, and there will be more consistency in the way major stories are covered.
The refurbishment of the newsroom was carried out in just 10 days. Around 150 journalists had to be moved to temporary accommodation while the work took place, and regular broadcasts and Internet services were maintained. Apart from a new layout, furnishings and carpeting, the IT department has replaced all the computer workstations in the newsroom and throughout the Radio Netherlands Worldwide building. The old computers, about 500 in total, will be passed to Dutch NGOs that can use them in projects abroad.
Radio Netherlands Worldwide Director-General Jan Hoek says of the new-look newsroom Its not only a striking symbol of the beating journalistic heart of our organisation, but also a milestone in its revitalisation and the introduction of the new working procedures.
21 June 2006
Content management and delivery company GlobeCast now offers teleport services from Mumbai, India, thanks to a partnership with Lamhas, a leading Indian satellite service provider. The Lamhas teleport is a full service commercial teleport from Mumbai – the entertainment and media hub in India – and is equipped with a range of high end professional quality equipment capable of providing production services, origination & associated services, and transmission services. The teleport also operates multiple dishes from its facility in New Mumbai and has much room to expand.
This partnership emphasizes the important role that the large and growing Indian market plays in GlobeCasts worldwide basket of services and makes the Indian market more easily accessible to its global customer base. David Justin, CEO GlobeCast Asia said, We believe that when GlobeCasts commitment of providing high-quality, end-to-end services is coupled with the professional teleport services available from Lamhas in this crucial market, it will provide international broadcasters with a higher grade of service.
The partnership also provides Indian broadcasters with access to the global resources and expertise of GlobeCast. Manoj Shah, Director Lamhas said that Given the large presence of GlobeCast on all continents and markets, this partnership will especially benefit broadcasters seeking seamless service from India to the rest of the world.
With the partnership in place GlobeCast now offers distribution services over India on the Indian hot bird satellite Insat 4A. Located at 83°E, Insat 4A is home to many Indian channels, including the must carry Indian state channels, which gives it virtually complete penetration into cable networks.
21 June 2006
Harris Corporation announced that Chinas Chengdu TV, a local broadcaster in Sichuan, China, has installed an array of Harris digital infrastructure products for the expansion and digital upgrade of its television broadcasting facility.
We evaluated other products on the market, but because Chengdu has used Harris Corporations Leitch products for many years and we are familiar with the high quality of the equipment and post-sale support, we decided to stay with Harris when the time came to upgrade, said Xue Yiingjun, director of chief engineering office, Chengdu TV. The Harris system met with our requirements for a reliable, efficient, and integrated system, all of which are crucial factors as we expand to meet the growing demands of our steadily increasing customer base.
The installation includes Integrator® Gold 64X64 and 32X32 wideband, digital, multi-rate routers; the NEO SuiteView Solo, a compact, high-resolution, multi-source display processor; the IconLogo modular branding solution; 6800+ modular interface products; and the X75SD multiple-path converter/synchronizer. The installation was recently completed by systems integrator New Digital Technology, Ltd.
Television stations are increasingly looking to invest in complete, integrated solutions from single manufacturers, and we are pleased that one of our long-standing customers has decided to stay with us as they make the move to digital, said Tim Thorsteinson, president-elect of Harris Broadcast Communications Division. With the breadth and interoperability of our digital infrastructure product offering, we are fully prepared to provide our customers with a customized solution to meet their individual needs.
20 June 2006
BroadcastAsia has opened in Singapore, with the AIB exhibiting at this annual meeting of the broadcasting industry in the Asia-Pacific region.
With around 800 exhibitors, BroadcastAsia is showcasing the latest technology for programme making, newsgathering and delivery. Running alongside is CommunicAsia which covers the telecommunications world – increasingly converged with the broadcasting sector with the delivery of content via mobile devices that not only serve as phones but also MP3 and MP4 players, games consoles and TV sets.
It has to be said that there’s more of a buzz in halls 3 to 6 where CommunicAsia is taking place than in 7 and 8, where broadcasting is featured. It seems that the hype around telecommunications – so in evidence a few years ago before the dot-com bubble burst – is back with a vengance. There’s a huge number of companies competing for attention, offering everything from IPTV solutions to innovative billing for content on hand-held devices.
Meanwhile in BroadcastAsia, any emphasis on particular themes is difficult to find; lighting, camera booms and lenses are proving somewhat less attractive to visitors who come from throughout the Asia-Pacific region than the mobile solutions on show in CommunicAsia.
At the AIB exhibit, visitors have the opportunity to find out more about the AIB and its members (many of whom have sent promotional material, providing them with a point-of-presence at the exhibition that they might otherwise not have), as well as seeing copies of the new AIB Directory of Global Broadcasting and the AIB’s quarterly magazine, The Channel.
In addition, the AIB is holding a private networking dinner on Thursday 22nd June, with members and a number of specially invited guests from the media industry across the Asia-Pacific region.
We’ll be updating this news from Singapore throughout the week. And if you’re in Singapore, visit the AIB at stand 8H4-02.
