8 February 2006
A series of High Definition Technology Seminars are being run by the Leitch Business Unit of Harris Broadcast Communications Division across Europe over the coming months. The European HD seminars are aimed at industry professionals who work in all traditional broadcast, production, post production and mobile environments.
The seminars focus on an array of HDTV technology from signal management, test & measurement and design consideration for HD systems to hands on product demonstrations. Designed to eliminate some myths behind HD, Leitch will also present an HDTV survival guide which covers video formats, HD conversion, colour decoding technologies, audio processing, SD & HD noise reduction and synchronisation.
The first round of the High Definition Technology Seminars have already started and will roll out in mainland Europe as follows:
Italy, Rome 8th and 9th February
Norway, Bergen & Oslo, 23rd & 24th February
France, Paris, 14th 16th March
Finland, Helsinki 27th March
Denmark, Copenhagen, 29th March
Sweden, Stockholm, 31st March
Belgium, Brussels, 4th & 5th April
Czech Republic, Prague, 23rd May
Slovakia, Bratislava, 25th May
Additional country venues and dates will be announced shortly.
For further details contact: Meriam Khan +44 (0)20 8537 2698, meriam@mkm-marcomms.com
Harris Corporation is showcasing products and solutions for emerging mobile TV market at NAB2006. Recent launch announcements of 2 mobile TV networks have signaled the dawn of true, live broadcast television delivery to handheld devices in the United States. Harris’ participation in early stage trials across Europe and Australia has positioned the company as a leading transmission vendor for mobile TV requirements. The company’s mobile TV transmission solutions have been used to develop and prove the effectiveness of the DVB-H, FLO(TM) and T-DMB standards for mobile broadcast television. At NAB2006, Harris will highlight its total content delivery solutions for mobile TV that expand far beyond transmission to include infrastructure, broadband software and distribution equipment.
Harris Corporation also announced that it is integrating its proven solutions for digital asset management, air-time sales, scheduling and reporting within its new H-Class(TM) Content Delivery Platform. These new H-Class(TM) applications will immediately realize new platform-based advantages, including content management and sharing, intra-application messaging, increased security and scheduling functionality. The H-Class Application Suite serves the existing needs of media and entertainment customers today and provides a growth path to full enterprise-wide deployment in the future.
8 February 2006
Global media research company InterMedia today released its first-ever annual review, Understanding How the World Understands, chronicling media use, audience preferences and new communications technology growth throughout the developing world.
The data highlight how increasing choice in media and news around the world affects the gathering and disseminationas well as attempts to controlinformation.
These findings are based on recent surveys in 60 countries among 138,000 respondents, often in places and among populations for which detailed audience use and preferences data are scarce or unavailable.
8 February 2006
Al Arabiya News Channel has joined the AIB as a Platinum Member.
Part of MBC based in Dubai Media City in the United Arab Emirates, Al Arabiya has been on the air to the Middle East with its Arabic-language news service since 2003.
“The AIB is delighted that Al Arabiya has chosen to join the Association, demonstrating its commitment to the international broadcasting industry through Platinum membership,” says Simon Spanswick, AIB Chief Executive. “We will be working closely with Al Arabiya to provide the complete range of member services, and look forward to encouraging considerable interaction with our other members in the region and throughout the world.”
A full profile of Al Arabiya appears in the new edition of The Channel
7 February 2006
Teletrax today announced it has renewed a multi-year contract with NBC News Channel, a unit of NBC News, to electronically track broadcast usage of its television news video. Teletrax, a subsidiary of Medialink Worldwide Incorporated, is the first and only global digital video monitoring and media asset management service that provides vital broadcast television intelligence to video content providers such as entertainment companies, news organizations, TV syndicators, and the advertising industry. NBC News is a unit of NBC Universal, whose parent is General Electric.
NBC News Channel distributes approximately 300 news stories each day to NBC affiliates and international clients for use in their news broadcasts and has been successfully using Teletrax to report and evaluate airings of its news video broadcasts for the past three years. Teletraxs comprehensive monitoring service provides NBC News Channel with reports containing detailed intelligence on how content is used and disseminated by its affiliate stations.
In addition, NBC News Channel will use Teletrax at the upcoming Winter Olympics in Torino, marking the second time in a row it has relied on the video monitoring firm to track distribution of live and taped news stories coming directly from the Olympic Games. Teletrax was also employed onsite in Athens by NBC News Channel during the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Teletraxs services have become an integral part of our daily news process, helping us offer our clients the most useful service on a 365-day a year basis, said Bob Horner, president of NBC News Channel. Having access to such precise data on a real-time basis during this major story will help us fine-tune our offerings to our clients during the 2006 Winter Olympics.
NBC News Channels decision to enlist Teletrax to track usage of its output at this high-profile global event now for two consecutive Games is a testament to the power of our comprehensive broadcast intelligence service, said Andy Nobbs, president of Teletrax. We are extremely proud to continue our longstanding partnership with one of the worlds premier news organizations.
Launched in 2002 as a service developed by a joint venture between Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands (NYSE: PHG) and Medialink, with an underlying technology that is patent protected both by Philips and Digimarc Corp., Teletraxs technology embeds an imperceptible and indelible digital watermark into video whenever it is edited, transmitted, broadcast or duplicated.
A global network of decoders or detectors, then captures all occurrences of the embedded video being transmitted via satellite, cable or terrestrially and generates tracking reports for the content owners. Reports of individual broadcast airings are delivered online in near real-time to each clients custom-designed portal or in data file transfers. Each clients broadcast activity is updated dynamically, 24 hours a day, enabling clients to respond immediately to reported results such as changes in end-user preferences or detections of unauthorized use.
Teletrax currently maintains a proprietary network of detectors that monitor the television broadcasts of over 1,100 channels worldwide. Its expanding U.S. footprint includes more than 800 television stations and cable channels in the top 150 markets and beyond in the United States, representing more than 90% of all U.S. television households. Its international network monitors nearly 200 channels being broadcast from 50 nations and is comprised of 12 monitoring stations in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, the Middle East and South America.
Entertainment, news and media organizations both within and outside of the United States that are also using Teletrax for the tracking of news video, advertising or promotional content include BBC, Buena Vista Television, ABC Television Network, Tribune Entertainment, The NBC Agency, NBC Universal Domestic Television, Reuters Television, Advanced Results Marketing, Mercury Media, Media Review International, Internet Broadcasting Systems, and Medialink. A number of other companies are also in active trials with the Teletrax service.
3 February 2006
Millions of listeners to Radio Farda in Iran and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Afghanistan and Russia will hear President George W. Bush’s State of the Union address tonight live, simultaneously translated into their languages.
Radio Farda, the 24-hour, daily Persian language service operated jointly from Washington and Prague by RFE/RL and the Voice of America, goes on the air at 9:00PM EST (5:30AM Wednesday in Tehran) with live coverage of the State of the Union speech by two moderators in RFE/RL’s Prague studios, presenting instantly translated highlights of the address.
Radio Free Afghanistan starts its program on Bush’s State of the Union speech in Dari and Pashto, the two main languages spoken in Afghanistan, at 6:30AM Wednesday Kabul time (9:00 PM EST, Tuesday).
RFE/RL’s Russian Service, heard on different broadcast frequencies nationwide in Russia, will feature live coverage of President Bush’s address to the U.S. Congress during its 6:00AM morning news magazine (10:00PM EST, Tuesday). The service devoted special segments to the forthcoming State of the Union speech during prime-time programs Tuesday across Russia’s 11 time zones.
Radio Farda, Radio Free Afghanistan, and RFE/RL’s Russian language Radio Liberty will continue programming on the State of the Union address on Wednesday with coverage of the Democratic response, interviews with RFE/RL regional experts and coverage of official and unofficial reaction in RFE/RL’s broadcast region.
RFE/RL broadcasts 1,000 hours a week in 28 languages from its broadcast center in Prague. RFE/RL services broadcasting to Central Asia and other former communist countries will carry translated excerpts of the State of the Union in their regular newscasts on Wednesday.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a private, international communications service to Eastern and Southeastern Europe, Russia, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia, funded by the U.S. Congress through the Broadcasting Board of Governors.
3 February 2006
The CBA and UNESCO are launching Guidelines for Broadcast Regulation at the CBA’s General Conference in Delhi, India on 16 February, 2006.
The book is aimed at helping governments and regulators to see clearly how to enable strong and vibrant public service broadcasting to be preserved and co-exist with a varied and commercially viable industry.
The author is Eve Salomon, an international media consultant with particular experience in broadcasting and press regulation.
