24 January 2006
WRN, the London-based international transmission service company, today announced the launch of its online Interactive Forums, which will help to create a roadmap for the future development and strengthening of international radio.
Each of the five online Interactive Forums will be hosted by a WRN member of staff with delegate participation via the Internet and instant messaging. The Forums will cover a range of topics specifically relevant to international radio including new technology (DRM and DVB), Broadcast and Platform Solutions, pan-European co-productions and how to develop deeper interaction with listeners. The first Interactive Forum is on Tuesday 14th February at 1000 UTC (1100 CET). A full schedule for the Forums can be found at www.wrn.org/clientforum
WRN has developed its Interactive Forums to offer a neutral space that brings together practitioners in international radio, and others, to grapple with the challenges of the digital age where the nature of radio is rapidly changing: the ways to broadcast, the ways to listen, the platforms, the content, how listeners interact with stations, the choice of stations. The WRN Forums provide the opportunity for practitioners to come together and share their ideas and opinions, experiences and lessons, their successes, case studies and best practice and to take back practical ideas and solutions for input into their own organisations.
WRNs Sophie Wilson, who is project managing this initiative says: These Interactive Forums follow on from our successful inaugural event held in Bratislava, Slovakia where more than twenty international radio practitioners came together to initiate discussions about our industry. These next five Interactive Forums offer all those working in international radio the chance to join in this stimulating and timely debate.
24 January 2006
WorldSpace Satellite Radio, one of the world leaders in satellite-based digital radio services, announced that it has expanded its senior management team with the appointments of Shishir Lall in India, as managing director of operations, and Stephen Horn at the Silver Spring headquarters, as chief marketing officer. The new appointments strengthen the companys leadership and further support expansion efforts, globally.
As managing director of WORLDSPACE India, Shishir Lall will spearhead the companys business operations in India to drive sales and marketing efforts. Lall has worked at leading consumer products companies including Brooke Bond, Unilever, and Pepsi. Lall replaces Deepak Varma, who will now manage business development activities.
Stephen Horn joins WORLDSPACE as chief marketing officer and will lead sales and marketing initiatives. Horn has more than 20 years of industry experience, previously holding senior management positions at Coca-Cola Enterprises, PepsiCola and Citibank.
At this exciting stage in our companys growth, we are very pleased to have these high caliber professionals join the team, said Noah Samara, CEO, WORLDSPACE. Shishir Lall will play an integral role in helping us to streamline operations in India, and Stephen Horn will guide our global marketing efforts to help us build additional brand awareness. Both will be critical players as we continue to increase our international presence, gain subscribers, and execute against our global business plan.
With more than 100,000 global subscribers, WORLDSPACE is the first and only satellite radio provider outside of North America, South Korea and Japan providing digital audio radio services (DARS) internationally.
19 January 2006
The BBC has made a formal complaint to the Tajik Government, following the suspension of the BBC’s services to Tajikistan on FM frequencies by the Tajik authorities since Tuesday 10 January 2006.
BBC services on medium wave and shortwave to listeners in the country remain unaffected. The suspension follows a recently ratified Tajik Media Law requiring international broadcasters on FM to register with the Tajik Ministry of Justice and acquire a media licence.
The BBC is currently the only international broadcaster available on FM in Tajikistan and has a legal contract and licence to broadcast. However, although the BBC has started the new process for registration, the 20-day deadline was unrealistic for a process that would normally take up to six months to complete.
Over the last week representations have been made to the Tajikistan authorities by the BBC. Since there has been no formal response from the authorities, the BBC is making a formal complaint to the Tajik Government. The BBC is requesting that services are resumed immediately while the registration process is completed. BBC World Service Director Nigel Chapman says: “The BBC has a legal contract and a licence to broadcast on FM and we would like that to be honoured. The BBC is happy to comply with the new law but the process takes considerably more time than has been allowed by the Tajik authorities. There is no reason why listeners in Tajikistan should be deprived of our services on FM while these bureaucratic hurdles are overcome.”
The BBC has been broadcasting in Tajikistan since 1996 on medium wave. In 2004 the BBC launched two 24-hour FM relays, in Dushanbe and Khojand, with programmes in Tajik (Persian), as well as broadcasts in Russian and English.
19 January 2006
SES ASTRA, an SES GLOBAL company has signed an agreement with the Czech free-to-air leisure and shopping channel TOP TV for digital capacity on ASTRA at the orbital position 19.2° East. TOP TV is the fourth Czech free-to-air channel transmitted via ASTRA at 19.2° East, following the music channel Ocko TV, the parliamentary channel 24.cz and the public news channel CT24. In addition to these customer relationships, SES ASTRA enjoys a long-standing cooperation with UPC Direct, the key Direct-to-Home bouquet provider for the Central and Eastern European region.
Alexander Oudendijk, Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of SES ASTRA, said: ”Our agreement with TOP TV confirms our leading role in the highly competitive Central and Eastern European market. TOP TV is an attractive enhancement of our free-to-air channel line-up and we look forward to a fruitful and successful cooperation.”
Kateøina Frièová, General Director of TOP TV, said: Broadcasting TOP TV via ASTRA at 19.2° East will ensure that we reach the widest possible audience in the Czech Republic and across Europe in the highest quality. We are proud to become a member of the ASTRA family.
TOP TV is broadcast via transponder 57 on ASTRA 2C at 19.2° East (10832.25 MHz).
18 January 2006
Test
18 January 2006
Al Jazeera reiterated its demand on 18 January for the disclosure of a memo alleging President Bush discussed plans to bomb Al Jazeera in a face to face meeting with Mr. Blair at the White House. This is in response to statements made yesterday by a spokesman for Mr. Blairs office insisting that the memo “doesn’t refer to bombing the al-Jazeera station in Qatar.” Peter Kilfoyle, a former UK Minister of Defence challenged 10 Downing Street to disclose the memo stating in an interview with the Daily Mirror that the comments by the PMs spokesman were stated to “deliberately cause confusion”. Mr. Kilfoyle went on to state that: “They are playing with words here and the only way to clear it up is to allow us to read it.” Mr. Kilfoyles statements are the latest in a series of criticisms of the Prime Ministers failure to publish the memo by people who say they have seen the memo.
Wadah Khanfar, Managing Director of Al Jazeera restated the right of Al Jazeera to view the memo: “In light of the latest remarks from the Prime Ministers spokesman and the comments by Mr. Kilfoyle we maintain our right to know the content of the memo and to know if Al Jazeeras name was mentioned and in what context. We are extremely concerned that the full information be disclosed and we are confident that this memo will have to be released to set the record straight. We will continue our efforts in consultation with our legal team.”
Al Jazeera filed a Freedom of Information Act request with 10 Downing Street, on January 12th, 2006 under Section 1(1) (b) of the Freedom of Information Act on behalf of Al Jazeera and its employees following legal consultation.
