4 October 2005
Japanese internet tycoon Takafumi Horie said his firm, Livedoor, which offers a portal site much like Yahoo along with other internet services, has signed a deal with Qatar-based Al Jazeera to distribute its news online in Japanese. Livedoor will translate several English-language articles by Al Jazeera into Japanese each day but has no plans to provide the broadcaster’s video footage. The contract with Al Jazeera is Horie’s latest effort to bolster Livedoor’s news-providing services and attract more people to his website.
The UK’s Media Guardian reported that veteran broadcaster Sir David Frost is understood to have been signed up by Al Jazeera for its new English-language service. Sir David retired from the BBC in May after presenting a Sunday morning current affairs programme for many years.
4 October 2005
Arqiva is to sign a five-year deal to deliver direct-to-home (DTH) services to CNBC Europe. The Satellite Media Solutions division is to supply backhaul connectivity from CNBC Europes Fleet Place offices, satellite uplink and space segment. CNBC Europe goes live with the new system on 30 September.
Arqiva is a trusted provider for CNBC Europes delivery of news content DTH in the UK and also to link with various cable head-ends across Europe, says John Turner, CNBC Europes director of operations. CNBC Europe already uses the companys services for Occasional Distribution to the Sirius satellite and European VSAT networks links and I am keen to develop the relationship for as long as possible.
John Bozza, Arqivas head of broadcast sales, adds: Our precise understanding not only of CNBC Europes business requirements, but also its product offering, makes Arqiva the ideal satellite media partner.
Arqiva Satellite Media Solutions has operational bases in London, Gerrards Cross, Winchester, Feltham and Bedford. A diverse range of international customers trust Arqiva Satellite Media Solutions to develop and deliver high quality and flexible solutions that include permanent and occasional broadcast services as well as IP, voice, data and digital media networks.
28 September 2005
Inmedia is to rebrand as Arqiva, following its acquisition in July by Arqiva (formerly ntl Broadcast). Inmedia is being merged with Arqivas Satellite and Playout unit to form the Satellite Media Solutions division of the company. The new division will continue to provide broadcast and media solutions including permanent and occasional broadcast services as well as IP, voice, data and digital media networks.
The combined infrastructure of Arqiva is truly impressive and is ideally positioned to serve organisations around the world with innovative solutions for improved business, says Nick Thompson, managing director of Arqiva, Satellite Broadcast Solutions. As a leading UK broadcast solutions company, Arqiva now comprises four teleports with more than 70 major uplinks, plus studios, post production and playout facilities.
Arqiva Satellite Media Solutions has operational bases in London, Gerrards Cross, Winchester, Feltham and Bedford. A diverse range of international customers trust Arqiva Satellite Media Solutions to develop and deliver high quality and flexible solutions that include permanent and occasional broadcast services as well as IP, voice, data and digital media networks.
27 September 2005
The channels, which went on-air in March and April 2005, bring the total of OmniBus-controlled 24-hour news services in Mumbai and Delhi to seven. Sahara TV uses OmniBus applications to control ingest, manage the media flow throughout the facility, and coordinate the operation of a wide range of broadcast devices, including VizRT on-air graphics solutions, Miranda mixers and Leitch video servers and routers.
The entire broadcast infrastructure is tightly integrated to APs ENPS newsroom computer system, which delivers the news playlists to OmniBus via an MOS (Media Object Server) gateway. OmniBus Columbus application checks the integrity of the playlist and the availability of the media, and plays it to air either in a fully automated mode, for the news wheel items, or with automation assist for live news.
OmniBus provides editing, audio control, and V/O functionality at each of 150 journalist workstations, from where journalists can search, view, and manipulate any piece of media in the system, even active feeds. This new agreement not only expands the existing operation to become the largest and most sophisticated
newsroom system in Asia, it also consolidates our long and successful partnership with Sahara, said OmniBus sales manager Iain Wood. The flexibility of the OmniBus system allows Sahara to provide multilingual services for different states across
India, where some 40 different languages are spoken. Obviously, great care has to be taken with the media management as each piece of content can potentially
have many different voiceovers in different languages. OmniBus allows the operators to have full control of the process and precise knowledge of the entire media store and associated metadata.
27 September 2005
A court in Madrid has jailed former Al Jazeera journalist Tayssir Alouni for collaborating with a terrorist organisation. Alouni, who protests his innocence, interviewed Osama Bin Laden before the 11 September attacks. He was sentenced to seven years for acting as financial courier to Bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network.
A Syrian-born Spanish citizen, Alouni was one of 24 defendants in Europe’s biggest trial of Islamic extremists which has ended in Spain. Alouni denied carrying money intended for al-Qaeda members in Afghanistan, saying in his testimony that he was only doing his job as a journalist. Until his arrest in 2003, he was among Al Jazeera’s most prominent and popular correspondents, fronting the network’s coverage of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Al Jazeera issued the following statement on 26 September:
“Al Jazeera Satellite Channel is surprised and deeply disappointed by the Spanish Courts decision to sentence one of its senior correspondents Tayseer Alouni to 7 years in prison. The Channel supports Mr. Alouni and his familys decision to appeal the Courts verdict and is in consultation with its legal team.
Meanwhile, the Channel will request the Spanish judiciary to release Mr. Alouni for health considerations on bail. Mr. Alouni has been suffering an ongoing heart condition for which he had been earlier released, prior to his sudden pre-sentencing re-arrest last week.
The Channel views the incident as a dangerous precedent for the profession of journalism and journalists across the world who go to great lengths on a daily basis to bring coverage on critical issues. Al Jazeera reiterates its support for Mr. Alouni and his professional integrity and courage as a journalist.”
27 September 2005
Effective from 30 October, German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle is introducing basic changes to its German programming of DW-RADIO, including two-hour programming blocks, a new programme schedule, more topical information, increased regionalisation and greater flexibility.
Deutsche Welle and Abu Dhabi TV are extending their partnership: on 28 September the first edition of their co-produced talk show “Meet Europe is broadcast, with twelve more editions planned. The cooperation between DW and Abu Dhabi TV also encompasses exchange of staff, technical services and images.
On 3 October Deutsche Welle starts a programme slot for Belarus: the 15 minute long magazine will report on events and developments in the region, with the aim to foster democracy and freedom of the media. The programme slot is subsidised by the European Commission. Initially broadcasts are in Russian.
