25 April 2005
According to an agreement sealed at NAB between T-Systems and SES ASTRA, TV stations throughout the world can now order fully-fledged solutions from T-Systems to broadcast their sports coverage of the 2006 Soccer World Cup via satellites of the SES GLOBAL fleet.
T-Systems and SES are bundling their services into the “Content Delivery Worldwide” package. It consists of signal delivery, satellite transponder capacity, as well as uplink and downlink services. The package enables TV broadcasters to transmit football coverage from the respective soccer stadiums to the International Broadcasting Center (IBC) in Munich and on to their studios anywhere in the world. T-Systems also uses this infrastructure to transmit coverage from other locations, such as Brandenburg Gate in the center of Berlin. At the heart of the solution are the Deutsche Telekom subsidiary’s earth stations in Raisting and Usingen, which communicate with the satellites in the SES GLOBAL fleet at different orbital positions around the world.
Alexander Oudendijk, Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of SES ASTRA, said: “By delivering and distributing the World Cup broadcasts in standard definition and state-of-the-art HDTV to TV networks worldwide, T-Systems and SES are making sure that billions of TV viewers all over the world will not miss a single goal.”
Earlier in April, SES ASTRA announced that the SES Group had increased its shareholding in ND SatCom from 10% to 25.1%. ND SatCom is a leading global supplier of satellite-based broadband VSAT, commercial broadcast and defence communication network and ground station solutions. The company is based in Friedrichshafen, Germany, and has major regional centers in Abu Dhabi, Beijing and Dallas, Texas, to serve customers in 130 countries worldwide.
SES ASTRA announced also that the SES Group had increased its shareholding in SATLYNX from 41% to 77%, taking full operational control. As a result of the equity realignment, Alcatel Space and Gilat now hold 6% and 17% of the shares of SATLYNX, respectively. The SES participation will be managed through SES ASTRA, and the company managing the SES Group’s activities in the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East and Africa).
25 April 2005
Deutsche Welle has sold a six-part TV documentary about the causes and effects of the global water shortage to the Qatar-based satellite TV station Al Jazeera.
The The Thirsty Planet, produced by reporters from DW-TV, was also purchased by CNBC Arabia.
DW-TV programmes have received substantial interest in the Middle East from Morocco to Saudi Arabia, with over 300 programming hours sold in Egypt, Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon, Algeria, Morocco, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates.
Director of DW-TV, Christoph Lanz, said: We are pleased about the great interest our productions encounter in the Middle East. This is another example of cultural dialogue with the Arabic world.
In addition to the Arabic-language services on DW-RADIO and DW-WORLD.DE, DW-TV broadcasts three hours daily in Arabic. DW-TV is the first European TV broadcaster to present news with Arabic anchors in the Arabic language.
25 April 2005
Radio New Zealand, together with the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union, Thales Corp and THL-Australia, has launched a project to investigate the appropriate Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) implementation strategies for radio broadcasters in the region. The technical investigation, which started last week in Wellington, is being carried out on digital radio transmissions in the medium wave band using the DRM digital system. An analogue medium wave radio transmitter of RNZ has been converted for digital transmissions in this project. This is to facilitate investigations on simulcast transmission of analogue and digital radio programmes.
A Digital Radio Symposium and Demonstration has also been organised as part of the project. Around 70 experts from the radio industry in the region will meet from 27-29 April to provide technical information on digital radio and the conversion of transmitters to digital mode. The symposium also aims to provide an opportunity for the participants to carry out measurements of various technical parameters.
25 April 2005
Autocue announced on 13 April the sale of their QNet software to Wachovia
Bank, in Charlotte, North Carolina. QNet is a networked scripting and prompting system that provides a comprehensive range of specialized scriptwriting and rundown management tools. All of these are fully integrated with state-of-the-art digital prompting. The system will be implemented second quarter of 2005 at the Wachovia Video Network, their in-house television station, which broadcasts to Wachovia locations.
QNet is appropriate for any speech-based programming, news, production, corporate or political presentation, or any other environment where a number of people work together on scripts and rundowns. Wachovia also purchased flat screen QTV prompter LCD monitors with a TFT screen that delivers clear, bright text, even in conditions of high ambient light, with a smooth scroll that facilitates delivery and legibility. The complete system uses Autocues proprietary Automation Control Center (ACC). Autocue is the only newsroom automation solution provider that automates the entire newscast with all the automation elements built into the software, as well as fully integrated built-in prompting. This enables the airing of CG’s, video clips, still stores, etc. with just the click of a mouse.
Autocue is pleased to be part of Wachovias internal television station as it continues to advance technologically, producing improved broadcasts,” said Peter Gould, CEO, Autocue Systems, “QNet is an excellent solution for Wachovias scriptwriting needs, providing the same state-of-the art productivity and quality advantages used by international television networks broadcasting around the world to millions of
viewers.
In March, Autocue announced the implementation of the Qscore data ingest and presentation system at one of Canadas leading national sports television broadcasters. QScore is a new application from the Autocue development team and is the latest to be designed collaboratively with a broadcast facility. It enables users to organize and streamline the collection and handling of data, including results and league, team and player statistics, either automatically from a number of sources or manually through user input and then automatically populates customizable caption generator (CG) templates for broadcast during the show. Autocue developed QScore from a functional specification designed in partnership with the customers management and production teams in Toronto.
21 April 2005
On Thursday 5 May, which is the 60th anniversary of liberation at the end of World War II, the Dutch service of Radio Netherlands will be recreating the historic broadcast of Radio Oranje that announced the end of German occupation. The programme will be broadcast at 1415 UTC on shortwave in Europe, and worldwide via satellite and Internet.
Radio Oranje was set up in London shortly after the German occupation of the Netherlands, and broadcast daily until shortly after liberation. The broadcasts were designed as a counter to the censored Dutch press, and to give Dutch people hope.
On 5 May 1945 at 8.15 pm Dutch time, Radio Oranje broadcast a special 30-minute freedom programme which included an address by Prime Minister Gerbrandy. The audio of 19 minutes of this historic broadcast remain in the archive. The other 11 minutes have been lost. But Peter Veenendaal, head of the Dutch service of Radio Netherlands, explains that “since we have the full transcripts of all the Radio Oranje broadcasts we’re in a position to make an accurate reconstruction of the original transmission. Sixty years of freedom seemed an appropriate occasion to do that.”
The news summary will be read in the style that was normal in 1945. Breaks in musical fragments will be replaced by original recordings from that time. The famous poem De Achttien Dooden [The Eighteen Dead] that was read by a Radio Oranje announcer in the original transmission, will be played from a later recording made in 1946. By using specialised production techniques, the substitute pieces are seamlessly mixed with the original material.
21 April 2005
Harris Corporation announced on 21 April that TV Azteca, S.A. de C.V., one of the two largest producers of Spanish language television programming in the world, has signed a purchase agreement with Harris Corporation’s Broadcast Communications Division for digital television transmitters, and high-definition encoding equipment for HDTV. The equipment will bring HDTV to nine cities in México and will be launched in two phases through mid-2006.
The new equipment places TV Azteca at the forefront of digital transmission capabilities in Latin America and will allow for HDTV transmission in México City, Guadalajara and Monterrey by the third quarter of this year. The services are in accordance with a rollout plan detailed by TV Azteca in August 2004. Phase Two of the national rollout will bring HDTV services to six additional cities (Matamoros, Reynosa, Nuevo Laredo, Ciudad Juarez, Mexicali and Tijuana) through the first half of 2006.
The initial TV Azteca order includes six Harris DiamondCD(R) DHD8P1 transmitters operating at 1.8 kW. DiamondCD transmitters have been among the most popular transmitters employed for the U.S. digital TV rollout, with more than 300 deployed in the U.S. at power levels from 1.8 kW to 35 kW. TV Azteca can readily expand the DHD8P1 for additional power output by adding power amplifiers and power supplies. The DiamondCD DHD8P1 transmitter includes the Apex(TM) advanced digital TV exciter, with over 400 installations since its introduction in 2002.
“Harris Corporation is pleased to continue its strategic relationship with TV Azteca as it starts deployment of digital television. Harris has established a broad base of content delivery solutions from its leadership position in U.S. digital television, and we are honored to be selected to extend these market-proven solutions to México as TV Azteca commences its commercial deployment of digital television,” said Dale Mowry, vice president and general manager of Television Broadcast Systems for Harris Broadcast Communications.
Harris’ turnkey solution will allow viewers with HDTV sets to receive picture resolution six times sharper than standard definition analog sets. TV Azteca viewers without HDTV sets will continue to receive their television programming through analog transmission approaches.
