2 March 2004
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), one of the world´s major providers of international transmission services of live sports and news events, has signed a Master Purchase Agreement and ordered network switching and customer equipment from Net Insight. Eurovision, the operational service of EBU, will use Net Insights Nimbra platform for its new international fiber TV and data network.
The Eurovision network will during the second quarter of 2004 complement Eurovisions existing satellite network to offer TV transport services as well as LAN connectivity to EBU members and other media customers. The network will carry real time critical traffic, including breaking news and sporting events.
The agreement with Eurovision is the ultimate acknowledgement of our solution within the professional media industry, says Tomas Duffy, CEO at Net Insight. There are few other companies that have the same high demands when it comes to reliability and QoS for transporting high quality video traffic.
With its new network, Eurovision will provide connectivity for TV traffic between the largest media cities in Europe, with trans-Atlantic connections into the USA. The first phase of the network roll-out includes seven cities in Europe and two in the USA, with the objective to connect around twenty cities in later phases.
This new development will bring Eurovision quality to digital video through fiber contributions and complement perfectly the existing Eurovision satellite network”, said Stefan Kürten, Director of Eurovision Operations.
The network implementation has begun with the objective to launch a full commercial service in April 2004.
27 February 2004
Leading satellite services company GlobeCast has chosen TANDBERG Television, a leading provider of open solutions for digital broadcasting and broadband, as its broadcast equipment provider of choice for this summers Olympic games in Athens. A host of TANDBERG Televisions latest equipment, including multiplexers, MPEG-2 encoders, modulators and network adapters, will be at the heart of GlobeCasts compression and satellite/fibre distribution services for the duration of the games.
The worlds media will descend on the main Olympic stadium (the OCC) and other locations across Athens from late July, with billions of viewers tuning in throughout August. Located very close to the OCC, the majority of TANDBERG Television equipment will be housed at the International Broadcast Centre (IBC). The IBC will be used as a base by rights holders from around the world, including TV Globo and ATV Hong Kong, who have already been signed up by GlobeCast. Feeds taken from around Athens will be distributed to broadcast platforms all over the world via TANDBERG Television equipment. TANDBERG Television technology will also be used at GlobeCasts broadcast area – Athens Broadcast Services – which will assemble an all-digital MCR, playout, connectivity, C and Ku-band satellite transmission, as well as production edit suites, offices and work space with ancillary services to serve the requirements of non-rights holders and other broadcasters.
GlobeCast is a member of the AIB.
27 February 2004
ND SatCom, a leading global supplier of satellite based broadband, broadcast and military communication network solutions, today announced the foundation of ND SatCom Defence GmbH. The new subsidiary will be responsible for ND SatCom’s activities in the market for global security and enables the company to strengthen its leadership position in the European defence arena. ND SatCom has appointed Mr. Harald Reder as CEO with full responsibility for guiding and managing the company’s continued growth
within the defence market.
“ND SatCom Defence faces challenging tasks in the defence market. I am looking forward to further developing ND SatCom’s MilSat activities and continuing to enlarge its clientele in the market segments for global security.” commented Mr. Reder. “ND SatCom’s proven capabilities to supply turnkey solutions are a major reason for the Company’s success in this market. We are committed to become a leading military satellite solution provider in the European Region and beyond.”
The decision to form a subsidiary was based on the enormous potential of the international defence market for secure communications networks. ND SatCom Defence will be able to enhance service and support for their existing clients, while developing products tailored specifically for the unique needs of military and security related
customers.
ND SatCom is a member of the AIB.
25 February 2004
New agreements with Media Review International Pty. Ltd. (MRI), a provider of proprietary broadcast monitoring solutions based in Australia, and Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. (IBS), a leading U.S.-based local news provider on the Web, have launched Teletrax into the international advertising marketplace.
As the first and only global digital video monitoring service, Teletraxs patented technology embeds an imperceptible and indelible digital watermark into video whenever it is edited, broadcast or duplicated. A global network of decoders, or detectors, then captures all occurrences of the embedded video being broadcast via satellite, cable or terrestrially and generates tracking reports for the original content owners. Additionally, Teletrax can detect usage with granular precision, down to one second of video.
MRI and IBS each strive to offer unique solutions for their respective target audiences and Teletrax is pleased to help both companies measure advertising delivery effectiveness in a way never before possible, said Andy Nobbs, managing director of Teletrax. The watermarking technology can be similarly harnessed by other advertising content providers whose broadcast quality standards require the best-of-breed service provided by Teletrax.
MRI is launching a new comprehensive broadcast monitoring service designed to provide full monitoring and reporting services of advertising and music content broadcast on radio and free to air and pay television. MRI will use the Teletrax technology to service the highly competitive advertising marketplace in Australia and New Zealand.
On 19 January, Teletrax announced the deployment of its digital monitoring network to Latin America (Argentina, Brazil and Mexico). Teletraxs worldwide reach now extends to nearly 50 countries and more than 700 channels in North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and South America. Leading entertainment, news and media organizations that have contracted with Teletrax to track broadcasts of news video or promotional content, either in the United States exclusively or globally, are Universal Domestic Television, Reuters Television and NBC News Channel. The U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is using Teletrax to assess distribution and usage of its news bulletins by television broadcasters around the world.
Teletrax is a member of the AIB.
25 February 2004
Trans World Radio (TWR), the international Christian broadcaster producing radio programming in more than 180 languages and dialects throughout the world, has transferred its satellite services for Sky Digital to the Eurobird satellite via World Radio Network (WRN), the London-based international transmission service provider.
TWR’s station on Sky Digital broadcasts a broad range of Christian programming including Blow the Box, which recently won ‘Best music based weekly programme’ at the annual Andrew Cross Awards, which recognise and encourage the best local and regional religious broadcasting across the UK. In 2003, TWR celebrated forty years of broadcasting in the UK and it has provided a 24/7 service on Sky Digital for the last three years.
According to Richard Jacobs, WRNs Transmission Sales Manager, the transfer to the Eurobird satellite via WRN brings immediate cost savings in satellite uplinking charges for TWR. WRN is currently uplinking almost one in five of the 54 commercial, unencrypted radio stations available on Sky Digital to over 7 million households in the UK and Ireland. Beside TWR, WRN uplinks Club Asia (channel 895), Irelands RTE Radio 1 MW (channel 892) and EWTN (channel 897).
World Radio Network is a member of the AIB.
25 February 2004
The Canadian market for DAB (Digital Audio Broadcast) is poised to take off and will be helped by CBC Radio Canada’s programme of upgrading its DAB broadcast infrastructure. The national public service broadcaster has chosen RadioScape’s innovative Professional DAB Broadcast System for the first multiplex in this upgrade rollout which will be located in Vancouver.
The Professional DAB Broadcast System from RadioScape consists of a series of software modules, connected by a unique IP-based architecture that controls and delivers audio and data from the studio together with any external service providers, taking care of encoding and multiplexing to provide a complete baseband DAB broadcasting solution. RadioScape’s easy to use scheduling software enables users to maintain what has traditionally been a complex task. The software runs on standard industrial PCs so that hardware maintenance is straightforward. New software updates and enhancements can be easily uploaded to provide system improvements.
Nigel Oakley, RadioScape’s VP of Marketing, said, “Our Broadcast System is used for over 90% of commercial DAB broadcasts in the UK and more than 40 overseas DAB broadcast systems. This sale into Canada is the first of many more that we are working on all around the world as countries accelerate their roll out programme for DAB. Our unique solution offers superb flexibility and quality at a very competitive price with the guarantee of being future proof by virtue of being software-based unlike rival solutions that are hardware-based.”
