9 July 2003
Andres Ilves, a veteran broadcast journalist, has been named director of Radio Farda (www.radiofarda.com), the Persian-language service aimed at young listeners in Iran, the Broadcasting Board of Governors (www.bbg.gov) announced.
Ilves, whose appointment is effective immediately, is currently the director of Radio Free Afghanistan, which broadcasts in Dari and Pashto. A graduate of Princeton University, Ilves started working for US international broadcasting in the 1980s. “Andres’ strong commitment to broadcasting will help provide the people of Iran with the information they need about their country and the outside world,” said Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, chairman of the BBG.
Launched in December 2002, Radio Farda broadcasts news, information, public affairs and entertainment to Iran 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Based in Washington and Prague, Radio Farda is a collaboration between RFE/RL and VOA. The radio’s target audience is listeners under 30 who make up about 70 per cent of Iran’s population. Since pro-democracy protests got under way in Iran in early June, Radio Farda, broadcast on AM, shortwave, digital audio satellite and by internet.
9 July 2003
The number of internet users in Japan totalled 56.45m at the end of February, up from 46.2m a year earlier, and the number is expected to reach 61.24m at the end of this year. (Survey by Impress).
Of all households in Japan, 73 per cent had at least one member using the Internet. Of households with internet access, 39.3 per cent used broadband access services. That is up from 18.5 per cent, reflecting the widespread availability of low-cost asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) access services. The number of individuals using broadband services totalled an estimated 15.96m
The number of Internet users in the world totalled 670.8m at the end of 2002. The Asia-Pacific region accounted for 32.1 per cent of the total, surpassing Europe as the world’s largest user by region for the first time. Europe had a 31.9 per cent share.
9 July 2003
The station formerly known as Radio Yugoslavia now identifies itself only as the international radio of Serbia and Montenegro. A new logo has also been unveiled on the station’s web site. The old RJ (Radio Jugoslavija) is replaced by RSCG. That’s an abbreviation of the station’s name in Serbian: Radio Srbija i Crna Gora. The old URL is still in use, and there is no change to the schedule. The station’s interval signal also remains the same.
7 July 2003
The UK’s Institute of Economic Affairs is staging a two-day conference in London on 18 and 19 June examining the Future of Broadcasting.
AIB Members are entitled to a 15% discount on the full delegate rate. Please contact the AIB secretariat at register@aib.org.uk, or call +44 (0) 20 8297 3993 for more information.
The AIB’s Simon Spanswick and Kerry Stevenson will be representing the organisation at the conference.
7 July 2003
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7 July 2003
Three weeks ago fury erupted at Radio Netherlands following a leak of the McKinsey Report into efficiency in Dutch public broadcasting, as the closure of RNW appeared to be one recommendation of the report.
Now the report is out, Radio Netherlands is no happier. One cost saving suggested is indeed the scrapping of both the Dutch and foreign language services of Radio Netherlands. “Internet is, after all, sufficient and the role of Radio Netherlands for non-Dutch listeners could easily be taken over by embassies and other agencies,” says the report.
Radio Netherlands points out that it is an autonomous organization that doesn’t come under the umbrella of domestic public broadcasting and that recommending changes to the core tasks of the Dutch international service was outside the remit of the McKinsey Report.
The broadcaster says that if McKinsey’s researchers had delved deeper, they would have discovered that Dutch expatriates would not be so well informed without the specifically targeted programming it provides. They would also have found out that, while satellite and Internet make an important contribution, shortwave remains indispensable for the time being. The McKinsey researchers would also have learned that only the independent and highly respected Radio Netherlands can fulfil the role of giving listeners in other languages “a true picture of The Netherlands.”
On the basis of an earlier study, Radio Netherlands has already embarked on a modernization and cost-saving plan that involves more partnerships, more focus on The Netherlands, and a rationalized use of shortwave. This plan will produce cost savings of around 10 per cent. As for the McKinsey report, Radio Netherlands concludes that it is of such a poor standard that it cannot be taken seriously.
