9 June 2003
VT Merlin Communications, a member of the AIB, will participate in the world’s first, daily
Digital Radio Mondiale* (DRM*) broadcasts on June 16th, 2003.
VT Merlin will be providing the DRM transmission platform for a number of international broadcasters, including BBC World Service, Wales Radio International and Christian Vision as part of DRM’s Inaugural Broadcasts event in Geneva during the International Telecommunications Union’s (ITU) World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC 2003).
VT Merlin has two high
power short wave transmitters converted to DRM capability, which will deliver digital AM transmissions for Geneva and Western Europe. In addition, they will also be using their new DRM capable high power medium wave transmitter at their MF site in Orfordness, Suffolk, UK to carry BBC World Service DRM programming. The precise moment of the world’s first DRM broadcasts will be marked at a spectacular reception at Geneva’s Château de Penthes.
Peter Gordon, VT Merlin’s Programme Manager, Digitalisation said: “As a founder member of the DRM consortium, VT Merlin is very proud to be playing a high profile role in these inaugural DRM broadcasts. It marks the beginning of what we expect to be a revolutionary new technology for AM broadcasting. VT Merlin has made significant investment in its DRM platform and we look forward to demonstrating the full range of DRM’s capabilities in Geneva, including AM transmissions in near FM quality.”
9 June 2003
Millbank Studios in London, a stone’s throw from the British Parliament, have taken delivery of a Geevs Broadcast Video Server from Gee Broadcast to service the digital channel BBC Parliament, transmitting 24 hours a day from Millbank’s Studio in Westminster. BBC Parliament is a UK domestic television channel, broadcast on Cable, Satellite
and Freeview.
The Geevs, which can play out four independent channels while recording a fifth, is used to transmit promos, stings and highlights during live Parliamentary broadcasts, and programmes such as The Record, the review of the day in Parliament, and Politique, an in depth look at the politics of Europe.
Millbank Studios’ application utilises Geevs Autorun Automation software to compile playlists which can be activated at a preset time or by an
external trigger.
“We had seen the Geevs in operation before,” says Nick Hattingh, Chief Engineer at Millbank, “and were impressed by its simplicity of operation.”
The project was on a tight timescale and had to be completed before Parliament reconvened after the Easter recess. “The box was delivered on Thursday and we were on air Saturday,” says Hattingh, “almost a week early.”
9 June 2003
The annual meeting of international broadcasting audience researchers, known as CIBAR will take place in Moscow, Russia from 27th to 29th October.
Subjects to be covered by this two day event, that brings together research managers from the world’s major international radio broadcasters, includes:
Designing a multi-media presence – how research helps in balancing resources between radio, TV, online etc.
Demographic divides – do different media serve different people?
International broadcasting to, from (and within?) the CIS
When international stations go local: how best to measure and understand impact?
The limits of ‘researchability’ – are there places and topics which go beyond our ability to research?
Deconstructing international TV numbers – is there a consensus on what’s being measured?
Does the market really care about the mission? How can research help broadcasters to get their message across?
Whose objectivity? What has the Iraq war told us about patterns of information need in crisis situations?
The meeting is open to all organisations involved in the field of international broadcasting research.
9 June 2003
Analogue TV is to be shut down across Sweden on 1 February 2008, when digital technology should be fully introduced. This was decided by the Swedish parliament although the Moderate Unity Party and the Liberal Party voted ‘no’.
Large parts of the proposal will be sent back to the government with a request to come back with more detailed proposals for the development of the broadcasting network, licensing, and related issues.
In other digital developments Berlin will be the first digital-only region of any European city when it ceases analogue television transmission in August this year.
In Spain, the national public service TV operator, TVE, will mirror the UK system by leading the development of digital terrestrial television following the collapse of commercial DVB-T operator Quiero TV in 2002.
New EU member Poland has outlined early options for DVB-T for the country. Total switch off in around 10 years or a switch-off in certain areas in 6-12 months are the options reported to be under consideration.
9 June 2003
The joint Finance and Economics Committee of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, has decided to reduce the scale of the proposed cut in the budget of the ael Broadcasting Authority (IBA). Thee cut will be reduced by more than 50%. The committee said it had decided not to harm public broadcasting in Israel.
The IBA had earlier announced that the cut originally proposed would have forced it to axe a number of radio channels, including the international radio service.
9 June 2003
A spokesman for TV Marti, the US government-funded television channel beaming to Cuba, confirmed on 21st May that for the first time the United States broadcast a clandestine television signal to Cuba by way of the commercial network DirecTV-Latin America. The signal was broadcast on 20 May for four hours, coinciding with the 101st anniversary of Cuba’s independence.
“Of course” we broadcast to Cuba by way of DirecTV-Latin America, said the spokeswoman for TV Marti, the station that broadcasts US programmes to the island, and whose signal is considered by the Cuban Government as a violation of the country’s sovereignty.
DirecTV-Latin America confirmed the broadcast but said that it was only “testing” the TV Marti signal. The spokeswoman also explained that “the station knows nothing about any DirecTV equipment in Cuba. Neither DirecTV-Latin America nor DirectTV in the United States have business dealings with Cuba.”
Estimates indicate that in Havana there are approximately 20,000 satellite antennae or dishes, which illegally receive signals from DirecTV and Dishnet, the leading satellite television networks in the United States.
