29 May 2019
London 29 May 2019
Viewsat, one of the fastest-growing operators within the global broadcast and transmission services industry, today announced that it is joining the Association for International Broadcasting (AIB).
As a truly global player, Viewsat is showing its support for the international broadcasting media by becoming an active member of this unique business community.
“Becoming a Member of the AIB comes at an exciting time for Viewsat, as we recently announced expansion in two business areas: fully managed playout and delivery to any platform anywhere. We want to play a more active role in the broadcast community and the AIB membership gives us precisely that,” commented Sandra Squire, Viewsat Business Development Director.
Viewsat’s Chief Executive Officer, Awaes Jaswal, added “As we continue to expand our reach and services across the globe, Viewsat is pleased to show our support for the vital industry we are part of by becoming an active member of the AIB. At a time of great market change, organisations like the AIB are important for bringing businesses together to share experiences and create collaborations.”
“We are pleased to welcome Viewsat, as a Member of the Association for International Broadcasting,” said Simon Spanswick, AIB chief executive. “As part of the AIB ‘family’ Viewsat will benefit from the expertise and knowledge that the Association has developed over the past quarter century and will bring new service opportunities to their fellow members.”
About Viewsat
Viewsat was founded in 2006 with one aim in mind: “To empower broadcasters of all sizes across the globe by delivering television and radio content without compromise.”
Viewsat delivers excellence to clients through its managed playout and broadcast satellite services. With satellite platforms and fibre networks, which are augmented through strategic partnerships, its facilities provide access for downlink, uplink or turnaround services to customers across the world.
Viewsat has established a comprehensive global communication delivery network to enable programming to be backhauled and distributed to almost every corner of the globe, it currently has over 170 services on air, including satellite broadcasting services across its satellite network, OTT services, and managed playout & pop up channel services
About the AIB
The Association for International Broadcasting – AIB – is a non-profit, non-government, industry association founded in 1993 to represent, promote and assist its members. It currently has a membership of over 60 companies in around 30 countries, including major broadcasters serving audiences of hundreds of millions of people each week.
With a reach of over 27,000 communicators and media professionals, AIB is a unique centre of information about international broadcasting, covering TV, radio, online and mobile. AIB researches regular market intelligence briefings for its members and provides client-specific consultancy and project support. Members receive an extensive package of services throughout the year.
Specialist AIB Member Working Groups provide support in areas such as cyber security, sustainability and audience research.
The Association’s annual awards for factual content – the AIBs – reward the best productions across video, audio and online. Now in their 15th year, the AIBs attract entries from broadcasters and production companies in around 40 countries.
24 May 2019
A court in Egypt has ordered the release from prison of Al Jazeera journalist Mahmoud Hussein. He has been held for almost two and a half years.
The court ordered his release on Tuesday 21 May, with a different court hearing an appeal by the prosecution on Thursday 23 May. This second court upheld the earlier decision to release him.
According to a report by Al Jazeera, Hussein’s lawyer Taher Abul Nasr said his release “is expected to take place within days”.
Az-Zahra Hussein, his daughter, said in a Facebook post her father will be released “with precautionary measures”, and will soon be transferred to a police station from the prison.
Gamal Eid, the executive director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, said under Egyptian law Hussein must be freed within 24 hours.
“This is a final court ruling but the problem is that security forces tend to delay releases when they do not like those freed,” said Eid, adding in some previous cases the execution of the release order took several months.
The journalist has been in custody since 2016 without formal charges, trial or conviction.
Hussein was accused of “incitement against state institutions and broadcasting false news with the aim of spreading chaos”, allegations he and Al Jazeera Media Network deny.
14 May 2019
Ruptly’s innovative live platform, Ruptly Live, has received a top prize in the Best Use of Live category (re-ordered sentence) at the Digiday Awards Europe.
Dmitry Keshishev, Chief Digital Officer, said: “this award is testament to our commitment to developing accessible ways of sourcing and delivering live content in a way that resonates with a real demand for innovation among media publishers.”
Ruptly Live is a live distribution platform designed for broadcasters and publishers, as well as individual bloggers, empowering them to broadcast ground-breaking moments directly as they are taking place. Users of Ruptly Live are able to stream up to 9 simultaneous live events, including those covered in 360 degrees, from Ruptly’s platform direct to social media in just three clicks.
The platform enables access to world events on an array of topics, from breaking news to entertainment and sports, with a possibility to feature simultaneous translations to multiple languages. Ruptly’s Live coverage, distributed through the platform, received Gold distinction in Live News Coverage by The Shorty Awards and is recognised by the The Drum Online Media Awards as a finalist of the Breaking News Story of the Year.
The award ceremony took place in London, on 9th May. Other finalists for Best Use of Live were Hearst UK & The Laughing Cow (Good Housekeeping), Singular.Live (The Kick Off) and TheNewsMarket (PwC’s 21st Annual Global CEO Survey).
7 May 2019
Two Reuters journalists who had been jailed for their reporting on the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar walked out of prison on 7 May 2019, freed in a presidential amnesty after a global campaign for their release.
According to the AFP news agency, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were mobbed by media as they stepped out of Yangon’s notorious Insein prison after their lengthy detention.
Their December 2017 arrests made them an international cause célèbre and a sign of Myanmar’s deteriorating press freedoms under Nobel laureate and civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Wa Lone, 33, thanked people from “around the world” for advocating for their release and vowed he would return to work.
“I can’t wait to go to my newsroom,” he said. “I am a journalist and I am going to continue.”
Reuters editor-in-chief Stephen Adler said: “We are enormously pleased that Myanmar has released our courageous reporters”.
“Since their arrests 511 days ago, they have become symbols of the importance of press freedom around the world. We welcome their return.”
The two men waved and smiled broadly as they walked out of the jail.
The pair were convicted on charges of violating the official secrets act and sentenced to seven years each.
At the time of their arrest they had been reporting on a September 2017 massacre of 10 Rohingya Muslims in conflict-hit Rakhine state, where the Myanmar army forced some 740,000 of the stateless minority to flee over the border to Bangladesh.
The case prompted an outcry around the world and crushed what was left of Suu Kyi’s legacy as a rights defender.
Reuters has said the two were imprisoned in retaliation for their expose.
The army convicted soldiers for the massacre in a rare response to allegations of atrocities.
While inside, the duo missed numerous family milestones, including the birth of Wa Lone’s daughter.
But they were also showered with numerous awards and honours in response to their work.
Last month, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo won the prestigious Pulitzer prize.
They were also featured earlier on the cover of TIME magazine as part of its person of the year coverage featuring journalists targeted for their reporting.
The case against them become a byword for the war against press freedom and prompted an international campaign that attracted the support of prominent rights lawyer Amal Clooney.
Rights groups and legal experts say the case against the reporters was riddled with irregularities.
A whistleblowing police officer testified during their trial that his superior had ordered his team to trap the reporters in a sting — testimony the judge chose to ignore.
Suu Kyi led her National League for Democracy party to victory in historic 2015 polls, ending decades of military-backed rule.
But the dreams of a new day for Myanmar were short-lived after the army’s campaign against the Rohingya in Rakhine state, which UN investigators have said amounted to genocide.
Myanmar has denied the charges and said it was defending itself against Rohingya militants, who attacked and killed police officers in August 2017.
The Association for International Broadcasting lodged a protest with the Myanmar authorities at the time of the conviction of the two journalists.
3 May 2019
As World Press Freedom Day is marked with events across the globe, journalists working at BBC Persian have spoken out about the attempts that the Iranian regime are making to try to silence the broadcaster that has been on the air with radio broadcasts since 1940 and television since 2009.
Watch the video here.
2 May 2019
The digital services company Levira has invested €150,000 in the Estonian start-up Votemo as the company is preparing for expansion. The money will be used for product development and entry into new markets. This week the companies are visiting London together as Levira is organising a Business seminar for UK-based broadcasters in partnership with the Embassy of Estonia in London.
More than 60% of the audience is browsing on 2nd screen while watching TV or streaming online. TV Channels are losing money as 32% of the audience is browsing or speaking on the content they are watching at on someone else’s platforms.
Tõnis Vassar, Co-Founder and CCO of Votemo: “Our goal is to provide the broadcasters and live event organisers a set of tools to build a bridge between their audiences and their own digital channels, instead of sending people to social media portals where they can get lost while browsing cat videos.”
With Votemo, broadcasters can provide the audience an opportunity to participate in the show and influence the debates and conversations. Voting and commenting solutions, sending questions and emotions to Live studio are just some of the services Votemo is offering.
Commenting on the investment, Martti Kinkar, development manager for media services at Levira, said: “We believe that cooperation with Votemo will give Levira the opportunity to offer its customers innovative services and attract new customers. We will continue our joint exhibitions and joint offers this year”.
Tõnis Vassar pointed out that “Over the past year, all major social media platforms have opened their own TV services. The audience wants to talk and share their moods with others. This habit has been encoded by the daily use of social media. Since television does not yet offer these possibilities directly, the television viewer tends to disappear into the exciting worlds of social media.”
Kinkar continued: “Votemo is already cooperating with many media and telecom companies in the Baltic-Nordic region and has won several awards during its first year of operation. Now that the product is ready and tested, the next step is to win the hearts of major European TV stations and here Levira can help”
Levira is one of the biggest independent TV playout centres in Northern Europe. Levira transmits programs to viewers in the Baltic States, Scandinavia and Europe as well as Turkey and United Arab Emirates. The majority of local TV programmes in Estonia are transmitted through Levira’s towers.
Levira has two shareholders: the Republic of Estonia (51%) and the French telecom and broadcasting company TDF (49%).
Votemo is Estonian startup and alumni of accelerator programs Elevator Startups, Telia Vunk Labs and Storytek Creative Hub. Votemo is a platform for Broadcasters to make programmes more engaging. In addition to voting and commenting, Votemo brings emotional icons from social media to TV for the audience to express their moods. Votemo can be used with all TV solutions, including web TV and TV applications. Votemo has started collaborating with the Baltic TV channels, such as TV3, TV6, TTV, ETV (Estonian Public Broadcasting) and Telia TV. The participation rate is about 7% of the audience.
Business seminar for UK-based broadcasters – “Why choose Estonia for a Post-Brexit EU Broadcasting Licence?”
The seminar will offer an opportunity for UK-based broadcasters to learn about Estonia and demonstrate how Estonia can serve as the European licensing base for you following the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union. The representatives of the Estonian government, the Association for International Broadcasting (AIB) and AS Levira will talk about the possibilities and digital solutions Estonia can offer to overcome potential challenges that broadcasters could face in the post-Brexit media landscape. The seminar is hosted by the Estonian Embassy in London at 44 Queen’s Gate Terrace, London SW7 5PJ. Thursday, May 2, 2019, from 2:30 pm to 5:00pm.
Key contacts:
Mr. Tõnis Vassar, CCO & Co-Founder of Votemo Phone: +372 5237 855, E-mail: tonis@votemo.eu
Mr. Martti Kinkar, Development Manager for Media Services, AS Levira Phone: +372 550 5451, E-mail: martti.kinkar@levira.com
EVENT RSVP: Ms. Kati Niin, Assistant to the Management Board, AS Levira Phone: +372 680 4000, E-mail: rsvp@levira.com
