9 May 2018
Deal will see new C- and Ku-band VSAT services launched at ultra-competitive prices
London, UK, and Brussels, Belgium, May 8, 2018 – Professional VSAT services provider SatADSL , Global Telesat – which provides telecommunication services in rural and challenging locations – and satellite operator RascomStar today announced a new partnership to offer affordable satellite broadband connectivity across Africa
Under the agreement, Global Telesat will manage the services from its state-of-the-art teleport facilities in Alicante, Spain. From there, Global Telesat can connect its iDirect Evolution hub to SatADSL’s innovative Cloud-based Service Delivery Platform (C-SDP), enabling it to offer a range of services for communities, businesses, administrations and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) – all without investment in a physical infrastructure.
“We are committed to providing reliable connectivity anywhere at any time, even in the most challenging locations,” said Laure Gathy, New Business Development Manager at Global Telesat. “SatADSL’s solutions are a perfect fit for our customers who cannot rely on terrestrial infrastructure to connect and the C-SDP means we can offer services quickly and very cost-effectively.”
RascomStar will supply the capacity over its satellite RQ1R located at 2.9°East, covering the whole of Africa in C and Ku band connectivity.
CEO of RascomStar Sherif Azzabi said: “Our mission at RascomStar is to develop remote and rural areas across Africa and we’re delighted that our paertnership with SatADSL and Global Telesat will enable us to do just that.”
Global Telesat is the latest service provider to connect to SatADSL’s C-SDP, which is now being used by 76 Africa-based partners.
Founder and Chief Operations Officer at SatADSL Caroline De Vos said: “We are proud to partner with Global Telesat and RascomStar to enhance the communications of individuals and enterprises across Africa. Pooling our combined expertise in the satellite communications industry has enabled us to provide a unique offering to previously underserved areas at a time when connectivity has never been more crucial.”
About SatADSL
SatADSL (www.satadsl.net) is a satellite Service Provider which designs and offers innovative satellite networking solutions to banks, microfinances, broadcasters, NGOs, Governments, ISPs, telecom operators and other companies in Africa and the Middle East in remote areas or where terrestrial infrastructure is not reliable.
Founded in 2010, SatADSL has already installed more than 3,000 VSAT networks in more than 45 countries. It specializes in providing tailor-made solutions based on customers’ specific requirements and flexible service plans that meet its clients’ budgets.
Through its carrier-grade Cloud-Service Delivery Platform (C-SDP), which integrates the most advanced technologies, SatADSL provides custom-made networking solutions, tailor-made service plans and value-added services, including hierarchical service control and monitoring, traffic prioritization and online billing and payments, for any frequency band and any access technology.
About Global Telesat
Global Telesat Communications (GTC) is a provider of communications hardware, airtime, mapping and related services which operate via satellite on the world’s leading commercial satellite networks. GTC enables wireless communications in areas not served or underserved by regular landline or mobile networks, or in circumstances where these networks are not operational due to natural or man-made disasters. Many of GTC’s products and services offer 100% global coverage thereby allowing users in remote locations to make phone calls, connect to the internet and track assets or personnel anywhere in the world.
GTC provides equipment and airtime for use on all the major satellite networks including Globalstar, Inmarsat, Iridium and Thuraya, and has a rental service for customers requiring equipment on a short-term basis.
GTC was established in Poole, UK in 2008 as a family owned and run business. In 2015, the company merged with Orbital Tracking Corp., and its subsidiary Orbital Satcom Corp, US-based providers of satellite based tracking, voice and data communications. Through these three companies, GTC offers expert advice, competitive prices, next day delivery and service to in excess of 12,000 existing customers around the world.
About RascomStar
RascomStar operates the first Pan-African geo-stationary satellite located at 2.9° East. As well as providing satellite capacity in C- and Ku-band across Africa, the company also deploys value-added services such as fixed and mobile rural telephony, VSAT services, Wi-Fi, GSM backhaul and TV broadcast.
PR Contacts
SatADSL
Caroline De Vos
Co-Founder & COO
+32 478 31 13 76
Caroline.devos@satadsl.net
and
Jayne Brooks
+44 1636 704 888
jayne.brooks@proactive-pr.com
Global Telecom
Laure Gathy
New Business Development Manager
+244 222 309 519
lgathy@globaltelesat.com
8 May 2018
Broadcasts from the BBC and VoA have been stopped in Burundi, two weeks before the country votes in a referendum that could see the president’s rule extended for over a decade. At the same time, Radio France Internationale has been warned against broadcasting remarks that are “untruthful and partisan”.
On 4 May, a statement was issued by the country’s media regulator, the National Communication Council, stating: “The international radios, ‘BBC London’ and ‘Voice of America ‘VOA’ have been suspended from broadcasting throughout the Burundi territory for six months starting on 7 May 2018 for breaching laws regulating the media and unethical conduct.”
“We are dismayed by the actions taken today by the Burundi National Communications Council to ban VOA from broadcasting its news and information programs,” said VOA director Amanda Bennett.
According to Human Rights Watch, Burundi enjoyed one of the most independent media environments in the region. When President Pierre Nkurunziza (pictured) – who has been in power since 2005 – announced his bid for a third term in 2015, there was a significant tightening of restrictions on the media. Today, the World Press Freedom Index ranks Burundi at position 159 of 180 countries in the press freedom index.
BBC World Service programmes have been carried on its local FM relays in Burundi until the crackdown: Bujumbura on 90.2MHz and Mount Manga on 105.6MHz. VoA also has two local FM relays in the country.
18 April 2018
Abdullah AlNajjar, Executive Director of Global Brand and Communications has been elected as a Chairman of the Executive Committee at the Association for International Broadcasting (AIB) based in the UK. The board consists of a six-person Executive Committee which is comprised of public figures from leading media organizations including Klaus Bergmann at Deutsche Welle, Simon Kendall at the BBC, John Maguire at France Médias Monde, Anastasia Ellis at Bloomberg Media EMEA, and Alexey Nikolov at RT.
Commenting on his appointment Mr. AlNajjar said: “It is an honor to be elected as the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Association for International Broadcasting and to serve the members of AIB along with board members and senior executives. I look forward to bringing our diverse perspectives and insights from the Al Jazeera brand to the issues affecting international broadcasting organizations across the world – particularly those that impact press freedom – and advancing the cause of broadcasters and journalists across the world.”
This is the first time that a Chairman for the AIB has been appointed from the Arab world and also from Al Jazeera, the first independent international broadcaster based in the Arab world.
AIB is not-for-profit, non-governmental trade association that represents and supports international television and radio broadcasters and online broadcasters. It also defends, protects, and supports the media professionals.
17 April 2018
News in Russian from the BBC will now feature on prime-time news bulletins of Belsat TV broadcasts to Belarus. Following the inaugural appearance on Monday 16 April, the BBC’s daily news stories on one selected topic will be introduced live on Belsat TV between 19.35 and 19.50 local time. The linkup with the BBC will be part of Belsat TV’s news programme which starts at 19.30 local time (16.30 GMT), Monday to Friday.
The topic of each linkup will be chosen so as to make the best of BBC reporting relevant and timely for viewers in Belarus. The BBC story of the day will be introduced live by a presenter in the BBC’s Broadcasting House in London.
BBC World Service Europe Region Editor, Artyom Liss, said: “We are very pleased to be able to bring our journalism to Belsat’s audiences. The BBC is well known for its accurate, independent and unbiased news coverage which, I am sure, will be of great interest to viewers in Belarus.”
Poland-based Belsat TV was created in 2007 by a group of Belarusian and Polish journalists as part of Poland’s public TV, Telewizja Polska S.A., in partnership with Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and several European governments and foundations.
Agnieszka Romaszewska-Guzy, Belsat TV’s Director, added: “It’s great that we can start our cooperation with such a renowned company as the BBC and further improve our ability to serve the needs of our viewers in Belarus and neighbouring countries. I also believe that our new relationship with the BBC is a sign of recognition for the professionalism of Belarus- and Russia-based journalists who work with us, often in very difficult conditions.”
The BBC’s TV news content in Russian is available via the website bbc.com/russian, Moscow-based TV Rain and its website tvrain.ru, and on some of the BBC Russian social-media channels.
In addition to website, bbc.com/russian, the BBC connects with its Russian-speaking audiences via social media such as Facebook, VKontakte, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Telegram, Google+, LiveJournal and OK.ru.
For more information, please contact:
BBC World Service Group Communications – lala.najafova@bbc.co.uk
Notes to editors:
The BBC attracts a weekly global news audience of 346 million people to its international news services including BBC World Service, BBC World News television channel and bbc.com/news. BBC World Service delivers news content around the world, on radio, TV and digital, reaching a weekly audience of 269 million. As part of BBC World Service, BBC Learning English teaches English to global audiences. The BBC World Service Group operates around the world in 42 languages, on radio, TV and digital.
Short AIB overview of foreign broadcasts to Belarus
The media environment in Belarus is ranked as “Not Free” by independent media watchdogs, such as Freedom House or Reporters sans Frontières (RSF).
The Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), a non-governmental, non-profit and non-partisan association of media workers reports that 69 fines were given to journalists in 2017 for working without accreditation for foreign media (mainly with Belsat TV), some 40 fines have been already given this year (as of 02 April 2018).
A number of foreign-based radio and TV services broadcast to Belarus. They include:
– Belsat TV, the Polish-based TV channel for Belarus, which will air BBC TV news content in Russian and BBC series; Belsat TV was formed in 2007 by a group of Belarusian and Polish journalists as part of Telewizja Polska S.A. in partnership with Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and several European governments. It broadcasts nearly 20 hours a day. Its original content is prepared by more than 100 associates from all over Belarus supported by around 80 editors, managers and technicians in Warsaw. Belsat TV has so far failed to register a bureau and obtain accreditation in Belarus. During British Prime Minister Theresa May visit to Poland in December 2017 it was reported that, in an effort to counter Russian propaganda, the UK planned to provide £5m ($7.1m) for the Belsat TV project, with Poland expected to contribute a similar amount.
– RFE/RL’s Radio Svaboda (Liberty), which was established in 1954, is based in Prague. It broadcasts 2.5 hours daily and is distributed via radio (mediumwave, satellite) as well as on Belsat TV (30 minutes weekly), Internet (website, mobile, YouTube, social media).
– In 2006, the EU launched European Radio for Belarus (Euroradio.fm). Euroradio’s programmes can be received on FM in some of Belarus’s border regions, via relays on stations in neighbouring countries, in Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine. Euroradio is available online and on the Astra 4A satellite.
– Polish radio external service Belarusian broadcasts are available on FM and on mediumwave (Radio Baltic Waves, 1386 kHz) in border regions, as well as via satellite and online.
– Radio Racyja, which broadcasts from Bialystok, is funded and supported by Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Polish aid agencies and NGOs, and the US embassy in Poland.
– Russia’s Sputnik has a Belarusian service, which offers online text and multimedia content, including audio.
It is worth noting too, that many Belarusians listen to, watch and consult Russian-language radio and TV broadcasts, and online content from all major international broadcasters (such as the BBC, Deutsche Welle, RFE/RL, RFI or VOA), and naturally from Russian broadcasters and online media outlets as well.
5 April 2018
MOSCOW, APRIL 3, 2018 — According to Ipsos’ latest survey on TV news consumption, RT’s weekly TV audience has grown by more than a third over the course of two years. RT’s total TV audience is now 100 million weekly viewers in 47 of the 100+ countries where RT broadcasts are available.*
Ipsos, a leading market research firm, found that in the same 38 countries that were surveyed in 2015, RT’s weekly audience has grown by 36 percent, from 70 million to 95 million viewers. The survey, conducted in late 2017, captured data from 9 additional countries, when compared to the 2015 survey, bringing RT’s total TV viewership to 100 million weekly viewers in 47 of the 100+ countries where RT broadcasts are available.
In the US, RT’s weekly TV viewership grew by more than 30%, from 8 million to 11 million viewers. In Europe, 43 million people watch RT weekly, in 15 European countries.
“Many thanks to our most devoted viewers: the US Department of Justice, the UK Government, and, in fact, the entire Western establishment. It is because of their efforts that an increasing number of people are eager to hear RT’s alternative voice,” said RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan.
Latin America showed the greatest growth in viewers of all regions surveyed: there, the weekly TV audience of RT nearly tripled in two years to 17 million viewers (18 with addition of new study markets). Of these countries, RT exhibited the strongest growth in Mexico, with weekly viewership increasing more than 4.5 times over two years.
11 million people watch RT weekly across 15 countries in the Middle East and North Africa, with its largest weekly audience in Iraq with 2.2 million weekly viewers.
Respondents across several regions cited a desire for ‘a different perspective on global events’ among their top-three reasons for their increase in watching RT in the last two years.
“Ipsos has once again brought its expertise in the area of international audience measurement to conduct the largest study of RT’s TV viewership yet. The sizeable growth demonstrated by RT over the last two years speaks to the international appeal of its programming,” said Elie Aoun, CEO Ipsos Connect MENA.
Notes to Editors
* The study was conducted in 47 countries, with representative samples of the total population from telephone or online interviews, between October and November 2017, by Ipsos, a leading global audience research company. The study was carried out in Russia, Poland, Greece, Ireland, UK, Turkey, Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Netherlands, Switzerland, Portugal, Belgium, Austria, US, Canada, Venezuela, Ecuador, Argentina, Peru, Mexico, Columbia, Chile, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Libya, Palestine, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, UAE, Lebanon, Tunisia, KSA, Kuwait, Oman, Iraq, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, India, New Zealand, Australia.
** Based on weekly viewership in comparison to CNN, BBC News, Euronews, Sky News, Al Jazeera, NHK, CGTN, DW News and France 24.
For more information, please contact: Athanas Jamo, Senior Research Manager – Ipsos Connect. Phone: +971 56 414 88 33; athanas.jamo@ipsos.com
About RT
RT is a global TV news network that broadcasts 24/7 in English, Arabic, Spanish, and French from its studios in Moscow, Washington, DC, London, and Paris. It is the most watched TV news network on YouTube with more than 5 billion views. RT is the winner of the Monte Carlo TV Festival Award for best 24-hr broadcast, and the only Russian TV channel to be a five-time Emmy finalist for news programming.
About Ipsos
Ipsos is an independent market research company controlled and managed by research professionals. Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos has grown into a worldwide research group with a strong presence in all key markets. Ipsos ranks third in the global research industry. With offices in 86 countries, Ipsos delivers insightful expertise across six research specializations: advertising, customer loyalty, marketing, media, public affairs research, and survey management. Ipsos has been listed on the Paris Stock Exchange since 1999 and generated global revenues of €1, 712, 4 million (2 274 M$) in 2013.
4 April 2018
Giving journalists, editors, and designers efficient workflows for managing graphics and video throughout the production pipeline.
Every media company needs to manage their production pipeline from multiple departments and locations. Using tools from Vizrt and Adobe®, media companies have easy access to content that can be designed, edited and updated quickly, saving production time and ensuring that when the final story goes to air or online, it is updated the with latest information. Visit Vizrt at NAB 2018 stand SL2416 to see these tools in action.
Storytelling in the edit bay
Editors need easy access to all their media company’s content quickly so they can focus on creating stories. Adobe Premiere® Pro CC editors can find media fast via Vizrt’s media asset management system using the Viz One panel and drop assets directly onto the timeline. The panel offers significantly faster turnaround time by integrating Adobe Media Encoder CC and storing media in Viz One during the render process. The tools, when combined with the meta-graphics workflow, enable an efficient solution for editing with Adobe Premiere Pro CC and play-out with the Viz Engine.
The Viz One panel allows users to manage Adobe Premiere Pro CC projects. Editors can archive their project media and project files into Viz One, where projects can be easily browsed and previewed via the Viz One web interface or inside Adobe Premiere Pro CC using the Viz One panel. Editors can easily move between workstations, retrieve archived projects and assets and bring offline projects online.
Adapting as the story evolves
News and sports stories are constantly evolving requiring constant changes from the journalist to stay up to date. Vizrt’s meta-graphics workflow enables graphics and video to be continually edited up until the moment the journalist goes on-air. This unique, non-burnt-in graphics workflow integrates with Adobe Premiere Pro CC, part of Adobe Creative Cloud®, allowing the journalist to define the graphics needed for a story in their newsroom system and stay updated as the news changes. The editor can still make changes in the Adobe Premiere Pro CC timeline. Graphics can be edited using the Viz Pilot Edge HTML-based template editor; from the field where the story is developing, or in the control room, giving the journalist total editorial flexibility.
Flexible story design
Designers using Vizrt’s powerful real-time 3D design application, Viz Artist, now have more flexibility thanks to integrations with Adobe Photoshop® CC and Adobe After Effects® CC. Viz Artist includes a multi-layer composition import tool for importing Adobe Photoshop CC and Adobe After Effects CC compositions. The importer includes native support for nested compositions, auto-translation of shapes into Vizrt geometries, mask support, as well as support for paragraph text layers. Additionally, control text and control image plugins are automatically assigned, providing a faster transition from Adobe After Effects CC composition to a template ready for on-air use in Viz Artist.
About Vizrt:
Vizrt is a worldwide market leader in the areas of real-time 3D graphics, studio automation, sports analysis and asset management tools for the media and entertainment industry. This includes interactive and virtual solutions, animations, maps, weather, social media, video editing, compositing, and multiplatform VOD and live playout tools. Vizrt has customers in more than 100 countries worldwide including CNN, CBS, Fox, BBC, BSkyB, Sky Sports, CBS Sports, Fox Sports, Al Jazeera, NDR, ITN, ZDF, VICE, The Washington Post, TF1, CCTV, NHK and the list keeps growing. Vizrt has nearly 600 employees and operates in 40 offices worldwide. Vizrt is a privately owned company by Nordic Capital Fund VIII. For further information please refer to www.vizrt.com
