News from Members

BBC news features on Belsat TV at prime-time

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.

RT weekly TV audience grows by more than a third; now 100 mln – IPSOS

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.

Vizrt’s powerful visual storytelling tools enhance Adobe Creative Cloud workflows

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

Vizrt’s Viz One MAM now available on AWS at NAB 2018

29 March 2018

Vizrt’s Media Asset Management (MAM) product Viz One can now leverage AWS services to improve video production workflows and IT return on investment.

Vizrt announced today that the Viz One MAM product suite will be available on Amazon Web Services (AWS), providing more flexibility and choice for organizations who can utilize the scalability and accessibility of cloud-based solutions. The availability of Viz One on the cloud allows organizations to improve video workflows by offering more cost-effective scaling and enhancing the speed of video production by allowing access from any connected device, even in remote locations. Media companies can now access their content from virtually anywhere with Vizrt’s Viz One either entirely on AWS, or as part of hybrid architectures. Hybrid architectures place resources both on the cloud and on-premises, allowing pre-existing infrastructures to be augmented with the most attractive cloud services. Users are also able to securely access content on Viz One from any location using the improved two-factor authentication both on the cloud or on-premises.

“The cloud loosens key technology restraints enabling customers to adopt new technology more rapidly than ever. Making Viz One available on AWS has been driven by customer demand for their own service innovation and their growing adoption of the cloud” said Petter Ole Jakobsen, Chief Technology Officer at Vizrt.

Viz One utilizes compute, storage and database services including Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), Amazon Glacier, Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS)/PostgreSQL, Amazon Elastic File System (Amazon EFS), and Amazon Elastic Block Store (Amazon EBS).

Visit us at NAB 2018, stand SL2416 to see how Viz One and cloud services from AWS can improve video production workflows and provide greater IT return on investment.

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

Vizrt brings immersive football analysis to the studio with the new Viz Libero AR

20 March 2018

The augmented reality-based sports analysis system will be demonstrated for the first time at NAB 2018, stand SL2416.

Vizrt, the leader in sports analysis visual storytelling, brings a new tool to the broadcast studio with Viz Libero AR. Just in time for the World Cup, Viz Libero AR combines the analysis power of Viz Libero with augmented reality (AR) graphics, creating a new way for sports presenters to tell the story of the action on the field and engage sports fans.

“Viz Libero AR brings the pitch into the studio, giving the fans the experience of analyzing the most important plays with the experts,” says Remo Ziegler, Vizrt’s VP Product Management Sports. “The seamless transition between Viz Libero AR and Viz Libero analysis clips lets the viewers sit in the first row at all times, be it in the studio or on the pitch.”

Viz Libero combines realistic 3D replays and virtual graphics from any sport to provide deeper, multi-angle analysis of key plays and moments within the game. A photorealistic 3D view based on the original game footage enriched with analysis graphics are placed as AR elements in front of the sports presenter in the studio. Studio cameras control the angle of the field tying together the studio and the analysis. The sports presenter can interactively control the action using an iPad or touchscreen.

Remo Ziegler added, “Vizrt’s focus is to expand broadcasters’ sports storytelling capabilities with tools that inform and engage audiences. Viz Libero AR adds a new “wow” effect that viewers will remember from the Football World Cup or any other sports event beyond.”

At NAB 2018, Vizrt will also showcase other sports innovations for the World Cup. This includes visualizing player tracking, interactive graphics and augmented reality tools for the studio. Teams and coaching staff will be able to see the latest version of Viz Libero designed to help them break down key plays of the game. For American Football, Viz Arena’s Down and Distance package has been enhanced with new features for the 2018 season. Vizrt will also show the world’s most advanced optical ad replacement system, Viz Eclipse.

Viz Libero AR can be seen for the first time during the Big AR Show on Vizrt’s NAB 2018 stand, SL2416.

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

SatADSL VSAT partner of Virunga National Park

15 March 2018

Virunga National Park is an exceptional site in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, bordering Rwanda and Uganda. SatADSL is now providing this World Heritage Site with its IP connectivity solution.

Virunga National Park was founded in 1925 by King Albert I of Belgium as Africa’s first national park. At present, it is a UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site and Africa’s most biologically diverse protected area. The park’s 7 800 square kilometers include forests, savannas, lava plains, swamps, erosion valleys, active volcanoes, and the glaciated peaks of the Rwenzori mountains … but also okapis, hippopotamuses, elephants, buffaloes, lions, and many rare bird species … and a quarter of the world’s mountain gorillas, a species particularly threatened with extinction. In other words, a paradise for tourists!

Virunga National Park also conducts scientific research, specifically studies on mountain gorillas, and a development project around its hydropower plants, bringing electricity to people living near the park. This electrification program provides public lighting to villages or free electricity to social infrastructures that are close to the network (hospitals, schools, administration offices, courts, sports facilities, etc.).

SatADSL has recently made its IP connectivity solution available inside Virunga National Park. This customized satellite solution uses the C-band frequency of the Arabsat 5A satellite to allow every tourist, wherever he might be located, optimal access to the Internet.

For more information about Virunga National Park: https://visitvirunga.org/

For more information about SatADSL connectivity solutions: info@satadsl.net or +32 2 351 33 74