News from Members

Jamie Angus to head BBC World Service Group

19 February 2018

Jamie Angus has been appointed as Director of the BBC World Service Group.

Jamie is currently Deputy Director of the World Service Group and Editorial Director of BBC Global News Ltd (GNL). He has been Acting Director of the World Service Group since the beginning of this year.

As Director, Jamie will lead the BBC’s global news services – BBC World Service, BBC World News and BBC.com – as well as BBC Monitoring. The BBC’s global news services have a weekly audience of 346m and the BBC World Service is currently undergoing its biggest expansion since the 1940s.

Director of BBC News and Current Affairs Francesca Unsworth says: “The BBC’s international news services are more important than ever, and Jamie brings huge editorial and leadership expertise to the Director role. He has a clear and strategic vision for the future of the World Service Group – both editorially and for our commercial services.

“The BBC World Service plays a unique role for the BBC, for Britain, and across the world, and I am confident it has an exciting future under Jamie’s direction.”

Jamie Angus says: “It’s a great honour to be appointed as World Service Director. There’s never been a greater need globally for the BBC’s independent, creative and engaging news services. With the expansion to 41 language services, we are already reaching new audiences everywhere; our English services on TV radio and online remain the gold standard for international news.

“With global concern growing about disinformation, ‘fake news’ and media literacy, the World Service Group has never been in a stronger position to show the way forward. We spot the stories, see the patterns and make sense of the world for our audiences. I’m very pleased to be able to lead that mission in the coming years.”

Jamie was previously the editor of Radio 4’s Today programme, covering high profile stories including the 2015 UK General Election, Scottish Independence referendum and the EU referendum. Under his leadership Today reached record audience figures of 7.4m and won an ARIA Radio Academy gold award for best National Speech Breakfast Programme.

Jamie joined the BBC in 1999 and was previously acting editor of Newsnight, editor of World At One and The World This Weekend, and editor of Daily News Programmes on World Service radio. He worked for the World Service Group in 2010-12 where he commissioned and launched new language TV bulletins in Urdu, Hindi and Swahili and the daily Focus on Africa TV bulletin, and worked on attachment as head of the World News newsroom.

His appointment follows a competitive recruitment process. Jamie replaces Francesca Unsworth, now Director of News and Current Affairs.

SatADSL will be present at the Mobile World Congress 2018

13 February 2018

SatADSL is pleased to welcome you at this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona from February 26 to March 1. During the world’s largest gathering for the mobile industry, our experts will present our innovative solutions for mobile network operators and showcase for the very first time our Cloud IP Satellite Services solution.

The new Cloud IP Satellites Services solution is developed by SatADSL and allows mobile network operators to offer satellite Internet connectivity without the need to deploy infrastructure locally or invest in equipment. This SatADSL solution is available on the entire African continent, and in different frequency bands (C, Ku, and Ka). The multi-technology solution offers a very wide coverage, while the SatADSL C-SDP (Cloud Service Delivery Platform) allows for packaged services that meet over 95% of B2B clients’ needs, a billing system, and an integrated customer management tool. In addition to being innovative, SatADSL is offering satellite solutions at very competitive prices, providing connectivity on the entire African continent, including in remote sites.

The SatADSL Cloud IP Satellites Services solution based on the SatADSL C-SDP comes with unique advantages for mobile network operators that no other satellite operator is able to offer at present.

Come and see how SatADSL is revolutionizing the satellite telecommunications sector! SatADSL welcomes you at stand 7G71 in Hall 7 of the Belgian Pavilion. We invite you to contact us at info@satadsl.net or +32 2 351 33 74 to arrange a meeting at our stand.

How do you engage your audience, no matter where they are? Vizrt leads the way at NAB 2018

31 January 2018

The leader in visual storytelling tools will show how media companies can share their stories on-air, online, and to OTT platforms with efficient workflows for journalists and content owners.

Broadcasters, newspapers, and new media companies must reach the next generation of media consumers no matter where they watch content. Vizrt’s market-defining visual storytelling tools are the perfect way to create mesmerizing live productions for any platform. Visit us at NAB 2018, stand SL2416 to see the future of production that will engage your audience and have them keep coming back for more.

Going on-air, online, OTT, and in the cloud

Vizrt’s story creation, media asset management (MAM) and live production tools allow you to share your content everywhere so you can always reach your audience. Vizrt’s all-in-one live production system is easy to use and requires only a single operator to drive a live production that can be streamed on-air, online, and to OTT platforms. At NAB 2018, we will also demonstrate the latest version of Viz Story with a cloud-based workflow for journalists to search, edit, and publish media anywhere.

Telling stories with video walls and AR graphics

Tell the complex stories of the day clearly using video walls and AR (augmented reality) graphics. Vizrt’s live production tools make it easy to control all the screens in the studio and drive AR graphics that engage audiences.

The Big AR Show is back with an all new 2018 edition! The can’t miss show of NAB 2018, takes live studio production a huge leap forward with next-generation AR storytelling.

Vizrt will also have a major announcement that will prepare the next generation of designers to change the face of global media design. More information coming soon!

Engaging sports fans and monetizing your content

Captivate sports fans with high-quality and informative analysis that allows you to create more content with your sports rights. New for NAB 2018 Vizrt will demonstrate sports analysis system integrated with Viz Libero AR in the studio, giving presenters a new way to talk about the action on the field. Vizrt’s sports production tools also provide new revenue streams for media companies by creating regionalized and targeted ads on the field with AR graphics, and with virtual field-side advertising replacements.

Visit us to engage your audience with the future of media production at 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

Al Hadath journalists bring their vision to air with Viz Story

30 January 2018

Journalists at Al Hadath and sister news channel, Al Arabiya, are using Viz Story to create their on-air new stories without the need of craft editors.

Al Hadath, a 24-hour news channel that is part of Dubai-based MBC, faces the same challenges as most modern news channels: How do you efficiently create video stories to cover world news with a minimal staff? Al Hadath’s solution was to bring Vizrt’s Viz Story into the newsroom as a fast and simple tool for journalists to create and edit their own stories.

“I know what I want for my story, and with Viz Story, I can take control of the package creation without having to explain my vision to someone else,” said Badih Younes, senior journalist, Al Arabiya & Al Hadath News. “Viz Story allows us to produce our stories in a shorter time and more accurate way.”

Viz Story is a story creation tool which allows journalists to easily edit videos, add branded graphics, and quickly distribute the finished stories to any location including video servers, VOD platforms and social media.

Part of the unique Viz Story workflow at Al Hadath and sister network Al Arabiya, is an integration with Reuters for gathering images and stories. Both networks have the Reuters wire service integrated with their Viz One media asset management (MAM) system. The integration, made possible by Viz One’s open API, allows Viz Story users to browse the latest Reuters images, with robust metadata, and drag the images into their timeline for editing, all from the web browser.

“Finding media is very easy with the Reuters integration,” said Fadi Radi, senior manager of on air graphics. “We have the latest pictures, up to the minute, and each picture includes metadata about the story. We get around 2500 to 4000 images per day. All a journalist has to do is open Viz Story in their browser, check out images to see what is going in the world, and quickly build the story.”

Video content from an Avid archive is imported into Viz One, giving journalists full access to the in-house video library from Viz Story, where they can add any number of graphics templates.

“The most exciting part is that the journalists also have access to any of Vizrt’s graphics templates from within their browser. So, not only are they editing video, they are adding custom graphics to the story, making the stories uniquely Al Hadath,” added Fadi Radi.

Finished stories are rendered to a target folder in the video format needed to automatically be ingested into the channel’s on-air video playout server.

“The newsroom is always a fast-paced environment and Viz Story helps save time since we don’t have to go to other departments to do the work. Everything is on our desktop and is easy to use”, said Aroub Abdelhaq, writer/reporter, Al Arabiya & Al Hadath News.

“It’s amazing how people (journalists, reporters, editorial teams, and social media producers) are interacting with Viz Story and its integration with Viz One. It’s been the biggest revolution in our workflow since we started using Vizrt, and its going viral within the organization,” concluded Fadi Radi.

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

View and download the video here

Yemeni security forces close Al Jazeera bureau

10 January 2018

Yemeni security forces have closed Al-Jazeera’s bureau in the southwestern city of Taiz on the orders of the Saudi-led Arab military coalition fighting the Houthi rebels, according to media reports.

“The Higher Security Committee in Taiz today decided to shut down the office of Al-Jazeera TV in the province, attributing – in a statement – the decision to attempts by the channel to sow discord within the legitimacy [government forces] ranks and the Arab coalition,” the Saudi Okaz newpaper reported on 9 January.

The newspaper quoted the statement as saying that the committee had discussed the “negative practices” of some TV stations, including Al-Jazeera.

Al Jazeera Media Network issued a statement saying: “the Network calls on the authorities in the city of Taiz to reverse its decision and allow Al Jazeera’s journalists to carry out their professional responsibilities duties without any hindrance or intimidation.”

It is not the first time Al Jazeera journalists have been targeted in the city. Three network staff were abducted in Taiz in January 2017.

It is extremely dangerous for media workers to report throughout the war-torn country. Houthi rebels last month attacked the Yemen Al Youm TV channel and took dozens of media staff hostage.

Fran Unsworth to lead BBC News & Current Affairs

15 December 2017

The BBC has announced that Fran Unsworth is to be the new Head of News and Current Affairs.

Fran Unsworth is currently Director, BBC World Service Group and deputy director of News and Current Affairs. In her new post she will be responsible for all the BBC’s domestic and international news services.

Fran joined the BBC in local radio before moving to London and the Newsbeat programme on the pop music station Radio 1. She spent some time as a network radio producer in Washington DC, and later joined Radio 4’s The World At One and PM. Fran was appointed the BBC’s Home News Editor and then, in 2001, Head of Political Programmes. In 2005 she became Head of Newsgathering, running one of the world’s largest newsgathering operations with bureaux across the world.

For periods between November 2012 and June 2013, Fran was the BBC’s Acting Director of News and Current Affairs. Fran Unsworth was made Director of the BBC World Service Group in December 2014. In this role she led the BBC’s global news services – BBC World Service, BBC World News and BBC.com/news – as well as BBC Monitoring. Prior to her appointment to the World Service Group, she was Deputy Director of BBC News and Current Affairs.

Tony Hall, Director-General of the BBC, says “The Director of News and Current Affairs is one of the most demanding of any in broadcasting.

“News is at the very heart of the BBC. I am delighted Fran Unsworth is taking up the role. She brings a combination of excellent news judgement, authority, management knowhow, and the trust of her colleagues both in news and across the BBC.”

Fran Unsworth says: “I am delighted to lead BBC News and Current Affairs. We are living through a period of significant change at home and abroad. In a complex world, the BBC’s journalism matters more than ever. I am proud to lead a team of such dedicated and talented people.”

Fran takes up her post early in the New Year.