DW launches DW Magyar

28 April 2021

DW launches DW Magyar

In November 2020, DW announced an expansion of its journalistic offerings to include Hungarian as its 31st broadcast language, with the first reports to be published at the end of April. Hungarian was previously part of the German foreign broadcaster’s programming from 1962 to 1977 and from 1993 to 1999. DW believes that time has come to once again produce journalistically independent content for a primarily young target group under the title ‘DW Magyar’ and to initiate diverse debates on European issues. The program, which is distributed by several partner broadcasters in Hungary, is aimed primarily at users between the ages of 20 and 35.

Director General Peter Limbourg: “Now is the time for DW Magyar. Many media in Central and Eastern Europe that have reported critically on their governments are facing various obstacles to their work or have had to give up. With our programming which will soon be available in 32 broadcast languages, we are responding to the growing demand for information among the general public, as well as to the increasing restrictions on media freedom and the risks faced by journalists around the world.”

“We offer our audience true-to-life video reports from Hungary, Germany and other European countries, focusing on stories about current political, social, cultural and economic issues,” said DW Managing Director of Programming Gerda Meuer.

“With our new offering in Hungarian, we want to enter into conversation with young people in an uninhibited and cosmopolitan manner and thus promote critical discourse about common values and challenges in Europe,” adds Adelheid Feilcke, Head of Programs for Europe.

On Wednesday April 28, DW will first launch a YouTube channel in Hungarian with around 15 video reports and features, including several editions of the formats Europeo and Untold Stories. The magazine Europeo features 4 to 5 reports per episode on one topic from different European perspectives. In Untold Stories, reporters of the same age as the target group meet interesting people from Hungary and tell their touching stories. TV magazines, reports and (web) video formats will follow in the medium term.

Initially ten reporters and editors work for the team in Germany and Hungary.
DW has been recording very high usage figures for months. Since the summer of 2020, monthly access to its digital offerings has remained constant at a level of more than one billion.

[Source: DW press release]

Univision partners with Google to become media company of tomorrow

27 April 2021

Univision partners with Google to become media company of tomorrow

Google and Spanish-language media company Univision have announced a new, multi-year, strategic partnership that the US-based broadcaster says will accelerate growth across its portfolio of media and content properties, “providing solutions that will enable it to build the media company of tomorrow.”

Google Cloud will help drive Univision’s digital transformation, deepening the media company’s relationships with Hispanic audiences and communities, and enabling it to continue creating market-defining content for the next generation of Spanish-speaking viewers. Univision will also collaborate with other Google product areas, such as Android, Android TV OS, YouTube, Google Play, Google Ad Manager, and Google Search to enhance its capabilities and improve the overall viewer experience.

“At Univision, we’ve set out to be the most important global Spanish-language media company, and our partnership with Google is a critical piece of our transformation,” said Wade Davis, CEO of Univision Communications Inc. “By leveraging Google’s technology platform and expertise, we will transform our infrastructure to bring our customers an enhanced media experience.”

Google will help Univision consolidate its multiple digital distribution platforms, modernise its production systems, create a new customer data warehouse, and migrate key enterprise applications to Google Cloud. This will allow them to apply artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) across its content libraries to provide customers with proactive, personalised recommendations. It will also enable the company to forge stronger advertising relationships with its audiences via insights derived from data.

“Increasing demand for digital media and streaming content is a huge opportunity for media companies to connect with audiences in new ways,” said Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet. “We’re excited to partner with Univision to use Google Cloud’s technology and platforms like YouTube, Play and Android, to inform, entertain, and engage the next generation of Spanish-speaking viewers around the world.”

As the media landscape evolves, Google will also help Univision expand its growing streaming offerings, allowing the company to reach more consumers on the devices of their choice, wherever they are in the world. For example, Univision will expand its global YouTube partnership in the coming years and will integrate with entertainment features on Google Search that help people discover TV shows and movies. The company will also use Google Ad Manager for ad decisioning globally and Google’s Dynamic Ad Insertion for PrendeTV and future video-on-demand offerings. Finally, Univision will distribute its content and services on Google Play across Android phones and tablets, as well as Google TV and other Android TV OS devices.

BBC brings ‘Once upon a time in Iraq’ to 11 countries

25 April 2021

BBC brings ‘Once upon a time in Iraq’ to 11 countries

BBC News Russian audiences in 11 countries will be able to watch a Russian-language edition of the award-winning docuseries, Once Upon a Time in Iraq. From Monday 26 April, the five-part documentary will be published with Russian voiceover for audiences in Russia and ten other countries – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan – via the BBC News Russian YouTube channel, its website bbc.com/russian and its channels on the social networks VKontakte and Odnoklassniki.

Premiered on the BBC platforms in the summer of 2020, Once Upon a Time in Iraq was produced for the BBC by Keo Films and directed by award-winning director James Bluemel. Illustrated with unique material from personal archives, the gripping documentary traces years of chaos and bloodshed following the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the US-led coalition. The story of the war that changed the world is told by the Iraqis and Americans who lived it.

James Bluemel is known for his Bafta-winning docuseries about the Syrian migrant crisis, Exodus: Our Journey to Europe. Talking about his work on Once Upon a Time in Iraq – which, in 2020, won two Rose d’Or awards – Bluemel says that he hadn’t expected much interest in the series. However, meeting and speaking to Iraqis or Americans, who were in Iraq over those years, he had the most fascinating insights and moving personal stories which hardly had been heard before.

He says: “I think people assume they know the story of the Iraq war and that there is nothing left to say. However, when the films were eventually shown on the BBC, the response was overwhelming. People engaged with the subject and characters, they began to think of the war in a more humanised, empathetic way. It remains a huge surprise that the films have had the reaction they have had. And now to know that they will be seen in Russia and 10 other countries is absolutely fantastic. I hope the series has a similar effect of bringing a more nuanced and empathetic response to what Iraqis have had to endure since 2003.”

BBC News Russian Editor, Jenny Norton, adds: “Once Upon a Time in Iraq is a thought-provoking docuseries, offering a very frank and honest portrayal of the true impact of the US-led coalition’s intervention in Iraq. Unsparing on every level, this documentary by British film-makers is the kind of journalism that the BBC wants to bring to its Russian-speaking audiences.”

Each episode of Once Upon a Time in Iraq is dedicated to one or several people or events. In Episode One – The War – heavy-metal musician Waleed Nesyif who, like many Iraqi teenagers then, was infatuated by the West and saw life under Saddam as oppressive, tells about the Baghdad youths’ anticipation of the hostilities, and what the first weeks of the invasion brought about.

Episode Two – The Insurgency – about the following stage of the war when Iraq was gripped by waves of insurgency against the occupation, is told by US Lieutenant Colonel Nate Sassaman who found himself unprepared for the hostility they were faced with, and Allaa Adel who, as a 12-year-old in Baghdad, was hit in the face by shrapnel from a roadside bomb intended for the American military.

In Episode Three – Falluja – the story of the war’s most intense battle is told through the tragedy lived by embedded freelance photographer Ashley Gilbertson who, along with reporter Dexter Filkins, was working for New York Times, and by Falluja resident Nidhal Abed who, on the fateful day of 4 November 2004, had to take her two-year-old son Mustafa to the doctors.

In Episode Four – Saddam – the story of the fallen dictator is told by the CIA senior analyst John Nixon who interrogated him, a volunteer translator Samir Al Jassim who was involved in his capture, and the military policeman Brandon Barfield who accompanied him on his way to the gallows.

In Episode Five – The Legacy – the invasion’s outcomes are judged by Omar Mohamed, a Mosul university professor who authored an anonymous blog bearing witness to three years of the city’s life under ISIS. Waleed Nesyif, now a university-graduate Canadian citizen, and Um Qusay, a Sunni who risked her life by giving shelter to Shia soldiers fleeing an execution by ISIS, return to the film’s narrative.

Selected quotes from the documentary:

Dexter Filkins: “Ultimately war it’s a kind of laboratory of the human condition in extremis. You see the best of people and you see the worst. You see moments of incredible heroism and also hatred and irresponsibility.”

Nate Sassaman: “War as an institution is pure evil.”

“This is really the sole reason I’m sitting in this chair. Is that when we get to 2038 and there’s a whole other generation of lawmakers, instead of us rushing into things, like I feel like we rushed so badly. That we sit back, and we go through a whole bunch of other options before we set the before we set the force in action, because once the force is put into action, you can’t pull it back.”

Allaa Adel: “I hope that what happened to Iraq happens to America. I’ve never wished harm on anyone, but I wish it upon them.”

Omar Mohamed: “Can the Americans say they did something good in Iraq? I want them to look into my eyes and tell me this. They didn’t bring freedom. They brought chaos.”

Once Upon a Time in Iraq will be available for viewing on the BBC News Russian website and YouTube channel, as well as via VKontakte and Odnoklassniki. Each new episode will be published every day from Monday 26 April 2021.

BBC News Russian regularly brings to its audiences the best of the BBC’s documentaries.

BBC News Russian also connects with its audiences via Facebook, Instagram, Telegram and Twitter.

BBC News Russian is part of BBC World Service.

[Source: BBC press release]

Calls for Eutelsat to drop Chinese state TV channels

18 April 2021

Calls for Eutelsat to drop Chinese state TV channels

According to a report carried on the RFI website, 13 people who describe themselves as the “victims of forced confessions broadcast on Chinese television” have written an open letter to Europe’s largest satellite operator, Eutelsat, asking it to review company policy of broadcasting Chinese channels CGTN and CCTV-4.

In the letter dated 30 March, the asked French satellite TV company Eutelsat, to reconsider its policy of carrying Chinese state media. The signatories allege that they “were forced by the Chinese police to record confessions to alleged crimes and these were then broadcast by Chinese state-owned, Communist Party-controlled television networks – CGTN and CCTV-4 – both of which are aired in France via Eutelsat”.

Asked to respond to the allegations, Eutelsat has told RFI that “it is not within its remit to judge the content and suspend the broadcast of a channel under contract without an injunction from a competent authority”.

Paris-based Eutelsat is the world’s third largest satellite operator in terms of revenue. Its 39 satellites provide broadcasts for almost 7,000 television stations, including Sky, Fox News, RFI’s sister channel France24, BBC World and CNN International, covering most of Europe, but also beaming into Africa, Asia and the Americas.

The 13 signatories include 11 Chinese citizens and two non-Chinese, representing dozens of people who found themselves detained or imprisoned by Chinese authorities, and who were forced to publicly admit their supposed wrongdoings.

Torture

“As direct victims of this practice, we appeal to you to carefully examine the information provided below, and to consider whether TV providers in democratic societies should continue to be morally complicit in airing such intentionally distorted information obtained through torture, threats and deprivation,” wrote the thirteen.

The open letter is supported by the Spain-based human rights organisation Safeguard Defenders, whose founder, co-signatory Peter Dahlin, was himself paraded in front of millions of viewers on China’s central television. Dahlin says that the accused were “denied the right to fair trial, the right to see a lawyer, and the right not to be tortured,” while they found themselves forced by threats to their families, themselves “and through torture,” to agree to appear in front of the cameras and “confess” their crimes.

According to the signatories, China’s state television has aired forced confessions of more than 100 people since Xi Jinping came to power in 2013, pointing out that “most victims are rights lawyers, NGO workers and journalists”.

The letter notes that Australian public broadcaster SBS temporarily halted using CGTN content in March pending a review of human rights concerns. In February, the UK broadcast regulator Ofcom removed CGTN from the airwaves for partiality and violation of privacy. The Chinese channel then successfully sought a European broadcast licence via French regulator CSA.

Just weeks after the CSA had determined that CGTN met the technical criteria required for broadcasting, Safeguard Defenders submitted two complaints against the channel.

China retaliated against the CGTN expulsion from the UK by banning the BBC from broadcasting in China – even though the reception of the BBC in China is limited to compounds for foreigners and 5-star hotels. In a reaction to Safeguard Defenders’ complaints, CGTN said the rights group intended to “distort and harm China’s image and interests”.

Meanwhile, Eutelsat points out that responsibility for the content “in the case of non-European channels rests with the regulator of the country where the uplink is located,” in this case the France-based CSA, “which also has the ability to take legal action”.

According to the RFI report, Eutelsat insists it will “immediately comply with any subsequent decision by the CSA or the French courts, as it does systematically.”

Main picture: CCTV headquarters in Beijing

Televisa and Univision announce merger

13 April 2021

Televisa and Univision announce merger

Grupo Televisa, and Univision Holdings Inc have announced a definitive transaction agreement in which Televisa’s content and media assets will be combined with Univision to create the largest Spanish-language media company in the world: Televisa-Univision.

The combination brings together the two leading media businesses in the two largest Spanish-speaking markets in the world: Univision in the United States, the largest Spanish-language media market by value, and Televisa in Mexico, which is the most populous Spanish-language market in the world. The resulting business will hold the largest long-form library of content in the world, a powerful portfolio of IP and global sports rights, fuelled by the most prolific Spanish-language production infrastructure. The power and scope of these content assets are unmatched. In 2020, Televisa produced more than 86,000 hours of content across every genre and category, including sports and special events, dramas, newscasts, situation comedies, game shows, reality shows, children’s programs, comedy and variety programs, musical and cultural events, movies and educational programming.

Televisa will also contribute its four free-to-air channels, 27 pay-TV networks channels and stations, its Videocine movie studio and Blim TV subscription video on demand (SVOD) service; and the Televisa trademark. These media assets comprise the definitive market leader in Mexico.

The Company will further benefit from Univision’s market-leading assets in the United States which includes the Univision and UniMás broadcast networks, nine Spanish-language cable networks, 61 television stations and 58 radio stations in major U.S. Hispanic markets and Puerto Rico, and prominent digital assets including its recently launched AVOD streaming service, PrendeTV.

The combined entity will have the content, production capacity, intellectual property, global reach and financial resources to aggressively pursue the relatively nascent global Spanish-language streaming opportunity. The Spanish-language market, which represents around 600 million people globally, and an aggregate GDP of about $7 trillion, is significantly underserved from a streaming perspective relative to other major markets. Less than 10% of the Spanish speaking population currently use an OTT video product, compared with the English language market where nearly 70% of the population has at least one streaming service.

“This strategic combination generates significant value for shareholders of both companies and will allow us to more efficiently reach all Spanish-language audiences with more of our programming,” said Emilio Azcárraga, Executive Chairman of the Televisa Board of Directors. “Together, Televisa-Univision can more aggressively pursue innovation and growth through digital platforms as the industry continues to evolve. Our new investors at the SoftBank Latin America Fund, Google and The Raine Group are just as excited about the opportunities presented by this combination.”

“This transformative combination brings together the leading network serving U.S. Spanish-language audiences with the leading media platform in Mexico powered by the most powerful Spanish-language content engine in the world,” said Univision CEO Wade Davis. “Televisa-Univision will emerge as the leading global Spanish-language multi-media company, uniquely positioned to capture the significant market opportunity for Spanish speakers worldwide.”

Davis continued, “The composition of our new investor group reflects confidence in our strategy, the progress of our digital transformation and the magnitude of the opportunity ahead of us. I would like to thank Chairman Emilio Azcárraga for his confidence in us, to continue as partners growing the incredible company he and his family have built. I would also like to thank Televisa Co-CEOs Alfonso de Angoitia and Bernardo Gómez for their continued support and partnership as we work together to provide our audience with even more access to even more powerful, compelling and engaging Spanish-language content, however they choose to access it.”

“We have been deeply involved with Univision for more than two decades, and we have never enjoyed a better relationship with our partners,” said Bernardo Gómez and Alfonso de Angoitia, Televisa’s Co-Chief Executive Officers. “We are creating a company which is a leader across multi-media categories, unified over the largest territories and with the scale and focus to deliver the most compelling content experience to Spanish-language consumers around the world. We are confident that this strategic transaction will maximise the potential of our Content segment, while allowing us to strengthen our balance sheet and focus on growth opportunities at our Telecom business.”

“The SoftBank Latin America Fund is proud to invest in the combination of Televisa-Univision to help create a content powerhouse that can serve the nearly 600 million Spanish-language speakers globally. With the largest and most iconic original Spanish content library in the world and access to SoftBank’s global tech ecosystem, we will help transform the new company into the leading Spanish-language multi-platform digital media company and one of the most important OTT service providers in the world,” said Marcelo Claure, Chief Executive Officer of SoftBank Group International and board member of Univision.

Terms of the Transaction

Televisa will continue to capture the upside from the significant growth potential of the Company by remaining the largest shareholder in Televisa-Univision with an equity stake of approximately 45%. As a part of the agreement, Televisa will retain ownership of izzi Telecom, Sky, and other businesses, as well as the main real estate associated with the production facilities, the broadcasting licenses and transmission infrastructure in Mexico.

Televisa’s content assets will be contributed for approximately $4.8 billion. Under the terms of the agreement, Univision will pay $3.0 billion in cash, $750 million in Univision common equity and $750 million in Series B preferred equity, with an annual dividend of 5.5%. The balance is derived from other commercial considerations. The combination will be financed through $1.0 billion of new Series C preferred equity investment led by the SoftBank Latin American Fund (“SoftBank”), along with current Univision investor ForgeLight LLC, with participation from Google and The Raine Group; and $2.1 billion of debt commitments arranged by J.P. Morgan.

News content production for Mexico will be outsourced from a company owned by The Azcárraga family to guarantee that news content remains in Mexican hands and is produced in Mexico. Televisa-Univision will retain all assets, IP and library related to Televisa’s News division.

The transaction is expected to close in 2021, subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of regulatory approvals in the United States and Mexico, and Televisa shareholder approval. The Board of Directors of both Televisa and Univision have already approved the combination.

Management and Board

Univision CEO Wade Davis will lead the combined company, Alfonso de Angoitia will serve as Executive Chairman of the Televisa-Univision Board of Directors and Marcelo Claure, CEO of SoftBank Group International will become Vice Chairman of the Board. The Company’s Board will have 13 directors, including five appointed by Televisa, three by Searchlight and ForgeLight, two by the Series C shareholders and three independent directors. At closing, the board will be Emilio Fernando Azcárraga Jean, Bernardo Gómez Martínez, Alfonso de Angoitia Noriega, Marcelo Claure, Michel Combes, Gisel Ruiz, Oscar Muñoz, Maria Cristina “MC” Gonzalez Noguera, Wade Davis, Eric Zinterhofer, Jeff Sine and two additional Televisa appointees.

After closing, content production and operations in Mexico will continue to be led by Emilio Azcárraga, Chairman of the Televisa Board of Directors, and Bernardo Gómez and Alfonso de Angoitia, Televisa’s Co-Chief Executive Officers, during a transition period to ensure a smooth and successful integration.

Grupo Televisa Post-Transaction

Post-transaction, Televisa will keep developing and expanding its industry-leading Telecom business in Mexico, offering best-in-class high-speed internet access and providing high-quality programming as a content aggregator. Televisa will use the proceeds received from Univision primarily to pay down debt, while continuing to pursue growth opportunities and strengthen its leading position through ongoing investments at its core businesses. As a result, Televisa’s net debt leverage ratio will decline to below 2.0x and its U.S. dollar-denominated assets and liabilities will be matched. After the transaction closes, Televisa will no longer consolidate financials of its Content segment.

TRT World expands global reach with TeleRed

12 April 2021

TRT World expands global reach with TeleRed

TRT World, Turkey’s first English language international news platform, is expanding its global distribution with one of the major operators in the Buenos Aires Province, TeleRed.

TeleRed is an Argentinian telecommunication company that specializes in the provision of cable television, Internet and telephony. With a network of HFC and FTTH, it is one of the major operators in the Buenos Aires Province.

Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Istanbul with three newsrooms located around the world, TRT World broadcasts in the English language to communicate a Turkish perspective on current affairs to a global audience. As the international face of Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) – a European Broadcasting Union (EBU) – founding member – TRT World hopes to encourage dialogue between viewers by offering a different viewpoint on current affairs.

The channel’s ‘field-first’ approach places a top priority on having journalists situated at all four corners of the world, ready to cover any event live on location. TRT World also seeks to focus on the humanitarian angle of each story, prioritizing how events influence ordinary people.

[Source: TRT World press release]

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