6 November 2018
The BBC launched its largest bureau outside the UK in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, on 5 November. Around 300 of the 600 BBC journalists working across Africa are based in the new, state-of-the-art facility.
“Our most important investment will be in training the next generation of African reporters and producers to world-class standards,” Francesca Unsworth, Director of BBC News, said.
The expansion is being funded by $376m (£289m) from the UK government and the production facilities at the bureau include a TV studio and two further live broadcast positions, two radio studios, two radio workspaces and five TV edit suites.
The Nairobi bureau follows the opening of another major hub in Nigeria’s commercial city of Lagos, where three new language services are based, while there has also been an expansion of the French service based in Senegal’s capital, Dakar.
“We are celebrating the African journalists and programme makers here today who will carry the torch of BBC professionalism, accuracy and impartiality into the future,” Rachael Akidi Okwir, Head of East Africa Languages for the BBC World Service said.
Nairobi-based BBC services: Afaan Oromo: Language of Ethiopia’s biggest ethnic group; Amharic: Ethiopia’s official language; Tigrinya: The main working language of Eritrea, along with Arabic. Also spoken in Ethiopia
Lagos-based BBC services: Igbo: An official Nigerian language. Also spoken in Equatorial Guinea; Yoruba: Spoken in south-western Nigeria and some other parts of West Africa, especially Benin and Togo; Pidgin: A creole version of English widely spoken in southern Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea
Photo: Armstong Too/BBC
5 November 2018
International news network TRT World has unveiled its new studios in Washington, D.C. The network will be broadcasting live news coverage and current affairs programmes from the heart of the US capital.
The channel will offer special coverage of the 2018 US Midterm elections on November 6-7. TRT World correspondents will be stationed across the country in key voting areas including Georgia, Florida and Texas. They will amplify human stories including from minority and first-time-voters, and key issues like immigration and the ‘year of the woman’. The election special will be anchored by Alican Ayanlar and feature top guest contributers.
TRT World’s Washington broadcast centre will also be launching its weekly flagship programme, Bigger Than Five. Hosted by international broadcast journalist Ghida Fakhry, Bigger Than Five will rethink the global world order, challenging the consolidation of power among superpowers and rethinking conventional approaches to international issues. It will elevate the voices of people impacted by policymakers, and feature hardhitting interviews with major political players in Washington and around the globe.
“The Washington Broadcast Centre is the first in a series of upgrades that TRT World is undertaking for all of its international locations,” said Ibrahim Eren, Director General and Chairman of TRT.
“We have always had a broadcast centre in Washington, but the new facility is bigger and technically more advanced. It has simplified the processes for correspondents and editors. We can proudly say that our new facility is now equipped to handle news as a regional hub.”
A team of 30-plus operates from the Washington office, including correspondents, video editors, engineers and operational staff. The new facility hosts four fully fitted edit rooms with voice-over capabilities, a media storage, DTL positions, a fully fitted control room and large studio.
TRT World is available across all major digital platforms in the U.S. including Roku, Amazon Fire tv, Apple TV reaching over 25 million devices. TRT World is also available on all American social media outlets with native content and dedicated apps. (Source: TRT press release)
26 October 2018
It wasn’t long ago that the large majority of broadcasters were confined to a national audience. Back in 1993, when the Association for International Broadcasting (AIB) was founded, the only international reach was through radio. There was no Internet as we know it and IP technology was not yet integral to the industry.
“Back then, international broadcasters were fairly unloved within their own national parent organization, always starved of money and facing different issues to the national broadcast,” says Tom Wragg, Business Development Director at AIB.”
“They wanted an association that could lobby on their behalf and help them with information services, so service radio operations like BBC World Service and Voice of America came together and formed the AIB.”
Today, the AIB is still the only global trade association for people who broadcast across international boundaries, but they no longer represent the “unloved” minority. With IP technology advancement, most broadcasters are international — even if it’s only within their own diaspora — and international broadcasting has gone from the reach of a few radio stations to the primary producer of global news and entertainment.
Signiant’s solutions have been a key driver in the evolution of international broadcasting, enabling efficient transfer of media files around the world, between people, systems and the cloud. As such, we have a real affinity for people who continue to work in places other than major Western urban centers.
Especially in today’s world, we believe it is ever more important for factual stories from around the world to get the broadest possible exposure. That’s why we’re excited to once again sponsor the AIBs.
The AIBs 2018 International Awards
The AIBs are “the international awards for factual video, audio and interactive productions,” according to their website. 2018 marks the 14th year of these independent, influential and respected awards, which will take place on November 7th in London.
Signiant has sponsored the AIBs for the last three years and, as one of the few technology company sponsors, we have appreciated the opportunity to get to know the people who make this industry possible and the work they care about. The event itself is unique. With a breadth of programming awarded and displayed from unexpected regions that range from heart wrenching to hilarious, it’s easy to understand why the AIBs have become so popular.
“One of the big issues that has always existed is the inevitable bias within national awards. You’ve got set players, the big networks and affiliate chains, who are usually involved in the awards directly. In those awards, there are not many surprises.”
“But the international marketplace is changing. Independent small production units are growing in number and interacting more internationally, even though the big players are consolidating at the top,” says Wragg.
“Winners of the AIBs come from everywhere. It doesn’t matter what language they’re in, it doesn’t matter the budget or the scale or the audience size. They’re judged purely on the quality of the programming. And they’ve become very popular because they give that level playing field between all types of broadcasters.”
The Sustainability Awards
November 7th is actually the second part of this year’s AIBs, which also included a new awards event held in Taipei in early October. The Association for International Broadcasting Asia-Pacific Sustainability Awards were sponsored by Radio Taiwan International, marking the 90th anniversary of their AIB membership. Those awards recognized the best radio and television coverage of sustainability issues in the Asia-Pacific region.
“As the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals mark their third anniversary, the AIB wanted to demonstrate the importance of the media in ensuring that facts and events relating to these challenges reach global audiences,” said Simon Spanswick, chief executive of the AIB.
“We were delighted to see a wide range of entries from broadcasters within and outside the region, showing that relevant stories about the Asia-Pacific region and the challenges it faces are receiving the attention they deserve.”
Sustainability is a central concern of many AIB members, attested to by the special awards event and a newly formed sustainability Working Group, which will address how international broadcasters can support the United Nation’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Working Groups are developed by AIB to address the concerns of their members and provide a forum for the exchange of knowledge and expertise. Other recently established Working Groups cover cyber security, audience research, and international regulatory and legal affairs.
Reflecting a Global Concern
Signiant is proud to be part of an industry with global reach and global concern, and the AIBs are a one-of-a-kind opportunity to see those concerns awarded.
“Reaching an international audience requires a level of concern beyond your own borders,” says Wragg. “Some of the best programming produced by our members reflects that concern.”
The Shortlist for the AIBs has already been released. We’re looking forwards to seeing the awards announced and getting a chance to rub shoulders with all the people who make international programming happen.
by Megan Cater | Blog, Broadcast Engineering, Transfer Media Files
18 October 2018
From 13 to 15 November 2018 SatADSL is now living in the 21stAfricaCom. This is one of the major events on the African calendar in the areas of the digital economy, telecommunications and IT. Of course, like every year, SatADSL awaits you!
Since last year, the supply of SatADSL services has continued to grow: expand our satellite coverage, integration of iDirect solution alongside that of Newtec new beneficial commercial formulas … not to mention the upgrade continuing our Cloud service delivery platform (C-SDP), to facilitate the lives of our partners in terms of capacity management network and customer tracking. The AfricaCom show is a great opportunity to present all this in person and offer you tailored solutions for your specific needs.
Like every year, AfricaCom will take place at the Cape Town International Convention Center, South Africa, where more than 13,000 visitors are expected. On the sidelines of the fair, which brings together 450 exhibitors, stand 16 animated lectures by 400 speakers. This year, the topics are, among others, the acceleration of the digital revolution in Africa, the development of an ecosystem for startups, the opportunities of the Internet of Things (IoT – Internet of Things), building a digital society with the deployment of mobile finance and trade, and a large section dedicated to connectivity, including in the field of broadcasting.
The mere enumeration of these themes, SatADSL had to be present at the show. Our experience and the testimony of satellite ISPs operators attest: our satellite IP connectivity solutions, our business solutions and specific business-oriented solutions are tailored to meet the challenges of many industries in Africa in a market increasingly competitive.
The stand of SatADSL is “C65”. To accommodate in the best conditions, we invite you already to make an appointment with us via info@satadsl.net or +32 2 351 33 74.
More information AfricaCom: https://tmt.knect365.com/africacom
