AIB News Feed

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.

Dick Tauber

12 April 2018

It is with sadness that we report the death of Dick Tauber of CNN, well-known and respected in the international broadcasting community.

Jack Womack, SVP, CNN Worldwide writes:

I’m sorry to share with you that we lost our friend and colleague Dick Tauber last night. Dick was 73 years old and died after a lengthy illness.

Dick started his career at CNN as second in command running the Satellite desk one year after its launch in 1980. After an incredible 32-year career at CNN, Dick retired in 2013 as VP Transmission Systems and New Technology.

Dick had so many accomplishments here at CNN. When CNN received wide acclaim for being the only network to Broadcast live from Baghdad during the first Gulf War, it was his idea to marry the Baghdad to Amman and Amman to Atlanta four-wire audio circuits in Amman, allowing CNN its historic coverage and being the only U.S. television network to broadcast live as bombs fell.

Dick also championed and pushed the network into new field transmission technologies and satellite transponder capacity. Along with others, he was instrumental in CNN with expanding the satellite truck fleet and acquisition and deployment of CNN’s fly-away uplinks.

Dick loved his job and being an important part of CNN. He always wanted to make sure CNN was first with transmission from any spot on the planet. Dick secured his place as one of the people that helped build CNN from almost the start of CNN in the 1980’s into what it is today.

Dick’s dedication to the industry included his long chairmanship of the World Broadcasting Unions-International Satellite Operations Group (WBU-ISOG) that worked to communicate to the satellite industry the most important requirements of broadcasters and to collaborate on procedures that protected interference issues. He also represented TBS/CNN at the North American Broadcasters Association (NABA) and was on the board of directors from 1998-2003.

He won many industry awards spanning three decades, including the Outstanding Individual Achievement Emmy Award for Satellite Coordination for the Turner Broadcasting Systems GOODWILL GAMES from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 1986, to a 2007 Science and Technology Emmy Award and IBC Judges Innovation Award, both for development and implementation of CNN’s revolutionary Digital Newsgathering transmission system. In 1991, Dick received an “Industry Visionary” award from Communications Week magazine as one of the “25 Most Influential” industry leaders for the year.

Dick had a great sense of humor and mentored so many people at CNN to share in his love for the news and satellite transmission industry.

Dick will be greatly missed. Please join me as we offer our condolences to the Tauber family.

Françoise Champey is appointed Chief Content Officer

11 April 2018

Michael Peters, CEO of Euronews and President of Africanews, has appointed Françoise Champey to work alongside him as Chief Content Officer and Member of the Executive Committee.

Lyon, France – 10 April 2018 – Françoise Champey is based at the group’s headquarters in Lyon and became responsible for all newsrooms on 19 March 2018.

With 24 years’ experience in key international media, Françoise has managed multilingual and multicultural teams. Most recently she worked as Director of the English service of France 24. Prior to that, she was Editor in Chief at Al Jazeera English, headed up the Afghan service of Voice of America, and also managed the North and South American bureaus of Reuters TV.

Françoise Champey’s appointment was made in cooperation with Deborah Turness, President of NBC News International, in accordance with the new shareholder agreements signed in June 2017 when NBC News bought stakes in Euronews. Within this context, Françoise will work closely with Deborah in order to oversee the new editorial offering. She will ensure its implementation across all media platforms.

François now heads up a team of 500 journalists and a new network of correspondents. Her mission is to guarantee the independence of the editorial line and ensure coherence between all language editions while respecting Euronews’ European DNA, which has been at the core of its identity for 25 years.

Her objective is also to assist the 12 editions in finding new approaches, concepts, and formats and in creating programme schedules that are adapted to each language edition’s audience.

Françoise Champey replaces Lucian Sârb, who had joined Euronews in 2009.

Michael Peters, CEO of Euronews and President of Africanews

“I am very proud to welcome Françoise. Her international experience in multicultural teams and her passion for journalism and journalists are major assets for Euronews. I am certain she will bring her great know-how to our multicultural team.

I would also like to thank Lucian Sârb very warmly. He has been a close and valued colleague. Lucian was involved in creating our new editorial strategy, thereby building solid foundations for the current essential transformations. Lucian is and will always be a friend of Euronews.”

Deborah Turness, President of NBC News International

“Françoise is a journalist, a TV News professional and a proven leader of international newsrooms. As we build and invest in the future of Euronews, she is well qualified to deliver the bold innovation, the editorial strength and the creative content that we will be rolling out in the months ahead. I am thrilled she has joined us.”

About Françoise Champey

Up to December 2013, Françoise Champey was Director of France’s English language channel, France 24. Within that role, she created new programmes, changed the programming schedule and managed many journalists.

In 1998, she created POMM Productions which produced a great number of news reports for European media outlets such as Arte info, RTBF, France 3, TSR, TVRO and Discovery Networks. She also produced reports and advised IMF, The World Bank, UNESCO and L’Oréal ‘Women in Science up to 2013.

In parallel, from 2006 to 2009, Françoise worked in Washington in different roles: Editor in Chief of Voice of America Afghan service (where she managed a trilingual newsroom: English, Dari, Pashto), then as Editor in Chief for Al Jazeera English (2007-2009).

From 1993 to 1998, she was Reporter, Head of Special Operations and then Head of News at Reuters TV, for the Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro bureaus. Françoise began her career as Washington Correspondent for the French TV channel, La Cinq (1988-1992).

In 2006, Françoise made a film in Mali called “La Fibre Africaine” about cotton production and the World Trade Organisation. The film was shown at numerous documentary film festivals and on TV5 Monde and TV5 Afrique.

Françoise has a Master’s Degree in Sociology and Anthropology from Sorbonne University, and was a researcher for UNICEF in Sri Lanka in preparation for the International Year of the Child.

She is a founding member of the Tocqueville Press Club in Washington and works actively with NGOs. Françoise has frequently been part of the jury for the “Documentaries” category of the International Emmy Awards.

follow Euronews and Africanews teams on Twitter: @euronews_group

for breaking news follow: @euronews @africanews

Media contact: Lydie Bonvallet t +33 (0)4 28 67 05 35 lydie.bonvallet@euronews.com

Euronews

Euronews, based in Lyon (France) celebrates its 25 years in 2018. Euronews offers a unique perspective on world events in 12 languages and empowers people to make up their own mind by delivering factual analysis and a diversity of viewpoints. Because all views matter, Euronews is “All Views”. A well-established brand in Europe, Euronews is available worldwide in more than 400 million households in 160 countries.

In June 2017, NBC News and Euronews closed a transaction in which NBC News acquired 25% of the company to make a significant financial investment in Euronews to support expanded news coverage and programming. The company’s TV and digital will ultimately be co-branded EuronewsNBC.

Euronews Group: Euronews Group operates two international, multilingual, multiplatform and independent news media, Euronews and Africanews, the first pan-African, multilingual and independent news outlet, launched in April 2016 from Pointe-Noire, Republic of the Congo.

www.euronews.com www.africanews.com

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

World-class graphics for everyone; Vizrt to give away Viz Artist design software

3 April 2018

Sign up for the free edition of Viz Artist first at NAB 2018. Designers and media houses will harness the power of free Viz Artist to expand their creative potential.

Vizrt’s powerful real-time design platform, Viz Artist, is now free for creatives around the world. Viz Artist unleashes the creativity of designers to model a new future for the global media landscape. Media houses, broadcasters, and digital publishers, gain access to a rapidly growing pool of talent that will bring their brand to new heights of powerful visual storytelling.

NAB 2018 attendees can be the first to sign up for the free edition of Viz Artist first at Vizrt’s stand SL2416. The free edition of Viz Artist will be available world-wide the middle of April 2018.

“We want to unlock the creative potential of live media production,” said Petter Ole Jakobsen, Vizrt CTO. “With the release of Viz Artist 3.10 with its new dongle-free license structure, and a robust online training program with Viz University, we are providing a very easy way for designers around the world to learn this powerful design tool.”

Freedom for designers

Viz Artist allows designers to expand their career with the #1 real-time design tool for the broadcast industry. The system includes a suite of tools and plugins for creating professional scenes and templated-graphics packages. Optional access to Viz University allows designers to learn the system online and at their own pace.

Freedom for media companies

The free edition of Viz Artist creates a large pool of talented professionals, allowing media companies to choose the designers that best fit their needs and style. Businesses now have a larger number of Viz Artist workstations internally, including on every Viz Engine, adding greater workflow flexibility and design team output on a daily basis.

Petter Ole Jakobsen added, “With more designers in the market, the ability to have new and unique designs for live productions greatly increases, allowing media companies to find new ways to engage their audiences. The branding and design options truly become limitless.”

Freedom for universities

Educational institutions can now prepare their students for a bright future in media design by teaching the system used by the world’s largest media brands. Working together with Viz University, full classrooms of Viz Artist students can learn everything from the basics of scene building, to advanced data-driven graphics, augmented reality, and virtual set design.

How to sign up

Visit Vizrt.com to sign up and download the free edition of Viz Artist. Viz Artist requires a PC running Windows. The free edition of Viz Artist is limited to watermarked DVI OUT and Clip render OUT.

“I’m really excited to see what designers come up with using Viz Artist. This truly opens up the media production world to a new level of creativity that has never been seen before,” concluded Petter Ole Jakobsen.

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