21 November 2017
To conclude its coverage of the COP23, Euronews in partnership with the European Forest Institute, presents a 360 report on the deadly forest fires in Portugal.
For the first time, Euronews one of the most innovative media for immersive journalism, also produces the video in 360 audio, a cutting-edge technology and only a handful of media companies in the world are capable of using it.
The first international newsroom to fully incorporate 360-degree video news into its regular production workflow in 2016, Euronews innovates once again while drawing attention to one of the deadliest tragedies in the country’s history.
Euronews’ special envoy to Portugal, Joanna Gill, travelled the parts of the country which suffered during the blazes throughout the Summer and Autumn. In 2017, wildfires in Portugal burnt up to 560,000 hectares of forest. This represents 60% of Europe’s total, for a country that represents just over 2% of its landmass. The wildfires, now recognised as the worst natural disaster this year in Europe, have killed more than 100 people in four months.
Available on Euronews’ digital platforms, the immersive experience allows Euronews’ audience to witness first-hand the devastation, meet the communities affected and hear from first responders and experts.
This video will also immerse the audience, thanks to a cutting-edge 360 audio mix, a technology which combines ambisonic recording and spatialized audio. Added to the 360 video, this 360 audio strongly increases the audience’s sense of immersion and presence. Euronews is among the first news media companies to publish immersive content with this technology.
The European Forest Institute is proud to have collaborated with Euronews on the 360 video on wildfires. EFI’s mission is to connect journalism and science communities around the topic of climate change.
Joining forces with Euronews is part of EFI’s new science-media initiative, The Lookout Station. The story on Portugal is the very first effort of the initiative, which will involve a number of media houses and provide scientific expertise to support digital storytelling on climate change. Pilot for the initiative, Lookout360° Climate Change Immersive Story Initiative, was recently launched. Euronews is the groundbreaker for the initiative, and sets the bar high.
| |
Thomas Seymat, VR & immersive journalism editor, Euronews |
“The fires in Portugal have been one of the major European stories in 2017, affecting thousands, and forcing us to look at the potential impacts of climate change on our continent. We wanted to take our audience on the ground to help understand the situation better. Our innovative use of 360 audio reaffirms Euronews position as a leading immersive journalism producer in Europe.
| |
Marc Palahí, Director, European Forest Institute
|
“At EFI we take a scientific look at the root causes behind the fires. The effects of global warming, together with the expansion of unmanaged forest land due to depopulation of rural areas, create the perfect storm for catastrophic forest fires. The focus must be shifted from fire suppression to prevention and forest management that enhances the resilience of forests to global change. Developing a sustainable forest bioeconomy is crucial for such transformation.”
(Source: Euronews press release)
17 November 2017
- TRT World Wins Outstanding Documentary Production at BroadcastPro Middle East Awards, held in partnership with The Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU).
- BroadcastPro Middle East Awards cover a broad range of categories to reward excellence in various fields across the broadcast workflow, from production to post-production to traditional broadcast and new media platforms.
- The winners are chosen by a panel of judges from across the MENA with varying technical skills within broadcast to ensure it is fully competent to judge the nominations.
TRT World’s Off the Grid has been awarded the prestigious outstanding Documentary Production of 2017 at BroadcastPro Middle East Awards.
Ibrahim Eren , Director General and Chairman of TRT said: “We are delighted to be recognized with this award. At TRT World, our voice is “humanitarian”, we put the people at the heart of our stories. I also would like to thank BroadcastPro Middle East for awarding our Jarablus documentary, and bringing the endless sufferings of Syrian people to the attention of industry professionals once again.”
The award was presented to Alexandra Pauliat, Executive Producer of Off the Grid, during the seventh edition of the ASBU BroadcastPro Selevision Summit and Awards on November 14, 2017 in Dubai.
“We’ve been trying to tell compelling human stories with high production value in our documentary series. We are happy to receive this award but more importantly we are happy to be the voice of Syrian people who have been going through tremendous suffering for the past few years” she said.
Off the Grid focuses on compelling human stories from across the globe. It is about individuals whose lives have been affected by unforeseen events but who decide to reshape their destinies.
TRT World’s Off the Grid: Jarablus, rising from the ashes
“They hung me up and beat me until I was unconscious. The treatment went on for three months, constant beatings. People were beheaded, there was blood flowing everywhere”, Fawaz al Jasim, recalls the horrors of life in a Daesh prison.
TRT World went to the Syrian city of Jarablus, that is being rebuilt a year after Turkish-backed forces liberated it from Daesh militants. People spoke of public executions, arbitrary arrests and torture on a daily basis.
After two years of living under the yolk of Daesh, life is beginning to return to normal. Women can come out of their homes, children can play on the streets and shops have reopened.
“I hope our children can complete their education and enjoy their childhood and lives. That they can have better lives than ours,” says Iman Alhaj who fled to Jarablus to escape the relentless bombardment of Syrian regime jets in Aleppo.
Team
Alexandra Pauliat (Executive Producer)
Mouhssine Ennaimi (Director/Producer)
Semir SejFovic (Pictures)
Alican Ayanlar(Correspondent)
To watch the award winning short production visit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrtQR39Tib8
About TRT World
TRT World is a platform of news outlets that inspires change within the world through its diverse reporting. It is headquartered in and broadcasting from the crossroads of East and West- Istanbul, Turkey. In addition, it has three more broadcast centers located in London, Washington DC and Singapore and an extensive global bureau network covering major regions and hot spots. Strategically designed to maximize its global reach, it is broadly available in all major English-speaking territories and can be accessed via traditional media, including free-to-air, cable and satellite, and other digital platforms, including mobiles, desktops and social media. A distinctive voice to the global news landscape, this is TRT World.
Address: Ahmet Adnan Saygun cad. No:83, 34340, Ulus, İstanbul, Turkey
Phone: +90 212 326 30 00
Contact: marcom@trtworld.com
14 November 2017
Eutelsat takes the pulse of TV trends in Middle East and North Africa with the latest edition of its TV Observatory:
- Satellite surges 7% in one year to reach new milestone of 59 million homes, or 94% of total TV homes
- Eutelsat/Nilesat 7/8° West neighbourhood first choice for multi-channel viewing: offering broadcasters access to 56.2 million homes, up 6% in 12 months
- HD up 34% at 7/8° West with a penetration rate of 15%; 66% of homes watching channels from 7/8° West now HD-equipped
Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL) today presented the results of its industry-benchmark survey on TV trends across the Middle East and North Africa at the ASBU BroadcastPro Selevision Summit in Dubai.
Satellite: the preferred digital video infrastructure across Middle East and North Africa
Satellite TV reception in the MENA region has continued to increase its market-share compared to terrestrial and IPTV, and now reaches into 59 million homes. This represents 94% of the 62.2 million TV homes in 14 Arab-speaking countries, up from 92% only 12 months ago.
Eutelsat 7/8° West neighbourhood: first choice for multi-channel viewing
Eutelsat’s 7/8° West neighbourhood has further reinforced its pole position, with reach into 56.2 million homes in 14 Arab countries,up 3.1 million homes in only one year. The attraction of 7/8° West for 95% of the satellite homes in the region is driven by an exceptional line-up of over 1,200 Arabic and international channels, with a high diversity of free-to-air content and exclusivity (55% of exclusive channels). This latest audience growth also reflects the expanding offer of High Definition content at 7/8° West, up 34% in 12 months to 179 channels (15% of channels).
10 million new HD-equipped homes in 12 months
The pace of adoption of HD is accelerating in the MENA region, with HD-equipped homes now reaching 28.2 million, up from 17.7 million in 12 months and representing 46% of TV homes. This percentage is even more significant at the Eutelsat/Nilesat 7/8° West neighbourhood where 66% of homes own HD displays.
Michel Azibert, Eutelsat Chief Commercial and Development Officer, commented on the figures: “Our 2017 survey confirms the dominance of satellite as the preferred digital infrastructure across the Middle East and North Africa and highlights key trends, notably the increasing significance of High Definition broadcasting. It also confirms the 7/8 ° West neighbourhood as the prime gateway for broadcasters, reaching into over 56 million homes from Morocco to the Gulf States. In addition to this capability, our complementary HOTBIRD neighbourhood broadcasts almost 80 Arabic channels, making it a compelling neighbourhood for reaching into millions of homes across Europe as well as in the Middle East and North Africa.”
(Source : Eutelsat press release)
14 November 2017
Photo credit – Elshad Asafov – Atlas Engineering
The BBC’s service in Azerbaijani, BBC Azərbaycanca, has expanded its reach with the launch of a dedicated channel on WhatsApp. The Xəbərin olsun! (Be in the know!) account is open to Azerbaijani-speakers, wherever they are, from 14 November 2017.
To join the group, users need to add +447548711235 to their WhatsApp contacts list and send a message simply saying “BBC”. The BBC will then contact them with the terms and conditions of using the channel.
Around 60% of the traffic to the website bbcazeri.com comes from social media. BBC Azərbaycanca Editor, Konul Khalilova, comments: “Via this new chatapp channel we will deliver news stories that inspire and engage our audience. We already see a growing following on Instagram – a platform of choice for young women – and our engagement rate on Facebook is also quite high. We will do our best to make our new channel a popular addition to Azerbaijani-speakers’ social-media habits.”
BBC Azərbaycanca connects with its social-media audiences on Facebook (with weekly Facebook Lives), Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Bringing the BBC’s coverage of global and regional events and developments, the service puts the developments in Azerbaijan and the wider region in the global perspective and offers a special focus on international developments which affect Azerbaijan and the region.
BBC Azərbaycanca is part of the BBC World Service.
(Source: BBC press release)
10 November 2017
Three years ago, Celebro opened a 2,000 square foot studio close to Oxford Circus in central London. The concept was simple: to offer state-of-the-art, multi-camera news studios with the kind of automation that international broadcasters have come to expect.
Today the company has 12,000 square feet at its London complex (with more space coming on-line in 2018) and operates a number of 24/7 channels, providing a full-service solution that includes newsrooms, OBs, playout and uplinks. Celebro has a wide client base that includes traditional broadcasters such as BBC, ITV and Viacom, news agencies including Reuters and internet companies such as Yahoo! The company has also helped launch international global news channels like Iran International, provided an international bureau for TRT World and provided services for a host of other international broadcasters across Europe, the Americas and Australasia.
Celebro is now expanding operations around the world. Celebro’s Moscow studio opened in 2015 to service broadcasts for MTV. The office has recently moved to central Moscow where it offers an enviable view of Red Square. Celebro’s Head of Production, Andrew Lebentz, explains that the move is timed ahead of a busy news cycle in Russia. “The eyes of the world will be focussed on Russia in 2018. March sees fresh Presidential Elections and of course the football World Cup kicks off in the summer. We already have a renewed interest in Moscow live positions as a result of the questions over Russian involvement in Syria and the US elections. Our new facility boasts unrivalled views of Red Square and has the capacity to run six simultaneous transmissions.”
Today Celebro is about to begin the process of taking its concept global. Celebro’s chief executive, Wesley Dodd, has announced that the company is building new studio locations in Washington DC and Los Angeles. “We wanted to take the same concepts that have helped in our success in the UK and offer our international clients the same level of service in the US. Our facility will offer more than 4,500 square foot near the Capitol with an eye-catching backdrop.”
The main studio will offer a fully-automated five-camera news centre along with a state-of-the-art newsroom with MOS integrated systems, VizRT graphics systems and a combination of desktop and craft editing. They will also offer three stunning rooftop positions of Capitol Hill, the beating heart of US politics.
The Washington studio is due to open in spring 2018 and a facility in Los Angeles is due to come on-line even sooner. The new studio, near the legendary junction of Sunset and Vine, has a spectacular view of the Hollywood sign and again offers a multi-camera automated news facility for those clients who want more than a straightforward ‘down-the-line.’
But Celebro’s ambitions do not end there. Over the past year Celebro have been building an IP based OB company that has responded to some of the year’s biggest news stories: the Grenfell Tower tragedy in London; the UK General Election; Catalonia’s independence vote; and the Manchester bombing.
Celebro’s Chairwoman, Maxine Mawhinney, is a former BBC News Channel anchor and explains the concept. “My years in rolling news means I understand how important it is to get reporters live on air and from the scene as fast as possible. Celebro Live is quick and easy to deploy and offers all the stability of a satellite truck but without the enormous cost. Also our ‘Celebro Minis’ are easier to take to the heart of the story, and have a much smaller carbon footprint.”
Over the next two years Celebro plans to add 30 new cities to its network infrastructure through a combination of new studios and Celebro Live facilities. To do so, Celebro has attracted venture capital funding in the UK and the US which is already helping the company to reach new markets.
You can see an interview with Wesley Dodd in the AIB’s In Conversation series here
1 November 2017
Winners of the 2017 AIBs – full list and details of the winners and finalists in the 2017 AIBs – The AIB this evening announced the winners and finalists of the 20 categories in the 2017 AIBs – the international awards for factual content organised by the Association for International Broadcasting. Now in their 13th year, the AIBs celebrate success and outstanding achievement. They are firmly established as an important and well-respected annual competition for broadcasters and producers the world over. The international judging panel comprises over 50 media professionals from all sectors of the industry. Celebro Media, Signiant and .RADIO are the sponsors of this year’s AIBs. The full list and details of the winners and finalists is to be found in Winners of the 2017 AIBs.
