8 February 2017
The winners of this year’s DStv Eutelsat Star Awards, the unique pan-African competition that encourages young minds to explore innovative thinking in science and space technology were announced tonight in Nigeria. The sixth edition shows sustained interest from African learners aged 14 to 19, attracting over 1,000 entries from 20 countries. Levels of accuracy, creativity and originality were judged to be higher than ever before, both in the essay and poster categories.
Prizes from out of space
Entrants to the essay category were inspired to envision the role played by satellite technology in Africa’s future. The winner in this category, Leoul Mesfin from Ethiopia, struck the judges for his analysis of continental and country specific needs and for closely developing the topic. He has won a trip to Paris and onwards to a launch site to witness a rocket blast into space to place a satellite into orbit. The runner-up in the essay category was Davids Bwana from Tanzania who wins a trip for two to visit MultiChoice facilities and the South African National Space Agency near Johannesburg.
In the poster category, first place went to Emmanuel Ochenjele from Nigeria for his depiction of a constellation of diverse satellites all contributing towards the advancement of solutions to challenges such as global warming, conservation of biodiversity and stable energy supply. He will visit Eutelsat in Paris and a satellite factory to see how satellites are operated. Aobakwe Letamofrom Botswana was the runner up in the same category. The four winning schools attended by award winners and runners-up were also rewarded with a DStv installation, including dish, TV set, PVR decoder and free access to the DStv Education Bouquet.
A new generation on the fast-track for positive change
Claudie Haigneré, Europe’s leading female astronaut and now special advisor to the Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA), chaired the jury of the Awards for the first time. She commented: “Taking part in the DStv Eutelsat Star Awards for the first time has been quite simply a mind-changing experience, especially as this year’s topic was particularly challenging. The visionary ideas on Africa’s future satellite landscape developed in essays and posters underscore how Africa’s youth expect technology to drive positive change for their continent. The Jury engaged in intense discussions to award the most realistic and creative proposals that deserve to stand out on the African stage. Our congratulations go to all the finalists for their work and to the winners for their brilliant ideas.”
She was assisted in her duty by a panel of international skilled industry experts: Ronke Bello, CEO at Innovative Technology Literacy Services Ltd (Nigeria), Elizabeth Ohene, journalist and former Minister of State to the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports (Ghana), Prof. Stephen Simukanga, Former University of Zambia Chancellor and now Director General of the Higher Education Authority, Jenerali Ulimwengu, well known writer, columnist and lawyer (Tanzania).
The winners were announced in the presence of the Hon. Permanent Secretary, his Excellency Sunny Echono, representing the Minister of Communication Technology who said: “This sixth edition shows sustained interest from African youths, adding fresh impetus to the mission shared by MultiChoice and Eutelsat to encourage young minds to positively change their world via innovative thinking in science and technology. This can be attested to by the number of Ministries, Departments and Agencies present at this event.”
(Source: Eutelsat press release)
6 February 2017
Current Time, an up-and-coming player in the Russian media market, will mark on Tuesday, Feb. 7 the formal launch of its 24/7 digital and TV stream.
With a mission to bring real news to Russian-speaking audiences everywhere, Current Time is engaging audiences from Lithuania to Kazakhstan and providing an alternative to Kremlin-sponsored media. The day-long video stream builds on the successes of individual daily news programs started in 2014 and 2015.
First and foremost a digital news and current affairs network, Current Time’s daily lineup features hourly live newscasts and sharp political debate, in addition to innovative programs covering business, entrepreneurship, civil society, and culture. It is also a leading destination for documentary films that are otherwise unavailable inside Russia.
“Led by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in cooperation with the Voice of America (VOA), the Current Time digital network is a signature accomplishment of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG),” said BBG CEO and Director John Lansing. “Current Time embodies all of the priorities I set forth to maximize the agility, efficiency and impact of the BBG networks and allow us to more effectively address the rapidly evolving global media environment.”
Public demand for Current Time’s content is reflected in its wide distribution network, comprising 32 cable affiliates in Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Germany, and Israel. Its live video stream is available across Eurasia, to more than 7.3 million subscribers to 36 satellite, cable, and IPTV services. The stream is also hosted on the digital platforms filmon.tv and MeGoGo, with more than 100 million monthly users, and on the Eutelsat Hotbird-8 satellite, which reaches 135 million households from Iceland to Turkey.
While TV remains the dominant media platform in much of Current Time’s target region, the network’s innovative digital unit takes the network’s content direct to growing mobile and web audiences, who have viewed its clever social videos on corruption, politics, and the ordinary challenges of daily life more than 160 million times in 2016 on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, and Russian social networks such as VKontakte and Odnoklassniki. An average of 1 million people per month visited the network’s website and mobile news and video apps.
The network’s Russian name, “Nastoyashchee Vremya,” has a triple meaning that aptly describes Current Time’s purpose — to provide its Russian-speaking audience content that is truthful, current, and real.
RFE/RL is a private, independent international news organization whose programs — radio, internet, television, and mobile — reach 27 million people in 26 languages and 23 countries, including Russia, Ukraine, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the republics of Central Asia and the Caucasus, and the Baltic states.
VOA delivers news and information in more than 45 languages to a measured weekly audience of more than 236 million people. With 75 years of experience, VOA is a trusted source for accurate information about news events, freedom of expression, civil society, and change.
VOA and RFE/RL are two of the five networks of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, an independent federal agency supervising all U.S. government-supported, civilian international media.
6 February 2017
Simon Fell, Director of the EBU Technology and Innovation Department, has been elected to chair the World Broadcasting Unions (WBU) Technical Committee (TC) for a two year term (2017/18). The WBU brings together the eight broadcasting unions in matters of common interest. The elected management team for the WBU-TC is Simon Fell (Chair), Amal Punchihewa, ABU Technical Director (Vice-Chair), and John Lee, Chairman of the NABA Technical Committee (Vice-Chair).
The WBU-TC has worked together and shared knowledge of broadcast technology and prepared common recommendations on such matters as broadcast spectrum and programme production for many decades. Simon Fell explained: “The world’s broadcasters face many common challenges, which include protecting broadcasters and their customers from IT security threats, understanding the impact of 5G on broadcasting, investigating whether there can be common file formats for programmes, and much more. I am looking forward to working with my colleagues across the world to the benefit of us all.” Simon Fell leads the team spearheading developments in media technologies at the EBU. He has four decades of experience, formerly with ITV as Director of Future Technologies; previously he helped establish Carlton Television where he held several executive positions and helped launch digital broadcasting.
He is currently Chairman of the ETSI Mobile Broadcast Convergence Group and previously has been President of DigiTAG and chaired the Technical Council at the UK’s Digital Television Group, and was Chairman of the HD Forum. Additional roles include Director of Engineering for Rushes, Chief Engineer of 625 and establishing Channel Four. His early career included periods in the USA with Rank Cintel and at YTV in Leeds. He is a Fellow of both the SMPTE and RTS.
Amal Punchihewa is currently the Director of Technology & Innovation at ABU. In that position, he leads a team of specialists, driving innovation of media technology in the best interest of ABU members. He facilitates technical guidelines and standards, providing expertise related to the convergence of media, and involving technical needs. He is an advisor to IET Vision and Imaging Technical and Professional Network, having previously served as an Executive committee member. He possesses more than 30 years of experience in all three sectors of broadcasting; viz. academia, research and industry, including roles in regional capacity building in media and as head of engineering of national TV-Sri Lanka. He graduated with B.Sc. (Eng) Hons. specialised in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering from Sri Lanka, M. Eng. from Technical University of Eindhoven, the Netherlands & PhD from Massey University in New Zealand. He is a Senior Member of IEEE, Chartered Professional Engineer-CEng, Fellow of IET (UK) & Fellow of IPENZ (New Zealand).
John Lee retired in December 2016 as Executive Director, Technology Solutions, for CBC/Radio-Canada, Canada’s national television and radio public broadcaster. In this role, he was responsible for all DTV and Radio transmission facilities, all satellite stations and facilities, telecommunications, mobility, telephony, unified communications; and for IT, including data centers, end-user computers, applications, Information Security and governance. In 2001, he and his project team won the Canadian Gemini Award for Outstanding Technical Achievement for the National Satellite DVC Project and, subsequently, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) International Broadcasting Excellence Award in 2002. He was the executive sponsor of the Next Generation Converged Network (NGCN) project, a high-speed 58 city software defined fibre-optic network which won the 2012 CBC President’s Award for Technical Innovation.
John Lee is a Vice-President of the North American Broadcasters Association (NABA) and is Chairman of NABA’s Technical Committee. He is Vice-Chairman of the World Broadcasting Unions (WBU) Technical Committee.
About the World Broadcasting Unions (WBU)
The World Broadcasting Unions (WBU) is the coordinating body for broadcasting unions who represent broadcaster networks across the globe. It was established in 1992 as a coordinating body at the international broadcasting level. Since then, the WBU has provided global solutions on key issues for its member unions. The North American Broadcasters Association (NABA) acts as secretariat for the WBU.
The broadcasting unions who belong to the WBU are the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU), the African Union of Broadcasting (AUB), the Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU), the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the International Association of Broadcasting (IAB/AIR), the North American Broadcasters Association (NABA) and the Organizacion de Telecomunicaciones Iberoamericanas (OTI).
6 February 2017
Arab Satellite Communication Organization – ARABSAT- is holding its 9th Telecom Forum in Tunis from 14th -15th February 2017. Arabsat holds its Telecom Forum annually to strengthen its professional and operational association with its customers. The 2017 Forum will provide a platform for ARABSAT customers, industry experts, technology and service providers to share their views on latest technological trends.
Arabsat’s CTO Eng. Mueid Al-Zahrani said “This occasion will be a great opportunity to present our reliable high powered capacity to deliver connectivity services to different verticals over extensive coverages in the Middle East, North Africa, North West Africa, Central Asia and South Africa. Our Future High Throughput Satellites (HTS) that are scheduled to be launched in 2018 will complement existing capacities and supply adequate bandwidth and coverage.”
The 9th Telecom Forum will provide a platform for international experts to explore, in-depth, a range of issues pertaining to the market needs for satellite capacity to fulfil the growth of satellite-based broadband solutions, aeronautical in flight entitlements, HTS applications and GSM backhaul.
(Source: ARABSAT press release)
1 February 2017
The latest articles in the AIB’s international media magazine, The Channel, are now available to read online or to download.
This month we focus on the ever more critical issue of cyber security and take a look at international broadcasting from the United States of America.
The chair of the AIB‘s Cyber Security Working Group, Denis Onuoha (CISO at Arqiva), talks about the need for all companies to focus efforts on protecting themselves from cyber attack. He also explains what is being done to ensure collaboration across the media industry.
We talk with John Lansing, CEO of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, about the way US international broadcasting is set up and how it is having an impact around the world.
Go to The Channel page of the AIB website to read these and other editions of the magazine
1 February 2017
Radio New Zealand International (RNZI) continues to serve people across the Pacific region, delivering essential day to day news and information and providing a vital lifeline in times of natural disaster.
RNZ CEO, Paul Thompson, has confirmed that there will be no reduction in Radio New Zealand’s commitment to its Pacific broadcast partners. His reassurance comes as Radio Australia closes its international shortwave transmission service to Papua New Guinea and the Pacific.
Paul Thompson has emphasised the importance of RNZI’s 25 year relationship with New Zealand’s Pacific neighbours.
“Remote parts of Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu who may be feeling the loss of the ABC can rest assured RNZI will continue to provide independent, timely and accurate news, information and weather warnings as well as entertainment to its Pacific listeners.”
RNZI has been broadcasting since 1990 to the Pacific and is regarded as the authoritative voice of the Pacific. It can be heard across the region and has proven to be a vital lifeline during times of disaster. In 2007 RNZI was named international Radio Station of the Year by the Association for International Broadcasting (AIB).
RNZI broadcasts timely cyclone and tsunami warnings via shortwave and can continue to be heard should local broadcasters go off-air due to a cyclone or other disaster.
Paul Thompson said the essential nature of Radio New Zealand’s role in the Pacific has been regularly underlined by the positive feedback to RNZI following cyclone and tsunami alerts.
“A Vanuatu villager has told our reporter Koroi Hawkins that he knew to take shelter during Cyclone Pam just because of the warnings broadcast on RNZI. At times like this we are the essential voice of the Pacific “
Chief Ben Lovo and his family stand outside their home in Bongkil Village on Erromango. In his hand is a little transistor radio which he used to tune into RNZI broadcasts of information on Cyclone Pam. “Chief Ben says when Vanuatu radio stations went down, RNZI was his only source of information on the path of Cyclone Pam and allowed him to warn four villages in his area in the hours before Pam hit.” Names: Chief Ben Lovo and Wife Eva Lovo with baby Jay, Richard (Reggae Shirt) and Samuel (blue trousers.)
RNZI’s coverage of the aftermath of Cyclone Pam in Vanuatu in 2015 won RNZI reporter Koroi
Hawkins a silver medal at the prestigious New York Festival Radio Awards in 2016.
RNZI broadcasts in digital and analogue short wave to radio stations and individual listeners
across the Pacific region.
Around twenty Pacific radio stations relay RNZI material daily, and individual short-wave
listeners and internet users across the world tune in directly to RNZI content.
The RNZI signal can sometimes be heard as far away as Japan, North America, the Middle East
and Europe. RNZI also provides rich content for online users through its website
http://www.radionz.co.nz/international
How to listen to RNZI: http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/listen
Ends
Editor Note: Photograph to be attributed to RNZI.
For further information contact:
Walter Zweifel, RNZI News Editor +644 474 1432
walter.zweifel@radionz.co.nz
Adrian Sainsbury, RNZI Technical Manager, +644 474 1430
adrian.sainsbury@radionz.co.nz
