22 November 2016
The launch episode of motoring TV show The Grand Tour was released by Amazon on its Prime TV platform on 18 November to critical acclaim from viewers and critics. Amazon says that the new programme – presented by the three former hosts of the BBC’s
Top Gear programme – was the biggest show premiere ever on Amazon Prime, knocking its The Man in the High Castle drama off the top spot in terms of viewer numbers.
Amazon has also said that sign-ups to its Prime membership was high, beaten only by the company’s so-called Prime Day. Subsequent episodes will be released every Friday at 0001 GMT.
The Grand Tour has become the top rated TV show or movie on IMDb, the world’s most popular source of movie and TV data, with an overall rating of 9.6 and over 10,000 votes. The show is rated 4.9 out of 5 stars by more than 15,000 customers on Amazon, and currently has a score of 97% on Rotten Tomatoes.
“The guys are back, doing what they do best – the chemistry between Jeremy, Richard and James is what makes The Grand Tour so entertaining,” said Jeff Bezos, Chief Executive Officer of Amazon. “Their creativity, along with the amazing production quality and 4K HDR streaming, has Prime members responding in a big way. Kudos and congrats to the whole team.”
The first episode of The Grand Tour was released at 0001 GMT on Friday 18 November, and customers immediately started tweeting their thoughts on the blockbuster opening episode:
- @annoyingracefan: I’m more excited about @thegrandtour than I am the birth of my child. I don’t have any kids but I am sure you know what I mean.
- @DannyAllenUK: That intro sequence for @thegrandtour has to be one of the most emotion/beautiful and expensive sequences I’ve ever seen on a TV show.
- @TransAmPatrick: I’m crying. Why am I crying? What’s going on here? I’m in a glass case of emotion! #TheGrandTour
- @BTMcLeod: Started the first episode of @thegrandtour and I can’t remember the last time I was this happy to see 3 middle aged dudes.
- @Tom__Berry: I’m only 3 minutes in and I can already tell that @thegrandtour is the best thing on TV this year.
Further episodes will be released weekly over the next 11 weeks for Prime members in the U.S, U.K., Germany, Austria and Japan, and the show will premiere worldwide for Amazon customers in over 200 countries and territories in December.
In addition to the unprecedented customer response, The Grand Tour has received outstanding critical acclaim from media around the world:
- “A brilliant beautiful spectacle.” Guardian
- “Between the gear head banter and intoxicating visuals, The Grand Tour makes for a sweet escape from the real world we all live in.” New York Post
- “The trio’s chemistry remains as brilliant as ever.” The Independent
- “Fans are over the moon.” Mail Online
- “The Grand Tour is stunningly beautiful.” The London Evening Standard
- “The Grand Tour is this year’s most eagerly-anticipated TV show. And, judging by the reaction to its Thursday debut, it’s fair to say that The Grand Tour is a critical and commercial success. Together, both viewers and reviewers flooded social media after the first episode aired on Amazon Prime, and they were unified in their praise.” Daily Mirror
- “They’ve sort of somehow come up with the world’s first scripted comedy factual show, and it works perfectly.” Digital Spy
- “Critics and fans welcome Jeremy Clarkson and co back with open arms.” Newsweek
Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May have been filming the first season of The Grand Tour in far-flung locations across the globe. The studio portion of the show takes place in a travelling tent in locations ranging from Johannesburg to California, Scotland to Rotterdam, Lapland to Nashville, Whitby in North Yorkshire to Stuttgart and the final stop in Dubai. The first episode kicked off in California, when Jeremy, Richard and James took their famous studio tent to Dry Rabbit Lake. Thousands of fans from across the U.S. travelled to the desert near Lucerne Valley, outside of Los Angeles for The Grand Tour’s very own “Burning Van” festival which was part of the opener of the first ever episode. The Grand Tour is available to stream at www.amazon.co.uk/thegrandtour with new episodes releasing weekly for 12 weeks. The official series trailer can be viewed here and to be the first to be notified of upcoming episodes and other news about The Grand Tour, fans can follow The Grand Tour on Facebook Twitter and at Amazon.
18 November 2016
The Association for International Broadcasting has expressed its concern about the proposal to abolish the TV and radio licence fee in Romania.
The plan was included in a bill that proposes the abolition of more than 100 fiscal taxes without any public debate or discussion. The AIB notes that in no EU Member State has there been a proposal for such a fundamental alteration to the funding model of a country’s public service broadcasting that has not been subject to public scrutiny and discussion.
The AIB has written to Romanian President Klaus Iohannis expressing the Association’s concern and asking him to ensure that the proposal receives the correct level of attention within the country and its parliament.
The AIB will be monitoring developments in Romania over the coming weeks.
18 November 2016
The AIB is pleased to announce its first #iamabroadcaster Technology Masterclass in association with IABM.
This new event, taking place immediately before the IABM’s Annual Conference, aims to highlight the use of technology in creating, producing and delivering programming to consumers. It will also explore the mission-critical issue of cyber security in broadcasting, and look at the important work being done in digitising media archives to protect nations’ audio-visual history.
The event venue is the Radisson Blu Edwardian at London Heathrow. The half-day Masterclass is open to Members and non-members of both the AIB and IABM.
The cost for Members of either organisation is £55 per person. For non-members the charge is £80 per person.
AGENDA
0900 Registration
0930 Welcome and introduction
0940 Keeping the lights on
The threat of cyber-attacks against high value targets in the media industry has never been greater. In addition to the high profile attacks on Sony and TV5 Monde, broadcasters and other companies playing a vital role in the production and distribution of content throughout the world continue to be targeted by criminal gangs and rogue states.
The Association for International Broadcasting has been working to ensure that its Members are able to share information and expertise in a confidential forum to help minimise risk and ensure that networks remain on the air.
Taking part in a discussion that will explore the challenges and the way that technology suppliers can help ensure that programmes remain on air will be Jonathan Farrell, Head of Information Security at Arqiva and James Stubbs, Business Development Manager at Babcock MSS. Both have first-hand experience of how to make broadcast infrastructure resilient against attack and the need for all parts of the industry to act together to make sure that the attempts to take broadcasters off air, or to infiltrate their playout systems and online services, are stopped in their tracks.
1030 Coffee
1100 Content worth keeping
Preserving the past for the future – Private Engineering Office, Qatar
Although it’s a relatively young country, Qatar has an extensive analogue library of TV programming and film. In its original format, the content is inaccessible. That’s why the Qatari government has implemented what may be the world’s most concentrated and comprehensive digitisation project. It aims not only to preserve the content but also to analyse the material, employing historians to tag the programming and then to make it easily accessible for citizens and scholars, now and in the future.
In this session, we’ll learn about the project and how it has been implemented. We’ll find out whether the systems developed in Qatar can be replicated elsewhere as the world’s audio-visual history cries out for preservation against a backdrop of obsolescent formats and rapidly deteriorating archives.
Sanjay Salil, Managing Director of global media services company MediaGuru will explain the work that has gone into the Qatar project.
1140 Enabling story-telling
How is technology enabling story-telling? Is the equipment that’s available today meeting all the editorial requirements of programme makers? In an environment where consumers are always on and want content delivered anytime, anywhere, can technology companies deliver what’s demanded by journalists, editors, producers and directors? In a wide-ranging discussion involving key players working at the sharp end of live broadcasting, we’ll also hear from consumers in Europe, North America and the Middle East about the way they choose content and the means of consumption. Expect some surprises along the way.
Martin Davies, Founder of Between the Posts Productions will be in conversation with Wesley Dodd, CEO of Celebro Studios.
1240 Close
1300 Networking lunch
16 November 2016
The BBC’s Thai language service launched today the website – bbcthai.com – to expand on its presence in social media and further strengthen BBC’s news and current-affairs offer to Thai-speaking audience, in Thailand and around the world.
BBC Thai was created in July 2014 as a Facebook service in response to the military coup in Thailand, and is now is in the unique position of moving from being a social only offer to engaging with users directly on a BBC platform.
Via its social-media and new online presence, BBC Thai aims at attracting a digitally savvy and young audience, while continuing to be a source of impartial and independent news for a country were the media still faces restrictions.
The development is a result of the funding boost for the BBC World Service announced by the UK Government last year and is part of the World Service’s biggest expansion since the 1940s. Along with national, regional and international politics, bbcthai.com will cover business, culture, health, technology, science and entertainment – as well as women’s issues and social affairs. It offers free content from BBC Learning English.
During the past two years BBC Thai Facebook page has generated over 1.3 million interactions a month and has 1.65 million fans (November 2016), mostly in Thailand. BBC Thai also uses Facebook Live, Google Hangouts, YouTube and other social media to reach its audience.
BBC Thai has expanded its team in London and its Bangkok office, to enhance its ability to produce original digital content. Its newly appointed Editor, veteran Thai journalist and broadcaster Nopporn Wong-Anan, will lead the teams. He said:
“I am excited and proud to be part of the digital transformation of BBC Thai as it has moved from being a social-only service to its own new platform, bbcthai.com. Via this new, mobile-first website we will serve Thai-speakers looking for independent, accurate and balanced news, information and analysis, for which the BBC is known. BBC Thai’s presence on the social-media scene will continue to expand.”
The service will also bring innovative formats to engage its audience and has partnered up with BBC’s task-forces that drive the organisation’s digital innovation – BBC Connected Studio and BBC News Labs. The team explored themes of participation and interaction with the local Thai creative industry in Bangkok and Chiang Mai this summer.
BBC Thai is part of BBC World Service. (Source: BBC press release)
16 November 2016
The BBC World Service has announced its biggest expansion since the 1940s, in a move designed to bring its independent journalism to millions more people around the world, including in places where media freedom is under threat.
The BBC World Service will also expand its digital services to offer more mobile and video content, a greater social media presence, and new ways of reaching its audience around the globe.
The BBC World Service will launch 11 new services in Afaan Oromo, Amharic, Gujarati, Igbo, Korean, Marathi, Pidgin, Punjabi, Telugu, Tigrinya, and Yoruba. This means the BBC World Service will be available in 40 languages including English. The expansion will also mean more journalists on the ground in locations across the world.
The expansion includes plans for the BBC to:
- Produce extended news bulletins in Russian, with regionalised versions for surrounding countries, a relaunched website, new digital formats and more journalists on the ground
- Enhance its television services across Africa, including over 30 new TV programmes for partner broadcasters across sub-Saharan Africa
- Enhance the BBC Arabic offer by delivering new regional programming across the Arab world
- Broadcast short-wave and medium-wave radio programmes aimed at audiences in the Korean peninsula, supplemented by digital content online and on social media
- Invest in World Service English, with new programmes, more original journalism, and a broader agenda
- Continue with the digital transformation of the BBC World Service, including new TV news bulletins, so that all 40 languages will eventually have a video offer
- Use its global presence to provide an even greater focus on analysis and explanation, or ‘slow news’, helping audiences to make sense of the world by explaining the ‘why’ as well as the ‘what’.
Tony Hall, Director-General of the BBC, said: “This is a historic day for the BBC, as we announce the biggest expansion of the World Service since the 1940s. The BBC World Service is a jewel in the crown – for the BBC and for Britain.
“As we move towards our centenary, my vision is of a confident, outward-looking BBC which brings the best of our independent, impartial journalism and world-class entertainment to half a billion people around the world. Today is a key step towards that aim.”
Francesca Unsworth, BBC World Service Director, said: “Through war, revolution and global change, people around the world have relied on the World Service for independent, trusted, impartial news. As an independent broadcaster, we remain as relevant as ever in the 21st century, when in many places there is not more free expression, but less.
“Today’s announcement is about transforming the World Service by investing for the future. We must follow our audience, who consume the news in changing ways; an increasing number of people are watching the World Service on TV, and many services are now digital-only. We will be able to speed up our digital transformation, especially for younger audiences, and we will continue to invest in video news bulletins. What will not change is our commitment to independent, impartial journalism.”
The BBC World Service will focus particularly on increasing audience reach with younger people and women.
The BBC’s Director-General has set a target for the BBC to reach 500m people worldwide by its centenary in 2022.
This expansion is a result of the funding boost for the BBC World Service announced by the UK Government last year. Further details of the new services will be announced in due course. The first new services are expected to launch in 2017.
15 November 2016
The Broadcasting Board of Governors today released its annual impact numbers which show the agency had its largest ever increase in its weekly worldwide audience to 278 million people, up from 226 million in 2015. These increases occurred across all platforms with digital platforms seeing the largest percentage growth, followed by radio and television.
“The unprecedented growth we’ve seen this year further illustrates the need for U.S. international media particularly in parts of the world where access to balanced, impartial news is severely limited or non-existent,” said BBG CEO and Director John Lansing. “In media markets increasingly dominated by disinformation and propaganda, more and more people are turning to BBG networks for fair, accurate, fact-based reporting.”
The increases include gains in highly competitive media markets that are of strategic importance to the United States. Digital audiences increased from 32 million to 45 million while those for radio rose by 27% to 130 million. Television audience also grew, increasing 23% to 174 million.
In addition to weekly audience size, the BBG measures its impact using quantitative, qualitative, digital and anecdotal data on a wide range of factors including program quality and credibility, engagement with the news process, and audience understanding of current events. Key accomplishments include:
- MBN’s Raise Your Voice-Iraq developed new television programs encouraging Iraqis to share their thoughts and opinions on extremism and the underlying causes of terrorism. This programming provides firsthand accounts of the realities of life under ISIL, including the pain and suffering of families and communities.
- RFE/RL and VOA actively engaged online in providing alternatives to Russian disinformation. In FY 2016, RFE/RL’s DIGIM, the social media arm of Current Time, received 120,000 average weekly engagement actions on Facebook and VOA Russian averaged 45,000 per week.
- VOA and RFA increased their social media outreach in Southeast Asia with huge gains in video viewing and engagement on Facebook and YouTube. VOA Vietnamese averaged 2.7 million video views weekly on YouTube, and RFA averaged over 600,000.
- OCB hosted a two-day conference on internet freedom in Cuba. The event convened a broad spectrum of digital innovators and independent journalists from Cuba and elsewhere to exchange ideas and provide important information about the state of the internet in Cuba.
To learn more about the BBG’s performance measures, the 2016 Performance and Accountability Report, along with the BBG’s 2016 audience overview and explanation of research methodology are available here.
(Source: BBG press release)
