Michael Peters, CEO of Euronews Group, has appointed François Schmitt as the group’s Chief Operating Officer, with a seat on the Executive Committee.
As part of its NEXT strategy, Euronews has set up a new department charged with the operational management of broadcast and digital products.
Michael Peters has handed this operational remit to François Schmitt, who now oversees a number of units. The experience he acquired at the Eurosport group as Technical Director (1995-2001), then as Deputy CEO in charge of products, TV and digital content (2001-2015), will contribute to the Euronews group’s successful development.
François Schmitt joined Euronews SA in February as a consultant to help design the NEXT project.
Michael Peters,CEO
“We are now entering the operational design phase of our NEXT project. NEXTwill revolutionise the organisation and workflows of our various mediai.e Euronews and Africanews, with the aim of delivering the group’s digital transformation and revamping our editorial offering.
To support our editorial teams, I am assigning François Schmitt to head a new department that operationally manage our linear and digital products.
His sharp and cross-functional vision is an asset that will help us deploy our new organisation by leveraging the many talents of our teams.”
François Schmitt, COO
“Being part of this defining adventure, which will shape the group’s future, is afascinating challenge. The objective now is to organise the group’s digital transformation so that every product is fully aligned with users’ new modes of consuming news, wherever they are in the world.
The group-wide project for Euronews and Africanews is an ambitious one. And in a world where the media are wondering about their future, heading up the Operations Department is also an excitingstage in my career.”
Intelsat S.A. (NYSE: I), operator of the world’s first Globalized Network, powered by its leading satellite backbone, today announced the successful launch of the Intelsat 36 satellite. Intelsat 36 was launched from French Guiana aboard an Ariane 5 launch vehicle. Liftoff occurred at 6:16 p.m. EDT. The satellite separated from the rocket’s lower stage at 6:57 p.m. EDT, and the Intelsat launch team has confirmed signal acquisition.
Built for Intelsat by Space Systems/Loral (SSL), Intelsat 36 is designed to enhance Intelsat’s media neighborhoods serving Africa and the Indian Ocean regions. The Ku-band payload was built to support MultiChoice, the leading direct-to-home platform in South Africa. The C-band payload provides in-orbit resilience for Intelsat’s leading video content distribution neighborhood at 68.5° E. Intelsat 36 will be collocated with Intelsat 20.
“Intelsat 36 is a testament to our dedication to working closely with our customers in Africa to support critical growing infrastructure needs in the region,” said Stephen Spengler, Chief Executive Officer, Intelsat.
“Having consistent and affordable access to informative and entertaining content is vital to a community and its citizens. Intelsat 36 will enable MultiChoice to extend high definition channels throughout the region via one of Africa’s premier video neighborhoods. We are proud to once again partner with MultiChoice as they continue to deliver high quality and compelling educational and entertainment services to their customers throughout sub-Saharan Africa.”
Intelsat 36 is the 58th Intelsat satellite launched by Arianespace.
Exclusive occasional use partnership will deliver content to rights takers across the globe
Arqiva, the communications infrastructure and media services company, has today announced a new partnership with multi-platform media company Red Bull Media House to distribute live video sports content to international broadcasters.
As part of an exclusive multi-year occasional use (OU) partnership, Arqiva will be responsible for distributing the content, and delivering it globally through Arqiva’s teleports to the rights takers.
Since its launch in 2007, Red Bull Media House has established a reputation as an innovator, creating premium content for both special interest and broader audiences across TV, mobile, digital, audio and print.
Red Bull hosts a range of sports events across the globe, including the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series and the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup. Though the exact schedule has yet to be confirmed, one of the key sports Arqiva will handle as part of the contract is the second season of its Beach Volleyball coverage.
David Crawford, Managing Director of Satellite & Media at Arqiva commented: “It is always great to gain a new media partner, but the fact that we’ll be working alongside a global company that is pushing the boundaries in terms of sports content distribution is hugely exciting.
“Arqiva continues to expand its presence across the globe, and the partnership with Red Bull Media House to distribute content to international broadcasters highlights the outstanding, trusted reputation we are developing across multiple markets.”
Alexey Nikolov, Chair of the AIB’s Executive Committee – and Managing Director of RT channel – talks about his role in the Association and about the work the AIB carries out around the world.
International broadcast and media supplier and end-user associations get together to drive common interests worldwide
London, 18 August 2016
The Association for International Broadcasting today announced that it has entered a strategic partnership with IABM. AIB represents 70 major international broadcasters and has an active community of 27,000 senior executives in media companies in over 160 territories; IABM membership comprises 450+ broadcast and media technology suppliers worldwide. The partnership brings together both ends of the industry to create opportunities for conversations that will dramatically increase understanding and cooperation across the entire media ecosystem.
“We are delighted about this new collaboration,” said Simon Spanswick, chief executive of the AIB (pictured left). “It is important that there is understanding of broadcasters’ needs and requirements in the rapidly changing and constantly evolving media marketplace. IABM’s members are crucial to the production and delivery of programmes so it makes sense for there to be conversations between the production and vendor communities. As the AIB’s members face ever more challenges from changing audience consumption patterns, cyber threats and the need to operate more sustainably, the dialogue between the two ends of the industry are ever more crucial.”
“IABM members have been keen for us to help promote dialogue, cooperation and understanding between them and end-users and so this partnership will be warmly welcomed both by our members and the wider industry,” said Peter White, IABM CEO (pictured right). “AIB is the perfect partner for IABM and working together will naturally further both organizations’ aims; at a stroke, we have created an open forum that will foster stronger and deeper relationships between all the industry’s stakeholders across both supplier and end-user organisations.
“AIB has the international reach and knowledge to help IABM members better understand the challenges and opportunities the rapidly changing media landscape is creating. This strategic partnership will benefit IABM members by enabling them to develop new and relevant products and services to meet end-users’ actual rather than perceived requirements. As the relationship between the two associations develops, more and more areas for cooperation will open up for the benefit of everyone,” White concluded.
Regional broadcaster Channel NewsAsia unveils a one-hour special documentary dealing with the difficult issue of race in Singapore. A first on national television, Regardless of Race… examines where multiracial Singapore really stands on race relations and aims to answer some tough questions – Why are people afraid to talk about race? Do parents tell their children that racism is bad? How colour-blind are Singaporeans?
Dr Janil Puthucheary, Chairperson of OnePeople.sg, the organisation that advocates multiracialism and racial harmony in Singapore, goes on a journey to find answers to these questions. From taxi drivers to primary school children, he speaks to Singaporeans from all walks of life to find out what people are not willing to say about race.
Among the profiles are one of Singapore’s S League teams, former Nominated Member of Parliament Mr Zulkifli Baharudin, consulting editor of The Middle Ground Ms Bertha Henson, Vice Dean & Associate Professor at the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy Dr Kenneth Paul Tan, and Singaporean entertainer, Kumar.
Some highlights of the programme include a social experiment exploring the presence of a privilege gap between majority and minority racial groups, as well as new statistical findings from a large nation-wide survey done in collaboration with the Institute of Policy Studies.
Ms Sharon Hun, Senior Executive Producer of Current Affairs, says, “Having just celebrated 50 years of independence, we wanted to explore a topic that might confront Singapore as we move into the next 50 years. We have never dealt with race relations as a topic on national television, but we believe that it is the right time to examine who we really are as a people. We didn’t want it to be purely anecdotal, but based on a comprehensive nation-wide survey on race relations. We also asked people from all walks of life and of all ages, to find out if it is time we talk more about race.”
Special Screening
A special screening of Regardless of Race… was organised for some 100 invited guests and members of the media before its telecast on Channel NewsAsia.
The screening was followed by a short dialogue with Dr Janil Puthucheary.
Regardless of Race… will telecast on Channel NewsAsia on Monday, 15 August 2016 at 8pm (Sin/HK/MNL time). It will also be available as video-on-demand on www.channelnewsasia.com/tv and www.toggle.sg a week from its telecast.
The Association for International Broadcasting today announced that it has entered a strategic partnership with 
“We are delighted about this new collaboration,” said Simon Spanswick, chief executive of the AIB (pictured left). “It is important that there is understanding of broadcasters’ needs and requirements in the rapidly changing and constantly evolving media marketplace. IABM’s members are crucial to the production and delivery of programmes so it makes sense for there to be conversations between the production and vendor communities. As the AIB’s members face ever more challenges from changing audience consumption patterns, cyber threats and the need to operate more sustainably, the dialogue between the two ends of the industry are ever more crucial.”
“IABM members have been keen for us to help promote dialogue, cooperation and understanding between them and end-users and so this partnership will be warmly welcomed both by our members and the wider industry,” said Peter White, IABM CEO (pictured right). “AIB is the perfect partner for IABM and working together will naturally further both organizations’ aims; at a stroke, we have created an open forum that will foster stronger and deeper relationships between all the industry’s stakeholders across both supplier and end-user organisations.