27 April 2016
Watch This Disabled Boy’s World Change In Two Minutes a feature video produced by RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service has won the prestigious Webby People’s Voice Award.
The feature tells the story of a disabled teenager who relies on his friends to push him in his wheelchair everyday along the rugged path to school, and his elation when a local NGO surprises him with a four-wheel all-terrain vehicle he can operate himself to make the journey. Produced by Bishkek-based correspondent Ulanbek Egizbaev and repackaged by RFE/RL’s Current Time digital team for social media, it was viewed more than a million times globally in Russian, English, and the original Kyrgyz.
“We deeply value this recognition of the quality of RFE/RL reporting, and thank the many, many voters globally who felt the impact of this story just as powerfully as we did,” said RFE/RL Editor-in Chief Nenad Pejic.
Two other RFE/RL entries were selected as Official Honorees in the 2016 competition. Desperate Honeymoon, a documentary by Multimedia Producer Ray Furlong, follows Syrian newlyweds as they make the arduous trek across the Balkans in search of a better life in Europe. Honored in the Documentary: Individual Episode category, it won Silver and Bronze medals at the New York Festivals International Television and Film Awards earlier this month.
RFE/RL’s Pangea Digital team, which manages the company’s content management system, was recognized by The Webby Awards in the Mobile Sites & Apps: News category for RFE/RL’s new responsive design website.
The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet. Established in 1996, The Webby Awards received nearly 13,000 entries from over 70 countries worldwide this year, and were judged by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, an organization based in New York that presents the prize. The award will be presented at an awards ceremony in New York on May 16.
26 April 2016
RT took home the People’s Voice Award Webby – the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet – in an open online vote. Webby Awards online voters chose RT social media platforms over those of the BBC News, ABC News, NBC Nightly News and the New York Times.
RT won in the Social / News & Information category for its overall social media presence, as represented by a series of digital projects including platforms on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Soundcloud and Coub, as well as the RT Play Facebook portal, which offers a selection of infotainment videos with infographics elements.
“To be nominated in the first place means we’re doing things right. To win the People’s Voice award – and to win it by a landslide – means our online community is truly engaged,” says Kirill Karnovich-Valua, head of RT’s Online Projects. “And we thank every person who voted and brought us this victory! We will continue to focus on product quality, innovation and bringing our audiences the news and perspectives they would not otherwise get elsewhere.”
RT is the most watched news TV news network on YouTube, with 3.3 billion views across its channels. RT offers interactive media content accessible via its enhanced RT News mobile app, the RT Plugin community app incorporating an enhanced social network for viewers, and the Periscope live video streaming app. Additionally, RT is one of the first TV news outlets globally to have started news content production in the 360-degree, panoramic (VR) video format and the first among TV news channels to live-stream news on YouTube in this format as well.
“We have an incredibly talented social media team which gets the full credit for the victory,” commented Ivor Crotty, head of RT’s Social Media group. “Our team is multi-task-oriented, and social media is their environment: they are as comfortable with Twitter and YouTube as they are with 360 vids, GIFs, VR and many other trends and formats. Now we know that RT’s social media strategy is recognized at the very top, Webby level. So, hats off to the team.”
The Webby Awards, “the Internet’s highest honor,” according to The New York Times, annually recognizes the world’s best digital projects: websites, videos, mobile apps and social media campaigns. The jury includes 1,000+ professionals of the Web and media markets, including Twitter founder Biz Stone, Huffington Post co-founder and editor-in-chief Arianna Huffington, and actor and director Kevin Spacey. The list of winners over the years includes projects like YouTube, Google, BBC, CNN and Facebook. (Source: RT press release)
21 April 2016
France 24 has extended its distribution across the Netherlands by concluding two agreements with cable operators Ziggo and DELTA.
Thanks to a new agreement with Ziggo, France 24 French version is now available via the new application “TV Française”. The application is available for all subscribers equipped with the operator’s Horizon Box, which represents some 800.000 households of the total Ziggo park of 4 million and “TV Française” is intended to become available to all Horizon Go subscribers at a later date.
On DELTA, France 24 French language channel was launched on March 23rd as part of the optional Buitenlandpakket (“Foreign package”). Available on channel 525, France 24 is potentially available to Delta’s 135.000 households in the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands.
France 24 is also available 24/7 in the Netherlands on various platforms and notably on Canal Digitaal in English (channel n° 85), French (n° 239) and in Arabic (n°262).
For more real-time information on France 24’s distribution worldwide, go to ► http://f24.my/ijOOim
(Source: France 24 press release)
20 April 2016
NHK WORLD TV, a 24-hr English language channel, continues to reach out to new subscribers in ASEAN with its IPTV launch on 17 March 2016 on Advanced Info Service Public Company Limited (AIS), the largest mobile phone network provider in Thailand.
This launch sees NHK WORLD TV’s extensive programs being made available in HD to AIS Fibre broadband subscribers on its TV platform, AIS PLAYBOX, as well as its mobile application, AIS PLAY, running on both Android and iOS systems.
“Thailand, being a vibrant and robust ASEAN country, is an important market for us. We are confident Thai viewers will continue to find our news coverage objective and accurate, and our lifestyle programs entertaining and enlightening,” said Yoshihiko Shimizu, President and CEO, Japan International Broadcasting.
Operating from Japan, NHK WORLD TV is a 24-hour English language television service for international viewers; providing the latest Asia-centered informative and entertainment programs. NHK WORLD TV is available to 290 million households in 150 countries and regions. It is accessible via free mobile app, online live-streaming and video-on-demand on its website.
About Japan International Broadcasting, Inc. Japan International Broadcasting Inc. (JIB), a subsidiary of NHK, is responsible for the worldwide distribution of NHK WORLD TV as well as the Japanese language channel NHK WORLD PREMIUM. Currently, the two channels are broadcast around the world on three international plus domestic satellites in their respective markets and reach households, hotels and others via DTH, cable, IPTV and terrestrial broadcast. (Source: NHK World TV press release)
20 April 2016
Pointe-Noire, Republic of the Congo – Today at 17:00 local time, Michael Peters, CEO of Euronews and Africanews, officially launches Africanews channel, with the whole Africanews’ team.
Africanews is the first independent and multilingual pan-African news outlet to show the new face of news coverage from a fast-moving continent.
From Pointe-Noire in the Republic of the Congo, a team of 50 media professionals from 15 countries across sub-Saharan Africa has since 4 January 2016 been providing coverage, on africanews.com, of Africa and the rest of the world from a purely pan-African perspective. They are supported by an additional extensive network of 45 correspondents all over Africa, operating in conjunction with Africanews’ French-speaking and English-speaking editorial teams.
Africanews is a 100% Euronews subsidiary financed through advertising and distribution. Africanews adheres to the same editorial charter as its European sister channel, Euronews.
Africanews has created a fully-fledged pan-African network, with editorial decisions taken in Africa for an African audience.
From 20 April, the TV viewers of sub-Saharan Africa join the existing Africanews community on its website, its YouTube channels, and its Facebook and Twitter accounts.
For more informations about Africanews, its genesis and its programmes, the presskit is available: africanews.com/page/pressroom
Africanews: a sub-Saharan Africa channel
From its TV launch, Africanews is immediately available in 7.3 million homes in 33 countries across sub-Saharan Africa.
This exceptional launch is being conducted in partnership with major pay-TV players in Africa, who believe in this new pan-African media outlet.
Several national channels with regional reach have also chosen to team up with Africanews, and will broadcast part of its output (from 30 minutes to several hours a day): Canal 2 Info in Cameroon. MBC on Mauritius. Ouest TV in Senegal. RTA in Madagascar.
The Africanews signal covers sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian Ocean islands via two satellites: SES 4 and SES 5. To give the largest possible number of TV viewers access to this new source of African and international news, Africanews is broadcast unencrypted and offered free of charge, for the first six months, to operators and owners of dishes pointed at one of the two satellites.
* At launch, Africanews will also be distributed by operators in the following countries :
Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Sao Tome, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda.
Africanews: a business model based on commercial revenues
Africanews is a 100% Euronews subsidiary financed through advertising, distribution, production and partnerships revenues. Sales of advertising space start today on digital media and on TV. The first advertisers are: the mobile phone company MTN Congo, Brussels Airlines, the hotel chain Accor Africa and Madagascar Fair International.
(Source: Euronews press release)
The AIB has published the April edition of its industry briefings covering programming, distribution, people and more. You can read the full briefing