SES S.A. (NYSE Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) and New York-based Fashion One Television LLC., the leading fashion, entertainment and lifestyle television network, have launched the world’s first global Ultra HD channel, Fashion One 4K. SES is delivering the free-to-air channel across North America, South America and Europe via its satellites.
Launched on 1 September, Fashion One 4K has a technical reach of 100 million households across North America via SES’s Ultra HD platform on the SES-3 satellite at 103 degrees West and 23 million households across South America on the NSS-806 satellite at 47.5 degrees West. In Europe, the channel, broadcast under the brand Fashion 4K, reaches over 116 million households via SES’s prime orbital position at19.2 degrees East. SES Platform Services, an SES subsidiary, is providing a fully-managed 4k playout along with ground segment and distribution services for the Ultra HD channel. The channel launches worldwide as Fashion One 4K, and in Europe as Fashion 4K.
Fashion One has been upgrading its production format from HD to Ultra HD since 2014 and now owns an extensive library of Ultra HD content with 100% content rights. Fashion One 4K currently carries the latest fashion and entertainment content, such as new seasons of the active lifestyle series Model Yoga, the global culinary adventures of Fashion On A Plate, and the sustainable fashion docu-series Eco Fashion. Other programming includes specials like The Ultimate Style Guide and Fashion Around the Globe, leaving something for everyone.
With four times the clarity of HD broadcasting, there is no better way to experience the world of fashion than to witness it in Ultra HD’s superior resolution. Viewers will experience the sharpest details, the smoothest lines and the richest colour palette ever to be broadcast on television.
“We are tremendously excited to launch Fashion One 4K, the world’s first global Ultra HD channel dedicated to fashion and entertainment. We have invested heavily in producing Ultra HD content over the last two years, and I’m delighted that we are finally able to share the channel with our viewers,” said Fashion One Television’s Chief Operations Officer, Gleb Livshits. “Together with SES, our long-time partner, we are committed to leading the industry and providing our audiences with the highest quality content.”
“Since 2013, SES has been at the forefront of developing the broadcasting part of the Ultra HD ecosystem and was the first to broadcast a live football match and a live concert in the new HEVC compression standard,” said Ferdinand Kayser, Chief Commercial Officer at SES. “Now, Ultra HD is a reality for millions of viewers worldwide, with the first global broadcast channel launching on SES satellites. There is no better way to broadcast Ultra HD than over satellite and we are delighted that Fashion One is also relying on our expertise for the playout, encoding and uplinking of their Ultra HD channel.”
Fashion One 4K was launched concurrently on MEASAT-3a at 91.5 degrees East, reaching over 130 million households across the Asia Pacific, Middle East, Australia and East Africa.
The Association for International Broadcasting has expressed its condemnation of the seven and a half year jail sentence imposed on Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova.
“The sentence marks a new low in Azerbaijan’s treatment of the country’s journalists and civil society,” commented Simon Spanswick, chief executive of the Association for International Broadcasting. “The AIB has observed continuing harassment of those who attempt to provide Azerbaijan citizens with unbiased information. Broadcasters such as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – for whom Khadija worked – have had their offices in Baku closed. Unsubstantiated charges have been brought against RFE/RL and its staff, and against other journalists working in Azerbaijan. The AIB believes that Khadija’s sentencing is entirely politically motivated and we call on the country’s authorities to quash the sentence.”
Azerbaijan is, according to a number of international non-governmental organisations, one of the worst countries in the world in terms of press freedom and free expression. There have been repeated cases involving the jailing of journalists and members of civil society organisations.
The state’s case against Khadija Ismayilova centred on tax evasion, illegal business and embezzlement. No substantive evidence was produced during the trial, illustrating the flimsy nature of the prosecution.
AIB will be taking up the issue with the Azerbaijan authorities.
BBC Russian service’s iconic presenter, Seva Novgorodsev, will sign off from his programme, BBSeva, for the last time on Friday 4 September 2015, culminating his 38-year broadcasting career with the BBC.
Seva says: “It is really hard to wrap up my 38 and a half years as a BBC broadcaster. How do I say goodbye to my listener? With their response over these decades, my audience have also shaped up my broadcasts and my life. So I’ll just say: we are all temporary but the BBC is forever.”
Seva started to present BBC Russian’s Pop-music Programme from London in 1977, later transforming it into his celebrated Rock-posevy, introducing major recording artists such as Queen, David Bowie, Deep Purple etc to the Soviet audience. A unique window on Western, and especially British, pop-culture for people in the Soviet Union, the programme made Seva a household name for millions. With his trademark informal, wisecracking style, Seva won himself – and the BBC – a vast fan base from across the USSR. The programme also shaped up his fame as the ‘first Russian DJ’.
The weekly music-and-chat show, Sevaoborot, which Novgorodsev initiated and authored in 1987, turned into a cult among Russian-speaking radio listeners. Since 2003, Novgorodsev’s daily live programme, BBSeva (which has been available on bbcrussian.com), has been bringing ‘news with a human face’. It has been looking at current affairs from a human-interest angle, with a special focus on arts and culture.
In 2005, Seva was awarded an MBE for services to radio broadcasting.
BBC World Service European Hub Editor, Artyom Liss, comments: “Seva Novgorodsev represents the best the BBC has to offer. Informative, witty, relevant – his broadcasts have been truly legendary. For decades, they occupied a very special place in millions of hearts. Seva is signing off as a broadcaster, but we are not saying farewell – his association with the BBC will continue, albeit in a different format.”
Seva’s unique contribution to BBC Russian will be marked with dedicated output. His last broadcast will air live from Pushkin House in London – an event with invited guests which will celebrate the pivotal points of Seva’s career. The programme will feature many of the people Seva interviewed over the years.
A specially commissioned TV documentary – with the title echoing Seva’s famous sign-off “Seva. Seva Novgorodsev. The City of London. BBC” – will air on bbcrussian.com and BBC World Service’s partner TV station in Russia, Dozhd TV on Friday 4 September. Filmed in London, Tallinn and St Petersburg, it tells Seva’s amazing story, from childhood in the family of a Soviet sea captain, to ship’s officer, to jazz musician, to BBC broadcaster. It features, along with Seva, major Russian cultural figures who speak about the role of his BBC broadcasts in their formation as musicians and as personalities.
Also on Friday 4 September, Seva will hold a live conversation with audiences on the BBC Russian Facebook page.
A Baku court today sentenced investigative journalist and RFE/RL contributor Khadija Ismayilova to seven and a half years in prison on charges widely believed to be retribution for her reporting on corruption linked to Azeri President Ilham Aliyev and members of his family.
Ismayilova was convicted on charges of criminal libel, tax evasion, illegal business activity, and abuse of power. She was barred from holding public office for three years and fined the equivalent of 300USD for court-related expenses. She was acquitted of the charge of incitement to suicide.
“Khadija’s case is an example of politics, not law. There was no merit, ever, to any of the charges against her and there was no due process during her trial.” said Nenad Pejic, RFE/RL’s editor in chief. “The authorities simply decided to silence her at any price.”
In her final testimony in court on August 31, a defiant Ismayilova delivered her own blistering indictment of Azerbaijan’s justice system, mocking the prosecution for failing to put together a convincing case and schooling the judge on the charges against her. She called the trial a “poor quality scam” and said, “I am more successful in this business of finding proof than is the notorious prosecutor’s staff.”
During the trial, not a single witness testified against Ismayilova in court.
In a public statement condemning the sentence, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatovic, called on the Azeri government “to stop targeting journalists.” The U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists stated that the sentence would have “gravely serious” consequences for Azeri journalists. Speaking as a member of the Sport for Rights Coalition of media advocacy and human rights groups, the PEN American Center’s Karin Deutsch Karlekar called on the Azeri government to stop “this unprecedented witch-hunt against journalists.”
Ismayilova was arrested on December 5, 2014 for inciting an individual to attempt suicide Her accuser sought to withdraw the allegation, testifying in a pre-trial hearing in July that he had “defamed” her under pressure from law enforcement agencies, but the court rejected a defense motion to drop the charge.
Additional charges of money laundering, illegal entrepreneurship, tax evasion, and abuse of authority, all purportedly related to her work for RFE/RL, were brought against her in February, 2015. Ismayilova ridiculed the charges in her closing statement for their arbitrariness and lack of proof. They were previously refuted by RFE/RL in a point-by-point statement sent to Azerbaijan’s general prosecutor and the judge presiding in the trial.
One day before Ismayilova’s arrest, Rahmiz Mehtiyev, senior adviser to President Aliyev, published a 60-page tirade accusing RFE/RL journalists of treason. Three weeks later, on December 26, Azeri state agents raided and sealed RFE/RL’s Baku bureau, seizing documents, corporate stamps, and equipment. They then interrogated more than 20 members of its staff. The bureau is closed and, according to the prosecutor’s office, remains under investigation in connection with RFE/RL’s status as a “foreign agent.”
RFE/RL continues to gather news and report inside Azerbaijan for its website, www.azadliq.org. Several of its employees have fled the country in fear and others work under duress, subject to interrogations, frozen bank accounts, and threats.
(Source: RFE/RL press release)
The international news channel raises its reach in Taiwan to 2,3 million households
Euronews has announced the signature of three new contracts in Taiwan. Already present since 2010 on the major IPTV operator, MOD Chua Hua Telecom, the English language version of Euronews has now been integrated by the digital operator Dafeng Cable in its basic offer, reaching an additional 200,000 subscribers in the country.
In addition, Euronews English has been selected to be part of the launch package of the new IPTV offer Spider.net, projecting a rapid growth amongst young influential Taiwanese consumers.
And for the first time, Euronews is also available on mobile devices in Taiwan. Fain TV, the most important mobile video platform in the country provides high definition video streaming services (live or VOD) to 640,000 mobile viewers in Taiwan.
Arnaud Verlhac, Worldwide Distribution Director of Euronews said: “Taiwan is a leading place for new technologies and a great opportunity to develop our services to this demanding audience. We are proud to have grown our reach in only 5 years to 2,3 million users in this highly connected country. This not only proves that our strategy responds to the markets needs but also demonstrates the appreciation Taiwanese people have for the European angle and the independent editorial view on international news that Euronews offers.”
Sabrina Mimouni, Euronews Regional Distribution Manager / Asia-Pacific added: “Taiwan is the perfect market to explore Euronews’ capability to tailor its content to different distribution supports. From cable at the beginning to mobile today, live or VOD, almost 1 out 3 Taiwanese can chose how and when to be informed thanks to Euronews.”
Read an interview with Arnaud Verlhac and Celine Rodrigues of Euronews in the latest edition of The Channel, the AIB’s international media magazine.
The Association for International Broadcasting has expressed its outrage at sentences imposed by a court in Cairo on three Al Jazeera journalists on 29 August. Baher Mohamed, Mohamed Fadel Fahmy and Peter Greste were sentenced to three years imprisonment following convictions of disseminating false information and working without a licence.
“The AIB condemns the sentences imposed on the three Al Jazeera journalists, which we see as a political statement by the Egyptian government,” said Simon Spanswick, chief executive of the AIB. “It is clear that the three journalists did not commit any crime and that the verdict demonstrates the failure of integrity of the judicial system in Egypt. Furthermore, it casts severe doubt on press freedom in Egypt where it is estimated more than 20 journalists are currently imprisoned.”
This high profile case has dragged on for months with conflicting messages being issued by the judiciary and by the executive throughout.
The three journalists were released in February 2015 after being detained for more than a year in jail. Peter Greste was tried in absentia following his deportation to Australia in February. Baher Mohamed was given a further six month sentence for possessing a bullet.
AIB believes that the sentences – together with the continued detention of other journalists in Egypt – are blows against freedom of expression in Egypt. Furthermore, the actions of the Egyptian authorities work against the interests of the country’s citizens whose access to news and information is being curtailed by the government.
AIB will be taking up the issue with the Egyptian authorities.
Download the PDF version of the AIB press release here.
The Association for International Broadcasting has expressed its condemnation of the seven and a half year jail sentence imposed on Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova.