7 September 2015
If you’re visiting IBC later this week, you’ll want to know where to get the best food in a city that will be buzzing with 50,000 delegates.
We’re sharing with you some inside information on where the AIB likes to go during the tech fest – even if it means we might find it more challenging to get places ourselves…! And the beauty of the first three tips is their proximity to the RAI, while our final recommendations are slightly further afield.
Just a short stroll from the RAI is Restaurant As. Nestling in the Beatrixpark and alongside a school in a residential area that’s a world away from the hustle and bustle of Europaplein, Restaurant As is a true gem. This where you can go to get great food that’s sourced within a 20km radius of the restaurant, where practicable. The menu changes almost daily and is governed by what’s available at the local markets and from the restaurant’s top local suppliers. We’ve never been disappointed…unless we’ve failed to book a place at the restaurant’s huge shared tables.
Another favourite with us – and the locals – is the Reuring in the heart of the residential area to the north of the RAI. It’s small, with a handful of outside seats where you can watch the bicycles go by and the locals wend their way home. Great food, reasonably priced and friendly staff go to make this an ideal place to unwind after a hard day of meetings at IBC. Beware – it’s absolutely essential to reserve places as this is a popular restaurant with limited capacity.
Our third recommendation is on the tram route from RAI to the centre of Amsterdam. The Pekelhaaring is in a converted shop and is not a starched linen tablecloth sort of place. Instead it’s relaxed with wooden tables arranged quite close to each other, serving tasty, reasonably-priced food. There’s a constant buzz here as it’s very popular with locals and it’s definitely a good idea to book your place as turning up on the door usually leads to disappointment!
Another recommendation if you’re in need of a quick fix of freshly-made pasta, or a pizza, is Vapiano. This chain has two branches in Amsterdam, the first at Amstelstraat 2-4, 1017 DA Amsterdam, the second at Oosterdokskade 145, 1011 DL Amsterdam, south-east of Centraal Station, alongside the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. While these are reasonably large, they do get busy so allow a bit of time to cope with numbers of young Amsterdammers!
Our final recommendation is Le Debut in the Skotel Amsterdam. This is a fine dining restaurant within Amsterdam’s hotel training school. Your food and drink will be prepared and served by the students under the watchful eye of a tutor or two. We’ve always had remarkable food here – booking’s essential and the restaurant is only open Monday to Friday for lunch from 1200-1400 and dinner between 1800 and 2230 (but you need to be seated by 1830 at the latest).
Don’t share this information too widely – keep it a secret between the AIB and you…
7 September 2015
Roman Steuer, currently head of Sky Deutschland’s Sky Sport News HD channel, is to become the network’s head of sports in mid-September.
Dirk Grosse, the former head of sports communication at Sky Deutschland, is to take a new role as head of Sky Sport News HD.
7 September 2015
The BBC has set out an ambitious plan for the next decade as it strives to “make Britain the greatest cultural force in the world”.
Speaking on Monday 7 September, BBC Director-General Tony Hall said that the Corporation wanted to become “an open BBC for the Internet age”.
The plans include a number of key international initiatives, including:
- a daily news programme in the Korean language, beamed into North Korea on short wave radio;
- a satellite TV service for Russian-language speakers, or an enhanced digital presence on platforms like YouTube and Rutube;
- Additional regional content in the BBC Arabic service, with increased coverage of the MENA region;
- A news service for Ethiopia and Eritrea delivered on traditional medium and short wave platforms.
BBC World Service – which will operate these planned services – is funded from the UK licence fee that all viewers of live TV must buy. However, the BBC is expected to seek funding for the enhanced output from the UK government.
The main proposals set out by the BBC are:
- A commitment to original, high-quality British drama to enrich content for UK viewers and boost the creative industries. This will be the backbone of a more distinctive approach across all of the BBC’s services, from BBC One to online.
- A partnership to create an Ideas Service providing the public with the best of British ideas and culture.
- A new children’s service – iPlay – creating a single front-door for children to the wealth of the whole BBC and our trusted partners beyond – giving more content to children that matures with them, across more platforms, in a safe and trusted way.
- Finding digital ways to support music discovery to help audiences find new music and the best from the archive. This is backed by the UK music industry and focused on promoting the best of new British talent.
- Responsive radio to give audiences a personalised schedule of programmes.
- Significant investment in the World Service to parts of the world where there is a democratic deficit in impartial news. This is about upholding Britain’s place in the world and the promotion of British values.
- The offering of a new partnership with local newspapers on local reporting, shaped in discussion with the industry. This content would be shared, jointly created, and backed by licence fee funding, thereby helping to secure the future of local newspapers and democratic reporting.
- Opening up BBC iPlayer to showcase content from others.
- A review of the BBC’s website to ensure that it is distinctive with a stronger focus on online broadcast content.
- A transition from rolling news to streaming news, with BBC Newstream, bringing the expertise of our journalism into the palm of your hand.
- New versions of our education, news and entertainment services in the Nations, as the start of our consultation about how to reflect deepening devolution.
- The BBC will also set out its ambition to find close to 20 per cent of its cost base in savings. As much of that as possible will come from efficiency and commercial growth, but it will also require service reductions or closures. The BBC says that it will seek to go further than required by the recent Budget agreement in order to invest in the above proposals.
Full details of the Director-General’s speech are here and you can see a film that accompanied the proposals here.
2 September 2015
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.
(Source: SES press release)
2 September 2015
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.
1 September 2015
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.
BBC Russian is part of BBC World Service.
(Source: BBC press release)
