Radio Farda Wins Gold, Silver At New York Festivals

25 June 2015

WASHINGTON — RFE/RL’s Persian language service was lauded in New York this week as Radio Farda journalist Roya Karimi Majd’s special report “Tradition of the Blade” won a gold award, and Kambiz Hosseini’s weekly show “Five in the Afternoon” took home a silver award at the 2015 New York Festivals International Radio Program Awards.

“Tradition of the Blade”  a program about female genital mutilation in Iran that Karimi Majd called “one of the hardest and most painful reports that I have produced in more than 20 years of working on women’s issues,” was recognized in the Information/Documentary Magazine Format category. Hosseini’s program, which is a joint production with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran and airs on Radio Farda’s satellite stream, was entered in the Entertainment/Best Regularly Scheduled Comedy Program category.

Although broadcast on Radio Farda, these stories are officially banned in Iran.

RFE/RL Editor-in-Chief Nenad Pejic congratulated Karimi Majd and Hosseini on their award.

“They have produced excellent content that has earned the admiration of their audiences in Iran and their peers in the radio community,” said Pejic. “Roya’s report sensitively and powerfully exposes a taboo subject, while Kambiz’s work uses satire to help Iranians make sense of their often senseless circumstances.”

Radio Farda journalism has been recognized at previous New York Festivals, which honor excellence in radio programming and promotions from stations, networks, and producers around the globe. Last year, Radio Farda journalist Mahtab Vahidi Rad was a finalist in the category Best Special Report, while in 2013 journalist Vahid Pourostad won a silver award for his radio documentary, Solitary Confinement, and satirist Farshid Manafi, who won two awards at the New York Festivals in 2011, was a finalist in 2013 for his signature satire program, Pas Farda.

The 2015 New York Festivals radio awards program recognized programming from 32 countries. The honors were presented at a gala dinner in the city on June 22.

RFE/RL’s Radio Farda, produced in and broadcast from Prague, is a leading source of uncensored information in Iran. In May 2015, Radio Farda’s website was visited more than 20 million times, nearly 40 million pages were viewed, and its streaming audio feed was used more than 20 million times. Despite the government’s ban on listening, the need for a proxy, and deliberately slow Internet speeds to deter users, half of all traffic originates from within Iran.

 

Deutsche Welle DG in conversation with the AIB

24 June 2015

As Deutsche Welle launched its new English-language TV news channel in June 2015, Director General Peter Limbourg talked with the AIB’s CEO Simon Spanswick about the challenges involved in international broadcasting, the competition in global media and more.

DW kicks off Global Media Forum and English TV channel

22 June 2015

Deutsche Welle opened its Global Media Forum on 22 June with a focus on foreign policy in the digital age, in Bonn. The conference also marked the official launch of DW’s new English TV channel.

GMF 2015 Eröffnung Peter Limbourg und Monika Grütters Sendestart

In his opening address at Bonn’s World Conference Center on Monday, DW director general Peter Limbourg highlighted both the opportunities and challenges ushered in by the digital revolution. While it enables an unprecedented level of information and interaction, it also presents new problems. The state of the media, particularly for quality journalism, is dire in many places around the world, said Limbourg. Economic pressures and a lack of knowledge of how to practice good journalism are partly to blame for this development. “But frequently, the reasons behind journalistic impoverishment are political,” said Limbourg. In many parts of the world, both freedom of expression and press freedom are increasingly being threatened by those in power who want to control what kind of information is being disseminated, he added.

Dangers for journalists

“For journalists it’s becoming increasingly dangerous to investigate, report, and share their comments – in short: to speak the truth,” noted DW’s director general. But citizens in many countries are not only blocked from accessing information freely, they are also being confronted with disinformation and propaganda carried out by various actors, he added:

GMF 2015 Eröffnung Peter Limbourg

“International broadcasters controlled by non-democractic regimes are ramping up.” While their effort is reminiscent of the Cold War era, in today’s digital age, the possibilities for propaganda are much greater, said Limbourg. “Writers hired by government-affiliated ‘troll factories’ pollute the Internet. Religious fanatics upload their videos of inhuman brutality.” To counter that trend is one of the goals of this year’s Global Media Forum, explained Limbourg. With more than 2000 participants from some 130 countries attending, the three-day conference will serve as an important venue to share opinions and values.

Honouring freedom of speech

Even more than that: By honoring Saudi Arabian blogger Raif Badawi with Deutsche Welle’s Freedom of Speech Award, the Global Media Forum is “sending out a clear signal to the world that we fully defend media freedom and security,” said Limbourg. “Badawi is synonymous with everyone being held in custody and suffering for expressing their opinions.”

And finally, DW’s new English-language TV channel as well as its overall restructuring has the clear aim “to provide more information, be more international and address people more regionally, we want to be heard – loud and clear – as the voice of freedom and peaceful cooperation,” noted Limbourg.

GMF 2015 Eröffnung GästeL-R: John Momoh and Kayode Akintemi of Channels TV with the AIB’s Tom Wragg and Simon Spanswick at the Global Media Forum

In her keynote address, Monika Grütters, Germany’s federal government commissioner for culture and the media, stated that she considered instituting the democratic rules we value in the analogue world into the digital world as the primary political objective for society today. Fortunately, added Grütters, journalists, publishers, entrepreneurs and others fight and defend freedom of speech and freedom of the press worldwide.

Countering disinformation

“That is exactly what Deutsche Welle has been doing for over 60 years now and is continuing to do amid numerous crises, for instance massive Russian disinformation, for instance in the Baltics,” said Grütters. “It’s good that we have DW.” “As an ambassador for our constitutional democracy Deutsche Welle, especially for many people living in crisis regions and authoritarian-governed countries, serves as a connection to the free world,” she said. “I am glad that today marks the start the English-language information program DW News, which will provide a lot of people worldwide with independent, objective news and information.” Commissioner Grütters and DW director general Limbourg then symbolically launched DW’s new English channel by jointly pushing a large red button.

Watch DW Director General Peter Limbourg in conversation with the AIB’s CEO Simon Spanswick:

https://youtu.be/-fPhARSHD8Q 

Intelsat names Karen Schmidt as Vice President of Marketing

22 June 2015

Intelsat S.A. (NYSE: I), the world’s leading provider of satellite services, today announced that Karen Schmidt, a veteran marketing executive with more than 25 years’ experience, has been named as the company’s Vice President of Marketing, effective immediately.

Ms. Schmidt will lead Intelsat’s product and marketing efforts for Intelsat’s portfolio of connectivity services for media, broadband, mobility and government customers.  Functions reporting to Ms. Schmidt will include Product Management, Product Marketing and Marketing Communications.  She will be based in McLean, VA and report to Kurt Riegelman, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing.

Ms. Schmidt was most recently the Vice President of Business Marketing at Comcast Business, a division of Comcast, and a key member of the team that grew the division from inception in 2007 to 2014 revenues of $4 billion.  Prior to joining Comcast Business, Ms. Schmidt held executive product and marketing roles at Network Solutions, Concert Communications and MCI Communications.

“Karen’s extensive marketing and product leadership experience in the media and broadband sectors will be an invaluable asset to Intelsat,” said Kurt Riegelman, Intelsat’s Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing.  “She has a proven track record of developing end-to-end strategies and driving cross-functional execution, successfully developing and deploying new services to key segments and channels.  We are confident that Karen’s expertise will contribute to our goal to provide increased value to our customers through innovative global satellite solutions and services that deliver higher performance, improved economics and greater accessibility.”
About Intelsat
Intelsat S.A. (NYSE: I) is the world’s leading provider of  satellite services, delivering high performance connectivity solutions for media, fixed and mobile broadband infrastructure, enterprise and government and military applications. Intelsat’s satellite, teleport and fiber infrastructure is unmatched in the industry, setting the standard for transmissions of video and broadband services. From the globalization of content and the proliferation of HD, to the expansion of cellular networks and mobile broadband access, with Intelsat, envision your future network, connect using our leading satellite technology and transform your opportunities.

Globecast launches Premier Sports HD on Sky Platform

18 June 2015

Globecast, the global solutions provider for media, today announced that it has been chosen as the content delivery service provider for Premier Sports HD, the new HD channel from Setanta Sports’ UK operation Premier Sports. The channel will launch on the Sky platform on 20 July.

 

Globecast has a longstanding relationship with the broadcaster and already provides uplink and satellite capacity for existing SD channels Premier Sports and Setanta Sports Ireland, also available via the Sky platform. The channel will be added to Globecast’s extensive HD portfolio, with the company providing the uplink and satellite capacity on Astra 2G for the new Premier Sports HD offering. The contract win follows from the renewal of the capacity contracts for the broadcaster’s Sky SD channels

 

Mickey O’Rourke, CEO Premier Sports said, “We’ve had a longstanding relationship stretching over 20 years with Globecast, and they already handle our two SD channels. Globecast was already familiar with our business and asking them to help us launch our HD channel was just a logical step in our relationship. HD is something that there’s a real demand for from sports fans; the expectation is that watching a game on TV is as close to being there as possible. That’s what we’re trying to deliver with the addition of Premier Sports HD.”

 

Juliet Bayliss, Sales Director, Content Distribution at Globecast, added, “We’ve been working with Premier Sports/Setanta for many years now, so we’re delighted that they have chosen us to help launch the new HD channel. There’s a real demand for HD channels and we’re seeing a growing uptake amongst our client base and we’ve provided uplinking and capacity for several HD channels in the recent months.” (Source: Globecast press release)

SES launches Ultra HD demo channel in North America

16 June 2015

New demo channel enables cable operators and content distributors
to prepare their networks for Ultra HD trials

SES S.A. (NYSE Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG), the world’s leading satellite operator, today announced it has launched its first Ultra HD (UHD) demonstration channel serving the North American television market.

The demonstration channel, broadcast via SES-3 at 103 degrees West, will enable cable operators to prepare and test their networks for Ultra HD trials. The SES-3 satellite provides broad coverage over the North America market, ideally positioned to deliver live and linear Ultra HD to cable networks. With three UHD demo channels already available across Europe – broadcast at 19.2 degrees East, 28.2 East and 5 degrees East, SES extends its global leadership in HD and UHD delivery with this new channel in North America.

SES initiated the new UHD demo channel in response to strong cable operator demand following its highly successful demonstration of the first-ever live and linear Ultra HD broadcasts to cable systems at the NAB and INTX conferences earlier this spring. The milestone Ultra HD broadcasts were enabled by SES’s Ultra-HD-ready linear content delivery network, which is used to transmit the UHD demo channel. The camera-to-screen ecosystem is built on satellite’s inherent broadcast advantages coupled with the multicasting capability of DOCSIS 3.0, the most advanced transmission standard that is used by most cable systems today.

“This new SES Ultra HD demo channel is playing an important role in accelerating the successful delivery of Ultra HD to cable homes across North America,” explained Steve Corda, Vice President of Business Development for SES in North America. “Cable operators and content distributors can now begin to prepare their systems and test their networks for Ultra HD delivery, leading into major trials this summer,” Corda said, noting the Ultra HD demo channel is expected to reach cable subscribers’ homes later this year.