Reuters and global content service provider TIMA have announced a new global partnership designed to offer location services including studio facilities and logistical support to broadcasters and online media outlets. Reuters-TIMA Location Services combines Reuters global editorial content with TIMA’s technology and experience of service delivery for the international media industry.
The new service, created in response to the increased demand for live content in a shifting media landscape, will form a vast news and editorial network providing every aspect of newsgathering facilities and support services. It will combine invaluable local knowledge with strategically placed broadcast and satellite resources in regional hubs. The service will launch at the 87th Academy Awards ceremony on 22nd February 2015, where live positions overlooking the red carpet will be provided to clients.
Reuters-TIMA Location Services will offer experienced production and editorial staff on the ground at key global events, rapid access to events of regional significance, logistical services and dedicated customer support. The service will also give clients access to high-tech live studio facilities around the world, many with stunning city backdrops.
From New York to Moscow and Rio to Singapore, plus a network of Middle Eastern offices, including TIMA’s facilities in Tehran, Reuters-TIMA Location Services has been set up to cover every major world event, from elections to summits, sports to national celebrations and breaking news such as war, natural disasters and militant attacks.
Tim Santhouse, Reuters Global Head of Video Products, says: “Reuters-TIMA Location Services will support broadcasters and online publishers with editorial, technical and infrastructure support on location. Our service will enable our customers to focus on what they’re good at – telling their story to their audience – while the entire operational side, including technical and local knowledge, is taken care of. This partnership brings together two sets of skills and experience that will create a powerful newsgathering service for the benefit of media companies.”
Alla Salehian, CEO of TIMA, says: “International news stories today have more impact beyond their borders than ever before. Alongside this, there are an increasing number of TV channels across the world and a growing appetite for online video content. The result is a huge demand for live international video news and analysis 24-hours a day. Reuters-TIMA Location Services is uniquely equipped to support this trend in a way that is both affordable and of high quality.”
Reuters-TIMA Location Services will include:
Breaking news facilities: Reuters-TIMA Location Services will provide every aspect of newsgathering facilities and support services on the ground during breaking news stories throughout the year
Event facilities: The partnership will also provide coverage of key global events and unprecedented access to events that are also of regional significance, as well providing logistical and editorial services and dedicated customer support
Studio space: The service will also offer clients access to high-tech live studio facilities around the world, many with stunning city backdrops
This week, AIB is making its first visit to ISE (Integrated Systems Europe) in Amsterdam, a trade show not always at the top of the list for broadcasters. So why are we here? And what is ISE anyway?
ISE is one of the world’s biggest tradeshows serving the installation and AV market. The gear on the tradeshow floor and the seminars held are wide-ranging. Tech companies present everything from touch-screen kiosks and weatherproof 4K monitors to smart home devices and elaborate comms systems. The ISE seminars and conference topics include the smart building tech, immersive audio, home theatre design and, of course, the potential of The Internet of Things.
So what does ISE have to do with broadcast? And why is ISE worth AIB’s notice?
For one, more and more of our broadcast partners are showing at ISE. Avid, Dolby, DPA Microphones, and Sennheiser are all here – as well as the big media tech players like Panasonic.
More importantly, we realise media is no longer bound by conventional distribution channels, a theme that ISE returns to again and again.
In the past couple years, we’ve kept hearing about “The Internet Of Things” and that we have passed a tipping point in its development. Exactly what the Internet Of Things is meant to be is still vague, even to some experts, but at its core is the notion that the devices all around us in our daily lives will be able to communicate with each other and with us.
The ISE keynote address on Monday evening was given by futurist Lars Thomsen of Future Matters, who was a technical adviser on the movie Minority Report. That dystopian sci-fi film famously showed a vision of the future in which media was omnipresent, and highly personalised. As characters walked down the street, advertisements on flat-panel screens would personalise their content as they passed, and the mass manipulation of data was a matter of everyday occurrence.
In his keynote address, Thomsen painted a picture of a future world – one he thought was not too many years away – saturated in the connectivity of IP, one in which virtually everything we own has its own IP address, everything we own is a part of the internet.
We know that the bulk of web traffic in the world is dominated by video – and that percentage is only going to grow. As IP connectivity between everyday objects – phones, fridges, bathtubs, TV’s, cars, air conditioners, roofs, sidewalks – becomes more ubiquitious, the opportunity for delivering content to consumers – for broadcasting – extends beyond the “internet” to potentially every device we own. The potential reach of a piece of content in that scenario in which everything is a receiver of informations is nearly infinite. Imagine being able to transmit your content to a display (and one not necessarily confined in size and shape) that is part of your audience’s fridge, or bed, or bathroom, or car, or workplace wall, or…you name it. The Minority Report vision of hyper-hyper-targeted content seemed like a sci-fi dream when the movie was released in 2002. Looking at this year’s ISE, it’s apparent we’re not too far away from it.
Broadcasters – those who want to survive into the next century – are leaving behind the definition of broadcast as a linear one-to-many proposition. The new generation of broadcasters understands that broadcasting is no more or less than the delivery of relevant timely content – through whatever means is best suited to its audience. From the discussion at ISE, we can see that the future holds an endless variety of ways in which a broadcaster can contact its audience, where reaching the audience no longer even depends on a consumer’s access to a screen. In the ultimate vision of The Internet Of Things, every thing that a consumer owns is a connected opportunity for messaging and for communication, and a chance for the consumer to participate in a truly universal conversation that will makes today’s communications web look like 1930’s radio.
Understanding and awareness of the possibilities of this new world of hyper-broadcast is essential for both media companies and consumers alike. The latest scare that Samsung TV’s may be registering and relaying living room conversations without viewers’ consent is one issue that will have to be resolved to consumers’ satisfaction, along the way. If you thought issues of privacy, content ownership, and the borderlines between public and private life were complicated now…
Some say we still have a way to go before the full implications of an IP addressed life becomes accepted. Even many of the vendors at ISE think we’re going to be stuck with hardware and cables for a while. But the connected future will be a present reality soon, and AIB is preparing broadcasters to be a leading part of it.
Deutsche Welle will launch its new English TV channel on June 22. The news and information channel will officially go on air during DW’s annual media conference, Global Media Forum.
The global competition of values plays out primarily in the English language, says DW Director General Peter Limbourg. “Germany is highly regarded around the world, and on the international stage many look to Germany to orient themselves. Therefore, we want to meet this demand in the English language,” says Limbourg, stressing that international media coverage of German perspectives should not be left solely to other international broadcasters.
“Deutsche Welle expects more than 2000 international guests from politics, media and other areas of public life – among them numerous partners who will rebroadcast DW’s flagship programs via their platforms – to attend the Global Media Forum,” says Limbourg. “They will all be able to witness the launch of our new channel, live.”
DW, the new 24-hour TV channel in English, with hourly news as well as magazine programs and documentaries, will be broadcast around the world. In Europe it will be available via the Astra satellite, among others.
Starting June 22, Deutsche Welle will offer four additional 24-hour TV channels for various parts of the world.
DW (Amerika) can be received across the entire American continent and offers 20 hours of German and 4 hours of English programming;
DW (Latinoamérica) informs people in Latin America in Spanish around the clock;
DW (Asien) broadcasts in German 24 hours a day;
DW (Arabia) targets viewers from the Arab world – 17 hours in Arabic and 7 hours in English.
The regional TV channels will remain unchanged in their respective languages, complementing the 24-hour English channel. Only DW (Europe), with its English-German programming via Hotbird, will be discontinued.
“By the time we launch the new English TV channel we will have optimized the new technical components and processes to the point that we can confidently go on air,” says Limbourg.
Newstag Users Will Be Able to Share Bloomberg’s Business Videos Across Social Networks
Newstag, the Stockholm-based, crowd-curated news service – has today announced an agreement with global business news and information provider Bloomberg. This new deal grants Newstag worldwide rights to Bloomberg’s business and features video news packages for use on their mobile and web platforms.
Newstag CEO and Founder, Henrik Eklund, says: “Bloomberg is a world leader and innovator in the arena of international business and financial news. Having an opportunity to work with them to revolutionise the way in which audiences consume news is both inspiring and exciting.”
Newstag is designed to enable users to create their own personalised ‘tagstream’ – or TV Channel – sharing the stories that they care about among their social networks.
“Bloomberg’s premium-quality video content brings business news, and the people behind it, to life,” said Josh Rucci, Global Head of Sales for the Bloomberg Content Service. “We are delighted to partner with Newstag. They offer an interesting and dynamic platform to distribute our award-winning, global business and features video which covers subjects from technology to innovation in the energy, transportation and luxury goods sectors, to a broader audience.”
Bloomberg’s media operation includes more than 2,400 news professionals working from 154 bureaux around the world who publish stories across the web, connected and mobile devices, television, radio and print magazines.
In recent months, Newstag has rapidly expanded its network of commercial and content partners as it gears up to launch its application. Newstag recently opened a Cairo bureau and received a $1.3m investment from a group of private and institutional investors. Newstag, currently in a private-beta stage, is taking pre-registrations and bringing new users onboard continuously. To sign up visit www.newstag.com and pre-register.
CEO and Founder, Henrik Eklund, was AP’s Director of Digital Partnerships and Distribution in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Asia. Before joining AP, Henrik was the founder and CEO of Kamera – one of the world’s leading mobile and online distributors. Prior to Kamera, Eklund founded PAN Interactive, one of Europe’s leading game publishers and distributors. Chairman and Founder, Camilla Dahlin-Andersson has been a member of parliament and served on several boards for large institutions. She is currently completing her doctorate in Innovation Management at Stockholm School of Economics and Mälardalens University.
Eurosport announces that it has secured a three year agreement to be the European broadcaster of the new ATP Geneva Open. The partnership will run from 2015 to 2017. The deal includes exclusive* TV and digital rights across all 54 territories covered by Eurosport in Europe.
The Geneva Open has joined the ATP World Tour 250 series and will be played on outdoor clay courts at the Tennis Club de Genève at the Parc des Eaux-Vives. The tournament returns to the Swiss city for the first time since 1991. From 1980 to 1991 it was played and won by some of the greats from the sport including Björn Borg, Mats Wilander and Thomas Muster. The 2015 Geneva Open will take place from 17 to 23 May.
2014 Australian Open Champion Stan Wawrinka is already committed to play in 2015, 2016 and 2017 editions. He will be joined by other world-class players looking to fine-tune their performance on clay in preparation for the French Open which begins the following week.
Today’s announcement is the perfect complement to Eurosport’s unrivalled Grand Slam tennis coverage, which includes the Australian, French and US Opens. This coverage is enhanced by a selection of ATP and WTA tournaments delivering fans a total of 2,300 hours of TV coverage on Eurosport and Eurosport 2, including over 1,000 hours live.
Intelsat S.A. (NYSE: I), the world’s leading provider of satellite services, and Kymeta Corporation, the leading developer of metamaterials-based antenna technology, today announced an agreement to design and produce innovative, flat, electronically steerable, Ku-band mTenna™ satellite antenna solutions that are optimized for the Intelsat EpicNG high throughput satellite (HTS) platform. The first Intelsat EpicNG satellite is expected to launch in late 2015.
Stephen Spengler, Intelsat’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer, said, “Intelsat’s ubiquitous, global telecommunications infrastructure is able to deliver broadband or narrow band communications virtually anywhere on the earth’s surface. We are making significant investments in our new Intelsat EpicNG satellite platform which will deliver increased throughput and cost efficiency. Just as important is our investment in this new, metamaterials-based ground technology which will simplify access to our satellites and open attractive new markets for our solutions. Under this joint development program with Kymeta, we will bring to market innovative solutions for existing and new applications, leveraging performance of our satellite platform. This is especially important as we begin to capitalize on the considerable opportunities that are opening to the sector with respect to connected mobility.”
Kymeta’s flat, thin, light and low-cost satellite tracking antennas will be designed to work seamlessly with Intelsat’s satellite fleet, providing complete flexibility to establish connectivity in sectors for which traditional antennas are not currently practical or feasible. The Intelsat-Kymeta development agreement is expected to lead to a range of antenna and terminal products across our core application verticals such as maritime and aero mobility, content delivery and wireless backhaul applications. In addition, it will provide the opportunity to expand our reach into new verticals such as the Internet of Things (IoT), machine-to-machine (M2M) and ground transportation which are expected to experience significant demand over the next 10 years. Kymeta has agreed to work exclusively with Intelsat on Ku-band technology development in certain application verticals.
“We are excited to partner with Intelsat to bring Kymeta’s patented mTenna™ technology to existing and newly enabled high-volume markets for mobile satellite communications,” stated Dr. Nathan Kundtz, President and Chief Technology Officer of Kymeta. “Intelsat’s global reach and next-generation network architecture are a natural fit for our unique technology. This agreement and the resulting Ku-band antenna solutions will create new opportunities for mobility and machine-to-machine telecom applications across a variety of verticals and further our vision of enabling lower cost, high-speed satellite Internet connectivity anywhere in the world.”
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. Envision…Connect…Transform…with Intelsat. For more information, visit intelsat.com.
Reuters and global content service provider TIMA have announced a new global partnership designed to offer location services including studio facilities and logistical support to broadcasters and online media outlets. Reuters-TIMA Location Services combines Reuters global editorial content with TIMA’s technology and experience of service delivery for the international media industry.
