28 May 2013
Swire Pacific Offshore (SPO), a Singapore-based leading service provider to the offshore oil and gas industry, is upgrading to Inmarsat’s FleetBroadband (FB) Unlimited plan. The “all-you-can-eat” service will be provided on 65 of SPO’s vessels by Inmarsat partner Station711, the mobile satellite arm of RRsat Global Communications Network Ltd. (NASDAQ: RRST) and Inmarsat service provider SMTS.
SPO’s decision to upgrade from its previous FB 5GB service was driven by the need to further enhance operational efficiency across its fleet and support the growing demand for increasingly important crew welfare services beyond basic email. “Reliable communications with good through-put rates is of great importance in our industry,” said Colin Payne, HR Director for Swire Pacific Offshore. “The upgrade to FB Unlimited from our current FB 5GB plan is expected to meet the immediate needs of the ever growing demand for connectivity to friends, family and shore-based management.
“New technologies are increasingly ‘bandwidth hungry’ and while we have enjoyed excellent download and upload speeds with our FB 5GB service, to remain competitive and to deliver enhanced crew welfare, we needed to increase data allowances whilst keeping strong cost controls in place. FleetBroadband Unlimited gives us the confidence to drive even greater efficiencies without having to continually monitor our usage levels.
“FB Unlimited will assist in areas such as purchasing, and encouraging officers and others to use internal and external online services to support the management needs of the vessel. Additionally, it meets the growing demands of our customers who require robust and data heavy communication with our vessels 24/7,” continued Colin Payne.
Crew welfare was probably the most important consideration for the upgrade. SPO provides internet access free-of-charge to all members of the crew, averaging 15 persons per vessel. SPO has also allocated an adequate number of computer terminals to ensure that everyone gets a chance to go online during the day. “With unlimited access to the internet, we can allow the crew to connect with their family and friends through email and social media platforms,” commented Payne.
Frank Coles, President, Inmarsat Maritime said: “Partners like RRsat Group have been helping to change the face of communication services for the maritime industry with innovative services like smart@sea. We continually look at ways in which we can support them by providing greater value to our award-winning FleetBroadband service. SPO’s decision to upgrade to FB Unlimited is a testament to the quality and popularity of the service. FB Unlimited is another way in which we are empowering vessel owners and operators to take advantage of the latest on-board technologies, confident in the knowledge that their communications costs are fixed.”
Ohad Har-Lev, Managing Director Mobile Satellite Services, RRsat said: “Maritime broadband services have opened up a wide range of commercial, operational and personal crew communication uses. The ongoing and challenging economic environment for the shipping industry has driven the need for efficient and cost effective satcom solutions. FB Unlimited, along with the enhanced smart@sea solution, allows SPO to manage its communication costs, while meeting the growing demand for bandwidth.”
The upgrade agreement for SPO comprises SAILOR FB500 terminals, on-going maintenance and support services, as well as Station711’s smart@sea communication gateway, which was originally installed as part of the FB 5GB contract awarded back in 2011.
SMTS will conduct surveys of all SPO’s vessels before carrying out the installation of the antennas and FleetBroadband terminals, as well as the on-board Local Area Networks (LANs). Station711 will provide the satcom management and control toolset based on its DPlatform solution. This is in addition to smart@sea for Unified Threat Management (UTM) security, the crew welfare voice and data module, IP traffic real-time compression, acceleration, caching and filtering, shore-side unified POP facility providing a centralised management interface, and a powerful control system.
About Station 711
Being the mobile satellite arm of RRsat Global Communications Network Ltd. (NASDAQ: RRST), Station 711 provides communications solutions to the maritime, terrestrial and aviation markets. As Inmarsat’s 4th generation distribution partner, with our own LES for existing and evolved Inmarsat services and via our own global teleports and fibre optics network, Station 711 has you covered to guarantee seamless global communications anywhere, anytime. The Station 711 platform, based on the most advanced technologies, can be integrated into yours existing communications infrastructures. This unique capability results in significant cost and resource savings.
24 May 2013
The BBC has today announced the appointment of James Stephenson as Head of News for BBC World News, the BBC’s commercially funded international news channel. James is currently Editor of the BBC News at Six and BBC News at Ten in theUK. He is also Deputy Head of the BBC Newsroom and will continue in that role.
James Stephenson has been Editor of the BBC News at Six and News at Ten since 2009. The period has included the 2010 General Election, the Eurozone crisis, the Arab uprisings, the 2012 US Presidential Election and the Olympics.
In October 2012, he was also appointed Deputy Head of the BBC Newsroom with responsibility for BBC news output on TV, radio and online in the UK and internationally.
James joined the BBC as a researcher on Panorama and worked on a range of current affairs programmes before becoming Assistant Editor of Newsnight in 1998 and Deputy Editor in 2000. The programme won RTS News Programme of the Year for its coverage of the year following 9/11.
In 2003, James launched the Politics Show on BBC One. He was also responsible for a number of other political programmes, including as Editor of the 2005 General Election Night and Executive Editor of Question Time.
James served as Middle East Bureau Chief from 2007 to 2009.
In January, BBC World News completed a very successful launch from new studios in Broadcasting House. James will lead the next phase of the channel’s news development, driving the coverage of breaking and developing stories as well as big events and global themes. Innovation will continue, focusing on continued development of the channel’s programmes, innovative production and engaging storytelling in line with the channel’s commitment to help audiences Live the Story.
He will also take a leading role in improving how we deliver the best BBC news video in a multiplatform way, to our international website, BBC.com as well as on BBC World News.
Mary Hockaday, Head of the BBC Newsroom said: “James will bring excellent editorial leadership to BBC World News, an absolute commitment to the highest quality and most trustworthy journalism as well as an ambitious approach to television production and sharing our journalism across platforms for audiences in a digital age. James has a very strong track record leading high profile output and newsgathering teams in BBC News, as Editor of the BBC News at Six and BBC News at Ten, the Middle East Bureau and political programmes atWestminster. He has all the right qualities to develop our international journalism working with our production teams and journalists inLondonand around the world.”
Richard Porter, Controller of English, BBC Global News said: “I’m absolutely delighted that James will be leading the next phase of development of our news output. This is a very big year for BBC World News, with investment in new studios and in our journalism, and the launch of the Live the Story brand campaign. James is ideally suited to take us further forward, with his huge experience of journalism and production, and his understanding of the competitive landscape. I look forward to welcoming him into the World’s Newsroom.”
James Stephenson said: “I am delighted to have been asked to run BBC World News. The channel is the strongest it has ever been and this year’s move to Broadcasting House has placed it at the heart of the BBC Newsroom. I look forward to working with the World News team and the whole of BBC News to make the most of all we can offer to our global audience.“
James will take up the role shortly. His predecessor, Andrew Roy was recently appointed to run the BBC’s international Newsgathering operations in the role of World Editor, BBC News.
23 May 2013
AIB is offering its members access to daily 3′ bulletins from the Fifa Confederations Cup that opens in Brazil in June.
Produced by AIB partner Between the Posts Productions, Bulletin from Brazil will be available in two versions – one for audiences in Africa and the other for audiences across Asia and the Pacific.
With match reports, interviews with key players and more features, Bulletin from Brazil will deliver the flavour of the competition to English-language audiences across the world.
The programming is part of an expansion of AIB’s activities in the sport broadcasting genre that started with activities around the Olympic Games in London. AIB is now working on a number of initiatives on behalf of its members around the world that will deliver ever increasing value to them.
For more information about Bulletin from Brazil, talk to Edward Wilkinson at the AIB head office.
23 May 2013
RRsat Global Communications Network Ltd. (NASDAQ: RRST), a leading provider of comprehensive digital content management and global distribution services to the television and radio broadcasting industry, announced today a long term agreement to enable Word Network, the largest African-American religious network in the US, to reach millions of viewers in Australia, New Zealand and the Arab world. The broadcast solution utilizes RRsat’s KU-band platforms on the Eutelsat 25C satellite and Optus D2 satellite. Under the agreement, RRsat will enable Word Network to reach cable headends and direct-to-home (DTH) viewers inAustraliaandNew Zealandas well as DTH viewers throughout the Arab world.
The Eutelsat 25C satellite, located at the Badr position, reaches viewers throughout the Arab world, in theMiddle Eastas well as North Africa (MENA). The RRsat platform on Optus D2 satellite provides coverage ofAustraliaandNew Zealand. RRsat currently provides turnaround and uplink services for Word Network from its platforms on the Galaxy 19, Eutelsat Hot Bird 13A and Thaicom satellites.
Kevin Adell, Word Network Chief Executive Officer, said, “The Word Network is excited to be working with RRsat to extend our reach in these new territories and we are committed to bringing The Word Network to all corners of the globe and remaining the largest African American religious network in the world.”
“RRsat is pleased that Word Network has chosen to deepen its relationship with RRsat by selecting to extend their content distribution to millions of viewers in the Middle East and North Africa, and toAustraliaandNew Zealandusing the RRsat solutions,” said Lior Rival, Chief Commercial Officer of RRsat. “We look forward to working with Word Networks to help them reach the maximum number of viewers worldwide with high quality, affordable broadcasts.”
23 May 2013
The latest industry briefing has been published by AIB, covering programming to distribution.
Reaching more than 26,000 leaders in media internationally, the AIB industry briefing is a “must-read” for anyone following the industry. See the latest edition here.
To discuss advertising and other opportunities surrounding the briefing, talk to Edward Wilkinson at AIB headquarters.
21 May 2013
Vizrt Inc. announced today that a world-wide agreement has been entered with Mosart to provide an optimized newsroom automation system for the broadcast industry.
Mosart is the number one newsroom automation system used by broadcasters inEurope. The software-based automation system offers an extremely efficient workflow for controlling complex, content-rich productions with only a single operator. Using off the shelf client/server hardware, Mosart requires little infrastructure for creating a fully automated news environment.
Combined with the Vizrt end-to-end graphics and video workflow, the Mosart automation system now is a complete package for the entire newsroom workflow from the news editorial process to live on-air production. With just a single Viz Engine added to the Mosart production, broadcasters can create a full show with advanced graphics and video playback in a light-weight and cost-effective solution.
“Vizrt is the global market leader in broadcast graphics. We are therefore grateful that Vizrt have chosen a close cooperation with Mosart for the future,” Mosart’s CEO John Kjellevold states in a comment. “Our aim has been that automation systems like Mosart shall be a natural part of gallery upgrades in the future. Soon, we will be able to make solutions taking care of an even greater part of the workflow starting with newsroom system tools. Broadcasters need to enhance quality, reduce costs and simplify news desk work. The Vizrt – Mosart partnership offers such solutions.”
“This agreement represents a major shift in how broadcasters will look at controlling their news broadcasts”, said Petter Ole Jakobsen, Chief Technology Officer, Vizrt. “When adding the Viz Engine real-time compositing capabilities to the Mosart automation system, any operator can drive the most complex transitions and studio effects from a single interface.”
Together Vizrt and Mosart lead the way bringing this powerful automation system to broadcasters as the most advanced news production platform on the market.
Petter Ole Jakobsen will present the Vizrt TV in a box solution at the Mosart Broadcast Summit in London May 23rd and 24th. At Broadcast Asia in Singapore, Mosart and Vizrt will display their automated integration, June 18th – 21st booth 5H3-01.
