20 February 2013
RRsat Global Communications Network Ltd, a leading provider of comprehensive digital content management and global distribution services to the television and radio broadcasting industries, announced today that it has successfully wrapped up distribution of the 2012-13 NFL regular season games and playoffs to Europe and Asia including a live broadcast of the memorable 2013 Super Bowl.
In November 2012, RRsat acquired SM2 Sports & Media Solutions, a premier provider of international sports distribution and syndication services, and took over the main responsibility for delivering the NFL’s regular season games, playoffs, Pro Bowl and Super Bowl throughout Asia and Europe via its satellite and fiber networks.
During the regular season, RRsat delivered up to eight simultaneous games every Sunday, as well as Monday Night Football and Thursday Night Football. During the 2012-2013 playoffs, RRsat delivered all games to Europe and Asia followed by the Pro Bowl and Super Bowl XLVII. The advantage of the RRsat solution was providing the NFL with complete Dolby audio remapping and very high data rates on both satellite and fiber for all their HD games.
“RRsat’s end-to-end solution allowed the NFL to deliver high quality, HD transmissions of season and postseason games to millions of fans across the world in real time, with 28 audio versions tailored for each market,” said Jeff Lombardi, Director of International Production Operations, NFL Films.
“RRsat is proud to have provided a live sports delivery solution that enabled the NFL to transmit the complete season of its iconic games, as well as the Super Bowl, to viewers worldwide in real time,” said Avi Cohen, CEO of RRsat. “We look forward to helping the NFL expand the international reach of both its season and postseason games. Our flexible infrastructure and advanced solutions proved equal to the rigorous demands of broadcasting the most exciting US sports event of the year to fans throughout the world.” (Source: Press Release)
20 February 2013
The radio industry in Australia has taken the first step to future proof the radio audience measurement system with the announcement of GfK as the preferred service provider for radio audience measurement surveys from 1 January 2014. Mobile data capture and online recruitment and data capture will be key new features of the next radio audience measurement contract awarded to international research company, GfK, Commercial Radio Australia (CRA) announced today.
“This is an exciting time for the radio industry and marks a new era for the future of radio audience measurement in Australia ensuring currency continuity, a multi-mode approach to data collection including plans for the testing of electronic measurement enhancements,” said Joan Warner, chief executive officer of CRA.
The new three year contract with GfK will be negotiated to begin 1 January 2014 and introduces an e-diary for computers, tablets and mobile phones, synchronised across the internet and compatible with all operating systems. It will be necessary for GfK to conduct further successful parallel pilot testing throughout 2013, prior to the new contract coming into force. This will ensure validity of the new processes and multi-modal data capture methods and comparability with the existing currency.
From the first survey in 2014 there will be a minimum of 20% of survey participants recruited online and completing the e-diary. This percentage will be closely monitored with the aim of reviewing and possibly increasing the percentage for year two. Also included in the new contract is real-time management and monitoring of the personal placement of diaries to ensure that population potentials for difficult to reach youth demographics are closely reflected in the sample.
“As part of the new relationship, GfK will utilise their worldwide expertise and work closely with the industry to conduct leading edge and innovative trials of electronic devices in the first 2 years of the contract. The aim being to integrate the best and latest form of electronic measurement into the radio audience measurement suite of tools by the end of the first three year term”, Ms Warner said.
GfK will also launch a new radio audience behaviour panel which will go beyond the surveys and examine key issues for the radio and media industries including consumption of radio via the internet, platform usage trends, the role of radio in people’s lives, mobile and headphone listening. This panel will be made up of 5,000 respondents per year with quarterly reporting of key insights.
These innovations together with the Gold Standard for radio analysis software that will be in place for 2014 will ensure a very exciting future for radio audience measurement in this country.
Ms Warner said that as well as the training on the new system that would be provided by GfK to stations and agencies, before the start of the new contract, CRA will offer comprehensive briefings to agencies and advertisers on the new survey methodology and the progress of pilot tests.
“GfK was awarded the new audience measurement contract after a five month tender process. GfK was chosen by the industry to move radio audience measurement forward in the immediate future due to its extensive international experience, reputation for research excellence, and innovative but rigorous approaches to the measurement challenges ahead. This new relationship marks an exciting transition for the Australian radio industry.”
GfK operates radio ratings, including an electronic diary, in several countries overseas including the Netherlandsand Germany. Gary Lamb, Managing Director of GfK said: “This is a big day for GfK, and we fully appreciate its importance for the Australian radio industry. We are thrilled to be working together with CRA to future-proof radio audience measurement by bringing exciting innovations to recruitment and data-collection techniques, new software for data analysis and advertising optimisation, and fresh perspectives on listening behaviour.”
Ms Warner said trials in 2012 of e-diaries were very positive leading to the significant changes to be made to data collection in the next contract.
“E-diaries have been met with high levels of acceptance among listeners both overseas and also in trials conducted for CRA inAustraliain 2012. People’s increasing use of technology has meant listeners are now more willing to record their listening habits online and while on the go.”
“Australiaalready has one of the most robust and reliable radio audience measurement systems in the world and the new partnership with GfK will bring even further improvements to this world class system. It should also be remembered that radio’s major strengths – its mobility, ubiquity and reach into all situations – conversely, provide some of the major challenges in developing a robust and reliable radio audience measurement system,” Ms Warner said.
“At this stage, no electronic device has proved to be reliable or robust enough as the sole measure of radio audience measurement given the scale and complexity of radio’s requirements. However the industry is committed to investigating with GfK in the first 24 months whether there is a device that may be integrated into a multimodal approach and would be both feasible and cost effective.”
Ms Warner thanked the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), the Media Federation of Australia (MFA) and the Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) for their participation on the Tender Committee and in the often exhausting and time consuming tender process. She also praised their commitment to continue as part of the Research Committee to oversee the pilot tests and the move to the new survey provider.
Ms Warner thanked Nielsen Media, holder of the current contract, for its long service to the industry through the provision of radio ratings for the past 66 years inAustralia. The current contract for radio surveys, held by Nielsen, does not expire until the end of 2013.
The new ratings system will include:
• eight surveys a year in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth as well as three surveys a year in Newcastle and the Gold Coast, two a year in Canberra and one in Wollongong;
• real time management of fieldwork information to ensure quotas for difficult to reach demographics are met to deliver representative sample composition;;
• proven and tested online and e-diary system used internationally;
• parallel trials throughout 2013 to ensure validity and reliability of new data capture methods
• the establishment of the Gold Standard for radio analysis software allowing for certification of software used for radio audience measurement reporting;
• a 24-hour diary system that will, initially, include 20% online recruitment and data capture;
• formation of a new 5000 member panel to track audience behaviour;
• testing of electronic measurement in the first two years of the contract
Rhys Holleran, Chair of Commercial Radio Australia and CEO of Southern Cross Austereo said, “Networks and radio stations across Australia should welcome this decision given the significant changes to come with plans to include the e-diary and to investigate electronic data collection. It will also be good news for advertisers who have been encouraging radio to explore additional data collection methods to position us for the 21st century.”
19 February 2013
This year’s Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum will focus on “The Future of Growth – Economic Values and the Media.” DW’s annual photo competition KLICK! has the same theme and starts on February 20, 2013.
“KLICK! – Your View of a Sustainable Economy” is the theme of this year’s photo competition. Photography enthusiasts from around the world are invited to submit up to three original photographs linked to the topic of a sustainable economy in a global context. The entries might be pictures of an innovative workplace anywhere in the world, or images related to the development of renewable energy technologies or dedicated to specific campaigns, projects and events promoting a sustainable economy. DW is looking for a truly personal perspective.
The deadline for entries, which can be submitted via email to klick@dw.de or uploaded to the website www.dw-gmf.de/klick, is April 10, 2013. The pictures will be featured on an interactive world map on the KLICK! homepage. Online voting will begin on April 17. During the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum from June 17 – 19 inBonn,Germany, participants will be asked to pick their favorites among the ten most popular entries on display at the conference.
The prizes for the three best entries are an 8GB iPod Nano, a 2GB iPod Shuffle or a 4GB USB flash drive.
The 2013 Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum is co-hosted by the Foundation for International Dialogue of the Sparkasse inBonn. It is supported byGermany’s Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the European Regional Development Fund, the Minister for Federal Affairs, Europe and the Media in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, as well as by the City ofBonn. The North Rhine-Westphalian Foundation for Environment and Development is a cooperation partner.
www.dw-gmf.de
19 February 2013
The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) has completed a comprehensive training program with management and staff at Malawi Broadcasting Corporation to help MBC professionalize its nationwide radio and TV operations.
The training initiative, which wrapped up on February 15 at MBC’s headquarters in Blantyre, followed a first installment on October 29-November 2 of last year.
Benson Tembo, chief executive officer of MBC, highlighted the role of the training: “Our vision is to have an MBC that is manageable, cost-effective, revenue-generating, independent, and well-resourced.”
Bruce Sherman, the BBG’s Director of Strategy and Development, said, “The BBG is pleased through this training program to contribute to nurturing sustainable, independent press in Malawi, and also to support our valued affiliate partner MBC.”
BBG consultant Sam Swan, Professor at the School of Journalism and Electronic Media at the University of Tennessee, designed and conducted the two week-long training sessions that included a combination of discussions, consultations and practical workshops addressing broadcast operations as well as reporting and programming production.
Joining Professor Swan for the training was Marcus Muhariwa, a seasoned TV journalist, formerly at MBC and now media attaché at the U.S. embassy in Lilongwe.
MBC carries Voice of America English-language radio and TV programming, including “Daybreak Africa,” “Straight Talk Africa,” and “In Focus.”
19 February 2013
The radio industry in Australia has taken the first step to future proof the radio audience measurement system with the announcement of GfK as the preferred service provider for radio audience measurement surveys from 1 January 2014. Mobile data capture and online recruitment and data capture will be key new features of the next radio audience measurement contract awarded to international research company, GfK, Commercial Radio Australia (CRA) announced today.
“This is an exciting time for the radio industry and marks a new era for the future of radio audience measurement in Australia ensuring currency continuity, a multi-mode approach to data collection including plans for the testing of electronic measurement enhancements,” said Joan Warner, chief executive officer of CRA.
The new three year contract with GfK will be negotiated to begin 1 January 2014 and introduces an e-diary for computers, tablets and mobile phones, synchronised across the internet and compatible with all operating systems. It will be necessary for GfK to conduct further successful parallel pilot testing throughout 2013, prior to the new contract coming into force. This will ensure validity of the new processes and multi-modal data capture methods and comparability with the existing currency.
From the first survey in 2014 there will be a minimum of 20% of survey participants recruited online and completing the e-diary. This percentage will be closely monitored with the aim of reviewing and possibly increasing the percentage for year two. Also included in the new contract is real-time management and monitoring of the personal placement of diaries to ensure that population potentials for difficult to reach youth demographics are closely reflected in the sample.
“As part of the new relationship, GfK will utilise their worldwide expertise and work closely with the industry to conduct leading edge and innovative trials of electronic devices in the first 2 years of the contract. The aim being to integrate the best and latest form of electronic measurement into the radio audience measurement suite of tools by the end of the first three year term”, Ms Warner said.
GfK will also launch a new radio audience behaviour panel which will go beyond the surveys and examine key issues for the radio and media industries including consumption of radio via the internet, platform usage trends, the role of radio in people’s lives, mobile and headphone listening. This panel will be made up of 5,000 respondents per year with quarterly reporting of key insights.
These innovations together with the Gold Standard for radio analysis software that will be in place for 2014 will ensure a very exciting future for radio audience measurement in this country.
Ms Warner said that as well as the training on the new system that would be provided by GfK to stations and agencies, before the start of the new contract, CRA will offer comprehensive briefings to agencies and advertisers on the new survey methodology and the progress of pilot tests.
“GfK was awarded the new audience measurement contract after a five month tender process. GfK was chosen by the industry to move radio audience measurement forward in the immediate future due to its extensive international experience, reputation for research excellence, and innovative but rigorous approaches to the measurement challenges ahead. This new relationship marks an exciting transition for the Australian radio industry.”
GfK operates radio ratings, including an electronic diary, in several countries overseas including the Netherlandsand Germany. Gary Lamb, Managing Director of GfK said: “This is a big day for GfK, and we fully appreciate its importance for the Australian radio industry. We are thrilled to be working together with CRA to future-proof radio audience measurement by bringing exciting innovations to recruitment and data-collection techniques, new software for data analysis and advertising optimisation, and fresh perspectives on listening behaviour.”
Ms Warner said trials in 2012 of e-diaries were very positive leading to the significant changes to be made to data collection in the next contract.
“E-diaries have been met with high levels of acceptance among listeners both overseas and also in trials conducted for CRA inAustraliain 2012. People’s increasing use of technology has meant listeners are now more willing to record their listening habits online and while on the go.”
“Australiaalready has one of the most robust and reliable radio audience measurement systems in the world and the new partnership with GfK will bring even further improvements to this world class system. It should also be remembered that radio’s major strengths – its mobility, ubiquity and reach into all situations – conversely, provide some of the major challenges in developing a robust and reliable radio audience measurement system,” Ms Warner said.
“At this stage, no electronic device has proved to be reliable or robust enough as the sole measure of radio audience measurement given the scale and complexity of radio’s requirements. However the industry is committed to investigating with GfK in the first 24 months whether there is a device that may be integrated into a multimodal approach and would be both feasible and cost effective.”
Ms Warner thanked the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), the Media Federation of Australia (MFA) and the Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) for their participation on the Tender Committee and in the often exhausting and time consuming tender process. She also praised their commitment to continue as part of the Research Committee to oversee the pilot tests and the move to the new survey provider.
Ms Warner thanked Nielsen Media, holder of the current contract, for its long service to the industry through the provision of radio ratings for the past 66 years inAustralia. The current contract for radio surveys, held by Nielsen, does not expire until the end of 2013.
The new ratings system will include:
• eight surveys a year in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth as well as three surveys a year in Newcastle and the Gold Coast, two a year in Canberra and one in Wollongong;
• real time management of fieldwork information to ensure quotas for difficult to reach demographics are met to deliver representative sample composition;;
• proven and tested online and e-diary system used internationally;
• parallel trials throughout 2013 to ensure validity and reliability of new data capture methods
• the establishment of the Gold Standard for radio analysis software allowing for certification of software used for radio audience measurement reporting;
• a 24-hour diary system that will, initially, include 20% online recruitment and data capture;
• formation of a new 5000 member panel to track audience behaviour;
• testing of electronic measurement in the first two years of the contract
Rhys Holleran, Chair of Commercial Radio Australia and CEO of Southern Cross Austereo said, “Networks and radio stations across Australia should welcome this decision given the significant changes to come with plans to include the e-diary and to investigate electronic data collection. It will also be good news for advertisers who have been encouraging radio to explore additional data collection methods to position us for the 21st century.”
14 February 2013
Incoming BBC Director-General Tony Hall has announced his first major senior management appointments. 
Helen Boaden (right), currently head of news, becomes head of radio (a department whose name has been “Audio and Music” for the past few years).
James Purnell, a former culture minister in the UK government under Labour, returns to the BBC to the new post of director of strategy and digital. Purnell was head of corporate planning of the BBC before leaving to work for former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
BBC Vision regains the telly – it is to be known as BBC Television again. Hall says that the BBC’s audience – and everyone within the corporation – talks of radio and television, not “audio and music” and “vision” so it makes sense to give them their proper names.
