24 October 2012
RTS SAT makes its debut in full MPEG-4 to Australia and New Zealand
GlobeCastAustraliatoday announced a major upgrade that will allow the company to deliver its customers the first high-quality MPEG-4 services on the Optus D2 DTH satellite platform. GlobeCastAustraliais the leading provider of broadcast services forAustralia,New Zealand, and thePacificIslandsand is part of the worldwide GlobeCast group.
GlobeCastAustralia’s Chief Executive Simon Farnsworth said: “We have invested in MPEG-4 to give our customers access to the latest world-class technologies to help them innovate and grow.”
GlobeCast will commence its new MPEG-4 service with its channel partner RTS SAT, on behalf of EURO World Network (EWN). EWN operates a DTH and IPTV distribution platforms inAustralia; using GlobeCast Australia DTH satellite distribution on Optus D2.
Mark Lobwein, Chairman of EURO World Network said, “It is a pleasure to be working with GlobeCastAustraliain this region for our blue chip customer, RTS SAT. GlobeCast has been looking after DTH services inAustraliafor over a decade and we are excited to be working with them to deliver this new technology for our satellite customers.”
Farnsworth said MPEG-4 offers GlobeCast customers:
o Increased household penetration potential because of its higher-quality video delivery to large-screen flat-panel displays
o Higher-quality sound with an option for Dolby® audio
o Greater bandwidth efficiency and value
GlobeCastAustralia’s enhancement of its Optus D2 DTH platform includes upgrading four carriers to state-of-the art Thompson Video Networks MPEG-4/MPEG-2 encoders. The Optus D2 DTH platform coversAustraliaandNew Zealand.
RTS SAT will be available in both MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 until the end of the year.
23 October 2012
The edge of space was where Felix Baumgartner stood Sunday, October 14 2012. At 39km or 128,100ft, already setting a world record for highest manned balloon flight, Baumgartner leaned forward and rapidly disappeared from camera view.
9 minutes later Felix Baumgartner was on the New Mexico desert ground, fists in the air in triumph. His decent set additional world records for becoming the first skydiver to break the speed of sound, reaching a maximum velocity of 1,342km/h (833.9mph), and the record for highest ever freefall.
The entire event was broadcast live on youtube.com where another record was broken for simultaneous views. More than 8 million viewers watched the descent through youtube’s streaming service. The event was broadcast by 77 stations across 48 countries around the world.
All the graphic content for TV and for live stream was provided by Vizrt Technology. The joint team of Vizrt and netventure personnel, represented on site by Yan Heydlauf of Vizrt South West Europe and Stefan Meyer of netventure Germany, gathered live data from capsule telemetry, mission clocks, chest pack information, bio-meds and other mission information in Red Bull Stratos Mission Control in Roswell, New Mexico. All data for several websites were fed by web services provided by netventure using data centers in Germany, Austria, Ireland and the US.
The team used Viz Graphic Hub’s shared memory to distribute content simultaneously between New Mexico and the Red Bull Stratos studio at Servus TV in Salzburg, Austria. A Viz|Trio operator simply called up “pages” in a Viz|Trio show while the content was constantly being updated live using scripting and Viz Graphics Hub shared memory maps. Three Viz Engines, Vizrt’s real-time 3D compositing engine, were used to display the on-air graphics and video compositing. At Servus TV, netventure film Austria, which has been in charge of live graphics services for two years, used the same Viz|Trio show to broadcast this successful event. The several Viz|Trio systems were used to display on air graphics and all the studio monitors.
“Red Bull has been an exciting partner for us to work with over the last few years. From the Red Bull X-Fighters to this amazing jump, they are constantly pushing the limit and bringing us fun new challenges.” said Petter Ole Jakobsen, CTO Vizrt. “We congratulate Felix for this landmark accomplishment.”
17 October 2012
BBC World Service has announced the availability of new apps which will give consumers access to its range of multilingual news content via Nokia’s Series 40 devices, including the Nokia Asha smartphone range.
The apps offer up-to-date news content from the websites spanning 11 language services of BBC World Service: BBC Arabic, BBC Brasil (in Portuguese), BBC Chinese, BBC Hindi, BBC Indonesia, BBC Mundo (in Spanish), BBC Russian, BBC Turkce, BBC Ukrainian, BBC Urdu and BBC Vietnamese.
In addition to reading all the latest news updates via the app, users of the Chinese, Indonesian and Arabic apps can also listen to radio news bulletins in these languages.
The apps will be available on the installed base of existing Series 40 devices, in addition to the expanding Nokia Asha device range – including the recently announced Nokia Asha 308 and Nokia Asha 309 smartphones.
BBC Global News Controller of Digital and Technology, James Montgomery, comments: ‘The development of such a wide range of BBC languages apps for Nokia phones means the reach of our languages services continues to increase by offering audiences simple mobile access. Nokia’s Series 40 devices are still the most popular in the world, with more than 675 million handsets in the market to date. BBC is committed to its digital audiences across the world, who use less sophisticated handsets but still seek access to unbiased and trustworthy reporting.’
Bryan Biniak, VP & GM, Global Partnering & Application Development, Nokia, says: ‘We are committed to bringing great, locally relevant app experiences to Nokia consumers around the globe. As the world’s best known news source, we’re delighted to see the BBC extend their mobile reach to our base of 675 million Nokia Asha and other Nokia Series 40 devices in the market, with these local language apps. The incorporation of Nokia Xpress Browser technology will help drastically reduce data consumption for our consumers in low bandwidth countries, while delivering a fantastic news app experience.’
The new BBC apps are free and available to download in local languages from Nokia Store.
15 October 2012
SatLink Communications Ltd., a leading teleport and HD Playout Centre delivering content to every corner of the world, has today announced that it has been selected by six Nigerian TV Channels to provide end-to-end broadcast services and content distribution to Central and Pan-Africa on the AMOS 5 satellite Ku-band and C-Band platforms. The broadcasters will also be utilising SatLink’s end to end broadcast solutions including the company HD Playout Centre services to enable the distribution of the customer’s TV channel to suit African market demands.
Utilising the AMOS 5 satellite, on 17˚East, Central-Africa Ku-band reach, SatLink will enable two international Christian Religious Channels, Voice of God (VOG) and Champions of Fire TV (CFTV) and Hola TV, a Nigerian entertainment channel, to effectively distribute content easily to Direct to Home viewers in the Western Africa, Eastern Africa and Central Africa regions.
On the C-band beam, Hosanna Broadcast Network will contribute their Christian and entertainment programs to Pan Africa, CFTV will broadcast also on Amos 5 C-band via Satlink and Optima Sports TV will be broadcasting two terrestrial sports channels carrying premium content from the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, the FA Premier League, La Liga and the Bundesliga to its audience of Sub-Saharan African viewers.
The selection of the AMOS 5 Ku- and C-band will extend the channels’ reach to many of the emerging broadcast markets within Africa including Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania, Zambia and Mozambique. The provisioning of these services from one provider was one of the requirements for all channels as they looked for fully professional, reliable and redundant solutions that enabled them to directly access the African viewers. Taking advantage of SatLink’s HD Playout Centre, Christian channel Voice of God (VOG) and Hola TV will Playout and Uplink their channels directly from Jerusalem to SatLink’s MCPC platforms.
David Hochner, CEO of SatLink, commented: “These latest African customer announcements represent an important milestone in our engagement with the African market place as a strategic focus for our company. These are perfect examples of where we can add value to African broadcasters looking for an end-to-end service including all equipment and installations as well as satellite distribution and playout services to deliver localised content into and out of Africa. ”
He continued: “One of the key challenges facing broadcasters trying to extend their reach into Africa is finding a partner that is able to provide the full range of end-to-end broadcast services that are needed to make an impact. This is more than providing the uplink, turnaround and downlinking services, broadcasters are asking us for the full playout services capabilities and importantly the localisation of content dependent on the specific region. We are seeing a great demand, particularly from those channel’s based within Africa, for the provisioning of these services all from one sole provider. With our strategically located teleport as the gateway to Africa, the infrastructure and fully professional playout services already available and in use and our AMOS 5 platforms, we are the perfect partner for those broadcasters looking to transmit and distribute content to, within and out of Africa.”
11 October 2012
BBC FOUR has commissioned a 20-part series called ‘Britain on Film’ that will use archive footage from over 500 Rank Organisation cinema documentary films to give modern audiences a new visual perspective on the 1960s.
ITN Source, the footage licensing division of ITN, is supplying ten hours of archive to BBC Scotland, which is producing the series. The content is entirely sourced from Rank’s ‘Look at Life’ series, which was shown in Odeon and Gaumont cinemas from 1959 until 1969. The vast majority of this footage has never been seen on television before.
Each episode of ‘Britain on Film’ explores different aspects of British life and culture in the 1960s. The series includes episodes such as “A Woman’s Place”, which looks at the changing role of women during the decade; “The Cold War”, which covers British responses to the tensions arising from the international conflict with nations behind the Iron curtain; and “Having Fun”, which examines the new leisure opportunities opening up to the people of Britain.
Throughout the series, the ‘Look at Life’ footage is accompanied by the original commentaries, rather than new voiceovers. As a result, viewers are given an authentic 1960s perspectives on many of the subjects covered. In this series, to a very great extent, the 1960s is allowed to speak for itself.
The original footage is taken from 35mm colour reels, with ITN Source restoring some content that had deteriorated over time. The series is Executive Produced by David Okuefuna and is commissioned by the Controller of BBC FOUR, Richard Klein.
“After I was approached by ITN Source, who alerted me to the vast spread of the Look at Life series, I realised there was a wealth of content to bring the sixties to life,” said David Okuefuna, Executive Director of Britain on Film. “The films shine a light on every element of the decade, not just the ‘swinging sixties’ stereotype. We hope this series will be a richly enjoyable trip down memory lane for some – and a window on an unfamiliar world for others.”
“ITN Source always aims to be proactive in working with producers to help identify compelling archive content and to stimulate archive-driven programme ideas,” said Andy Williams, Managing Director of ITN Source. “We’re delighted to see this idea come to fruition with an entirely archive-based series commissioned by BBC Four. The footage from The Look at Life provides a fascinating insight into our lives in post-war Britain.”
The scheduling of Britain on Film has yet to be finalised, but the first run of films are expected to appear on BBC FOUR between now and March 2013. Further details will follow in due course.
9 October 2012
Eurosport has secured a three-year deal to become the exclusive European media partner of the new ATP POWER HORSE CUP from 2013 to 2015.
Eurosport will broadcast extensive LIVE HD coverage on Eurosport and Eurosport 2 channels across 59 countries. The deal includes digital rights for all matches and Eurosport will also become the host broadcaster of the tournament. It will be the first time Eurosport is host broadcaster for an ATP event.
Formerly known as the POWER HORSE World Team Cup, the Düsseldorf outdoor clay court tournament is adopting a new format from 2013 by joining the ATP World Tour 250 series.
Held the week before the French Open the tournament is an appropriate addition to Eurosport’s tennis portfolio which includes LIVE coverage of the Roland Garros Grand Slam in Paris.
This exclusive partnership was signed with tournament director Dietloff von Arnim, who said: “We are delighted to continue with the strong tradition of ATP tournaments in Düsseldorf and welcome the arrival of an ATP 250 tournament at Rochusclub. With this new tournament status comes a new name and we are very pleased to retain POWER HORSE as our title sponsor. We are happy and proud to have Eurosport as our host broadcaster for a minimum of the next three years. Our new partnership promises excellent coverage for all tennis fans and sponsors, not only in Germany, but also in all European territories.”
Géraldine Filiol, Eurosport Deputy Managing Director in charge of acquisitions, said: “We are delighted to become the European media partner of the POWER HORSE CUP, especially at such an important moment in the life of the tournament. We will help the new ATP 250 tournament develop by providing extensive coverage to all fans in Europe on our channels Eurosport and Eurosport 2 as well as on internet and mobile through the Eurosport Player”.
ABOUT EUROSPORT GROUP
The Eurosport Group is Europe’s leading sports entertainment group. Eurosport, the n°1 pan-European TV channel, broadcasts in 20 languages and reaches 130 million homes across 59 countries. Eurosport HD is the high definition simulcast of Eurosport. Eurosport 2 broadcasts to 61 million households in 18 languages across 47 countries. Eurosport 2 HD was launched in August 2009. Eurosport Asia-Pacific reaches 17 countries in the region and launched an HD channel in September 2011. Eurosportnews is the sports news channel transmitted worldwide. Eurosport.com, Europe’s n°1 online sports destination, has up to 23 million unique users per month (comScore) across an international network of sports websites in 11 languages, including Yahoo! co-branded sites in Germany, Spain, Italy and the UK. The Eurosport.com free mobile applications are available in 10 languages. Eurosport Player, Eurosport’s web TV service, provides LIVE and on-demand sports to fans’ PCs in 52 countries and the Player mobile application is available in up to 34 countries. Eurosport Events is the group’s expert division in the management and promotion of international sporting events.
