15 May 2012
SatLink Communications Ltd., a leading teleport delivering content to every corner of the world, has announced it is enhancing its service and product offering with the opening of a new HD Playout Centre in the heart of the broadcast district in Tel Aviv, Israel. The Playout centre strengthens SatLink’s provision of global satellite transmission services by offering content management, digital archival, content localisation, disaster recovery and OTT services to their existing and acquired customer base.
The Playout centre has been purchased from MTVS Studios, one of Israel’s leading television production facilities providers. It delivers playout and content management services to Israeli and international customers such as Disney, NTV-MIR, ESPN and others. The HD Playout centre is connected to SatLink’s state-of-the-art teleport facilities via fully redundant SDH based fibres from two different suppliers using different routes to offer global content distribution over satellite, fibre or IP communication channels.
SatLink is making a significant investment in upgrading the facility and installing the latest technology, hardware and infrastructure to provide reliable and cost effective playout, content management, digital archival and over the top solutions. The new centre is located underground to ensure maximum disaster recovery capabilities. It will offer a gateway to Asia, Africa, The Middle East, Europe and the Americas for worldwide broadcasters looking to extend their international audience reach. Customers will also have the choice of opting for a fully managed, remotely controlled, hosted, or co-located service to manage the playout and distribution of content.
David Hochner, SatLink’s CEO commented: “The new HD playout centre complements our current offerings and is part of our ongoing strategy to provide a ‘one stop shop’ for international broadcasters requiring high quality end-to-end production, content management, transmission and distribution solutions. The centre will allow both international and local broadcasters to reach viewers using a fast, reliable and proven solution and help channels entering new markets, such as the rapidly growing African, Eastern European and Asian regions, to create regionalised feeds and content. This is another demonstration of the continued growth of SatLink and how we are taking proactive steps in providing the most up to date facilities, services and solutions to broadcasters across the globe.”
www.satlink.tv
14 May 2012
“[North Korea] has changed a lot. The level of consciousness has increased, about everything from what we eat to what we think….Media from outside is definitely causing things to change.”
-26-year-old female from Pyongyang who left North Korea in January 2010, quoted in “A Quiet Opening”
InterMedia has released “A quiet opening: North Koreans in a changing media environment”, a groundbreaking report which shows that North Koreans can access far more news and information from abroad than commonly assumed, posing a challenge to the state’s control over what its citizens see, hear, know – and believe.
View the Webcast Video from the Quite Opening Launch on AudienceScapes
While there is no indication that new North Korean leader Kim Jong Un plans to loosen official state control of media and information, the reach of unsanctioned foreign content is expanding nonetheless and providing alternatives to domestic propaganda messages.
The report is based on research among refugees, travelers and d
efectors who recently left North Korea, providing a rare glimpse on their lives when they were in their home country. Below is a quote in the report from one North Korean:
“I think now, almost all citizens listen to or watch [foreign media]. You can tell when you talk to them…they will use [South] Korean words. In North Korea there is no such phrase as ‘no doubt.’ When they use a word like that, you think, ‘that person watches [foreign media] too.‘”
– 45-year-old female from Hamkyongnamdo who left North Korea in May 2010
www.intermedia.org
14 May 2012
Vizrt Ltd., a leading provider of content production tools for the digital media industry,
announced today that the Company has signed a deal worth in excess of USD 360,000 for the implementation of Broadcast Graphics products with a Television Network in the EMEA region.
The deal is with a long-term customer who has now purchased additional hardware and software to upgrade existing systems and expand on-air capacity. Viz Content Pilot, Vizrt’s content and control application, was purchased as a character generator (CG) in several of the network’s control rooms, adding to the current number of Viz Content Pilot systems already installed. Additional Viz Engines, Vizrt’s powerful real time 3D rendering platform, were also purchased as part of this deal.
About Vizrt:
Vizrt provides real-time 3D graphics and asset management tools for the broadcast industry – from award-winning animations & maps to online publishing tools. Vizrt’s products are used by the world’s leading broadcasters and publishing houses, including: CNN, CBS, Fox, the BBC, BSkyB, ITN, ZDF, Star TV, Network 18, TV Today, CCTV, NHK, The Globe and Mail, Times Online, The Telegraph, and Welt Online. Furthermore, many world-class production houses and corporate institutions such as the Stock Exchanges in New York and London use Vizrt systems.
14 May 2012
The Roosevelt Foundation, a private establishment dedicated to the ideals and achievements of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, has presented Al Jazeera Media Network with its 2012 Freedom of Speech and Expression Award.
The Foundation recognised Al Jazeera Media Network for “its longstanding efforts to provide independent, impartial news for an international audience and to offer a voice to a diversity of perspectives from under-reported regions”.
Ahmed bin Jassim Al-Thani, Director General of Al Jazeera Media Network, accepted the award at a ceremony on May 12, 2012 in Nieuwe Kerk in Middelburg, Netherlands in the presence of Queen Beatrix. He said:
“It is with immense pride and sincere humility that I accept the Freedom of Speech and Expression Award on behalf of Al Jazeera Media Network.
“Al Jazeera launched in 1996 as the first independent Arabic news channel in the world, with a vision to provide unbiased news coverage in a region where independent and balanced reporting did not exist.
“From the beginning, Al Jazeera led the way in putting the human being at the heart of its news agenda – with the opinion and the other opinion as the foundation of our journalistic values.
“Now, with the largest news network of bureaux across the globe, we stand tall as an international media network – with journalists, channels, and initiatives that transcend boundaries and challenge conventional wisdom.
“At the heart of Al Jazeera’s strength is our employees. They are our biggest asset. The courage of our people who risk their lives on a daily basis serves as an example of true heroism and courage.
Previous winners of Freedoms Medals have included Nelson Mandela, Kofi Annan, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, J. William Fulbright, Arthur Miller, The Most Rev’d Desmond Tutu, Terry Waite, Vaclav Havel, Mary Robinson.
Since 1982, the centenary of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s birth, the Roosevelt Institute and the Roosevelt Stichting have awarded Four Freedoms medals each year to individuals who exemplify the vision of the Four Freedoms that President Roosevelt outlined in his famous January 6, 1941 speech. The laureates are chosen, based on their lifetime commitment to these ideals, which President Roosevelt, described as essential conditions of human liberty.
A full text of Al Jazeera Media Network’s acceptance speech can be viewed below or here: http://www.aljazeera.com/pressoffice/2012/05/20125121725384344.html
11 May 2012
KBS N, a cable channel operated by KBS, launched a children’s channel on 5 May (Korea’s children’s day).
KBS Kids is targeting a young audience aged from two to twelve, and is aiming to provide content that is educational as well as entertaining. The channel’s line-up includes KBS produced programmes such as ‘Flying Tent’, ‘Playground ZZAM’ and ‘Hutos’ in addition to internationally successful ‘Large Family’ from the BBC and ‘Early Bloomers’ from BabyFrist TV, a US Children’s channel.
Another programming feature of the new channel is the kindergarten zone, a set of programmes broadcast at regular intervals, in which parents and children share the viewing experience.
KBS Kids said that it would be a channel that parents want to recommend for children to watch. KBS Kids will add more variety to KBS N, which already runs four sub channels – KBS Drama, KBS Sports, KBS Prime and KBS Joy.
11 May 2012
As part of celebrations to mark 50 years of BBC Scotland Television, Prince Charles and his wife Camilla toured the Pacific Quay media centre in Glasgow on Thursday 10 May, meeting staff and on-air presenters. However the highlight of the visit was an unexpected invitation to present the weather forecast.Talking to the BBC’s in-house magazine Ariel, weather forecaster Christopher Blanchett said he and his colleagues only found out on Tuesday 8 May that the royal couple would tour the studio.
“We were told it might be wise to have some weather graphics on standby in case they wanted to have a look and we also decided to write an autocue script. We don’t normally use a script in weather – we just do it off the top of our heads,” Blanchett added. But newsreader Sally Magnusson asked the royal visitors, known in Scotland as the Duke and Duchess of Rothesay, if they would like to have a go at reading the weather before the lunchtime bulletin went on air.
Blanchett said: “Prince Charles seemed extremely happy about doing it so he just stepped in. I showed him where to stand, explained about looking down the camera and how to hold the clicker, and he was utterly charming.”
Together with fellow forecasters Gillian Smart and Stav Danaos, Blanchett inserted special references to the royal residences in Scotland. You can see the results in this video.
