17 October 2011
Indias first national high-definition news channel, News Express, has deployed the Associated Press ENPS news production system. The first site went live at the News Express headquarters in Noida, Uttar Pradesh and is part of a planned network of the channels sites to install ENPS across India.
News Express is being deployed with the latest production version of ENPS, which has full support for social media integration. A Quantel production system, an Omnibus automation and playout and VizRT graphics system have also been installed and integrated.
ENPS Regional Sales Manager Keisuke Kayaba said: ENPS has now been installed in more newsrooms than any other news production system in the world. The Indian installations alone now number over 26. India is still a rapidly growing broadcast market and customers in the region are ambitious, dynamic and demand high standards in technology.
News Express Channel Head Mukesh Kumar said: We are particularly impressed by ENPSs ease of use, stability and the seamless integration it provides with third-party systems. The regular upgrades to ENPS will help to keep us up to date with the latest technology and trends in delivering news.
The Noida site also encompasses space for the companys broadcast news training academy. Journalism graduates will get hands-on experience in 21st century news production and learn how ENPS gives them access and control to information and media through one user interface.
The ENPS business in India is managed by the authorised ENPS distributor in India, Shaf Broadcast Pvt. Ltd. AP has been working with Shaf Broadcast in India for more than 10 years. This relationship began with the first digital newsroom in India at Sahara TV. As an HD News operation News Express is another first. Shaf Broadcast has unparalleled expertise in installing, training and supporting ENPS in India.
17 October 2011
Elemental Technologies, the leading provider of video processing solutions that enable multi-screen content delivery, today announced that Eurosport, Europe’s leading sports entertainment group, has deployed Elemental solutions to drive the video processing for its live and on-demand multi-platform streaming services.
In conjunction with local representative B-Stream, Elemental is providing solutions to the media giant for both live and on-demand video transcoding. Elemental Server gives Eurosport faster than real time file-based transcoding while Elemental Live encoders deliver multiple linear adaptive bitrate channels to devices such as the iPad and iPhone. Streaming video powered by Elemental is also available online from Eurosport through the companys popular Eurosport/Yahoo site and player.
Eurosport requires solutions that provide a bridge between traditional video and IP-based networks and that deliver ease-of-use, manageability and high-quality output in a footprint and cost model that doesnt burden our existing operations, said Marc Amiot, CIO of Eurosport. With the processing power of Elementals solutions, Eurosport can quickly and economically expand content well beyond the 50,000 videos in our current library while improving video quality and increasing the number of live-to-Internet distribution feeds. The Elemental platform lets Eurosport encode up to 12 different versions of Eurosport content and soon up to 16 supplementary event bonus feeds simultaneously, in formats compatible with PC, iPhone/iPad and connected TV.
Elemental seeks customers and partners that expand the concept of what is possible in video streaming to PC, tablet and mobile devices, said John Nemeth Elemental Director, EMEA. Eurosport is committed to providing its passionate fans with on-demand and live content on more devices than ever before and we are proud to help them execute on their vision for delivering content on their fans terms.
Elemental is raising the bar in terms of performance, economics and video quality with this landmark win in the European market, noted Christian Fadin, director of sales and marketing at B-Stream. We look forward to continuing our work together in France as we leverage Elementals impressive video processing solutions in future integrations.
17 October 2011
WRN Broadcast (WRNB) has worked with Voice of Russia, the oldest Russian broadcasting company, to launch Voice of Russia from the World Radio Network, a new DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) radio service providing a wide range of programmes about Russia and Russias viewpoint on world events to listeners in London, ranging from the most important political events on the global agenda to arts, culture, science and sports. The new service, broadcast in English, is available on DAB throughout London.
Although WRNB is one of the leading international broadcast managed services companies and works with some of the best known television and studio brands in the world, its origins are in international radio distribution and Voice of Russia has been working with WRNB for almost 20 years. The World Radio Network is WRN Broadcasts international radio distribution brand and delivers mainly public service content to a worldwide audience in several languages on every continent.
WRNB is the licence holder of Voice of Russia from the World Radio Network and in common with other news and current affairs based channels there will be segments from other world broadcasters to provide a rounded view of world affairs. Voice of Russia is in the process of setting up studios and production facilities at WRNBs London base, which will house dedicated production staff and journalists in order to increase the London-based content of the channel. Additional material will be produced in Moscow and WRNB will schedule and playout the channel.
One of our goals is to get closer to our audiences, said Andrey Bystritsky, Chairman, Voice of Russia, so it made perfect sense to have the channels base in the heart of London, and to partner with a specialist like WRN Broadcast who will drive the channels success. Voice of Russia also broadcasts in over 160 countries and has channels in New York and Washington.
David Treadway, Managing Director, WRN Broadcast said, We have worked with Voice of Russia for many years and are responsible for delivering their programmes to audiences in places as diverse as Afghanistan and Buenos Aires. Therefore, we are delighted to have been able to devise and manage a channel right here in London, so increasing even further the range, quality and choice of radio services in the capital.
Ford Ennals, CEO, Digital Radio UK, welcomed the arrival of the new radio station and said, “London is a vibrant, multicultural city and this is reflected in its digital radio services which include 60 digital-only stations, including those serving audiences from all over the world. We welcome the launch of Voice of Russia from the World Radio Network and see it as an excellent addition to London’s rich radio diversity.”
13 October 2011
euronews is International Media Partner at the 7th edition of the Women’s Forum held this week (13-15 October 2011) in Deauville, France.
Created in 2005, The Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society is one of the most world’s most influential forums. It is a global and independent forum dedicated to the construction of a fairer world for all. The Forum acts as a debate platform where world leaders and particularly women world leaders can exchange ideas and take action on the main issues shaping our societies.
This year, and for the first time, euronews is linking up with this impressive project as its media partner. The international news channel will be present on the Forum through a permanent TV studio in the exhibition hall and will also participate in the different sessions and debates taking place over the three days. Chris Burns, lead anchor and journalist at euronews, will moderate two sessions on Thursday 14th afternoon: “Stand up with Women for Education” followed by “Generation Y in the workplace: Meet the next generation”.
Anne Glémarec, euronews reporter on site, will be covering the event and interviewing leaders and delegates throughout the Forum. A special Focus programme about the impact and influence of Women’s Forum will be broadcast on euronews and will be simultaneously available on all digital platforms including iPhone, iPad and Android via euronews live apps, and on catch-up TV on euronews.net in 11 languages (Arabic, English, Farsi, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russia, Spanish, Turkish and Ukrainian).
12 October 2011
RRsat Global Communications Network Ltd. (NASDAQ: RRST), a leading provider of comprehensive content management and global distribution services to the television and radio broadcasting industries, and NovelSat, a high-end manufacturer and developer of the pioneering 3G-Sat modulation technology, NS3, announced today that live testing of its NS3 modulation solution resulted in a 26% data rate increase over DVB-S2. NS3 achieved a rate of 8.25 Mbps compared to DVB-S2srate of only 6.54 Mbps, over a 3 MB carrier. This remarkable achievement should have an impact on the industry, especially for small data terminals as well as for Satellite Newsgathering (SNG) services. For certain applications, such capacity boost can be translated into usage of a much smaller antenna, namely around 35% smaller antenna diameter, for similar data rates.
“RRsat is proud to be an early adopter, as exemplified by our use of this advanced technology, and is excited about the potential benefits NS3may have for our customers, said Ziv Mor, CTO of RRsat. In addition to the potential data rate and bandwidth advantages, RRsat may now be able to provide higher levels of reliable and robust service while allowing its customers to use smaller antennas.
“It has been very helpful working with RRsat, a company with a well-earned reputation for assisting and encouraging companies with innovate products and services. RRsats guidance and live testing of NS3 with its impressive roster of first tier customers provided us with the kind of real-time situation needed prior to market launch, said Itzik Wulkan, NovelSat CEO. For commercial companies to governmental organizations, we have, with RRsats assistance, been able to see firsthand how the NS3 implementation can improve service value. We are thrilled with the opportunity to extend the impact of these tests further through our new partnership with RRsat.
12 October 2011
One hundred VOA-trained citizen journalists will fan out across the Democratic Republic of Congo in the coming weeks in a pioneering social media project that will enhance news coverage of the November presidential election and provide a grassroots forum for key issues facing the country.
The citizen journalists, who are being trained by VOA project coordinators working throughout the French-speaking country, will use inexpensive mobile phones to post photos, videos and stories directly to special Facebook and Twitter pages set up for the project.
The Chief of VOAs French to Africa Service, Idrissa S. Dia, says the contributions of the citizen journalists, which are already being posted on the social media sites, will supplement the work of professional reporters to create a vibrant news-gathering and news-sharing community.
Dia says, These reports and observations from around Congos 11 provinces will create a true national conversation about topics that matter most to people, their families and their country, including the electoral campaign, the presidential election on November 28 and the issue of gender violence.
In addition to providing training and technical assistance to the citizen journalists, VOAs French to Africa Service will provide professional and editorial guidance and curate the social media sites. The 100 Citizen Journalists project is a partnership between VOA and the U.S. State Department, which funded the program.
VOA French to Africa can be heard on AM and FM affiliate stations around the Democratic Republic of Congo, on shortwave and on the Internet.
