9 June 2011
Eurosport audience ratings for the 2011 Tennis French Open broke all-time audience records and strong audience increases were posted across Europe.
– Best ever audience reach with 56 million different viewers during the two week period of competition on Eurosport and Eurosport 2 combined.
– Best ever LIVE average audience on Eurosport with 1,062,000 viewers during the whole tournament, an increase of +18% vs 2010.
– Best ever LIVE average audience for a men’s Final on Eurosport with 2,653,000 viewers for the Nadal – Federer match (+ 40% vs 2010).
Eurosport’s exhaustive coverage of the tournament from 23 May – 5 June on Eurosport and Eurosport 2, featured 305 hours of broadcast including 191 hours of Live action which attracted these record breaking audiences.
Excellent performances were also recorded for Eurosport’s exclusive on site magazine hosted by Mats Wilander Game, Set and Mats broadcast LIVE in evening primetime. The programme reached 19 million different viewers throughout the tournament on Eurosport and Eurosport 2.
Eurosport has drawn exceptional TV audiences for many of the big international sporting events broadcast during the first six months of this year. This demonstrates once again Eurosports capacity to attract the largest number of sports fans through a strong and diverse programming offer.
– 50 million different viewers for Tennis Australian Open in January
– 114 million different viewers for the 2010-2011 Wintersports season
– 50 million different viewers for Snooker World Championships in April
– 33 million different viewers for the Giro dItalia (Cycling Tour of Italy) in May
3 June 2011
Voice of Americas popular nightly news program “TV Ashna” will stay on the air in Afghanistan for another five years under the terms of a new contract signed this week by VOA and Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA), the government broadcasting organization.
VOA Director Designate David Ensor told reporters at the signing ceremony in Kabul that he was delighted that there is a new contract that extends the partnership between VOA and RTA. Under the agreement, RTA broadcasts the VOA program.
“TV Ashna,” a one-hour VOA news broadcast in the Dari and Pashto languages, has gained a growing audience in Afghanistan with its dynamic interviews, news and sports reporting. The program airs six nights a week, Saturday through Thursday.
Ensor, who is currently Director of Communications and Public Diplomacy at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, thanked RTA for its cooperation with VOA, saying both organizations are committed to freedom of the media and quality reporting on issues that matter to Afghanistan.
The Director General of RTA Mohammad Zarin Anzoor said, “We are witnessing an extension for 5 more years of VOA Ashna TV which will be heard in Afghanistan from 6 pm to 7 pm daily.”
In addition to news from Afghanistan and the region, “TV Ashna” reports on U.S. and international developments, including extensive coverage of the uprisings in the Middle East and world reaction to the death of Osama bin Laden.
VOA Dari and Pashto websites have also grown in popularity over the past three years and the content is delivered on mobile browsers, social media sites including Facebook and Twitter, and a daily email news summary offered to subscribers.
For the latest international news or for more information about VOA and its programs, visit www.voanews.com. For VOA Dari visit www.voanews.com/dari/news. For VOA Pashto, visit www.voanews.com/pashto/news.
31 May 2011
We are busy preparing the AIBs (international media excellence awards) with its People Choice category for the best TV coverage of “Democracy Uprisings”, as well producing an article, to be published in the next edition of our magazine The Channel, on “Democracy Uprisings and Social Media”, detailing how social media has been used alongside and in place of traditional broadcasting in the Arab Spring and other popular movements.
So it is sometimes easy to be carried away with the idea that the progress towards democracy, supported by broadcasting in all its forms from radio stations to videos on mobile phones, is unstoppable and continual. But the publication by Freedom House of “Freedom in the World 2011: The Authoritarian Challenge to Democracy”, makes sobering reading as it reports on the fifth consecutive year of a decline in world freedom and states that “… the democratic community is not rising to the challenge”.
At the AIB, we add our voice to the fight for the freedom and independence of broadcasters everywhere to report without fear. We salute those organisations who take risks to bring the world news from difficult environments and especially the reporters who often put their lives on the line to report the reality in areas of conflict and repression. Unfortunately, all too often we have to pay tribute to those who are killed or wounded while doing their jobs.
We believe that the broadcasting community has continually risen to the challenge of supporting freedom by struggling to report the facts whatever the situation and that it must work hard to continue to do so. We welcome the many ordinary people who, while taking part in protests, are prepared to take the additional risk of sending out details of what they are experiencing and seeing, which is a vital help to professional broadcasters as they work to report truthfully and analyse carefully.
31 May 2011
An extraordinary alignment of the stars must have brought about this surprising, yet natural joining of forces. The international news channel, euronews, and the world-renowned musician, Jean Michel Jarre, have decided to work together to cover a series of events, uniting their respective talents and know-how.
euronews and Jean Michel Jarre gravitate in similar directions, using the strength of images projected on the international stage. They also share common roots in the city of Lyon where Jarre was born and where euronews was established in 1993.
euronews will now accompany the artist on his European and global tours in the coming years.
The channel will be covering the release of Jean Michel Jarre’s albums, including the upcoming “Essentials & Rarities,” available as of Monday, 30 May 2011. euronews will also participate in Jarre’s European tour which will soon take him to every corner of the continent. Jean Michel Jarre and the teams of Euronews are exploring a whole range of collaborative projects on themes such as innovation in images, sound, the media and emerging technologies.
No Comment Live at the concert in Monaco
euronews will give a live, exclusive broadcast of the concert by Jean Michel Jarre for the wedding of H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco and Charlene Wittstock on 1 July. The show will be rebroadcast on a special edition of the channel’s emblematic programme, “No Comment Live,” and on all of its media platforms. From the event preparations to the live concert at Port Hercule and the ceremony, euronews will for the first time in its history create a real media event with complete coverage of the princely wedding. The build-up in the week before the celebration and highlights including the concert will be detailed in an upcoming press release by the channel.
About the partnership, Jean Michel Jarre said, “I always watch euronews during my frequent travels around the word. I genuinely appreciate the channel and feel a close connection with the values it defends: pure information, without distortion, factual analysis and a comprehensive perspective on the world. For me, it is an incredible resource for sharing and a platform for my European projects.”
Michael Peters, Managing Director of euronews, explained, “The contact with Jean Michel Jarre has convinced us that an international news channel like euronews can venture into new territory by creating such an original partnership. We have found a synergy in the uniting of two different worlds and euronews is proud to accompany Jean Michel Jarre and his team on their worldwide audio-visual explorations.” (source: euronews press release)
27 May 2011
The AIB’s latest global news briefing has been published.
Delivered to more than 25,000 media leaders globally, this edition includes news on distribution, technology, programming and more.
Click on the link below to access this new edition.
27 May 2011
Voice of Americas Georgian Service, which first went on the air May 26, 1951, is being hailed for the role it has played in helping bring democracy to the former Soviet republic.
In a message marking the 60th anniversary of the services creation, Georgias Ambassador to the United States, Temur Yakobashvili said, “Without any exaggeration I can say that the VOA Georgian Service has played a big role in spreading Americas voice to the people of Georgia and making it possible for me to represent a sovereign nation here in the United States. VOAs Georgian Service is as relevant today as it has always been in the past.”
VOA began broadcasting a one-half hour daily program to the Georgian people during the most frigid days of the cold war, when Georgia was still a Soviet Socialist Republic. For the past sixty years, through the countrys transition to democracy, the service has continued to provide accurate, balanced and comprehensive news and information to the people of Georgia.
Among its many admirers is Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, who has praised the service as unique and important in covering events in and around Georgia.
VOAs Georgian Service radio broadcasts were increased to one hour daily in August 2008 following Russias military incursion into Georgian territory. The Service broadcasts seven hours of original radio programming a week, reaching listeners via the FM network of Georgias Public Broadcasting Corporation, the countrys most powerful FM distribution facility. The broadcasts are also heard on shortwave frequencies.
Since November 2010, the VOA Georgian Service has also produced a weekly 15-minute TV program that is broadcast by Georgias Public Broadcasting Corporation. The Services video reports, along with its daily radio programs, are also available on its website and through Facebook, Youtube and Twitter.
Visit VOAs Georgian Service at www.voanews.com/georgian/news. (Source: VOA press release)
