The latest of the AIB’s industry briefings has been published and is available online – follow the link below to see the 14 October edition.
To subscribe, e-mail your name, job title, organisation and e-mail details to register @ aib.org.uk (please remove the spaces).
Associated Press Television News, the worlds leading video news agency, is making a substantial multi-million dollar investment to upgrade its newsgathering infrastructure, provide pictures in high definition to the broadcast and digital markets and significantly increase the depth and breadth of video coverage from around the world.
It is the single biggest investment in APs London-based video business since it acquired a competitor, Worldwide Television News, in 1998.
The plan will ensure that APs video operations are fully digital from end to end, and that video can slot easily into any workflow of broadcasters and digital platforms around the globe.
The video business arm of The Associated Press currently supplies live news video and edited clips of entertainment, sport and lifestyle coverage to more than 1,000 national and international broadcasters and major portals worldwide via an international satellite and fiber network. It currently has bureaus in more than 80 countries.
The company plans to introduce high definition from next year, starting with entertainment coverage and moving on to sport and live news coverage by 2012.
Daisy Veerasingham, senior vice-president of business development and partner relations, said: Traditionally, customers have subscribed to our service for competitive coverage from every corner of the globe. But as well as having strong content, it is vital that in the digital age we give our customers choices about how they receive our content.
This investment will give our customers a wide range of options about the technology they use to receive video both in the traditional broadcast market and on digital platforms. We believe 2011 is the tipping point when the majority of the international TV news market will want pictures in high definition.
APs video journalists gather the most compelling images from the most fascinating corners of the globe every day. By deepening our investment and transitioning to digital, we reaffirm our commitment to bringing each days most vital videos to audiences worldwide in easy-to-use formats at the fastest possible speeds, said Kathleen Carroll, AP executive news editor.
The investment will see the company deploy state-of-the-art cameras around the world, renew its core production infrastructure and provide new eBusiness delivery platforms for digital customers.
From the 4th of November, Eurosport 2 is extending its distribution on CS Link and Skylink DTH platforms on Astra satellite. The channel will be distributed together with Eurosport on both platforms in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, while Skylink has also successfully been carrying Eurosport HD since October 2008. Eurosport, Eurosport 2 and Eurosport HD will also be part of the coming launch of T-Mobiles new DTH platform in Czech Republic.
The take-up of the new version of Eurosport 2 will allow CS Link and Skylink subscribers to enjoy all sports events with high quality Czech-language commentary, including exclusive live broadcast of the German football league, the Bundesliga, and Italian Men’s and Women’s Volleyball League.
Subscribers can also watch many other team sports such as ice hockey, basketball, handball, American football and a diverse line-up of wintersports and tennis Grand slams.
Eurosport and Eurosport 2 are now present on all DTH platforms in the two countries, as they are also carried on DIGI TV and UPC Direct in addition to a broad distribution of the channels on cable and IPTV (UPC and O2 in the Czech Republic and UPC and MAGIO in Slovakia).
The Directors of Media Asset Capital Ltd (MAC) are pleased to announce the appointment of Michael McEwen as Chairman.
McEwen has been a MAC Director for the past five years and has long experience in the Broadcast Industry. He spent more than 25 years with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in journalism, production and executive management roles.
He is a former Secretary General of the North America Broadcasters Association, President of the World Digital Audio Broadcast Forum, and President of Canadian Digital Television where he led the transition from analogue to High Definition Digital TV.
MAC CEO Tom Wragg welcomed McEwen to his new role in MAC: “Michael brings a wealth of experience and leadership in our industry and this will be of huge benefit both to MAC clients and to our Board colleagues.”
McEwen takes up his responsibilities immediately and in settling into his new role paid tribute to his predecessor, Iain MacTaggart: “Iain gave us great leadership in starting up MAC and creating a multi-disciplinary framework for directors and associates in the UK, the US and Canada, providing the MAC client base with expertise across the full range of the broadcast industry.”
Media Asset Capital is a UK based company and serves a diverse media-focused client base.
###
About Media Asset Capital
Media Asset Capital is a media consultancy dedicated to helping a wide variety of clients improve their processes and their business. MAC works with enterprises that create and distribute media; that supply technology and offer services to the media industry; and that invest in the sector.
MAC’s partners and directors have all held senior positions in broadcasters, or supplier companies, or both. They include Tom Wragg, a former Head of Resources at BBC News and Director of both Omnibus and Autocue; Graham Sharp, formerly VP and GM Video at Avid Technology; Jeremy Bancroft, a Founder and former MD of Omnibus; and Adrian Scott, former CMO of Pro-Bel and Founder of the Bakewell House Consultancy.
MAC also has a substantial Associates Group who work on MAC projects and add a wealth of specialist experience, allowing MAC to offer expert services in strategy, planning, policy, and regulation; procurement, project management, and implementation; and market research, benchmarking, sales and marketing. MAC is also active in advising the investment community, offering industry-specific advice, analysis and support both pre and post deal.
FRANCE 24 has signed a new distribution agreement with Asia Satellite Telecommunications Co. Ltd. (AsiaSat) to commence the distribution of its French channel while it will continue to distribute its English channel throughout the Asia-Pacific region on AsiaSat 5 via the SatLink platform.
FRANCE 24 launched its English-language channel in Asia on AsiaSat 5 in 2009. With the additional C-band capacity under this new agreement, FRANCE 24 will bring its French channel to the Asian continent, enabling it to address both French and English speaking audiences in the region.
FRANCE 24 has access to almost 3 million TV households in Asia with key carriage agreements concluded with major Asian cable networks, DTH and IPTV platforms.
Following the successful launch of our English-language channel on AsiaSat 5 in 2009, we are delighted to work with AsiaSat, our valued satellite partner, to continue to roll out our French channel in Asia. By distributing both English and French television services on AsiaSat 5, we are in a strong position to further broaden our reach across the Asia-Pacific region, said Philippe Rouxel, Vice President Worldwide Distribution of FRANCE 24.
William Wade, CEO of AsiaSat commented, We are thrilled that FRANCE 24 has again chosen to put its trust in AsiaSat. AsiaSat 5s excellent access to Asian pay TV platforms and terrestrial TV networks will help FRANCE 24 meet its goals of addressing a wider audience across Asia.
Featuring news and current events from a French perspective, FRANCE 24 broadcasts in 3 languages (French, English and Arabic) and is owned by the public holding company Audiovisuel Extérieur de la France (AEF).
FRANCE 24s English and French channels are available free to air on AsiaSat 5 in C-band with the following reception parameters:
Transponder: C10H
Frequency: 4000 MHz
Polarisation: Horizontal
Modulation: QPSK
Symbol Rate: 28.125 Msym/sec
FEC: ¾
SID/PID: FRANCE 24 English Service ID 8; Video PID: 380: Audio PID: 381
FRANCE 24 French Service ID 10; Video PID: 4501; Audio PID: 4502
euronews and NTU announce that the international news channel euronews and its shareholder the National Television Company of Ukraine, NTU, will launch in 2011 a full service dedicated to the Ukrainian market and more generally to all Ukrainian speaking viewers all over the world.
The agreement to launch euronews in Ukrainian was signed yesterday in Paris by
Mr Egor Benkendorf, President of NTU,
Mr Walid Arfush, Vice President of NTU,
Mr Philippe Cayla, Chairman of the Executive board of Euronews,
Mr Michael Peters, Managing Director of the Executive board of Euronews,
in presence of Mr Boris Kolesnikov, vice Prime Minister of Ukraine.
A 24/7 service and local programmes
From the launching date, euronews in Ukrainian will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Ukrainian version of euronews will be produced in cooperation by two specially recruited teams representing 40 permanent professionals in Lyon, France and Kiev, Ukraine.
For the first time, euronews will produce local programmes related to national news. A joint team of NTU and euronews based in Kiev will work closely with the Ukrainian service based at the euronews’ headquarters in Lyon. Together, they will produce news bulletins or magazines all day long on Ukrainian subjects for euronews viewers in Ukraine.
Distribution and local ad window
euronews will be in charge of distributing the new version to Ukrainian-speaking people around the world, while NTU will make this new version available all over Ukraine.
As part of the agreement between NTU and euronews, creating a local ad window for the Ukrainian market is in the agenda. This will be a new opportunity for all Ukrainian advertisers to reach international influent viewers and to develop their brand strategy.
On the Internet
The new service of the channel will also be introduced on www.euronews.net joining the ten existing ones (Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Persian, Portuguese, Russian and Turkish).