12 October 2010
Al Jazeera Network is pleased to announce that Al Anstey has been appointed as Managing Director of Al Jazeera English, the award-winning international news channel that currently broadcasts to more than 100 countries around the world. In this role, Anstey will lead the channel in its next phase of evolution and will be responsible for overseeing its day-to-day operations across its 65 international bureaus.
Anstey brings with him extensive experience working within the Al Jazeera Network as well as valuable knowledge of the media industry through his work in the United Kingdom, India, Australia and the United States. Anstey was one of the founders of AJE and was a key member of the channels start up team. He ran AJE’s News Department after the launch of the channel in November 2006 until earlier this year when he took on the position of Director of Media Development for the Network. His appointment as Managing Director signifies Al Jazeeras continued commitment to positioning AJE as a global leader in international news and groundbreaking content.
As Al Jazeera continues to grow, Als achievements within the Network and his proven leadership style will help to ensure that Al Jazeera English solidifies its place as one of the worlds most influential international news outlets, said Wadah Khanfar, Director General of Al Jazeera Network. Im confident that Als experience in the newsroom at Al Jazeera English as well as his success in growing the Al Jazeera brand globally will further propel the channel in its mandate of journalism of depth in international news for our audiences across the world.
In his most recent role as Director of Media Development for the Network, Anstey made great progress in developing a strategy for distribution and new media while expanding AJEs reach worldwide. In his new position he will continue to oversee Media Development responsibilities.
Commenting on his appointment, Anstey stated: I’m delighted to take on my new role in AJE, a channel that has gained international acclaim and worldwide recognition as an invaluable resource for international news. I look forward to working with my colleagues at Al Jazeera to build upon the many journalistic achievements and to grow the channel by expanding our resources around the world, breaking into new markets and exploring new platforms and technologies to bring our content to additional audiences.
Prior to joining Al Jazeera in 2006, Anstey served as Head of Foreign News at ITN in the United Kingdom after many years in the field as Senior Foreign Editor. He also ran ITNs American operations for two years after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Anstey started his career as a Producer at CBS News and then moved to the start-up of Reuters/GMTV as a Reporter and News Editor. He then joined APTN based in New Delhi and then Sydney, before taking on the position of Asia Editor with responsibility for APTN’s bureaus and coverage in the region.
12 October 2010
Vizrt is pleased to announce Håvard Saunes Myklebust as the new Executive Vice President of Marketing for Vizrt Ltd., based in Bergen, Norway. Myklebust fills the post vacated by Dr. François Laborie, who is now Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) for Vizrt Ltd.
Myklebust brings a wealth of experience to Vizrt, including executive positions held at many of Norways top media organizations. He comes to Vizrt from TV 2, the largest commercial television station in Norway, where he held key management roles since 2005. From 2008 up until now, Myklebust was head of products and research & development for TV 2 Sports.
Were extremely excited to welcome Havard to our management team, said Laborie. In his career, Myklebust worked closely with many major rights owners of sports and news media properties and held coveted positions at top Norwegian media organizations. In his many management positions, he has pushed the envelope on technological innovation to advance his companies standings in the market.
Myklebust said, Im delighted to join Vizrt, which is one of the most exciting companies shaping the media industry today. My goal is to provide management direction that supports and reinforces the companys continued growth and follows our future-oriented marketing strategy.
In 2007, Myklebust established the website http://tv2sporten.no and became editorial manager of all live streaming of sports for TV 2 Sumo. Previously, in 2006, he led the startup of the new premium pay sports channel, TV 2 SPORT. In 2005, Myklebust joined TV 2 as the night editor for sports news, then became newsroom editor of football, and served as a co-manager of the largest sports operation in TV 2 history. Prior to his high-level responsibilities at TV 2 Norway, Myklebust worked for several prestigious Norwegian newspapers.
11 October 2010
Eurosport, Europe’s leading sports entertainment group, and MCD Digital, leading Turkish Digital Media Company, announced a partnership to launch Eurosports new locally produced Turkish internet sports portal, tr.eurosport.com.
The new Turkish site becomes the 11th language version to join Eurosport’s international internet network and underlines the group’s strategy to continue geographical and digital expansion by establishing strong local partnerships.
The partnership between Eurosport and MCD Digital will further extend Eurosports online audience, interactivity and sports community in Turkey which is today the fourth internet sport market in Europe, accounting for 9% of European Sport audience.
Eurosport’s Turkish sports portal will deliver the highest-quality online sports experience, with premium-level local and international content, live commentary and quality sports news by top local and international sports writers. The new portal will benefit from Eurosport’s high quality technological infrastructure and development capacities to offer internet users a stream-lined experience featuring superior streaming and advanced web technology.
The Turkish site will be edited in Istanbul, Turkey by MCD Digitals dedicated local team and reinforced by Eurosports international editorial and technology teams. The teams will together provide the best of breed service. Europsorts editorial team will provide top international sports content and MCD Digital’s local editorial team will produce the portal’s local content catering to Turkish fans with strong football and basketball coverage. The editorial objective of the site is to offer out the strongest and widest variety of sports content in the territory with coverage of more than 120 different sports.
“Extending the Eurosport brand footprint in Turkey, a key market, is an important step for our group. Since 2000, Eurosport, in co-operation with MCD Multi Channel Developers, has enjoyed success in Turkey thanks to the popularity (or distribution) of the localised versions of our TV channels Eurosport, Eurosport 2 and Eurosport HD. It was natural for us to expand our media platform to include internet and we are delighted to partner again with MCD to offer Turkish sports fans a new comprehensive digital sports destination. Our ambition is to become the leading sport portal in Turkey” explains Laurent-Eric LE LAY, CEO Eurosport Group.
Building on our successful online operations, which reach an audience of over 13 million unique users every month in Turkey, we are excited to join forces with Eurosport to create the leading sports portal in Turkey. More than just the Turkish fans sports destination of choice, we are confident that tr.eurosport.com will quickly become the digital sports reference in Turkey thanks to the portals quality, exclusive content and ubiquity with social media and other portals explains Cenk Oflaz, CEO MCD Digital
6 October 2010
Distinguished journalist Christian Caryl will lead RFE’s efforts to step up news coverage from the nation’s capital as he assumes the role of Chief Editor of RFE’s Washington, D.C. bureau. Caryl is a regular contributor to Foreign Policy and the New York Review of Books and is a Senior Fellow at MIT’s Center for International Studies. He is also a former Contributing Editor at Newsweek.
“Since much of what happens in Washington directly impacts the 21 countries in which RFE broadcasts, we are adding resources to the bureau,” says RFE President Jeffrey Gedmin. “We are lucky to have Caryl there leading our team of reporters – his deep and extensive knowledge of the world is a tremendous asset.”
Over the years, Caryl has reported from 40 countries, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Russia, Germany, and Japan.
“At a time when many news organizations are cutting back on their international coverage, I’m thrilled to have the chance to continue reporting on countries that are generating the biggest headlines,” he says. “I’m also very excited to be working with an experienced team of reporters who know these stories better than anyone else.”
Caryl served as Moscow Bureau Chief for Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report and spent more than a dozen years as a freelance journalist in Europe. His 2003 Newsweek cover story on the misuse of government funds in the Iraq War (“The $87 Billion Money Pit”) earned his reporting team a National Magazine Award.
Caryl is a 1984 graduate of Yale College and native of Midland, Texas. He speaks Russian and German.
ABOUT RFE
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is an independent, international news and broadcast organization whose programs – radio, Internet and television – reach influential audiences in 21 countries such as Russia, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. RFE/RL is funded by the U.S. Congress through the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG).
4 October 2010
The short-list for the 2010 AIBs, the international media excellence awards, has been published.
The 2010 AIBs have attracted a record number of entries from more broadcasters and production houses than ever before, along with technology companies keen to demonstrate innovative new technology.
You can download the short-list
here.
You can reserve places for the AIBs gala evening where the awards will be
presented to winners – it takes place at LSO St Luke’s on Tuesday 9 November
at 1800 starting with a champagne reception sponsored by
Bloomberg Television.
Reserve tables of 10 online
here, or individual places
here.
You can also download a fax-back reservation form
here.
4 October 2010
euronews, the international news channel, has signed a partnership agreement with Panasonic, a worldwide leader in consumer electronics, for the launch of euronews on Panasonics VIERA CAST platform.
From now on, every Panasonic VIERA CAST user can access euronews content in 4 languages (English, French, German and Italian, new languages to be added in the future). Viewers can easily watch the latest news bulletin as well as the lifestyle magazines cinema and le mag. In addition to that, viewers can enjoy the “No Comment” section, one of euronews’ best known and award winning programme thanks to its originality and concept based on striking images, unedited with original sound from around the world.
VIERA CAST was launched in Europe in May 2009 and is available on Panasonics VT20, V20, G20, D28 (37- and 32-inch models) and D25 VIERA TVs, as well as Panasonics 2010 line-up of Blu-ray Disc and DVD players and recorders. This innovative feature allows users to access online content directly from the living room via an Internet connection without using a computer. euronews programmes are accessible through the easy-to-use VIERA CAST interface, which users can access by pushing the VIERA CAST button on their remote control.
According to the research institute In-Stat, more than one third of the TV sets sold across the world will be connected to internet in 2013. Panasonic estimates that on the over 4 Mio.TV sets due to be sold in 2010 in Europe, over 30 % will feature VIERA CAST.
