22 March 2010
The Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) yesterday announced measures that will prevent pay-TV operators in the country from entering into exclusive deals with content suppliers.
It is believed to be the first country in the Asia-Pacific region to introduce such regulations.
The MDA said it was making revisions to its Media Market Conduct Code which will allow rival TV broadcasters to carry exclusive content by other pay-TV retailers.
The new rules which will mean no more exclusive deals in Singapore take effect immediately, but exclusive contracts entered into before yesterday will not be affected until they expire.
The MDAs Director of Development Policy, Michael Yap, said: The (Code) provides an updated framework that aims to better serve our consumers, provide wider opportunities for our industry, and encourage innovation, leading to a more vibrant media sector.
Presently, almost all content in the (Singapore) pay-TV market is acquired on an exclusive basis.
Consumers will no longer require multiple set top boxes or have to switch pay TV retailers just to enjoy exclusive content.
The MDA said it believed that the changes to the Code would address potential anti-competitive behaviour arising from convergence and provide more opportunities for players to enter the market. (Source: ABU)
22 March 2010
Farsi speakers have a new online destination to use to learn English. Voice of America (VOA) launches its Farsi-language version of goEnglish.me on Saturday, March 20th, as part of its celebration of Norwuz, the Persian New Year.
Users of the site (http://farsi.goenglish.me) will find 24 modules, presenting a variety of cultural situations in the United States. Each module has three lessonsbeginner, intermediate, and advanced. Practical topics include: “Greeting Friends,” “Retail Shopping,” and “Apartment Hunting.”
Students use a headset and microphone to converse with avatars in the goEnglish.me lessons. Each lesson has phrases and sentences along with short exams. As they progress from beginner to advanced, they hear more English and less of their own language.
“What makes goEnglish.me unique is that users get a glimpse into everyday American life, while learning things they might need if they were traveling or studying in the United States,” said Rebecca McMenamin, Director of New Media. “Our site is very interactive and users can download lessons and information for use later or to share with friends.”
goEnglish.me has been available to Mandarin speakers since November 2009 and plans are underway to add more languages.
19 March 2010
AIB chief executive Simon Spanswick delivered a paper looking at the rollout of digital TV globally at the Digital TV Russia conference in Moscow today (22 March).
The paper provided delegates with an overview of digital TV switchover progress in a number of key markets and looked at the opportunities that exist in social TV, the latest phenomenon being discussed by broadcasters and social networking sites.
Download the paper by clicking on the link below.
18 March 2010
Research recently released by InStat forecasts that mobile TV tuners will more than double by 2014 from the 2009 level of 53 million.
Analog mobile TV broadcasting was brought to market in Asia in 2007 and has since achieved consumer adoption in Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Russia/CIS, the Middle East and Africa. It is in these key regions that the continued uptake in shipment and usage of analog mobile TV handsets is expected.
The growth is predicted to happen despite the competition from other delivery mechanisms such as over-the-top, digital broadcasting and 3G mobile TV.
Further details are available in InStat’s report “Worldwide Cellular Phone Components 5-Year Forecast”. Click here for more details
16 March 2010
The sixth edition of the BOBs – Deutsche Welle’s international blog awards – is entering its final stages.
The voting period begins on March 15, 2010. All nominated blogs are presented on the BOBs Web site (www.thebobs.com). There, visitors can find information about the blogs and help award the public prize by submitting their vote. The choice is large. This year, there are 17 competition categories and 11 languages – adding up to 187 nominated blogs, podcasts and videoblogs. Voting ends on April 14, 2010.
Once again, many users from around the world have expressed their preferences, submitting nearly 8,300 suggestions for the competition. The international jury panel – which consists of prominent bloggers – nominated 11 candidates in each category. This year there are six mixed-language categories (Best Weblog, Best Videoblog, Best Podcast, Reporters Without Borders Award, Blogwurst Award and Special Award Climate Change).
The other 11 categories are connected to specific languages: Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, German, English, Farsi, French, Indonesian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.
A new element in this year’s BOBs is the category Special Award Climate Change. Its goal is to recognize international blogs on the topic of climate change. A new feature this year is the cooperation between the BOBs and re:publica – Germany’s largest blogger and Internet conference. The BOBs judging session will coincide with re:publica in Berlin, and this year’s BOBs winners will be announced at re:publica during a public event on April 15.
16 March 2010
RRsat Global Communications Network Ltd., a rapidly growing provider of comprehensive content management and global distribution services to the television and radio broadcasting industries, announced today that it has signed a distribution agreement with FOX Sports, a leading sports channel and a division of the FOX Broadcasting Company. FOX Sports, the flagship network of the FOX Sports Television Group, is Americas top-rated network for sports for 13 straight years (1997-2009), FOX Sports boasts rights agreements with each of the United Statess highest-rated sports.
Distribution of FOX Sports via the Eurobird-9 satellite in MPEG-4 format provides the FOX Sports Television Group with increased, yet cost-effective, coverage within Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, and with the possibility to add HD format in the future.
“We are proud that a major and leading sports channel, such as FOX Sports, chose RRsat to expand its distribution of leading US sports into Europe and the Middle East, commented Lior Rival, Vice President, Sales and Marketing of RRsat. We believe the fact that FOX Sport’s decision to expand their relationship with us, testifies their satisfaction with our existing services. We believe our expanding relationship with FOX could lead to significant additional business with FOX in the future. In addition, with this agreement, RRsat will be increasing the highly successful SD feed already being distributed to Israeli television operators with a parallel HD feed.
As one of the leading providers of sports coverage in the United States, we have a global audience and distribution is a key and an uncompromising undertaking for us, commented Julio R. Sobral, SVP Broadcast Operations of Fox International Channels. In RRsat, we have found a partner that is more than capable, and our work with them so far has met and even exceeded our expectations. We look forward to a long and fruitful relationship with RRsat, as we continually build our global audience of sports enthusiasts through them.
