26 March 2009
Al Jazeera Network, the Middle East-headquartered international broadcaster, announced that it is significantly stepping-up the distribution of its feature programmes. It will be offering a range of its factual and documentary programming from Al Jazeera English, the Al Jazeera Documentary Channel and the Al Jazeera Satellite Channel.
Phil Lawrie, Director of Global Distribution stated: “With a growing portfolio of programmes from these three acclaimed channels, we’re able to market a range of compelling programming that covers a wide variety of current affairs topics and issues.
The library available from Al Jazeera English includes over 50 hours from its award-winning documentary strand Witness, comprising stories told by local filmmakers that provide a fresh insight into world events as they impact on the daily lives of ordinary people.
Arabic-language content includes Al Jazeera Documentary Channel’s 4-part documentary Arab Christians and, from the Al Jazeera Satellite Channel, The PLO – a 13-part documentary looking at the creation, establishment and existence of the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
Al Jazeera showcases this content and more at the forthcoming MIPDOC, March 28-29, and MIPTV, March 30-April 3.
25 March 2009
Intelsat, Ltd., the world’s leading provider of fixed satellite services, announced today that RRsat Global Communications Network Ltd. (NASDAQ: RRST), a global provider of comprehensive content management and distribution services to the television and radio broadcasting industries, launched an additional TV programming platform on Intelsats Galaxy 19 satellite, which is expected to reach millions of viewers in North America.
Intelsat’s Galaxy 19 satellite, which hosts the largest ethnic video platform in North America distributing nearly 180 international channels, is located at 97º W within Intelsat’s valuable Galaxy neighborhood. RRsat will leverage this capacity to distribute regional programming into the U.S. cable market and Canadas DTH community. RRsat will operate this additional programming platform from its RRsat Hawley Teleport located in Pike County, Pennsylvania.
Through our long-standing relationship with Intelsat, we have been able to offer our customers programming to almost the entire North American region, reaching millions of cable and DTH viewers, said Lior Rival, RRsats Deputy CEO and Vice President, Sales & Marketing. This new multi-year contract enables us to continue meeting our customers global distribution needs.”
Global distribution, especially for regional content, is one of the most important business drivers in programming today, said Jean-Philippe Gillet, Intelsat’s Regional Vice President, Europe & Middle East. Within our satellite fleet, 27 satellites are part of video neighborhoods around the world that provide unparalleled transmission services to leading cable and DTH communities, offering programmers the access they need to reach key demographic viewers.
25 March 2009
Radio Marti’s special coverage of the sixth anniversary of “The Black Spring” included extensive interviews with political prisoners, their families and activists around the world about the plight of 75 dissidents arrested in Cuba in 2003.
“I will not ask for pity of clemency. I want to be free to go home and walk the streets a free man like we all have the right to do,” independent journalist Juan Carlos Herrera Acosta told Radio Marti, speaking directly from jail where he is serving a 20-year sentence for “crimes against state security.” He said his suffering has been unimaginable, but that he will always continue to defend the right to free speech. The most difficult thing he has had to endure while in prison, he said was the death of his young daughter.
Coverage of events in Havana and numerous live interviews with The Ladies in White, relatives of political prisoners, vividly highlighted their ordeals of the past six years
“We all have to be better mothers to our children because they don’t understand why good people go to prison,” said Magaly Broche a member of Ladies in White.
Among those interviewed was Melba Santana, wife of Alfredo Dominguez Batista, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison and is an Amnesty International Prisoner of Conscience; Alida Viso Bello, wife of Ricardo Gonzalez Alfonso, winner of the Maria Moors Cabot Award given by the School of Journalism of Columbia University who was sentenced to 20 years in prison; Julia Nunez, wife of Adolfo Fernandez Sainz, prisoner of conscience who was sentenced to 14 years in prison; and Alejandrina Garcia de la Riva, whose husband Diosdado Marrero is serving a 25 year sentence. They gave poignant testimony about families being separated, the effect on their children and their quest to seek freedom for their husbands.
The Ladies in White are the recipients of numerous international awards including the European Parliament’s Andrei Sakharov Award for Human Rights.
The special coverage online at martinoticias.com and on air included interviews with: – acclaimed Cuban writer Zoe Valdez speaking from Switzerland about worldwide efforts to seek the release of political prisoners in Cuba; – Amnesty International’s spokesperson Josefina Solomon spoke from London about the concern with the plight of prisoners on the island; – Carlos Lauria of the Committee to Protect Journalists in New York; – Rafael Jimenez Claudin, from Reporters Without Borders in Spain; and – Lucy Necasova of People in Need in the Czech Republic.
23 March 2009
“Go ahead, Voice of America. We hear you loud and clear,” said Astronaut Mike Fincke as he and fellow astronauts answered Voice of America (VOA) questions from the International Space Station.
A video webcast from the astronauts who have been on the space station since Tuesday to deploy new solar array wings is available at VOANews.com.
“People everywhere really want to know what it is like to see the earth from space,” said VOA’s Ndimyake Mwakalyelye, host of the VOA webcast. “What can you see from the space station?”
“Looking at earth is our favorite pastime activity,” replied Fincke. He mentioned the astronauts could see airports, bridges and the Pyramids in Egypt but were unable to see the Great Wall of China because it blends into the scenery.
Sandra Magnus, the only female astronaut on the mission, said the view is “the most amazing thing I’ve seen
(the earth) is very small and very fragile.”
Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata said the crew is busy most of the time, noting he had “not yet had time to read a book.” Also appearing was Russian cosmonaut Yury Valentinovich Lonchakov.
VOA Executive Editor Steve Redisch said the interactive webcast had attracted international interest. “We received questions from all across the globe Brazil, Ethiopia, Vietnam, Russia, and Iran, to name a few.”
The U.S. space shuttle Discovery launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida on March 15 and arrived at the space station on March 17. The astronauts were set to spend a total of eight days at th e space station.
VOA radio and television programs are webcast. They are available either live or on-demand. VOANews.com now offers a streamlined menu of audio and video files in mp3 and mp4 formats.
23 March 2009
Can Communicate, the UKs leading full-service Stereo3D production and post production company, has purchased a Stereo3D-equipped Quantel Pablo 4K non-linear color correction and finishing system.
The Pablo is part of a very substantial investment programme that will equip Can Communicate to take full advantage of the explosion in real Stereo3D projects. We are seeing a major shift from just talking about Stereo3D to real action with paying projects, said David Wooster, Partner, Can Communicate. 2009 will be seen as the year when Stereo3D became a practical business proposition. The launch of 3D-capable flatscreen TVs has provided the final link in the viability chain, particularly for the corporate sector. Brands are now seeing 3D as a cost-effective point of difference and we have lots of significant projects in the pipeline as a result.
Live and near live OB events are also gravitating towards the enormous potential of 3D, and announcements such as Skys of a consumer Stereo3D TV channel within 12 months have put very significant stakes in the ground making the industry really sit up and take notice.
Can Communicate has a history of exploiting new technologies, and we intend to be the number one player in the UK Stereo3D market, said Chris Dyer, Partner, Can Communicate. We already have considerable production resources, and are also acquiring four new camera rigs to enable us to handle more productions. Were now able to handle multi-camera live or near-live outside broadcasts alongside single camera corporate projects and give both the full weight of our technology and expertise.
On the post side, the Stereo Pablo is the only piece of equipment in the market that guarantees clients the same finishing capabilities and performance in 3D that they are used to getting in the 2D world, added David Wooster. The difference with 3D is that you have to get it right you cant do it badly and get away with it. At Can Communicate, weve now got the experience and the technology for the whole process. We think thats a powerful magnet for brands and companies entering the 3D space a company that can deliver the whole workflow from shooting to post and deliverables.
20 March 2009
Gunda Cannon, Editorial Director
Gunda’s background is in international broadcasting and in publishing.
After a lengthy spell as Editor for a UK publishing company specialising in reference books, Gunda joined the BBC World Service in 1983. As Publicity/Marketing Officer in the BBC’s German Service, Gunda was responsible for promoting the Service to the public and press, and she was in charge of the Services rebroadcasting activities via public and commercial radio stations in German-speaking countries.
In 1999, Gunda left the BBC World Service after 16 years to run her own business communication coaching business. Activities included business briefings for senior executives in British companies, speech and copy writing (print publicity + articles for publication), editorial assistance, research, media support + PR.
Broadcasting and the media remained a strong interest for Gunda, and after initially working free-lance on the AIB’s international media magazine, The Channel , she joined the AIB team in 2005 as Editor. She is responsible for the entire publication from conception to going to print, and enjoys her contacts with broadcasters in all parts of the world and executives from all sectors of the media industry.
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7993 2557
Email: gunda.cannon [at] aib.org.uk
