26 September 2007
The Azerbaijani National TV and Radio Council approved a radio licence to be used jointly by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and Voice of America (VOA) on Friday. The one-year licence for FM broadcast will be subject to annual renewal.
Broadcasting from Baku, the station carries 67 hours of Radio Liberty Azerbaijani programming per week (which consists of 40 hours of original programming and 27 hours of repeated programming) and about eight hours per week of programming from VOA’s Azerbaijani service (which consists of about four and a half hours of original programming and three and a half hours of repeated programming). The remaining hours feature VOA’s Music Mix program.
Broadcasting Board of Governors Chairman James Glassman said of the licence approval, “We are glad to have a home for VOA and RFE/RL on the airwaves in Baku. We look forward to continuing this fruitful partnership.”
RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service also broadcasts via satellite and AM signals. Azerbaijani Service programming is available via the Internet, at the service’s website www.azadliq.org and at www.rferl.org; English-language news about events in Azerbaijan can be found on the RFE/RL website, at www.rferl.org/featuresarchive/country/azerbaijan.html.
VOA also broadcasts via shortwave and television. VOA’s Azerbaijani Service maintains two separate websites; www.VOANews.com/azerbaijani in Latin script and www.VOANews.com/azeri in Persian-Arabic script. All VOA Azerbaijani radio and television programs are streamed for on-demand listening and viewing
26 September 2007
GlobeCast and satellite operator Arabsat announced at IBC 2007 that they have agreed to extend their cooperation on the worldwide distribution of the Arabsat/ASBU digital bouquet of Arabic-language channels for five additional years, from 2009 to 2014.
Since the launch of the partnership in 2004, GlobeCast, Arabsat and ASBU have expanded the bouquets potential viewership and footprint, offering maximum global coverage by attracting new broadcasters and offering new services. Channels worldwide are now able to join the bouquet and viewers on five continents are free to view its community channels, including: Abu Dhabi TV, Abu Dhabi Sports, Al-Iraqiya TV, Al Jazeera, Al Ordoniyah, Jamahirya Satellite Channel, Oman TV Satellite, Qatar TV, Saudi Arabian TV 1, Saudi Arabian TV 2, Sharjah TV, Sudan TV, Syrian Satellite Channel.
As of today, the available services cover the following regions: North America via WorldTV on Galaxy 25; South America via Hispasat 1C; Africa via NSS 7; Asia via AsiaSat 2.
GlobeCast also provides individual DTH channel distribution for selected ASBU member channels to:
Europe via Hot Bird and Astra 1E; Australia via Optus B3 and Intelsat 8.
The continued partnership between GlobeCast, Arabsat and ASBU proves our commitment to bringing international programming to viewers around the world, said GlobeCast president and CEO Christian Pinon, The renewal of our cooperation for the next five years will help to ensure the success of the bouquet.
Arabsat CEO Eng. Khalid A. Balkheyour ads, We are looking forward to continue our cooperation with GlobeCast which has set an important precedent in the industry and has proven the effectiveness of bundled programming and one-source global distribution.
ASBUs Director General, Salaheddine Maaoui emphasized on the role of the Union for providing comprehensive and consistent services, in partnership with Arabsat and GlobeCast, to its eminent members.
26 September 2007
A new 24-hour TV news channel based in Chennai, India has confirmed a deal to deploy ENPS as their newsroom computer system at IBC today (9 September).
This makes the broadcaster, Raj TV, the 7th TV station in India to choose the Associated Press award-winning software, following in the footsteps of the worlds biggest terrestrial broadcaster, Doordarshan. The station, which will broadcast exclusively in Tamil, plans to go live by the end of this year.
We evaluated all newsroom computer systems and decided upon ENPS, for its ease of use, seamless integration with other newsroom hardware and track record said Mr Ravindran, Director of Raj TV.
The deal was won by Shaf Broadcast, ENPS authorised distributor in India. Other components of the Raj TV newsroom will include Omnibus, Omneon, Orad and the Apple Final Cut Pro editing system. Regional roll-out is currently under discussion and is expected in the early 2008.
26 September 2007
Intelsat, Ltd., the world’s leading provider of commercial satellite services, announced that RRSat Global Communications Network Ltd., a global provider of end-to-end transmission and production services for broadcasters, will use the Intelsat global network to expand RRSats programming transmissions services seamlessly across three continents.
RRSat contracted for capacity on Intelsats Galaxy 23 and Intelsat 10 satellites for content broadcasting throughout Africa, Asia and North America. The Intelsat 10 satellite, located at 68.5° E offers communications services to customers wanting access to the emerging markets of the Indian subcontinent as well as Central and Western Asia. RRSat will use its Intelsat 10 capacity to distribute television programming from Europe and the United States into Asia and Africa.
The Galaxy 23 satellite, located at 121° W within Intelsats valuable Galaxy neighborhood, offers programmers distribution to the U.S. cable community, reaching millions of homes. RRSat will use Galaxy 23 capacity to distribute television programming from Europe and Asia into the U.S. cable market.
Intelsats two satellites, Galaxy 23 and Intelsat 10, will provide RRSat with the extensive coverage required to meet our customers growing demands for our comprehensive content management and global distribution services, said Lior Rival, RRSats Vice President Sales & Marketing. Likewise, service on Intelsat 10 allows us the opportunity to expand our offering with new services to current and new customers.
“Programmers turn to Intelsat when seeking global market access,” said Jean Philippe Gillet, Intelsats Regional Vice President, Europe & Middle East Sales. Our growing relationship with RRSat is a prime example of how our customers rely on Intelsat to efficiently implement global business objectives.
26 September 2007
The latest edition of the AIB’s quarterly magazine,
The Channel, has been published. It is already on the desks of more than 6,600 media executives, editors, journalists, regulators and parliamentarians in 120 countries. Is it on yours?
You can subscribe today by clicking
here, and you
can preview the magazine online by clicking
here.
This edition of The Channel will also be available for delegates at
NewsXchange in Berlin and the
Satellite and Cable Television show in
Mumbai during October and the ABU General
Assembly in Tehran in November. It has also been distributed to many of the
visitors to IBC, the annual broadcast industry
technology show in Amsterdam at the beginning of September.
The next edition of The Channel will be published in December.
26 September 2007
The BBC Trust today published its provisional conclusions on the BBC Executive’s proposals for a high definition television channel. Having considered a public value assessment (PVA) carried out by the BBC Trust Unit and a market impact assessment (MIA) conducted by Ofcom, the Trust has concluded that the proposals would have high public value and positive impacts on the market, while causing little adverse market impact. The Trust has therefore provisionally approved the proposals for a BBC HD television channel, subject to some limited conditions. The Trust’s provisional conclusions are now subject to a four-week public consultation period and the Trust expects to reach and publish its final decision by Wednesday 21 November.
Diane Coyle, BBC Trustee and Chair of the Public Value Test Steering Group, said: “The BBC Trust has a duty to ensure the public receives value in return for paying the licence fee. Our view is that these proposals would deliver significant public value and create very little adverse market impact. As a result, we have provisionally approved them, subject to conditions to safeguard or enhance the public value and minimise any adverse market impact. Our provisional conclusions are now open to public consultation and we would like to hear from as many members of the public and stakeholders as possible before reaching our final decision. We are particularly interested in the public’s view about the options for an HD channel on Freeview. Would licence fee payers prefer the BBC to launch a four-hour service immediately, before a nine-hour service is possible because of spectrum capacity, even if that means having to buy two set-top boxes within a very short period of time?”
The BBC Executive’s proposals
The BBC Executive’s proposals are for a mixed-genre, high definition channel. The Executive’s intention is to launch the service on digital satellite, digital cable and digital terrestrial television (DTT or Freeview). There are two key variations within the proposals regarding these platforms: Satellite and cable: the proposal is for a nine-hour service broadcasting from 15.00 to midnight, with some flexibility to extend beyond this to allow coverage of significant live sport or other events. DTT: two options are proposed (i) after digital switchover a full nine-hour service as described above or in the meantime (ii) a four-hour schedule broadcasting overnight between 02.00 and 06.00.
Due to spectrum capacity constraints, the Executive would need to take down from DTT BBC Parliament, BBC Four and three BBCi streams between the hours of 02.00 and 06.00 to create capacity for the overnight schedule in option (ii). This action would be intended as an interim measure until spectrum capacity allows for the introduction of a nine-hour service on DTT.
Conditions of approval
In the event of final approval for a BBC high definition TV channel, the Trust is proposing conditions in the following areas:
Cable and satellite
Given that the BBC HD channel is operating in trial form on cable and satellite at present, the channel should be provided on a continuing basis on these platforms when a service licence is granted, and on Freesat from the launch of that service.
Freeview (nine-hour schedule)
The Trust believes that an HD channel should be provided on Freeview as soon as possible and early next year it will review options for delivery on Freeview in the light of what might be technically possible following Ofcom’s proposals for rearranging spectrum.
Freeview (four-hour overnight schedule)
Although the BBC could launch a four-hour overnight service almost immediately on Freeview within its existing spectrum allocation (subject to the schedule changes specified in the management’s application), Ofcom’s possible reorganisation of the DTT platform in the future could mean licence fee payers having to make two equipment upgrades in a short space of time. In short, the set-top box which could deliver the first four-hour service would not work after reallocation of the spectrum and a new set-top box would be necessary in order to receive the full nine-hour channel.
In view of this, the Trust is minded to delay the launch of the four-hour interim service on Freeview until after Ofcom’s proposals for digital spectrum are clear early next year. However, the Trust is particularly interested in the public’s view on this in its consultation: would people prefer the BBC to launch the service as soon as possible, even if that meant people having to buy two set-top boxes in order to receive the service within a very short period of time.
Launch on internet protocol TV (IPTV)
The Trust expects the BBC Executive to maintain contact with internet protocol TV operators both to gauge feasibility and to ensure that the BBC does not over-burden their capacity before they are ready to accommodate HD.
HD content on-demand over the internet
The Trust considers it is appropriate for HD content to be provided on-demand over the internet through bbc.co.uk. The impact of this on the costs of internet service providers might raise concerns. Because of capacity constraints, the BBC is unlikely to be able to offer a significant volume of HD content through this route in the immediate future. The Trust will pay particular attention to this area as it becomes possible to offer more content on-demand in HD.
Simulcasting
The channel should not replicate the BBC One schedule, but should aim to schedule the programmes from across the BBC’s portfolio of channels which would make the best use of the upgrade in quality that HD offers.
Genre mix and events rights
The mixed genre nature of the channel will be specified in the service licence and the channel must not become a head-on competitor for sports and movie HD channels. Spending on events rights should also be monitored to ensure that it is not distorted by the presence of an HD channel.
Picture resolution
The channel would use the recognised HD standards for picture resolution. The Trust would only expect the BBC Executive to consider switching to an emerging higher resolution when the vast majority of HD consumers had already upgraded to it. Otherwise, the Trust would expect a proposal to be put to it for consideration.
BBC Parliament
The Trust will safeguard the provision of BBC Parliament on Freeview. The Trust will ensure the guarantees given by the BBC regarding coverage of the House of Commons and the House of Lords are honoured. On the few occasions when the Commons sits all night, provision of BBC Parliament on Freeview will take precedence over the HD channel if capacity to broadcast both services is not available and this will be reflected in the service licence for the HD channel.
Service review
The Trust will conduct its first review of the service no later than 2013 following the completion of digital switchover.
Next steps
The Trust’s provisional conclusions will now be subject to a 28-day consultation period which opens today and closes on Tuesday 23 October. The Trust will consider the responses it receives and aims to reach and publish its final decision no later than Wednesday 21 November.
