23 May 2006
Early this morning, in an exclusive radio broadcast from Dharmsala, India, the Voice of America aired the first live debate in Tibet’s history between two candidates vying for the position of prime minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile, the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA). Dharmsala is the seat of the CTA, as well as the residence of its spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
During the debate, the candidates-Samdhong Rinpoche Lobsang Tenzin and Juchen Thupten Namgyal -discussed methods of dealing with China, which has occupied Tibet since 1949. Both candidates voiced their support for the Dalai Lama’s “Middle Way Approach,” which seeks genuine autonomy, but not independence, for Tibet. Samdhong Rinpoche Tenzin said, “There is no need to change this policy in the future.”
The exiled government’s election, which is scheduled for June 3, 2006, will be only the second direct election ever held among Tibetans. The first was in 2001, and prime ministers are limited to five-year terms. Due to the CTA’s government-in-exile status, only members of the Tibetan diaspora may vote. They are estimated to number over 111,000, with the vast majority residing in India. Approximately one-third cast their votes in the March 18, 2006 primary, in which incumbent Prime Minister Samdhong Rinpoche Tenzin secured 82.6 percent of the vote, while former appointed Prime Minister Namgyal received 6.96 percent.
The debate was broadcast live in Tibetan from 12 noon – 2 p.m. local time on shortwave and FM frequencies in Tibet, India, and Nepal, and on VOA Tibetan’s live Internet stream. Tenzin Tsundu, a young Tibetan activist, described the debate as “very informative, educational, and useful to Tibetan people.” Candidate Namgyal said: “It is quite clear that we are in a very critical period in our history.”
VOA’s Tibetan Service broadcasts a one-hour television news show every week and four hours of radio programming per day. In addition to news, show topics include health, culture, language, music, literature, and youth issues.
23 May 2006
Due to the flooding in Surinam, Radio Netherlands has added some extra shortwave transmissions relaying Radio Boskopoe, a local public radio station in Totness, the capital of the Coronie district, that normally broadcasts on FM. With the addition of shortwave frequencies, Radio Boskopoe can reach the entire country. Programmes are in Dutch and Sranan Tongo.
1359-1500 UTC Bonaire 15540 kHz 133 degrees
2059-2157 UTC Bonaire 15540 kHz 133 degrees
1015-1045 UTC Bonaire 6020 kHz 110 degrees (an extension of the regular
0930-1015 UTC transmission to the Caribbean).
Makeover on Bonaire
The Radio Netherlands relay station on Bonaire in the Netherlands Antilles is almost 40 years old. The existing shortwave transmitters have been in service since the station opened, and are overdue for replacement. The Board of Governors of Radio Netherlands recently approved an investment of some four million euros in the station, which delivers shortwave broadcasts to the Americas, Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
23 May 2006
Leading executives of two France Telecom subsidiaries, GlobeCast and Orange, have been selected to deliver keynote addresses at GLOBALCOMM 2006. On Monday, June 5 at 4:45PM, Sanjiv Ahuja, CEO of Orange, will speak on the evolution of mobile devices as vehicles for entertainment programming; and on Tuesday, June 6, at 4:45PM, Christian Pinon, Global Chairman and CEO, GlobeCast, will address the changing economics of channel delivery in an IPTV environment.
,p>The selection of these two leading executives from France Telecom is indicative of the central role the company plays in the global communications marketplace as well as the expert resources it possesses across a range of broadcast technology spectrums. Orange (www.orange.com) is one of the worlds leading wireless communications companies. GlobeCast (www.globecast.com) is a global content management and distribution company for professional broadcast.
Sanjiv Ahuja will discuss the growing role of mobile TV as television expands the way people see their mobile and as a range of new entertainment services show consumers how these devices can do more than just talk. Referencing successful TV rollouts in Europe, Ahuja will highlight the critical aspects of the customer experience and how the lessons learned today point the way to the next generation of mobile TV.
Ahuja joined Orange in April 2003 as chief operating officer, and was appointed CEO in March 2004. His earlier experience includes Telcordia Technologie, IBM and Comstellar Technologies where he held a variety of executive posts. He has a degree in electrical engineering from Delhi University, India, and a Masters degree in computer science from Columbia University in New York.
Christian Pinon will speak to the changing economics of launching television channels to feed content hungry platforms in an IP file-based delivery environment. He will also share his vision on the future of video content management and impart valuable insight derived from GlobeCasts experience as a leading provider of IPTV aggregation and contribution services in America, and in Europe for France Telecoms MaLigne TV and Orange Platforms. Pinons comments will further explore the growing importance of content and technology in reating differentiated viewing experiences.
Pinon became Chief Executive Officer of GlobeCast on January 1, 2000 and was subsequently appointed Chairman and CEO. Previously, he also held positions at the Alcatel Group and at France Telecom. He is a graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique de Paris and the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications de Paris.
16 May 2006
In May and June 2006, the Broadcast Integration Roadshow will be traveling to 16 European cities with a total of 26 presentations. These presentations will be focusing on the integration of broadcasting solutions for TV and post production.
They will comprise Partner Days, i.e. presentations for partners and system integrators of Apple and NorCom, and Tech Forums targeted at TV and radio broadcasters as well as media companies.
With NorCom Apple News Production System, NorCom Information Technology AG is the worlds first company to offer an all-in Apple-based TV and media production solution from the ingest to the playout phase together with archiving including video, audio, graphics and automation.
The NorCom Apple Content Production System is an end-to-end solution for TV and radio broadcasters, agencies and post-production specialists. Now everyone from graphic designers to journalists involved in the production of multimedia content, such as news and sports coverage, can benefit from a single integrated user interface.
The NorCom Apple Content Production System offers a homogenous solution for the MAC OS but can also be deployed in hybrid environments. As a result, the NorCom Apple Content Production System constitutes a cost-optimized solution with a price of around 60% below comparable alternatives.
Early registration is advised on account of limited capacity. This can be done at NorComs website at www.norcom.de, where further information is also available.
15 May 2006
RadioScape has used its world-class RF and software expertise to create the first, software-controlled, single chip RF front end that can handle six frequency bands — Band III and L-Band for Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB), medium wave, long wave and short wave for AM and Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM), and Band II for FM. The RF chip combines with a standard DSP chip that runs RadioScapes baseband digital radio software and also controls the RF IC to form a two chip solution, which dramatically reduces the power consumption and size of modules compared with current generation solutions.
This new RF IC is a breakthrough technology for RadioScape that will revolutionise multi-standard, multi-band digital radio, said John Hall, RadioScapes CEO. There is nothing like it in the market and is the result of a major initiative that we started over two years ago to create a technology platform for our next generation consumer radios. The objective was to create a highly flexible RF device that would complement our software-defined radio approach, timed to coincide with the emerging DRM market, and we have done that.
Until now, the only way to create a comparable multi-band digital radio was to create independent RF front ends for each of the different frequency bands each consuming power and adding to the bulk of the product. Our unique partitioning of the radio system allows us maximum re-use of the digital components by loading only the appropriate baseband stack into the DSP as and when required. explained Dave Hawkins, VP of Business Development at RadioScape. We have used the same approach in our RF IC, which reuses internal functionality to best suit the frequency band and standard required at the time. Dynamic configuration of the RF path on the RF IC is controlled by the DSP using software algorithms to ensure the optimisation of both performance and power consumption. The result is a multi-frequency RF device that requires less than half the power used by the equivalent circuits in our current generation of multi-standard modules.
Available only in a RadioScape module offering, the RF IC will be used to create a new range of modules that maintain the size and pin configurations of existing modules to enable manufacturers to quickly take advantage of this latest RadioScape innovation and benefit from the lower power consumption that it offers. RadioScapes RS200 family provide highly optimised DAB and FM reception whilst the RS500 family provides additional features and functionality, such as fully integrated Digital Radio Mondiale and AM reception, in addition to DAB and FM. Full details of the new RF IC-enhanced modules will be available shortly along with samples in June.
This is the first time that a single, front end RF chip has been implemented to handle these six, very different, frequency bands. While this chip uses both zero-IF and super-heterodyne methods to achieve the stringent requirements of the variety of standards and frequencies, RadioScapes pioneering software-controlled approach enables a significant part of the implementation to use common circuitry. A major benefit of this challenging approach is the dramatic reduction of the external component count by over 150 items relative to equivalent designs which implement these standards. The high level of integration of the chip enables the board real estate for the front end RF to be reduced from 30 sq cms (covering both sides of the board) to only 9 sq cms on a single-sided board design for all standards and even smaller if a subset of standards and frequency bands is required.
15 May 2006
Al Arabiya has created another first in pan-Arab news broadcasting by taking the Special Award for its Closer to the Truth TV commercial at the inaugural Djerba Television Festival in Tunisia. This new industry award reconfirms Al Arabiyas increasing recognition as the leading news channel for millions of viewers across the Arab world and beyond.
The jury, chaired by Jean Claude Boulos, former World President of the International Advertising Association (IAA) and General Manager of Al Sumaria TV, awarded Al Arabiya the recognition based on its compelling advertising that powerfully communicates the importance of accurate, balanced and professional investigative reporting.
The winning TV commercial takes the viewer into a Hollywood-style Middle East war zone, which proves to be nothing more than a façade for the real story that reveals the suffering of a mother and her dead child. The message to viewers is that the truth is dramatic enough and needs no manipulation. Sponsored by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Tunisian Ministry of Tourism, the Djerba Television Festival was established in order to further television production in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.
The award is the latest industry accolade for Al Arabiya. At the Fourth Arab Media Festival in Beirut last month, Tahar Barakeh and Najwa Kassem received the awards for best male and female presenters respectively, while Al Arabiyas website, alarabiya.net took the accolade of Best Website of an Arab News Channel. In February, the same commercial ensured that Al Arabiya won the Media Advertisers Cristal at the MENA Cristal Awards ceremony in Casablanca.
