14 November 2005
GlobeCast the global content management and distribution company has won the contract to design, build and operate the Media Centre for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be held in Malta later this month.
CHOGM takes place every two years, providing an informal three-day forum for Presidents and Prime Ministers of Commonwealth countries to discuss world and Commonwealth issues, and to agree collective policies and initiatives. Between 750 to 1000 journalists are expected to cover the event which will see 54 heads of state, almost a third of the worlds leaders, convene on Valleta, Malta from 25-27 November 2005.
In addition to overseeing construction of the Media Centre, GlobeCast is working with the Maltese state broadcaster PBS to provide television coverage of pool opportunities during CHOGM. Pictures will be fed on two pool channels and will be available for recording and editing by broadcasters at the Media Centre.
Coverage will include: – a one hour live feed of the opening ceremony, provided by a 10-camera outside broadcast unit; – the arrival at the airport of heads of state; – live feeds from the main venue the Retreat which is about thirty minutes traveling distance from the Media Centre.
Work began on 1 November, with GlobeCast overseeing the conversion of an ice rink into a 3,000 sq m Media Centre, consisting of 35 separate areas including eight edit suites, an MCR, two briefing rooms (one seating 150 people), media work room with PCs, internet access and large screens, accommodating more than 120 journalists.
GlobeCast will also provide SNG facilities and five uplink paths, routing all feeds via London for onward distribution via its global satellite and fibre network. Where available, GlobeCast has worked with local contractors and Maltese people, bringing in specialist technical facilities and staff as required.
GlobeCasts technical project manager, Stefan Wiederkehr, is currently in Malta overseeing the build. He said: We have a long-standing relationship with CHOGM and after providing the media centre for the last meeting, held in Nigeria two years ago, we are delighted to be involved again. Malta is a fantastic place and it is a great venue. And in terms of ad hoc events, this is a big deployment, bigger even than what we have done for the Olympic Games and World Cups.
14 November 2005
Intelsat reported results for the nine months ended 30 September 2005.
It had revenue of $876.6 million (up 15 per cent) and a net loss of $259.6 million. EBITDA for the nine-month period was $461.1 million, and covenant EBITDA was $616.9 million.
“Intelsats performance in lease services and managed solutions provides improved balance given the continued expected run-off in contracted channel revenue, and operating costs are now reflecting the changes we implemented earlier this year,” said Intelsat CEO David McGlade. “Meanwhile, we are working diligently on securing the necessary approvals for our planned merger with PanAmSat.”
In the summer the companies agreed a takeover valuing PanAmSat at $3.2bn.
14 November 2005
WorldSpace Satellite Radio, one of the world leaders in satellite-based digital radio services, announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, WorldSpace India Pvt. Ltd., has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Webel Mediatronics Ltd to explore technology transfer for the assembly, installation and commissioning of a broadcast infrastructure, including gap fillers, that work in conjunction with the WorldSpace Satellite Radio offering. The companies will explore development and deployment in India and other target WorldSpace markets.
WorldSpace chose to collaborate with Webel based on the companys 25-year history of technology innovation.
Webel, which pioneered the manufacture of studio equipment such as audio mixing consoles, broadcast-grade CD players and community radio systems in India, has supplied products to Doordarshan Kendras, Indias national broadcaster, and All India Radio Stations across the country.
We are committed to extending the WorldSpace experience across India and throughout the world, said Noah Samara, chairman and CEO, WorldSpace. We view our new arrangement with Webel as an investment that will position the company to continue growing our global subscriber base and potentially accelerate our business roll out.
What clearly distinguishes WorldSpace Satellite Radio from any other offerings in India and across its target areas is its wide variety of audio content. With more than 40 radio stations that span musical genres, news, sports and information, WorldSpace offers unsurpassed choice and digital-sound quality to its subscribers.
Sri Manabendra Mukherjee, IT Minister of West Bengal said, Webel has emerged as one of the most progressive entities in the country today and they have proved it yet again. Not only will this [WorldSpace /Webel] cooperation bring in the latest technology to India but also our people can develop it further for the benefit of masses. This MOU, when acted upon, can generate significant valuable foreign exchange for the country.
14 November 2005
On 10 November 2005, Al Jazeera Channel issued the following statement:
“Al Jazeera journalist and presenter Ahmad Mansour was the subject of an unprovoked physical assault while in Cairo, Egypt to present a television programme as part of covering the parliamentary elections there.
Al Jazeera condemns in the strongest terms this violence against one of its journalists. We reiterate our full support for Mr. Mansour and the freedom of expression for journalists the world over.
We call upon Egyptian authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and to expose and to bring before the court the perpetrators and instigators of this shameful act.
At the same time, Al Jazeera calls on media organizations, professional bodies, trade unions and human rights organisations to condemn this attack, and to stand firmly in support of the sanctity of journalistic freedom and journalists’ right to seek the truth and inform the public.”
14 November 2005
Microsoft has announced that it is developing a news video distribution network for The Associated Press and share in advertising revenue generated by the newspapers and broadcasters that use it.
The AP Online Video Network will be available to the news service’s 3,500 US newspaper and broadcast members at no charge in the first quarter of next year, the companies said.
The AP will initially provide about 50 video clips a day covering national, international, entertainment, technology and business news. The AP said it would retain full editorial control over the content. The MSN unit of Microsoft will provide the software-based video player, the technical support and the network capacity for the service. MSN will also sell the advertising and develop other network products.
14 November 2005
SES Global has issued its financial results for the third quarter of 2005.
Revenues were up 21 per cent to E313 m (Q3 2004: E259m) Q3 EBITDA increased 10 per cent to E216 m (Q3 2004: E196 m). Net profit rose 48 per cent to E108 m (Q3 2004: E73 m) and year-to-date net profit of E277 m (YTD 2004 – including an exceptional tax credit of E60 m – E293 m). Net debt rose to E1.979bn from EUR 1.716bn at June 30.
Romain Bausch, President & CEO of SES Global, commented: “SES has continued to make active progress during the quarter, building on the success of the first six months of 2005. In addition to the new transponder contracts signed with video broadcasting customers, we have also introduced new service platforms for video services such as blucom and IP-Prime. These will generate new, profitable revenue streams alongside that of our core satellite infrastructure business.”
