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AIB
chief executive Simon Spanswick is to chair the first day of the Digital Radio
Show in London on 1 June.
The two day conference will examine the state of digital radio markets around
the world and the different systems that have been developed from DAB to DRM to
HD Radio, as well as looking at the opportunities for interactivity and enhanced
data services.
Spanswick, who has been involved in digital radio since the early 1990s, will
lead speakers from across the industry, including AIB members such as RadioScape
and Deutsche Welle and other organisations including Microsoft, RTL Group,
iBiquity and the EBU.
Full information the conference is available online by following the link
At the 3rd International Radio Meeting in Mexico City (4-6 May), organised by Radio Netherlands with Mexican partners, Director-General Jan Hoek set out in a speech how he sees the role of the European public broadcasters.
Here are extracts from his speech:
“Our public media is under increasing pressure from commercial competitors. Some large commercial radio and TV networks feel there is no-longer a place for public-financed media. Their lawyers and lobbyists believe that public broadcasting should be marginalized so that it only serves an elite.
I disagree. Commercial broadcasting is primarily interested in the consumer, and only those consumers that have purchasing power. Public broadcasting, if it is doing its job, should be to the benefit of the citizen.
It is the job of public media, and Radio Netherlands in particular, to help citizens to understand our complex world. We think there are aspects of life in Europe, which are of interest to people all over Latin America. But we also believe that many of the issues that you are currently facing with integration, national identity and freedom of speech are very relevant to Europeans.
We have a long way to go. Most Europeans know more about the daily life of movie stars in Hollywood than they do about the culture of neighbouring countries. Yet, we can also see that communities that become isolated from the outside world and society very quickly radicalize. These days, radicalization is quickly linked to extremism, terror and intolerance. There are too many recent examples in Europe and Latin America where people, many of whom are from the media, have given their lives because they said what they believed.
In Europe, we live with several paradoxes. We have become global witnesses and voyeurs to politics, everyday life, disasters and catastrophes. But we do not have an adequate European forum, in which this new European experience can be debated in a proper democratic way.
There is still a huge and growing imbalance in the information flow between North & South, and especially East and West. It is too easy to get lost in a sea of sound bites and uncut press conferences. There may be content, but there is little discussion of context. Again, television, but particularly radio has an important role to stimulate sensible debate, especially when the interests of the citizen do not run parallel with commercial interests. No country has prospered where the media is smothered by the government or filtered by purely commercial interests.
At Radio Netherlands, we spend a lot of time and effort following the emerging democracies in Latin America. Even a small country can act as a catalyst for a discussion; putting issues on the table that larger countries either deliberately ignore or dont think have mass appeal.
We must recognise that media has a social responsibility, as well as being there to please our stock-holders or stake-holders. All of us here in this room have an enormous power to influence public opinion. And we must use it to search for balance, being critical when things go wrong, but also constructive to show that there are alternatives to a spiralling circle of poverty, misery, disease and maybe war.
It is very easy to be destructive. No-one can guarantee the world will be a better place. But through dialogue we can and should make the best effort to try.”
From 1 May Deutsche Welle has a second rebroadcasting partner in Iraq: Radio Alnas is rebroadcasting parts of the Arabic programme of DW-RADIO.
Four hours of DW programming daily is being rebroadcast in the evening, on MW 594 KHz which can be received nationwide. From June 2005 these programmes will also be on FM in Baghdad and in surrounding areas. Radio Alnas takes the DW signal via the Nilesat satellite.
DWs first rebroadcasting partner in Iraq was Radio Schatt Al-Arab in Basra.
On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, media watchdog Reporters without Borders says European countries should be doing more to respect press freedom, not least by eliminating prison sentences for media offenses.
In its annual report, the group slammed an increase in “formal questioning of journalists, searches of media premises and seizures of documents” in Belgium, Denmark, France and Italy. It said France had taken “a dangerous step backwards” by creating new press offenses punishable by prison sentences. The organisation also expressed concern about “extra powers of requisition” granted in 2004 to police, state prosecutors and examining magistrates, which do not require a judge to be present during searches of journalists’ homes.
Harris Corporation announced that British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) has purchased the Harris D-Series Ingest and Play-to-Air Automation System for its forthcoming High-Definition Television (HDTV) services, with Harris also providing full turnkey systems integration for the new HD playout platform.
As BSkyB moves from tape-based playout to a server-based environment, the D-Series system will provide a reliable, scalable content management and delivery foundation for the launch of BSkyB’s HDTV channel offering in 2006, which will include sports, movies, entertainment and factual programming.
Because every environment is unique, the D-Series is configurable to provide the seamless ability to combine HD and SD material under one overall control system. Moreover, it will continue to support existing workflows and services, while allowing the introduction of new technology when required. The automation system is complemented by the latest in encoding and conversion technology, therefore providing BSkyB with a reliable, scalable and flexible platform that is fully integrated with its existing operations.
According to John Phipps, vice president of Harris Automation Sales for Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific, “Harris is proud to be selected for this important project. The Harris D-Series system has an excellent reputation for quality and reliability and will provide BSkyB with the option to work in any format it chooses. These capabilities are vital for broadcasters who seek to expand their operation to exploit new market areas and technologies and the project showcases Harris’ expertise in this area.”
Whereas many other automation systems are adapted from original designs for single channel playout, the D-Series was designed from the start for multi-channel operation. D-Series automation streamlines ingest, access and playout of digital assets by providing a “content aware infrastructure” that supplements central database information with embedded metadata in each segment of the server-based material. This superior metadata engine is essential for new services such as interactive television, where content and consumers are identified and targeted for new revenue streams. The Harris D-Series is a truly frame-accurate, real-time multi-channel automation system that provides automatic failover protection with error detection and correction features, thus assuring high-quality, uninterrupted on-air performance.