The AIB Executive Committee, the governance body that oversees the administration and long-term strategy of the Association for International Broadcasting, has elected Dennis Israel of InterMedia Survey Institute as its Chairman.
Other members of the Executive Committee are Mike Chandler, SES ASTRA; Linden Clark, Radio New Zealand International; Tom Dine, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty; Elzbieta Olechowska, Radio Canada International.
The AIB’s annual summit of the international broadcasting industry took place in Prague in May 2004.
A report of the event appears in the June edition of the AIB’s quarterly magazine, The Channel, and is available online as a PDF document (600kB) by clicking the link below (right click and “Save Target As” to save to your hard drive, or double click to open the report in a new window).
Mobile users in Norway can now watch TV on their phones. The service from the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) allows people to watch television on their mobiles 24 hours a day.
Alongside the live streaming, people can pick more specialised content such as a news bulletin every hour and a Top Gear style motoring show.
NRK expects the content to become more tailored as the market picks up.
For the moment it is simply testing whether consumers will want and use
TV on their phones. So far the feedback has been encouraging.
The technology behind the video content has been developed by Norwegian firm RubberDuck Media Lab. The service supports 3GP, which is the
standard for mobile TV. This means that users do not have to download a
media player on to their phones and it will also work on all networks.
At the moment the TV company is offering its content free to operators
but plans to start charging for at least some of the content in the
autumn. Users, however, do have to pay a traffic download fee.
Arne Wessberg, EBU President, Jean Réveillon, and IOC representatives Jacques Rogge, President, and Thomas Bach, Vice-President, have signed a contract for the comprehensive media rights to the Vancouver Olympic Games as well as the 2012 Games*.
The European Broadcasting Union (Eurovision) has been granted comprehensive media rights to the 2010 and 2012 Olympic Games for the entire European Broadcasting Area (except Italy, with which the IOC will deal separately).
The rights acquired under the agreement will allow the most comprehensive coverage of the Olympic Games, on free-to-air television but also on all other platforms, such as the Internet and mobile telephone services, by EBU Members and sublicensees.
* The candidate cities for the 2012 Games are: London, Madrid, Moscow, New York and Paris.
On 12 and 13 July, Al Jazeera Channel will be organising and hosting an international media conference on Media & Government Defining the Relationship in Doha, Qatar.
The conference will address issues at the core of the broadcasting profession, stemming from the industrys experience of covering the war in Iraq and its aftermath, especially the re-emergence of the paradoxical relationship between media and governments.
The conference will attempt to bring together active members of the international media corps from all areas of the industry including print and electronic publishing, as well as broadcasting, alongside interested academics and policy makers in relevant fields.
For more information please contact:
Jihad Ali Ballout, Manager, Communication & Media Relations
Tel: +(974) 487 3479
Fax: +(974) 487 6790
Mob: +(974) 582 3182
E-mail: jballout@aljazeera.net
PO Box 23123, Doha-State of Qatar
SES ASTRA, in a concerted effort with more than sixty of its European broadcast customers, hardware manufacturers and other industry partners, at their second European HDTV Forum session held on 17 June at SES ASTRA’s headquarters in Luxembourg, have agreed on the technical aspects and the timetable for the introduction of HDTV (High Definition Television) services in Europe via the ASTRA Satellite System.
Due to the eye-catching higher resolution compared to standard definition broadcasts, HDTV offers a compelling new viewing experience, notably on state-of-the-art flat screen displays and home cinemas, which are being installed at an increasing rate in European homes. HDTV is already a reality in countries like the United States and Japan, where more than 6 million households currently receive HDTV broadcasts and all major broadcasters offer full-fledged HDTV services.
SES ASTRA pioneered the transmission of HDTV services in Europe with EURO 1080. Europe’s first dedicated HDTV offer has been broadcasting via the ASTRA satellite system at 19.2° East since January 1st, 2004. In the meantime, the interest in HDTV has gained considerable momentum in several European countries under the ASTRA footprint. The latest pan-European HDTV initiative undertaken by ASTRA and renowned industry partners is expected to trigger a rapid deployment of the new technology across various European markets, with additional HDTV channels expected to launch as early as this year on the ASTRA Satellite System.
To ensure a uniform roll-out and avoid a fragmentation of the nascent market in Europe, SES ASTRA and its industry partners have agreed on the minimum technical specifications for HDTV broadcasts, based on e.g. the open MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 AVC standards. These technical specifications include:
– HDTV ready displays need a minimum of 720 lines vertical resolution
– Scan formats of 720P50 and 1080i25 for HDTV
– Standard interfaces for peripheral equipment
SES ASTRA and its industry partners have also agreed on the launch of an “HDTV” label which will be deployed to identify future-proof HDTV displays. The label is intended to ensure consumer confidence when acquiring new display devices and will be used in the upcoming HDTV marketing campaigns of the different manufacturers promoting the pan-European HDTV initiative.
Ferdinand Kayser, President and CEO of SES ASTRA, states: “So far, Europe has been trailing countries like the United States with respect to the introduction of HDTV services. At the same time, sales of flat screen displays have been booming. Independent research institutes actually suggest that in a few years tens of millions of HD enabled TV sets will be deployed in the different European countries. By agreeing on minimal technical specifications and building on open standards, SES ASTRA and its partners from the broadcast and hardware industry intend to ensure that the roll-out of HDTV services in Europe kick-starts as early as this year.”