6 October 2003
AIB Member VT Merlin Communications took a major step in the development of Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) services by switching on the UKs first medium wave transmitter at Orfordness in East Anglia at the end of September. The transmitter and encoding equipment were supplied by Canadian manufacturer, Nautel and German companies Telefunken and Fraunhofer Institute.
The highlight of the inauguration “pressing the big red button” was performed by Benny Ammar, Head of Go Digital, BBC World Service and Simon Tarrant, Managing Director, VT Support Services, at a ceremony attended by some 60 international guests.
The DRM service will carry BBC World Service programming into the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Northern France on 1296KHz during the day, and may extend into Germany and Poland during the hours of darkness. The digital DRM signal will show a marked improvement in the audio quality and the perennial problems of fading and interference associated with short, medium and long wave transmissions.
“This represents a significant investment in DRM technology,” said Peter Gordon, VT Merlin’s Programme Manager, Digitalisation, “and we’re delighted to be at the forefront of the technology’s introduction.”
2 October 2003
AsiaSat is making steady progress with the finishing works and pre-opening testing and commissioning of its new Tai Po earth station. Operation is expected to start in January next
year.
The new Satellite Control Centre will be manned 24/7. Duplicating many of the circuits and facilities currently provided by the Tracking, Telemetry & Control station in Stanley, the new earth station will strengthen AsiaSats service integrity and reinforce the companys commitment to service reliability and quality.
With the new facility and the new satellite AsiaSat 4 in place, AsiaSat will be able to offer customers a range of additional value-added services including uplink and back up.
2 October 2003
More moves from the Murdoch empire. US entertainment group Liberty Media is using its right to buy $500 million of stock in The News Corporation.
This is good for News Corp, which now can finance its aim of getting a controlling interest in US satellite TV broadcaster DirectTV.
And Liberty benefits, as the group will now have a stake in News Corporation of nearly 20%, and is buying the shares at a discount.
News Corps earnings are expected to rise by 8 to 12 per cent, because of advertising growth.
1 October 2003
A new exhibit at The George Washington Universitys Media and Public Affairs Building in Washington DC, USA, entitled “Voice of America, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: On the Front Lines of the Worlds Hot Spots for More Than 60 Years” opens on Wednesday, October 1.
George Washington Universitys Vice-President for Communications, Michael Freedman, will be the master of ceremonies for the event, which will also include comments from local media personality Ed Walker and from VOA Director David Jackson.
1 October 2003
The AIB is pleased to announce that it is introducing a White Papers Library, powered by BroadcastPapers.com.
This new service will be available late in 2003.
29 September 2003
AIB member Radio New Zealand Internationals shortwave transmitter has been off-air since Saturday 30 August. But its hoped that it will be operational again in the first week in October.
RNZI has continued on the Internet, and has been leasing just over four hours of time on one of Radio Australia’s transmitters to broadcast the RNZI breakfast session each morning, on 9580 kHz.
A lightning strike is the probable cause of the transmitter faults.
