15 August 2003
Sky, the international satellite TV network owned by media magnate Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, has launched its predicted new service in Italy. Sky Italia was created from a merger between Stream Television, jointly owned by News Corp and Telecom Italia, and the Telepiu network, which Murdoch’s media empire recently acquired from Vivendi Universal/Canal Plus.
Sky Italia will offer more channels than the previous Stream and Telepiu services combined, as well as a dedicated news channel, Sky TG24. Sky Italia is 80.1 per cent owned by News Corp, with the remaining 19.9 per cent held by Telecom Italia. Murdoch sais in June that he hoped to quickly attract three million Italian customers, and aimed to win over 10 million customers in the long term.
Although News Corp will take a a loss for the creation of Sky Italia, the TV-to-newspapers media giant sees strong growth ahead.
15 August 2003
AIB member VT Merlin Communications has a new Managing Director. Hes Doug Umbers, and his appointment follows the decision of Fiona Lowry not to return after maternity leave. Doug was previously Director of Business Development for the VT Group, and has played an important part in the evolution of VT.
15 August 2003
Berlin has become the first area in Europe to abandon analogue terrestrial TV transmissions. The region’s terrestrial TV services are now available on digital platforms only. Since most household TV sets are still designed for analogue reception, many viewers have had to invest in set-top decoders.
According to the Berlin-Brandenburg Media Authority, 150,000 of the 170,000 households who depended on the analogue service had bought the set-top boxes ahead of the 4th of August changeover.
Next year the federal states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and North Rhine-Westphalia will also introduce digital terrestrial TV.The German parliament has decided that analogue broadcasting should be completely phased out by 2010. Analogue reception remains possible via satellite and cable systems.
12 August 2003
With opposition media daily risking government wrath in Iran, the war of the Internet sites in Iran has reached a critical point, says Iranian newspaper Jomhuri-ye Eslami.
The war was launched unilaterally by the extremist elements of the Two Khordad Front.Their opponents set up numerous Internet sites, and it turned into a real, bilateral propaganda war, so that the initiators of this propaganda war now feel great pressure from their rivals. A characteristic of Internet sites, because no regulations have yet been specified for them, is that they are capable of providing a platform for spreading rumours and falsehoods. This situation not only escalates the propaganda war between the factions, but also creates problems for the country, which can be very dangerous.
At present, dozens of Internet sites affiliated to rival political factions are in operation. As we approach the advent of the seventh parliamentary elections, the war of the websites is on the rise.
(BBC Monitoring)
12 August 2003
Large numbers of Burmese, hungry for news and entertainment are tuning in to Rangoon’s City FM and several foreign broadcasts available via shortwave radio, reports exiles newspaper Irrawaddy.
Since the 30 May ambush on Aung San Suu Kyi and the subsequent detention of opposition leaders, many Burmese want to know what’s going on in the country and the whereabouts of Suu Kyi. Burmese citizens want to know how the international community is reacting to Burma.
Stories by overseas Burmese and regional experts on the impact of US sanctions, Asean’s concern over Suu Kyi and the ongoing debate on factionalism within the regime draw many grateful listeners.
Former opposition party member Myo Myint said, “When I stroll down the street in Rangoon in the early morning I can hear news because almost every house is listening to the BBC or RFA.” However, he said, tea shops in Rangoon usually feature TV and radio cassette players but do not dare play news aloud, fearing a reaction from authorities. Listening to shortwave radio is not illegal in Burma but citizens know that the government does not approve of the activity.
11 August 2003
Britain’s Independent Television News (ITN), the provider of TV news to Britain’s commercial terrestrial channels, has chosen BDL-Autoscript ControlNet for control of presenters’ teleprompters.
ITN moved to a single wire BDL control system, as it needed a method of allowing any one of three studios to work with any one of three galleries. ControlNet was installed between the main three studios and the adjacent galleries with a control matrix between them.
Each Gallery has its own prompter and hand controller, allowing local script downloads and emergency control, while each studio floor has single wire controllers for prompter speed and control.
Remote switching of the matrix allows the foot and hand controllers to attach to an individual gallery prompter, reverse prompt video is then fed back through the matrix to the relevant floor.
By using the routing matrix and the ControlNet Solution, ITN has made substantial savings on prompt operator and equipment costs.
Paul Flook, Head of Engineering Broadcast, ITN, said: “The hand and foot control gives the presenter complete control of the teleprompter. The ability to switch the control signal in sympathy with the prompt video was a significant advantage. We are pleased at the way the system interacts with each studio and may continue to convert our other studios, although there are no immediate plans to do so.”
