3 July 2009
The international arm of NHK, Japans renowned public service broadcaster, has recently contracted for an increased range of services with WRN, the London based broadcasting and transmission company.
Starting from the summer season of 2009, WRN is providing new platforms for Radio Japans Arabic services to be heard in the Middle East via a 1000kW Medium Wave station on 1377kHz AM, and on FM for the Palestinian Territories, parts of Israel and Jordan. This adds to WRNs existing agreement to place NHKs Arabic programming on its own station Sawt Al-Alam (Arabic for Voice of the World) which is an aggregation of programming from leading world broadcasters and is available on the Arabsat, Hot Bird and Nilesat satellite services.
Mr Yuki Sakagami, Associate Director of NHKs International Planning & Broadcasting Department said, Within current media development in the world of international broadcasting, NHK World Radio Japan is now taking the initiative to broadcast its programmes on the most suitable media, including FM and Medium Wave, in each target area, and commencing these new transmission platforms in the Middle East is one such example.
NHKs Russian language programming is now heard on WRNs Russian channel Vsimirniya Radioset (which is Russian for World Radio Network) on both satellite and locally on 738 AM (Medium Wave) in Moscow. Karl Miosga, Chairman of WRN, said Radio Japan adds the new dimension of a Japanese perspective to the programming we offer in Russia and we are delighted they join us as a partner broadcaster with their extremely high quality content.
Meanwhile in South Asia, Radio Japan in Bengali, Hindi and Urdu is now available via one of the shortwave relay facilities offered by WRN. Jeff Cohen, who looks after shortwave transmission at WRN, says, Though use of shortwave has been declining in recent years in western nations it is still essential for reaching Asia and this is attested by the high demand for frequency spectrum in the region.
Atsushi Terauchi, Senior Manager at NHKs International Planning & Broadcasting Department, spoke of the general widening of NHKs use of relay facilities, It is essential that the 18 language services of Radio Japan from NHK World, reach the highest possible audience worldwide. So we constantly review transmission platforms and add new ways that audiences can tune to our programmes.
David Treadway, Managing Director of WRN, expressed his delight at the new business with NHK, We really appreciate the confidence of Japans public broadcaster in WRN shown by this significant increase in the global transmission services we provide.
3 July 2009
1Cast, the revolutionary broadcast platform that delivers up-to-the-minute news video to subscribers’ smartphones and the web, today announced that Al Jazeera English, the first English-speaking global news channel headquartered in the Middle East, is now available via the 1Cast service.
Al Jazeera English delivers a fresh perspective on world news to over 150 million households worldwide. The channel has a unique editorial mission to balance the current global information flow by giving voice to stories that often are under-reported, promoting debate, and challenging established perceptions. Presenters including Sir David Frost, Riz Khan and Rageh Omaar keep viewers up-to-date from Broadcast Centres in Doha, Kuala Lumpur, London and Washington DC, and from 69 bureaus on all continents.
Its a fascinating development that will allow audiences to view our news broadcasts – which often originate in places such as the streets of Pakistan or Baghdad – on a smart phone or via the web just seconds later in America, said Phil Lawrie, Al Jazeera Networks Director of Global Distribution. Our new partnership with 1Cast expands on our commitment to give global citizens access to world news delivered from a refreshing, alternative perspective via multiple technologies, both traditional and new.”
We are very pleased to offer our subscribers and viewers the exceptional perspective and coverage that Al Jazeera English delivers across the world, said Anthony Bontrager, President of 1Cast. Al Jazeera English joins a roster of some of the most respected news leaders in the world who are using 1Cast to extend their audience reach through our unique platform.
1Cast is a digital newsstand that gives viewers more control over the content they consume. Viewers simply select the topics they care about most, and 1Cast delivers up-to-the minute newscasts of video clips from leading news sources, including the Associated Press, BBC World News, Bloomberg, CBC, Reuters, CNBC, Barrons.com, Dow Jones, The Wall Street Journal, AllThingsD and now Al Jazeera English.
News content from 1Cast is consumed on-the-go, via iPhone, iPod Touch, Android mobile phone or on the web, and is updated continually throughout the day. Users can also share their personalised newscasts with friends via email or on platforms such as blogs, social networking sites and other web portals using the 1Cast embeddable video player.
3 July 2009
BBC News reports: A parliamentary committee has proposed a five-strong board to head the South African Broadcasting Corporation, a day after the previous board was sacked.
Parliament voted to dissolve the board after months of infighting and alleged mismanagement – the public broadcaster is 740m rand ($94m; £58m) in debt. The communications committee has now chosen five people for an interim board which MPs will vote on next week. Critics have long said the broadcaster was a mouthpiece for the government. They accused former President Thabo Mbeki of filling the previous board with his own followers. Opposition parties said the new board would have to be politically impartial if the beleaguered broadcaster’s reputation is to be restored. The BBC’s Pumza Fihlani in Johannesburg says four of the members of the proposed interim board are seen as relatively neutral. But the committee could not agree on the fifth nominee – Phil Mtimkulu, a political science lecturer who was nominated by the governing Africa National Congress (ANC).
They were eventually forced into a vote, and approved his nomination by eight votes to four. The SABC has been saddled with debt since the mid-1990s, with some board members and senior managers accused of abusing their position to enrich themselves. The board and managers have also openly rowed over major decisions and blamed each other for the corporation’s difficulties. By the time the National Assembly decided to dissolve the board, most of them had already quit.
3 July 2009
Three new music channels were launched by ABC-Australia today as its radio services went digital in the state capitals of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.
ABC Radio director Kate Dundas said the new channels – ABC Dig Music, ABC Jazz and ABC Country – were being added to the ABC’s current line-up of five radio channels.
The existing channels would continue to be broadcast in analogue as well as on the new digital platform.
“The thing that’s important to remember is that all our current services stay on analogue, so no one needs to go out and have a complete switch-over like television will be in a few years,” she said in a statement directed to the ABC’s listeners, but adding that they would need to buy a digital radio to receive the digital services.
Ms Dundas said the ABC had plans to extend the new services to other capital cities and regional areas.
30 June 2009
Entries are arriving at the AIB head office in the UK for the 2009 AIBs – the fifth annual international media excellence awards.
Many broadcasters and production companies have contacted us to ask for an extension to the entry deadline – so we’ve responded!
The closing date for the 2009 AIBs is now Friday 31 July 2009.
Full details of how to enter are in the entry booklet you can download using the link below, and if you have questions, call us on +44 20 7993 2557 or e-mail awards2009 [@] aib.org.uk.
23 June 2009
Al Jazeera Englishs documentary, Two Schools of Nablus, has won the UK Royal Television Societys Educational Television Award in the category of Adult Training.
The RTS awards ceremony recognises excellence in the areas of Programme Making, Television Journalism, Sport, Education, Craft & Design, Technical Innovation and Student Journalism.
Two Schools of Nablus is an observational documentary following the personal stories of teachers and students of two schools in Nablus in the West Bank. The documentary depicts stories of the lives of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances showing the pressures and stresses of life and learning under an occupation. The documentary follows two head teachers and their staff at King Talal Boys School and Hajja Rushda Girls School to show how they teach and inspire their pupils while dealing with over-crowded classes, imprisoned students and teachers under increasing stress. There is nothing ordinary about the daily experiences of two schools in Nablus.
This documentary was directed by Tom Evans and executive produced by Ingrid Falck, both of Flashback Television in cooperation with Al Jazeera English Channel.
