19 November 2008
Moroccan public broadcasting company, SNRT, acquires a stake in Europes leading international news channel.
Moroccos SNRT (Société Nationale de Radiodiffusion et Télévision) became the latest shareholder of euronews at a General Assembly of the channels shareholders in Paris on 22 September 2008. SNRT, a member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), acquired a 0.33% stake in the holding company, SECEMIE*, to join the 22 existing shareholders from Europe and the Mediterranean on the euronews editorial board.
The catalyst for the arrival of the new Moroccan shareholder was the introduction of an eighth language to euronews, Arabic, on 12 July 2008. The Arabic language initiative is supported by the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) and is a topic of great importance for SNRT and the channels other Arabic shareholders.
Launched in January 1993 in five languages, euronews broadcasts round-the-clock in eight languages simultaneously: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese (1999), Russian (2001) and Arabic (2008). euronews is distributed to 250 million homes in 140 countries worldwide and leads its competitors in terms of audience in Europe.
Philippe Cayla, Chairman and CEO of euronews said: “I am pleased to welcome SNRT, whose Managing Director, Sir Ayad, was beside us when we launched in Arabic at the Arab World Institute in July, to the euronews fold. SNRT will be instrumental in promoting euronews in Arabic. Together with Morocco and our other Arabic partners, we will continue to develop the channel and contribute to strengthening the ties between Europe and the Mediterranean region.”
Fayçal Laraichi, Chairman and CEO of SNRT said: “We are delighted to join the other European and Mediterranean partners in the euronews group. Our presence will serve to enhance our promotion of international news in Arabic and we will use all the available resources to make this partnership a reference for excellence in the Mediterranean broadcasting world.”
* SECEMIE: Société Editrice de la Chaîne Européenne Multilingue dInformation euronews. Consortium comprising broadcasters from Europe and the Mediterranean countries.
In alphabetical order: CT (Czech Republic), CyBC (Cyprus), ENTV (Algeria), ERT (Greece), ERTT (Tunisia), ERTV (Egypt), France Télévisions (France), NTU (Ukraine), PBS (Malta), RAI (Italy), RTBF (Belgium), RTE (Ireland), RTP (Portugal), RTR (Russia), RTVE (Spain), RTVSLO (Slovenia), SNRT (Morocco), SSR (Switzerland), TMC (Monaco), TV4 (Sweden), TVR (Romania), YLE (Finland).
19 November 2008
HILVERSUM From 12 to 30 November Amsterdam is the stage for the Amsterdam India Festival. This festival of Indian art and culture is the largest ever presented in the Netherlands. For the first time, Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW) and All India Radio (AIR) will cooperate in radio coverage of this event in English. The Dutch-Indian cultural event will be aired nationwide in India and worldwide by RNW.
The Amsterdam India Festival offers a wide range of activities and events in the area of Indian art and culture, encompassing music, dance, film, architecture, debates, fashion, multimedia and exhibitions of Indian art. The theme of the festival is Blended Cultures, in reference to the enormous diversity of cultures which co-exist in India. A diversity one also finds in Amsterdam.
Public broadcasters RNW and AIR will cover the event in Amsterdam. Commentaries, interviews and reports of performances will give listeners an insight into the events as they happen. All India Radio will broadcast these contributions in their network programming, reaching a potential of 350 million listeners in India. Through its vast network of 229 broadcast centres AIR covers an area of more than 90% of the country.
RNW and AIR will work together for the first time. RNW has recently been actively establishing partnerships with local Indian broadcasters. All India Radio is part of the Prasar Bharati media organisation, and is the leading public broadcaster in India with more than 70 years experience. With this cooperative venture, RNW and AIR have paved the way for a future in which they can exchange and combine even more journalistic, cultural and technical know-how.
Jan Hoek, RNWs Director General explains: “Radio Netherlands Worldwide works together with thousands of radio stations all over the world which broadcast our programmes. Increasingly we see stations keen to work with us on co-productions. It is a gratifying further step that the major radio broadcaster in India has also recognised the added value of our expertise.
B.S. LALLI, CEO Prasar Bharati/ AIR declares: We at All India Radio are pleased to be associated with Radio Netherlands Worldwide to cover the India festival which is taking place in Amsterdam. It gives us a chance I hope , to develop joint programming in days to come. It is indeed a good start and we look forward to a larger cooperation between us in future.
19 November 2008
Iranians are flooding President-elect Barack Obama with personal messages on a special Persian-language website the Voice of America (VOA) created for people to express their views.
VOA’s Persian News Network (PNN) has received hundreds of messages on topics ranging from U.S.-Iranian relations to access to student visas since it invited its audience last week to write to Obama at the website www.VOANews.com/persian/obamapnn.cfm. The messages, posted on the site, will eventually be transmitted to the president-elect’s transition office.
“This enthusiastic response reflects the enormous interest that the Iranian people have in political developments in the United States,” said VOA Director Danforth Austin. “It also illustrates the critical role we have in reaching them with balanced and objective information about the United States and the world,” he said.
“Mr. Obama, your election to this important position is an historical event. I am glad that I am living in an era when such a miracle took place and that I witnessed it,” wrote one viewer from Tehran. Another from Ahvaz stated, “I wish there were at least one media outlet in Iran that could express the joy of Iranians for you. We love America and we respect this great democracy.”
Generally, e-mails from Iran show support for Obama. PNN, in a question of the day, asked Iranians on the Internet and on television, “Now that Sen. Obama will be the new American president, do you believe U.S.-Iranian relations will improve or deteriorate?” Out of 7,947 respondents, 17 percent said they would worsen, 43 percent said they will improve, and 40 percent said they would not change.
Currently, one in four adults in Iran watches or listens to PNN broadcasts at least weekly. PNN’s website, which received 2,574,901 visits in October, had nearly 180,000 individual visits November 4-5 alone.
19 November 2008
Quantel has won a 2008 Hollywood Post Alliance Engineering Excellence Award for its Pablo Stereoscopic 3D system. The HPA Engineering Excellence Awards honor outstanding new technologies representing a significant step forward for the post production industry. The awards were presented November 6th at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles.
Its an honor to win the HPA award for our Stereo3D technology, said Mark Horton, Quantels Strategic Marketing Manager, who received the Award on behalf of Quantel. We know Stereo3D provides a great opportunity for everyone in our industry and the HPA membership is a leading part of this new wave. Receiving the HPA award last year for Genetic Engineering gave a tremendous boost to the product in the market and also to the Quantel engineers that developed it. This years award will have the same effect and will help to drive the market forward into a new and exciting era.
Quantels Stereoscopic 3D system for Pablo provides the first true, real-time, end-to-end post process for stereoscopic 3D films. The system overcomes the many challenges that have hindered stereoscopic 3D post production in the past. It offers the ability to play out and process two streams of synchronous, high resolution media simultaneously without rendering, making the conforming of 3D media almost as quick and simple as conforming conventional 2-D media. The system has been embraced by leading post production facilities worldwide, including FotoKem, PlasterCITY Digital Post, Stereoscope, Gradient Effects, Modern VideoFilm, 3ality Digital and Pace in the USA and also at post houses in London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Paris and other major post centers around the world.
In announcing the awards, HPA President Leon Silverman noted that creativity comes in many forms. It is sometimes easy to see the creative hand and impact on screen, but the creative impact of what brings content to screens is not always understood or celebrated, he said. The tools, technology and infrastructure of our increasingly technically complex industry help to push the boundaries of creative expression. These Engineering Excellence Awards recipients have all demonstrated a profound insight into how technology so elegantly and transparently fuels creativity and continues to allow the post production industry to demonstrate the deep value it adds to content creation.
19 November 2008
Forbes Arabia has rated Al Jazeera as the leading Arab brand for 2008 – the second consecutive time since 2006. Forbes Arabia used the Brand Goodwill index to measure brand strength among 82 leading brands in the region from a range of categories that included media, communications, transport, fashion, food, cosmetics, real estate, and hotels. Forbes commissioned TNS Middle East and Africa to poll the opinions of 1200 participants from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Morocco, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Yemen. Participants were randomly exposed to the selected brands to see how familiar those brands were to them and asked a number of questions to check their loyalty to these brands; the results were then analyzed based on the strength of the participants’ relationship to these brands. Al Jazeeras brand ranked first in the tough competition where five out of the first ten leading brands were media organizations.
19 November 2008
Al Jazeera Network announced the opening of a Commercial Sales office in Kuala Lumpur to be launched in Q1 2009 to focus on serving the Asia Pacific market. The office and existing commercial division will help advertisers and business partners in the region capitalize on Al Jazeera’s global reach and international brand.
“This is an important stepping stone for our commercial efforts in the region as we begin to extend our global brand. While we remain focused on bringing ground-breaking news to the world, we are venturing and expanding into new commercial areas. The Al Jazeera family of channels which now includes Al Jazeera Satellite Channel, Al Jazeera English, six Sports Channels and Al Jazeera Documentary gives extensive market reach and advertising value for our partners” said Dr. Al-Horr. “The aim of the Commercial Office in Kuala Lumpu r will be to get closer to our Asia Pacific partners beginning with introductory offers for new sponsors and potential partners for 2009 onwards.”
Al Jazeera English launched in 2006, has been making steady progress in the region with developments this year in Hong Kong, Singapore, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, building on top of existing reach and strong market presence in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Macau and free-to-air Asia-wide footprint on AsiaSat3. Al Jazeera English is currently available to over 130 million households worldwide, including 25 million across Asia Pacific.
