5 September 2011
The Voice of America is concerned about a legal warning issued in connection with VOA coverage of the U.N.-backed tribunal in Cambodia that has been investigating atrocities committed by the former Khmer Rouge regime.
On August 31, the Co-Investigating Judges at the U.N.-backed Cambodian tribunal announced they had instituted contempt of court proceedings related to the VOA Khmer Service reports. The unsigned statement from the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, cited VOAs use of confidential court documents in a report broadcast on August 10 that identified potential new defendants.
The statement said proceedings had been instituted for Interference with the Administration of Justice after VOA quoted verbatim from a confidential document and even showed that document on a video. The statement went on to say, Anyone intending further disclosure of confidential court documents is hereby warned that his case could be transferred to the National Prosecutor pursuant to Rule 35 (2) (c).
Voice of America is concerned about the potential chilling effect this threat by the co-investigating judges could have on coverage of an important international story. Some rights groups have accused judges at the tribunal of failing to fully investigate cases brought by prosecutors.
Voice of America believes the warning issued by the co-investigating judges is unwarranted. The Voice of America has a journalistic and legal responsibility to provide balanced and comprehensive coverage of important issues. The careful use of confidential sources and documents that provide important insight into critical issues is a well-established practice by independent journalists the world over. Furthermore, the documents in question have been used by other news organizations.
Voice of America and its Khmer Service are committed to providing accurate, objective and comprehensive coverage of the ongoing investigation into Khmer Rouge atrocities and issues of importance to the people of the region and the world.
5 September 2011
Up to 650,000 visitors per day on mobile as Eurosports apps become integral part of Europes sports fans daily routine
In only two years since launching its first multi-lingual app, Eurosport has built a loyal and fully engaged audience of sports fans across Europe for its range of apps for iPhone, iPad, Blackberry and Android.
The suite of apps, which includes the Eurosport.com live sports news and the Eurosport Player live streaming apps, now account for up to 650,000 daily visitors and over 5 million downloads, demonstrating strong consumer engagement and fan loyalty for Eurosports mobile offering.
And, with World Championship athletics, the start of top flight football across Europe and the US Open tennis (29 August – 11 September), that daily visitor figure is set to jump further this autumn thanks to Eurosports quality sports offer, which includes real-time content (text commentary, breaking news, goal alerts and user commentaries), social media and video.
Two years ago today saw the launch of the free Eurosport.com live sports news app for iPhone in 9 languages*, which proved an immediate success for Europes sports fans, being downloaded over 1 million times in the first three months. Today it is widely considered Europes most downloaded sports app.
According to a recent Eurosport study carried out by Paris institute Opinion Way, 85 percent of users polled said the Eurosport.com live sports news app had become an indispensible part of their daily routine.**
Since 2009, Eurosport has continued to innovate and expand its mobile offering. In May last year, it launched a premium streaming Eurosport Player live streaming app for iPad and iPhone users in the UK and Ireland, France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, providing live and on-demand access to Eurosport’s TV channels. In December, a V.2 version of the Eurosport.com live sports news app was released, with improved functionality including live goal alerts to better serve todays sports fans on the move.
In just a short time, mobile has become a very important part of Eurosports multimedia offer, says Laurent-Eric Le Lay, Eurosport Chairman and CEO, and it is now key to helping us deliver on our brand promise of giving fans the best sports entertainment experience on the device of their choosing. The strong consumer engagement figures are good news not only for the sports fans but for our clients and advertisers, as we can guarantee the right multimedia environment in which to raise awareness of their brands.
5 September 2011
At IBC 2011 in Amsterdam S4M Solutions for Media showcases the latest version of the resource scheduling system S4Production. Most importantly: The production planning software for film and TV companies now also is available as Software as a Service.
The S4Production system supports the entire production process of TV broadcasters and film & TV production companies – from the customer’s initial inquiry to contract management right through to scheduling. Needs-oriented planning of all human and production resources keeps everything firmly in the customers control. S4Production users can avoid hiring freelancers when employees are available and optimize usage & allocation of expensive equipment and facilities.
Additionally, cloud technology enables companies to profit very fast from the advantages of a central scheduling system they can simply use S4Production online. That means: No additional hardware, no software installation, no maintenance required.
The system will be showcased ad IBC 2011. Visit S4M at Europes most important broadcasting fair in Amsterdam in booth 3.B26
5 September 2011
Andy Braddel has been appointed as director of Global Media Services, the video newsgathering facilities arm of The Associated Press. The GMS appointment was announced by Senior Vice President Daisy Veerasingham, who heads APs video business. Braddel reports to Veerasingham.
Braddel has worked with the AP since 1994. He has spent much of his career in the former Soviet Union, progressing from regional editor to head of Broadcast Services, Russia and the CIS. Before joining the AP, Braddel worked for ABC News and Channel 4 News in Moscow and Washington, D.C. He was part of the ITN team which won an Emmy in 1993 for reports exposing Serb-run detention camps in Bosnia.
“For the past year Braddel has been managing the GMS operation in the U.S. He takes over GMS at a crucial time: revenues are up this year largely due to the department’s excellent performance on major news events, such as the royal wedding, the Japan earthquake and tsunami, upheavals in the Middle East, and the Dominique Strauss-Kahn scandal, Veerasingham said.
GMS provides editorial and logistical support to broadcasters and news platforms covering global or regional news stories on location. It has highly-specialised team of 155 producers, reporters, facilitators and technicians around the globe and has fixed facilities in AP bureaus in London, Washington, New York, Paris, Moscow, Cairo, Baghdad, Jerusalem and Kabul.
The challenge over the next year will be to keep growing the business at a time when broadcasters are under increasing pressure to make cuts in both foreign news coverage and delivery, Veerarsingham said.
AP is in the midst of a multimillion-dollar upgrade of its newsgathering infrastructure in order to provide high-definition images to the broadcast and digital industries. At the same time, AP will also significantly increase the depth and breadth of video content available from around the world. The upgrade is the single biggest investment in the APs London-based video business since 1998, when the AP bought its competitor, Worldwide Television News.
Braddel will take up his new post in September and will split his time between London and New York.
5 September 2011
As reported by AFP, US online video service Hulu.com has begun streaming movies and television shows in Japan in its first expansion outside the United States.
Hulu, a joint venture between The Walt Disney Co., NBC Universal, News Corp. and Providence Equity Partners, a private equity firm, said the popular video service will cost Japanese subscribers 1,480 yen ($19) a month.
Unlike in the United States, where Hulu provides both free and premium services, the offering in Japan is subscription-only.
Japanese subscribers can watch advertising-free Hulu programming using personal computers, tablet computers, Web-connected TVs, video game consoles, Blu-ray players and smartphones.
Hulu senior vice president Johannes Larcher said in a blog post that Hulu’s launch in Japan is part of the service’s plan to become a “global brand.”
“We are taking a first, but important step to make good on our aspiration to serve customers all over the world,” Larcher said. “This is just the first of more markets outside of the US for Hulu.”
Hulu said it plans to eventually add Japanese-produced content and content from across the Asian region to the service in Japan.
“We are in Japan for the long term, and excited to continue building our product for Japanese consumers,” Larcher said.
Hulu’s owners have reportedly been seeking to sell the company and potential suitors include Google, Yahoo!, Amazon and DirecTV, according to the Wall Street Journal.
22 August 2011
twofour54 ibtikar, twofour54s financing and support pillar, has today announced new venture capital investment deals with two of the regions leading Arabic online games companies, Tahadi Games and Jawaker.
With global information technology research experts Gartner predicting significant growth for the gaming industry in the coming years, these strategic investments represent another important milestone for the regions indigenous digital gaming industry. The new agreements will help boost the development of a gaming cluster in Abu Dhabi, strengthening twofour54s position as the regions leading centre for game development in the Arab world.
Commenting on the new investment deals, Wayne Borg, Deputy CEO and Chief Operating Officer at twofour54, said: Gaming represents a huge area of growth and these investments, with two of the regions most promising companies, clearly shows twofour54s commitment to supporting the development of an Arabic gaming industry.
The worldwide revenue of the industry is enormous with consumer spending expected to surpass $74bn by the end of the year, and online spend expected to double from USD11.8bn this year to some $28bn by 2015 (Gartner 2011). However until recently the gaming landscape in the Middle East was significantly under-developed, despite appetite from local consumers for games that they can culturally identify with, and good levels of local developer and entrepreneurial talent. Our new agreements, which combine Tahadi and Jawakers online gaming expertise with twofour54 ibtikars investment and strategic support, will help to strengthen the regional gaming industry in addition to Abu Dhabis position as the Middle Easts leading Arabic gaming hub.
Established in 2008 by the founders and previous owners of Maktoob.com, the regions biggest Arabic language portal, which was recently purchased by Yahoo, Tahadi aims to be the regions leading online games publisher for client and browser based massive multiplayer online (MMO) games that target the Middle East.
Mr. Steve Tsao, CEO of Tahadi, said: This investment partnership with twofour54 ibtikar will allow us to focus on our core strengths, whilst utilising their regional and international network and international industry experience to license, develop and publish tailored and relevant content that appeals and resonates with Arab gamers. With the support of twofour54 ibtikar our aim is to publish up to ten localised games over the next five years.
Jawaker is a multiplayer card gaming website developed especially for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Launched in April of 2009, the website does not require the user to download or install software and is regarded as the leading online card gaming community in the Middle East with over 500,000 registered users, 95% of whom use the site in Arabic. Jawaker serves over 17 million page views per month, and currently has approximately 100,000 visitors per month.
Mohamad Haj Hasan, Co-founder of Jawaker, said: twofour54 ibtikars investment in Jawaker will enable the company to capitalise on the rapidly expanding popularity of online gaming regionally. With the regions extremely high percentage of young people combined with increased broadband penetration, we will look to work with twofour54 ibtikar to expand our current offering and develop and publish a wide range of Arabic card games for the regions burgeoning online audience.
Tahadi and Jawaker have become established players in the Middle Easts rapidly developing online gaming industry – total user registrations are increasing at roughly 100% per annum for both companies. Investment from twofour54 ibtikar will not only see the companies have access to the capital required to grow, but it will also see them provided with the active support necessary to capture revenue and profit opportunities from within the twofour54 ecosystem and beyond. It is these factors that are vital for the development of a sustainable and indigenous digital games industry.
twofour54 ibtikar supports creative entrepreneurship through venture capital funding and operational support for start-up and early stage businesses and talented young Arabs across the Middle East and North Africa. twofour54 ibtikar investment activities focus on Arabic content creation businesses and creative individuals or entrepreneurs. ibtikar goes above and beyond equity investment to offer expertise and support, to facilitate the development of the media and entertainment industry across the Arab world.
