28 February 2011
The Association for International Broadcasting, the industry association for international TV, radio, mobile and online broadcasting, has expressed its concern at the continuing disruption to transmissions of a number of its members.
Deliberate, harmful Interference has been noted to the satellite transmissions of Alhurra, Al Jazeera and Deutsche Welle since unrest began in a number of North African and Middle Eastern countries. It is believed that much of the current jamming originates from the Tripoli area of Libya where the Gaddafi regime continues to control much broadcasting, intelligence and communications infrastructure.
“Deliberate, harmful interference – or jamming – has been something that international broadcasters have had to contend with for decades,” says Simon Spanswick, AIB CEO. “Today, the jamming signals are being used against satellite TV services from a range of broadcasters serving audiences in the North Africa and Middle East regions. This restricts access to free and unbiased news and information by people who are desperately in need of this. AIB condemns the interference and calls on any agency involved in jamming satellite signals to desist immediately.”
International broadcasters such as Alhurra and Al Jazeera have established additional satellite feeds to ensure continued access to news and current affairs programming across the region:
Alhurra, which has suffered interference to its Nilesat TV channel, has opened a new frequency on Nilesat 7o West on downlink frequency 11.296 MHz, horizontal polarisation, FEC 5/6 and symbol rate 27500.
Al Jazeera English can be seen on Nilesat 7o West on downlink frequency 12015, vertical polarisation, FEC 5/6, symbol rate 27500.
Al Jazeera Channel can be seen on Nilesat 7o West on downlink frequency 11555, vertical polarisation, FEC 3/4, symbol rate 27500.
Jamming has also affected broadcasts to Iran. Deutsche Welle and Voice of America have suffered extensive jamming of satellite programming during February as popular uprisings developed. It is presumed that Iranian authorities are seeking to prevent news of the revolts from international media reaching the country’s citizens.
“AIB will continue to monitor the situation and assist its members to counteract the attempts to block their programmes,” continues Spanswick. “The attempts to silence news broadcasters demonstrate very clearly the impact that international broadcasters have and the fear felt by dictators when uncensored news is available to their citizens.”
28 February 2011
The Association for International Broadcasting, the industry association for international TV, radio, mobile and online broadcasting, strongly condemns the closure of the Cairo bureau of Al Jazeera Network and the withdrawal of accreditation to Al Jazeera correspondents in Egypt.
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28 February 2011
The ABC is seeking expressions of interest from media practitioners across the Pacific for the 2011 ABC International Pacific Fellowship Award.
The Award Fellow will spend four months at the ABC in Australia on a professional development program focused on enhancing their content making skills across a range of media platforms and maximising audience engagement.
The Fellow will be assigned a senior ABC Mentor for the duration of their program. This Mentor will be responsible for ensuring the Fellow receives appropriate opportunities to develop their skills against an agreed professional development plan.
The Award Fellow will receive full funding support from the ABC.
Expressions of interest are sought from Pacific Islanders with at least five years experience as a content maker in the region.
For further information, contact Tanya Scott on +61 (0)3 9524 2747 or email internationalprojects@abc.net.au
23 February 2011
The latest AIB industry briefing has been published. Delivered to the in-boxes of more than 25,000 media leaders globally, the regular industry briefings offer snapshots of developments across the world’s media industry.
23 February 2011
Poland’s TVN Agency is ready to provide services for the first anniversary of the crash of the presidential plane in Smolensk and the Beatification of Pope John Paul II on May 1st, 2011.
Services include: live stand-up positions and multi-format tape playout facilities in Smolensk and Vatican City; services in Poland include: live stand-up positions, studios in Warsaw and regional TVN offices, multi-format tape playout facilities, fully equipped SNG trucks and OB-vans and a wide range of ENG equipment for rent, multi-language speaking ENG crews for hire, production support, editing facilities.
Using the Warsaw Teleport with a connectivity to the global fibre network operated by Genesis Networks/ Global Crossing, TVN Agency is able to offer tailor-made solutions for all kinds of transmissions required.
TVN Agency is a supplier of news and archive video content using the resources of TVN Groups television channels. In the TVN library clients can search for archive footage related to the tragedy in Smolensk as well as to the beatification of Pope John Paul II. Live coverage of particular events will also be available upon request.
21 February 2011
Results of a new poll of Egyptians in Cairo and Alexandria show that 25 percent of respondents tuned into Alhurra to follow the recent uprising in Egypt. The telephone survey was conducted during the networks 18 days of live comprehensive coverage of the historic events in Egypt.
The poll, commissioned by the Broadcasting Board of Governors, focused on how Egyptians in Cairo and Alexandria consumed media during the recent protests in Egypt. Results show that Egyptians turned heavily to satellite television to follow the events in their country during the demonstrations. Although the pan-Arab channel Al Arabiya was the most widely watched, surpassing Egyptian State TV, Alhurra TV reached a large audience during this period, with a quarter of all respondents saying they had used the station to follow the events. The results also showed there was substantial use of communications methods such as text messaging, social networking, or email; in spite of Egyptian authorities attempts to block these technologies.
The survey results confirm what we had been hearing throughout the last three weeks, that Alhurra was a prominent source of news and information for the Egyptian people, stated MBN President Brian Conniff. This is also a testament to Alhurras excellent journalists who covered this story, despite threats against them.
Throughout the coverage of the events in Egypt, Alhurra correspondents were in the streets of Cairo and Alexandria providing viewers with a firsthand account of the stories of the protesters and their unwavering desire for reform. Alhurra also brought the American perspective on the crisis; both the official Administration position as well as reaction from diverse voices throughout the public policy community. The networks comprehensive coverage culminated in being the first to report that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak would resign and hand over power to the Egyptian Army.
The phone survey, conducted between Feb. 4-10, 2011, consisted of 500 randomly selected adults (age 15+) in the cities of Cairo and Alexandria. A complete copy of the survey can be found here.
Recent surveys by international research companies such as ACNielsen show that Alhurra has consistently averaged approximately 26 million weekly viewers for the last three years. Alhurra is operated by the non-profit corporation The Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc. (MBN). MBN is financed by the U.S. Government through a grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), an independent federal agency. The BBG serves oversight and as a firewall to protect the professional independence and integrity of the broadcasters.
