12 April 2018
It is with sadness that we report the death of Dick Tauber of CNN, well-known and respected in the international broadcasting community.
Jack Womack, SVP, CNN Worldwide writes:
I’m sorry to share with you that we lost our friend and colleague Dick Tauber last night. Dick was 73 years old and died after a lengthy illness.
Dick started his career at CNN as second in command running the Satellite desk one year after its launch in 1980. After an incredible 32-year career at CNN, Dick retired in 2013 as VP Transmission Systems and New Technology.
Dick had so many accomplishments here at CNN. When CNN received wide acclaim for being the only network to Broadcast live from Baghdad during the first Gulf War, it was his idea to marry the Baghdad to Amman and Amman to Atlanta four-wire audio circuits in Amman, allowing CNN its historic coverage and being the only U.S. television network to broadcast live as bombs fell.
Dick also championed and pushed the network into new field transmission technologies and satellite transponder capacity. Along with others, he was instrumental in CNN with expanding the satellite truck fleet and acquisition and deployment of CNN’s fly-away uplinks.
Dick loved his job and being an important part of CNN. He always wanted to make sure CNN was first with transmission from any spot on the planet. Dick secured his place as one of the people that helped build CNN from almost the start of CNN in the 1980’s into what it is today.
Dick’s dedication to the industry included his long chairmanship of the World Broadcasting Unions-International Satellite Operations Group (WBU-ISOG) that worked to communicate to the satellite industry the most important requirements of broadcasters and to collaborate on procedures that protected interference issues. He also represented TBS/CNN at the North American Broadcasters Association (NABA) and was on the board of directors from 1998-2003.
He won many industry awards spanning three decades, including the Outstanding Individual Achievement Emmy Award for Satellite Coordination for the Turner Broadcasting Systems GOODWILL GAMES from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 1986, to a 2007 Science and Technology Emmy Award and IBC Judges Innovation Award, both for development and implementation of CNN’s revolutionary Digital Newsgathering transmission system. In 1991, Dick received an “Industry Visionary” award from Communications Week magazine as one of the “25 Most Influential” industry leaders for the year.
Dick had a great sense of humor and mentored so many people at CNN to share in his love for the news and satellite transmission industry.
Dick will be greatly missed. Please join me as we offer our condolences to the Tauber family.
14 June 2016
CNN International will be syndicating its news, business, feature and entertainment content to Newstag, an award-winning ‘mobile-first’ video news service. The agreement grants Stockholm-based Newstag the right to share and distribute two hours of CNN video content per day on its mobile and online platforms alongside current affairs and entertainment content from other professional content producers around the world, including AP, AFP and Reuters.
With 41 editorial offices and more than 1,100 affiliates worldwide through CNN Newsource, CNN provides local news organisations with products and services across all platforms. CNN Newsource is the industry’s most powerful newsgathering resource.
This announcement follows the news that CCTV – China’s leading news agency – will also be joining Newstag, bringing quality news videos from four continents together through the innovative platform. By presenting these stories from different global perspectives, the platform sheds new light on international news as it breaks.
Newstag Chair and co-founder, Camilla Dahlin-Andersson, says: “Newstag is delighted to be working with CNN, one of the world’s most pioneering and innovative news providers. With the US presidential race in full flow, this partnership couldn’t have come at a better time. We’re committed to providing professionally produced global news coverage from truly distinct perspectives and CNN’s output will contribute to creating a rich and nuanced understanding of the world we live in today.”
Newstag’s ‘mobile-first’ service enables users to create their own ‘tagstream’ (or personalised TV channel) in seconds, organising, consuming and sharing stories among their social networks using the latest web and mobile technologies. These stories are available from a number of different perspectives, resulting in a platform that allows converging viewpoints to be presented side by side, shedding new light on international news as it breaks.
Alongside breaking news, Newstag also offers users access to archive footage and documentaries covering everything from business, science and politics to arts, culture and sports. Specialist content providers include IMG Media, the world’s largest independent distributor of sports programming and Videofashion, the video magazine covering all aspects of fashion.
As the platform gears up for launch, Newstag is a start-up of the year finalist in the MEG-awards and was recently selected as one the companies best positioned for growth in Asia at Asia Beat 2016. Last year Newstag received a bronze award for ‘Best News Website’ at the 2015 Asian Digital Media Awards jointly presented by WAN-IFRA and Google. The platform was also selected as a top international start-up by Mobile World Capital Barcelona in a contest to recognise the most innovative use of mobile technology in business and won ‘Best Start-up’ at the 2015 TVB Europe Awards.
(Source: Newstag press release)
4 November 2015
The winners of the 2015 AIBs were announced on the 4th November at a gala dinner at LSO St Luke’s in London. These annual international broadcasting awards are now in their eleventh year and celebrate the best in radio, TV and online – journalism, programmes and talent. The AIBs are judged by an independent and international panel of distinguished media professionals representing broadcasting across the world and they ensure that the awards are judged independently from commercial influence. The chosen winners demonstrate the best in engaging, powerful, moving and innovative reporting and investigation from entries which are submitted by countries in every continent of the world.
Simon Spanswick, AIB CEO said: ”The entries in 2015 demonstrated the continuing dedication of programme makers and journalists to uncover important and challenging stories, to take risks, both personally and professionally and to work expertly to investigate and explain complex subjects. The entries educate, entertain and engage their audience using the latest technologies at their disposal. We have seen important and sometimes harrowing stories brought to light, the power of the voice to captivate as well as exciting and engrossing coverage of sporting events. Once again the judges have had the hard but rewarding search for the best out of a very strong set of entries.”
This year’s awards were hosted by CNN’s Hala Gorani. Hala is based in London and anchors The World Right Now, with Hala Gorani, which airs every weekday evening. As an accomplished international journalist, Hala frequently goes into the field to report on major breaking news stories. Most recently, she’s been covering the refugee crisis in Europe and the Middle East.
The AIBs 2015 | Winners and highly commended finalists are:
TV Journalism
The winner is CNN for its coverage of the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean.
Highly commended
Al Jazeera English for Nepal in Ruins
Euronews for Fighting Boko Haram
Domestic current affairs
The winner is Channel 4 for My Last Summer, a programme that gathered together five terminally ill patients to share their experiences of coping with the last months of their lives and the effect on their families and friends.
Highly commended
Antena 3 for The Thing with Rom-Mania
Verve Productions for Filming My Father: In Life and Death
International Current Affairs
The winner is Al Jazeera Media Network for Al Jazeera Investigates – Broken Dreams: The Boeing 787. This was a disturbing tale of corporate greed as the world’s major aircraft manufacturer put profit ahead of safety.
Highly commended
Mongoose Pictures/Quicksilver Media for Outbreak: The Truth about Ebola
True Vision Productions for Kids in Camps
Domestic investigative
The winner is VRT for The Price of Cheap Food. This documentary looked at the never ending price war between supermarkets to lure consumers in with the cheapest possible food, asking who pays for this cheap food and whether a Pandora’s box has been opened in which food producers – principally farmers – have become the first victims.
Highly commended
BBC Northern Ireland for Spotlight: A Woman Alone with the IRA
Channel 4 for The Paedophile Hunter
International Investigative
The winner is Flying Cloud Productions for Human Harvest, a programme that investigated claims that first emerged from China in 2006 that state-run hospitals were killing prisoners of conscience to sell their organs.
Highly commended
Al Jazeera Media Network for Al Jazeera Investigates – Inside Kenya’s Death Squads
Sky News Arabia for Death Boats
Children’s Factual
The winner is Strix Television (part of the Nice Group) that produced The Museum for SVT. The Museum is a competition show in which knowledge, excitement, history and the present day are woven together in a children’s programme that is just as much fun for adults.
Highly commended
BBC for Being Me – A Newsround Special
deMENSEN for The Blacklist – Getting Married
Science programme
The winner is Channel 4 for Drugs Live: Cannabis on Trial which was a ground-breaking scientific trial looking at the effects on the brain of two different forms of cannabis – ‘skunk’ and ‘hash’.
Highly commended
Flimmer Film for Death – A Series about Life
True Vision Productions for Curing Cancer
Short news report
The winner is VICE News for Russian Roulette, Dispatch Fifty Seven in which Simon Ostrovsky spoke to residents in Eastern Ukraine which are innocently caught up in the middle of a bloody campaign – and who are dying as a result.
Highly commended
CNN for Ebola Battle through Nurse’s Eyes
TVC News for Customised Coffins in Ghana
Short feature
The winner is Blue Chalk Media for Burned Girl. Ragini is one of millions of children who are suffering from severe burn injuries. Blue Chalk Media travelled to India to document Ragini’s story through video and still photographs.
Highly commended
BBC World Service for Hooked
ITN for On Assignment: Heroin on the East Coast
Specialist programme
The winner is by TBI Media with Snappin’ Turtle Productions for D-Day 70 Years On. The BBC brought the UK together in a tour de force production to mark the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings – the programme was broadcast on TV and radio, and screened in cinemas across the country.
Highly commended
LOOKS Film & TV Produktionen & ARTE for 14 – Diaries of the Great War
Kansai Telecasting for Bunraku – Soul of the Art
Online factual
The winner is Bayerischer Rundfunk for Do Not Track which explored how information about you is collected and used as you browse the web.
Highly commended
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty for My Ukraine
Radio journalism
The winner is BBC World Service for its Ebola Coverage, one of the biggest stories the international broadcaster covered during 2014.
Radio current affairs
The winner is RTE Radio One for Voices which, over 12 episodes, explored issues like suicide, abortion, addiction, and raised questions about who we are and how we live.
Highly commended
ABC for Indigenous Soldiers Who Hid their Identity to Serve – the Untold Story
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty for Tradition of the Blade
Radio investigative documentary
The winner is BBC World Service for The Lost Children of the Holocaust. At the end of the Second World War, the BBC began a series of special radio appeals on behalf of a group of children who had survived the Holocaust but were now stranded in post-war Europe. 70 yearson, Alex Last tries to find out what happened to the children named in the recording.
Radio creative feature
The winner is BFBS for Children of Belsen, a compelling anniversary story that deserved to be told and to reach a wider audience.
Highly commended
RTHK for Bipolar Express
Television personality
The winner is Christiane Amanpour, CNN’s chief international correspondent and anchor of the
network’s award-winning, flagship global affairs programme Amanpour.
Radio personality
The winner is Kathryn Ryan of Radio New Zealand, where she anchors the daily Nine to Noon, a
three-hour live news and current affairs programme which runs each weekday.
AIB Founders Award – Mike Wooldridge
The AIB Founders’ Award is in recognition of Mike Wooldridge’s lifetime work as an outstanding correspondent.
AIB Lifetime Achievement Award – Larry King
The inaugural AIB Lifetime Achievement Award is in recognition of Larry King’s remarkable career on radio and television, and his extraordinary impact on the news industry.
27 April 2015
CNNI is now offered across the Middle East & North Africa via the superior coverage of ARABSAT BADR-6 in an agreement between parent company Turner Broadcasting and Arabsat. The agreement gives Middle Eastern audiences the opportunity to watch CNN International’s award-winning mix of breaking news and news, business, sports and feature programming via the minimum dish size.
CNN International has dedicated editorial and broadcast hubs in London, Atlanta, Abu Dhabi and Hong Kong, and provides round-the-clock coverage of the most important international stories for its diverse global audience.
“After being present in the region for many years we’re delighted to expand our reach in the Middle East still further through this new partnership with Arabsat,” said Rani R. Raad, Chief Commercial Officer CNN International. “As the region’s leading international news provider this is just our latest commitment to ensuring CNN is widely available in the region and we’re very pleased to welcome Arabsat viewers to the channel.”
Khalid Balkheyour, President & CEO of ARABSAT said “It was always our ambition in ARABSAT to bring CNNI on board. CNN has a long & professional history of covering the Middle East news & critical events. We are pleased to deliver CNNI to ARABSAT viewers across the Middle East & North Africa combined with an extensive offering & wide varieties of the prime Free-To-Air international and regional news channel on ARABSAT hotspot at 26⁰ E .”
CNN can be viewed on:
ARABSAT BADR-6 at 26⁰ E
Frequency: 11,785 MHz (Vertical)
QPSK, Symbol Rate: 27.5MSymb/s, FEC: ¾
CNN International’s arrival on Arabsat comes as the latest signal of CNN’s long-standing and evolving commitment to the Middle East region. The CNN Abu Dhabi bureau is home to flagship weekday show Connect the World with Becky Anderson and a number of locally produced feature shows dedicated to the region, and the CNN Arabic website based in Dubai was relaunched last year for its users with a refreshed responsive format. The network operates a number of newsgathering bureaux in the region. CNN has a portfolio of important commercial partnerships across the region and recently chose the Middle East for its first CNN Traveller café, based at Abu Dhabi Airport. (Arabsat Press Release)
27 January 2015
#iamabroadcaster will be held at London’s spectacular RIBA
CNN and Reuters will join the roster of high-end speakers at AIB’s #iamabroadcaster Global Media Summit next month.
Greg Beitchman, VP Content and Partnerships at CNN will participate in a conference session called “Where’s the cash?” The panel discussion will look at the challenges to current funding models and will also look at the issue of piracy and the need to have robust revenus protection systems.
Reuters’ Tim Santhouse, Global Head of Video Products, will take part in a session called “Individualisation – the ultimate engagement”, which will delve into the art and science of getting the right content to the right individuals at the right price point.
A PDF of the full summit agenda can be downloaded here.
The #iamabroadcaster Summit will be two days of networking and education by and for some of the top broadcast decision-makers in the world.
With extracts of programmes showcasing the very best in TV broadcasting globally, audience insights from key market research studies, and unexpected extras, #iamabroadcaster is designed to challenge preconceptions and expand creative and strategic thinking.
#iamabroadcaster takes place on 18-19 February at London’s Royal Institute of British Architects. Tickets are still available from the AIB online store.
Conference sponsors include African mega-broadcaster Channels TV. Further sponsorship and advertising opportunities are available. For more info, contact AIB’s Business Development Director, Ed Wilkinson, at +44 20 7993 2557 or edward.wilkinson@aib.org.uk.
