Posts from ‘January, 2006’

BBC Arabic radio and online is taking to the road to meet and debate with young people in the Middle East and North Africa. The initiative entitled “Your future, who decides it?” showcases BBC Arabic output, including its online site, bbcarabic.com. It also encourages participation in especially themed BBC presenter-led debates, which are promoted a [...]

The Aljazeera TV network has announced the launch a new channel, Aljazeera Urdu, targeting over 110 million Urdu speakers globally. “Initially we are targeting the Urdu-speaking population in Pakistan, then the dubbed service will spread to the Indian subcontinent as well as Urdu speakers in the United States and Europe”, said Hamad Yehya Al Nuaimi, [...]

Following the launch last week of China Radio International’s first FM station in Africa, in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, officials say that CRI plans to set up another FM station in Tanzania next year. According to a report in the Cape Argus, “CRI intends to expand its presence beyond Kenya on the continent where foreign [...]

The new Irish commercial TV station Channel 6 has decided not to broadcast on the Sky Digital satellite platform. The official reason is a disagreement with Sky about its position on the new Electronic Programme Guide. It’s thought that Channel 6 wanted to be listed immediately after the other Irish stations - RTE, TV3 and [...]

Text of report by Iranian TV on 28 January
[Presenter] The Netherlands has banned the transmission of programmes by Sahar and Al-Manar international TV stations. What is the true message of this measure? Let me draw your attention to this news magazine’s political commentary:
[Esma'ili, radio and TV commentator] The recent step taken by the Dutch [...]

An increasing number of companies, especially from Europe, are keen to showcase their latest technologies at the 12th Middle East International Cable, Satellite, Broadcasting and Communication Event - CABSAT 2006, according to organiser Dubai World Trade Centre. CABSAT is the leading electronic media and communication event in the Middle East. This year’s show is scheduled [...]

In order to improve reception during the moring hours, RTL is currently transmitting in SFN mode from 0800 UTC to 0950 UTC (0927 UTC at the weekend). This involves transmitters at BCE in Junglinster (Luxembourg) and Deutsche Welle in Sines (Portugal). Synchronisation has been adjusted to cover France in an optimal way. The SFN tests [...]

Swedish Radio launched its Internet service SR Mozart yesterday. The service will operate 24//7 until 8 December 2006, and there are also 25 hours of Mozart music available as podcasts. More information at MediaScan/Sweden Calling DXers.
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NHK, Japan’s public broadcaster, has announced a significant cost-cutting plan that includes getting rid of 10 percent of its workforce over a three-year period beginning in 2006. The broadcaster released a three-year reform plan this week, with the goal being to streamline its operations and rebuild the public’s trust. The broadcaster expects to implement the [...]

Kenya’s Information and Communication Minister, Mutahi Kagwe, says that radio and TV licences must be handed back to the government if the licence holder does not go on the air within one year of the date of issue. The Minister said frequencies were a limited resource, yet some people to whom they had been licenced [...]

Intelsat has announced that GlobeCast WorldTV has recommitted to a long-term, multi-transponder contract for Intelsat-Americas 5 (IA-5) satellite capacity to support the substantial growth of its international television distribution platform over North America. IA-5, located at 97ºW, hosts one of the largest neighbourhoods of international video programming in the US and has been home to [...]

Two editions of the BBC World Service programme Newshour are to be broadcast live from the studios of US public radio station WUNC (91.5 FM) in North Carolina on Monday. Robin Lustig will present the programmes at 1200 and 1400 UTC in front of a studio audience. According to the WUNC website, a limited [...]

GlobeCast, a global content management and delivery company, has been chosen by France Telecom’s IPTV arm MaLigne TV for technical management of the French operator’s newest IPTV bouquet, Le Bouquet TV, beginning with its launch on 1 February.
From its technical operations center in central Paris, GlobeCast will be responsible for aggregating and managing Le [...]

Shipments of flat screen televisions - both liquid crystal and plasma display panels - surpassed traditional cathode ray tube TVs for the first time in Japan last year, NHK has reported. The Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association says shipments of flat screen TVs last year marked a record of over 4.68 million, an [...]

Thijs Berman, a Dutch member of the European parliament, is urging the Dutch government to respond to the continuing jamming of Voice of the People (VOP), which broadcasts to Zimbabwe via a Radio Netherlands shortwave transmitter in Madagascar.
“This is a clear violation of freedom of the press and we have urged the Dutch government [...]