Posts from ‘December, 2007’

Britain’s Competition Commission recommended today that media giant BSkyB should slash its holding in independent television broadcaster ITV to below 7.5 percent due to competition concerns. BSkyB bought 17.9 percent of ITV for £940 million (1.39 billion euros, $1.78 billion) in November 2006. Many analysts saw the move as preventing a possible ITV tie-up with BSkyB’s fierce rival [...]

When a father of a 3-year-old son entered the Air Force 27 years ago, he never thought that one day he’d be working side by side with his son at a deployed location. Today the father and son duo are fighting the war on terrorism together as they are based at a Southwest Asia air [...]

Ethiopia has adopted a new tactic in its jamming of foreign radio broadcasts. It is now deliberately transmitting programmes from one of its own stations on the same frequencies as those used by Eritrean state radio. Relations between the two Horn of Africa countries have continued to be poor, following a border war in 1998-2000.
BBC [...]

International Radio Serbia has expanded its schedule and resumed broadcasts to North America. This follows reports that the station had resumed using at least one of the 250 kW transmitters at Bijeljina in Bosnia under a lease arrangement. The schedule is now given on the website as follows:

0030-0230 UTC  to North America on 7115 kHz [...]

Radio St Helena held a very successful Radio St Helena Day 2007 on Saturday. The worldwide broadcast on shortwave started at 1730 UTC. The first direction was to New Zealand. Soon after starting the e-mails started coming in, with listeners informing the station of their reception quality.
So far Radio St Helena has received over 200 e-mails from around the world, including [...]

The UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has paid tribute to the BBC World Service as it celebrates its 75th birthday today. In a recorded message, the Prime Minister said:
I am honoured to be asked to mark the 75th birthday of the world’s best-known and most respected voice in international broadcasting - the BBC World Service.
The World Service’s [...]

MTV Networks International and Central European Media Enterprises Ltd, the leading television broadcaster in Central and Eastern Europe, have entered into a multi-year licensing agreement granting rights to CME subsidiary PRO TV to operate MTV’s localized channel in Romania.
MTV Romania will continue to operate as a fully-localized, 24-hour youth lifestyle channel, providing international and local music and long-form [...]

UTV Media Plc is buying Dublin radio station FM104 from Communicorp Group Ltd for 52 million euros ($74.6 million), clearing the way for Communicorp’s purchase of two other radio stations in Ireland. Ireland’s broadcasting regulator in October approved the sale of two radio stations to Dublin-based Communicorp by British media group Emap Plc, but rejected its [...]

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted yesterday to ease restrictions on media ownership despite strong opposition from some lawmakers who threatened to block the plan on the grounds that it may harm competition. The FCC voted to allow companies to own both a newspaper and a television station in the top US markets, giving media groups the [...]

Thales Alenia Space and RASCOMSTAR-QAF have announced the upcoming launch of RASCOM-QAF1, the first communications satellite dedicated to Africa. The satellite is scheduled for launch by an Ariane 5 GS tomorrow, December 20, at the launch site in Kourou, French Guiana.
The construction and launch of Rascom-QAF1 is the culmination of a longstanding goal. It reflects [...]

The Azerbaijan Parliament supports the decision of the National Council of Television and Radio Broadcasting, on limitation of the programmes shown in the Turkish language. “The National language of Azerbaijan is Azerbaijani, and the broadcasting should be in the Azerbaijan language,” Ogtay Asadov, the Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament stated. He was commenting on the [...]

A Russian media conglomerate’s recent expansion into Central Asia has sparked considerable discussion in the region. Is it just a smart business deal - or another instance of Moscow’s intention, by stealth or by wealth, to reassert hegemony over the lands of its former empire, this time by broadcasting Russian-language soap operas and other fluff [...]

Emmis Communications Corporation has acquired Inforadio, a national radio chain broadcasting in 13 Bulgarian cities. Balkan Broadcasting EAD, an Emmis subsidiary, purchased 100 percent of the stations’ parent company, Infopress & Company OOD, a Bulgarian limited liability company, from shareholders Folex EOOD and Consult Lege Artis EOOD. The transaction is complete, and regulatory approval has been [...]

WorldSpace® Satellite Radio has announced the appointment of Roberto Zaino as content director for WorldSpace Italia, a majority-owned subsidiary of the Company. WorldSpace Italia plans to bring mobile satellite radio services to the Italian marketplace with after market equipment available late next year and in certain Fiat Group Automobiles’ models as original equipment in late 2009.
Robert Zaino is [...]

Meaza Birru has started the first private station in Ethiopia. Ms Meaza began regular programming on her radio station last week, one of only two people to get FM radio licenses from the Ethiopian government since it legalized commercial radio in 1999.
Christian Science Monitor reporter Nicholas Benequista has the story (audio available on page).
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