Posts from ‘February, 2010’

The Head of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), Ezzatollah Zarghami, says the country plans to launch a Persian-language television station along with its two neighbours. He said that Iran had agreed to launch a regional TV channel along with Afghanistan and Tajikistan. The IRIB head added that the necessary funding for the channel had [...]

MultiChoice is considering broadcasting pornography and the possibility of creating new sex channels beamed to Zambia on DStv’s satellite pay-TV service. “MultiChoice has been inundated with requests for adult content on DStv over the past few months,” said Jackie Rakitla, general manager of corporate affairs at MultiChoice. “At this stage we’re merely doing research to [...]

Rotana, the Arabic Music Gateway, bagged the third FM radio license in the Kingdom on Saturday at the King Fahd Cultural Center in Riyadh, marking the launch of a new generation of FM radio stations in the Saudi market. Rotana’s bid for the new radio channel amounted to SR 76.35 million (US$20.36 million), shooting down [...]

Fans of the popular Save Radio New Zealand Facebook group will be coming together outside of Radio New Zealand House in Aukland at 12:30pm Monday 1 March. They will be there to show their support for public service broadcasting in New Zealand and to send a clear message to Broadcasting Minister Jonathan Coleman: “hands off [...]

US troops are going to be allowed to use social networks such as Twitter and Facebook after a Pentagon review found that the benefits of social media outweigh security concerns. The decision, which comes at a time of growing concern over cyber-security, applies only to the US military’s non-classified network. But it could mean big [...]

The BBC is to close down half its website, cut spending on imported American programmes and close two radio stations in an admission that it has become too large, a newspaper reported today. The Times said that in a strategic review to be unveiled next month, the corporation will concede it must give space to [...]

The Kano State government has installed two digital transmitters at the state’s radio station, Radio Kano. The transmitters were purchased at N309 million (US$2 million). This was disclosed on Tuesday by the Managing Director of the state’s radio, Alhaji Ghali Sadik, while addressing newsmen in Kano. Sadik said the transmitters would replace the 28 year [...]

Kurdish satellite station Roj TV today won its court case against the German government, which had tried to close down the channel after a request from the Turkish government. A tribunal in Leipzig effectively suspended the ban, asking the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg to rule on the case instead. Roj [...]

Government funding for swissinfo.ch would be cut as part of budget proposals for 2011-2013, the finance ministry has confirmed. Financial subsidies to the multimedia internet portal swissinfo.ch would go as part of SFr130 million ($121 million) in savings planned by the federal authorities. The plans will have to be confirmed by the cabinet in June [...]

Research bureau Intomart GfK has released the Dutch radio listening figures for Dec 2009/Dec 2010. Not surprisingly, there are no major changes from the Nov/Dec figures, as the crucial Christmas period is still included. Most stations remain stable or have moved up or down in market share by only 0.1 percent.  Notable exceptions are Classic [...]

Text of report by privately-owned Kyrgyz AKIpress news agency website
Bishkek, 25 February: The privately-owned Almaz-Naryn Radio station’s equipment has been stolen in Naryn Region [eastern Kyrgyzstan].
The building of the radio station is in what is called the Voyennyy Gorodok [Cantonment] in the city of Naryn [capital of Naryn Region]. According to staff of the [...]

Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni has criticised Mengo, the seat of the Buganda kingdom, saying it was selfish to try and suppress other people’s cultures. Speaking in Nakasongola, he urged the Baruuli, one of the tribes seeking autonomy from Buganda, to stand firm and defend their culture against what he said were efforts by Mengo to [...]

BBC World News America has secured a rare opportunity to broadcast two live programs from Cuba on Thursday 25 February and Friday 26 February at 7:00 pm ET/PT.
Anchored by Matt Frei from Havana, these two special newscasts will feature interviews with key players and in-depth pieces examining some of the major issues impacting Cuba and [...]

European regulators said today that they are investigating complaints filed by three Web companies that contend the US Internet giant Google is not playing fair. The European Commission “can confirm that it has received three complaints against Google which it is examining,” said a statement from Brussels, spelling out that the probe remains informal at [...]

Following the collapse of the Dutch cabinet at the weekend, parliamentary elections will be held on 9 June. Until that time, the functions of the various PvdA (Labour) ministers who have left the government will be divided amongst the remaining ministers and their deputies. One of the outgoing ministers is Ronald Plasterk, who as Minister [...]