Lonely Planet Magazine launches in Thailand

BBC Magazines launches Lonely Planet Magazine in Thailand, making it the tenth international edition of the publication since its launch in the UK in 2008.

Lonely Planet Magazine Thailand is published by Media Expertise International, which also publishes Top Gear for BBC Magazines, and lifestyle titles Harper's Bazaar and Wallpaper.

The first issue of Lonely Planet Magazine Thailand is on sale from 1 September 2011, with a 120, 000 print run and a cover price of 100 Thai Baht. The editor-in-chief is Mr. Rathasiam Sinlakhun.

BBC Magazines' Licensing Manager in Asia-Pacific Chun Leong Ong said: "We are excited about working with Media Expertise on another key brand for the Thai market. Lonely Planet Magazine Thailand, our sixth international edition in Asia in the last two years, is a clear signal that the consumer travel market in Asia continues to grow at a tremendous pace. At the same time, it is also a fantastic testament to the magazine's editorial strength, trust and the reputation that it enjoys internationally."

Mr. Rathasiam Sinlakhun, editor-in-chief of Lonely Planet Magazine Thailand said: "Combining almost four decades of experience and a trustworthy reputation for providing sound and resourceful content, from exotic travel destinations to reliable travel information, with the great work of Lonely Planet writers and photographers from around the world, the new magazine will undoubtedly be warmly embraced by Thai readers seeking inspiring travel information to enrich their journeys."

NOTES TO EDITORS
Lonely Planet Magazine launched in the UK in November 2008 and is the UK's best-selling travel magazine with an ABC circulation figure of 62,204. The magazine is now available in the UK, Korea, Brazil, France, Spain, Asia (Singapore), Argentina, Philippines, Taiwan and India, with more international deals in the pipeline. www.lonelyplanet.com/magazine

About BBC Magazines
BBC Magazines is the magazine publishing division of BBC Worldwide, the main commercial arm and wholly owned subsidiary of the BBC. It publishes over 30 regular consumer titles, including Top Gear, Good Food, Gardeners' World and Radio Times and many children's titles including Doctor Who Adventures and CBeebies Weekly. 

On 16 August 2011, BBC Worldwide and Exponent Private Equity announced that they have signed a sale and licensing agreement for the publication of titles currently published by BBC Magazines. Under the terms of the deal Exponent will acquire, in full, Radio Times and a number of magazines less closely aligned to the BBC, as well as the rights to publish BBC-branded titles under licensing and contract publishing arrangements.

The transaction has the full approval of the BBC Trust. Completion of the deal is expected to take place in the autumn, following clearance from the Office of Fair Trading.

(Source : BBC Worldwide Press Release)

Sonys best small station search starts

The process to recognise the UK’s best small radio station for 2012 has begun, with the Radio Academy announcing details of this year’s Nations and Regions Awards.

They’re open to commercial, community and BBC stations with a broadcast area that has a population of under 300,000.

Winners will be judged in each region of the UK, with the regional Radio Academy branch winners going forward to be considered for shortlisting at the Sony Awards next May for the Station of the Year (under 300,000 category).

Entries have to be submitted to the Radio Academy by Wednesday 9th November, with judging then completed by 8th December and regional winners announced before the end of the year. It costs £20 +VAT to enter.

As well as a written award entry, stations have to submit a ‘best of’ compilation highlighting audio examples of the station’s output broadcast between 1st July 2010 and 30th June 2011. They also are required to provide a continuous half-hour of breakfast output from an as-yet unnamed sample day in September 2011 which will be announced on 26th September.

(Source : Radio Today, UK)

BBC Worldwide appoints Fred Medina as EVP for Latin America

BBC Worldwide, the main commercial arm and a wholly owned subsidiary of the BBC, today announces that it has appointed Fred Medina to the role of Executive Vice-President (EVP) for Latin America with effect from 12 September.

In this newly-created BBC Worldwide role, Medina will be responsible for BBC Worldwide’s strategic development in Latin America and in the US Hispanic market, delivering new brands, products and services initiatives to drive future revenue growth across the region. He will be based in Miami and will report to Jana Bennett, President, Worldwide Networks, in her capacity as the Managing Director responsible for Latin America on BBC Worldwide’s Executive Committee, and work closely with existing members of BBC Worldwide’s management team in the region. The new role reflects BBC Worldwide’s stated strategic aim of driving international revenue growth and an increased focus on regional opportunities, and will see similar roles created for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and for Asia, in addition to existing positions for North America and for Australia and New Zealand.

Medina joins BBC Worldwide from Ole Communications where he has been Executive Vice-President, Corporate Business Development since 2005. He began his career with The Coca-Cola Company, and has worked largely in the media and technology sectors since the early 1990s. He worked for Univision Television Partnership Group in New York, managing new business development within the expanding network sales organisation, then joined MTV Latino as a member of the management team launching Viacom’s first pay-TV network in Latin America. He went on to a variety of senior marketing positions with the Consumer Products Division of Ericsson Telecommunications. In 2001 he was appointed VP of Business Development at HBO Latin America Group, where he oversaw new business development for their premium services in Latin America and later became EVP and General Manager for A&E and The History Channel Latin America.

Jana Bennett, President, Worldwide Networks and MD for LatAm, said: "Fred brings a wealth of experience in developing strong brands and new ventures in this vibrant and growing media market. I am confident that there is great potential for Worldwide to grow its business in Latin America and that Fred will be just the person to develop these new opportunities."

Fred Medina said: "I am thrilled to be joining BBC Worldwide and inspired to be part of the world class organisation, whose award-winning brands and talent have entertained and informed the Latin American region for many years. My intent is to continue to build on this rich tradition by working closely with all BBC Worldwide’s teams and businesses in identifying new opportunities to deliver the broad range of high-quality content and brands to Latin America and the US Hispanic market."

(Source : BBC Worldwide Press Release)

Radioplayer now available on Facebook

The industry-wide UK Radioplayer has launched a Facebook app to allow listeners to online radio to better share what they’re listening to and chat about the content.

Radioplayer has more than 250 stations onboard and this step is part of plans to add online listening to other platforms including mobiles and web-connected TVs.

 Partner radio stations will also now be able to easily promote online listening via their own Facebook pages.

Michael Hill, Managing Director of Radioplayer commented: “Less than 6 months ago, we put ‘UK Radio in one place’ on your computer. Now we’re showing 30m UK Facebook users that radio is a perfect companion, while you’re chatting with friends.”

Andrew Harrison, Chairman of Radioplayer added: “These latest developments are part of a long-term strategy which will see Radioplayer form a vital component of the radio industry’s multiplatform future alongside DAB and FM.”

The Facebook Radioplayer app has been created collaboratively, with Folder Media as the lead developers, Unique Interactive providing technical support, station data feeds from Media UK, and considerable input from Radioplayer partner groups and Facebook themselves.

All BBC national and local stations as well as commercial radio, including stations from Global, GMG Radio, Bauer, Absolute Radio, and UTV are available on Radioplayer, as well as hundreds of independent, student and community stations.

Check out the new app here.

(Source : Radio Today, UK)

End of the road for Traffic Radio

Digital station Traffic Radio has ceased broadcasting online and on DAB multiplexes after its funding from the Highways Agency ended.

The station – which has been run by GTN for the last three years – provided region-specific traffic and travel news, designed for journey planning and live reports.

The ‘Traffic Radio’ name could yet reappear under a different guise in the future. A spokesman for the Highways Agency told RadioToday.co.uk: “We advertised the opportunity to license the Traffic Radio brand last month to see if a radio service could be provided at no cost to the taxpayer. We are currently evaluating the response to that advertisement. If a proposal is considered to be satisfactory the service could be broadcasting later in the year.

Traffic Radio started as a trial in 2007 before a formal 3-year contract was awarded by the government to Global Traffic Network in 2008. More recently it launched a smartphone app to allow listening on the move as well as via digital radio multiplexes.

Today also sees the end of a free traffic information service for community radio stations which was paid for by the Highways Agency and supplied by Trafficlink and GTN.

Andrea Day, Communications manager at Trafficlink told RadioToday.co.uk: “We are keen to support this important part of the radio industry with a comprehensive travel service across roads and public transport information. Trafficlink and GTN have provided an alternative to all the community radio stations that opted into the old scheme to ensure their service continues. We hope to make this new scheme available to all Ofcom licenced community radio stations across the UK in the coming months”

Community radio stations wanting to know more about the service should contact Andrea at Trafficlink directly via their website.

(Source : Radio Today, UK)

Celebrate Last Night of the Proms across the UK

After a packed two months, the 117th BBC Proms comes to a spectacular end on Saturday 10 September. The world-renowned Last Night of the Proms festivities once again extend far beyond London's Royal Albert Hall, as people come together in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to be part of the magic of the Last Night. 

Last Night of the Proms live events take place at Hyde Park in London, Caird Hall in Dundee, Castle Park in Bangor (County Down) and Owain Glyndwr Playing Fields in Caerphilly on Saturday 10 September, each with their own starry line-ups, BBC Orchestras and presenters. Each concert culminates in a live big-screen link-up to the Royal Albert Hall as all are invited to join soprano Susan Bullock singing the Sound of Music's Climb ev'ry mountain and Carousel's You'll Never Walk Alone. 

In London Edward Gardner becomes the youngest conductor in nearly 70 years to lead the festivities at the Royal Albert Hall. The concert opens with a world premiere by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, commissioned by the Musicians Benevolent Fund to thank the Promenaders for their collections and donations to musical charities. The new work includes a participatory moment for the Prommers. 

More From BBC 

(Source : BBC Press Release)

WNYC (AM 820) at very low power due to floods

WNYC’s AM station (820 kHz) was forced off the air yesterday because of flooding in Kearny, where its antenna is located. The New York public radio network, which purchased four of the former-New Jersey Network radio licences in July, continued to broadcast on its FM station and streamed its AM programming online at wnyc.org. The stream is also available at NJPublicRadio.org.

According to the station’s website, the mediumwave transmitter is back on the air, but at very lower power as repairs continue. WNYC spokeswoman Jennifer Houlihan said the extent of the antenna damage is not yet known. Parts of it remained under water yesterday, making inspection difficult. The network expects repairs to take a week.

(Sources: NJ.com, wnyc.org via Media Network Weblog)

Celebrate the Rugby World Cup with BBC Cymru Wales

With the Rugby World Cup about to kick-off in New Zealand on Friday 9 September, BBC Cymru Wales has a number of special programmes and features across TV, radio and online celebrating the international feast of rugby on offer from down under. 

Alongside these special programmes, BBC Cymru Wales' expert rugby pundits will be offering rugby fans in-depth analysis of Wales' performance in the tournament. 

The special season of rugby-themed programmes kicks-off on Sunday 4 September on BBC One Wales with Eddie Butler looking back at the victorious Lions tour of 1971, which featured many of the stars of the "golden era" of Welsh rugby. In Lions – New Zealand '71 Eddie tells the story and reassesses the impact of the tour – taking a journey through a rugby-mad country. The programme features contributions from many of the '71 Lions Welsh stars including Gareth Edwards, Barry John, JPR Williams, Gerald Davies and Mervyn Davies. We also hear from many of the stars of the All Blacks team. 

And to complement the programme on Monday 12 September, on BBC One Wales at 7.30pm there's another chance to see an edition of the Welsh Greats series looking at rugby legend Carwyn James, who coached the victorious Lions '71 tour. 

On the evenings following Wales' games in the Rugby World Cup the BBC Wales Scrum V team of top rugby pundits will be on-hand in the BBC Wales Rugby Club to review Wales' performances. The first programme in the new series of the Scrum V Rugby World Cup Special is on Sunday 11 September, presented by Jason Mohammad in front of a specially invited audience of rugby fans and features Scrum V's Jonathan Davies and Tom Shanklin along with special guest, the former Springbok full back Thinus Delpont, and Lisa Rogers out and about in the rugby crowd. 

The programme also features interviews with the Wales team following the game, updates from down under and video diaries from Eddie Butler. With Scrum V pundit Kingsley Jones coaching Russia, there will also be unique insights from some of the other teams in the World Cup.

Every Friday evening during the tournament BBC Wales' flagship sports magazine programme on BBC Two Wales, Sport Wales with Jason Mohammad, will have all the news, previews and reviews from the Rugby World Cup, along with interviews with players and pundits. 

On BBC Radio Wales there are a number of special programmes across the output celebrating the Rugby World Cup. In a two-part documentary, Can Wales Ever Win The Rugby World Cup?, from Wednesday 7 September, comedian and broadcaster Chris Corcoran presents a personal investigation asking if Wales has the physique, health, climate, culture, diet and will to win? Ex-players, coaches, academics, doctors and fans join him to assess what it would take to bring the trophy home to Wales.

On Friday evenings, from 9 September, Radio Wales Sport from 6.30pm looks ahead to Wales' games in the tournament and from 7pm Rhys and Eggsy of Newport's Goldie Lookin' Chain present Rhys And Eggsy Goldie Lookin' Cup, as the pair hold court for a comic review and preview of the week's events in the Rugby World Cup. 

On Sunday 11 September, in a special edition of Radio Wales Sport from 9am, Steffan Garrero and guests discuss Wales' progress in the competition. There will also be previews and reviews of Wales' games during Radio Wales output throughout the tournament, plus a daily Radio Wales Rugby World Cup podcast with all the news and reaction from New Zealand at bbc.co.uk/radiowales. 

BBC Radio Cymru will have full live coverage of every Wales game in the Rugby World Cup. The coverage kicks-off with the first challenge for Wales as they take on the mighty Springboks on Sunday 11 September, in Rygbi: Cymru v De Affrica from 9.15am presented by Cennydd Davies with live commentary from Gareth Charles and Brynmor Williams. On Friday evenings from 6pm Dot Davies presents special editions of Yn y Ryc with a full round-up of all the action in the tournament. 

There will also be extensive match reports, previews, news and in-depth features of Wales' progression in the Rugby World Cup on BBC Wales' dedicated Welsh rugby site.

(Source : BBC Press Release)

Cambodian war crimes court accuses VOA of contempt

Cambodia’s UN-backed war crimes court said today it had started contempt of court proceedings against Voice of America Khmer for revealing confidential information about a new Khmer Rouge case. The move comes after the VOA posted an article and video on its website describing prosecution allegations of mass killings and other atrocities by three mid-level cadres during the regime’s 1975-79 rule. The website cited a document obtained by a source close to the court.

VOA Khmer “on 10 August 2011 quoted verbatim from a confidential document… and even showed that document on a video,” said the two judges who are still investigating the claims in the court’s fourth and final case. The news service chief Chris Decherd refused to comment directly on the court action, but said: “VOA Khmer supports the work of the tribunal and helps inform the Cambodian public by reporting about the court’s work.” He added that VOA’s role was to serve Cambodian citizens “who deserve and are well-served by objective and quality news reporting about issues and topics that impact and affect their daily lives”.

This marks the first time judges have followed through on warnings to launch contempt proceedings, following numerous leaks to the media. Their terse statement however failed to clarify if action was being taken against the journalist, the editor or the producer of the piece, all of whom are understood to be in Washington, DC.

(Source: AFP via Media Network Weblog)

RTP: there is “every reason” to suspend shortwave

The chairman of the board of Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP), Guilherme Costa, said on Tuesday that the company has “every reason” to suspend the shortwave transmissions of RDP Internacional. Mr Costa, quoted by the Lusa news agency, said such a platform is obsolete from the technical point of view, is generally poor quality in terms of reception, and is expensive, adding that discussions about shortwave began within the organisation in May 2009.

He said that RDP had received 190 messages on the suspension of shortwave broadcasts, and more than half came via email from people who can listen to broadcasts on the Internet. RTP announced in May that it would temporarily suspend the shortwave broadcasts of RDP Internacional from 1 June, citing the low number of listeners and the need to reduce costs.

(Source: tvi24 via Media Network Weblog)