Digital Radio Conference 2012: Keeping Digital Radio Moving

Following up on last year's highly-successful edition, the New Radio Group's annual plenary event will take place on October 10-11 at the EBU's Brussels office, and focus on issues surrounding the mobility of digital radio.

Radio has been an 'on-the-move' medium since it's inception, and today in-car audiences make up a significant share of total listening. As well as striving to retain these audiences through close collaboration with the car industry, digital radio offers opportunities to reach listening contexts that have traditionally been poorly served through analogue radio, such as air travellers, drivers in tunnels and high-speed rail passengers.

The event is free for EBU Members to attend and registration will open shortly.

(Source : European Broadcasting Union)

Biggest-ever ABU General Assembly ready to welcome delegates

A record 660-plus delegates have signed up to attend this year’s ABU General Assembly, which starts in less than a week in Korea.

ABU General Secretary Dr Javad Mottaghi says he is very pleased with the response from the Union’s members, industry partners and international media organisations at a critical time for broadcasting.

And he praised the Korean hosts for their hard work in preparation for when the towering 63 Convention Center in Seoul opens its doors to delegates on 10 October.

Earlier this year Dr Mottaghi said to the region’s broadcasting industry that if the Asia-Pacific really was to be the heart of the 21st Century, it was vital for its broadcasters to provide the lifeblood for its advancement.

“The explosion of online offerings, mobile devices and social media have brought into question the whole basis of public service broadcasting as we have understood it for generations,” he said. “We all face these challenges and the ABU General Assembly and its associated events will provide an ideal common space for us to exchange experiences, share problems and work together on solutions.”

ABU President Dr Kim In-Kyu is also expected to tell delegates at the official opening ceremony that broadcasters stand on the precipice of a rapid digital transformation and that ABU members need to work together to meet the challenges ahead.

As well as dealing with the business of running an organisation representing more than 230 Asia-Pacific broadcasters, the 49^th ABU General Assembly will host a series of special forums to discuss media issues as diverse as the challenges faced by public broadcasting, the future of journalism in a new media age and the role of women in media workplaces and on-screen.

Seoul will also host the inaugural ABU Radio and Television Song Festivals, which will be broadcast in countries around the world.

Information on the ABU General Assembly is available via: www.abu.org.my.

(Source : Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union)

Radio station for ethnic minorities to be launched in Lao PDR

Lao National Radio (LNR) - with the support of UNESCO’s International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) – is launching a new local community radio station in the Xiengkho district of the country next year.

“IPDC has been supporting the development of community media for decades and is particularly sensitive to projects aiming at strengthening ethnic minority languages”, says Rosa Gonzalez, UNESCO Advisor for Communication and Information in the UNESCO Bangkok Office.

Xiengkho, one of the 47 poorest districts of Laos, has been chosen as the site for this project due to the low number of local radio services.

A radio station will be built and equipped with the help of LNR staff and selected trainees with a particular focus on women. The radio station will primarily provide community-based radio programmes including ethnic language windows in Lao, Hmong and Khmu. In line with the project, two mentors will train local radio trainees from the community on technical operation and maintenance of radio equipment, radio programme production techniques and journalism. The trainees will also conduct target audience research among the villagers of Xiengkho in order to identify their information needs. The results will be used to produce target based radio programmes. 

(Source : Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union)

BBC Radio announces The Listeners' Archive

On Thursday 11 October a number of BBC buildings around the UK will be opening their doors and encouraging people to bring tapes, cassettes and recordings of BBC programmes they’ve found in their attics, under their stairs or in their garages - in the hope that they help build The Listeners’ Archive. 

The major initiative is part of the BBC’s 90th anniversary celebrations and aims to recover the lost gems of the BBC’s archive of radio programmes from 1936 to 2000. It is a pan-BBC Radio project involving BBC local radio in England, BBC Wales, BBC Northern Ireland, along with BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 4 and 4 Extra, BBC Radio 5 live and BBC Radio 6 Music. 

The recordings will help enrich the BBC’s archive and plug the gaps in broadcasting history for future generations. The material collected will then be broadcast in a special programme to be hosted by Simon Mayo on Wednesday 14 November - the day of the 90th anniversary of BBC Radio. 

The team are looking for a number of key programmes – including music sessions by high profile guests pre-1990, comedy programmes pre-1990, dramas and readings pre-1990, appearances by Dylan Thomas, a number of Reith lectures and lots more. A full wish list can be found at bbc.co.uk/listenersarchive.

The BBC buildings taking part in the amnesty are:

• BBC Bristol, Whiteladies Road, Bristol.
• BBC Leeds, Broadcasting Centre, 2 St Peter's Square
• BBC Southampton, Havelock Road
• BBC WM, BBC Birmingham Mailbox
• BBC Norwich, The Forum, Millennium Plain
• BBC Newcastle, Barrack Road, Newcastle Upon Tyne
• BBC Sheffield, 54 Shoreham Street, Sheffield
• BBC Nottingham, Island Business District, London Road, Nottingham
• BBC York, 20 Bootham Row, York
• BBC Wales, Llantrisant Road, Cardiff
• BBC Radio Ulster, Ormeau Avenue, Belfast.
• BBC Radio Foyle, Northland Road, Londonderry

Anyone who isn’t able to get to an Open Day can contact the team behind The Listeners’ Archive with details of recording they may have by emailing listenersarchive@bbc.co.uk or via Twitter @BBCListeners.

“Even before the project was officially announced we began to get offers from collectors and radio enthusiasts who’ve been delighted to find that they might be able to share their old recordings with a wider audience. We have old Kenny Everett Shows, John Peel on Top Gear, Music While You Work and an old Stuart Henry show to name but a few. And since we told BBC Local Radio listeners about the project we’ve received a flood of really promising offers. One collector told us ‘this has made my year’. We say this may make the BBC’s 90 Years,” says Trevor Dann, Editor of The Listeners’ Archive. 

The Listeners’ Archive is part of a range of events and programming to mark BBC Radio’s 90th birthday. Other highlights include: Radio Reunited, an unprecedented global simulcast across the BBC’s radio networks - including every UK station (local, network and national) and many World Service outlets - curated by Damon Albarn; 90 x 90, a series of 90-second miniatures that celebrate, calibrate and curate the diversity of radio in its widest form, each episode representing one year of the 90; and a range of programming from Radio 2’s History of Music Radio to Radio 4’s Who’s Reithian Now?

(Source : BBC Media Centre)

RNW: The State We’re In to finish

We have some bad news: The State We're In is being terminated. As many of you may know, Radio Netherlands Worldwide was hit with a drastic 70 percent cutback last year by the Dutch government. We were assured at that time by Radio Netherlands' outgoing management that the show was still going to be an integral part of Radio Netherlands, but those assurances didn't hold. 

Subsequent changes in the organization's mandate towards a tighter focus on nations in the developing world, and a much slower-than-expected transition to new management have made it impossible for us to continue.

The State We're In exits with its head held high: it was the most broadcasted, downloaded and decorated program in the long history of Radio Netherlands Worldwide, and won praise from radio industry leaders from around the world.

It was heard in top public radio markets the United States, Canada, Australia, Ireland and in select markets in India and Africa. Our overall audience reach was 12 million people. We will miss you and all the engaged, thoughtful responses you had to what we put on the air. It was a privilege bringing these stories - which sometimes included stories you told us - to light.

FYI: Our last original program will be produced at the end of October. There will be some repeat shows after that.

Greg Kelly, Editor TSWI

(Source : RNW)

MW switch-off remains at BBC Local Radio

A trial to turn-off medium-wave transmitters at some BBC local radio stations is to continue after hardly any listeners complained.

As Radio Today revealed in August, the BBC is testing the switch-off of medium wave transmission for certain stations. After the initial five-week trial was completed, so few listeners complained about the loss of service that the trial is now to be continued in two areas. 

BBC Radio Nottingham’s MW transmitter, and Radio Kent’s relay at Rusthall near Tunbridge Wells on 1602kHz, will now remain off-air, possibly indefinitely. The BBC says “This is because we want to assess the impact of a longer-term switch-off, given the low number of response in these areas.”

Meanwhile, the trial switch-off has ended as planned at BBC Radio Merseyside and Lincolnshire, and for BBC Radio Kent’s other medium wave transmitter at Littlebourne on 774kHz.

The BBC told RadioToday.co.uk in August: “MW services mainly duplicate what is already available on FM and DAB, and most listeners will be able to hear their local stations on FM. The BBC is also committed to a full roll out of local radio stations across the DAB network. If local radio is not already available on DAB it will be in the future.

“The aim of the trial is to get a better understanding of the impact of the loss of MW for our core listeners and also enable us to ensure adequate coverage is available on other platforms in these.”

(Source : Radio Today, UK)

India launches its heaviest communications satellite

India’s heaviest satellite, the 3,400kg GSAT-10, was successfully launched from French Guiana in the early hours of Saturday 29 September.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) says this mission will give a big boost to communication, entertainment and civil aviation as the satellite carries 30 transponders and a component of navigation system Gagan.

The satellite will have an operational life of around 15 years and be ready for use in November after successful completion of all tests. It will be placed along with INSAT-4A and GSAT-12 satellites and will add to ISRO’s existing own transponder capacity of 168.

(Source : Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union)

Join AMSAT-UK

AMSAT-UK is a non-profit volunteer organisation for those interested in amateur radio space communications.

AMSAT-UK produces a quarterly newsletter OSCAR News and its members are involved in designing, building and operating amateur radio satellites.

Membership is open to anyone who has an interest in amateur radio satellites or space activities, including the International Space Station (ISS).

The Membership year lasts for 12 months starting on January 1 each year.

If you join after July 31 of any particular year, then you will receive complimentary membership for the whole of the following year, i.e. join on Oct 3, 2012, and you have nothing to pay until Dec 31, 2013.

Now is a very good time to join.

There are three rates:
UK – 15.00 GBP
Europe – 19.00 GBP
Rest of the World (Overseas) – 25.00 GBP

These separate rates go to offset the extra postage costs involved in mailing our quarterly publication, “Oscar News”, to different parts of the World. Sample copy at http://www.amsat-uk.org/on_193_final.pdf

Join AMSAT-UK using PayPal, Debit or Credit card at
http://shop.amsat.org.uk/shop/category_9/Join-Amsat-UK.html

 

(Source : AMSAT-UK )

NHK awarded International Emmy for News

NHK’s Great East Japan Earthquake Emergency News has won this year’s International Emmy Award in the news category.

On March 11, 2011, the largest earthquake in the country’s history struck Japan, generating a devastatingly destructive tsunami. NHK, was immediately on the scene, covering the first moments of the disaster as it happened, providing continuous up‐to‐the minute coverage and keeping the public informed. 

Within 90 seconds of the earthquake, NHK shifted all TV channels and radio broadcasts to disaster coverage, repeating the call for evacuation and conveying essential information to protect property and save lives.

NHK continued broadcasting this coverage for eight days on its main channel.

NHK is Japan’s sole public broadcaster. Funded by receiving fees from Japanese households, it has a reputation for impartial, high‐quality programming, including news programs. Through its four nationwide TV channels, NHK reaches about 50 million households.

NHK was last awarded an International Emmy in 2011, in the current affairs category, for its ‘Back from the Brink: Inside the Chilean Mine Disaster’ programme.

(Source : Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union)

In its 20th year, Euronews unveils plans to survive and thrive

In a global press conference, hosted in Paris but connected to 23 cities worldwide, Michael Peters, CEO of international news channel Euronews, has set out the broadcaster’s ambitions as it approaches its 20th birthday, Advanced Television reports.

Among the initiatives are the launch of the first 24/7 Greek news channel in December 2012; the opening of a second local newsroom in the Hungarian capital Budapest in March 2013; the opening of new bureaux in Washington, Istanbul and Dubai, and the announcement of a move in 2014 to a new, 10,000 sqm world headquarters in the Confluence district of Lyon.

In addition, the channel’s on-screen look is set for complete transformation. Radical design features and screen layout are in the works, in a version to celebrate 20 years of Euronews broadcasting.

Euronews is also expanding its global footprint with the creation of Euronews network, which aims to become the world’s largest network of international partners. Euronews is in talks with its 21 broadcaster shareholders to add them to this network. As Euronews Network members, media groups will gain access to à la carte content for their TV, mobile and online platforms.

Peters confirmed that 95 per cent of the world’s TV manufacturers had included a Euronews app in their Smart TV products, and that the broadcaster would soon be announcing new global agreements and unveiling Smart TV pilot projects.

Euronews is also launching a universal application for iPad and iPhone, freely downloadable immediately at App Store, as well as its own radio station, available via the apps and online.

(Source : Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union)