P14 ORIGINAL JOURNALISM P27 2010 AIBs P18 GLOBALLY VISIBLE

New MD Al Anstey on Winners and finalists of the How France 24 entered

Al Jazeera English’s next phase AIB’s annual media awards Japan on the mobile platform

The Channel
THE INTERNATIONAL MEDIA MAGAZINE FOR TV, RADIO, ONLINE & MOBILE ISSUE 1 | 2011

Social TV
Blue ocean strategy?

Partnerships
not handouts
Audience interest is
shifting in Africa

Mobile aspirations
Compelling, connected, cool
 WITH AN DR EA
CAT HE RW OO D
ULSE’
ON ‘ THE P RI
10-12 MON-F
AM CET

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AVAILABLE ON: CABLE AND SATELLITE IN EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
 ISSUE 1 2011 | CONTENTS

THIS ISSUE
FOCUS
MOBILE AND SOCIAL TV
Compelling, seamless
experiences for the end
user, where devices are
morphing and content is
king to queen 'context'

18 GLOBALLY VISIBLE
Philippe Rouxel, VP Worldwide Distribution at France 24 is a man with a mission

21 SOCIAL TV – BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY?

Richard Kastelein of Appmarket.tv and Dick Rempt of Talents Media explore

24 JUST GET INFORMED

RFE/RL's Julia Ragona and Akbar Ayazi on Radio Azadi's SMS/MMS service in
18 Afghanistan

27 2010 AIBS
Winners and Finalists of the 2010 AIB Media Excellence Awards
41 SWISS HAT-TRICK
Three TV stations in one year is a benchmark for Norcom's Robin Ribback

42 WHAT NEXT FOR MOBILE?

21 CUSTOMISE AND CREATE

This is what the user wants, says SonyEricsson's Aldo Liguori

PUBLISH TO MOBILE...
...and find the sweet spot, is Gerard Grech's advice for Nokia's Ovi platform

SMARTPHONE DEMOCRATISATION
HTC's Phil Blair says it's going to sweep the market

MOBILE ASPIRATIONS
What the consumer thinks, plus selected AIB Members' views
24
46 PARTNERSHIPS NOT HANDOUTS
A24 Media's Salim Amin sees a shift in audience interest in the African continent

50 USER POWER
Devices are morphing and user power is increasing, notes Hosam El Sokkari at
Yahoo! Middle East

52 BIG ISSUES, LOCAL CONTEXT

How ABC Radio Australia's new CEO Michael McCluskey is delivering the brief

46 54 CONNECTED COMEBACK
Panasonic's Fabien Roth predicts soon 80% of the market will be connected TVs
57 AMBITIOUS TRANSFORMATION
Daisy Veerasingham oversees the digital multi-million upgrade for AP's video
news business

58 VLAS…
Ken Blakeslee of WebMobility Ventures is watching the Virtually Large, Actually
Small technologies
58 60 QUO VADIS CHINA?
It's incremental steps towards openness in the media, says David Bandurski of
the China Media Project

REGULARS
06 MEDIA MARKETS
14 AIB INTERVIEW Al Anstey, Managing Director, Al Jazeera English
17 AIB NEWS
60 26 PROFILE Nakhle El Hage, Director, News &Current Affairs, Al Arabiya News Channel
I AM MORE THAN A SET-TOP BOX
I AM INNOVATION. BY ADB.

Contact ADB: sales@adbglobal.com

 WELCOME | THE CHANNEL

P14 ORIGINAL JOURNALISM P27 2010 AIBs P18 GLOBALLY VISIBLE

New MD Al Anstey on Winners and finalists of the How France 24 entered
Al Jazeera English’s next phase AIB’s annual media awards Japan on the mobile platform

The Channel
THE INTERNATIONAL MEDIA MAGAZINE FOR TV, RADIO, ONLINE & MOBILE ISSUE 1 | 2011
WELCOME
Social TV
Blue ocean strategy?

Partnerships
not handouts
Audience interest is
shifting in Africa The men in my life are slicing fruit, non-stop. I
too have a brilliant idea for a mobile app that
will make your waiting moments heaven. Could
be a winner, who knows, and soon on Nokia's
list of a million downloads. All I need is a
developer with the practical know-how – please
get in touch!

The focus of this edition is mobile content and

social/connected TV. Whether in Japan,
Mobile aspirations Afghanistan, Kenya or China, the mobile has
Compelling, connected, cool established its key place in the production and
distribution mix. Philippe Rouxel of France 24
A deal with Los Angeles-based agency found that it was easier to enter the Japanese
CelebrityFootage is part of AP’s strategy to build the market with the mobile platform rather than
world’s leading entertainment stock footage traditional TV distribution vehicles. Salim Amin
offering as the company embarks on a major digital of A24Media is convinced that in Africa the
transformation - page 57
Kate Winslet image courtesy of AP/Chris Pizzello future of content distribution is through the
mobile phone. RFE/RL's SMS/MMS project in
Afghanistan shows how the mobile can bring
people back to the radio. In the less populated
regions of the Pacific that Radio Australia
broadcasts to, a great number of people listen to
FM radio on their mobile and it is on CEO Mike
The Channel is the ADVERTISING McCluskey's wish list to make these phones into
international media Judy Lund proper radios with built-in FM receivers and
magazine for TV, radio, Sales and Marketing
online and mobile, Executive DAB or DRM chips. Ken Blakeslee talks about
published by AIB, the T +44 20 7993 2557 mobile as an emerging channel for 3D content
Association for E judy.lund@aib.org.uk and judging by the products unveiled at CES this
International
Broadcasting Simon Parrish year, we are almost there, even without the
Sales and Marketing
glasses (hurrah!).

“
Through this magazine Executive
and its online publications T +44 20 7993 2557
AIB reaches in excess of M +44 7932 786 310 Pampered with In the round of interviews for this Channel,
25,000 people working in E simon.parrish "compelling" seemed to be the word of the
electronic media @aib.org.uk
compelling moment. Lucky user/consumer: s/he is being
globally: media
executives, producers, SUBSCRIPTIONS
The Channel print edition
content, pampered and cocooned with compelling
editors, journalists,
technical directors, is available on subscription immersive content, immersive experiences and seamless
at a cost of £15 per connectivity. Everyone can now be cool and
regulators, politicians
and academics. annum (around €18/ experiences connected at the same time. Mr and Mrs
US$29).Visit aib.org.uk or
Contact us now to call +44 20 7993 2557 and seamless Consumer seem to be in the driving seat. They
discuss how AIB can help
you reach the key The views and opinions
connectivity, are channelling technology advance through
individuals you need to expressed in The Channel the consumer their consumption trends. And they have already
influence and to find out are not necessarily those left behind divisions that we as professionals see
about the outstanding, of AIB. The publisher is in the driving between traditional and new/future media. Can't
highly cost-effective accepts no responsibility
for errors, omissions or seat wait to see what happens next when every mum

”
benefits of AIB
membership the consequences thereof has a smartphone.
AIB Copyright © 2011
PO Box 141 Association for "Right now journalists are a major public nuisance
Cranbrook TN17 9AJ International Broadcasting in our country," said a Peking University
T +44 (0) 20 7993 2557
E contactaib@aib.org.uk Print Professor recently. As Al Anstey of Al Jazeera
W www.aib.org.uk Buxton Press, Buxton, UK English points out, the quest for the story and
the truth is still the biggest day-to-day challenge
CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Simon Spanswick for any content provider. And it is for the
E simon.spanswick journalist to get out there and dig up that truth.
@aib.org.uk

EDITOR Have a compelling read!

Gunda Cannon
E gunda.cannon
@aib.org.uk GUNDA CANNON EDITOR

THE CHANNEL | ISSUE 1 2011 | 05

THE CHANNEL | MEDIA MARKETS
What's in,
what's out in 2011
A new survey from Accenture
predicts that consumer purchase
rates for personal computers
and mobile phones (excluding
smartphones) will decline by
39% and 56% this year compared
with last year, respectively. By
contrast, buying rates of 3D TVs
are expected to rise 500%; tablet
computers 160%; ebook readers
133%; and smartphones 26%.
The annual survey focused on
usage and spending on 19
different consumer electronics
technologies among more than
JCC safe content across platforms
As a result of an agreement
signed in December between Al
Jazeera Children’s Channel and
the United Nations Relief and
Works Agency for Palestine
Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA),
hundreds of thousands of
Palestinian children across the
Middle East will receive unique
learning opportunities.
The new initiative involves the
use of JCC's educational website
Taalam.TV across UNRWA schools
in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Gaza
and the West Bank, including
East Jerusalem. Both students
and teachers will be able to use
tailor-made multimedia by
Talaam.TV to support the normal
curriculum. Taalam.TV is the
first educational VOD online
platform in the Arab world,
currently benefiting over 100,000
students in 178 schools across
06 | ISSUE 1 2011 | THE CHANNEL
8,000 consumers in eight countries
in both emerging markets and
developed economies: Brazil,
China, India, Russia, France,
Germany, Japan and the US.
The research showed that
respondents are using multiple
devices such as tablet PCs for
activities that used to be done on
traditional PCs. In addition to
checking email, respondents are
using tablet PCs for browsing the
web, watching videos and reading
books, newspapers and magazines.
Purchase rates of 3D TVs are
28 countries including Qatar,
Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait,
Bahrain, Syria, France, Britain,
USA and Canada. The agreement
was signed by JCC’s Executive
General Manager, Mahmoud
Bouneb, and UNWRA’s Director of
Education, Dr Caroline Pontefract,
seen below shaking on the deal.
Together with Bloomsbury
Qatar Foundation Publishing,
JCC has recently also ventured
into publishing by launching a
expected to grow fastest of all 19
technologies included in the
survey. Price emerged as the
biggest lever for driving greater
interest in this product, other
factors that respondents
mentioned were having greater
availability of 3D content and not
having to wear 3D glasses.
Among respondents in all
eight countries surveyed,
Chinese consumers were among
the most enthusiastic
purchasers and users of the
latest consumer technologies.
series of books for preschoolers
featuring the magical world of
Fafa and her friends. Malika
Alouane, Director of Programming
of JCC and Baraem TV called the
expansion of the content’s footprint
into the publishing industry a new
milestone in the life of the channel,
adding "As an edutainment TV
channel, we are committed to
providing our viewers with safe
and educational content across
all platforms".
Glasses-free
mobile 3D
Consumer electronics companies
RCA and LG unveiled their new
line of Mobile DTV products at
CES in Las Vegas, both using a
digital TV standard overseen by
the Open Mobile Video Coalition.
The Mobile DTV digital broadcast
standard allows you to get TV on
the go – even in a car. A handful of
standalone Mobile DTV-enabled
devices are currently available and
if the platform takes off, we can
expect noteboook computers,
tablets and smartphones to have
Mobile DTV chips embedded.
At CES 2011, LG showed a
glasses-free 3D Mobile DTV set
and a 4.3-inch glasses-free 3D
display for mobile devices. LG
sees tremendous growth
potential in the 3D mobile display
market. Chief technology officer
Skott Ahn said LG also plans to
release a glasses-free 3D TV for
the home in the near future. The
move to glasses-free is also
evident in the games area -
Nintendo introduced its glasses-
free 3D handheld video game
system, the 3DS, at CES.
LG announced that it will ship
a line of 3D TVs that use passive
3D glasses technology. The glasses
will be cheaper than current
offerings. After disappointing
sales last year, passive 3D TV is
seen as a second chance to sell
3D in the home.

India says no to
commercial news, still?
The saga of news on commercial
radio in India continues - but
listeners are getting no closer to
having access to the same
choice of news that TV viewers
enjoy. Ever since private FM
stations were authorised, there’s
been something of a battle
between the operators and the
Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting over their right to
carry news, just like their TV
rivals. Permission has not been
given and private FM
broadcasters have run for the
last five years without any news
bulletins. Some stations have
skirted round the prohibition by
carrying programmes produced
by international broadcasters
that lean towards current affairs
- the BBC’s Hindi-language BBC
Ek Mulakaat is an example,
carried on Radio One in Mumbai
and Chennai.
Sources suggest that the I&B
ministry will allow All India Radio
newscasts to be carried on
private FM stations across the
country, rejecting the view of
regulator TRAI that news could
come from any authorised
Pakistan deadliest in 2010
The International Federation of
Journalists reports at least 94
journalists and media personnel
killed in 2010 – killed
intentionally, in bomb attacks or
crossfire. The IFJ coordinates its
list of work-related media
killings with the International
News Safety Institute.
Journalists and media personnel
remain prime targets for political
extremists, gangsters and
terrorists.
Top of the list of the most
dangerous zones for journalists
in 2010 is Pakistan (15 dead),
ahead of Mexico, Honduras and
Iraq. In these countries and
source, including private TV. The
problem facing the government
is the lack of a regulatory
environment for the commercial
radio sector. Without proper
monitoring, the politicians
believe, news may be
sensationalised and potentially
cause unrest. This position
ignores the situation of TV news
channels which routinely
sensationalise news stories.
At present, the presentational
style of AIR is not well-matched
to that of the country’s
commercial radio stations. In the
latest Indian Readership Survey,
the total audience for all FM
stations is shown as 117m
listeners. AM listening does not
appear in the survey results - a
majority of India’s rural
population listens on AM as FM
stations do not exist outside
main cities. The survey results
show that Radio Mirchi, operated
by Times of India Group, attracts
the greatest number of listeners
with 42m. Big FM is the second
most-listened to station with
24m. Radio One, in which the
BBC’s commercial division, BBC
others such as Somalia, The
Philippines, the rule of men of
violence and the failure of
governments to protect
journalists are creating a climate
of siege and despair. As a great
number of journalists have been
murdered in reprisal for their
MEDIA MARKETS | THE CHANNEL
Worldwide, has a stake is the
eighth most popular station with
4.5m listeners. Of AIR's stations
Vividh Bharati is the most
popular on FM, with 22m
listeners nationwide.
Separately in January, Rajiv
Takru was appointed CEO of
India’s public broadcaster Prasar
Bharati, heading AIR and TV
network Doordarshan which
reaches over 90% of the nation’s
vast population.
work, the Committee to Protect
Journalists is leading a Global
Campaign Against Impunity. This
is one of the most disturbing
statistics on CPJ's database: only
4% of all murder cases
registered received partial
justice.
THE CHANNEL | ISSUE 1 2011 | 07
IN BRIEF
ASTEROID
SMART RADIO
Paris-based technology firm
Parrot is making an impact
with its Asteroid car radio
that is smart enough to find
cheap fuel, free parking, and
speed traps while taking
music requests and placing
phone calls. Asteroid has
USB ports for MP3 players,
GPS devices, and the types
of 3G network wireless
internet service keys that
people use for laptop
computers. As the next step,
Parrot is working on a
touch-screen, dash-
mounted version of Asteroid.
CISCO
VIDEOSCAPE
Cisco's Videoscape, unveiled
at CES, is an open platform
that utilises the cloud, the
network and client devices to
deliver new video experiences
over the internet. For
consumers, Videoscape
delivers access to vast
entertainment content
sources, including
broadcast channels, pay TV
and the Web, integrating the
internet, social media,
communications and mobility.
For service providers,
Videoscape offers expanded
business models and
extended service reach.
Cisco is currently working
with several major global
service provider customers,
including Telstra, and running
trials with other operators.
MOBILE ADS
TAKE OFF
The sharp rise in smartphone
sales will drive growth in
mobile advertising. For the
UK alone, Enders Analysis
predicts that mobile
advertising will make up 4%
of the total online ad market
in 2011, reaching 9.5% by
2015. Search will be more
lucrative than display. The
US mobile advertising
market is expected to hit $1
billion for the first time in
2011, with Google, Apple and
Millennial taking the largest
slices of the mobile display
pie.
THE CHANNEL | MEDIA MARKETS
IN BRIEF
VIDEO SHARING
RULES
Rulings published by the
Italian Communications
Authority (AGCOM) in
December state that some
streaming and on-demand
video sites will require a
government licence to
operate and be subject to
similar editorial controls as
traditional TV. Sites such as
YouTube, Dailymotion and
Vimeo will be subject to
broadcast regulations if they
generate annual revenue of
more than €100,000, exercise
editorial control over their
content and make available
more than 24 hours of audio-
visual material per week.
ABU 3RD
DIMENSION
The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting
Union's Digital Broadcasting
Symposium 2011 takes place
in Kuala Lumpur from 8-11
March. With the theme ‘Adding
the 3rd Dimension’, the
event focuses on 3D TV and
related areas and explores
issues relating to content,
technologies, infrastructure,
business avenues and
returns. The Symposium
comprises several pre-event
workshops, a three day
conference and a
comprehensive exhibition.
S4M'S VPMS
AT SWR
After an EU-wide RFP
Germany's PSB
Südwestrundfunk has
chosen Wellen+Nöthen as
general contractor for the
tapeless production project
in its new building in
Stuttgart. S4M – Solutions
for Media is providing its
Video Production
Management System for
SWR. As a convenient Media
Asset Management System,
VPMS acts as a cross-
functional control unit for
broadcasting processes
within the infrastructure of
video server, editing and
graphics. A key component
is VPMS’s web-based Media
Center that provides easy
and effective central control.
08 | ISSUE 1 2011 | THE CHANNEL
Shipley, Rubin join
Bloomberg News
David Shipley and James P.
Rubin are joining Bloomberg
News as Executive Editors in
January. Shipley, deputy editorial
page editor and op-ed editor of
The New York Times, and Rubin,
former US Department of State
Assistant Secretary, will lead a
new editorial page called the
Bloomberg View which publishes
columns and commentary
across all Bloomberg platforms.
Rubin will oversee editorial
issues in Central and South
America, Mexico, Europe, the
Middle East, Asia and Africa, and
Shipley will maintain oversight of
the US and Canada. Both report
RNZI Pacific advice
RNZI has recently been working
in the area of technical/
transmission services and advice
for the Pacific. In Vanuatu, Radio
New Zealand oversaw the
restoration of the short wave
radio service to Vanuatu’s outer
islands in a project funded by the
Australian Agency for
International Development. This
was a major project which ran
over several years and saw the
installation of new transmitters
and upgrading of transmission
Russia's RT ahead in UK
According to leading British
market research agency Kantar
Media, more than two million
British viewers watch RT, the
Russian news channel. This
exceeds the audience of leading
European channels such as
Deutsche Welle and France 24,
both major rivals of RT. RT's
average monthly audience in
Britain is now over 5 times larger
than that of Germany's Deutsche
Welle, and 1.5 times larger than
that of the English-language
channel France 24.
The market research
directly to Editor-in-Chief
Matthew Winkler. Shipley said he
is thrilled to be joining
Bloomberg: “The company has a
special vision for journalism,
commentary and for its own
editorial voice. I’m eager to get
started.”
Bloomberg's media
properties span television, radio,
digital and print, making the
company one of the world's
largest news organisations with
a global infrastructure of over
2,300 on-the-ground news
professionals who provide an
immediate perspective on critical
business news as it happens.
services around the country. In
Solomon Islands, ABC
International is currently funding
work to upgrade transmission
services for the Solomon Islands
Broadcasting Corporation.
highlighted the strengths of the
Russian television channel –
respondents said the different
take on news from mainstream
media was the main reason they
watch RT. The survey also
showed that 45% of British
viewers think that mainstream
media, such as BBC News, CNN
and Sky News, is biased. Among
RT viewers, 69% cited mainstream
bias. Viewers also agreed
informative news coverage,
quality of presenting and credible
and trustworthy content were
reasons why they chose RT.
Analyses
now online
The US Broadcasting Board of
Governors has made available
summaries and analyses of
marketplace conditions and
global audience research.
The briefing book is available
online at www.bbg.gov, providing
quick access to core performance
and other data for all its 59
language services as well as
relevant data and information
regarding the media and political
environments in which the
services operate.
Noteworthy highlights include
the fact that in Burma, the BBG’s
first-ever national survey found
that more than eight million
people tune in to Radio Free Asia
and VOA. The US is the leading
international broadcaster in Iran,
with the VOA's Persian News
Network and RFE'/RL’s Radio
Farda. In Iraq, Alhurra TV
reaches 66% of adults each
week, and Radio Sawa is the
second most popular radio
station in the country. In
Indonesia, VOA reaches more
than 16% of adults weekly. In late
2010, the BBG hosted outside
experts in its inaugural Ideas
Lab to explore opportunities and
obstacles to engaging overseas
audiences through social media.
The Kantar Media survey is
based on 10,250 face-to-face
interviews conducted during
October and November 2010.
Kantar Media is a branch of Kantar,
one of the world's largest market
research and knowledge-based
development networks.

Great looking content
on any device
New publication channels
demand new ways to bring
content quickly to multiple
platforms. Vizrt has now
launched Viz App Framework
which does exactly this; it helps
customers to publish to
applications that run natively on
the latest smartphones and
tablets powered by Apple’s iOS
and Android.
The solution enables
publishers to cross-publish the
full range of editorial material,
such as texts, images, maps and
graphics, using only one
workflow.
Such native applications fully
RNW exposing abuse
Robert Chesal of Radio
Netherlands Worldwide and Joep
Dohmen of the Dutch daily NRC
Handelsblad have been jointly
named ‘Journalist of the Year’ by
Villamedia for their series of
reports on child sex abuse at
Roman Catholic boarding
schools in the Netherlands. The
close collaboration between
Chesal and Dohmen was
instrumental in bringing to light
a wealth of information, so much
Babcock grows broadcast
In 2010 Babcock International
Group acquired VT Group plc for
£1.3 billion and added to its
impressive broadcast heritage,
going back to 1936. Through
acquiring VT, Babcock inherited
a longstanding partnership with
the BBC World Service and the
responsibility to deliver content
to its global audience of more
than 180m.
Babcock now has
communication capabilities
across the sector to meet the
changing needs of broadcasters.
These range from designing,
support all of the devices’
capabilities, such as multi-touch
interfaces, screen rotation and
highest possible resolution for
video playback.
The user apps can be made
available via iTunes or the
Android Market either as free or
paid apps.
so that the investigation
continues to this day. In what the
jury said was careful and
thorough investigative
journalism, the journalists
examined every aspect of the
story.
Their partnership also
showed that different media – in
this case broadcast and print -
can work together on content;
that questions of competition or
legal limitations need not be a
building and operating broadcast
infrastructures and next
generation broadband networks
to providing a single source
solution to media management
distribution and delivery using
radio, web and mobile services.
The company boasts the
industry’s only fully-managed
global broadcast transmission
network and can provide mobile
and fixed telecommunications,
from site acquisition and design
to implementation and mast
support.
For broadcasters this means
MEDIA MARKETS | THE CHANNEL
Brazil’s
new reality
Key players from Brazil's TV
production industry and experts
on new TV models convened for
IETV’s 8th international TV meeting
in December in Rio de Janeiro.
Brazil is No3 worldwide in total
TV spend and its 180m inhabitants
are among the heaviest users of
social media and mobile, leading to
rapid changes in media consumption
needs. Newton Cannito, audiovisual
secretary of Brazil’s ministry of
culture, said “Broadcasters in
Brazil need to change drastically
to adapt to this new reality. Only a
blue ocean approach to innovation
will help them make the
transformation.”
barrier to cooperation between
journalists.
they can benefit from the
increased capabilities and scale
of Babcock, utilising its size and
position in the sector to innovate
and provide efficiencies whilst
continuing to deliver best
practice.
Bryan Coombes, Business
Development Director
THE CHANNEL | ISSUE 1 2011 | 09
IN BRIEF
OFFICIAL
PROVIDERS
Commercial radio stations
in the Australian state of New
South Wales have been made
official providers of information
in the event of emergency.
This follows similar
arrangements with the
Victorian, South Australian
and Queensland state govern-
ments. As commercial radio
reaches 80% of Australians,
Commercial Radio Australia
CEO Joan Warner said
commercial stations can
play a crucial role in
disseminating information
to local communities and
added she hoped this
arrangement would be
emulated nationwide.
GREAT AUDIO
ON THE GO
Enabling great audio on the
go, Dolby unveiled its Dolby
Home Theater v4 and Dolby
Advanced Audio v2. Acer will
release the first products
utilising these new audio
technologies in its high-end
Aspire Ethos consumer multi-
media notebooks and its
Aspire Z Series all-in-one
PCs. Users can enjoy their
favourite movies in Dolby
surround sound on a smart-
phone with the Nokia N8
using Dolby Digital Plus as
well as Acer’s latest laptop,
the 8950G, which is enabled
with Dolby Home Theater v4.
STANDARD
CHALLENGED
Electronics component
manufacturers in South Africa
have mounted a challenge
to the adoption of Digital
Video Broadcasting (DVB-T2)
as they feel its introduction
would fail to achieve the
optimum socio-economic
impact. Instead, the groups
favour a Japanese standard,
also used in Brazil, for South
Africa's migration to digital,
to be completed by 2015.
NAMEC chairman Keith
Tabo said MultiChoice and
e.tv would benefit from the
European standard but not
community broadcasters
and software developers.

WTA Top Teleport
Operator Rankings
The WTA Top Operator rankings
are compiled by surveying
teleport operators around the
world on their facilities, services
and business results. WTA
Executive Director Robert Bell
noticed an interesting shift: "In
the Global Top Operator list, 45%
are independent teleport
operators while the other 55%
are satellite operators that
operate their own teleports. We
also saw a couple of those
satellite operators penetrate the
Fast Twenty list for the first time.
Satellite operators are investing
in their ground-based business,
and several of the operators
expect big increases in teleport
and terrestrial transmission
revenues but only small
increases in revenues from
space segment.” The 'Global Top
Twenty' (from largest to
smallest): Intelsat (Bermuda);
SES (Luxembourg); Eutelsat
(France); Hughes Network
Systems (USA); Telesat (Canada);
Stratos Global (USA); Singapore
Telecommunications
(Singapore); GlobeCast (France);
Arqiva (UK); EchoStar (USA);
CapRock (USA); Thaicom
(Thailand); Globecomm (USA);
Hispasat (Spain); Telenor
(Norway); Asiasat (China); MTN
RRsat NY POP
RRsat Global Communications
Network, a leading provider of
comprehensive content
management and global
distribution services to the
television and radio broadcasting
industries announced in
December the opening of their
111 8th Ave POP in New York
City, RRsat’s second in the NY
metropolitan area with a third
POP at 60 Hudson coming soon.
This NYC POP marks the
expansion of RRsat’s fibre
capabilities for content providers
Satellite Communications (USA);
TeleCommunication Systems
(USA); RRsat Global
Communications (Israel);
Spacenet (USA). The 'Fast
Twenty', ranked by revenue
growth: Europe Media Port
(Cyprus); Cobbett-Hill
Earthstation (UK); Central
European Telecom Services
(Germany); Newcom
International (USA); CET Teleport
(Germany); Jordan Media City
(Jordan); Satlink (Israel); CapRock
(USA); TeleCommunication
Systems (USA); du (UAE);
Telepuerto Internacional Buenos
Aires (Argentina); RRsat Global
Communications (Israel);
Emerging Markets
Communications (USA); Telenor
(Norway); AsiaSat (China);
Eutelsat (France); Telesat
(Canada); MTN Satellite
Communications (USA); Hispasat
(Spain).
and broadcasters from any
location via fibre and giving them
access to RRsat with its ability to
broadcast globally, often using
only one satellite hop.
“This is an important step
forward in our North American
and global goals,” said Lior Rival,
Vice President, Sales and
Marketing of RRsat. “This
second NY POP gives us another
physical presence in the US
ensuring our ability to meet the
broadcasting demands of high
quality, reliable, and expert
MEDIA MARKETS | THE CHANNEL
euronews
goes local
Having launched two new
services in 2010 - Turkish in
January and Persian in October –
international news channel
euronews is preparing for the
launch of its 24/7 service in
Ukrainian, together with its
shareholder the National
TVCompany of Ukraine, NTU.
For the first time, euronews
will produce local programmes
related to national news. A team
based in Kiev will work closely
with the Ukrainian service based
at the euronews headquarters in
Lyon to produce news bulletins
and magazine programmes for
Ukrainian speaking viewers
around the world. Creating a
local advertising window for the
Ukrainian market is also on the
agenda. Euronews' Ukrainian
service will be available on the
internet, joining euronews' ten
existing language versions.
euronews is now permanently
present in Cairo and Doha, with
more bureaux to follow during
2011. In terms of distribution,
euronews made gains in Asia,
especially in Malaysia, Taiwan
and Thailand.
services, be it over satellite,
fibre, or a hybrid of the two.”
THE CHANNEL | ISSUE 1 2011 | 11
IN BRIEF
GET OUT OF
MEDIA
As reported in Nezavisimaya
Gazeta, Russia's President
Dmitriy Medvedev has called
on regional governments to
divest themselves of non-
core assets, among them
mass information media
such as newspapers and
electronic mass media. While
this reform is welcomed by
many as the liberation of
regional journalism from
government control amid
hopes that the independent
press sector will grow,
journalists are worried on a
regional level that with the
loss of funding, many news-
papers will have to close.
KBS WORLD IN
ARGENTINA
KBS World Radio, the
overseas service of the
Korean Broadcasting
System (KBS) in Seoul, has
launched Spanish services
for listeners in Argentina via
an FM channel in Buenos
Aires. KBS World Radio
began airing 53 minutes of
programmes in Spanish via
Radio Palermo on FM 94.7 in
the Argentine capital on
weekdays at 10 p.m. local
time in January. KBS World
Radio expects the move to
contribute to promoting
South Korea to listeners in
the South American country.
DIGITAL TV
ACCORD
The Philippines and
Japanese governments are
moving towards cooperation
following the decision to
adopt Japan's ISDB
technology as the country’s
standard for its DTT
broadcast service. Part of the
deal would be for Japan to
train Filipino engineers in
this field, for Japan to invest
in a set-top box factory in the
Philippines and to subsidize
the boxes. Regulator NTC
estimates that full migration
to digital TV in the
Philippines will take place by
2020, in a revision of the
earlier switch-off target of
2015.
THE CHANNEL | MEDIA MARKETS
IN BRIEF
FIRST AND
LARGEST
Islam Channel has reaffirmed
its position as the first and
largest English-based Islamic
channel by increasing its foot-
print through signing contracts
with IPKO in Kosovo and
Dogan TV in Turkey. Further
expansion planned for 2011
includes the Middle East,
says CEO Mohamed Ali
Harrath, as interest for the
channel and its ventures
grows stronger. As official
event partner for the Global
Peace & Unity Event, Islam
Channel broadcast live the
2010 London event that
attracted over 100,000 visitors
from around the world.
TVN OFFER FOR
2011/12
TVN News & Services Agency
made a name for itself in
2010 delivering content on
Poland-related topics from
the presidential plane crash,
the worst floods in a decade,
to the Polish presidential
elections. Now the company
is set to expand its scope of
services and is currently
preparing its offer in connection
with Poland’s EU Presidency
in the second half of 2011
and the European Football
Championship in 2012. TVN's
long-term cooperation with
major partners such as
Reuters, APTN and TV
networks continues.
GATEWAY TO EMEA
To increase market pene-
tration and brand awareness
for its range of products that
are ideally suited to the Middle
East broadcast and post-pro
environments, audio and
video metering manufacturer
DK-Technologies has appointed
EMEA Gateway to assist
with its sales efforts in the
Middle East. Headed by Guy
Elliott, EMEA Gateway
specialises in the provision
of sales and marketing
channels across Europe, the
Middle East and Africa and
will provide a conduit to a
large network of resellers,
says DK-Technologies'
Richard Kelley.
12 | ISSUE 1 2011 | THE CHANNEL
Radio, mobile phones
and Africa
When it comes to gathering
information on the go, mobile
phones are in and radio is out,
right? Wrong. Research by
InterMedia’s AudienceScapes
project (www.audiencescapes.org)
has found that "old" and "new"
information sources converge:
many mobile phone owners in
Sub-Saharan Africa are listening
to FM radio via receivers on their
phone handsets, creating a large
and geographically diverse new
audience for FM broadcasts.
Nationally-representative
AudienceScapes surveys on media,
mobile phone and internet use
Changes at MAC
Consulting firm Media Asset
Capital has announced some
changes at board level: existing
director Michael McEwen, a
former Vice President of CBC
and Secretary-General of NABA,
has been appointed Chairman
and well-known industry figure
Adrian Scott (right) has joined
the board. CEO Tom Wragg said:
"Michael's wealth of experience
and leadership and Adrian's
talent and industry presence will
add considerably to the breadth
and depth of services we can
offer our clients”. MAC has a
Deutsche Welle plan for change
Deutsche Welle, Germany’s
international broadcaster, has
launched a structural reform
process in response to the
changes and challenges in the
international media market as
well as decade-long budget cuts.
At the beginning of November 2010,
Director General Erik Bettermann
and the DW management
adopted an 18-point plan entitled
“Concentration and Change”.
Among its objectives are
strengthening DW's TV and
internet presence, merging
different editorial departments
have been conducted in Ghana,
Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia. In
the Zambia survey, nearly half of
the adults (15+) surveyed said they
own a mobile phone. Of those,
roughly 27% said they listen to
the radio on their handsets at
least once a day; 36% said they
do so at least once a week.
The surveys also track TV and
internet use on mobiles,
providing broadcasters with
essential knowledge about
media usage patterns in the
African mobile space. For
information about the data,
email murthyg@intermedia.org.
broad portfolio of consultancy
customers among broadcasters,
media enterprises, suppliers,
industry bodies and the finance
sector.
regardless of media platforms
used and the end of shortwave
broadcasting except for selected
regions like Africa.
Technological developments
such as the internet, mobile
devices and media convergence
have drastically changed the way
people communicate with each
other and the media consumption
behaviour of audiences. Since
2007, Deutsche Welle has been
committed to the implementation
of its “Multiplatform Strategy”
which focuses on providing news
products on TV, the internet as
RTG a
winner
Award-winning international TV
channel Russian Travel Guide,
which broadcasts in Russian and
English on Russian history,
culture, cuisine and nature, is
adding another prize to its list of
achievements. Having already
won the national prize for the
development of tourism in
Russia and a number of Russian
and foreign awards, RTG TV is to
be honoured in February at
CSTB'2011 in Moscow, the
largest annual professional event
for television and
telecommunications in Russia
and CIS which attracts delegates
from all over the world.
During CSTB'2011 the
winners of the second national
competition in the area of
multichannel digital TV, “Big
Digit”, will be announced for the
following categories: Operator
Company, Equipment and
Technologies, New Russian TV
and Foreign TV in Russia. The
competition is held with the
support of the Ministry of
Telecom and Mass
Communications of the Russian
Federation. Russian Travel Guide
TV, which is official broadcaster
partner for www.bigdigit.ru, will
be recognised as Best
Documentary Channel.
well as for mobile devices.
According to the latest reform
plans, Deutsche Welle will
maintain all of its 30 languages
though some of them - like Hindi,
Bengali, Indonesian and SE
European language services - will
concentrate on background infor-
mation rather than current affairs.
Unlike other public service
broadcasters in Germany that
are mainly financed through the
licence fee, Deutsche Welle is
funded by the German federal
government with a current
annual budget of ca. €270m.
THE CHANNEL | ISSUE 1 2011 | 13
CV
NAME
Al Anstey

DATE OF BIRTH
April 1966

CAREER
Al Anstey was born and schooled
in London. He holds a degree in
psychology. Al started his career
as a producer at CBS News in
1990 and in 1992 moved to the
start-up of Reuters GMTV as a
reporter and news editor. In 1994
he joined APTN based in New
Delhi and then Sydney, before
taking on the position of Asia
Editor. In 1997 he moved to ITN
where he rose to Head of Foreign
News, also running ITN's
American operations for two
years after 9/11. Al's involvement
with Al Jazeera started in 2005 as
a key member of the start-up
team of Al Jazeera English.
Subsequent roles have been
AJE’s Director of News and
Director of Media Development
for Al Jazeera Network. In
October 2010 Al was appointed
Managing Director of AJE.

MEDIA USE
In the morning listens to a
handful of radio stations and logs
on to two or three different
international news sites. Stays
across AJE’s output, keeps a
close eye on BBC, CNN, and
other international news
channels, watches Al Jazeera
Arabic’s output. Throughout the
day checks key sites online and
on i-Phone when travelling. Looks
at national news web sites when
stories are happening in specific
locations. Weekly news-fix is
reading the Economist’s iPhone/
iPad application. Entertainment:
watching decent films, BBC Radio
4 for discussion and comedy

FAVOURITES
Plays squash, keen sailor,
skipper, and windsurfer. Learning
to paraglide – working towards
gliding and pilots licence. Likes
good movies, switches bad ones
off very quickly

NINE YEARS
VIEWING IN A MONTH
When Al Anstey talks about Al Jazeera English he can rightly do so with a singular passion. He
was one of the founders of AJE and a key member of the start-up team – now in his new role as
MD he is helping shape the channel's next phase of evolution. With AJE winning a string of
recent awards for its outstanding news coverage, we asked Al Anstey: what are you doing right?
T
he journalism, the
content. For me
that's the key. We
have got a fantastic
newsgathering
reach, we have
bureaux across the
globe in strategic locations. That
enables us to do what I call 'original
journalism' - sharp, field reporting
where our journalists are on the
ground, eye-witnessing a story.
Add on to that that we are truly
international, putting every country
in the world on a level playing field
covering a story on its merits. And
the final thing I'd add is covering the
people not just the powerful – we want
to know the ramifications and the
impact of the decisions being made
by the powerful on the people out
there in the world.
Put all those points together,
what are we doing right? We are
building sharp-end journalism, we
are building on our comprehensive
story-telling and fundamentally we
are gaining the trust of our audiences
out there. We are delighted to be
recognized by AIB, and the other
awards we have received, but also
we celebrate every new viewer that
switches us on and says “that’s high
quality, that’s comprehensive, it's
very clear story-telling, and I am
being given added-value over and
above the story".
What is the "next phase of evolution"
that you are leading the channel in?
First and foremost we are looking
IN CONVERSATION | THE CHANNEL
at expanding our bureau network,
“
we're adding on a number of bureaux
If we have this year in all regions of the world
not got the – I'll just name a couple: South Korea,
Paris, Nigeria, North America.
content Secondly, we are continuing to
right, if we refine the product to build our
are not onscreen strength in terms of the
trusted in journalism but also the look. We
that content, need to make sure to recruit people
who are real authorities on their
then new story, not just on-air but off-air as
platforms well. We are currently available in
become over 220m households worldwide.
irrelevant We need to build on that and
expand traditional distribution –
”
cable and satellite – but add on to
that the incredibly fast moving
world of new platforms which are
ultimately giving our viewers new
choices. Figures show that TV
watching is still on the rise, people
are digesting content in different
ways, but it is adding onto
traditional distribution. So we must
give our viewers our content at a
time and place of their choosing.
And then we need to make sure
that through our marketing and PR
we are reaching out to potential
and existing viewers, and highlight
what we stand for so we are
building our reputation and the
brand. In some parts of the world
Al Jazeera is not recognised for
what it is. And sometimes there are
what I call the misconceptions. I am
a firm believer, once people switch
us on, those misconceptions and
sometimes ignorance about what Al
Jazeera stands for are dispelled
almost immediately. It's quite a
rapid transition to a recognition
and the beginnings of trust.
What is your distribution objective?
The fundamental goal is to reach
out to new viewers on all
platforms, but also to reach out to
existing viewers on new platforms,
and to reach out to both those
audiences at a time and place of
their choosing.
Traditional distribution is still a
very important area of the market
for any broadcaster. We have got
some significant areas where we
are distributed on cable and
satellite, the UK, across much of
Africa, across important sections of
Asia, across the Middle East region,
and we are looking at key markets
like North America and India for
traditional distribution. We need to
look at what the next stage is,
whether that be HD or 3D, and to
be very smart about keeping up
with or ahead of the trends for
traditional distribution.
Then also within that area of
distribution falls the catch-up TV,
the VOD, the incredible presence
and watching of our material on
YouTube. Then add on the new
platforms. We launched the iPhone
live streaming app in 2009, and a
staggering number of people are
watching on the iPhone alone. Add
on to that the BlackBerry, the
Android, the iPad, all the new
tablets that are coming out, some of
▼
the game stations are now running
THE CHANNEL | ISSUE 1 2011 | 15
THE CHANNEL | IN CONVERSATION
live video, these are all potential
ways of viewers seeing our content.
We need to recognise which
platforms are the best for our
audiences receiving our content
and make sure that we are present
on those platforms.
Faced with the challenge of getting
onto every platform, how do you
formulate a strategy?
We talk to the manufacturers, we
are talking to people who are
working on the development of
their own platforms so that we
understand what technologies are
out there but it is also important to
look at existing trends. When a new
platform has been online for a
while we need to look at what are
the existing trends in the watching
of live video on an iPhone for
example. How much are people
using the iPad or the new tablets to
digest content as a whole, how
much are they reading the text
online as opposed to live streaming.
How much are people actually
using catch-up TV.
So I think it is a combination of
taking a slice of life right now and
understanding what's going on in
the industry worldwide. There are
regional differences because of
bandwidth issues, obviously parts
of Africa for example are going to
have far less potential for live
streaming than say parts of Europe
or Asia. And not every platform
that comes online is going to be a
way of our audiences seeing our
content in the future. We have got
to be questioning and smart in the
way we approach a very fast
moving part of the industry, so that
we are actually across what's
happening now, and able to see
what the potential is in the months
and years to come, so that we are
targeting our resource at the right
platforms for the future.
Where is all this convergence and
mix of platforms heading?
What we are seeing is a
proliferation of methods of
receiving content. This is not the
end of the broadcast industry, this
is an enhancement of what is on
16 | ISSUE 1 2011 | THE CHANNEL
offer to the consumer. The other
element which is obviously on the
increase is audience engagement
with channels – that is something
that we need to handle with care
but must be absolutely across.
And there is a dialogue going on
in the social media space – on
Twitter, on Facebook – about what's
happening in individual people's
worlds, about what is happening
out there in the globe, and viewers
talking to other viewers about what
broadcasters like us are doing.
When you get that dialogue going
on, then I think that's a very
healthy thing.
What would you like to see happen
with mobile?
When you look at the sheer number
of handsets that exist on earth in
each particular market, it's a
“
staggering figure. It's an area that
That you absolutely cannot ignore. You
have got to look at what is the best
audience way of capitalising on the presence
engage- of mobile in everyone's lives so that
ment with it becomes a proper medium for
channels digesting our content. When you
is some- look at mobile live streaming, this
is a very good way of taking in
thing that content. This particular part of the
we need to industry is developing so rapidly at
handle the moment, we have got to study
with care what is the best way of presenting
our content to audiences in the mobile
but
space and engage with the handset
absolutely makers and the telcos so that we
must be are actually achieving our goals.
across
Which markets are key?
”
In recent months we have made
some very good headway. The
Freeview launch in the UK we are
very pleased with, we have
launched widely across Canada.
We are working on a multi-
layered strategy for distribution in
the US, that means that we are
talking to a number of cable
operators in North America but we
are also rolling out a PR strategy to
english.aljazeera.net
make sure that we are building the
brand and the reputation at the
same time. In December we were
granted a downlinking licence to
broadcast in India which is a real
breakthrough – we have had huge
expressions of interest from cable
operators there, and obviously it's
an intelligent, outward looking vast
market. Australia we are still
looking at.
We are widely distributed across
much of Africa, obviously across
the Middle East. For me with
distribution it is a question of
prioritising. I think the strategy has
got to be 'where are the markets
where we feel our content is going
to be best received' and 'where are
the people that speak English' – and
then pushing out into those markets
in a strategic way, dovetailing that
with the new media strategy as
well. We know that we are widely
watched and read online, that's a
positive for us. In one month, last
September, we had nine years of
viewing on the iPhone alone, that
means minute-by- minute. That's a
staggering figure. Those sort of
figures are really important to us
because we can break down on the
new media platforms the
demographics, the geographics of
our audience and begin to build a
wider picture of where we are
currently watched and then we can
reach out to people as we are doing
now with focus groups.
What are the most important issues
in international media today?
One of the jobs of any journalist is
to get out there and dig up the
truth to the extent that any
individual or any journalist can.
And in a world that is full of spin
and propaganda and sometimes
lies, whether that be from
corporations or individuals or
governments, the role of the
journalist is ever increasingly
important. That's what it's all
about. We can talk about new
platforms, we can talk about new
technologies as much as we want
to, if we haven't got the content
right, if we are not trusted in that
content, then those new platforms
become far less relevant if not
irrelevant. The quest for the story
and the truth is still the biggest
day-to-day challenge.
Al Anstey, thank you.

AIB MEMBERS
Gold
Corporate
6 News
ABC Radio Australia
ABU - Asia-Pacific Broadcasting
Union
Al Arabiya
APTN - Associated Press
Television News
Babcock International Group
Broadcasting Agency of
Montenegro
Broadcasting Board of Governors
(BBG)
Deutsche Welle
euronews
InterMedia Survey Institute
INSI - International News Safety
Institute
Islam Channel
KBS WORLD Radio
Linx Productions
MBN (Alhurra/Radio Sawa)
Media Asset Capital
Norcom Information Technology
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Radio Netherlands Worldwide
Radio New Zealand International
Radio Prague
Radio Romania International
Radio Taiwan International
RRsat Global Communications
Network
S4M Media Solutions
TVN News & Services Agency
Vizrt
Voice of Nigeria
WRN Broadcast
'And what does the AIB do?' There is a
GLOBAL short and a long answer to this question.
In essence, the AIB reaches over 25,000
media professionals worldwide each
REACH month. And can help you reach them too,
says CEO Simon Spanswick
W
hen we explain about all the
things we do do, we often hear:
"Oh, I didn't know you did that."
Which is why we thought we'd
mention them here, just in case.
And add a few figures, to make things even more
tangible.
Set up in 1993 as the global knowledge
network for the broadcasting industry, AIB
encompasses radio, television, online and mobile
and works with professionals in all media related
sectors. The organisation offers membership,
market intelligence and tenders briefings,
partnership and C-level networking opportunities,
industry briefings, consulting, as well as diverse
global marketing platforms - platforms that are
available also to the wider media industry.
As technologies become increasingly
specialised and as the cross-over between
different industry sectors grows, having a conduit
to reach professionals in every sector of the
media industry globally is extremely valuable.
With its comprehensive knowledge database and
proven marketing tools, AIB is able to facilitate
this for companies. Here is how.
THE WHO, WHERE AND WHAT
You could call the AIB's knowledge database
'unrivalled' but let's say it is pretty impressive in
its reach and diversity. The database, built over
the past 17 years, covers 25,000+ media leaders
in over 160 countries; sectors include TV, radio,
cross-media, satellite, mobile, cable, DTH, IPTV,
independents, parliamentarians, regulators,
broadcast unions.
Add to this the fact that AIB is staffed by
people with extensive first-hand knowledge of,
and practical experience in, international TV,
radio and cross-platform media, people who
understand the needs and concerns of media
companies in the rapidly changing marketplace.
GETTING THROUGH
The AIB's marketing tools use diverse platforms
but all have a global reach.
AIB e-news is published monthly and delivers
an industry briefing direct to industry leaders
(25,000 contacts in 160+ countries). Banner
advertising in the AIB’s e-news briefing – including
a hyperlink to your site and editorial – offers a
cost-effective way to achieve branding and clicks
through to your own website. From £495
Customised e-mail direct marketing using AIB’s
knowledge database of over 25,000 media contacts
worldwide allows companies to target their
marketing more specifically. Price on application
Page advertising in The Channel magazine
reaches in excess of 30,000 decision-makers in
broadcasting and global media: 6,500 receive the
magazine as print subscribers, 20,000+ have
access to the page-turning digital edition, plus
the magazine has extensive additional
AIB NEWS | THE CHANNEL
distribution at major industry events such as IBC,
Mobile World Congress and NewsXchange. The
Channel is the media industry's only international
magazine that covers all areas of broadcasting.
Competitive advertising rates with full page display
from £1,500
Sponsorship of The AIBs – the international
media excellence awards now in their 7th year –
offers a unique opportunity for brands to be
associated with excellence and innovation in the
industry. Sponsors receive a comprehensive
promotional package, with up to nine months
brand exposure through AIB's continuous
marketing of the Awards, plus top brand visibility
at the annual Awards presentation in London in
November. The AIBs attract entries from every
continent and sponsors benefit from press
coverage all over the globe. If you wish your
company to be part of the annual contest, register
your sponsorship interest early as the Call for
Entries for the 2011 AIBs goes out in April.
Sponsorship options from £4,800 through to co-
branding opportunity
The Global Broadcasting Sourcebook published
by the AIB is a comprehensive international media
directory covering TV, radio, cable, DTH, IPTV and
mobile. Used as a key reference tool by senior
executives in broadcasting and media companies
worldwide, with year-round updates, the directory
helps you focus your sales and marketing
activities more effectively, or put your brand in
front of decision-makers worldwide.
Print edition (388 pages) £395, 5-user PDF £895
Enhanced entries in the Sourcebook at £475 and
full display ads from £2,100 – customised
versions are available to meet branding needs
ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL
We work with companies large and small, and
realise each have different needs. When we
research our confidential market intelligence
briefings, we keep our members' individual
concerns in mind. It's always a two-way process –
information comes in, information goes out.
We attend events all over the world, we
arrange high-level networking events ourselves.
In our consulting activities we can get straight to
the point for our clients and keep consulting rates
extremely competitive, as international
broadcasting is our core business.
Broadcasting, cross-media, whatever the
latest term is now – we are right in the centre of it
in 2011. If you want to tap into our expertise, it's
only a phone call away. ■
www.aib.org.uk
theaibs.tv
+44 20 7993 2557
THE CHANNEL | ISSUE 1 2011 | 17
THE CHANNEL | INTERVIEW
GLOBALLY
VISIBLE
Philippe Rouxel joined France 24 soon after its launch four years ago to oversee
the international news channel's global development strategy and operations in
his role as Vice-President Worldwide Distribution. His mission: to make France 24
a globally visible brand, embracing all multimedia applications. His wish list for
2011 is modest: to have France 24 available in every single country of this planet.
What's his strategy?
T
he strategy of
France 24 is very
clear – three
prongs: multi-
territory, multi-
lingual and multi-
media. First of all –
and that is definitely my mission
100% of my time – we need to be
visible with France 24's content on
a global scale. If you are not visible,
you cannot be seen. The second
point is very much part of the
philosophy of France 24, it has to be
multi-lingual. We now have three
complete 24/7 linguistic versions –
three distinct services in French,
English and Arabic, sharing a common
editorial line. We are very proud to
have achieved that in less than four
years. The third point is about
multimedia - we need to be pioneers
on all the different platforms, be it
mobile, the web, all the new kinds of
tablets and connected TVs of the future.
How and where are you gaining
viewers?
For the first three years of operation
France 24 has very much focused
on establishing and strengthening
its presence in Europe, Middle East
and Africa. In that we have been
quite successful – today we have
the same level of distribution as for
example BBC World News. Gaining
global distribution is a race against
competition, a race for eyeballs and
it's a never-ending story. In 2009 we
18 | ISSUE 1 2011 | THE CHANNEL
decided to go beyond the EMEA
footprint, starting with Asia Pacific.
Since launching the 24/7 English
feed on the AsiaSat platform, we
have concluded a series of carriage
agreements, notably in HongKong
but also in Thailand, Indonesia,
Malaysia. We have now obtained
the broadcasting licence in India as
well as South Korea, we are about
to do the same for Vietnam and we
are entering Japan with a mobile
application for the 24/7 English feed.
And we are in the process of
concluding new deals for Australia
and New Zealand. Definitely part
of the road map for 2011 is trying to
enter the US and Canada and also
tapping into Latin America.
The US market is a very
complicated region, it's a headache
to find the right triggers to enter
this market. Even the BBC has a
painful ride to get into the US
marketplace. It is the most
protectionist market of all – the
cable and satellite operators know
they have a huge market, so in a
way they can dictate the terms.
What's happening in mobile for F24?
We are seriously multi-media. We
launched first on the web, and the
web today is key with something
like an average of 6m unique visitors
a month on our france24.com
website. Our demographic targets
are the present and future opinion
leaders of this world and we want
to be visible and accessible not only
“
in the comfort of their homes but
It is also when these opinion leaders are
on the move and using their phones
compli- and other devices.
cated to We developed an application
monetise with the French company Mobiclip
news which allows the phone user to
effectively download from any application
store available – Apple, Samsung or
others – the free of charge France 24
”
application directly to their mobile.
This gives the user three live feeds
– French, English, Arabic, 24/7 –
with the five key pillars of France 24
content which are news headlines
of the day, international weather
and sports, business news, and
culture/lifestyle. Right now we
know that 1.2m users worldwide
have downloaded the France 24
application, either on their iPhone
or on their Nokia or on any new
smartphone that is coming to the
market. What is interesting is that
when you look at the breakdown of
this figure it shows a worldwide
mix. We can see where the user is
based when they download the
application – we have downloads
from China, Burma, North Korea.
The web can get censored but the
mobile is more complicated and
that's how the mobile is allowing
the content of France 24 to travel
live. Parallel to that, France 24 has
also developed another specific
iPhone/iPad app and works hand in
hand with new tablet manufacturers

such as Samsung and the like.
What about charging – how can
deals be structured that benefit
FTA channels like France 24 and
mobile operators?
We position the channel as part of
what the mobile operators call the
"basic offer". We don't charge them,
but they will charge the subscriber
a minimal amount to be part of the
basic package. The standard offer
in the basic package is definitely
what we want to achieve because
our number one goal is to be visible
in front of a maximum number of
eyeballs.
Model number two – which we
are experimenting with – is sharing
the revenue for more premium
applications. Where the operator
offers the France 24 premium
option for the subscriber who is
interested in delving deeper into
world news, this subscriber will
then have to pay a little bit extra
and this will be shared between the
operator and France 24. But this
type of application remains to be
tested because it's about news – and
news is now more and more
available in a free to air fashion. It's
complicated though to monetise
news effectively.
What would you like to see happen
in terms of mobile functionality?
News needs to remain very
accessible, and if the content that
you are looking for is more than
two clicks away, then you are dead.
The development of technology in
the mobile world needs to improve
the speed and ease of access to the
core content, to be as easy and as
user-friendly as possible.
What are you doing in Japan on the
mobile platform?
NTT Docomo reaches an estimated
total universe of more than 50m
mobile users in Japan, and we are
offering them the possibility of
watching the live English version of
France 24, as well as some on-demand
elements. It's an interesting
proposition for us to enter a new
territory via the mobile phone door
- it was very much easier to enter
www.france24.com
the Japanese market with the
mobile platform rather than
traditional TV distribution vehicles.
How do you track users who jump
from the web to the mobile and
your broadcasts?
We have very precise figures about
locating the users who are
downloading our different mobile
applications. However it is very
difficult to track the behaviour of
an individual through a multiplicity
of different screens. We can clearly
go deeper into the analysis of the
traffic, platform by platform or
screen by screen, but there are no
sufficiently efficient research tools
available to-date that can measure
▼
France 24’s the different fluxes between web,
headquarters mobile and TV. This is exactly what
and studios in we would love to find out – how is
Paris
our demographic behaving and
what are the balances between web,
mobile and TV.
What about HD and 3D?
3D is good for the industry but I
don't think there is going to be a
huge 3D revolution. I think it is
something exotic that looks a bit
sexy but that's going to be that. As
for HD, it's not a question of if, it's a
question of when and how. HD is
the way to go. For example in Asia
Pacific more and more platforms
are actually jumping directly to HD
and they want HD content. And it's
a problem when you are not an HD
format channel to enter some
platforms in those markets. In Latin
America and some Asian markets,
when they migrate towards digital,
they want the latest technology,
meaning HD immediately. They
leapfrog. In Europe you can still be
an SD channel, especially in the
news segment. For us HD will be
very much on the agenda for 2011
across all three channels.
And your personal wish list for 2011?
To have France 24 available in every
single country of this planet. If you
don't have ambition then you might
as well stay asleep and live in oblivion.
Thank you, Philippe Rouxel.
THE CHANNEL | ISSUE 1 2011 | 19
 Vi d s s
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Implementing monetisation models to

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create rapid and sustainable digital growth

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SOCIAL TV -
BLUE OCEAN
STRATEGY?
In their first article in the series,
Richard Kastelein, Founder of
Appmarket.tv, and Dick Rempt,
CEO of Talents Media, explored
the changing TV consumption
landscape catalyzed by social
media. The impact on
broadcasters and TV production
is huge now that advertisers are
diverting more media budgets to
Facebook, YouTube et al. The
threats are obvious – but what
are the opportunities for new
business models when social
media blend with TV? How can
social TV produce value for
broadcasters?
I
t must be tough to be a
broadcasting executive
nowadays…watching your
audiences move to social
networks and online content
snacking and your brand
advertisers move their
budgets to social media and the
other screens.
Perhaps you have a VOD
platform or Catchup TV with pre,
mid and post-roll ads to stop the
bleeding – but now you trade TV
content dollars for online dimes, in
a constant battle with piracy – as
broadband speeds follow Moore's
Law and increase dramatically
allowing for quicker movie
downloads and more P2P sharing.
You see your blockbusting ‘must
see’ TV formats replaced by – well,
what? It’s clear you’re fighting an
uphill battle with the plethora of
new players creating havoc in the
long-standing, traditional value
chain.
Indeed the rapid innovation and
fragmentation of media can be
confusing; it’s time for new models
which pull it all together. But
luckily for broadcasters, some
things remain unchanged. Key
ingredient in good marketing was,
is, and will always be - great
content that consumers can relate
to, and placing it where you have
greatest chances for decent ROI.
Although this sounds obvious, this
might be the life raft.
LEARN FROM MUSIC
Broadcasters are facing a dilemma
similar to what has happened in the
music industry: How to make
money from our content? They
should look to their audio kin to
ensure they don’t make the same
mistakes. Don’t sue Soccer Moms
THE CHANNEL | ISSUE 1 2011 | 21
THE CHANNEL | SOCIAL TV
for illegal downloading – it’s bad
PR and in the end, you will lose
price control on re-runs of content
anyway. It’s inevitable…VOD prices
of Hulu are already dropping and
iTunes is down to 99 cents per
episode. In the music industry,
music labels (recorded) are in a
mortal position, while live
(concerts) is very much alive – and
where all the money is being made
along with new creative
merchandising strategies.
So get away from sleepless
nights worrying about threats and
look for opportunities – particularly
in Live TV and first run of content
when blended into new Social TV
format models. Based on great
Transmedia storytelling,
broadcasters as well as rights
owners have an opportunity within
the t-commerce and gaming
mechanics side of Social TV that
can turn threats into profits. We’ll
show it’s not about who controls
the content; but it’s about who
owns the content controls: the
triggers within the content.
TREND 1
Broadcasters generally now have
two main sources of revenue:
content and related advertising. We
know brands are moving budgets
to online – particularly social
network advertising… but does this
really work for them? Does it
produce ROI on advertising? Does
the advertiser actually sell more of
its merchandise?
That kind of conversion is not
certain at all – push advertising
within e.g. Facebook is quoted as
being ‘extremely annoying’ –
resulting in dramatically low click
ratios of 1 in a thousand. More
successful is branded content, e.g.
video clips sponsored by brands
that are so funny and engaging that
people want to share it with
friends. These types of content are
actually ‘engagement advertising’
which drives brand loyalty – people
on Facebook ‘like’ the content, thus
‘liking’ and attaching themselves to
the brand. Brands are discovering
the power of Facebook’s brand
pages, where people who ‘like’
22 | ISSUE 1 2011 | THE CHANNEL
them can then shop in their
“
Facebook store. This is called Social
Commerce – and there’s no doubt it
Broad- will explode as these trends now
casters become very visible online, and will
have a no doubt have major impact on
natural fit spot advertising consumption
habits on the Big Screen as well.
– but they Brands are still buying spot
have to act advertising based on GRPs – but
quickly are people really watching, let
alone buying? Maybe it’s time for
”
Social TV Commerce on both multi-
screen (Tablet/PC/Smartphone and
TV) and one screen connected TVs.
TREND 2
The most important trend catalysed
by social media is the need to share
and contribute to the experience.
People not only want to watch and
consume, they actually want to
actively connect to others while
watching. This is the reason why as
many as 50% of young viewers
watching TV are using a parallel
device or ‘media stacking’.
They use their smartphones and
tablets to share their thoughts and
feelings on Twitter and their
Facebook wall; and their remote or
SMS texting to vote in Live Talent
shows. Wouldn’t they love to
contribute, and have a bigger
impact on the story than they have
now? Here’s where the real untapped
potential for broadcasters lies: new
models for TV storytelling, in
which people contribute and
interact – and make themselves
part of the story.
TRANSMEDIA STORY TELLING
So for broadcasters to thrive on
new Social TV models it has to
produce formats that are engaging
to consumers and valuable to
advertisers – with elements of
gaming mechanics (competition),
prize offers (awards, rewards) and
participation (voting, influence). It’s
imperative to start thinking about
TV story telling in a different way –
social stories that can be consumed
and shared, joined and influenced –
on mobile devices, on the Big
Screen – or in parallel. With a story
that goes well beyond the TV show
itself…before, during and after.
The key lies in great stories
people can relate to, engage with
and become a part of. To turn ‘Must
see TV’ into ‘Must Join TV’. With
carefully built-in social triggers for
people to join, engage, contribute
and feel involved. Opening them
up for commerce as Disney
Corpdoes so well.
COMMERCIALISING SOCIAL TV
It starts with seeing a format as a
‘social story’ that you not only
watch - but can actually join, share,
contribute to and thus enjoy even
more. By immersing people into
emotion around what they love, or
have a passion for - opens them up
to, well…sharing valuable info with
you and – given the right triggers –
buying things.
Turn a format into a brand,
enable interaction that people are
willing to pay for, and in the
meantime make a decent buck out
of merchandising. Let’s for example
turn the well-known 'Britain’s got
Talent' into a true Social TV format.
What would the story be – and
what could be the revenue
opportunities before, during and
after the show?
BEFORE
On-line audition could create value,
instead of being merely a cost
factor. Imagine you give the
audience the opportunity to join the
judges of the programme before it
runs on TV, and involve them in
pre-selection of candidates. This
would enhance the media value for
the sponsor, as the public is already
involved before the TV show is
actually aired – while saving on
pre-selection and thus production
costs.
Candidates and judges sign up
through their social network
profile, automatically spreading the
format as it’s shown in their social
network. Not only would you have
direct access to the candidates – the
same would apply to the judges.
Imagine a sponsoring brand gives
people that join the format a 10%
discount on a next purchase; the
on-line part of the format would
create direct sponsor value.

When the show gets aired – it’s
already a hit because the
enthusiasm has been built on-line;
so you have a massive engaged
audience from Day 1. Obviously,
the profile data would also be of
great value to sponsors.
DURING
Now the show is live, and people
can just watch the show – or use a
parallel device to interact with each
other and the content. The content
interaction device needs to add
value to the experience, be intuitive
to use, and with an already huge
installed base – for instance your
mobile, PC or a tablet device.
Imagine you first download an
app giving access to the format
functionality. Imagine you log in to
the show, again through your social
network – your friends get an alert
you’re in. Voting? Forget about
SMS; you use your mobile with
vivid and appealing graphics. Use
the same interface to bet with your
friends, or the whole audience:
“Who’ll make it through?” In
graphics you dynamically see the
general audience’s preferences and
mood, or tap live into Twitter feeds.
And - if you really like a
candidate’s outfit, tap on the ‘hot
spot’ within content on your
parallel device and get instant info
“
and an option to purchase. In the
meantime, you can enter related
sponsored sweepstakes. Your
interaction with the format no
longer keeps sponsors guessing on
GRPs value – they now know what
you do. They get access to you,
because you like what they do.
AFTER
After the show’s aired, imagine
you’d like to see what’s happening
in other countries as well. On-line
content snacking is ideal for this;
and gives the format owners the
opportunity to tap into the long tail
of the format. You could review
hilarious content, then share it
within your network. You’d use the
same mobile format app as before.
Again, hot-spots within the content
for Social Commerce – now not
only in your own country, but in
another country where the show
runs as well. With catchup the
social strata can continue – with
trigger inputs left in place for later
consumption.
www.talentsmedia.com
Sounds like science fiction? It’s
not – as a matter of fact, all
technology necessary for such
commercialization of Social TV is
already commercially available, just
waiting for format creators that
SOCIAL TV | THE CHANNEL
combine great story telling with
enabling technologies. End users
would love it – and so would
It's new
sponsors, agencies, and brands…
revenue - and of course, broadcasters and
a blue content rights owners. It’s new
ocean revenue – a blue ocean strategy for
strategy the forward-thinking.
for the BROADCASTERS: IDEALLY
forward- POSITIONED
thinking Broadcasters and entertainment
companies have one major
”
advantage to the new online kids
on the block: 50+ years of story
telling experience. Broadcasters
have access to the content and the
scripts – and therefore control the
triggers for interaction, engagement
and…commerce.
Whereas classic TV formats keep
sponsors guessing if the GRPs are
actually consumed by the target
audience, let alone lead to
conversion – social TV formats offer
ample opportunities for extra
media value, measurements and
conversion.
It’s no longer about who controls
the Content; it’s about who owns
www.appmarket.tv
the content Controls. Broadcasters
have a natural fit – but they have to
act quickly before pure on-line
players learn how to do Transmedia
story telling as well. ■
THE CHANNEL | ISSUE 1 2011 | 23
JUST GET

INFORMED
Despite being one of the poorest countries in the world, Afghanistan has an estimated
penetration rate for mobile phone use close to 60%. RFE/RL's Radio Azadi, the
country's leading media outlet, recently launched a first for Afghanistan: an interactive
SMS/MMS service that provides free news updates and encourages citizen journalism.
RFE/RL's Chief Broadcast Operations Officer Julia Ragona, Associate Director for
Broadcasting Akbar Ayazi and Deputy Director for Broadcast Strategy & Operations
Mardo Soghom played key roles in setting up the hugely successful project

T
he mobile phone is news, weather, sports and even and responsive. We got this off the

really taking off in
Afghanistan [said
MS] so it was time
to use that platform
to deliver content in
order to
complement our radio broadcasts
on MW, FM, and short wave as well
as our bi-lingual website. We
entered into discussions with
several mobile operators in
Afghanistan and decided to co-
operate with Etisalat because of
their interest in working with us to
“
satire programmes.
We are [AA] During the 30 years of war, the
infrastructure in Afghanistan was
part of the completely destroyed. I would say
community probably now in the region,
fabric, it including Iran, Afghanistan has the
goes most sophisticated communication
deeper technology because they are starting
afresh with new technology. That's
than just why the mobile industry is growing
being a at a tremendous rate. Mobile phone
media use is quite inexpensive for people
provider and you'll see people with iPhones
and BlackBerrys in the metropolitan
ground in under a year from my
first meeting with them last
February to launch in December,
that's not a bad turnaround.
How does it work for the user?
[JR] It's a free service for all
subscribers to Etisalat. They dial a
short code and then can either send
us an SMS or MMS, get the headlines
or get emergency updates in either
Dari or Pashto, such as - you know -
'Bomb in central Kabul – avoid these
streets'. For the IVR we are providing

”
develop a comprehensive three-part
initiative – none of which has ever
been done before in Afghanistan. One
is to deliver daily news headlines
through SMS. The second is citizen
journalism – 'Citizen Journalism
powered by Azadi'. People can
send their SMS and MMS to us
which we broadcast on-air and also
post on our website. The third part
of the project concerns IVR
(Intelligent Voice Response)
technology which we launched this
www.rferl.org
areas. There are at least 14 private
television stations and four
international networks - this tells
you how fast the communications
industry is growing.
Why did you go with Etisalat?
[JR] Doing business in Afghanistan
is not simple. And in this particular
case we were trying to do something
that hasn't been done before in
Afghanistan in terms of the concept
as well as the technology behind it.
the content, so 'Press 1 for domestic
news, press 2 for regional news, 3
for weather', that kind of thing.
This was something that Etisalat
wanted to build for Afghanistan,
they have done it in other markets.
Our news content is part of a
stream that will also have more
entertainment type of content that
they are providing as paid content.
In terms of our reach, as the
number one radio station in the
country we have a lot of ears.

January – we deliver voice content Etisalat is one of the top three mobile Afghan President Karzai has stated
to people who are interested in service providers, and in addition that he starts the day listening to our
listening on the phone to the latest to their international reputation we programming. The additional
headlines, domestic and international found them to be very collaborative exposure we are getting through

24 | ISSUE 1 2011 | THE CHANNEL


Etisalat helps us to connect with
people in some of the cities and
regions where we don't have FM.
For example, Etisalat sends SMS
updates to up to 2m of its subscribers
- every two weeks initially and now
it's every month – saying 'If you
want to subscribe to this news
service for free, sign up now'.
For us it is a way to get our
content out to a new audience and
to reinforce our traditional radio
delivery, which in this particular
country is still the main platform.
And of course we get valuable
content back from our audience via
SMS and now also MMS.
What has the take-up been?
[JR] In a country where people
don't have a lot of experience
dealing with things like citizen
journalism, they have very quickly
picked up on the idea of 'Let me tell
you what I saw', 'Let me give you
my perspective' - we are getting
around 150 citizen journalism SMS
daily. That's a great boon to the
entire concept of our mission,
which is building civil society,
having an opinion, being informed.
[AA] Giving people a voice is so
important – for them to be able to say
what they want to say to a major media
organisation without the intervention
of any warlord or any autocrat.
[JR] It's also quite important that
they can speak to their fellow
citizens in a way that's not
mediated. People realise they have
got the power of their voice to
communicate with each other.
[MS] Most of the messages we get
sent reveal important, fundamental
social issues. The bulk comes from
small villages or small towns, where
people have less of an opportunity to
get their voices heard by government
officials or by the media. For
example one person writes 'Because
of the Taliban threat all mobile
phone antennae in our region are
out of order, please get this word
out'. Somebody else says they have
set up a school with difficulty, the
number of students has increased
to 320 but they have received no
help from the education ministry
and have only two teachers.
[AA] I have one example from the
city of Kandahar which asks the
opposition for restraint and help in
securing the gas pipeline with
Turkmenistan which is important
economically, politically and
socially for Afghanistan. It's issues
from daily life that people are
sharing with us.
[JR] We need to bear in mind that
illiteracy is very high in Afghanistan
- 60% for men and 90% for women.
Radio remains the most important
way for people to get news, and
this is why we distributed 20,000
solar-powered and hand-cranked
radios in rural areas. These radios
can also be used to charge a mobile
phone, as many people live without
electricity. So while the mobile phone
market is growing rapidly and
should continue to be developed as
a delivery stream, for many Afghans
radio still remains the most
important and accessible source of
news. Our most important goal is
to reach people, so we aim to cover
all platforms - mobile, radio, web –
and let audiences access our
content whichever way they chose.
Will these solar-powered radios
be used to tune into Radio Azadi?
[JR] The idea was actually to put
access to the rest of the world in the
hands of some people who just
can't afford it. We would love them
to listen primarily to us but that's
okay. Nothing is blocked, you can
listen to anything. The point is to
just get informed.
Why do you think Radio Azadi is the
top media outlet in Afghanistan?
[JR] We still have ratings of around
50% nationwide, which is remarkable.
The reason for that must be that we
are actually part of the community
fabric in Afghanistan, which goes a
bit deeper than just being a media
provider. Our radio is by Afghans
for the Afghans, and we are trusted
in a country where there isn't a lot
of trust to go around. Afghans look
at us not just as a source of
information but as a trustworthy
link to what is going on.
FOCUS | THE CHANNEL
“
The
Afghan
President
starts
the day
listening
to Radio
Azadi
”
▼ FROM TOP:
Julia Ragona, [AA] Our stringer network is probably
Akbar Ayazi, the biggest and the best in the
Mardo Soghom country. We have reporters in almost
all major provinces, we have a large
bureau with almost 100 employees
in Kabul, we are well connected.
The content and the programmes
we are providing are copied in the
market now. We focus on current
affairs, human rights issues, women,
youth, we have sports and even
political satire. Our shows engage
government officials, experts, and
the common man with all his social,
health and political problems.
Also our interaction with
listeners is probably the strongest.
We are getting 200 to 300 voice
messages every day, and we receive
over 500 letters a month from a
country where a great part of the
population is illiterate.
And now the SMS and MMS
project strengthens our citizen
journalism and gives even more
Afghans the opportunity to be part
of our station.
Thank you, Julia Ragona, Akbar
Ayazi, Mardo Soghom.
THE CHANNEL | ISSUE 1 2011 | 25
THE CHANNEL | PROFILE
PROFILE
NAME Nakhle El Hage
JOB Director of News and
Current Affairs
COMPANY Alarabiya News
Channel
MY CAREER
I started my career in a country
where media was less restricted
than in other countries in the Arab
world. The civil war in Lebanon
was at its height and news was a
major part of people’s lives. It was
during my second year in college
that I joined Voice of Lebanon as a
junior reporter. VOL, a renowned
radio station, was the main source
of news in a war-torn country and
people tuned to it for updates
around the clock. It was at this
time that I realized the role of
media and its influence in people’s
daily lives. We had an abundance
of news to give out, from war to
kidnappings of Westerners, to
hijackings and it was vital to have
accurate information at a time
when resources were limited and
technology was not at all
advanced. It was then that I had my
first experience with citizen
www.alarabiya.net
journalism and had to learn to
gather information from the public,
confirm its accuracy and deliver it
in a fast and concise manner.
I took this experience with me
26 | ISSUE 1 2011 | THE CHANNEL
when I graduated from college and
moved to television working as a
reporter. At the beginning,
television seemed less efficient
than radio because of the amount
of resources it takes to produce a
two minute report. But I soon
realized the power of visual media
and the impact a short report
makes on viewers.
In 1991 I moved to London,
joining MBC two months before it
went on air and was fortunate to
participate in the launch
preparations. We were the first
Arab journalists to use computers
and had to work with software
providers to 'arabize' the system.
At MBC, I started as a reporter
and eventually became the
producer of the main news bulletin
which for years was the top rated
television programme in the Arab
world. Working in the West gave us
the chance to learn from the
Western media and its freedom of
speech. We also had more
resources that helped us move to a
new standard of professionalism.
ABOUT ALARABIYA
In 2002, when MBC decided to
move to Dubai, I led a small team
that was in charge of the
relocation. The project of
Alarabiya came up and we
started moving towards
establishing the departments of
the channel. It was a challenge
to set up in just a few months a
channel that had news, business,
sports, and current affairs
programmes.
In 2003 Alarabiya was
launched and in 2004, when
Abdul Rahman Al Rashed
became general manager, he
appointed me as director of news
and current affairs. Alarabiya
News Channel is an independent
satellite channel that offers a 24-
hour news service and extensive
business coverage. Alarabiya is a
different experience in the Arab
news industry because it is a
business model.
We rely on advertising as a
main source of income and watch
our ratings very closely. We work
to keep our viewers and get new
ones in order to keep our
revenues coming. Seven years
after its launch, Alarabiya is the
leading news network in major
markets such as KSA and GCC
countries, ranking first in terms
of viewership ratings in the
Middle East. This was achieved
by providing objective, timely and
impartial news in addition to a
wide variety of informative
programming which has given
the station a rating as the most
credible news source in the
Middle East.
LATEST INITIATIVES
It is always a challenge to keep
this positioning and stay on top of
the news industry. We want to be
on top, delivering news that’s fast,
accurate, diverse and
comprehensive.
We have expanded our operation
worldwide and have bureaux in
major cities around the world. Our
network of correspondents
provides us with up to the minute
information on events which has
given us an edge in the market. We
were the first to interview
President Obama after his
inauguration. And we are the first
Arabic channel to collaborate with
YouTube on projects. With so many
events going on and so many
locations to cover, we’re training
reporters to shoot and edit reports
in the field and going live from
remote areas.
Alarabiya is constantly looking
for ways to diversify and bring in
new viewers. We’re always working
on new shows and developing
programmes to take advantage of
current events.
FUTURE STRATEGY
Our Alarabiya website was recently
re-launched, and our broadcast
can be watched live on the
website. Our aim is to take
advantage of technology and be
part of it, giving our viewers news
in their homes and on their
phones. We’ll be moving into HD in
2011.
OUTLOOK
Exciting and challenging! ■
The 2010 AIBs
Winners and finalists
WELCOME

W
elcome to the 2010 AIBs – the sixth annual international media excellence awards
organised by the Association for International Broadcasting. A clear sign that the
AIBs are considered one of the major international competitions was the immense
response from broadcasters, production companies and independent producers
throughout the world to our 2010 awards - we had a record number of entries from a record
number of organisations in more countries than ever before.
The range and quality of entries was exceptional, and consequently narrowing down the en-
tries to arrive at our short-list was extremely challenging. We took the decision to have up to
ten entries in our short-list which elicited a range of reactions from our international panel of
judges. Some welcomed the opportunity to see such a wide variety of entries while others
suggested we should limit the short-list to no more than five entries. Our judges are a key el-
ement in the AIBs – so my special thanks go to those media professionals who served on the
international judging panel and gave their time and expertise so generously.
Our judges' results were extraordinarily close in many categories. We had the top finalists
separated by as little as one point in at least four categories, so we checked and double-
checked the votes. It would, of course, be great to reward all the entrants whom the judges
marked highly but there do have to be overall winners. It is fair to say though that every pro-
duction that made the short-list is among the best of the best.
Among my most pleasant surprises in 2010 was the vast improvement in entries to the cross-
media category and the response to our new children's factual category. In cross-media we
saw a range of submissions that ably demonstrated the potential for story-telling across mul-
tiple platforms, whether serving a highly web-literate audience or an audience in an area
where mobile rather than web is the most effective way to reach people.
In children's factual, we saw brilliant programmes and extracts from series that deliver gen-
uinely worthwhile content to children without patronising them, with a mix of programmes
that introduce news stories and those dealing with "softer" topics. It is good to see that kids'
programming is very much alive and able to hold its own against the pull of the Web.
Our other new initiative in 2010 was our People's Choice Award – giving the viewing popula-
tion around the world the chance to determine the winner in this category via online voting.
For our initial People's Choice, we decided that "Best coverage of climate change" would be
appropriate. We supported our social media initiatives with a climate change coverage portal
at climate.aib.org.uk that will continue to run after this year's AIBs.
As a not-for-profit organisation, AIB cannot organise these awards without the support and
involvement of the industry. I therefore extend my special thanks to our sponsors –
Bloomberg Television, ADB, Eurosport, Sony Professional and 1GOAL – for their support of
the 2010 AIBs.
I also thank our host for the evening, Vanessa Mock, who made our winners, finalists and
guests from around the world thoroughly welcome.
The 2010 AIBs have been a great experience. Guests travelled to our awards night from all
over the world - some crossing the globe especially for the event at the stunning LSO St
Luke’s in London. Thank you to everyone who attended and everyone who entered. We now
look forward to the 2011 AIBs. Talk to us about getting involved as an entrant and as an event
partner early to derive the full range of benefits!

theaibs.tv
Simon Spanswick
Chief Executive, AIB

28 | ISSUE 1 2011 | THE CHANNEL

The 2010 AIBs
THE JUDGES
Malika Alouane, Director of Channels’
Programming, JCC & Baraem TV, Qatar
Salim Amin, Chairman, A24 Media, Kenya
Samuel Attah-Mensah, MD, Omni
Media Limited, Ghana
Zeinab Badawi, Journalist/Presenter,
BBC World News, UK
Paul Bristow, VP Strategy Middleware
& Consumer Experience, Advanced
Digital Broadcast, Switzerland
Jay Chauhan, VP Technology, NDTV,
India
Linden Clark, Manager, RNZI, New
Zealand
Julian Clover, Editorial Director,
Broadband TV News, UK
Bryan Coombes, Director Business
Development, Babcock, UK
Natasha Elkington, Reporter and
Online Editor, Thomson Reuters, UK
Adelheid Feilcke-Tiemann, Director
International Relations, Deutsche Welle,
Germany
Jeff Gedmin, President, RFE/RL, Czech
Republic
Jill Grinda, Worldwide Distribution
Director, euronews, France
Amir Jahangir, CEO, Mishal, Pakistan
Abubakar Jijiwa, Director General,
Voice of Nigeria, Nigeria
François Laborie, Chief Commercial
Officer, Vizrt, Norway
Stanislas Leridon, Head of Internet and
New Media, France 24 /AEF, France
Ma Guoli, CEO, Infront Sports and
Media, People’s Republic of China
Brian Martinez, International
Managing Director, Bloomberg
Television EMEA, UK
Marcus Metzner, Head Marketing &
Communications, S4M, Germany
Charles-Antoine Moulin, Editorial
Director, Eurosport 2, France
Naveen Naqvi,
Journalist/Producer/Anchor, Pakistan
Mark Rhodes, President, Intermedia,
USA
Lior Rival, VP Sales and Marketing,
RRsat Global Communications Network,
Israel
Vatche Sarkisian, Director of Research
and Program Review, Middle East
Broadcasting Networks, USA
Bhavneet Singh, MD & Executive VP,
MTV Networks International, UK Our host
Debra Soon, MD TV, Channel NewsAsia, The 2010 AIBs were hosted by Vanessa
MediaCorp, Singapore Mock (right), EU correspondent of Feature
Simon Spanswick, CEO, AIB, UK Story News. Until recently, Vanessa was
Victoria Vorontsova, Head of Spanish the Brussels-based correspondent of
Channel, RT Channel, Russia Radio Netherlands Worldwide.

THE CHANNEL | ISSUE 1 2011 | 29

The 2010 AIBs

Clearest coverage of a Clearest coverage of a

single news event - TV
Al Jazeera English
The quantity of entries to this year's single news award
was lower than in previous years, although the number
of high impact international stories remains as high as
ever. We saw extracts of rolling news coverage where
the aim was to be first, rather than to provide context
for viewers. Our short-list had eight entries, taking
into account events of interest nationally, regionally
and internationally, and produced by organisations
with very different budgets in very different markets.
Our judges awarded the top prize in this category
to Al Jazeera English for its coverage of the Gaza
flotilla earlier this year. The judges remarked that the
coverage was well-rounded, with journalists on the
ground everywhere (and on board ships, as well),
ensuring that all sides of the story were presented to
Al Jazeera English's global audience. The channel's
compilation of background footage, combined with
compelling content, excellently chosen guests who
were asked incisive questions, plus high quality
analysis meant Al Jazeera English's coverage
definitely deserved the award for clearest coverage of
a single news event.
▼
TOP: Live
coverage from
the Mavi
Marmara on Al
Jazeera English
single news event - radio
BBC World Service
As with our news television award, there were fewer
entries into this year's radio single news category -
yet AIB's monitoring of radio broadcasters around the
world shows that coverage of major news events has
not greatly decreased on the radio medium.
Our short-list narrowed the entries to just three and
the judges were unanimous in their decision to award
the top prize to BBC World Service for Connexion
Haiti, a Creole-language service started in the after-
math of the Haitian earthquake. The programme
focused on practical information and public health
advice, providing a lifeline to the survivors and trying
to publicise information about missing people.
The judges said that this was exactly the sort of
thing that international broadcasters can do so well
when disaster strikes - the 20-minute daily programme
was on the air on FM in Haiti's six largest towns and
cities as well as making the programme available on
satellite, online and via social media within four days
of the quake. The BBC's Miami studios were the base
for the programme, with a multilingual team
assembled specially for the programme.

Awards photography: Alex Beaton

ABOVE: Radio
listener in Haiti
▼

Ben Rayner,
Executive
Producer, Al
Jazeera English
▼

Emilio San
Pedro, Producer,
Connexion Haiti

Highly commended
France 24
The Battle of Bangkok
A tremendous piece of outstanding journalism, told
from behind the lines on both sides. The coverage was
high risk but achieved high impact.

Al Jazeera English
Thai protests coverage
Excellent live coverage with good analysis and
commentary accompanying a developing story made
this entry stand out.

30 | ISSUE 1 2011 | THE CHANNEL

 Winners and finalists

Best creative feature - Best creative feature -

TV
VRT
TV has the power to undo wrongs and to keep
commercial organisations on their toes. VRT's Volt
consumer affairs programme is an example to
broadcasters throughout the world, said the judges, of
TV holding companies to account.
Volt and its presenters set out to uncover the truth
about everyday, seemingly innocuous, claims from
major advertisers in an ironic, self-deprecating way.
It's wonderfully subversive, said one judge, while not
taking itself or the subjects of its investigations too
seriously. A couple of judges said that they laughed
out loud throughout - a direct hit!
radio
Tinderbox
Production
Judges were listening for exceptional, and especially
creative, use of the radio medium. Their unanimous
verdict was that they found what they were looking for
in the Tinderbox Production Flexible Friend or Foe, a
history of the credit card that traced its beginnings
back to the 1930s.
Our judges noted the excellent editing and all said
that the programme had definitely succeeded in
engaging them, thanks to an amazing display of
creativity and superb production values. A highly
relevant story at a time when the world is only just
starting to recover from people's over-reliance on
easy credit and those not quite so flexible plastic cards.

▼
TOP: Martine
Tanghe and Kobe
Ilsen, presenters
of Volt
ABOVE: Is this
your flexible
friend?
▼

Pascal Dossche
and Kathleen
Brokken, VRT
▼

Sian Price and

Terry Lewis,
Highly commended Tinderbox Highly commended
Voice of America Production BBC World Service
Bai Jie Speaks English The Day that Lehman Died
This programme is hosted by a teacher who really An absolutely gripping programme and such a good
makes you want to learn - explaining the differences story told very well, said our judges, with excellent
between American and British English. It’s a great and creative re-enactments to illustrate a complex
concept, nicely realised with a good portion of humour tale.
(or should that be humor?).
Radio Netherlands Worldwide
WDR Down's but Not Out
Pizza in Auschwitz This production tackled the challenging subject of a
An overwhelming story that often takes your breath young adult Down’s sufferer who wants to lead a
away, said the judges. Sometimes a completely normal life, one that includes sex. The main players
unbelievable set of circumstances make you think this are treated with sensitivity and warmth and the
is a fiction production, rather than a fly-on-the-wall programme is worth listening to more than once, our
documentary. It's a "must-see" that leaves you deeply judges said.
impressed.

THE CHANNEL | ISSUE 1 2011 | 31

2010. The year Sony 3D
qualified for the World Cup.
In the summer of 2010 on the World’s
biggest stage, FIFA & Sony delivered
the first global 3D coverage of a mass
sporting event. The world’s football fans
witnessed their favourite sport
like they’d never seen it before in
glorious 3D.

Delivering new workflows and

production styles to enable 3D
productions on this scale requires the
collision of creativity and cutting edge
technology, we call that Creatology.

To find out more visit pro.sony.eu

The 2010 AIBs
Sponsored by
Most innovative
technology
Sony Professional
and HBS
Each year AIB searches for technology that is innovative
and transferable throughout the international broad-
casting industry. This year the category judges came from
technology suppliers and broadcasters - and we had
significant differences of opinion between the two groups.
There was however consensus about the winner for
sheer innovation - Sony Professional and Host
Broadcast Services for the World's First 3D World
Cup. Very, very cool remarked one judge, while the
impressive effect on a massive scale marked this out
as one of the technology highlights of the year said
another. While there were some question marks about
the relevance in everyday TV consumption, one judge
said that it's really not often that something comes
along that can be so game-changing and deliver an
experience that's genuinely new in the TV world.
The judges complimented Sony Professional for its
collaborative efforts with HBS to deliver a world first.
▼
TOP: FIFA
World Cup
ABOVE: Prison
Valley online
▼
Francine Lacqua,
Bloomberg, presents
Pete Angell, HBS
and Mark Grinyer,
Sony Professional
with their award
▼
Alexandre
Brachet and David
Highly commended Dufresne, Prison
CNN International for YouTube Climate Change Valley, receive
‘Innovative’ was a word repeatedly used by the judges their award from
when commenting on this entry. One said that this Claire Harford,
was an ingenious use of existing technology to create Eurosport
excellent audience interactivity on a truly global basis,
while another commented on the fact that this was
both cost-effective and open. Next time there needs to
be twitter-like input to the debate as it happens to
increase the interactivity between the audience and
panel, suggested one of our broadcaster judges.
Ruwido Austria for Invitro remote control
"I want one!" was a repeated refrain from our judging
panel. This is a clever twist on a commoditised house-
hold product with real relevance and attraction to the
iPhone generation. And hey, it looks really cool, too.
It's simple, well thought out and beautifully designed.
34 | ISSUE 1 2011 | THE CHANNEL
Sponsored by
Best cross-media/online
production
Arte France
We have witnessed a dramatic rise in the confidence
of multimedia programme producers and a significant
increase in the quality of productions for multiple
platforms. This award is designed to recognise
productions that work across platforms, delivering
content in a way that's innovative and truly harnesses
the power of each platform it's consumed on.
This year's winner is the beautifully crafted Prison
Valley from Arte France. This comprises a documentary,
an interactive web site, a book, an iPhone app, forums,
blogs and tweets, all with one aim: to engage the viewer/
reader/blogger/tweeter in a broader reflection around
the central topics presented in the documentary. Prison
Valley was critically acclaimed by all our judges as the
most advanced form of web documentary and truly
multimedia production - they said it shows the way
ahead for broadcasters and content producers aiming
to capture the attention of audiences across platforms.
Highly commended
Radio Free Asia
Travelling Down the Mekong
The multilingual efforts alone make this production
stand out, but combined with the high quality
journalism, great story and good production values,
this is something to be truly proud of, said the judges.
BBC World Service Trust
BBC Janala
English-language teaching is at the centre of this
multi-platform production. Highly creative, with clever
use of technology to make language teaching more
accessible and with excellent use of mobile to deliver
something thoroughly worthwhile were some of our
judges’ remarks.
 Winners and finalists
Sponsored by

Most creative marketing Best children’s factual

strategy
Shree FM
Inspiring audiences to tune in, access programmes or
remain loyal to a media brand is a constant challenge
for broadcasters. AIB wants to highlight the
companies that are meeting this challenge and
inspire others to follow their lead.
For this category our judges were unanimous in
their verdict. Sri Lanka commercial station Shree
FM's Badumalla campaign worked on two levels -
firstly as a way to promote the station across the
country, and secondly as a corporate social
responsibility campaign.
It was a simple concept. Listeners were
encouraged to put up signs saying "I am a Shree FM
listener". Anyone displaying a sign had the chance to
win Rs5,000 (Eur32) worth of groceries - a month’s
worth for a family of five - when spotted by teams
from Shree FM who toured the country.
As an extension of the campaign, villagers were
encouraged to join forces and the village with the
largest number of listener signs was rewarded with a
new community hall built by the station.
It was a cleverly devised campaign, well executed and
delivered a significant growth in audience numbers.
▼
TOP: Horrible
Histories
ABOVE: Sri Lanka
President Mahinda
Rajapaksa
presented with the
Shree FM award
▼
programme or series
BBC
In 2010 the AIB has introduced a new award to
celebrate the work of programme makers who are
encouraging children - one of the hardest-to-reach
groups of viewers - to stay connected to linear TV.
Many of our judges told us that they'd watched the
short-listed programmes with their children to gain
an additional view on the voting. So our panel of the
middle-aged and the far, far younger sat down and
watched programmes from a number of countries,
produced with very different budgets and aimed at
audiences that might not all have the same number of
technological gadgets and entertainment sources at
home that many of us and our kids take for granted.
The results named Horrible Histories from the
BBC as the best programme in this category, offering
its audience a history lesson by concentrating on the
gory, messy and downright disgusting - all things
kids love!
Our judges said that this is a thoroughly engaging
and educational series, and a format that will work in
territories worldwide. Clearly a high budget production,
the programme looks great on the screen with
inventive use of graphics and first-rate story-telling.

Tarene
Fernando and Ryan
Honter, Shree FM
▼

Martin Davies,
1GOAL, presents
Caroline Norris,
Lion Television, Highly commended
with the best KI.KA - Der Kinderkanal von ARD und ZDF
children’s factual Next stop...happiness
award Nicely edited with excellent production values, this
philosophical programme stretches the viewer's
imagination. Great viewing.

BBC for Newsround

Thoroughly accessible for kids of different ages,
making clever use of illustrations, graphics and visual
support. Well-paced, the programme offers good
variety of subjects.

THE CHANNEL | ISSUE 1 2011 | 35

The 2010 AIBs
Best investigative
documentary - TV
Clover Films
The 2010 AIBs had a record crop of investigative TV
documentaries to review and sifting through the
entries proved challenging for the short-listing team
and the judges. There were outstanding productions
demonstrating real determination by journalists from
many countries.
Our winner this year is UK independent producer
Clover Films for its fascinating and disturbing film
The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan. The judges
commented on the remarkable
access that reporter Najibullah
Quraishi gained to the men who
were, in effect, pimps for child
prostitutes. Children as young as 11
were handed over by their families,
desperate for cash. This type of
investigation is risky, our judges
noted, and requires immense self-
control on the part of the reporter
and production team.
Quraishi and his team clearly wrote the book
on how to handle this type of TV investigation, one
judge said.
Highly commended
Al Jazeera English
Dirty Little Secrets
This investigation into the claims that the US used
biological weapons against civilians in the Korean war
60 years ago tackled an interesting and little known
episode - an excellently executed documentary, our
judges commented.
VRT
Blood Antiques
A descent into the dark world of Afghan "blood
antiques" and the way top-class Belgian antique
dealers conspire with looters - expertly uncovered by
VRT using good dramatisation and interviews to reveal
the truth.
Prospero Productions
Every Family's Nightmare
Remarkable access to a family being torn apart by
Australia's criminal justice system, with sensitively-
handled interviews. This investigation was thoroughly
educational.
36 | ISSUE 1 2011 | THE CHANNEL
Best investigative
documentary - radio
Czech Radio
Radio can take a more measured, sometimes less
sensationalist, approach. The investigative
programmes entered for this year's AIBs illustrate
this point.
The winner, by unanimous decision of our judges,
is Czech Radio's A Boy and the Stars, which looked at
the story of Petr Ginz, a Jewish boy from Prague who
perished in the gas chambers of
Auschwitz. Czech journalist
Stanislav Motl investigated how
the name of Petr Ginz - and his
fascination with space and
space travel - lives on in
people's consciousness even
today.
The judges highlighted the use of the sound stage
in this production and the sensitive way in which Motl
talked about a difficult, painful subject.
Highly commended
RFE/RL
Plight of Afghan, Tajik Prisoners
RFE/RL Afghan presenter Zarif Nazar worked on
behalf of listeners to investigate - and ultimately bring
to an end - the bureaucratic limbo surrounding an
agreement between the Afghan and Tajik
governments over prisoner exchanges.
Our judges noted the way in which the “Liberty and
Listeners” programme delved into the issue and
stirred up interest within - and responses from - the
▼ highest levels of Afghan government to resolve the
TOP: Tracey issue.
Doran-Carter,
Clover Films
ABOVE: Milan
Kocourek, Czech
Radio
 Winners and finalists

Best current affairs Best current affairs

documentary - TV
Channel Four
This was our most popular category once again, with
numbers of entries submitted from broadcasters in
every continent considerably up from last year. The
short-listing team sifted through several hundred
hours of generally excellent programmes to narrow
down the field for the final judging.
The results were extremely close as each of the
short-listed programmes was described as excellent
or compelling, but the judges said that one
programme stood out - Afghanistan: Behind Enemy
Lines from Channel Four Television's Dispatches
strand. Providing a unique perspective, this was one
of the best documentaries in the Channel Four
tradition. While there was clearly a generous budget
attached to the production, this was a programme
where the whole team was prepared to take a risk to
deliver outstanding television. The title most certainly
did not overpromise, the judges said, with the
programme at once compelling and disturbing.
▼
TOP: Behind
enemy lines in
Afghanistan
ABOVE: Dying to
give birth in
Pakistan
▼
documentary - radio
BBC World Service
Radio current affairs documentaries came to us from
all over the world, mixing productions aimed at
domestic audiences with those for international
listeners. All of them were a great listen, ably showing
that the current affairs genre remains key to radio
programming globally.
Our winner comes from BBC World Service with a
programme that drew the listener in from its opening
seconds - right into the delivery room in a Karachi
hospital and into an emotional and often heart-
wrenching story. Judges said that once listening to
Dying to Give Birth, it was impossible to stop, so
compelling was the production. With UN figures
suggesting that in Pakistan practically every half-
hour a woman dies because of problems in
pregnancy or childbirth, this was a timely
reminder that most women in the country cannot
afford to buy proper medical care. The programme
demonstrated the exceptional power of radio.

Tracey Doran-
Carter and Paul
Woolwich of
Clover Films,
producer
“Afghanistan:
Behind Enemy
Lines”
▼

Caroline
Highly commended Finney and Jill Highly commended
Société Radio-Canada McGivering, BBC Radio Taiwan International
The Ultimate Forgiveness World Service Breaking into Death Row
A heart-wrenching story about a community with This programme dealt with a very challenging subject
which, said one judge, I have no connection but which in a way that probably could not be bettered, said one
I felt compelled to watch and couldn't stop my tears judge. It had exactly the right distance between
during the programme. A compelling story, movingly journalist and subjects.
told with beautiful images.
Ruth Evans Productions
BBC Three A Dollar a Day
Women, Weddings, War and Me The daily grind takes on a new meaning when you're
An excellent programme looking at what a 21-year old earning almost nothing. This programme revealed that
Afghan woman living a cosmopolitan life discovers the Millennium Goals to reduce global poverty are not
when she goes to Afghanistan. Shocking pictures, making an impact. Great context and a thoroughly well-
strong emotions in an excellent film said our judges. told story brought to life by good production values.

THE CHANNEL | ISSUE 1 2011 | 37

The 2010 AIBs

Best historical Best specialist genre -

documentary - TV
WDR
Broadcasters have a unique opportunity to retell
history for a modern audience and this award
celebrates the best in historical documentary making.
Our judges were highly impressed by WDR's
Picture of the Napalm Girl and awarded this the top
prize in the category. Judges said that this was a
disturbing programme to watch. It posed some
uncomfortable questions about the intrusiveness of
photo journalism and gave remarkable insight into the
Vietnam War, the photographer and his subject.
The film was, said the judges, an amazing look at a
very personal story behind a photograph that changed
the way the Vietnam War was perceived in the USA,
demonstrating the power of photography and
recounting the courage of an amazing woman and a
brave photographer.
▼
TOP: Phan Thị
Kim Phúc, the
Napalm girl
ABOVE: The Doha
Debates
▼
TV
The Doha Debates
This category celebrates productions that fall outside
traditional awards categories. We look for the very
best in imaginative programming - a fresh angle, a
departure from the usual.
Our judges were impressed with The Doha
Debates, produced in Qatar and aired on BBC
World News around the world. It's an extremely
engaging debate programme that tackles subjects
that affect life in the Middle East, bringing
students from Qatar's universities into the studio
to ask leaders from the region the most searching
questions.
One judge commended host Tim Sebastian as
"amazing" and doing a fantastic job. An
outstanding contribution to TV in the Middle East
and around the world.

Sabine
Rollberg, WDR
▼

Tanya
Sakzewski, Series
Producer, The
Doha Debates

Highly commended Highly commended

Phoenix Satellite Television
Journey to North Korea
This offered viewers a tantalising glimpse of North
Korea with good access to military personnel and
areas normally closed off to visitors from abroad.
Excellent pace and great content were complemented
by sophisticated editing and sound.
SBS TV
Italian Food Safari
This tour of Italian gastronomic destinations in
Australia was commended by our judges for being a
beautiful and lovingly produced programme. While
principally a cookery show, it adds a sense of cultural
perspective and great visual appeal alongside the recipes.

Russian Travel Guide

Finding Seal Pups
Looking at Russia from the inside, and finding the
places we simply wouldn't otherwise learn about
said our judges. Beautifully photographed, with
insightful context provided throughout. A
remarkable programme.

38 | ISSUE 1 2011 | THE CHANNEL


International personality
of the year - TV
Stephen Sackur
Coming across as knowledgeable and well-prepared,
Stephen Sackur is this year's TV personality of the
year. Sackur is not afraid to hold his interviewees to
account, ensuring that they answer the questions the
viewer wants asked. He demonstrates that he knows
his subject, sometimes better than those of whom he
is asking the questions.
He doesn't let his own ego get in the way of his
interviews, but seems to be firmly on the side of his
audience when tackling difficult issues in trying
circumstances.
Winners and finalists
International personality
of the year - radio
Alain Lefèvre
AIB is passionate about broadcasting. This award
celebrates the on-air talent behind the microphone
who can convey their passion to an audience,
engaging them and making them want to tune in time
and time again.
This year our judges selected Alain Lefèvre as
international radio personality. Lefèvre is a classical
musician who has a two hour weekly programme on
CBC/Radio-Canada's Espace Musique network.
He is knowledgeable about his subject, as you
would expect, but it's his genuine passion for the
things he talks about that comes across so clearly
and this commitment was the deciding factor for
our judges in awarding him the 2010 title.
THE CHANNEL | ISSUE 1 2011 | 39
The 2010 AIBs
Sponsored by
People’s Choice
Phoenix Satellite
Television
Our People's Choice award has been designed to
showcase the world's best media coverage of
particular subjects to a wide global audience through
social networking and video sharing sites. AIB aims to
increase awareness of entrants' programming beyond
the conventional core audience, and to encourage
younger people to watch and enjoy content that
otherwise they might not see.
For 2010, we chose climate change coverage as the
subject - something that's been extremely topical in
the last year or so, with the Copenhagen Summit
making the news, for example, along with natural
disasters linked, potentially, to the globe's changing
climate.
The shortlist of six entries - from UN TV, VRT,
CNN, BBC, Sky Television and Phoenix Satellite TV -
was made available on YouTube and promoted via
Facebook, twitter and other social networks. We
received thousands of votes from people all over the
world, particularly in Asia, and online voting decided
that the winner was Phoenix Satellite Television's
Earth Rescue Operation.
This programme examines the major problems of
pollution, carbon dioxide emissions and increasing
demand for resources while looking optimistically at
new technological solutions and man’s ingenuity in
solving problems.
It was clearly a big hit with viewers, winning our
inaugural People's Choice award by a considerable
margin.
Peng Yan,
▼
Phoenix Infonews,
receives the
award from ADB’s
Simon Cothliff
40 | ISSUE 1 2011 | THE CHANNEL
Other shortlisted entries
Going Green – The Climate Summit
CNN International
At the time of the UN Climate Summit in Copenhagen
CNN’s programme looked at a broad range of the
major issues on the table – from the impact of the
“Climategate” scandal to the effects of melting
glaciers in Greenland and rising sea levels in Asia,
from deforestation in Indonesia to efforts to combat
pollution in countries as widely spread as Argentina,
China, Sudan and the USA.
Low Impact Man
VRT
This is a humorous but telling look at the struggles of
one man to reduce his ecological footprint and the
impact on his family and life.
Hard Talk on the Road to Greenland
BBC
Hard Talk’s format of probing questioning of
interviewees is set against the background of a
country covered by rapidly melting ice. In the
programme ministers from developed and developing
countries are asked how differences can be overcome
in order to agree inter-governmental action on
climate change.
Ross Kemp: Battle for the Amazon
Sky Television
The interviewer looks at how the production of two
highly-valued commodities, cocaine and gold, is
destroying and polluting the countryside in Peru, with
farmers and workers struggling for existence,
middlemen making vast profits and neither group
caring about the long-term consequences.
21st Century
UN Television
This special programme in the series looks at striking
evidence of how the glaciers of Bolivia are
disappearing and the effect on water supplies to
cities. It also examines the strains on food resources
in Vietnam and increasing problems of flooding in low
lying areas of the world, such as Jakarta.

SWISS
HAT-TRICK
T
he question that
might arise – be it
from competitors or
potential users:
Why did three
stations renew their
newsroom system –
and more importantly, why did
they choose NorCom’s NCPower?
Our answer to this question is:
simplification! Every journalist is
happy when their work gets easier,
regardless of whether he/she works
in a large or small TV station. We
can make this wish come true –
simply by integration. This means
that our product NCPower
represents all steps along the
workflow in only one system.
I have to say: our software is not
a magic box that can do everything.
But we have integrated numerous
third party products for ingesting,
graphics, cutting, playout etc. The
journalist who works with our
system can use all the features
provided by the other specialized
software products – and will only
see the graphical user interface of
NCPower. He does not have to
leave the system and therefore has
no need to transfer files; there are
no interfaces for the end user. That’s
why journalists like NCPower.
These days it is not necessarily the
aim of a TV station’s management to
make life easier for their employees.
What they like about the NorCom
system is that it allows journalists
and editors to produce faster, better
and to be more flexible. Plus:
NCPower uses actual standards and
cuts costs in the system administration
department. This is true for the
initial investment as well as for the
operation of the system.
But I do not only want to look
back. We are open-minded and look
at other potential solutions that fit
the need of our customers. In the end
the key question remains the same:
How do I sell my content? In my
opinion the future of TV lies some-
where between YouTube and
moderated internet live TV. On the
one hand there is a media library that
contains thematically-organised
videos. On the other hand there are
live elements that are broadcast
without delay directly into certain
channels. Both components can be
individually composed by the users
or the system fitting their interests.
Besides their traditional role as
programme makers TV stations
have to organise their content in a
way that the user can ask for
specific content.
Another issue that is becoming
more and more important is due to
the fact that as making TV is
getting easier, people are able to
produce more in less time. But the
enormous amount of content that is
TECHNOLOGY | THE CHANNEL
Headquartered in Munich,
Germany, NorCom AG managed a
hat-trick in 2010: the company
implemented its 'NCPower'
editorial and production system
as the central newsroom system
at three Swiss TV stations –
TeleBiel, TeleZüri and TeleBärn.
TV might reach masses but for
technology providers like NorCom
it is not exactly a mass market.
Three full featured stations in a
small country like Switzerland in
one year is a benchmark, says
Robin Ribback, Head of Product
Development at NorCom IT AG
produced can be confusing. The
“
question is how to retrieve it. Or
The future more precisely: How can I retrieve
the right content at the right time?
of TV lies This is where our new product
somewhere NCSpace comes into play.
between NCSpace is a cross-industry
YouTube solution and can be useful for all
and marketing or brand driven companies
– because they all work with video.
moderated NCSpace is an intelligent media
internet asset management system that
live TV supports storing, searching,
retrieving, editing and distributing.
”
There are thousands of possibilities
for entering markets – from E-
Learning to product presentations
to PoS TV to customer service
videos. We started in the field of
Digital Signage since we see a great
potential there. At the moment we
are looking for partners in this field
and have already established
cooperation with three major
players. One of them is
friendlyway. Our goal is to create
common, standardized end to end
solutions. We are the backend,
friendlyway is the frontend and
makes NCSpace come alive.
With NCSpace we want to
contribute our broadcast experience
to other industries. And we hope
www.norcom.de
that this will also work the other
way: our knowledge gained in
other industries will help us widen
our horizon regarding broadcast. ■
THE CHANNEL | ISSUE 1 2011 | 41
THE CHANNEL | FOCUS
CUSTOMISE AND CREATE
The phone and the role that the mobile handset
plays today is very different from that of three, two
or even one year ago. The user is playing a much
more important role, demanding 'Just make it do
what I need it to do', says Aldo Liguori, Head of
Communications at SonyEricsson
CONTENT FOR MOBILE
We are promoting our smartphones
as the most entertaining phones,
meaning that in our world the user
is interested in using it not just as a
communications tool but also in the
entertainment sphere – for music,
as a navigation device, connecting
with your Facebook fans, reading
up on the latest news. It very much
depends on the interest of the user,
normally we see a user downloading
6 to 9 different applications. And
then it depends how you live your
day – maybe news is your content
first thing in the morning, throughout
the day it could be more email,
voice and text, and later on in the
afternoon when you wish to find
where your friends are, which pub,
which restaurant, then you use
your phone for that purpose.
Often it depends on the time of
day or even if it is weekday or
weekend. New applications which
are constantly being developed
have a place because people are
looking at refreshing. Probably the
core four, five types of content will
remain the same.
CONTENT TRENDS
One type of content is "Me and the
phone" – the opportunity of doing
something with your phone, like
playing a chess game, where the
signal to make calls or deal with
emails is not strong enough.
The other content is more about
"Me and how I fit in with my group
of friends", it's more of a sharing or
“linking up with others” type of
content. These are the two extremes
which will play a bigger role.
FREE VERSUS PAID CONTENT
We believe content should come
from a number of sources,
42 | ISSUE 1 2011 | THE CHANNEL
including of course application
developers directly. Choice for the
user should include having content
downloadable free of charge and
using it free of charge, as well as
applications which cost. I think it
depends on the content.
There already is the type of
model which the broadcasters
introduced years ago, and users are
used to that – your basic package
which is the minimum, and then it
goes from there depending for
example on whether I'd like to see
not only all of the UEFA matches
but also the Italian league or the
Spanish league.
Obviously watching content on a
large screen in the privacy of our
home is one thing, viewing content
on a considerably smaller screen, a
handheld handset is something
slightly different. But I am comfortable
to have that content in my hand on
a smaller screen because it helps
my commute be more pleasant.
I think that broadcasters are
starting - the way that publications
are starting - to capitalise on the
mobile handset opportunity and in
some cases modify the content to fit
this device.
DIALOGUE WITH PARTNERS
I'm not familiar with any ongoing
dialogue with broadcasters, we
could in some markets have that
dialogue. First and foremost our
direction is to be the closest friend
and partner of the operator out
there, be it O2, T-Mobile, Vodafone,
AT&T, or Docomo. Working with
the operator customers is our
strategy in all of our markets. The
second area of our partnership
strategy is with companies such as
Facebook, Foursquare, Google.
These are important partners where
we share a common understanding
of either reutilising the operating
system [SonyEricsson smartphone
strategy is built on Google's
Android platform as well as
Microsoft's Windows Mobile], and
how can we leverage each other's
contents, what are the
commonalities.
EVOLUTION
What has changed significantly is
that instead of a user thinking of a
phone in terms of features, features,
features, the phone is now a tool
which you and I customise. So the
whole design of the phone has
shifted, larger size screen and touch
screen technology - you have the
choice of a virtual keyboard on the
screen or a model with a keyboard
that slides from underneath the screen.
The other aspect is all about
compatibility, my phone and your
phone looking at some common
applications. And the best way that
we can share, the phone does not
necessarily have to come from the
same manufacturer but certainly
from the same platform or open
source. A big change is to go from
www.sonyericsson.com
proprietary to open source.
USER BEHAVIOUR
We have a very comprehensive and
well established programme of
trend research. Our team is based
in a number of locations around the
world. Concurrent to that, we share
our philosophy for the future in
terms of technologies which we
believe will become important in
the next 12 to 18 months with
operators. So we have this ongoing
dialogue to ensure that our
thinking is in line with their
thinking which is in line with the
end user.

At the end of 2010 Nokia released a list of 92 developers who
have each seen one million downloads or more of their mobile
applications. There is a huge opportunity for content providers,
says Gerard Grech, Head of Content for Media and Games at
CONTENT FOR MOBILE
We are talking specifically about
Ovi store which is growing at a
tremendous rate. We are now at
3.5m downloads a day [December
2010] and every week these figures
increase. Over 70% of our downloads
are games and apps, and games
continue to be our No 1 content for
paid downloads. When it comes to
free downloads, it's very much
apps that are spearheading that
category. In the area of games,
evergreen games like sudoku, chess
and Tetris always perform consistently
regardless of country and device,
whereas on the apps side news and
information tend to perform very
well across multiple territories.
In some territories more than
others either because the catalogue
is more substantial in one country
or it could be that broadband
penetration isn't as high and there-
fore they are using their mobile phone
to access breaking news and
information, and also weather.
Another area that is doing
relatively well is utility, tools and
productivity type applications, and
also things like our Tesco Groceries
apps, everyday brands that people
rely on as part of their mobile
lifestyle. And finally, entertainment
performs consistently across
multiple devices and countries.
There is a big drive from our
perspective to make sure that we
www.nokia.com
have the best locally relevant
publish.ovi.com
content as possible. On average,
when the content description and
metadata is translated into the local
language, we see an over 20%
increase in conversion.
CONTENT TRENDS
One area that is gaining popularity
is 'kids and family' - one example is
PUBLISH TO MOBILE
Nokia, as constantly increasing download figures
demonstrate the huge appetite from users
the educational quiz game Capital
Cities. And utility type brands or
digital lifestyle brands are increasingly
popular as brands go mobile. Every
active Ovi store user is averaging
8.5 downloads per month, so
clearly there is an appetite for the
content we are providing. Every
second visit right now is actually
generating a search, so people are
looking for stuff as well as browsing
for stuff to download and consume.
FREE VERSUS PAID CONTENT
It comes back to the question: What
is motivating a publisher to create
an app in the first place? Some
application developers are looking
for recognition, others are looking
for creating a local audience, or a
global audience, others are looking
to make money directly, and others
are trying to add value to their
current consumer base by providing
their service on mobile. Either way
it is always value creation.
We're offering operator billing to
100 operators in 30 countries which
means that we are able to widen the
billing mechanism for our
consumers as well as our
publishers. The user has the option
of whether to pay by credit card or
via operator billing, and what we
find is that people choose operator
billing because it is seamless and
intuitive as a payment mechanism.
From Nokia World we announced
the new fixed revenue share which
roughly breaks down to 60/40 with
the developer getting 60% of the
revenue and the operator taking the
remaining 40%.
DIALOGUE WITH PARTNERS
Ovi store is a global distribution
mechanism for our publishers and
it is a self-service platform. We
FOCUS | THE CHANNEL
encourage publishers to use the
platform to see what is resonating
well with the consumers in different
markets, and to change the price
point of their content and find the
sweet spot between demand and
revenue generated. No one can
really say what's the best price point
for a piece of content, unless it has
been tested and tried with
consumers. We have a publishing
tool called Ovi app wizard that
very much decreases the barriers to
entry for publishers and allows
anyone with a blog or newspaper to
publish an application to Ovi store.
EVOLUTION
We'll see the importance of
connected apps rather than single
purpose apps. What I mean by that
is applications that make use of a
number of services to create even
more value to the consumer. Take
the example of Nokia's Gig Finder
that leverages Ovi maps – it tells
you which bands are on at your
local venue and it also tells you
how to get there. Another good
example of connected experiences
is Shazam where you are able to tag
the music and then you are able to
buy it from the Nokia music store.
USER BEHAVIOUR
We do a lot of analysis in real time
in terms of seeing what consumers
are preferring to download, what
kind of star rating they are giving
the content. There are cultural
points to take into account when
developing applications – the Card
& Casino app for example does not
tend to do as well in India. We
actively share consumption
behaviour by device and country
with publishers so that they can
make their own informed decisions.
THE CHANNEL | ISSUE 1 2011 | 43
THE CHANNEL | FOCUS
SMARTPHONE DEMOCRATISATION
With the slogan 'quietly brilliant' HTC is one of the fastest-growing
companies in the mobile sector. Phil Blair who as Product Director
HTC EMEA is taking products from an engineering stage through to
launch, says that in 2011 over 60% of the mobile market will be
smartphones – even your mum will have one
CONTENT FOR MOBILE
From the usage perspective, user
generated content is probably No1.
It's over 50% of content consumed
on a daily basis. After that,
navigation and location based
experiences are very important.
And after that I would put news
and sport as the genres that the
average smartphone user is
consuming daily.
If you look at usage patterns and
adoption of smartphones, social
networking is one of the biggest
drivers in terms of mobile usage.
Photos, movies, posts, comments,
everything that you see on the
social networking sites is taken to
mobile.
We are seeing much more
demand for very specific experiences
around the content that people
want, whether it's social networking
or weather, news or sport. Very
specific and dedicated widgets that
give end users the information that
they want in a compelling way. An
example is our Weather Widget
which delivers weather updates in
a rich and graphical way.
CONTENT TRENDS
As screen display sizes get larger,
there are some really interesting
developments happening around e-
books, newspapers, magazines. In
particular magazines have a very
rich story to tell on a mobile with a
large high resolution display where
you have an interactive experience
with links through to other content.
That's something you'll see more of.
And movies, you can't ignore.
FREE VERSUS PAID CONTENT
It is a big challenge to persuade end
users that there is a cost and a value
associated with content. It really
depends on the category of content,
the business model, and how easy or
44 | ISSUE 1 2011 | THE CHANNEL
difficult it is to monetise that content.
From a music and movie perspective,
there's a relatively strong push to
move to subscription based models,
so for example for a specific fee per
month I have got unlimited music
wherever I am. For the newer type of
content, magazines, certainly with the
tier one titles, you'll see publishing
houses trying to monetise specific
applications in a standalone way.
For example if you are an OK
magazine reader there would be an
OK magazine- specific app.
Persuading somebody to pay a
premium for content just because it
is on the mobile is very challenging.
You have to offer something that is
different and where it is crystal clear
what it is and what value it adds. If
I am an Economist reader and I
want the magazine on my tablet
and my smartphone potentially I
am prepared to pay for that. It's
much simpler to develop business
models around very clear and
specific content rather than a much
broader offering where you attempt
to monetise an iPlayer type service.
DIALOGUE WITH PARTNERS
We talk with a lot of content
providers and are sharing our
experience and our view in terms of
what we think our customers are
looking for. Our discussion is more
about enabling them to bring their
offerings to our customers, less about
saying 'You need to put more of
this type of content or more of that
type of content'. Our markets and
end users decide what they want.
EVOLUTION
End users want compelling
experiences that are optimised for
their phone and thought through
end to end. So we are less focused
on individual features. Let me give
you an example – we have done a
lot of work to
integrate the
most popular social
networking communities onto our
device so that they are a seamless
part of the day-to-day experience
for the consumer. That's the
opportunity and the expectation
from the market.
Every person now knows what a
smartphone is - they don't necessarily
know what the platform can or can't
do but they have high expectations
in terms of experience. They turn
that kind of phone on and a new
world is opened up and delivered
to them without them having to
think about what is it they can or
can't do on that device.
A democratisation of smartphones
is happening. If you take the UK for
example, the forecasts are for 2011
that 60% plus of the entire market
will be smartphones which is a
fundamental shift in the market. A
lot of that 60% is not going to be the
multiple device user – one phone
for business, one phone for other
uses - but also my mum and your
mum and people who previously
had fairly basic feature phones.
USER BEHAVIOUR
We invest pretty significantly in terms
of user experience. Two things are the
drivers. One is genuine innovation
– we are a product driven organisation,
www.htc.com
pushing the boundaries of technology.
We also do a lot of customer
observation, trying to understand
what people do in their day to day
life. The smartphone with the
conference calling experience that we
launched some time ago was based
on what our Chief Innovation Officer
had observed and experienced himself:
if I have a conference call in my diary,
I just want to touch the screen and
it dials in, and not only does it dial
in, it also cues up the access code.

CONSUMER VIEW
Ultimately the media business is all
about Mr Consumer and his eyeballs
and his wallet. If he does not press
the button or part with his cash, then
it's all for nothing. We sought out the
views of the man in the street (44,
married, two children) with a keen
interest in technology. He currently
has a Nokia X6 but changes phones
every 18 months with a new contract.
He is not an early adopter, doesn't
see the point in paying a premium for
being the first to have something.
His use of mobile is phoning 60%,
camera 10%, time, alarm and
reminder functions 10%, internet
5% mainly due to the fact that you
need Wi-Fi for it to work, the rest
texting. Here is what he thinks…
CONTENT ACCESSED
Sport is number one, some news,
occasionally finding out train times
etc.. The problem still seems to be
download speed and time. I use a
fair few apps – the map function is
amazing, my phone is as good as a
portable GPS car navigation system.
If you want to catch up on the
soaps going home and listening to a
podcast, the mobile is acceptable,
but for gaming you want a screen
that is going to immerse you. At
present, the mobile screen lacks the
all-round vision and lustre.
EVOLUTION OF MOBILE
I think the devices are going to get
smaller. For the next generation,
special glasses and headsets might
make all the difference. The other
way to go is to expand the screen.
Your phone will be tiny, perhaps
you will be wearing it on your watch,
but it will have a screen which can be
expanded to the size of an envelope
at least, if not A4 size. Then the games
that people now play on the Xbox
will come to the phone, but just as
likely people are going to enjoy
playing Sudoku. All this will at
some point merge with computing,
so everything you can do on your
PC you can do on your phone.
Looking further ahead, computing
will be implanted into us, so that we
can connect to the web through our
minds rather than having to sit at a
keyboard and pull information out.
Building the interface is challenging,
but medicine is keeping pace with
technology. It's happening already.
FOCUS | THE CHANNEL
MOBILE ASPIRATIONS
As Mobile World Congress 2011 gets underway, AIB
asked a cross-section of its members for their views and
wishes in the area of mobile
NEWS IS A DRIVER
In the mobile environment, international news content has proven to be a
driver for new subscriptions to services. With the mobile you want to stay in
touch with your friends, your family and business contacts, and you want to
stay in touch with what goes on in the world, and international news is
definitely right in that space.
Philippe Rouxel, VP Worldwide Distribution, France 24 www.france24.com
CROSS MEDIA SALES
Advertising still is the number one revenue source for most media
companies. Increasingly, advertisers and agencies are not planning
individual commercials but full-blown cross-media advertising campaigns.
This needs the right tools and technology so at S4M we developed a 'Central
Sales Order' (CSO) module that enables companies to centrally control
cross-media sales campaigns. Using S4M’s CSO existing and new sales
systems for diverse platforms can be combined – no matter if they come
from different vendors. That way, clients can deal with combined advertising
campaigns for TV, mobile devices, the internet etc.
From order and deal management, to budget split and allocation, to sales
channel performance tracking and invoicing – all important tasks can be
accomplished centrally. This open approach lets media companies fully
exploit the opportunities that lie behind the cross media idea, generating a
solid financial basis for the different platforms that provide the content.
Marcus Metzner, Head Marketing & Communications, S4M Solutions for
Media www.s4m.com
MOBILE IS INTEGRAL
We are excited to see how technological innovations continue to fill the gaps
with regards to delivery, creating an even more seamless user experience. In
many ways, this “anytime/anywhere” access has already begun with
podcasts, livestreams and video-on-demand.
But the way in which users consume information will also change the way
in which it is delivered – and we are looking forward to this evolution.
Guido Baumhauer, Managing Director of Distribution, Deutsche Welle
www.dw-world.de
DIGITAL RECEIVERS FOR THE MOBILE
What we want is easy responses, for example things like being able to do
polls of our listeners – people responding by just going 'yes' or 'no', using 2G,
3G or 4G mobiles so that they can participate easily in a public debate and
engagement process.
Video content is very important but there are an enormous number of
people who use their mobile phones to access audio content. It is very
important for our telco providers to understand that people use their phones
like we used to use radios while we are doing other business, such as driving
cars or going about our work. If you focus on what audio options the mobile
can provide, it becomes one of the new powerful tools.
We want those phones to have FM receivers in them, and also digital
receivers like DAB or DRM chips. Participation in media leads to people
texting and calling one another and that will generate income for the mobile
phone companies.
Michael McCluskey, CEO, ABC Radio Australia www.radioaustralia.net.au
THE CHANNEL | ISSUE 1 2011 | 45
 INTERVIEW | THE CHANNEL

PARTNERSHIPS
NOT HANDOUTS
Nairobi-based photojournalist and entrepreneur Salim Amin is the son
of the late photographer and cameraman Mo Amin. He now runs the
family company, Camerapix, and is Chairman of the Mohamed Amin
Foundation. In his quest to help raise journalistic standards and
challenge censorship, Salim established A24 Media, Africa's first online
agency for video and stills content. We asked him: What are the
opportunities to take part in African media?

T
he opportunities are
vast if you have
good content. The
mobile phone
revolution on the
continent has given
content owners
another platform to reach people
and the internet, with fibre optic
cable being laid around the
continent, is also going to expand
rapidly. The whole future of
content distribution in Africa is
going to be through the mobile
phone, there is no doubt about that
in my mind.
The key is that Africans really
want to see African content. They
don’t want to see so much inter-
national content, they want to see
content that is relevant to their lives
and they are willing to pay for it.
Camerapix/A24Media
carriers of content as opposed to
international broadcasters which
was our original model. Africa's
state broadcasters are becoming
more commercial, but there is also
space being opened up for private
channels, more and more radio
stations, more newspapers.
How free are commercial broadcasters
in their news reporting?
Let's take Kenya as an example.
Kenya is perceived to be one of the
freest media spaces on the continent
with now almost 12 TV channels,
probably 70 or 80 radio stations
around the country, dozens of
newspapers.
Behind the scenes there is a very
different scenario because the
majority – probably 96% - of these
media outlets are owned in some
from the people in power, when in
order to make money media houses
need to have this investor base
which unfortunately most of the
time is led by politicians.
Where do they get the money from?
The politicians are corrupt in just
about every country on the
continent. So the money is ill gotten
gains from deals that they have
been doing on the side and which is
then put into media to consolidate
their political position. This is my
biggest concern about the media in
Africa - while there is a lot of media
coming up, how independent and
how objective is it?
In Kenya we saw in the last
election how the radio stations,
particularly the vernacular radio
stations, were responsible for some

In our business we have seen
this massive shift in audience
interest over the last ten months,
that has changed our revenue
streams as well, where 80% of our
▼
way by politicians. Politicians have
understood the power of the media,
they understood the ownership
factor – how it can help with their
campaigning in future elections.
of the violence that took place
because they were spreading hate
speech. And without some sort of
regulation or control it's going to
become an increasingly bigger

Post-election
violence in Kenya, revenue is now coming from The problem is, how do we keep problem. The government
2008 African broadcasters and African the media independent and away obviously can draw up guidelines,

THE CHANNEL ISSUE 1 2011 | 47

 THE CHANNEL | INTERVIEW
but I think it has to be a self-
regulating industry. However, if the
ownership stays the way it is now,
that self-regulation is never going
to happen. So it's a real dilemma.
We as a business have managed
to steer clear of that because we are
operating as a pan-African media
organisation, we don't have any
particular affiliation to any one
country, we just happen to be based
in Kenya. We also like to think of
ourselves as completely apolitical,
we just want to tell good stories. We
need more organisations like
ourselves that are looking at the
bigger picture, are looking beyond
borders and are not beholden to
particular powers.
Censorship is a big issue in
countries like Eritrea, in Ethiopia,
even in countries like South Africa
where they are trying to put in
place new media regulation to
muzzle and control the media.
What are A24's aims?
A24 in a nutshell is a content
aggregator. We basically gather
content, either content that we
produce ourselves or from
contributors - freelance journalists,
African broadcasters, NGOs that
send us content on a daily basis
from around the continent, mainly
feature stories.
We are not a hard news agency
yet, we hope to be getting to that
point as the communication and
infrastructure improves around the
continent. We verify the content, it
goes through our editorial filters,
we add footage from our massive
archive if we feel the story needs
more context or more background,
we put it up on our portal and
distribute it to both broadcasters
within Africa and to broadcasters
around the world. 60% of any
revenues we receive for a particular
piece we give to the contributors
but most importantly we ensure
that the contributor keeps the
copyright of their work, unless of
course they want to sell it to a
channel for exclusive use.
We want to empower more
48 | ISSUE 1 2011 | THE CHANNEL
African story tellers and journalists
“
to (1), earn more revenue, and (2),
We want to keep ownership of their content
because we feel they will then have
empower the ability to earn revenues for
more many years to come.
African The lesson on copyright was
story learned from my father's time
tellers and because he kept the copyright of
everything and this is why we are
journalists sitting on possibly one of the
to earn largest archives on African history
more anywhere in the world: three and a
revenue half million photographs and over
10,000 hours of video. We also now
and keep
take on different types of longer
ownership form content, like serials, sitcoms,
of their soap operas and start distributing
content them to other African broadcasters
and creating those links between
”
broadcasters that they have never
had before.
Slowly African broadcasters are
understanding that they have to
pay for African content, and
advertisers are also understanding
that people want to see this and
therefore are putting their sponsor-
ship behind African-made products.
Does content produced in East Africa
work in Southern or West Africa?
The content definitely works. If you
look at the Nigerian film industry,
Nollywood, they are producing
tens of thousands of films every
year. It's the third largest industry
in the world.
The product is terrible in most
cases in terms of production
qualities, but the amount of sales
that they make – DVDs, VCDs –
around the continent is in the hundreds
of thousands if not millions, simply
because the stories that these films
focus on are ones that every African
can relate to. The one thing that we
have in common throughout the
continent is our problems.
What about the standard of
production values?
There has to be investment in
training, that's key. On the feature
film side bigger studios have to
come, and more training of sound
engineers, directors of photography,
set builders and so on. What has to
change is that broadcasting media
houses have to understand that
they need to have specialist
reporters, they need to have
investigative journalists in different
fields, in business, in entertainment,
in sport, in art, and in news and
politics, reporters that understand
the issues they are covering.
The training also has to extend to
media managers. They've got to be
educated in how independent
journalism is supposed to work,
how to give their journalists
freedom to go and report, not have
them constantly restricted, and not
deploy them to do things that are
not their speciality.
Journalists also need to be paid a
lot better. The fact that they get
paid so little leads to them being
easily influenced by the powers
that be, either politicians or
corporates. The journalists might
have a lot of pride and love for
what they do but the brown
envelope will continue to change
hands as they have to eat at the end
of the day.
Are people willing to accept help
from outside?
The idea of handouts being given to
us is becoming less and less
palatable for Africans. They would
like to do it themselves but we are
restricted because we don't have
the infrastructure. There has to be
some sort of partnership, it's got to
be done as somebody investing in
us where hopefully there is a
return.
In an ideal world I'd like to see
that any assistance that comes to
the continent in terms of training
has a return, either a revenue share
or a return in terms of content. We
are doing this at A24 because part
of our organisation has a large
training component with the
Mohamed Amin Foundation.
For example we have just trained
14 journalists from Somalia. But we
did not just train them and send
them back - using the A24 platform,
the content they produce from now

on will come back to us and we will
then market this content. So as long
as they continue to provide us with
content, we will give revenue
shares back to these journalists.
And pretty much everybody is
happy. Hopefully this will translate
into good well-told stories coming
out of Somaliland that have not
been seen before.
The newer NGOs, the media
savvy organisations see the value of
not just training people and
forgetting about them but having
this constant flow of content
coming out that can be received by
them and the rest of the world. The
traditional organisations are
missing the point completely. I
don't think they get anything back
from what they put in.
How is TV in Africa overcoming the
problem of the many languages?
In most countries there is a main
language that most people
understand. What we are doing
with our content is to put subtitles
on but then again a lot of people
can't read. I really don't like voicing
over other people's languages
because it takes away the magic
and the charm. If the pictures are
strong, if you shoot a story properly
people will still understand what
the story is about.
So much of the conflict on the
continent arises because of this
diversity of tribes in Africa. People
are focusing on the differences
rather than the unifying factors.
And I think TV could play such a
major role in that – for example
with a soap opera that has people
talking in different languages,
communicating, intermarrying,
having a normal life but still
maintaining their own
individualism and their own
language.
And Facebook and Twitter are
opening up avenues for people to
communicate in their own
language – even in a slang that
everybody of their generation
understands.
Certainly with the younger
generation, the talent is there, you
have just got to give them the tools
and they'll go. Look at the concept
of the iHub, these technology
centres set up by entrepreneurs that
provide good internet connection
and access to laptop for tech
innovators. There are a dozen of
these hubs around the continent in
INTERVIEW | THE CHANNEL
▼
Students at
Nairobi’s newly-
opened iHub
▼
Salim Amin
▼ Masai
watching
television
different countries. Kids can come
“
in, exchange ideas and develop
Media things and will hopefully make
money. Web sites like Ushahidi
houses which is a Kenyan born and built
have to site have gone way beyond Kenya –
understand it was hugely successful in Haiti
that they during the earthquake, bringing
need to crowdsourcing technology
together.
have
reporters And the outlook?
who are The future for African media is
specialists bright. There are a lot of challenges
that we have to overcome, but the
in their
talent is there to overcome there,
fields the desire is there and the work
”
ethic is there. I would hope that in a
few years' time African media
would be reasonably independent,
and will show every aspect of life
from an African perspective. I
would love to see an African media
that comes out united to say 'This is
who we are, this is what we do and
this is where we are going. Yes, we
need your help but come in and
help us as partners. Make money,
www.a24media.com
leave, stay, whatever you want, but
understand it belongs to us. It's our
continent, we need to sort it out.'
Salim Amin, thank you very much.
THE CHANNEL | ISSUE 1 2011 | 49
USER POWER
After 15 years with the BBC, Hosam El Sokkari joined global internet brand Yahoo! early
in 2010. As Head of Audience his role is to build the strategy for both audience and content
for Yahoo! Middle East Arabic and English gateways, merge user experience across
platforms and develop a stronger tie between media and community channels. Keen on
user generated content, he believes users have already left behind the division of
'traditional' and 'future' media. We asked him: what is specific about Yahoo! Middle East?

W
hen
Yahoo!
decided
to go to
the Middle
East, it
did not
attempt to build the experience
from scratch. In 2009 it acquired
Maktoob, the Arab world's largest
online website and community.
Maktoob's strength in the region is
based on the fact that it emerged
from the Arab world, developed
within its cultures and addressed
its issues and problems. The new
Yahoo! Maktoob is an extension of
Technologies that will tweak the
way the page appears the more
users use it.
How does Yahoo! perform in the
ME versus other search portals?
Yahoo is much more than a search
portal or engine. Search is one of
the services that we offer and as you
know Yahoo! and Microsoft have
signed a deal for Yahoo! to use Bing
as a search engine which is a deal
that will be implemented in stages.
What we do at Yahoo! is about
bringing everything to you in one
place. All your online experience
side by side with your email, news,
Yahoo!, you can bring everything
that you use on the internet into your
Yahoo! experience. As a company
we provide content, we aggregate
content, we partner with relevant
media and content providers in the
region to create a rich immersive
experience for our users.
What are you doing in mobile content?
We are building our mobile content
strategy for the coming year. Our
goal is to give Yahoo! users the
same joyful experience on their
mobile platforms as they experience
on the web.

this.
At the end of 2010 we launched
our Arabic and English portals for
the Middle East, using advance
technologies that Yahoo! uses in the
US allowing the website to adapt to
its users and learn their habits
“
current affairs, sports, celebrities or
It is a entertainment news. We do not even
differentiate between our own products
revolution and others that you enjoy. You can
in the bring Gmail/Google Mail to your
mind set Yahoo! front page, integrate it and
access your email on Google via
What are the initiatives in the area
of Connected TV?
There are different viewing
experiences that are internet based
and we are working on all of them.
Firstly we are working on our VOD
channels which we have already

”
when they interact with the site. Yahoo!, you can access Facebook via launched with Rotana, Al Jazeera

50 | ISSUE 1 2011 | THE CHANNEL


and many others offering news and
entertainment in video. We are also
in negotiation with other vendors
to bring the movie experience
closer to home which will be very
useful for places that do not have
access to movie theatres. In
addition, we are exploring with
regional operators the potential for
internet and IPTV.
You are providing content yourself
for example in news, weather,
finance – what else is planned?
We provide and commission
content. My aim is to work with the
industry in the region to develop
and support content creation and
provision as a business model. We
have recently signed a deal with
Saudi Research, one of the biggest
publishing houses in the region to
have the right to distribute the
content of more than ten flagship
publications online. We have
launched a new entertainment
destination for celebrity news and
features bringing OMG as a brand
to the region. The content is
provided by production houses we
have commissioned: NGi and
Arabia Inform.
I am also working on future
initiatives that are similar to what I
have done before at the BBC.
Initiatives that integrate the social
media environments bringing users
and their experiences to the
forefront of the production process
itself. Turning them into an integral
part of the creation activity.
What is your relationship with
traditional broadcasters?
I don't believe that what we
describe as traditional is radically
different from what we call new
media. We will eventually stop
using these terms: "traditional",
"future" or "new” when we talk
about the media. Users don't
differentiate between these
experiences. They move seamlessly
between platforms depending on
their mood and needs. Only
journalists seem to make an issue
there!
It is all about content that we
need to create and format in such a
way that would allow it to travel
“
through pipelines that can be
In the next shared between devices and
production environments.
three
Quite a lot of the Arabic content
years that exists in the region is in linear
some 50 formats (some of them are digital
million but still linear) and to catch up we
new users need to work on transforming such
linear content into digital content
will join that is malleable enough to be
the internet formatted for different channels
population and devices. At the same time we
in the should encourage content creators
region to be mindful of digital future
production issues and to improve
”
the quality not just the quantity. We
in Yahoo! put a lot of effort into
working with the providers,
standardising the process and
taking them through what is
needed to get their content in shape
for digital sharing and
manipulation. This investment is
very important for the whole region
and needs everyone's support.
We should also not forget that
we often have a lot of content
sitting around but not treated
properly as content! In Yahoo!
Maktoob we have a large number
of forums and blogs. These have
existed since roughly 2000 before
the emergence of major social
platforms. The content is really rich
and full of experiences of users and
information that people have
gathered. We are working hard to
put this content in the right place so
that it can be enjoyed by others and
be an integral part of a content
portfolio that can be supported and
monetised.
The challenges here are both
technical and conceptual. Users are
becoming very powerful and
treating their content and
experience with respect is key for
future success. In the next three
years we are expecting 50 million
new Arab users to join the internet.
This will put a lot of responsibility
on us and everyone reaping the
benefits of the new digital economy.
maktoob.yahoo.com
What is the most exciting aspect of
your work?
To feel that you are part of a
revolution not just in content, but a
INTERVIEW | THE CHANNEL
revolution in the mind set, in the
way that people think about
information and use it, in the way
that they distribute it. It's a two-
way process – you are benefitting
people and at the same time they
reshape whatever you produce for
them in ways that make you rethink
how to improve it even more.
On a daily basis we analyse
traffic to understand how people
consume information on our
website and what topics are
trending so that we can include
them in our editorial plan. It's not
just getting information from the
traditional sources and the licensed
content that we get from the
agencies it's also what I call sensing
the social pulse - what people are
talking about and what they would
like to talk about and bringing it to
the forefront of attention.
What does the future hold for the
average consumer?
He or she is shaping the future of
this industry by adopting or
abandoning technologies and by
showing us the way. We go where
the consumer wants us to go. We
are being forced to merge our
production environments because
consumers are merging their
experiences across platforms. We
need to anticipate and follow and
work on consumer habits and
consumption trend changes.
Users will increasingly dictate
the agenda. If you follow the
communities from the region on
Twitter and Facebook you can see
that they are reshaping the
information we receive, nothing is
taken for granted as it used to be. A
piece of news can be a focus of
ridicule so that the actual content
will be of less relevance compared
to the experience around it, taking
it far away from what producers
intended for it. This is worrying
some governments in the region.
They are paying more attention to
social media now - they have
started creating groups and
infiltrating others in an attempt to
recapture the media initiative.
Hosam El Sokkari, thank you.
THE CHANNEL | ISSUE 1 2011 | 51
 Broadcasting in eight languages across Asia
and the Pacific, ABC Radio Australia faces
the challenge of making scheduled listening
to scratchy short wave compelling while at
the same time providing stimulating content
for multimedia platforms. Dr. Michael
McCluskey was appointed Radio Australia's
new Chief Executive in May 2010 after 25
years with the ABC. What have the first
months in the job been like?

I
was excited, and to some
extent anxious, when I first
went into the role. I suspect
even being a decade at the
head of an international
broadcasting organisation
you won't come to terms
with the depth and complexity of
delivering content to multiple
cultures in multiple languages,
while maintaining the perspectives
of your own country, and at the same
time trying to grab the perspectives
of other countries and reflect them to
one another, as well as back to your
own domestic markets. All the while
aware that the media industry is
the most rapidly changing business
that you could possibly be in. So
coming to terms with the brief has
been an interesting element for my
first few months in the role.
What is that brief?
I think the brief is to tell stories in
meaningful ways. From the Radio
Australia perspective it is to tell
to them. Some have argued that for
international broadcasting this is less
important now because domestic
broadcasting is available through
the internet and mobile platforms
to anyone in the world, just about.
Is that the case in your target areas?
Not in the rural areas of the Pacific
and the regional and rural areas of
South East Asia, no. But if you are
going into the sophisticated cities of
South East Asia, yes. There is a very
good offer of domestic services
from their own country, and better
broadband than we have in
Australia at the moment. People
can consume just about anything
they want. Any domestic service
anywhere in the world that is now
streaming its content or making it
available through podcasts or other
platforms in the digital space, we've
got to compete with that.
How do you make RA stand out?
We are starting a process to build a

BIG
compelling stories about the cultures
within Australia, and to deliver
those stories in powerful ways to
people in languages that are
new model of delivering content.
We are going to drive audio in a
much more hybrid fashion, so we'll
have bi-lingual radio stations that

ISSUES understood by the communities to

which we are broadcasting, as well
as in styles and context of the issues
are streamed online, available
through transmitters in certain
locations in the Pacific and South

LOCAL and the stories that are taking place

in the countries we are going to.
The brief is to tell those stories so
East Asia. We'll effectively have
nine audio stations and we'll be
able to contextualise stories in both

CONTEXT that the culture and the values of

our country are understood and
consumed by people of other
countries in a way that puts it in
context with the issues that matter
English and in the language of the
country we are going to.
The other part of it is we'll be
telling those stories in digital media
as well. We have to take into

account the diversity of the people
who are totally connected to the
people who are almost not
connected. We have just done a
survey in Papua New Guinea
where a large number of people are
saying they are still accessing our
content through short wave radio
listening. In South East Asia and
the Pacific we have to continue to
provide that content and not
disenfranchise the audience that
exists, and make that scheduled
listening to scratchy short wave
more compelling than it has been in
the past, and at the same time
provide interesting, stimulating
content for all of these multimedia
platforms.
How do you make SW compelling?
The way we are doing this is to
focus more on live content. There is
nothing to stop us now
participating with the audience,
even in the short wave space. They
may not have any electricity, but
they still have access to mobile phones
in many markets now. That means
as long as we don't cause them to
spend money which they don't
have we can communicate with
them through texting and through
providing free text services.
We are offering an opportunity
to engage with important stories in
a way that matters to you where you
are living but gives you a voice into
a global issue, big issues like global
warming, economic downturns,
whatever we want to talk about. It's
a globalised debate that has
context. The context of my country,
the context of your country.
What does this mean for producers?
Well, we are learning. We are
working currently on training
programmes with our journalists
about handling the day-to-day
direction with your audience, about
the issues of the day and how we
cover them best, and how we respect
the cultures into which we are
going, yet be robust and be brave to
tell things how they are. So all of
those elements are being put in place.
And interestingly enough, you
know how at times people become
enthused with change, a number of
our programme teams in different
language units have actually
decided 'We don't want to wait for
the change processes, we want to
start moving into the live
interactive programming now', so
instead of the old scheduled
content they are moving to the idea
of 'this is live, we want your
interaction' and surprisingly, within
a very short period of time, people
have started participating. It's
really quite remarkable and it tells
us that people are interested.
What are your geographic priorities?
We focus on our neighbourhood,
South East Asia and the Pacific,
specifically the South West Pacific.
We broadcast in Tok Pisin and in
French as well as in English to a
number of countries in short wave
and we also run some FM
transmitters in a number of
countries. We are going into South
East Asia in five languages, on a
number of different platforms, but
by and large we are going in on SW
and in FM and the content is
distributed to partner stations who
are broadcasting elements of the
content at different times of the day.
Some of that content is specific
genre programming, such as
innovations and technology, and
some of it is current affairs style
programming. In future, content
will be interactive and live, and can
be run as live or as a repeat/
rebroadcast. We won't have the
resources to run nine different
services 24 hours a day, so some of
our content will be repeated. What
we want to do though is deliver
content that actually matters to
audiences wherever they live. So we
will have quite different English
feeds for a large amount of our
content going into Asia, and in the
Pacific we are separating out Asia
and the Pacific.
Are rebroadcasters still hungry for
content?
The answer is definitely yes. One
hopes that our content adds value
to the content they are delivering to
their audience. There is another
INTERVIEW | THE CHANNEL
element - it is hard to continuously
“
go out 24 hours a day making
People still quality content. Some of these
partner organisations might be
access our
running three or four radio stations
content on different topics in their markets.
through How are you going to feed the
short wave savage beast? So if you can find
relevant interesting content and
”
you know that it is from a trusted
source, that's another reason why.
What is your relationship with the
TV service?
Australia Network television
targets basically the same market,
with a slightly wider geographical
area. There is shared content –
some of our presenters present on
the TV and on the radio. Our news
service, the Asia Pacific News
Centre, is a shared resource, as are
digital and online spaces. We
complement one another and we
intend to complement one another
even more. We have exactly the
▼ same purpose.
Live from Siem
Reap
How is RA available in Australia?
Domestically Radio Australia is
▼ Governor Felix only available through online
Camacho of access or through your 3G mobile
Guam interviewed
phone. Radio Australia has never
at the launch of
RA’s first FM in directly transmitted within
Micronesia Australia - which is a very
interesting point. We want people
to understand that Radio Australia
and Australia Network are
providing an incredibly powerful
service to the country, a very
informative and entertaining
service to the region, and that this
is something that is fundamental to
our standing in our community. It's
not just about seeing how
Australians operate within the
context of the Australian domestic
environment, it's about how we
engage on global and important
issues with the constituents, the
citizens, the ordinary people of
other cultures. It's very important
www.radioaustralia.net.au
that Australian citizens living in
Australia understand that that is
being done, because most of them
can't hear our service and don't.
And we want that to change.
Mike McCluskey, thank you.
THE CHANNEL | ISSUE 1 2011 | 53
THE CHANNEL | TECHNOLOGY

CONNECTED
COMEBACK
You just plug your TV directly into the internet or your router and
hey presto, you've got Connected TV. With Panasonic's VIErACAST platform, all you
need is your remote control to access quality news content, buy and watch videos or
grab videos stored on networked devices in the house and stream them onto the big
screen. And there's more to come. Fabien Roth, General Manager Consumer TV at
Panasonic Europe predicts that within a year 75-80% of the market will be connected
TVs. So what's the unique selling point?

I
t's all about making it
seamless for the end user.
We are bringing online –
but not only online –
services to the TV and are
making it affordable and
user-friendly for the
consumer just as if he was
manipulating a normal TV.
Euronews recently signed up as a
partner – how does it work for them?
Like many content providers they
are looking to find new ways to
expand their distribution, and they
realize they also have to be present
on the connected TV.
For a news provider who
probably owns most of the rights
for their content, Connected TV is
output but they want to be there.
We work with Eurosport, Bloomberg,
Nova in the Czech Republic, ARD
Tagesschau, ZDF and many others
and there are currently a number of
NDAs in place until the
applications are released.
The second chunk of content
comes from providers like YouTube
or Dailymotion that come from the
internet and want to enter the TV
window.
The third big pillar is the video
on demand companies. We have
Acetrax and some other brands,
you can buy your movie and watch
it at home directly on your TV.
The fourth area is probably
gaming or gambling, like playing
poker on your TV and so on.
Which revenues do you share?
If we sell VOD, then there'll be
revenue sharing on the fee that you
pay to see the movie. If you talk
about web/online content
providers, there will be some
revenue sharing as soon as the
advertising model has reached its
critical size to be profitable. It's not
a target for manufacturers like us to
build up revenues on that, the
priority is to sell TVs.
What other ways are there to
monetise VIErACAST?
We could also sell products, if there
is a store that wants to join
VIErACAST and sell products then
we become a distribution channel.
You can also have registration or

really interesting because it is not
only giving access to this
information in a different way, but
it is also expanding the coverage.
With Connected TV we can bring
euronews to the entire world as
long of course as we sell TVs in all
countries – which is the case.
Do you focus on news?
I think there are four pillars in
terms of content acquisition. One is
porting the traditional broadcasters
on the TV - they don't want to do
“
subscription, or video conferencing
What's the procedure if a broadcaster We think and phone calls. I think it is really
wants to join VIErACAST? open.
Depending on how complex you
the end
want the final application to be, it user will Your new platform only works on
can take between 6 weeks and 4 probably Panasonic models?
months to develop. At the moment use three Our point was we did not want to
we don't charge companies for reproduce the PC experience. We
or four
access to the portal, we are in the developed our proprietary
phase where we are growing and
applications standard based on JavaScript which
gaining experience. per day is much quicker and does not stall.
We usually have a set of but no Of course that does not mean that
contracts with our partners, there is more for the future we are not interested
also a revenue sharing model, and in having a common standard.

”
exactly the same as in their normal usually it's a renewable agreement. HbbTV is not detailed and strong

54 | ISSUE 1 2011 | THE CHANNEL

enough yet to switch to it. But let's
say it is showing positive signs. All
the members of the HbbTV group
are talking to each other and
the broadcasters to shape this new
standard.
How does it function for the user?
Users simply have to plug the
Ethernet cable into the back of the
TV and it's done. We also have
wireless now. It is very easy to
change this plug and then the TV
will get an IP address and you can
push on your remote control the
VIErACAST button and you access
your portal.
Our strategy at Panasonic is to
focus on quality content and not on
quantity. Some people went down
the road saying 'Well, let's offer 300
applications and let's try to order
your pizza on your TV' but we
think the end user will probably
use three of four applications per
day but nothing more. What we
need to make sure is that we got
those applications.
Mr. Average bought a large flat
screen TV, then switched to HD, then
thought about moving to 3D, and
now VIErACAST comes along. Will
sufficient people make the switch?
The market is about 50m sets. What
we see is that the turnaround rate is
shrinking and now people are
replacing their TV every five years,
it used to be 8 or 9. The second
thing is the flat TV has allowed new
applications like in the kitchen or
bedroom. We see a big growth
market there. And if you are not
ready to upgrade your TV, you can
“
connect to VIErACAST via a
Flat TVs Panasonic Blu-ray DVD player or
Home Theatre system. In that case
allow new the TV is just a monitor.
applications
in the Many people watch TV while
kitchen or interacting with a web-connected
bedroom – device. Your platform merges this
into one – is this what people want?
that's a I think the mainstream TV viewers
big growth just want to watch TV. Last June we
market launched Skype. Now you can
watch your favourite TV
”
programme and you can have
somebody calling you on Skype - a
small icon comes up at the bottom
of the screen. You could I guess in
the future also chat, whether it's on
Facebook or other sites. We are in
the process of combining both.
How do you make sure web content
looks good on a big screen?
We are usually involved in the
encoding process – very often we
www.panasonic.com
have to re-encode the whole library
and redefine the parameters so that
it looks good on the TV. It's a
business model issue basically
because as soon as you say 'I want
to stream high quality' – fine, we
can do it but then you have to pay
for the bandwidth.
On the other hand it is also a
good differentiating factor for most
content providers. If you launch a
VOD service and are doing it in HD
that gives you a plus as well.
TV sets with VIErACAST can also
grab and stream videos stored on
networked devices in the house.
What has the feedback been?
It's not the majority of users doing
that, it's more like 10-15%. It's
something you have to offer
because many people are
downloading videos now on
computers and want to watch the
videos on their TV.
How will you develop VIErACAST?
As far as we are concerned in
Europe it is to extend local content
on top of the European one. You
need to have a strong local offer,
this is one of the key drivers. The
user interface becomes quicker,
better looking. The direction is to
include more and more video
codecs, more and more DRM. In
terms of pure video capability of
the TV we are there already - also,
technically VIErACAST already
supports 3D but we are not offering
it because we don't have the 3D
content.
What does the home of the future
look like?
I see seamless connectivity between
devices – between your mobile
phone, your TV, your tablet PC. The
convergence will allow you for
instance on your TV to control the
opening of your door or to have
some security camera that you can
see on your TV. I see the TV not
only in use for watching TV, being
on for longer periods during the
day because you are also doing
other things with it, such as video
and video communication.
Fabien Roth, thank you.
THE CHANNEL | ISSUE 1 2011 | 55
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AMBITIOUS
TRANSFORMATION
On any given day, more than half the world's population
sees news from The Associated Press. As senior vice
president, Daisy Veerasingham is AP’s business leader
for Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Currently,
she is overseeing a multi-million digital video
transformation for AP’s video news business, which is
based in London. It is, she says, an ambitious project but
absolutely necessary
f you’d asked me just five
I “
years ago where I would be
watching the news, I would It’s imper-
have said, “with my feet up,
in front of the television.”
ative we
But today, everyone’s talking give our
about the move from big customers
screen to small screen, about the choices
multi-screen world, about watching about how
video news online, on mobile
phones, on tablets.
they
How does the Associated Press, receive
long the world’s news agency for content
breaking international news, satisfy
”
these ever-changing market demands
while also anticipating those to come?
At AP, we’re embarking on a video
business transformation that we
believe will provide the ability to
pivot rapidly to meet the needs of
all customers – no matter the size of
the screen. The initiative, announced
in November, will expand our global
video coverage while upgrading
our newsgathering infrastructure
by providing still and video images
in high definition for both broadcast
www.ap.org
and digital markets. We aim to do
so in time for the London Olympics
and what is shaping up to be a
contentious but fascinating race in
the U.S. Presidential Elections.
Ambitious? Yes. Necessary?
Absolutely.
Think about the information
driven world we live in now. For
the consumer, it’s all about choice:
getting your information when,
where and how you want it. So,
TECHNOLOGY | THE CHANNEL
then, it must also be for our
customers. As well as getting the
strong content AP is famous for, it’s
imperative we give our customers
choices about how they receive it.
I’m convinced that this year will
be the tipping point when a
majority of international TV news
markets will want pictures in high
definition. AP’s initiative will give
both the traditional broadcast
market and digital platforms a
wide array of options about how
they receive our video. We’ve
already heard from many
customers excited about getting
their AP content in high definition.
A key first step is equipping our
video journalists in the field with
solid-state cameras, many with
cellular-enabled backpacks that
allow them to file video directly to
AP’s main video production centres
from the field, increasing speed to
our customers. In parallel, we will
upgrade all parts of our video infra-
structure to support HD, starting with
the master control room and video
production system in London. The
work builds on the success of APTN
Direct, the first live news agency
video service, which AP introduced
in 2004. And that work builds on a
long line of technological innovation
throughout AP history, including
pioneering the use of satellites to
deliver news and creating the first
all-digital photo network.
For now, the broadcast market
remains the critical one for video
news. It makes up the bulk of our
customer demand, and is expected
to continue to grow at healthy rates
for the foreseeable future. But
online and mobile markets will
offer all content providers
increasing opportunity as well. And
we need to be prepared to offer
both broadcast and online content
raw, edited or packaged. That
means a digital end-to-end solution
like the one AP is undertaking.
Ultimately, however, it always
comes down to content. With the
proliferation of so many screens and
so many ways to receive information,
it is more important now than ever
that consumers receive news that is
relevant to them and that they can
trust. AP has long been the definitive
source for authoritative breaking
news. We are, for example, the only
Western news organization with a
permanent video operation in
North Korea, which has led to a
series of global scoops.
With video playing an increasingly
important role, we will be adapting
our coverage to areas of higher
demand, moving journalists to
where customers need coverage.
No matter whether the end
consumer gets their news on an iPad,
smartphone, television or newspaper
web site, customers need to know
that the content they are providing
is trustworthy. As we say at AP,
“Get it first, but get it right.” ■
THE CHANNEL | ISSUE 1 2011 | 57
VLAS...
The changes in the ways we
manage and enjoy our consumer
lifestyle will seem somewhat rapid
to casual bystanders over the next
few years, argues Ken Blakeslee,
Chairman of WebMobility
Ventures. But to the digital lifestyle
residents and immigrants of today
it will all seem very natural and
logical as new and existing
industries will be led by consumers
down a path of change

D
iscovering innovations with high
potential must start with
understanding what satisfies
customer needs and desires. This has
always been the key to revenue and
profits. I usually start my quest by
using my crystal ball to look five years
out and then “backcast” to the present in one year
steps. Only the right combination of technology
enablers, commercial environments and consumer
desire will cause the future to crystallize in the way we
imagine it will. Based on this approach, here are a few
of my insights for the next few years:

CONTENT WILL STILL BE KING, BUT CONTEXT

WILL BE QUEEN
Content, applications and searchable info databases are
now all in place. The breakthrough for continued
enrichment of this asset will come from the wisdom of
the consumer "crowd" who will progressively define
and refine the big head and the long tail of content and
applications. The mechanisms for this are inherent in
the social and search capabilities that people use today.
Access to info and content is a given and it is interactive
and media-rich already. The ability for man or machine
to search and find relevant snippets is well developed.
Mobile will enable this content to get a lot more
"Pushy". Personalisation and context awareness are the
keys to the transition from search (“Pull”) to just-in-
time discovery (“Push"). In the next few years people
will have at their disposal info that enhances their
awareness, well-being and competitiveness. Plus it will

come to them in a much more natural,
timely and entertaining way.
PUBLISHING BECOMES
PERSONAL AND INTERACTIVE
Getting everything in a much more
personalised and timely way will
cause monthly and even daily
periodicals to become old news
before printed. Colourful and
descriptive magazines of today will
be too flat and not interactive
enough to satisfy the crowd.
Already we are seeing the once
growing racks of magazines in
large bookstores dwindling in size
as well as the thickness of the
publications themselves.
Newspapers? For the most part
gone in as few as five years –
maybe sooner. ePads and colour
ePaper will become more dominant
at home and on public transport.
But the key to all this is the
availability and constant
production of rich and interactive
content – something that magazine
publishers aren’t typically well
endowed with right now.
INFINITE CONTENT, APPS
MOBILITY AND THE CLOUD
Broadcasters, pay attention!
Content creators and gatherers and
applications developers can take it
from here, with the consumer as
their constant and reliable feedback
loop. Tap into it!
One-wayness is no longer viable.
The cloud will be bigger, better and
become infinitely blessed with
content and capability. And it is at
the consumer’s disposal.
Connectivity to the cloud is
ubiquitous globally now and will
improve to meet user needs.
Technology has now put the
consumer in charge of what he or
she can choose to view. That’s why
things can and will happen fast, but
the focus has to be on the personal
value derived, not the underlying
technologies.
SCREENS EVERYWHERE
Small is the order of the day with
personal devices and rich interactive
content on tap everywhere but still
not as enjoyable as it needs to be
from a pocket-sized mobile device.
It’s the small device/large screen
dilemma! People will carry less, but
have more.
So especially of interest to me
are the innovations in what I call
the "Virtually Large, Actually
Small" (VLAS) technologies - large
screens in small packages - Pico
projectors and video eyewear
(glasses with the screen(s)
onboard). I’m watching companies
like Vuzix, Microvision and others.
These are commercially available
and consumer affordable and will
constantly evolve to bring the value
from the cloud into a user’s line of
sight, anywhere, anytime. In most
cases these "virtual" displays are as
large as or larger than the physical
screens we enjoy at home, yet can
fit in your pocket or bag or be
embedded in the devices
themselves.
YOUR CONTENT, ANYWHERE
The habit of time and place shifting
infotainment is becoming totally
second nature to most. The
combination of affordable mass
storage in the pocket, home and
cloud plus connectivity everywhere
means each person’s rolling
‘collection’ and stream of content
will be on tap at all times and
enjoyed on whichever screen and
speakers best suit the situation.
The large assortment of cable
connectors on modern TVs is
evidence that the separation of the
screen from the source of content is
inevitable. This is phase one, but
two key elements are now iterating
and becoming more mature.
Firstly, the cabling is going
wireless for the task of getting from
devices to screen. Secondly, the
technology mix of the various
connectivity boxes now found in
the home will merge and take on a
bit of applications capability.
Operator inhibitions, not
technology, have driven the design
of the boxes we connect to our TVs.
Slingbox and AppleTV are but two
examples of innovations whose
design was driven by consumer
desire not historic business models.
More will follow.
TECHNOLOGY | THE CHANNEL
3D FOR THE MASSES?
“
For most of us, we spend all our
Especially waking hours seeing things in 3D.
of interest So, it's not a surprise to me that 3D,
done right for once has become
are the quite popular in everything from
innovations sports to games to blockbuster
in what I movies.
call the User generated 3D content is
also coming along rapidly thanks to
"Virtually new consumer priced digital
Large, cameras as well as facilities on
Actually YouTube, Flickr and other content
Small" repositories which now support
techno- both downloading and conversion
to multiple 3D formats.
logies Some of the portable VLAS
”
devices described above also
support stereo 3D viewing natively
due to the "virtual" large screen
being made up of two tiny screens
inside (left and right), offering 3D
glasses that do not need to be
aimed at bulky screens. What could
be more personal than that? Mobile
is an emerging channel for 3D
content.
A MOBILE TECHNOLOGY
INVASION?
The desire for personal mobility in
the way we consume content has
already changed a few industries
(e.g. music and social networks). In
some cases this has caused
disruption to the historic industry
structures, but in time has left the
www.facebook.com/MicrovisionInc
consumer with more and better
www.facebook.com/VuzixEurope
ways to access personalised content
and spend their entertainment
budget.
www.webmobility.eu
Thanks to ubiquitous access,
miniaturisation of everything and
enablers like the VLAS
technologies, we will be able to add
line of sight information plus "sit
down/feet up" entertainment to the
list of things people will be
equipped to do anywhere. People
can be cool and connected at the
same time.
All in all, a good outlook for
consumers, but not without some
industry disruptions I suspect…
But the inherent value of quality
rich content remains. The
challenges will be migrating to the
new delivery channels and business
models. ■
THE CHANNEL | ISSUE 1 2011 | 59
 QUOVADIS,CHINA?
Since 2003, the China Media
Project at the University of
Hong Kong has been working
with editors, writers and
producers from various
media in China to analyze the
process of media reform in
China. The project is directed
by veteran Chinese journalist
Qian Gang. We spoke to editor
and film maker David
Bandurski who has been
involved as researcher in the
project for six years now –
how do they get inside
China's media?
60 | ISSUE 1 2011 | THE CHANNEL
n important part
A
of our project is
our fellows
programme -
journalists from
China from all
sorts of
backgrounds. We put them together
in a closed door session and we talk
about what they were facing in
China – for example how they
reported a particular case, say
official corruption, what dangers
they faced, what challenges.
We get a glimpse in these
sessions with our visiting fellows
how the environment is changing,
how journalism and media actually
work in China. We can't share
everything that we glean from
these meetings, there is a level of
respect and protection towards the
fellows as obviously talking about
some of these things can be quite
sensitive. A lot of people would
think that investigative journalism
does not exist in China because we
hear about the controls. But in fact
in does.
How are China's domestic media
changing?
If we talk about China's media
sector as an industry at all, it is not
until the 1990s that this happened.
Even the word 'media industry' was
not used in the mid-90s, that gives
you an idea how young Chinese
media are.
You have party newspapers in
the mid-90s, they have their own
commercial spin-offs, newspapers
that have to sell advertising to
survive. Not only do they not get
subsidies from the government but
they have to pay a large portion of
their profit to the party publications
that run them. In that way they are
tied into the party press apparatus
in China, and this is how they are
politically controlled.
On the other hand, they are no
longer simply beholden to their
party masters, they have readerships.
So you have in the late 90s the
reader, the media consumer, actually
emerging as a force in China.
Within this process of
commercialisation as we call it we

have a number of other changes in
the late 90s. We have the beginning
of the internet in China, especially
after 2003 it is really taking off. And
the third factor is professional
journalism in China's media.
So while the party is
emphasising the role of journalists
as press workers for the party, they
think of themselves as working for
the public interest. They are
responding to readers and giving
them coverage.
What's happening in radio and TV?
China National Radio, the state
radio network has quite a robust
website but radio is a difficult
medium to track. Radio and TV are
perceived differently from the print
media. They are often more
sensitive because they are seen as
having a real mass reach, and that's
particularly true for TV. The
interesting changes we have seen in
TV have been party media like
China Central TV moving along the
axis towards commercial content,
encouraged as a matter of policy by
the party.
The move to make content more
relevant, we have seen that across
the board in TV. And then we have
seen the emergence of regional TV
interest, like Hunan TV for
example. Hunan TV played this
game of getting smart about the
provision of commercial content
but completely avoiding content
like news that could get them into
this murkier area of media control,
and they were quite successful.
They were the first to introduce
programmes like Supergirl - a kind
of American Idol of China.
Each time we saw CCTV
hurrying to catch up and to copy
these commercially viable
programmes. In the last couple of
years we have had a lot of these
new dating programmes in China
that were largely very successful,
but since the July 2010 politbureau
session the leadership is moving to
crack down on these kinds of
programmes which are seen as very
low-brow, over the top and over-
commercialised as well as in some
cases maybe a little bit politically
dangerous. Supergirl had a voting
just like American Idol which
presented a real problem for that
programme. So we have a moral
crusade since July that has affected
TV programmes.
Right now journalists are a
major public nuisance in our
country
Peking University professor Kong
Qingdong (孔庆东) during a
November 2010 interview in
which he singled media in
Guangdong out for criticism
What are audiences looking for?
I would say that the Chinese media
consumers are hungrier for
information just about than any
population you can imagine, and
part of this is that they have been
denied information for so long. You
have got this interesting picture
where you have a very controlled
media environment in China but in
spite of that you have got incredible
growth. They are of course looking
for lifestyle coverage and consumer
coverage, they are looking for local
news, this is what the commercial
newspapers specialise in.
So for Guangdong near Hong
Kong you have Nantong Daily with
news about the leaders, you get
these pieces that are very dry about
policy announcements – the
information is not made relevant or
even understandable for the
average person. And then you have
ANALYSIS | THE CHANNEL
▼
Catching up on commercial newspapers, they have
the news on the millions of readers, they are
Shanghai metro
providing whole sections on
consumer products, on local daily
news, they have reporters on the
▼
FACING PAGE:
A haunting image beat covering crime. The growth
of the effects of story in China is the explosion of
pollution in social problems and social tensions.
China, by award-
There are still so many issues
winning
that are either impossible or
photographer
Lu Guang difficult to talk about but are of
immediate importance. Issues like
food safety, environmental
problems, epidemic diseases. This
is why the internet has taken off. It
has also created the world's biggest
rumour mill because the
information is closed on the one
hand but there are still all kinds of
rumours and unconfirmed
information and people consume it
because they want to know.
How does the internet work in China?
You have to understand that the
major internet portals just
aggregate all the editorial from the
“
major newspapers of the day. There
is no news on these portals that is
That gives released by the site itself because
you an they are prohibited from having
idea of their own news outfit. You don't
what really have online journalism
happening except the citizen
would journalism or bloggers who are
happen if unofficially reporting news, which
there is a is another issue.
relaxation But what we see happening with
the internet portal is that you have
”
a local story – for example children
THE CHANNEL | ISSUE 1 2011 | 61
 THE CHANNEL | ANALYSIS
being severely poisoned by
emissions from local factories –
reported by a commercial spin-off
of a provincial level party
newspaper and then picked up by
the internet portal and making it a
national story. The provincial party
paper, the mother paper of that
commercial paper, never reported
that news. They kept silent.
So you get this circular thing
happening with reporting where
you might have a local story about
environmental destruction or such
like, then it is reported on a forum,
then a local or national newspaper
will find it and then they will go
and do their own reporting on the
story. And then that again will go
through the major web portals and
be consumed across the country,
commented on and shared, even on
Twitter which is blocked in China
but is still quite actively used by
élites.
How do people share videos?
The online video has been a
particularly sensitive area. One
thing the leadership has done
recently is to put the new media
into the hands of trusted party
allies, so they are more than happy
for CCTV to get into the online
video business.
There were about a million
websites shut down in China in
2009, it was a very bloody year for
China's internet industry. There
were a lot of small and medium
sized websites, many of them were
legitimate start-up websites that
62 | ISSUE 1 2011 | THE CHANNEL
were getting into areas like online
video. Many of them could never
get back on their feet and that was
the whole point. We see a lot of
investment in areas like online
video by party media, for example
People's Daily Online, the web
version of People's Daily, is a
massive site, there is a lot of
investment in it. That's a double
standard - the commercial internet
portals in China can't have their
own reporting team, but People's
Daily can. This is partly an effort to
push the party media into a kind of
position of strength on the internet.
▼
Poster for The What about content in English?
High Life, The English language content in
produced by
China is for consumption by
David Bandurski
foreigners to project an image of
China. You will have élites that
consume English language content.
The key part there is not the
consumption of the English
“
language content itself, it is the way
Really get- it is shared through forums like
Twitter. Now you have Twitter and
ting into micro blogs in China that pass
China's around this information from
media foreign language media reporting
industry is on issues that are not covered in
a pipe- China and they are sharing them in
Chinese language through these
dream social media in China.
right now
The mobile phone – how is it used?
”
Definitely multimedia content is
the direction. Mobile phones are
used actively by journalists and we
see a lot of interesting citizen
journalism as well, networking on
topics of interest or irritation, like
http://cmp.hku.hk
the building of these extravagant
local government buildings in
China. Citizens have the power to
build up the story, and a lot of this
is being done by mobile phone.
What are the opportunities for
foreign media coming into China?
Media consultancies might give
you more specific answers on the
opportunities available, but in terms
of content, really getting into
China's media industry is impossible.
It's a pipedream right now.
News is definitely an area that is
completely closed to foreign media
players. Someone could tell you
which little hoops to leap through
and for certain types of companies,
yes, they can find some opportunities,
but thinking broadly this massive
media market is not going to
materialise. I hear there is a lot of
activity on consulting. If you have
experience at Al Jazeera or the BBC
and can advise the central party
media on their strategy in creating
international media, there is more
interest in your services.
What's happening with HD, 3D?
The film industry in China is
definitely looking at 3D because
they are always looking at what is
happening overseas – unfortunately
in a kind of imitation mode.
The problem is all the film
production money is state controlled.
Many of the young generation of
film makers produce unofficial,
unapproved films and show them
at festivals around the world. But
the tragedy is they can't access their
own domestic Chinese audience
because of political control.
We see more and more use of
HD in China in the hands of
academics who are making
documentaries. You have quite an
interesting independent movement
in terms of the sheer number of
people involved. They are finding
ways to finance their own projects,
they are going out with Apple Pro
and Final Cut and make their own
film. That gives you an idea of what
would happen if there is a relaxation.
What is on your wishlist for China?
The issue of accessing information
and free speech has become
absolutely critical now for China.
My wish would be that China can
move towards political reform and
part of that political reform should
be opening up the media. China's
press is a lot better than we give it
credit for. A lot of coverage that we
get on China in the foreign media
actually begins in the Chinese
media – the media have advanced
within control. It's an incremental
process. I am hopeful.
David Bandurski, thank you.