Satellite Radio : WorldSpace India Caput Finished Dec31

WorldSpace India: Caput Finished December 31
Digital Broadcasters Vendor News Asia has learned that the final nail in the WorldSpace coffin may have been hammered home in India. There the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) ministry is unlikely to proceed with a satellite radio policy. Why? Because Worldspace India has announced that it is to close its operations in the country from December 31. India was the bright spot in the worldwide network of the pioneer of satellite radio with its own network of satellites. WorldSpace, which started its service in India in the year 2000, was operating with a wink and a nod from the Indian authorities. Some 4.5 Lakh in subscribers (450,000) in India will be affected by the abrupt announcement. Worldspace India, representing 95 per cent of WorldSpace's worldwide subscriber base was financed by its United States parent company WorldSpace Inc which has been under bankruptcy protection since October 2008. I am not sure whether the India announcement is a legal move prior to its operations being taken over by another broadcast outfit - thought to be Liberty Media Corporation which is thought to be buying many of the worldwide assets of WorldSpace Inc (but not India) for just US$18 million. Such a deal is likely to include the WorldSpace satellites and their support equipment. Digital Broadcasters Vendor News Asia notes that there are three obviously negative outcomes from WorldSpace India's decision. - 1. Some 300 local employees located in Bangalore have lost their jobs.
- 2. The customized WorldSpace receivers may well go to waste. And,
- 3. No subscription refunds. In the WorldSpace main website, there is the announcement that says that the investor buying WorldSpace assets is not including India operations. The notice advises subscribers in India that they may have recourse to get a refund from US bankruptcy proceedings. Details....http://www.worldspace.com/index_wsmsg.html say that subscription money paid by Indian customers is not being refunded. The sums involved are likely to be too small to begin with to make it worthwhile for subscribers to follow up in another jurisdiction half way around the world.

Vietnam :: REV Boosts IT Growth At Voice of Vietnam

Digital Broadcasters Vendor News can report that as a result of deliberations at the fifth congress of the Radio and Electronics Association of Vietnam (REV) a Five Year program of advancement in IT and telecommunications has been formulated. The program is to widen the scope and effectiveness into new technology research to include more universities across Vietnam and at the grass roots level. This move is presumably to tap into bright young talent across the whole spectrum of new technologies to the benefit of the IT and broadcast infrastructure. Two specific moves bode well for the future in tightly structured Vietnam. These are: to improve the quality of training and increase international co-operation. The current chairman of the Radio and Electronics Association of Vietnam (REV) is Nguyen Van Ngo. At the congress, the deputy general director of Radio the Voice of Vietnam (VOV), Ms Hoang Minh Nguyet, acknowledged the active contribution by professors and doctors who help VOV research and apply advanced technologies. The REV/VOV developments should be positive news if you have related business with Vietnam and Voice of Vietnam Radio and TV and state telecoms. The REV Congress opened at the National Radio Centre in Hanoi on December 12. REV's website: http://www.rev.vn Vietnam Story Source

Korea IPTV Day : 1st Anniversary Celebrated by KCC

Digital Broadcasters Vendor News notes from a Korea Communications Commission(KCC) story in the Korea IT Times publication that December 12 is named IPTV Day. The date commemorates the first anniversary of IPTV service in South Korea. At a special ceremony at the Digital Media Fair 2009 in COEX, Seoul on December 10, contributors to the development of new media were awarded prizes. Agreements were signed also on the standardization of IPTV service and for the provision of traffic information to the Seoul Metropolitan Government. The event was hosted by the KCC, the Electronic Times, and Dong-a Ilbo and attended by some 300 people, including lawmakers, government officials and academics. The media and IPTV industry specialists were at the event. Diary Date :It is worthwhile noting the Korea Communications Commission plans to hold exhibitions and conferences each year around the anniversary of the launch of the IPTV service to chart the present and future course of digital media, including IPTV in South Korea. KIIT Original story here KCC Website in English

BBC Kyrgyz :: TV Team into KNTR Co-Production Pub Affairs Series

Digital Broadcasters Vendor News Asia has learned from BBC Kyrgyz television of its new (first??) 30 minute public affairs co-produced series with KNTR - Kyrgyzstan State TV and Radio Broadcasting Company. "SAPAR" was launched on December 2, 2009 at 1630hrs on KNTR's National TV Network 1. The subject was Climate Change. The deal was co-ordinated through Head of BBC Central Asia and Caucasus Service, Hamid Ismailov and Business Development Manager, West Asia, BBC World Service, Gemma Hayman. Kyrgyz politics keep the BBC team on its toes, as it sways between the West and Russian influences. It was of course a republic in the days of the old Soviet Union. BBC Kyrgyz has a 15 year track record with KNTR, with programming output being broadcast over KNTR FM radio: 103.7 FM (Bishkek); 102.2 FM (Batken) and 106.3 FM (Kerben); and nationwide on Kyrgyz State Radio's Channel 1.  Logo above is from the BBC Kyrgyz.com web site. Kyrgyzstan uses the Cyrillic alphabet.

Digital Broadcast | Al-Arabiya Installs SSL C200 Audio Console

UK's Solid State Logic (SSL) has informed Digital Broadcasters Vendor News Asia (DBVNA) that the Middle East's Al-Arabiya satellite TV news channel in Dubai has installed the SSL C200 HD digital sound console in the technical upgrade from analog to digital audio. Al-Arabiya part of the MBC Group of companies. The C200 HD console will substantially increase the number of input channels in Al-Arabiya's main news gallery. According to an SSL news release, Basheer Saad, News Channel Audio Supervisor at the MBC Group liked the C200 HD console for its analog style layout providing nearly instantaneous access to multiple controls, important for live-on-air mixing which allows audio engineers to focus on the mix rather than staring at a waveform on a screen. Solid State Logic Area Sales Manager, Paul Lindsay, said that in the C200 HD, Al-Arabiya had chosen a robust broadcast console appropriate to their needs. Al-Arabiya satellite TV channel continues to be one of dominant free-to-air, pan-Arab, news and entertainment broadcasters, reaching more than 150 million viewers in the Arabic Diaspora worldwide.