Digital Broadcasters | Radio Australia's Guangzhou Breakfast Goes Begging

Digital Broadcasters Vendor News wonders why Radio Australia's Breakfast Club in its upcoming East Asia, three city tour was able to co-opt host broadcasters in Singapore (938Live FM) and Kuala Lumpur (Traxx FM) to simulcast their editions but when Phil Kafcaloudes the program's co-presenter kicks off on April 27 in Guangzhou, it is not happening? Not even a breakfast 'club sandwich' will be shared? The Radio Australia press release said that the program will sample the styles, flavours and tastes of Asia. Perhaps if Radio Australia had sent co-presenter Adelaine Ng (a Chinese lady?) the outcome in Guangzhou may have been different? Kind of deflates the message that the release was trying to convey when it stated that: "The East Asia tour builds on the growing links Radio Australia has established with stations in the region....". According to Radio Australia, "The Breakfast Club" is the popular morning program, which provides an appealing and humorous start to the day capable of engaging audiences from India to Tonga. The Aussie national broadcaster also says that the Breakfast Club program is broadcast (re-broadcast? - Ed) across Radio Australia's expanding Asian and Pacific FM network, Not only that it is quickly becoming a regional media benchmark in interacting with wide audiences ranging across physical borders and cultural boundaries from India to Tonga. It does not elaborate on how it is doing that. I think they ought to Wiki that comment, and get it justified.

Digital Broadcasters |Al Jazeera English Versatile HDTV and SD

All digital broadcaster, Al Jazeera English, at its new Doha
headquarters studio complex in Qatar routinely retains video feeds in
high definition television (HD, HDTV) on a rotating basis for up to
one week using a recently installed, NEXIO XS server system from
Harris Broadcast Inc (NYSE:HRS). Specifically, the NEXIO XS server
platform at Al Jazeera English consists of 4 x NXS3600HDX servers
with more than 30 terabytes of storage that allows for 4 x incoming
news agency feeds simultaneously. The server is versatile enabling
the ability to record and generate output in either HD or SD -
standard definition, where required.

When the NXS3600HDX servers connect to the NEXIO storage area network
(SAN), the digital broadcaster has a streamlined infrastructure for
producing, processing, distributing and managing SD and HD content
uniformly.

Al Jazeera English is striving to become a unique broadcaster, the
distinction that Al Jazeera in Arabic has achieved already. Al Jaz
balances the news flow from south to north, providing accurate,
impartial and objective reporting for a global audience from a
grassroots level. Al-jaz has regional news bureaux in Kuala Lumpur,
London and Washington D.C.

Digital Broadcasters | TV3 Rate Roar Not Appreciated

Malaysia's TV3 may be roaring ahead but its latest announcement is not appreciated. Digital Broadcasters Vendor News has learned from advertising agency contacts in Kuala Lumpur that a just pronounced 5-15 per cent advertising rate hike by premier private TV3 network is not causing ripples but a Tsunami size reaction. TV3 owned by Media Prima Group dominates Malaysia's terrestrial television on-air advertising market with a 60 per cent market dominance along with stable mate, TV8. Mind you, last year TV3 faced vocal criticism too from advertisers when it talked about rate rises at that time.

Digital Broadcasters | Malaysia to Adopt DVB-T

So now we know, it is confirmed the Malaysian Government is going ahead with the adoption of DVB-T for digital terrestrial transmissions. Digital Broadcasters Vendor News notes that this is clearly ahead of the intended date of such an announcement - a month before the present Klang Valley trial was due for completion.

Deputy Information Minister Chia Kwang Chye who made the announcement, March 26 at the ABU Digital TV Symposium in Kuala Lumpur indicated that the results of the DTV trial were very positive, the meaning was "why wait?"

According to Mr Chia more than 60 percent of trial participants said signal quality was 'good' to 'very good'; 70 percent sound quality was better -- responses being all better than his department had imagined.

That means that DTTV will roll out in the Klang Valley in 2009, and in Mr Chye's quoted words "Malaysia was keen to trial the DVB-H standard for mobile phones".

Mr Chia said the Malaysian government's Digital Task Force was also considering the implementing the HD format in programming.