Welcome to the first media industry briefing from the Association for International Broadcasting in 2010.
AIB is the industry association and networking organisation that focuses on cross-border media with a global membership and a reach growing audience of more than 25,000 people in electronic media and associated industries worldwide.

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AIBs 2010
We're already receiving enquiries about this year's AIBs - the international media excellence awards - so here are key dates to help you plan:
12 April 2010
   Awards launched and open for entry
2 July 2010
   Closing date for entries
10 November 2010
   Awards dinner and presentations, London

We'll be starting to invite judges for the 2010 AIBs in February. If you would like to be one of this year's judges, let us know right away. Send your details to 2010aibs (@) aib.org.uk [remember to remove the brackets and spaces!].

And if you have a brand you want to place in front of broadcasters across every continent, get involved in the 2010 AIBs as a sponsor. Talk to us about how we can help give you maximum exposure among journalists, producers, editors and key executives over the eight months of the 2010 AIBs. Call Simon Parrish or Judy Lund at AIB headquarters on +44 20 7993 2557 to explore the potential.

In this issue:

• VoA reaches Haiti
• RNW develops in India
• RT adds Spanish
• AIB keeps Sourcebook up-to-date
• TV2 manages football with Vizrt
• AIB recommends
• Hong Kong may get more FTA
• Georgia launches Russian TV
• TeleBielingue gets Norcom power
• People
• About the AIB

Visit www.aib.org.uk for more free-of-charge news from the media worldwide.

In addition to this public newsletter, all AIB members benefit from our premium specialist confidential and exclusive member-only market intelligence briefings as well as an extensive range of other services, including an extensive series of discounts on key events worldwide.
Contact us today to explore how membership can help you and your organisation.

Haiti served by VoA
Haitians, cut off from the world by a devastating earthquake, tuned in to special shortwave and satellite radio broadcasts from the Voice of America's (VoA) Creole Service to learn the latest news and information. Hours after the earthquake struck near the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince on 12 January, VoA broadcast a 90-minute special programme to the people of Haiti. The program included statements of support from President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; updates from the US Geological Survey, the Red Cross, the United Nations and Haitian geologists; and interviews from Haiti. Up-to-date information is also available around the clock on www.VOANews.com/creole.
VoA also set up a special call-in number – 1-202-205-9942, mailbox 42 – for people to leave messages that will be broadcast to Haiti. Facebook and Twitter accounts are also being created.
More here.
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RNW continues progress in India
Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW) has entered into a new partnership with Web18, the Internet and Mobile arm of Network 18. The website publishes RNW’s international news on the homepage of India’s leading horizontal portal, In.com. Also RNW players with live radio and music programmes, such as the Euro Hit 40, European Jazz Stage and Live at the Concertgebouw are now available online.
RNW Director-General Jan Hoek says: “We want to strengthen our position as one of the five most influential international broadcasters in the world. One of the means to sustain that position is through investing in new digital technologies. This partnership in India is a big step for RNW, as it gives us access to the country's enormous and important online market.”
Read more here.
Separately, RNW is continuing its global debate on microfinance with a special event this month. Microfinance: Who profits? will be held in the Peace Palace in The Hague on 25 January 2010. Her Royal Highness Princess Máxima (pictured with RNW DG Jan Hoek) and Dutch Development Minister Bert Koenders will address the meeting.
In addition, distinguished international experts will consider the question 'who benefits from microfinance?'
RNW films have made around the world with examples of how microfinance works in practice and during the event in the Hague one of those portrayed, Tortilla baker Linda Flores from Nicaragua, will speak on how microcredit changed her life. AIB will be at this event and you can see more information on the RNW website.
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RT adds Spanish
Moscow-based news channel RT has begun broadcasting 24 hours a day in Spanish. The new channel takes into account the varied time zones with all news bulletins run at morning or evening prime-time in New-York, Miami, Los-Angeles, Mexico, Buenos-Aires and Madrid. Every day RT reports on sports news, life in the Russian regions and conducts important interviews.
For the first time on Russian TV special light panels were used in the set design. They can change the design of studios and a newsroom in a few seconds.
At present about 200 employees work in Spanish RT, including 35 foreign journalists from Argentina, Spain, Chili, Ecuador, Mexico, the USA and Bolivia. Among them there are well-known correspondents and presenters who worked for the largest European and Latin-American Channels such as TVE in Spain, TVN and Canal 13 in Chili, TV Azteca in Mexico and also CNN Espanol and Telemundo.
“We have no doubt that the Spanish Channel will reach its viewers and will be as much in demand from the Spanish speaking audience as our English and Arabic projects. We make absolutely different news from the international mainstream. Viewers want to watch different stories, which no one else tells them about. I’m sure that Latin America will take to us, and if we join the US cable network, then Spanish speaking residents will benefit." said RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan.
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Download the updates to the AIB Sourcebook
AIB's renowned Global Broadcasting Sourcebook is on the desks of top executives in broadcasters, production houses and companies selling to broadcasters all over the world.
However, AIB is not content to let the publication age. Instead, we publish regular updates to the Sourcebook to ensure it's as fresh today as when it was first published a few weeks ago. We believe AIB is the only organisation to offer this service!
Download your copy of the updates here - and if you haven't yet bought your 388-page print or PDF edition, order online here.

TV2 manages football footage
Vizrt has said that Norway's main commercial television network, TV2, has placed a USD 1million order for Vizrt's video clip management system, Viz VideoHub. TV2 will use the intelligent video storage and management system for hosting football (soccer) match videos from the Norwegian Soccer League on behalf of the Norwegian FA.
The Viz VideoHub system will provide online access to Norwegian soccer matches, highlights and interviews to the FA's clubs and other subscribers through a web portal hosted by TV2. A dedicated user interface will be developed, enabling the league to add new soccer coverage and to search instantly for specific events such as corner kicks, goals and red cards.
More on this story here.
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AIB recommends

AIB is pleased to announce that it is supporting the 1GOAL initiative promoting education for all.
Today, 75 million children around the world are denied the opportunity to go to school. 
These children could be the next generation's leaders, sport stars, doctors and teachers. But without an education they are confined to a life of poverty. They’re ready to do their homework—but school fees, conflict, working in factories and farms, losing their parents to sickness, the cost of a school uniform or sometimes simply being a girl keeps them from being able to attend school.
1GOAL is working with footballers, celebrities, governments and broadcasters to deliver a lasting legacy from the 2010 FIFA World Cup taking place in South Africa. AIB is helping 1GOAL by providing intelligence about broadcasters worldwide, introducing key executives to 1GOAL staff and facilitating a range of other activities.
A number of AIB members are already involved and will be running 1GOAL trails and promotions in a number of languages over the coming months. We invite you to take part in this highly worthwhile initiative - contact Simon Spanswick at AIB head office for more information.


The annual FT Digital Media and Broadcasting Conference takes place in London on 2 and 3 March, and AIB is supporting this event which brings together key opinion-formers from the world of broadcasting, digital media, music and print.
AIB will be at the event and AIB members receive a special 20% discount on the conference registration fee - one of many benefits of AIB membership. For more information about the discount, contact AIB head office in London (details are at the bottom of this briefing e-mail), and to find out about the FT Digital Media and Broadcasting Conference, visit http://www.ftconferences.com/digitalmedia.

Hong Kong heading for more free-to-air
At least two companies are applying for licences to run free-to-air TV channels in Hong Kong. I-Cable Communication and City Telecom are reported to have applied join ATV and TVB as free-to-air broadcasters, although distribution may be by cable, rather than terrestrial transmission. The exact timescale for awarding the new licences - a process carried out by the SAR's Broadcasting Authority - is not clear. It is also appears that I-Cable may be disbarred under current legislation from holding a free-to-air licence, although the company spokesman said that the current restrictions would not pose a problem.
At present, TVB has more than 85 percent of Hong Kong's FTA viewership while ATV has 15 percent, according to Morgan Stanley in a January 2009 report.
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New Russian-language TV from Georgia
Georgian Public Broadcasting has launched a new Russian-language TV channel to reach Russian-speakers across the countries of the former Soviet Union. Pervvy Kavkazskiy began broadcasting at the start of the year as an Internet-only channel, adding satellite distribution a couple of weeks later, on 16 January.
The channel focuses on news from the Caucasus and includes the wife of the first Chechen president among its on-air talent.
For more on who's who in Georgia's media houses - and all the countries of the former Soviet Union - get the AIB Global Broadcasting Sourcebook. Order your copy today - order online here.
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Swiss channel opts for NCPowerPro
One of the largest bilingual regional TV stations in Switzerland, TeleBielingue in Biel, has engaged Munich-based NorCom to introduce NCPower Pro.
TeleBielingue has been broadcasting for more than ten years, covering news of the region in German and French. NCPower Pro covers the complete workflow at the broadcaster – from ingest to play-out through to the complete integrated archive – and will replace many parts of the existing complex broadcast architecture at the channel.

People
Solly Mokoetle has been appointed the new Group CEO of the SABC. Mokoetle took up his post in December, returning to South Africa's pubcaster after a spell at the ill-fated Telkom Media where he was chief content officer. His last post at SABC was as COO.
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AIB Global Broadcasting Sourcebook 2009-10

The AIB Global Broadcasting Sourcebook is now available - in both print and PDF versions

Completely revised and considerably expanded, the new Sourcebook is an unbeatable directory of TV and radio broadcasters throughout the world, plus key IPTV, satellite and cable operators

With more than 7,500 named key contacts in companies in over 150 countries, the Sourcebook is the essential reference work for everyone involved in electronic media

Order your copy today:
the print edition costs just £395 (around Euro435/US$630)

The five-user PDF version is priced at a highly competitive £895 (around Euro980/US$1,430)

Download the updates file here

Order online here or download a fax-back PDF order form here or call Judy Lund or Simon Parrish on +44 20 7993 2557 to find out more