Major redesign for
Kazakhstan TV
Kazakhstan’s National TV
channel has undergone a major
redesign and emerged with a
new logo and a re-positioning of
its flagship programmes.
The channel is part of the
state-owned Kazakhstan
Republican TV and Radio
Corporation, that brings together
the Kazakhstan National TV channel,
Balapan (Kids) and KazSport TV
channels, Kazakh Radio, Radio
Shalkar, Radio Astana, Radio
Classic, the Kazinform News
Agency, as well as 14 regional TV
and radio companies. Kazakh
radio first went on air in 1922
and Kazakhstan’s first TV
channel began broadcasting in
1958. Today 98% of the
population has access to the
corporation’s output.
The recent redesign is an
initiative of CEO Nurzhan
Mukhamedzhanova who, after
evaluating the experience of
different international media
brands such as BBC, CNN,
Euronews, China’s CCTV and
Japan’s NHK, opted for a new logo
which incorporates the blue and
yellow of the Kazakhstan flag.
One of the goals of the re-
branding is to appeal to a wider
audience. “My Kazakhstan” has
been chosen as the new tagline
for Kazakhstan’s National TV
channel, as well as its 14 regional
channels, to emphasise the
unique contribution of every
member of Kazakhstan society,
regardless of ethnic origin, and
the goal to build a united multi-
cultural country. The channel
says it is important for the news
coverage to appeal to the audience
as ‘their’ news and tries to strike
a balance between official news
and news on the nation’s socio-
economic situation.
MEDIA MARKETS
|
THE CHANNEL
IN BRIEF
4G FOR
MALAYSIA
Telekom Malaysia has
launched a 4G broadband
offering – ‘TMgo’. The
service, available initially at
17 sites in Kota Setar and
Pendang, Kedah, will provide
customers in underserved
areas of the country with
high speed broadband
connectivity. Coverage will
be expanded as Telekom
Malaysia deploys additional
base stations in other states
nationwide. TMgo will initially
be offered for data access
via prepaid USB dongle and
MiFi options and is expected
to be available in most states
in Malaysia by early 2015.
DISCOVERY IN NZ
Discovery Communications
has acquired New Zealand’s
pay-TV networks The Living
Channel (TLCNZ) and Food
TV, expanding its presence in
the market to four channels,
with Discovery Channel and
Animal Planet currently
available on SKY TV. Mandy
Pattinson, EVP and general
manager for Australia, New
Zealand and the Pacific
Islands at Discovery Networks
Asia-Pacific said Discovery
is committed to keeping the
channels ‘local’ and uniquely
Kiwi to give viewers the
content they love.
MBC CLOSER TO
ABU
During a visit to the ABU
Headquarters in Kuala
Lumpur, Ms Jin-sook Lee,
Executive MD of Korea’s
Munhwa Broadcasting
Corporation (MBC) said she
looked forward to enlarging
the partnership between the
public broadcaster and the
ABU. Ms Lee met with
Secretary-General Dr Javad
Mottaghi and ABU directors
of News, Programming and
Technology to explore a
range of partnerships and
initiatives. ABU and MBC
will continue their
discussions of reciprocal
partnerships when the ABU
Secretary General visits
Seoul in late September.
Crowdsourcing in Uzbekistan
For decades, Uzbekistan has
been counted among the world’s
most restrictive societies, ranking
at the bottom of surveys on
fundamental freedoms and
human rights. RFE/RL’s Uzbek
Service, known locally as Radio
Ozodlik, is pioneering ways to
collect and generate information
for audiences eager for knowledge
and news.
Radio Ozodlik recently launched
the OzodWiki project, a partner-
ship marrying the service’s
reporting capabilities with the
resources of the Uzbek edition of
Wikipedia, the online, crowd-
sourced encyclopedia.
Like virtually every other
independent information
initiative, Wikipedia is currently
blocked inside Uzbekistan. The
explanation is simple, according
to Alisher Sidikov, Uzbek Service
director (pictured), who says that
in terms of content and concept
Wikipedia’s crowdsourcing
model is simply at odds with the
country’s authoritarian order.
The OzodWiki project involves
hyperlinking selected words and
phrases that are used in Radio
Ozodlik reports to entries in
Wikipedia where they are defined
and explored. The relationship is
mutually beneficial, enabling
Ozodlik users to click through to
expanded information resources,
while popularizing Wikipedia by
driving new topics and audience
their way. Since the launch of the
partnership in February 2014,
visits to Wikipedia’s Uzbek edition
have risen 300%, totalling
around 136,000 visits in April.
THE CHANNEL
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ISSUE 2 2014
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13
COLORS
emotions
The Anupam Kher Show
– airing
every Sunday at 8pm – is one of
the most popular shows on
Mumbai-based pay channel
COLORS. A recent episode
brought together Naseeruddin
Shah and Om Puri to chart their
journey from simple beginnings
to the superstars that they are
today. Having met at the National
School of drama in 1970, both
are credited with taking
Bollywood to international fame.
COLORS is Viacom18’s flagship
brand in the entertainment
space in India. COLORS launched
in 2008 to bring an entire
spectrum of emotions to its
viewers – from fiction shows to
format shows to reality shows to
blockbuster movies. COLORS
states it is dedicated to
promoting ‘cohesive viewing’ and
is available via SUN18 Media
Services in India.
