SNIPPETS
The Global Media Partnership

OCTOBER 2008

• FEB 2009 CONFERENCE BULGARIA:
• Andrew Flynn, Director of International Broadcasting for Christian Vision, will speak to the FEB Conference at the Park Hotel Vitosha, Sofia, Bulgaria (March 19-22 2009).
• Register at www.feb.org/Registration%20Form%20Bulgaria.doc
• NORWAY:
• Norway gets a new nationwide Christian Television Channel on October 15th 2008. “Frikanalen ” is part of the new digital, terrestrial distribution system. There will be a number of Christian programmes on the free channel. The Christian Organisation “Family & Media” has lobbied for this Channel for many years and sees Frikanalen as a major step forward for communicating the Gospel to Norwegian people.
• Visit www.fom.no or contact Dr Geir Magnus Nyborg gmn@fom.no
• EUROPEAN UNION:
• Voting on the economic regulatory framework for telecommunications, MEPs decided that a new body bringing together national Regulators should ensure rules are implemented in a consistent manner across the EU, and that frequencies freed by the switchover to digital TV can be used for new wireless services such as broadband internet or mobile TV, interoperable across the EU.
• MEPs backed Pilar del Castillo’s suggestion to create a Body of European Regulators in Telecommunications (BERT). As an independent expert advisory body, BERT will ensure fair competition and high-quality services across the EU. BERT will be based on the existing Board of Regulators composed of the 27 national regulatory authorities, and will be funded jointly by the EU and national regulatory authorities.
• Source: European Union
• EUROPEAN UNION:
• The European Parliament has launched a state-of-the-art web-TV
• “EuroparlTV “. It’s a multilingual online TV service with programmes in over 20 EU languages. There will be special programmes for young people. Anyone with broadband internet access can see the Parliament through updated programmes and live coverage. The “father” of the EuroparlTV project, EP Vice President for Information and Communication Policy, Alejo Vidal-Quadras, says EuroparlTV will bridge the communication gap between the EU institutions and its citizens.
• Source: European Union
• UK:
• 6.5 million DAB Radios have now been sold in the UK – up from 4.4 million in 2006. More than a million DAB radios were sold between October and December 2007.
• Source: The Sentinel
• UK:
• According to the ITV Executive Chairman Michael Grade, Google and its YouTube subsidiary are simply “parasites ” living off the original production spend of broadcasters. At a Broadcast Technology convention in Amsterdam, Grade underscored the role of original content creation in the digital future, saying that linear channels are the shop windows for programming. He dismissed YouTube and Google. ”They are just parasites. The day they start spending £1 billiion a year on content is the day I’ll start worrying.” He added that while high-definition TV was a priority for the UK’s biggest commercial broadcaster, mobile was not. “Mobile will have to wait. It’s clunky, it’s slow and 3G streaming seems usually not to work,” he told delegates.
• Source: C21Media.net
• SPAIN:
• Spanish media group Promotora de Informaciones (Prisa) has been offered a preliminary bid of €3 billion (US$4.27bn) for its DTH platform Digital+. Prisa said the bid has come from a “strategic operator” but that no decision had been made about a sale yet.
• Source: C21Media.net
• FRANCE:
• France Telecom will launch Orange Cinema Series this autumn, described as the first premium television service available on all platforms. It will be accessible on subscription via the Internet, Mobile TV or the existing Orange IPTV platform. It will provide 6 channels of film and TV and on-demand programming.
• Source: C21Media.net
• SPAIN:
• ACPress, and its digital magazine, Protestante Digital (PD), are 5 years old. PD came out in 2003, together with the Protestant Communications Agency, better known as ACPress. The Agency is now one of the leading Evangelical Internet Media outlets in Spain. ACPress aims to become a media outlet which, as well as informing Evangelicals, is considered a trustworthy source for secular society, and acts as a bridge between the two. Many people who are neither Evangelicals nor Protestants receive and read the items produced in Spain.
• Source: AC Press
• UK:
• Publicly owned Channel 4 TV’s precarious financial state has been confirmed by UK regulator Ofcom, along with the likely reduction in public service obligations on commercial networks ITV and Five by 2014. Ofcom CEO Ed Richards said that Channel 4 faces a possible annual funding deficit of between £60m (US$85.4m) and £100m by 2012. The Ofcom chief said that in order to break even, C4 would need to cut its investment in public service content year on year to 2012.
• Source: C21Media.net
• EUROPEAN UNION:
• The European Parliament has adopted a legislative report aimed at providing wider access to telecoms services, more information for consumers and stronger data protection. The major political groups in Parliament agreed on a compromise before the vote.
• European Commissioner, Viviane Reding, aims to make broadband internet available for all Europeans by 2010. There are differences in the EU: 100% of the population is covered in Denmark, Luxembourg and Belgium, but more than 60% in Romania do not have broadband. Even in economies such as Italy and Germany, 18% and 12% respectively of the rural population is not covered.
• Source: Press Release, European Union
• UK:
• BT has claimed that the proposed BBC, ITV and Channel 4 on-demand joint venture “Kangaroo ” raises competition concerns. The BT Vision IPTV service, has claimed that “Kangaroo” would “very likely ” reduce competition in the UK VoD space – which would be harmful to its own interests. BT Vision launched at the end of 2006 and now has over 280,000 subscribers but hopes to reach two to three million within the next three to five years. “There is a very real likelihood that, by providing this vast library of content on the Kangaroo service, the parties will be able materially to reduce competition for the supply of UK VoD content, ” BT claimed in its submission to the Competition Commission enquiry.
• Source: C21Media.net
• SWITZERLAND:
• September 2008 was the 13th Anniversary of Swiss based ”Fenster zum Sonntag” (Window on Sunday) . Around 40 million people have tuned in to the 1300 broadcasts. They offer a mixture of information, entertainment and “Help in Daily Life “. At the end of 2007, Fenster zum Sonntag completed the transition from 4:3 picture format to 16:9 and will move to HDTV.
• Visit: www.alphavision.ch
• UK:
• The UK’s Premier Radio, jointly with CARE, have launched “Not for Sale ” – a campaign to reduce the demand for human trafficking. They are encouraging newspapers not to accept advertisements that sell exploited, often trafficked, women for sexual services.
• Source: CARE Impact

GLOBAL

• ONLINE OUTREACH PLANNED AT TIME OF 2010 WORLD EQUESTRIAN GAMES:Hundreds of Churches in theUSA are co-operating as “Affiliated International Ministries”(AIM) to use global Media Contacts and Online Facilities in a literacy and contact programme for children at the time of the World Equestrian Games in October 2010. Equestrian Christian Fellowships will support the “Reading, Riding and Relationship” (RRR) programme – so far planned in Greece, Chile and the United Kingdom.

  Local Christian Teachers will lead the classes – and the children will then be introduced and linked to each other online to build international Relationships. FEB’s Chairman, Harvey Thomas, is working with Dr Larry Martin and AIM on the international internet facilities.

  AIM also expects to provide hundreds of Volunteers for the 2010 Games to be held in the 1200 acre Kentucky Horse Park.
  

• VIDEO ON DEMAND:
• Online retailer Amazon has launched a Video on Demand service, allowing customers to buy or rent TV shows to either stream online or download. More than 40,000 ad-free movies and TV shows can now be streamed within user’s web browsers or downloaded using Amazon’s Unbox application. Customers with Sony Bravia TV sets can transfer content directly to their TAV using Sony’s Bravia Internet Video Link.
• Source: C21 Media.net
• INTERNET:
• The European Parliament Civil Liberties Committee has called for children to be better protected. 12 to 15 year-olds spend at least 3 hours a day on the Internet – but they are not always aware of the dangers of sites or content: not only material containing child pornography or violence but also the risk of harassment by individuals with harmful intentions.
• The European Union plans to introduce the “Safer Internet Plus” programme, with the aim of anticipating discernable trends in the online environment. The programme will combat illegal content, promote a safer online environment, raise public awareness and establish a “knowledge base” for investigatory purposes.
• In addition, MEPs wish to facilitate information exchange between Member States – since illegal content can be uploaded in one country and viewed in another. The Civil LIberties Committee wants to involve the industry in the fight against illegal content by setting up a system to trace the exploitation of children.
• Contact: libe-press@europarl.europa.eu
• MOBILE TV:
• Nokia has launched a mobile TV channel for its N96 phone, offering motoring, fashion, technology, lifestyle and comedy. Entitled Capsule N96, the channel offers a range of original episodes. In all, six Capsule N96 series are available to download from the Nokia website until the end of November. The deal comes after the BBC announced plans to make its iPlayer device available on the N96 device.
• Source: C21Media.net
• SIGNIS:
• The SIGNIS Jury at the 56th San Sebastian International Film Festival awarded the SIGNIS Prize to the American Independent film “Frozen River“, by Courtney Hunt, and the SIGNIS Commendation to Hirokazu Kore-Eda’s “Still walking“. The prize went to “Frozen River ” for its deep intercultural approach, presenting the story of two women struggling amongst racism, a wounded motherhood and human traffic. In front of this frozen river, characters recognise their guilt and discover a new way of hope. The members of the SIGNIS Jury were: Ricardo Yanez (Argentina/USA); Santiago de Pablo (Spain); Edgar Rubio (Mexico); Jeronimo Martin (Spain) and Wolfgang Hamdorf (Germany).
• Visit www.signis.net
• PROFESSIONAL OR PERSONAL?
• The gap between professional entertainment firms and amateurs has vanished and in 10 years people will be at the centre of their own video universe, according to YouTube CEO Chad Hurley. The co-founder of the world’s biggest video website predicts that by 2018 online video broadcasting will be the most important form of communication. “In less than 3 years, YouTube has united hundreds of millions of people who create, share and watch video online. What used to be a gap between ‘professional’ entertainment companies and home movie buffs has disappeared,” Hurley said on YouTube’s 10th anniversary. He claimed that 13 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute and that this is set to grow exponentially.
• Source: C21Media.net
• ANGLICAN (EPISCOPAL) CHURCH:
• The Church of England has officially “apologised” to Charles Darwin for misunderstanding his theory of evolution. The Church addressed its contrition directly to the Victorian scientist himself – even though he died 126 years ago! Church Officials said that senior Bishops wanted to atone for the vilification their predecessors heaped on Darwin in the 1860s, when he put forward his theory that man was descended from apes.
• The Church of England is also anxious to counter the view that its teaching is incompatible with science. It wants to distance itself from fundamentalist Christians, who believe in the Biblical account of the creation of the world in seven days. The article on the Church’s website says “Charles Darwin, 200 years from your birth (in 1809), the Church of England owes you an apology for misunderstanding you and, by getting our first reaction wrong, encouraging others to misunderstand you still. But the struggle for your reputation is not over yet, and the problem is not just your religious opponents but those who falsely claim you in support of their own interests.” The article is written by the Rev Dr Malcolm Brown, Director of Mission and Public Affairs of the Archbishops’ Council, the Church’s managing body, which is headed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams.
• Source: Mail on Sunday September 14th 2008

AFRICA

• KENYA:
  Trans World Radio has been awarded 7 frequencies, to broadcast on FM to outlying areas in northern and eastern Kenya. TWR Kenya currently produces over 32 different programme titles with 60 hours of programming weekly.
  Contact: hcombe@twr.org.uk
  

ASIA

• INDONESIA:
• 3xM are working with partners in Indonesia to produce a 26-part Christian Television series, aired on the national public TV station TWRI at 4pm on Saturdays. The programme is an informative series about Christianity and the Christian worldview and includes a mix of street and studio interviews, popular Christian music, spiritual teaching and a Christian response to a variety of social issues.
• Visit www.3xm-online.org
• INDIA:
• Far East Broadcasting Company (FEBC) reports that their disaster response team is coordinating efforts to provide emergency broadcasts for flood survivors in northern India. Emergency broadcasts have been on the air since the recent disaster, and each day they hear from flood victims. The need is still great and FEBC will keep programmes on the air and give out additional portable radios for survivors.
• Email Gregg Harris: info@febc.org

AUSTRALIA

• DIGITAL RADIO:
• The launch of digital radio in Australia has been pushed back five months in a joint decision by industry advocate Commercial Radio Australia (CRA) and ABC Radio. The Government had already given the industry 6 months leeway beyond the anticipated January 1, 2009 launch, but “infrastructure issues” resulted in an “unavoidable extension to the launch date“, according to CRA CEO Joan Warner. The “infrastructure issues” are new broadcast specifications currently being developed in the second draft of the Digital Radio Channel Plans by the Australian Communications and Media Authority, to ensure better quality and broader reach of the digital signal.
• Source: The Australian

LATIN AMERICA

• COUNTRY FACTS – BRAZIL

Official Country Name	Federative Republic of Brazil
Region	South America
Population	174,468,575
Language	Portuguese
Literacy Rate	83.3%
Size	8,511,965 sq km
GDP	595,458 (US$ millions)
Number of Daily Newspapers	465
Number of TV Stations	138
Number of TV sets	36,500,000
TV Sets per 1,000	209.2
Number of Radio Stations	1822
Number of Radio receivers	71,000,000
Radio Receivers per 1,000	407.0
Number of individuals with computers	75,000,000
Number of individuals with Internet access	5,000,000
Internet access per 1,000	28.7

MIDDLE EAST

• SAT-7:
• Nafitha (Windows), SAT-7’s Current Affairs and News programme has been on air for ten years. Its purpose has been to bring reports of what the Lord is doing around the world, to the people of the Middle East. Over the years the programme has grown and now fills two slots. “Nafitha Around the World” continues to report on Christian activities, and “Nafitha Live ” is a live interactive current affairs programme on Thursday nights. Several SAT-& Board Members recently participated in a live episode, discussing religious freedom in the region.
• Source: Uplink

NORTH AMERICA

• USA:
• US media providers including Fox, ABC, CBS, NBC, Viacom and the American Association of Advertising Agencies have asked the Federal Communications Commission not to adopt any new policies for product placement on the small screen. In a joint filing, responding to a recent FCC request for public comments on the issue, 18 major media firms argued that the boost in product placement in the US should not result in a boost in FCC rules.
• Source: C21Media.net

DIARY DATES

• SOUTH AFRICA:
• African Enterprise and Crown Financial Ministries present a joint venture, “Strategic Planning for Ministry Leaders” from November 3-5 2008 at the AE Centre, Pietermaritzburg, Republic of South Africa.
• Email: registrar@ae.org.za
• UK:
• The Arts Centre Group will be holding three events in central London entitled “The Essence of Jesus“, the first of which will be held at the London Institute of Contemporary Christianity (LICC, Vere Street) on Tuesday 25th November 2008.Visit www.artscentregroup.org.uk
• FEB CONFERENCE 2009:
• THE FEB CONFERENCE is inSOFIA, BULGARIA at the PARK HOTEL VITOSHA from MARCH 19 - 22 2009.   Oystein Samnoen from Kids and Media in Norway, Paul Negrut  from Romanian Evangelical Alliance, NRB International Director, Ron Harris, European Evangelical Alliance Leader, Gordon Showell-Rogers and Andrew Flynn, Christian Vision, are among the Speakers.

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT THE FEB WEBSITE: www.feb.org

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