SINGAPORE – Riding on the waves of “exceptional” ratings, AETN All Asia Networks has expanded the line-up of the Hidden Cities series from four episodes to eight with the new season featuring seven countries.

Hosted by Anthony Morse, Hidden Cities goes in search of Asia’s forgotten treasures. Enlisting the aid of local guides, historians, archaeologists and scientists, Morse attempts to investigate and unearth places such as the Jewish ghettos of Shanghai, the lost temple city of Muara Jambi in Sumatra and the Skrang River in Sarawak, where Dayak pirates used to ply.

Louis Boswell, general manager of AETN All Asia Networks, said: “We’re particularly proud of Hidden Cities as it is a striking example of how our network presents educational content to viewers in an engaging and entertaining form.”

HISTORY has also secured Canon and Maybank as the presenting sponsors of Hidden Cities and Caltex as the associate sponsor.

Issei Morimoto, vice-president, Consumer Imaging & Information Products Division South & Southeast Asia at Canon Singapore, commented: “Hidden Cities discovers the civilisations that were once buried but are now documented for posterity with Canon imaging and HD video solutions. The series has also created memories of these unique places [explored], and it is very much aligned with our philosophy of capturing one’s memories perfectly.”

http://www.apb-news.com/

SINGAPORE – Can public broadcasters re-create themselves to meet the challenges posed by the digital age? Most public broadcasters around the world feel it is possible. In fact, Paula A Kerger, president and CEO of PBS (USA), thinks that public broadcasters around the world can surpass the challenges posed by the digital age.

Keynoting at the recent Public Broadcasters International (PBI) conference held in Singapore, Kerger stressed the need for innovation and collaboration for public media in the digital age.

“As technology continues to shrink the globe, it’s this spirit of collaboration that will guide our steps forward,” Kerger said. “I feel strongly that the future will belong to individuals and organisations that can collaborate across traditional boundaries to shine a light into new corners of our world.”

She noted that compared to when public broadcasting was born, today’s world is in an age ruled by Facebook, countless satellite TV channels, and increasing reliance on the Internet for entertainment.

“Media consumption is up but the percentage of young people consuming news is down,” Kerger observed. “In the US, between 2006 and 2009, daily newspapers cut their annual editorial spending by US$1.6 billion dollars, or more than a quarter [of the edi­torial budget].”

Funding for public broadcasting is also at risk, or in the process of being cut for many broadcasters around the world.

“We must summon the courage to let go of old conventions and traditions and embrace new strategies, new methods and new approaches,” said Kerger. “We can no longer be comfortable in our silos of television or radio. We must become public media in every sense of the word.”

The conference was aptly themed ‘Evolving Digital Age’, said Grace Fu, Singapore’s Senior Minister of State for Information, Communications and the Arts, and the Environment and Water Resources. She acknowledged that the broadcast landscape has evolved significantly over the past 20 years.

“With the vast array of global content made easily available to audiences, public broadcasters are increasingly challenged to offer compelling content to target audiences,” she said. “In doing so, public broadcasters play critical roles in keeping audiences informed and shaping culture and identity.”

Fu also said that public broadcasters today face competition for eyeballs from multiple content delivery platforms, “but we can ride on the opportunities that these platforms present to engage and retain our audiences”.

One method to capture more eyeballs, Kerger shared, is to stay on the cutting edge of technology and innovation, and to ensure the broadcaster’s economic sustainability.

“I feel confident that by focusing on content, innovation and sustainability, we can recreate public media for the digital age. All of us are experts in delivering unique content, staying ahead of the technological curve, and keeping our systems economically viable.”

Public broadcasters have the added challenge of presenting compelling content to discriminating viewers, said Teo Ming Kian, chairman of Singapore public broadcaster MediaCorp.

“The public service messages that need to be conveyed cannot be told in a dry, didactic manner, which cuts little ice with today’s sophisticated audience.To come up with innovative ways to engage viewers, public broadcasters will have to refine and improve our story-telling techniques.”

http://www.apb-news.com

HANOI – While broadcasters around the globe continue to grapple with the multi-screen content delivery challenge, another pressing concern for Asia-Pacific broadcasters is to successfully negotiate the transition to digital broadcasting.

With this in mind, Singapore-based DigiWorkz Asia-Pac Regional Broadcast Training Centre is conducting the Digital Broadcasting Workshop on the sidelines of the Broadcast & Media Tech Vietnam 2011 (BMT 2011) in Hanoi, Vietnam, this month.

BMT 2011 is held concurrently with PALME Vietnam 2011 and INSTALL Vietnam 2011 from November 2-4 at the Vietnam Exhibition & Fair Centre (VEFAC). According to show organiser IIR Exhibitions, BMT 2011 focuses on Vietnam’s digital TV industry, featuring some of Asia’s top growth markets and decision-makers. Vietnam, like many countries in the Asia-Pacific, is in the midst of phasing out analogue and migrating to digital.

BMT 2011, IIR Exhibition adds, aims to deliver insights into DTV migration for operators and service providers, regulators, investors, vendors, consultants and more.

DigiWorkz’s one-day workshop on November 3 targets traditional analogue broadcasters and aims to provide an overview of digital broadcasting — from acquisition to ingest, archive, storage, automation, media asset management and single and multi-format distribution.

Like all courses offered by DigiWorkz, the Digital Broadcasting Workshop aims to provide participants with the fundamental knowledge required as the industry continues its march towards a digital transition.

Ho Siew Mun, business development manager of DigiWorkz, explains: “Good fundamentals lay the foundation for one’s know-ledge, understanding and skills. At DigiWorkz, we recognise the importance of having this [fundamental] in place; we have numerous courses, including the Digital Broadcasting Workshop, that cater to the needs of participants in various fields. DigiWorkz’s courses build and strengthens one’s foundation in areas such as video, audio, satellite and file-based workflows.”

The modules offered by the Digital Broadcasting Workshop include: Introduction to Legacy and Current Broadcast Technologies;Basic Analogue Theory;Introduction to DTV Formats;SDTV & HDTV Video System Processing and Distribution;Types of HDTV Displays and Monitors;Choices of HDTV Production Equipment;HDTV Multi-channel Audio Design and Distribution; andAudio/Video Compression and transmission.

One of the key areas often neglected by broadcasters in their transition to digital is how to effectively monitor loudness control and dynamic range without affecting original content.

To address these concerns, the Digital Broadcasting Workshop also features, among others, a presentation on the technology and methods used in audio management.

This is useful in allowing the inconsistencies currently associated with DTV audio loudness to be more effectively corrected, says Mike Richardson, product manager at Linear Acoustic, who will be one of the speakers at the workshop.

“Inconsistent DTV audio loudness, the so-called ‘loud commercial problem’, is the No.1 complaint of TV viewers worldwide and it is driving them away. Causes include incorrect metering, programming with different dynamic ranges, and commercials intentionally produced with limited dynamic range. These problems can be fixed — and listeners kept happy — with solutions that include proper measurement and dynamic range processing,” explains Richardson.

For more information on this and other DigiWorkz’s courses, visit www.digiworkz.org.

http://www.apb-news.com/

AMSTERDAM – Broadcast and the broadband must be friends not enemies, declared Ingrid Deltenre, director general of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) , during her keynote address in a forum on radio spectrum policy at the recent IBC2011 trade show in the Netherlands capital.

“Stifling broadcasting is not the way to achieve the Digital Agenda,” said Deltenre, who pointed out that collaboration, and not confrontation, should be the course of action in resolving the spectrum allocation issues between broadcasters and telcos.

“We need bold and brave initiatives. We need to see the reality — not the wish list. This will make it possible to achieve the Digital Agenda faster. We need both broadcasting and broadband, and they need to devise efficient and innovative ways to work together,” she added.

According to the Cisco Visual Networking Index: Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update 2010-2015, global mobile data traffic grew 2.6-fold last year — nearly tripling for the third year in a row. Last year’s mobile data traffic was said to be three times the size of the entire global Internet in 2000, and that global mobile data traffic in 2010 (237 petabytes per month) was more than three times the total global Inter­net traffic in 2000 (75 petabytes per month). The Cisco index also forecast that mobile video traffic would exceed 50% for the first time in 2011. Mobile video traffic was 49.8% of total mobile data traffic at the end of 2010, and will account for 52.8% of traffic by the end of this year.

By 2015, the Cisco Index forecast that global mobile data traffic will increase 26-fold between 2010 and 2015. Mobile data traffic will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 92% from 2010 to 2015, reaching 6.3 exabytes per month by 2015.

Thus, the continuous rise in demand for mobile data is putting pressure on broadcasters who naturally have to defend their traditional spectrum allocations. And with the advent of multi-screen platforms, broadcasters would need spectrum for these upcoming service offerings.

EBU’s Deltenre said all predictions indicate that the public will demand more and more video content from the Web. “They will want more programmes, more choices, and more quality. Look at the success of ‘catch-up’ TV services,” she pointed out.

In the future, part of the spectrum used for analogue-TV broadcasting in Europe, will be used for wireless broadband — the ‘800MHz’ band. EBU said the discussion in Europe today is whether even more of the broadcast bands in future should be given to wireless broadband services.

But even if broadband took over all the broadcast bands, in a few years there would still be insufficient spectrum to meet demands, said EBU.

“Using wireless broadband alone is not a solution to the media needs of the public,” said Deltenre. “We could follow our Japanese and Korean colleagues and create nations with fibre-optics or hybrid cable/fibre systems into every home. Let’s face it — they had a lot more foresight than we had in Europe, and we have to live with that.”

Thus, the only way to meet the European public’s media needs is to use broadcasting and wireless broadband, Deltenre reiterated. “We need a partnership of broadcasting and wireless broadband. Each must be used, where it best meets the needs of the public.”

In January next year, the EBU, along with other international broadcasting unions, would be participating in the ITU’s 2012 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-12), where one of the main agendas would be discussions on how best to allo­cate radio frequency spectrum for various needs.

But as far as EBU is concerned, the key is more collaboration between the broadcast and telecommunications industries.

“Broadcasting used for delivering the ever-higher-quality content to large audiences as [demanded by] the public. Broadband used as a partner when direct interactive services are needed for fewer users. I am not here to tell you what system this would be technically — this is a job for the engineers,” Deltenre maintained. “But simply to say that it is the only realistic way ahead.”

http://www.apb-news.com/