F rom T he S ecretariat

January/February 2004
Vol. 23 No. 1
PP 4408/3/2004 ISSN 0127-4902
Thailand joins AVN
T
he Mass Communication Organisation
of Thailand, MCOT,
has joined the ABU’s daily
news exchange, Asiavision.
The move brings AVN’s
membership to 13. It is the
first time a Thai broadcaster has joined the news
exchange.
MCOT operates Thailand’s TV Channel 9, two
radio networks and the
Thai News Agency.
“Our policy, particularly over the
past three years, has been to maintain
a balance of eastern and western
news,” the Director of the Thai News
Agency, Niphon Naksompop, said.
“We receive a lot of news coverage
from the big eastern countries and want
more news from our neighbours.”
Asiavision now has members in
Bangladesh, Brunei, the People’s
Republic of China, India, Indonesia,
the Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan,
Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore,
Sri Lanka and Thailand.
MCOT’s membership took effect
on January 1. Its decision to join was
warmly welcomed by the ABU News
INSIDE
MCOT’s main newsroom… its stories are now available to
broadcasters around Asia
Group Chairman, Haji Johari Achee
of RTB-Brunei.
“Thailand is a very important newsgenerating country,” he said. “It’s really
on the world map and hosts major
international events. Having MCOT as
a member will greatly enrich our news
exchange.”
A state-owned enterprise, MCOT was
established by royal decree in April
1977. It has its origins in the Thai
Television Company Limited, which ran
a television service from 1955 until
being dissolved and transformed into
MCOT 22 years later.
MCOT is commercially funded and
receives no grant from the government. Its vision, as defined in its
Enterprise Plan for 2004-2008, is “to
be an international-level mass media
organisation with a constructive role
in developing Thai society, using a
variety of media outlets.”
Channel 9 broadcasts from the
capital, Bangkok, and is transmitted
across the country via 32 relay stations.
November 2002 saw the launch of
a campaign to project Channel 9 as
a modern news channel with a total
(cont’d on page 3)
WEM F REPORT • AVN TU RNS 20 • ATH ENS U PDATE • BES I N DIA
ABU News
N e w s
&
E v e n t s
ABU News Jan/Feb 2004
Vol. 23 No. 1
Published six times a year by the
Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union
Publisher : David Astley
Email : [email protected]
Editor : Amy K. Ariffin
Email : [email protected]
Editorial Assistant : Lisa E. Mohamad
Email : [email protected]
Contributors :
Alan Williams
Staff of MCOT’s foreign news desk
Humayun Choudhury
John Barton
(from page 1)
Sangeeta Mahawar
change to its corporate identity.
Renamed Modernine TV, it became a
24-hour channel with a new logo and
a complete makeover of its news
presentation and studios.
Craig Hobbs
Guest Contributor :
Isamu Suzuki
Office:
Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union
PO Box 1164
Under the revamp, news and factual
programmes account for 70 percent
of its total airtime.
59700 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
Tel
: (60-3) 2282-3592
Fax : (60-3) 2282-5292
Website : www.abu.org.my
Printed by Xpress Graphic
MCOT also runs two radio networks.
Its central radio network operates
seven FM and two AM frequencies in
Bangkok and the vicinity. The regional
radio network operates 53 FM stations
across Thailand.
The Thai News Agency, also run by
MCOT, is the national news agency. It
produces domestic and international
news for all MCOT’s news outlets.
In addition, MCOT has granted
concessions to Bangkok Entertainment
Public Company Limited to operate
Channel 3, and to United Broadcasting
Corporation, Thailand’s major pay-TV
operator.
Because the law does not allow
private investors to own television
stations without a licence, these two
companies run their operations as
joint ventures with MCOT.
32-3A-1, 4th Floor, Jalan 1/116B,
Sri Desa Entrepreneurs Park,
Off Jalan Kuchai Lama
58200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
PP 4408/3/2004
ISSN 0127-4902
For advertising enquiries,
please contact Amy Ariffin.
Editorial contributions are welcome.
ABU News is supplied
free of charge to members and
affiliates, and is available on
subscription to others. Subscription:
US$25.00 a year (six issues)
airmailed to anywhere in the world.
MCOT’s Channel 9 is broadcast across Thailand via 32 relay stations
3
ABU News
N e w s
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World Electronic Media Forum, Geneva:
Media has vital role: Annan
roadcasters and media
professionals from around
the world gathered in
Geneva in December for four
days of interactive sessions and
workshops to discuss the role and
challenges of the traditional media
in the ‘new’ Information Society.
B
The World Electronic Media Forum
(WEMF) was held as a parallel event to
the World Summit on the Information
Society (WSIS) and was opened by the
Secretary-General of the United Nations,
Kofi Annan.
In his opening address, Mr Annan
said that it was important for the WSIS
to reaffirm the fundamental freedom of
the press in order for it to achieve its
vital role in the development of the
Information Society.
He said that in the information age,
electronic media were amongst the most
important vehicles of peace, progress
and solidarity.
“And yet, there is a paradox,” Mr
Annan said. “Electronic media may seem
to be everywhere, but there are many
millions of people in the world whom
they still do not reach.
Legal barriers
“Many do not have electricity, let
alone electronic media. Others are too
poor to buy televisions, radios or satellite dishes. The barriers are not only
technical. In some countries, it is not
legal to receive signals from abroad,”
he said.
“Some programming can make
people in rich countries more sensitive
to the plight of the less fortunate. But
other shows provoke envy and resentment on the part of the deprived.
The Broadcasters’ Declaration was presented to the UN SecretaryGeneral Kofi Annan by EBU President Arne Wessberg
“And the consolidation of media
ownership has sparked concern about
lack of pluralism,” he added.
Mr Annan said that the digital divide
was not just digital, but reflected wide
disparities in freedom, wealth, power,
and “ultimately in hope for a better
future.”
“The goal is not more information in
more places, but an information society
– open and inclusive – in which
knowledge empowers all people, and
serves the cause of improving the human
condition.
“The media are fellow stakeholders
in that effort. And freedom of the press
is essential if you are to fulfill your vital
role. It is one thing for governments to
establish regulatory and policy frameworks. But when they go further, down
the slope towards censorship and
harassment, all of us – and potentially
all our rights – are imperiled.”
At the conclusion of his opening
address, Mr Annan was handed the
Broadcasters’ Declaration that had been
agreed to by the World Broadcasting
Unions by the President of the European
Broadcasting Union, Mr Arne Wessberg.
4
Shashi Tharoor, UN Under-Secretary
General for Communications and Public
Information, pointed out that the
Information Society could not exist
without television channels.
He said the WEMF offered a platform
for media leaders from the whole world
to discuss the growing importance of
audio-visual media in today’s society.
The President of the ABU, Katsuji
Ebisawa, told the WEMF that he believed
that there was a rising momentum now
for the creation of a world in which
mankind would appreciate different
cultures and respect different values
through broadcasting.
During the opening session of the
WEMF, a live satellite link to the NHK
base camp in Antarctica was established
and the audience was treated to high
definition pictures from one of the most
remote regions of the world, to illustrate
the capacity of broadcasting to transcend
national borders.
The WEMF was organised by the
United Nations Department of Public
Information (UNDPI) together with the
European Broadcasting Union (EBU)
and Switzerland as host government.
ABU News
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World Electronic Media Forum, Geneva:
East Asia cultural exchange
channel proposed
C
ommercial satellite broadcasters should make available
channels for cultural exchange,
to help promote cultural diversity,
a former chairman of the Korean
Broadcasting Commission has said.
Japanese leaders had systematically
attempted to obliterate Korea’s traditional
cultural heritage.
Dr Jong-ki Kim, who is now Professor
of Journalism at the Hankuk University
of Foreign Studies, Seoul, was speaking
at a workshop held in conjunction with
the WEMF.
However, Korea was now gradually
opening its doors to various genres of
Japanese mass culture products, including
cinema, performing arts, and broadcasting
programmes.
The workshop was organised by the
ABU and the Asia-Pacific Institute for
Broadcasting Development (AIBD) to
examine the role of radio and television
broadcasters in the promotion and
preservation of cultural diversity in the
new ‘Information Society’.
He said the key questions were
whether the inflow of Japanese mass
culture posed a threat to Korea’s national
identity, and whether it posed a threat
to Korea’s ‘infant’ culture industry.
Dr Kim proposed that Japan’s
PerfectSky and Korea’s Sky Life should
each set aside one direct broadcasting
satellite channel for cultural exchange,
and suggested that China could join later.
He added that such a cultural
exchange channel, combined with the
multitude of new media outlets, would
work to facilitate and accelerate cultural
exchanges between those Asian nations
– and that this would lead to cultural
proliferation and diversity in East Asia.
Cultural separatism
Dr Jong-ki Kim presented a
proposal for a direct broadcast
satellite channel for an East Asian
cultural exchange
Dr Kim said that television broadcasting, in particular, had a crucial role
to play in achieving the goal of cultural
richness and proliferation, whilst still
retaining the cultural identity of a nation.
He told the workshop that the Korean
people had, in the past, a negative image
of Japan and its culture because, during
the 35 years of colonial rule of Korea,
Another speaker at the workshop
said that there was evidence of a new
trend of cultural separatism, whereby
audiences were turning to new media
and alternative media such as the
Internet and DVDs to satisfy their needs
– and leaving behind traditional media.
Dr Roza Tsagarousianou of the
Communications & Media Research
Institute, University of Westminster,
London, said that in her research on
media and minority audiences, those
audiences often expressed dismay at
5
Dr Tsagarousianou’s presentation
prompted much discussion on the
role of broadcasters in changing
racial stereotyping
the lack of recognition by broadcasters
of their needs.
She said they felt that broadcasters
treated them as second-class citizens –
placing their programmes in nonprimetime slots, or only scheduling
content to make up quotas. She
described this as a ‘ghetto provision’.
Dr Tsagarousianou suggested a range
of responses for broadcasters including
fair representation, no stereotyping and
giving minorities more visibility. She said
there was a need for broadcasters to
address diversity in novel ways such as
addressing cultural difference without
‘essentialising’ it, and added that minorities wanted to be ‘seamlessly interwoven’
into society, not treated separately.
Her presentation prompted a
vigourous debate from the floor on the
issue of whether the media was really
capable of changing stereotypes and
perceptions of certain races given that
some stereotypes had been in existence
for thousands of years.
ABU News
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World Electronic Media Forum, Geneva:
PSB funding in conflict with
trade agreement
ublic funding of public service
broadcasting may one day be
found to be in breach of the
legal regime of the WTO, and more
specifically, the General Agreement
on Trade in Services (GATS).
P
This warning was conveyed by Dr
Verena Wiedemann, Head of European
Affairs for Germany’s public broadcasting
system, ARD, to delegates attending the
ABU/AIBD Cultural Diversity Workshop.
Dr Wiedemann said that if audiovisual
services were to be liberalised under
GATS, as some countries are requesting,
the most basic and fundamental audiovisual and cultural policies would be put
at risk or even become illegal.
“This is because the main principles
of the GATS are incompatible with our
audiovisual policies, because these
policies, if looked at from the perspective
of international law, totally discriminate
against foreign audiovisual service
suppliers,” she explained.
Dr Wiedemann said that broadcasting
policies at odds with GATS included
financial support systems for local
audiovisual productions, quota systems
and must-carry rules in favour of
local content, and a number of media
ownership rules.
“This is why in the present GATS
negotiations the European Union is
taking the position that no liberalisation
commitments be made in the audiovisual
sector and that we must maintain the
exemptions from the Most Favoured
Nation clause that we negotiated during
the Uruguay round.”
She urged Asian nations to take a
similar approach.
Dr Wiedemann debates the GATS issue with ABU Vice-President K S Sarma
Pakistan media
promotes liberalism
ith an army chief as head
of state, and a free press
that publishes critical
analysis of the role of the armed
forces, Pakistan personifies
paradoxes of the new and the
old media, the WEMF was told.
W
Javed Jabbar, Chairman of the
South Asian Media Association, and
a former Minister of Information in
Pakistan, told the WEMF that in the
past four years Pakistan has witnessed
phenomenal change in its media.
“From 2000 onwards, several
private satellite channels broadcasting
from outside Pakistan but originating
content from within Pakistan without
any obstruction, a new law for private,
independent, terrestrial electronic
media and rapid growth of cable
TV distribution bringing dozens of
overseas channels to low and middle
6
income households have transformed
the electronic media environment of
Pakistan,” he said.
“There is now freely available on
TV a wide range of candid political
comment, educative information and
colourful entertainment.”
He said that the ultimate paradox is
that Pakistan today has far greater
freedom of expression in old media,
and in access to new media, than
countries like Singapore and Malaysia
that are more advanced than Pakistan.
“Further, the content of media in
Pakistan expresses the rich pluralism
and liberalism of Pakistan’s society,
a facet that is rarely projected in
overseas media which obsessively
concentrates only on violence and
terrorism to portray Pakistan as a
hotbed of extremism,” he added.
ABU News
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World Summit on the Information Society, Geneva:
UN to send broadcasters’
declaration to all countries
radio, Mr Stock said that the figures
spoke for themselves:
he Broadcasters’ Declaration,
to which the World Broadcasting Union agreed last
year, would be passed on to all
heads of state and governments, the
Secretary-General of the United
Nations, Kofi Annan, told the
closing session of the World Summit
on the Information Society (WSIS)
in Geneva in December.
T
The declaration was presented to
the WSIS by the Secretary-General
of the European Broadcasting Union,
Jean Stock, who said it was the first
time in media history that the world’s
broadcasting unions had adopted a
joint platform.
He said that five conclusions could
be drawn from the work that followed
the adoption of this declaration by
broadcasters:
●
There is no conflict between software
and hardware, or between the
content and the carrier. One cannot
exist without the other and consequently one must respect and
valorise the other.
“There are 6.5 billion people on
Earth; 700 million own a computer,
1.4 billion a mobile phone, 3.5 billion
a television set, and 4.5 billion own a
radio. Radios are above all the local
media.”
Jean Stock
●
●
Local productions can present a
real interest on a worldwide level.
The unlimited uplinking of pictures
and sound via satellite should be
permitted from every country. This
would allow local, regional and
national cultures to be spread around
the globe.
Radio and television feed cultural
identity and diversity. They are
therefore a forum for democratic
debate. To fulfil this mission,
broadcasting needs the editorial
independence that guarantees its
credibility.
On his conclusion about the role of
●
In the many territories of the
emerging countries, the new media
of the Information Society is first
and foremost radio.
●
The Web may be worldwide but its
success relies on the organisation
of the local connection facilities. To
achieve this aim, consulting and
creating websites via the radio using
wifi connections is now the quickest,
cheapest way to enable communities
to use the Web in their own language.
These small transmitter-receivers
connect to the Internet via satellite.
On his assertion about the need for
broadcasters to achieve credibility
through editorial independence, Mr
Stock added: “To be credible, a
journalist needs to be trained. We
would therefore like to emphasise to
you the importance of training for
journalists and those who provide
them with information in your name.
“At this very moment there are 400
journalists in prison. This situation
is certainly the result of a lack of
responsible, professional contacts
between those who govern and those
who inform the population.”
Mr Stock also highlighted that 123
journalists had been killed whilst
carrying out their duties since the
start of 2003.
7 of the WEMF sponsors, had a substantial presence
NHK Japan, one
at the ICT exhibition held in conjunction with the WSIS
ABU News
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BES Conference, New Delhi:
Broadcasters must
innovate to survive – SG
Mr Astley said the impact new
technology was having on broadcasters
in the Asia-Pacific region depended on
how much money they had.
roadcasters must innovate
if they are to survive in an
era of rapidly advancing
technology, the ABU SecretaryGeneral, David Astley, has told a
conference in India.
B
Broadcasting was at a key stage in its
history and development, Mr Astley said
in a keynote address at the opening of
the Broadcast Engineering Society’s 10th
International Conference on Terrestrial
and Satellite Broadcasting in New Delhi
in February.
For many broadcasters, he said,
the next few years would be critical
in determining whether they would
continue to play the dominant role that
they have in the past, or whether they
would succumb to the pressures of
increasing competition and audience
fragmentation.
New services
Broadcasting was usually defined as
the transmission of content to a wide
audience, Mr Astley said. Most of the
new services being launched were not
really broadcasting services – they were
usually narrowcasting services to some
degree because they were not targeting
100 percent of the population like the
majority of public and commercial
terrestrial broadcasters were.
“So does this mean the days are
numbered for broadcasters?
“Of course not. Just as television
didn’t spell the end of radio, and home
video didn’t cause the cinema chains to
go broke (despite all the dire predictions
of the doomsayers in the 1950s and the
1970s), broadcasters will continue to
thrive – provided they innovate.”
David Astley
There were two directions in which
the successful broadcasters would go –
and both required considerable innovation on the part of the broadcasters
concerned.
One direction would be in recognising that there would always be a
significant audience for content that
is made available free-to-air, either
terrestrially or through satellite or any
other platform.
There were large audiences throughout the region who would never be able
to afford to access the new multimedia
services – so free-to-air broadcasters
must start tailoring their content to meet
the needs of those audiences, Mr Astley
said.
The other direction for broadcasters
was to start targeting niche audiences
themselves, and re-purpose their content
for delivery through multiple platforms.
“This means looking at how content
can be transmitted via the Internet,
to mobile phones, to PDAs, or via any
new platform that is developed in the
coming years.”
8
“Any conversion to, or adoption of,
new technology is costly. Whilst broadcasters in relatively wealthy countries
like Japan and Korea are offering a
whole range of new HDTV, broadband
and interactive services to complement
their traditional broadcasting services,
broadcasters in many ‘poorer’ countries
are struggling to find the money to keep
basic analogue services on air.”
He described a recent visit to an ABU
member whose journalists were still
hand-writing their stories on foolscap
sheets, and then handing them to a typist
who prepared them for the on-air news
presenter using a 20-year old typewriter.
Four new desktop PCs had been
installed in the newsroom but the
journalists were not yet using them.
“I asked whether the PCs were linked
to the autocue in the studio. I was told
that there was no autocue in the studio.
It would be a few years before they could
afford to buy one.
Mr Astley said there was not only an
enormous knowledge and skills gap
between the wealthiest and poorest
broadcasters in the region, but also what
could be called a “capacity to adopt new
technology” gap.
“It is an important message for those
who are involved in the development of
new technology and the creation of new
multimedia products. In many countries,
new technology – because of its cost –
is widening the information divide,
rather than closing it.”
ABU News
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BES Conference, New Delhi:
‘Move quickly and adapt’
ithin a few years broadcasting would be done in
an entirely different fashion
employing new technologies, the
ABU’s Head of Transmission Technology and Spectrum, Sharad Sadhu,
told the Broadcast Engineering
Society’s conference.
W
Broadcasters had no choice but to
move quickly and adapt to the new
information and communication technologies, he said. Devising and creating
content for the new markets was a critical
factor.
“As we stand today we really have
no choice. In the prevailing environment
of convergence of media, which gets
progressively more competitive, players
in telecom and Internet industries are
bound to step forward and grab the
opportunities.
“And this is the central message I
want to convey, you have no choice but
to get on to the new distribution media
and new consumers before somebody
else occupies the turf.”
As an example, he cited cell phone
users, which he described as the world’s
fastest growing group of consumers.
“What is important is that the cell
phone is a means of personal access,
having attention of the owner on a 24/7
basis,” Mr Sadhu said.
As an example he pointed to India,
where more than one million cell phone
subscribers were joining every month.
With such a huge captive audience,
broadcasters should seize the opportunity
with both hands and deliver their products to cell phones. One way was by
distributing tailor-made broadcasting
products over the existing cell phone
networks and migrating to enhanced ones
Sharad Sadhu answers questions following his presentation on
broadcasting through new delivery platforms. The session was chaired
by B. K. De who was the recipient of the ABU’s first Engineering
Industry Award in 2003
when available. The other was to use the
broadcast mode in which transmitted
products reached the consumer directly.
Broadcasters were able to offer
interactive content packages including
news headlines, traffic, weather and
stock market information.
Broadband opportunity
Another opportunity for broadcasters
to reach audiences was through the
broadband Internet framework, Mr
Sadhu said.
“Powerful compression and delivery
tools, such as Windows Media 9, have to
a large extent made it practicable for
broadband Internet to deliver relatively
bulky multimedia content.
“Within the broadband framework,
the variety of specialised applications,
including online entertainment and
educational material, are poised for a
big future.”
Once broadband video content
became more widely available with
higher resolution and in larger display
9
formats, it would be possible for
consumers to watch what and when
they wanted, he said. Video on demand
via broadband could drastically change
the way people watched television.
Mr Sadhu said there was an urgent
need for broadcasters to diversify into
new delivery media and to service new
markets. The related technologies had
developed to the take-off point and
business strategies were evolving. The
core strengths of broadcasters gave them
a head start in meeting the challenges.
After delivery channels got going,
he said, it was content that drove the
media and ensured its success or
failure. However, a saturation point had
been reached on content creation and
multiplicity of channels.
“Indeed our services and products
have not changed for the last 30 years
or so, except for adding colour along
the way.
“Though digital transformation has
created new facilities and capacities,
innovations in the industry have essentially remained static,” he added.
ABU News
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Asiavision: Coming of age
by Humayun Choudhury,
Senior Editor, Asiavision
Asiavision, the ABU’s daily news exchange, has turned
20. Senior Editor Humayun Choudhury, who has been
congratulatory message from
a member on Asiavision’s
20th birthday, “It’s lovely…
at least you’re off the TEEN list
now!” was in fact a wake-up call.
Along with the warmth was a gentle
reminder that AVN has attained its
adulthood, quietly pointing at the
responsibility that comes along with
the coming of age.
A
When the news exchange got off
the ground on January 16, 1984, after a
successful month long trial in March
the previous year, the prophets of doom
expected it to die a natural death in
no time, as had been the case with some
other similar ventures.
But AVN has passed 20 eventful,
some times critical, years since then
to become the world’s second largest news exchange operation after
Eurovision.
Functioning from a small cubicle,
with no direct phone line but a fourwire circuit and telex that belonged to
Radio Television Malaysia (RTM), who
hosted the first centre, AVN dared to be
reckoned with as a diverse new entity.
And it was really the case.
with it from day one, recalls some of the highlights –
and challenges – of its first two decades.
Earth-shattering stories, many of
them exclusive footage, came in droves
– Indira Gandhi’s assassination followed by the world’s worst industrial
disaster in Bhopal, India (DDI), first
pictures of the fall of Kabul to Afghan
Mujahideen at the end of the Soviet
occupation (NHK), the Kobe earthquake
(NHK), events leading to the fall of
Marcos in the Philippines (NHK), the
end of the Suharto era in Indonesia
(TVRI) and frequent terror attacks in Sri
Lanka (SLRC) among them.
Breaking news
AVN quickly became a bellwether,
one of the world’s guaranteed sources
of breaking news.
Even the first pro-democracy protest
in Albania – thanks to an NHK crew
which just happened to be there –
was among numerous AVN surprise
exclusives!
In the initial years, AVN rode on
the success of the “big bang” that
accompanied its launching. But the
euphoria soon wore off, with the
news exchange showing cracks, notably
stemming from non-offers of important
news stories, self-imposed restrictions,
and at times sheer propaganda items
finding a place on offer lists.
The disturbing situation prompted
a crisis meeting of heads of news in
Tokyo in the late 1980s to hammer out
remedial steps that were able to pull
the exchange out of the morass.
The renewed commitment generated
a momentum that steered AVN through
a close assessment by a specially formed
Review Team in the mid-nineties. Since
then, Asiavision has gone successfully
through various stages of the Review
Team recommendations, switched from
an analogue to a digital platform and
seen its membership expand to a
robust 13.
The two decades since birth have not
been entirely smooth for Asiavision.
There have been cases of members
leaving and others facing increasing
newsroom budget constraints.
But its inherent strength, honed
through years of trials and tribulations,
helped it battle the odds and survive
many a difficult situation.
The early years… Hajime Senno
of NHK and Humayun Choudhury
and Arthur Wyndham of the
Secretariat at an AVN oordinators’
meeting in the late 1980s
10
ABU News
N e w s
Once there was a total communication blackout (before the mobile phone
era) when the centre was still located in
RTM. Phone, fax, computers – nothing
worked. It was a nightmare that could
have meant AVN’s first breakdown since
launch.
But it was not to be… suddenly a
phone sprang to life but in receiving
mode only, with the voice of a saviour
from TVRI-Indonesia who ultimately
acted as a relay to collect offers from
various other members and pass on to
the centre through this half-working
phone.
By afternoon the fax line was restored
and a hand-written transmission summary distributed. The scheduled feed went
uninterrupted without reflecting the least
signs of the trauma of the day.
This and other difficult days gave
those running the operation important
lessons on how to come out unscathed
from the toughest of situations and
circumstances.
Bumpy road
&
E v e n t s
AVN – a few key facts
A
siavision marked its 20th
anniversary on January 16,
2004.
The news exchange began in 1984
with five members, and several more
joined in the course of 1984. Today
it has 13 members, all national
broadcasters, who exchange news
material by satellite every day.
The news exchange operated at
first as a two-zone structure, with
Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo as the two
coordinating centres. RTM-Malaysia
later became the sole coordinating
centre.
In September 1989, Asiavision
introduced hot switching, a mode of
transmission that enabled members
to exchange their news material
directly rather than having it prepackaged at the coordinating centre.
Flexible transmission times and a
flexible sequence were introduced in
September 1991. Asiavision went fully
digital in January 2001.
The Asiavision centre moved from
RTM’s TV Centre to its own premises
in the RTM complex in September,
1998.
source for TV journalists in and outside
the Asian continent in a rapidly changing
broadcasting environment.
and ethnic diversity. That has made it a
success story, and stands it in good stead
for the years ahead.
Asiavision’s uniqueness as well as
its strength lies in its membership,
comprising a contrasting blend of
political, economic, cultural, religious
AVN’s 20th anniversary is the right
occasion to take a closer look at this
potential and build on what has already
been achieved.
Looking back over the first 20 years,
what appears prominent are the faces of
those whose unflinching commitment
and faith in AVN put it in the right gear
to negotiate even the bumpiest of roads
in its journey to adulthood.
Many of them are not there any more.
Many have retired or risen to the high
rungs of their professional ladder. They
were the ones, more than their organisations, who made Asiavision what it is
today. They are sadly missed. Hopefully
many others will step forward to fill their
shoes.
Having seen its membership increase
to 13, Asiavision must keep growing. It
needs to diversify and make the optimum
use of its current resources. It must not
only remain in business for as long as
the concept of news exchange remains
viable, but become a vital daily news
AVN staff… (from left): Alan Williams, Humayun Choudhury, Saw Sow Lin,
Thomas Hollengk and Tan Hock Guan
11
ABU News
N e w s
“ The anchors tend to be very
glib…and there isn’t in-depth
discussion of any issue. It’s
all superficial and quite
confusing.”
– Keynote speaker
George Soros, on US television
&
E v e n t s
What they said in
Budapest
“ It kind of got a bit worrying to me
when people started putting me up as
the voice of the Iraqi people. I’m not.”
– The ‘Baghdad Blogger’,
who ran a popular website
from Baghdad during the war
“ The tragedy is that
American and British
journalists in Iraq are
being seen as an extension
of the state.”
– Prem Prakash,
Asian News International
“ On the whole the news
coverage has been very good
and very interesting.”
– Sir Jeremy Greenstock,
UK special envoy to Iraq
“ What he achieved was really
unique and
incredible.”
“ The trouble with the sand was
– Christiane
that it got in the way. A lot of
Amanpour
equipment got clogged up.”
of CNN, on the
– Mark Damazer, BBC,
Baghdad Blogger
on covering the war in Iraq
“ It’s been relentless but we’re not the
only ones going through it.”
– Max Uechtritz, ABC-Australia, on criticism
by governments of Iraqi war coverage.
“ Because of the competitive
pressure, Taiwan’s 24-hour
TV news has become
absolutely tabloid.”
– Jim Laurie, STAR News
“ We’re trying to be gritty, we’re trying
to be street-level, we’re trying to attract
a younger audience. And it’s hard.”
“ If it went smoothly it would
be radio. Television has
always been brutally difficult.”
– Media
consultant
Ken Tiven,
on the difficulties
of covering the
war in Iraq
“ Unfortunately we are facing
a totally hostile environment.”
– Ibrahim Hilal of Al-Jazeera,
on the attitude of the American
authorities in Iraq
– Heaton Dyer, CBC-Canada,
on current affairs programming
“ As reporters we did our best
to report the SARS outbreak.”
– Tao Ye, CCTV
“ If we are sending colleagues to war
zones unprotected, untrained, we should
be ashamed of ourselves.”
– Chris Cramer, CNN
“ Just because we
have the technology
to get on the air in an
“ It’s not that we’re looking for good
news stories. We’re looking for accurate
news stories.”
– Bryan Whitman,
US Defence Department
instant doesn’t mean
“ As a general principle,
we have to do that.”
we’re against (journalists)
having armed guards.”
– Nigel Baker, APTN
– Tom Brokaw, NBC-
12
USA, on the need
for caution and checking facts
ABU News
N e w s
&
E v e n t s
The News Xchange, Budapest:
Iraq a hot issue at News Xchange
he lessons learned from
covering the war in Iraq, and
the risks for news crews, were
key issues at a major conference
in Budapest in November.
T
About 400 people from 50 countries
took part in The News Xchange, a twoday conference in the Hungarian capital.
Among ABU members represented were
ABC-Australia, CCTV-People’s Republic
of China, NHK-Japan and TRT-Turkey.
The conference – a non-profit event
underwritten by the European Broadcasting Union – was aimed at senior
people in the news industry. Chairing
the sessions were leading broadcast
journalists, including CNN’s Christiane
Amanpour and the BBC’s Nick Gowing.
Censorship issues
Ms Amanpour chaired the session on
the conflict in Iraq and the lessons
learned. It covered such issues as the
embedding of journalists with forces
of the US-led coalition, censorship and
self-censorship, and propaganda.
In the same session, NHK’s Kei
Yoshida described his organisation’s
high-definition coverage of the war –
the first time a major conflict has been
covered extensively in this format.
how some state-owned broadcasters,
including the BBC and ABC-Australia,
have come under fire from their governments for their coverage of Iraq.
An entertaining session looked at
animated graphics, now affordable by
most broadcasters, and the way they
are changing the face of news bulletins,
particularly when covering events held
behind closed doors.
Another session dealt with the difficulty
of attracting audiences – particularly
young people – for current affairs
programming, and the way broadcasters
are trying to meet the challenge.
Keynote speakers included former
WHO chief Gro Harlem Brundtland,
who was there in person, and financier
George Soros, who answered questions
in a live satellite hook-up.
During Dr Brundtland’s session,
CCTV journalist Tao Ye described the
challenge of covering the SARS crisis
in China earlier this year.
A feature of the conference was the
large number of live satellite feeds. The
two days saw 30 live transmissions
from around the world. At times there
A related session on safety issues
facing news organisations saw some of
the bluntest exchanges of the conference.
CNN stoutly defended its decision to hire
armed guards for its news crews, saying
any organisation that did not do so was
failing in its duty.
Others disagreed strongly, saying
journalists with armed guards forfeited
their observer status and risked being
seen as participants in the conflict.
The conference also focused on
Dr Brundtland listens as Tao Ye
talks about SARS
13
Kei Yoshida described NHK’s
HDTV coverage of the war
were four transmissions at the same
time. The EBU handled this through
its international satellite network.
The conference followed a meeting in
the same hotel of members of the EBU’s
news exchange, Eurovision (EVN).
A key issue was EVN’s planned switch
to a file server for the distribution of its
news material. This means news items
will be available in all newsrooms as
soon as they ready, doing away with the
need for the existing satellite feeds at
fixed times. EVN’s head of news, Tony
Naets, said the switch was likely to get
under way towards the end of 2004.
ABU News
N e w s
&
E v e n t s
IRIB and SLRC win AVN awards
RIB-Islamic Republic of Iran,
CCTV-People’s Republic of
China and SLRC-Sri Lanka
have won Asiavision monthly
awards for their coverage of major
news events.
I
The December 26 earthquake in
the southeastern Iranian city of Bam
was one of the worst natural disasters
in modern times. The strong quake
flattened the ancient mud-brick city and
its citadel, a world heritage site, killing
between 30 and 40 thousand people.
Such a huge story of human suffering
triggered a worldwide response, both
from governments with generous relief
assistance and from the media rushing
to the scene to cover the tragedy
extensively.
Exclusive coverage
IRIB responded almost instantly and
gave non-stop coverage of the devastation, enabling Asiavision to mount
three news flashes – one within hours
of the earthquake.
AVN also carried IRIB packages in its
daily feed, containing graphic accounts
of death and devastation, dramatic
rescues and large-scale relief and
rehabilitation efforts.
IRIB’s coverage of the Bam tragedy,
much of it exclusive, won it the Asiavision
December Award.
SLRC won the November Award for
its elaborate coverage of fast unfolding
political events in Sri Lanka that led to
the suspension of parliament.
The sweeping measures also brought
about changes in some key ministries
resulting in a standoff between the
government and the president that subsequently had its bearing on the island’s
Norwegian-brokered peace process.
Stills from IRIB’s non-stop coverage of the Bam earthquake
SLRC responded to the developments,
making daily offers to Asiavision.
CCTV puts spotlight on Asia
ootage from Asiavision, the
ABU’s daily news exchange,
is featuring prominently
on Asia Report, a popular
programme on China Central
Television’s news channel.
F
The aim of Asia Report is to give
the Chinese people a better understanding of the diverse continent they
live in. It focuses not only on the big
stories of the day, providing in depth
coverage and analysis, but takes a
The 20-minute live programme
has been shown six days a week
since CCTV launched the news
channel last May. It’s the only CCTV
programme to focus wholly on the
Asia-Pacific region.
Each day, its producers air news
items from Asiavision members to
bring a distinctly Asian perspective
to the programme and ensure that
Asiavision touches the audience
directly.
softer look at life in Asia – the
culture, the fashion, the entertainment and so on.
Another section of the programme looks at how Asian
newspapers are reporting events
in their own countries, including
the cartoons.
The programme has its own
page on the CCTV website at
www.cctv.com.
Viewers can watch Asia Report live
on the CCTV website
14
Viewers can watch the
programme on the Net, and
some of the exclusive reports are
also put on popular Chinese
websites such as Xinhuanet and
Sina.com.
ABU News
Sports
View
1st WBM Winter Games 2006, Torino:
Torino broadcasters take icy tour
now and overcast conditions
put a damper on the venue
tour by broadcasters attending
the first World Broadcasters Meeting
in Italy for the Torino Winter Games
2006.
S
Three buses carrying the 200 international delegates had to wear chains on
their rear wheels to help with traction on
the icy mountain roads around two of
the main outdoor venues at Sestriere
and San Sicario.
Most of the venues had to be viewed
from the comfort of the buses, though
the broadcasters were able to leave
them to inspect the Women’s Downhill,
Combined Downhill and Super G at San
Sicario.
The President of the Torino Olympic
Broadcast Organisation (TOBO), Manolo
Romero, said excellent progress had
been made with the development of all
venues and supporting infrastructure.
Cable link
One of the few occasions when a break in the weather
allowed delegates to the Torino Winter Olympics briefing
were able to get off the bus and view one of the venues
Mr Romero said there would be nine
outdoor venues (Salt Lake had five),
with Alpine skiing being contested at
three separate venues, and separate
locations for both freestyle skiing and
snowboarding.
“There will also be two separate
venues for cross-country skiing and
biathlon whereas there was only one at
Salt Lake,” Mr Romero told delegates.
One vital piece of telecommunications infrastructure – an 80 km fibre
optic cable – would be built during the
coming summer months, and it would
complete a circuit of all competition and
non-competition venues.
In a further improvement the bobsleigh/skeleton/luge venue was going to
be separated from the ski jumping venue
where before they had been combined.
“We are delighted with the planning
so far, and the goals achieved,” Mr
Romero said.
The competition programme had also
received a boost with the addition of three
events in men’s and women’s snowboarding (cross), men’s and women’s biathlon
(mass start) and a team sprint event in
cross-country.
All television production crews for
the various sports had been hired, and
all essential personnel were now on
board at TOBO.
Torino would boast significant
changes and improvements over the
competition schedule and the number
of outdoor venues provided at the last
Winter Games in Salt Lake City.
New events
TOBO would improve its coverage
of the Games by using the latest technologies and putting in place exceptional
technical facilities at all venues.
Mr Romero said TOBO would establish a broadcast compound at each
15
venue with TOBO production facilities.
“Rights Holding Broadcaster production and technical equipment can
be installed in the compound in prearranged positions, though there will
be space restrictions,” Mr Romero
said.
As well TOBO would provide
Technical Operations Centres (TOC),
commentary positions, Commentary
Information Service (CIS), observer
positions, unilateral camera positions,
mixed zones, as well as pre and post
unilateral transmissions, VTR injection
points and bookable production
facilities.
There was one discordant note
during the two days of meetings and
tours: a proposal to move the medal
ceremonies from the historic Piazza delle
Medaglie.
Though a final decision has not been
made, Dick Ebersohl, the President of
NBC’s Olympics Programming, said that
his network would look most unfavourably on a shift in venue, since the history
of the medal ceremonies at Winter
Games was a pivotal part of the television
presentation.
ABU News
Sports
View
ATHENS 2004:
The hardest race is
already being run…
Microlimano, or ‘little port’, will be a magnet for visitors to Athens as the many restaurants
which front the harbour offer tantalising local seafood dishes.
robably the surest sign that
Athens will win the biggest
race of this year’s Summer
Olympic Games is at the old international airport site of Helleniko,
where stadia for the baseball,
hockey, softball, fencing and
basketball are being constructed.
P
In what has amounted to a superhuman effort the buildings and infrastructure has mushroomed in record
time, putting all the doomsayers firmly
in their place.
Around the world there was a chorus
of negative reporting which said that
Athens would simply not meet the
challenge of building an Olympic city in
under four years.
That it has come so far, so quickly,
is testament to the self-belief of the
organisers, and the firm commitment of
the Greek government to bringing home
the modern Olympics.
by John Barton, Head of Sport
The IOC has had its own reservations
about progress, but now says the Games
will go ahead on time, and on schedule,
with all venues completed, perhaps a
little later, though, than they expected.
“They’re working 24 hours a day
to get it done,” said a British official.
Beds in short supply
Andreas which fronts the Aegean Sea,
and is the furthest distance (32 km)
from the IBC. Travelling time is around
45 minutes in peak hour.
ATHOC says it has gone to great
lengths to make each village “environmentally friendly”.
A spokesperson said that the goal
was to ensure adequate implementation
of good landscape architecture practices
by respecting the original landscape and
rationally using its natural resources.
That’s good news! But what about the
thorny question of accommodation? Beds
are still in short supply, unless of course
you are prepared to pay Euros 400 a day
for a berth on board a luxury liner.
All green spaces had been designed
to use plants compatible with the
Mediterranean climate with minimum
irrigation requirements.
The ABU is still short in its accommodation needs by 67 beds though
ATHOC assures us that these will be
found in one of the six media villages.
The bulk of our members – 340
approximately – will be housed at Agios
The President of the AOB, Manolo
Romero, said the multilateral broadcast
signal produced by AOB would provide
unbiased coverage of sporting events
throughout the Games. He said this
would avoid national favouritism,
16
ABU News
Sports
View
Preparing to bid for the
FIFA World Cup 2010
he ABU is preparing a
bid for the 2010 Football
World Cup, the SecretaryGeneral, David Astley, has
announced.
independently for major sporting
rights, as it, and ITV, did for the
2002 World Cup.
The avenues open to the ABU
were for it to join a global bid on
behalf of world broadcast unions
through whom FIFA had negotiated
the broadcast rights prior to the
2002 World Cup, to buy the event
for the Asia-Pacific region, or to
represent individual markets.
“Can we compete on price with
third parties? The answer clearly is
yes. We also need to closely examine
what our competitive advantages
are, and make sure that FIFA fully
understands them.
T
Manolo Romero
commercial identification, advertising
or interviews.
Mr Romero added that during Games
time AOB would employ around 3,500
specialists with expertise in international
sports broadcasting and associated
fields.
In addition, AOB, in collaboration
with local universities and educational
institutions specialising in media studies,
would train 1,000 local students in
various broadcast roles.
Security forces and emergency
services are ready to face any threat
which might surface during the Games.
The forces had conducted the biggest
anti-terrorist exercise ever held in
Europe to the satisfaction of more than
100 international observers.
More than 50,000 members of the
security forces and emergency services
will be directly involved in protecting
the athletes, officials and visitors.
Mr Astley said the ABU had to focus
on the Programme
specific advantages
of a bid
Sangeeta Mahawar, the ABU’s Senior
Executive,
from whatparticipants
was the most dynamic
“We are exploring
a number
of workshop
debates
a point with
television market in the world, and
options, but the bottom line is that
certainly the biggest in terms of
we will be making an offer to FIFA for
potential TV viewers.
2010 and beyond,” Mr Astley said.
“We have had preliminary discussions with the World Broadcasting
Union (WBU) about formulating a
strategy. This was followed up with a
meeting in Torino between the EBU
(European Broadcasting Union), the
ABU, OTI (Organizacion de la Television Iberoamericana), and ASBU
(Arab States Broadcasting Union).
“The principal outcome of the
meeting was common agreement on
a collective approach to the bidding
process, although there are considerable hurdles which have to be overcome,” Mr Astley said.
The main one centred on the
European Commission’s competition
policy and its insistence that the EBU
should, in the future, pass on rights to
non-EBU members.
Panathinaikos Stadium where the first
modern Olympics was held in 1896.
It will figure prominently in Athens this
year for the archery competition and
the end of both marathons
There have been reports that some
broadcasters, such as the BBC, might
opt out of the pool approach and bid
17
Any bid for a World Cup had to
face certain realities. It was the view
of the ABU that price alone should
not be the sole criterion for a
successful bid, unless of course it
was pitched at such a level to make
it irresistible.
He said Unions had to put an
economic value on the programming
assets that it deployed between world
cups in its sports, news, and general
programming, which supported FIFA
and its executives, the World Cup,
associated products and personalities.
Additionally FIFA needed to be
educated on the realities of its pricing,
and the impact that it was having in
countries represented by the ABU.
In many of those countries there
was no longer sufficient money in
sports budgets to support other major
events like the World Athletics
Championships, and major sports like
world swimming and international
hockey.
ABU News
T h e
A B U
R e g i o n
Reflections in Afghanistan:
RTA gets a helping hand
By Isamu Suzuki
Former Education Programme
Producer, NHK
n response to a request from
the ABU, I went to Kabul to
work with Radio-Television
Afghanistan (RTA) from November
5 to 18 as a programme expert to
provide the first of a series of onthe-job training for the station’s
directors of youth and children’s
programmes.
I
The three-year training project,
comprising two weeks of training three
times a year, was made possible by
a grant from the Hoso Bunka Foundation of Japan (HBF) and the ABU
Programme Advisory Service.
RTA personnel attend one of
the ABU training sessions
Fifteen radio and television directors
took part in the first training session.
I was deeply impressed by the enthusiasm of the participants, which reflected
RTA’s recognition of the importance of
children’s education in building the
country’s future, and the need for Afghan
children to be exposed to high-quality
programmes.
Although the RTA broadcasting
facilities were destroyed during the war,
reconstruction has been progressing
smoothly with assistance from Japan
and other nations. In fact, the venue
where I conducted the training could
A scene from an RTA children’s programme
be rented out for a fee. The hall, with a
seating capacity of 40, was built by
the BBC within the RTA compound.
The television studios were also
renovated with assistance from Japan,
while Deutsche Welle continued its
cooperation from an office in RTA.
In Afghanistan there are more radio
listeners than television viewers. Due
to the electricity shortage, television
is broadcast between 5:45pm and
11:00pm on weekdays, with an additional three-hour morning broadcast on
Fridays. Since content is limited to news,
music, children’s programmes and
public relations programmes from
government ministries, most of the
documentaries, entertainment and
drama programmes are imported from
overseas.
As I turned 70 this year and looked
back on my experience from the
Second World War, the current situation in Afghanistan reminded me of
Japan 60 years ago. From my hotel
window, I could see a mountain in the
outskirts of Kabul, and my thoughts
turned to houses that lay at the foot of
the mountain and the people who lived
there.
Built with mud and clay, these houses
are shared by three generations. It is
said that the literacy rate among parents
18
in Afghanistan is very low due to the
effects of prolonged war. When we
consider education for both adults and
children, we realise that there are
numerous problems that need to be
dealt with, such as the extent of broadcasting’s involvement with education
and family life.
A television studio renovated with
help from the Japanese government
The hotel that I stayed in was also
home to other experts from various
countries offering assistance in the
reconstruction of Afghanistan. One had
to go through two tight security checkpoints in order to enter the hotel. Chills
ran down my spine when I saw on the
news that a bomb was set off at the
same hotel three days after my departure.
My next visit to Afghanistan is
scheduled for March, the beginning of
spring season in Afghanistan. I sincerely
wish that together with spring, a time
filled with hope will arrive for the people
of Afghanistan.
ABU News
T h e
A B U
R e g i o n
KBS gears up for 77th anniversary
BS-Republic of Korea has
lined up a series of events
to commemorate 77 years
of broadcasting in 2004. To mark
the occasion, a special emblem
was created to represent festivities, celebration of a new beginning and great expectations for
the future.
K
Among the 10 special projects, the
most stressed activity is “Audience
Services”. One of the innovative movements KBS has launched is offering
opportunities for audience participation in the broadcasting activities,
the so-called “Open Channel”.
KBS has also announced 10 special
projects for the year, with emphasis on
the importance of audience related
services and special programming on
history and education.
At KBS, the audience can not only
participate but actually produce a
programme of their own. For almost
three years, as an exemplar public
access programme, Open Channel has
demonstrated KBS’ determination to
elevate audience rights.
The special programme lineup
includes Audience: The Heart of KBS,
Education: Protecting the Korean
Public School System, historical
drama specials, a Korean civilisation
documentary series, three inter-Korean
co-productions, and A Proposal for
Peace, with a special series on Iraq.
Audience-produced programmes were
first introduced on terrestrial channels
on May 5, 2001, with an average broadcast of one programme a month. In 2002,
broadcasts were increased to twice
a month and in 2003, an average of
four audience-made programmes were
broadcast every month.
The significance of audience participation programmes was also
reflected in the Korean Broadcasting
Commission Awards in 2003 through
the newly established category for
“Audience Participation Programme
of the Year”. Open Channel was
honoured as the first winner of this
category.
Open Channel continues to be the
leading public access programme with
more and more audience turned
producers and producing fresh new
content.
Green development on DW-RADIO
he English Service of
Deutsche Welle’s DW-RADIO
has expanded its coverage of
ecological issues and sustainable
development with Living Planet,
an award-winning ecological programme, hosted by John Hay.
T
The 30-minute show is broadcast
once a week and comprises radio packages and interviews on ecological issues
and a regular bulletin of eco-news.
The media partnership between
DW-RADIO and WWF has resulted in
several award-winning feature series
in recent years, including WWF EcoRegions and Indigenous Peoples –
Partners in Conservation. DW’s
English Service is also co-operating with
UNESCO, UNICEF and the UN Climate
Secretariat based in Bonn.
DW-RADIO’s new half-hour programme World in Progress looks at
how globalisation and an increasing
number of conflicts pose new challenges
to sustainable development.
DW actively pursues partnerships
with such organisations in the production of programmes aimed at promoting
conservation and sustainable development worldwide.
World in Progress includes international co-productions made in
partnership with radio stations in the
developing world.
Hard to Beat, the weekend sports
programme, caters for millions of sports
fans around the world with the latest
developments in their favourite sport at the
weekend. In the coming months the focus
19
DW journalist John Hay during a
co-production in Pakistan
will shift to top events like the Olympic
Games in Greece and to the European
soccer championships in Portugal.
For more information on DWRADIO’s English Service, visit the website
at www.dw-world.de/english
ABU News
T h e
A B U
R e g i o n
China ‘lifts ban on foreign TV production’
hina is lifting its ban on
foreign investment in television and film production
companies, the Financial Times has
reported.
C
The newspaper quoted Zhu Hong of
the State Administration of Radio, Film
and Television (SARFT) as saying the
move underlines Beijing’s determination
to commercialise media organisations
ranging from newspapers to television
stations. Under the new policy, “strong
and influential” foreign companies will be
able to hold minority stakes in Chinese
production companies.
“In the past we only allowed foreign
and domestic companies to work
together on films and television programmes,” said Mr Zhu, who added
that the change of policy marked a
“major liberalisation”.
“Now we have issued clear permission
for overseas and domestic companies
jointly to create companies to make
films and television programmes,” he said.
Beijing is hoping a dramatic increase
in private sector involvement in the tele-
vision business will raise the quality and
quantity of the content produced for the
local market.
Local private companies will also be
allowed jointly to develop pay channels,
a reform that is intended to help attract
the investment needed to fund China’s
ambitious plans for the expansion of
pay television and digital TV services.
Overseas media companies can also
expect to benefit from increasing
demand for their content, with Mr Zhu
saying restrictions on the amount of
foreign films and television that could
be broadcast would be raised.
However, foreign opportunities in
actual broadcasting are likely to be
limited. Currently Beijing permits 31
foreign channels to broadcast but only
to housing compounds approved by
the Government.
A handful of channels run by overseas
companies including News Corp and
Viacom have been given “landing rights”
in southern Guangdong province and are
eager for access to audiences elsewhere
in China.
However, Mr Zhu said SARFT was “not
currently considering” any expansion of
their reach.
Strong start to year for radio in Australia
ecent figures released has
shown a strong start to the
year for commercial radio
in Australia with revenue figures
for January 2004 up by 19
percent, Joan Warner, Chief
Executive Officer of Commercial
Radio Australia, has said.
R
Price Waterhouse Coopers Radio
Revenue performance figures show
metropolitan advertising revenue for
commercial radio in January was
around US$28.5 million compared to
US$23.8 million for the same month
last year.
Ms Warner said that all of the
Australian states had experienced an
increase in revenue in January with the
strongest growth recorded in the three
state capitals of Brisbane (34 percent),
Melbourne (25 percent) and Sydney
(16 percent).
“This growth also compares well with
many international markets which
recorded flatter growth in radio revenue
last year and are expecting 2004 to
remain weak with estimates of growth at
about four percent or less, according to
research by one of the international
investment banks.”
21
Ms Warner said 2004 looks set to be
an exciting year for Australian radio with
stations throughout the nation optimistic
about growth prospects for the year.
“I believe radio’s reliability and costeffectiveness will again prove its strongest
assets in terms of attracting the advertising dollar in 2004.”
“The industry is also hopeful of
building on latest figures, which show
radio reached 80 percent of Australians
in 2003 and that people listen to around
19 hours of commercial radio each
week, ” Ms Warner said.
ABU News
F r o m
T h e
S e c r e t a r i a t
etadata. It’s a word that has come to us
along with the digital revolution. A word so
new that until a few years ago it wasn’t in
the dictionary.
M
Broadcasters are suddenly hearing it a lot
more often. But many of us, especially on
the programme side, have little idea
what it means, and don’t want to know
– or think we don’t.
by Alan Williams,
Managing Editor, Asiavision
Picture courtesy of Deutsche Welle
Metadata – what is it?
n fact it’s not as scary as it
sounds, and it’s going to play an
increasingly important part in
broadcasters’ lives.
I
a lot of information – when it was made,
the date it should be put to air, a list of
the stations it’s intended for, the
restrictions governing its use, and so on.
Another aim is to reach agreement on
what metadata should be included when,
say, video material is exchanged among
broadcasters.
Strictly speaking, “metadata” is
plural. But like “data”, it’s also
acceptable to use it as a singular noun.
There is metadata both for completed
programmes and for chunks of
programmes. Content can be catalogued
or indexed. Once material is in a
station’s digital archives, this makes it
possible for, say, programme makers to
track down exactly the footage they are
looking for by typing in key information
and doing a search.
The ABU and the other regional
broadcasting unions are looking at this
issue through the World Broadcasting
Unions’ International Satellite Operations
Group, WBU-ISOG.
Simply put, metadata is data about
data. For instance, if you own a digital
still camera, you can look at a
photograph and check when it was
taken, the camera settings you used,
and so on. That’s metadata.
From a broadcasting point of view,
metadata is the information that
accompanies any form of media. For
example, it’s the scrolling test that
goes with digital radio.
Digital video material is also
accompanied by metadata. And the
reason it’s important is that it allows you
to keep track of your programme
material in a much more organised way.
Metadata can be carried by satellite
along with the material it’s related to. For
example, a programme sent by satellite
to broadcasters can be accompanied by
Revenue opportunity
Metadata will also enable people to
access material easily on the Internet.
This raises the possibility of broadcasters
earning money by charging people for
the right to search for and access
particular material online.
One difficulty at present is that there
are different metadata standards. Two
television news agencies, for instance,
may have different ways of “cataloguing”
the news footage they sell to broadcasters. Broadcasters are now looking
at ways of standardising metadata to
make it simpler to use.
22
At its latest meeting in Montreal,
Canada, at the end of October, the group
approved a proposal for a metadata
framework for use in the exchange of
broadcast contribution material –
material shared among broadcasters
before it goes to air.
This has been circulated to ABU
members for feedback. Once all the
unions have approved it, the proposal
will be passed to the WBU Technical
Committee, which is also looking at the
issue.
For many ABU members, the concept
remains something for the future. But as
more broadcasters go fully digital,
metadata promises to bring many
benefits. It’s a technology whose time
has come.
ABU News
F r o m
T h e
S e c r e t a r i a t
Members urged to seek
new funding sources
he ABU is calling on its
members to assist in a
multi-lateral approach to
engaging international organisations for funding broadcast
infrastructure and technology,
training and capacity building, and
educational content development.
T
While the ABU has begun developing
relationships with multi-lateral institutions (MLIs), such as the United Nations
Development Programme and other UN
agencies through their international and
regional offices, the Union is assisting
individual members to develop bilateral
relationships with these organisations
through their in-country offices.
International development banks
such as the Asian Development Bank,
the World Bank and the German
Development Bank are among the
organisations with which the ABU has
begun discussions.
New contacts
Relationships are also being cultivated
with other sources including overseas
development agencies (ODAs), nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and
corporate foundations. Examples of these
organisations include USAID, One World
Broadcasting Trust, PANOS, WorldVision
Int’l, Television Trust for the Environment
and BBC World Service Trust.
“We are making introductions
between the country offices of international organisations and broadcasters so that our members learn
about financial and other assistance
available for technological development
and training, as well as the broadcast
production activities of these organisations,” said Craig Hobbs, ABU
Development Projects Officer.
Already, the increased international
relations activities are producing results:
the World Bank ICT grant facility, infoDev,
approved the funding for the ABU’s
Digital Radio Symposium held in New
Delhi last November, and details are
being finalised with the International
Labour Organisation for a nine-month
television training and production project
involving a number of producers from
across the region.
The ABU is looking at several areas of
operation within international organisations. While assistance for technological
development and training come from the
programme divisions of these institutions,
there are communications budgets for
developing pro-social messages in the
form of documentaries, PSAs, news
vignettes and other content.
A good example of broadcaster-MLI
collaboration is the annual Music Television (MTV) Staying Alive documentary
and concert series on HIV/AIDS. Staying
Alive, now in its fifth year, is primarily
funded by UNAIDS and the World Bank.
“This collaboration between a
global, international broadcaster and
the development organisations is
tremendously successful, and I am a
big fan of the concept,” said Mr Hobbs,
“but we are making the argument to
the Bank and the UN agencies that the
hundreds of thousands of dollars being
spent on initiatives like this will go
much further in reaching more local
and relevant audiences through the
ABU and its members.
“Our broadcasters also need to
look at the relationship between others
like CNN, BBC and National Geographic
and the international organisations.”
He points out that these international pay-TV broadcasters only
reach the audiences that can afford
cable or satellite. “We’re asking our
broadcasters to work with us and the
international organisations in reaching
a more local audience, those who are
truly affected by poverty, education,
health, and environmental issues.”
At the suggestion of World Bank
Regional Communications Manager,
East Asia, Peter Stephens, the ABU
is facilitating introductions between
the heads of national broadcasting
companies and World Bank representatives in Japan, Singapore, India,
Pakistan, China, Indonesia and many
other countries.
The DRB Symposium held in New Delhi last November was the first ABU
activity funded by the World Bank ICT grant facility, infoDev
23
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ABU News
F r o m
ast December I was invited to
attend the General Assembly
of the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) in Damascus,
Syria.
L
T h e
S e c r e t a r i a t
ABU seeks closer
ties with ASBU
By David Astley, Secretary-General
Having the opportunity to visit the
oldest continuously inhabited city in the
world was exciting in itself – but it was
the General Assembly that was the real
eye-opener for me.
Since joining the ABU in July 2002, I
had been under the impression that the
ABU was the second largest broadcasting
union in the world after the EBU – but
I discovered in Damascus that this was
not the case.
Although ASBU has a smaller number
of members than the ABU, it has 65
Secretariat staff, offices in three countries
and an operating budget about double
that of the ABU’s.
It has a very well equipped training
centre in Damascus with a VSAT system
linking countries for transfer of training
content (video, audio and graphics) and
for telephone conferencing.
Programme exchanges
ASBU is very active in programme
exchanges (both television and radio).
It has leases on six digital transponders
on Arabsat for this purpose (4 x C band
and 2 x Q band).
It exchanges 15 hours of television
content a day of which 50 percent is
bilateral exchanges, 30 percent is
multilateral exchanges and 20 percent is
international exchanges (mainly with
Eurovision but also including a few
Asiavision exchanges).
Content is predominantly Arabic
general programming, but there is also
some news and sports.
ASBU exchanges nine hours of radio
content a day of which 35 percent is
bilateral exchanges and 65 percent
The Syrian Minister of Information, Ahmed al-Hassan, addresses
the ASBU General Assembly at its opening ceremony in Damascus.
On his left is the ASBU President, Hassan Hamed, and on his right
is the ASBU Director-General, Abdelhafidh Harguem
multilateral exchanges. Of these, 75
percent are occasional exchanges and
25 percent are regular exchanges.
The occasional exchanges comprise
mainly religious programmes, drama,
live sports, live talk shows, special events
and concerts. Of the regular exchanges,
50 percent are news reports, 30 percent
are cultural reports and 20 percent are
sports reports.
The President of ASBU, Hassan
Hamed (CEO of ERTU, Egypt), in his
opening address said many advanced
countries were developing digital
technology for their own advantage and
not making the benefits available at an
affordable price to developing countries.
Both the Secretary-General of the
EBU, Jean Stock, and myself were given
five minutes to make a short address to
the General Assembly after the opening
ceremony. I took the opportunity to refer
to the overlap between the geographic
areas covered by ASBU and the ABU (of
which it appears many delegates were not
aware) and to invite ASBU to join with
25
the ABU and EBU in the exchange of
information on digital terrestrial TV and
in the promotion of efforts to produce
content for DTTB services, as resolved at
the ABU General Assembly in Istanbul.
The ASBU General Assembly was
conducted in Arabic (with English and
French verbal translations) but there
was little written material in English, and
all the name cards and table markers
were in Arabic.
As a non-Arabic speaker, this made
meeting the other delegates a somewhat
challenging task. I had to make ‘blind’
introductions to people – at one stage I
was talking to what I thought was the
Director-General of one of the Lebanese
broadcasters, only to discover that I was
in fact talking to his driver!
But it was good to catch up with all
those ABU members in the Middle East
and Gulf States that I had not met on
previous visits, and also to discuss with
ASBU members how we at the ABU might
be able to work more closely with them
in the future.
ABU News
F r o m
T h e
S e c r e t a r i a t
Co-production becoming a reality
recommendations on improving their
respective productions.
ebruary marked the beginning
of a bold new ABU coproduction project, after years
of discussions and planning at the
annual Children’s Programme Item
Exchange Meeting and Workshop.
F
Each participating member shoulders
the production cost of their own episode
and in return will receive the other five
episodes.
The first co-production meeting for a
children’s drama series was held in
February in Seoul, Republic of Korea,
hosted by EBS.
Six members formed the pilot group
and each will produce a 15 minute
episode, targeted at children 7 – 9 years
of age, based on the common theme,
Mental Growth of Children.
Members from CCTV-People’s Republic
of China, MRTV-Mongolia, RTM-Malaysia,
NHK-Japan, EBS-Republic of Korea and
RTHK-Hong Kong will get an opportunity
to showcase their individual talents as
Chung Hyun-Sook
well as promote cultural exchanges and
understanding through their programmes.
The project’s Executive Producer,
Chung Hyun-Sook from EBS, will supervise the participating members to ensure
that high quality and production standards
are maintained throughout. Ms Chung
will also guide and advise episode
producers by providing feedback and
The pilot batch is expected to be
ready by December 2004, after which
participating members can broadcast
the series in their respective territories.
Members keen to participate in the
second batch of the co-production series
will be provided with more information
at the Children’s Programme Item
Exchange Meeting and Workshop this
July in Kuala Lumpur.
The ABU hopes to expand this project
to include future co-productions with
the EBU.
Boost for programme activities
The Working Party for the Reform of ABU Prizes has five
experienced and motivated professionals from KBS-Republic of
Korea, TRT-Turkey, RTM-Malaysia, NHK-Japan and KAKazakhstan. The team started its discussions in January with
plans to have some reforms in place by April, in time for the
call for submissions for the ABU Prizes 2004. More changes can
be expected for the 2005 ABU Prizes as the working party will
carry on its discussions in the course of the year.
n an effort to develop new initiatives and improve
existing activities, the ABU Programme Department
has formed, with the dedicated support of members,
two working parties to help enhance its activities.
I
A call from members to have more radio activities is the main
reason for setting up the Working Party for Radio.
The radio group comprises members from ABC-Australia,
Mediacorp Radio-Singapore, CNR-People’s Republic of China
and RTM-Malaysia.
Discussions began in January with the aim of developing a
blueprint for radio activities and initiatives, and highlighting
the top priority areas. It is expected that a new Radio Officer
at the Secretariat will, with the guidance of the working party,
implement a number of radio activities in the second half of
2004 for radio members.
With the development of new radio initiatives, the ABU will
also identify areas of cooperation to work closely with the EBU
and tap into their vast experience in this area.
The Radio Jury in Istanbul last year… the ABU Prizes Working
Party will implement some reforms by April
26
ABU News
F r o m
T h e
S e c r e t a r i a t
Top speakers lined up for
media conferences
reparations are in full swing
for two important mediarelated conferences in April –
one in Kazakhstan, the other in
Malaysia.
P
The Third Eurasian Media Forum will
take place in Almaty on April 22-24.
Two prominent US strategists, Richard
Holbrooke and Richard Perle, will be
among the speakers.
President Nursultan Nazarbayev of
Kazakhstan will open the conference.
Leading journalists, politicians, business
leaders and academics are among those
expected to attend.
They will discuss changing political
and economic trends in Asia, the
influence of China, the isolation of North
Korea, the rivalry of the great powers
in Central Asia, and how eastern and
western media report these issues.
The Eurasian Media Forum, a nonpolitical body founded in Kazakhstan
in 2001, aims to promote East-West
cooperation and understanding through
dialogue between the media, the business
community, politicians and academics.
Asia Media Summit
The other conference, the Asia Media
Summit, will take place in Kuala Lumpur
on April 19-21. The organisers are News
World Asia and the Asia-Pacific Institute
for Broadcasting Development (AIBD).
Javed Jabbar, Chairman of the South Asian Media Association,
addresses last year’s Eurasian Media Forum in Almaty
The speakers are expected to include
Shashi Tharoor, UN Under-Secretary
General for Communications and Public
Information, Chris Cramer, Managing
Director, CNN International, Ma Guoli,
senior editor in charge of Olympic
coverage, CCTV-China, and K S Sarma,
CEO of India’s Prasar Bharati.
News World Asia, one of the
organisers, has already held two major
conferences in Singapore that attracted
government leaders and prominent
broadcasters from Asia and the West.
It has held a series of media workshops
in Kuala Lumpur in preparation for the
Asia Media Summit.
East Timor group visits ABU
group of senior media people
from East Timor visited the ABU
Secretariat and two ABU members –
RTM and NTV7 – as part of a study
visit to Malaysia in January.
A
The key theme will be The Media and
Islam and the Malaysian Prime Minister,
Datuk Abdullah Badawi, has been named
as the keynote speaker.
UNICEF sponsored the tour by the
six-member group, who represented the
country’s television, radio and print
media. During the week-long tour they
also visited Malaysia’s satellite broadcaster ASTRO (an ABU affiliate) and the
New Straits Times and Star newspapers.
Other sessions will include the
media and violence, media safety
issues, globalisation, terrorism, and the
reconstruction of the media in Iraq.
East Timor was recognised as an
independent state in May 2002 after
more than a century as a Portuguese
colony and 25 years of Indonesian rule.
27
The country’s media is still in its
infancy. The national public radio and
TV services began broadcasting at the
end of May 2002, replacing the interim
services operated by the UN.
Members of the East Timorese media group
visit the ABU’s news exchange, Asiavision
ABU News
F r o m
T h e
S e c r e t a r i a t
EBU appoints new Secretary-General
The EBU President also paid tribute
to Mr Stock’s work and, in particular,
“to the impetus he gave the EBU and
to the important results he achieved.”
ean Réveillon, the Deputy
Director General and Director
of Broadcasting at France 3, has
been appointed Secretary-General
of the European Broadcasting
Union.
J
Mr Réveillon has been the Deputy
Director General and Director of Broadcasting at France 3 since December
1999, having previously been Director
General in charge of broadcasting
at France 3, from August 1998 to
November 1999.
He succeeds Jean Stock, who
informed members of his intention
to retire at the EBU General Assembly
in Stockholm in July 2003.
Mr Réveillon was elected VicePresident of the EBU in July 2002. He
took office as Secretary-General in
February 2004.
Arne Wessberg, the President of
the EBU and Director General of
YLE (Finland), said he was confident
that “the personal and professional
qualities of this extremely experienced
Jean Réveillon
professional will enable him to meet –
on behalf of the EBU and its Members
– all the challenges facing broadcasters
in an ever-changing environment.”
From 1992 to 1998 he was Director
of Sport at France 2 and France 3. He
was Director of France 3 Nord/Pasde-Calais/Picardie from 1990 to 1992.
Before that he worked as a sports
journalist, as Deputy Head and
subsequently as Head of Sports Services
at La Voix du Nord and as Editor-inChief of La Voix des Sports.
RTHK makes senior appointments
Tai Keen Man has been promoted to the post of Controller
of Educational Television; Philip Chow becomes Head of
Chinese Programme Services; and Sze Wing Yuen Forever has
been named to head the Corporate Communications Unit.
adio Television Hong Kong’s Director of
Broadcasting, Chu Pui Hing, has announced six
senior staff appointments as part of RTHK’s
strategy of expanding and maximising its services. Its
radio, television and Internet broadcasting services
will gradually be converging in a bid to maintain its
competitive edge.
R
Koo Kai Fai has been appointed head of ETV; Chan Yiu Wah
heads up Radio 2; and Lee Joi Tong is the new head of the
Corporate Development Unit.
Mr Chu said all six were experienced in programme
production and administration, and they would be pivotal in
strengthening RTHK’s services through the implementation of
new strategies.
He added that the new team would take a lead in the
adoption of digital broadcasting in Hong Kong, to enhance
the role of RTHK as a public broadcaster.
The former head of the Chinese Programme Service, Ava
Chiu, and the head of the New Media Unit, Amy So, have
retired.
New appointments…(from left): Chan Yiu Wah, Forever
Sze, Tai Keen Man, Koo Kai Fai and Philip Chow
28
ABU News
F r o m
T h e
S e c r e t a r i a t
New DG for RTA
hulam Hasan Hazrati has
been appointed Director
General of Radio Television
Afghanistan, taking over from
Mohamad Eshaq.
G
Mr Hazrati, 46, was born in Kabul.
Following his graduation from the
Faculty of Journalism, Kabul University in
1979, he took up the post of Secretary
to the Director of Arts at the Ministry of
Information and Culture.
Ghulam Hasan Hazrati
Between 1979 and 1995 Mr Hazrati
held various posts within RTA, mostly
New appointment
at KBS-Korea
in the capacities of Deputy Director, in
departments ranging from programme
evaluation to research.
Before leaving the country for
Pakistan in 1996, he was Deputy
Director of Radio Afghanistan.
In 2001 Mr Hazrati was appointed
Deputy Director and subsequently
Director of Radio, RTA.
He was nominated for the post of
Director General of RTA in December
2003.
TRT-Turkey names
new DG
ee Jeong Ok has
been appointed the
Executive Director of
International Relations
with
effect
from
February 10, 2004.
enol Demiröz is the
new Director General
of TRT (Turkish Radio
Television Corporation).
L
S
Born in Adaparazi in
1950, Mr Demiröz has had
a long and varied career in
the field of television and
documentary filming.
Ms Lee is a well-known
newsperson in Korea. She
started her career in KBS as
a news reporter and held
posts as KBS news corresLee Jeong Ok
pondent to Paris, Director
of New Media Policy, Director of Broadcast Culture &
Research Institute and News Commentator.
After graduating from
Senol Demiröz
Ankara University, Faculty of
Communication, he served as a public relations expert
in the Turkish Ministry of Finance. From 1976 to 1982
he worked in the Programme Planning Department of TRT
and went to become a producer in the documentary
film sector.
Ms Lee holds a Bachelors degree in French Language &
Literature and a Masters degree in Journalism and Mass
Communication from Yonsei University of Seoul, Korea.
In 1994, he took up the post of Head of Cultural Affairs
Department in the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.
Mr Demiröz was selected from among three candidates
determined by the Supreme Board of Radio and Television.
His appointment was approved by the Turkish President.
She takes over the post of Cha Myong Hee who retired
from KBS in December 2003.
Ms Cha was very active in ABU activities, having attended
many General Assemblies and Administrative Council
meetings during her career. She was more recently a
member of the Planning and Strategy Group which helped
put together the ABU’s new strategic plan.
He takes over from Deputy Director General and Head
of Engineering, Haluk Buran, who has been acting as
Director General since last year.
29
ABU News
F r o m
T h e
S e c r e t a r i a t
New Planning & Finance
Manager joins the ABU
ony Chan Wah Fye has
been appointed as the ABU’s
Planning & Finance Manager,
replacing Raj Muthusamy who left
last July.
T
Before joining the Secretariat in
November 2003, Tony had been lecturing
at a local university.
He has good knowledge of Asian
markets, as well as hands-on experience
in strategic research, having previously
served as an Assistant Vice-President with
Thomson BankWatch Inc, a US-based
ratings agency, where he was responsible
for the analysis of financial institutions in
Thailand, Indonesia, Hong Kong, China,
Pakistan and Malaysia.
Prior to that he was a management
accountant with Standard Chartered
Bank, Kuala Lumpur, where he was
responsible for monthly management
reporting and interpretation of key
performance indicators.
He has also worked in the Corporate Banking Department of the
Oriental Bank, and for an auditing firm
in the UK.
Tony has an MBA from Heriot Watt
University, Scotland. He is a Chartered
Tony Chan
Accountant (Malaysian Institute of
Accountants), and an Associate of the
Chartered Institute of Management
Accountants, England.
ABU website gets revamp
ecent visitors to www.abu.org.my will have
discovered that the entire website now sports
a new look, having gone through dramatic
improvements in appearance, navigability, and usability.
R
for the project. Other Secretariat staff have been actively involved
as well, contributing various ideas for a website that aims to meet
the needs of both the ABU member and curious visitor alike.
The redesign of the website was initiated in the middle of
last year, following the realisation that an attractive and userfriendly web presence was essential to promoting the Union’s
activities to members, potential collaboration partners, and the
global Internet audience as a whole.
●
All the top level pages of the site – for example the
Homepage, Latest News section, and Membership – have been
revamped and reorganised in the first phase of an ongoing
project aimed at improving and updating the ABU website.
Regular visitors who have bookmarked the ABU website
may wish to clear the contents of their ‘Cookies’ folder –
which may link them back to the old site. Alternatively,
just type http://www.abu.org.my/index.cfm in the address
field of your browser.
●
●
●
●
●
New features include:
A “Search” function that displays all matching results found
on the website,
An archive of industry news from the regularly updated
Latest News section, and
A Media & Development section with links to rights-free
productions offered by multi-lateral institutions.
The redevelopment of the ABU website is being carried out
by the Secretariat’s Publications and Information Systems
departments, using a customised content management system
provided by Alcassoft, the software development firm engaged
30
The next phases of redevelopment will include:
A “Members’ Only” section with access to restricted material,
An online subscription facility to sign up for the Union’s
upcoming e-newsletter, and
The introduction of rich multimedia to make the site more
dynamic and interactive.
ABU CALENDAR OF EVENTS
(Including other organisations’ activities of particular interest to the ABU)
MARCH 2004
3-5
8-9
15-17
29-2
7th ABU Copyright Working Party Meeting and Seminar on Copyright Issue
AVN Coordinators’ Meeting
SPORTEL Dubai, 2004
MIPTV 2004
Hong Kong
New Delhi
Dubai
Cannes
APRIL
7-8
19-21
22-24
34th ABU Sports Group Conference
Asia Media Summit 2004
3rd Eurasian Media Forum
Pakistan
Kuala Lumpur
Almaty
MAY
13-16
17
18-19
18-19
tbc
tbc
Asian Digital Infrastructure Technology Forum (ADIT) 2004
WBU-TC Meeting
ABU Administrative Council Meeting
International Satellite Operations Group (WBU-ISOG) Meeting
EBU Children’s TV Programme Item-Exchange Meeting
News Group Meeting
Bangkok
Geneva
Osaka
Geneva
Saarbrucken
Colombo
JUNE
1-5
5-9
7-11
15-18
23-24
ABU Documentary Item-Exchange Meeting & Workshop
10th Shanghai TV Festival
11th Session WIPO Standing Committee Meeting on Broadcasters’ Treaty
BroadcastAsia 2004
Australian Broadcasting Authority Conference
Suwon
Shanghai
Geneva
Singapore
Canberra
J U LY
1-2
9-10
12-17
18
26-30
EBU General Assembly
2nd Meeting for ABU Co-production of Children’s Drama Series
ABU Children’s TV Programme Item-Exchange Meeting & Workshop
ABU Children’s Working Party Meeting
3rd AIBD General Conference and Associated Meetings
St Petersburg
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
Colombo
AUGUST
13-29
tbc
2004 Olympic Summer Games
Pre-selection Session for ABU Prizes
Athens
tbc
SEPTEMBER
11
21-28
ABU Robocon 2004
41st ABU General Assembly and Associated Meetings
4-8
11-13
11-14
26-29
27-29
MIPCOM 2004
2004 IIC Conference
SPORTEL Monaco, 2004
CASBAA 2004 Convention
Public Broadcasting International Annual Conference
Seoul
Almaty
OCTOBER
Cannes
Jamaica
Monaco
Hong Kong
Macau
NOVEMBER
tbc
tbc
12th Session WIPO Standing Committee Meeting on Broadcasters’ Treaty
3rd Meeting for ABU Co-production of Children’s Drama Series
Geneva
tbc
DECEMBER
tbc
tbc
ASBU General Assembly
Asia Media Festival 2004
Algeria
Singapore
JANUARY 2005
16-19
PTC 27th Annual Telecommunications Conference (PTC’05)
Honolulu