Circom Report CIRCOM Regional NewsmonthlylCR is the European Association of 380 Public Regional TV Stations in 38 countriesl April 2003/No 42 High participation for CR’s conference in Grado, Italy “Very high participation” is the message CR received from RAI for the attendance at this year’s CIRCOM Regional conference in Grado, Italy, May 21-24. The deadline for of more than 300 delegates registration is April 19. expected to participate. Eight hotels with specially Grado, between Trieste & After nine years as CR Deputy General Secretary discounted prices ranging Venezia, is only 60 klm (half an from 50€ (single) to 140€ hour) away from the airport. Farewell by (double) are at the disposition April 28 – May2 In South East Europe M.P. Urban She has been appointed Satellite TV channel The Ethnic Minorities France 3 European Project Coordinator could be launched Seminar in Budapest After nine years of hard work for CIRCOM The Ethnic Minorities Seminar in Budapest, Report as Deputy Secretary General Marie-Paule within 100 days Urban has to give up her position since she has organised with the help of the Council of For the next conference on the future of Europe, will be held at MTV premises, starting been appointed by France 3 as European Project the cinema and the audiovisual sector within Coordinator. on Monday, April 28th 2003 at 09.00 and it will “We shall miss her”, said CR President L. the European Union enlargement that will end on Friday, May 2nd 2003 at 14.00. Since Kongalides who added “we all appreciate her high take place in Thessaloniki, end of May, the deadline was on March 31, for any late level work and devotion to Circom Regional. At Eureka Audiovisual will put on the agenda registrations check the Circom site least we are happy that she has been promoted by the idea for the creation of a common http://www.circom-regional.org for the France 3 – a tribute to her skills and experience. satellite TV channel for South Eastern Schedule and the Registration Form for the The doors of CR will always be open for her”. Europe. Seminar. Hubert Schilling proposed by France 3, will take over as Deputy Secretary until May, when the The Task Force Group is working on the proposal how to launch the experimental European Board will designate his tenure. (More on p. 3) phase of the project within 100 days. BMC workshop in Already the Bulgarian multimedia Trieste training company “Interactive Technologies” has Budva, April 26-27 offered to participants, free of charge, fully booked editing, up-linking and space capacity A workshop in Budva (Montenegro) will be This years training workshop for young during the experimental phase. held April 26-27 by the Baltic Media Center. During the meeting a number of productions journalists, to be held in Grado prior to the annual will be screened and also a look into basic conference, is full. Once again, there were more applicants than places. Circom Regional intended CIRCOM Regional principals of making news stories. to restrict the number of places to 24 people, but such was the demand, that careful budget planning programs on EbS French channel with allowed an extra 3 delegates. 27 people from 13 countries representing 23 regional stations will be EbS, the European Broadcast Satellite, will a French perspective benefiting from the training which is sponsored by transmit the following CIRCOM Regional Circom Regional and the Council of Europe programs: President Jacques Chirac has set a deadline of Human Rights Media Division. • “The Enlargement – The New Teenage April 22 for media groups to submit proposals The generosity of Circom member stations has Europe” (TV Syd & CR), “The for a new channel that would promote meant that we will be joined by 13 leading Enlargement – The Last Straight Line” international affairs from a French perspective. professionals who have been released from their (BR & CR), “La Roue du Temps” (RTBF) The aim is for the channel, which would normal duties. These trainers and technicians, who on April 16, 17 and 19 will deliver the workshop for Circom Regional are initially start off in French, to target Arab, from France 3, ARD Berlin, Hesisscher Rundfunk • “The Enlargement – The New Teenage African and European countries, while later Frankfurt, HRT Zagreb, the Thomson Foundation, Europe”, “The Enlargement – The Last branching out into English and perhaps Arabic. BBC Wales and Nelson-media. Straight Line” (BR & CR), “Europeos No Le Monde put the cost at between €25m-30m The workshop will run for 10 days prior to the 21” (France 3) on April 23, 24 and 26 while Francois Rochebloine, chair of the annual conference and will then continue with a First transmission is at 21.00 CET, second at parliamentary committee on information, said it specially organised two-day workshop on video 05.30 CET and third at 12.00 CET couldn't be done for less than €100m. journalism, with journalists being introduced to the operation of DV cameras and editing equipment. 2 AIB Global Media Business The New Iranian conference in London, April 29-30 satellite service Mark Byford, Director of BBC World Service and Global News division, Test transmissions of a new Iranian satellite TV service called Al-Alam started. will give the opening keynote speech at the 2003 AIB Global Media The director-general of the network said that Business conference. Byford joins a strong line-up of speakers from across Al-Alam is an international news network international media, including representatives from Discovery Networks, and its programmes will be broadcast in Radio Netherlands, Ipsos-RSL, InterMedia, Convera, Dalet A.N.N, German English and Arabic to North America, Asia and the Asia-Pacific regions via Hotbird 3, TV, CASBAA, Teletrax, Clifford Chance, LongAcre Partners and the BBC. Arabsat and Asiasat satellites from 2030 to Over two days, delegates from all World. 1500 GMT. He said that the objective of over the world will be able to learn To register, use the online launching this network was to interconnect about the issues currently facing the registration system at the Islamic world and to disseminate news among them, not to propagate the policies of international broadcasting industry www.aib.org.uk, or download the the Islamic Republic of Iran. and find solutions and strategies for PDF-format conference registration the future. An accompanying form here. Already registered are BBC World now exhibition will showcase the delegates from Germany, Sweden, technology and services that assist Switzerland, the UK, Canada, South in over 200 countries the international broadcasting Africa, New Zealand, Tanzania, It seems to be ever upwards for BBC industry function from day to day, Czech Republic and Taiwan, World, the BBCs international television and reveal some of the future trends representing public and commercial service. The BBC reports good progress in in broadcasting. broadcasters, suppliers of services Africa. Via TVAfrica BBC World now reaches The Official Conference Partners and equipment, regulators and an extra seven million households across the continent. TVAfrica, the largest free-to- are BBC World Service and BBC consultants. air, pan-African television network already syndicates the overnight re-broadcasts of BBC World to its terrestrial affiliates to a new China’s CCTV is now total of fourteen African countries; Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana, Namibia, available on BSkyB Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique and Lesotho. China wants to have it both ways to be a modern commercial BBC World can now be received in over state, and to preserve its unique Communist-based identity, which is 250 million homes worldwide, in over 200 countries. The total has increased by 42 per a difficult balance to strike. cent in just 15 months. Things are going Looking outwards, China's CCTV English-language channel is now especially well in India and Europe, and available on Britain's BSkyB and France's TPS. This is a big step BBC World is available on the two dominant forward for China’s drive to gain understanding, as BSkyB is the satellites in the Middle East; Nilesat and Arabsat. Further distribution will come from a largest and only service provider for direct broadcasting satellite new satellite television channel, Eurasia TV, television, with more than 200 channels and programmes for over 6 which will cover 21 countries including million subscribers in Britain, while TPS is one of the two largest Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent service providers for direct broadcasting satellite television in France, States (CIS), most of Eastern Europe and China. with 1.2 million subscribers. But at the same time, China carrying our content. The key is News channel does not want too much foreign to have overseas television influence in its colossal stations carry the true picture by ABC News broadcasting market (population about China." ABC News is to launch a 24-hour news over 1 billion). The Chinese have The Chinese issued a complete channel only available to broadband internet very recently made it clear that list of approved foreign subscribers. The channel - described by there will not, as many in the broadcasting organisations: ABCNews.com VP Bernard Gershon as "baby steps towards the first internet news global industry had believed, be a News; BBC World; Bloomberg; network" - will draw on ABC News' great deal of opening up of the CNBC; CNN; Phoenix Infonews; broadcast content and offer live coverage of market. CCTV Vice-President Movie, music & sport; Cinemax UN debates and White House briefings. The Zhang Changming said the key HBO; Phoenix Movie; Star Movie; service will form part of video streamer RealNetwork's SuperPass bundle of issues with regards to China's TV Channel V; MTV; ESPN; Star subscription channels costing $9.95 per industry were how to improve Sports; General entertainment; month.