MEDIABLAB NEWS NOv 20
November 20th 2007 01:46
NOV 20
From MediaBlab news service compiled by Peter Olszewski for Dow Jones's Factiva
GLOVES ARE OFF BETWEEN NEWS LTD AND FAIRFAX IN BATTLE FOR BUSINESS NEWS , WITH MURDOCH DESCRIBED AS A ‘JOHNNY-COME-LATELY’
Rupert Murdoch’s News Ltd flagship newspaper The Australian, riding high with its newly-acquired access to Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswire finance news, took time out today to highlight its revamped challenge to rival Fairfax Media.
It reported today that Fairfax Media chief Jack Matthews has admitted the company faces a serious threat in the lucrative business media market.
Ir reported that Matthews said the Fairfax group, which recently revamped its beleaguered afr.com website, would not relinquish its position without a fight.
He revealed the company charged more for an over-the-page ad on its key websites, which include smh.com.au and theage.com.au, than it did for a full-page ad in its newspapers, took a swipe at Google's business model and revealed the company's overarching push to get its content on to mobile phones.
The Australian said, “Fairfax Media appears to have redesigned afr.com to make it more like a traditional news site, with more free content, including making available some stories from its business newspaper, The Australian Financial Review.
“The Australian contacted Fairfax late last week for comment on the redesign, which appears to give ground on the company's previous stance that it would pursue primarily a subscription model for afr.com.
“Fairfax Business Media chief executive Michael Gill, who has previously described afr.com as an ‘application’ rather than a website, did not respond.”
The Australian said Fairfax Media chief executive David Kirk was reported earlier this year as saying the company got its afr.com strategy "wrong" and the site would be made "more accessible".
The Australian added that the revamp coincided with confirmation from Rupert Murdoch, chairman and chief executive of News Corporation (owner of The Australian) during a visit to Australia last week that he planned to unlock the online content of the WSJ.
Matthews in turn said, "That is a market that we have no intention of ceding to these Johnny-come-latelies like Rupert Murdoch and his ilk."
SBS TV IN AUSTRALIA IN TOP GEAR OVER WORLD FIRST RIGHTS TO PRODUCE LOCAL VERSION OF BBC HIT MOTORING SHOW
Australian SBS television station has claimed a world first over securing the rights to make a local version of the popular British Top Gear car show.
It said it has also extended its commitment to the UK version for the life of the series.
Freehand Productions, BBC Worldwide’s Australasian partner, will produce the local version, which will transmit on SBS in 2008.
Freehand is 25 percent owned by BBC Worldwide.
“This is fantastic news for SBS, for Top Gear fans and for Australian audiences,” SBS director of content, Matt Campbell said.
“Top Gear is a unique show and one of BBC Worldwide’s biggest global properties. In making it, we won’t simply replicate the UK series with an Australian version of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond or James May. SBS plans to make a program that is uniquely and quintessentially Australian.”
“Top Gear is the BBC’s top-rating, high-octane mix of performance cars, adrenalin, comedy and celebrities.
Top Gear has been one of the major, and surprise, programming successes for SBS, pulling more than 750,000 viewers in a competitive Monday-night time slot.
PAID SEARCH ADVERTISING CALLED ONLINE CRACK BECAUSE OF ITS ADDICTIVE QUALITIES
Paid search advertising is growing more than twice as fast as the general advertising market, The Australian reports today.
The paper said paid search advertising is called "online crack" because of its addictive qualities, and will reach $416 million this year, an increase of 65.5 pe cent over 2006.
It said the sector will be the largest in the online advertising industry, which the company estimates will grow at 29.8 percent to $1.428 billion this year, followed by classified advertising ($407 million), general advertising, including banners and other display formats ($384 million) and online directories such as Sensis's Yellow ($221 million).
QUALITY TURKISH-LANGUAGE DAILY LAUNCHED TO PROVIDE HONEST COVERAGE
Yet another Turkish-language daily Taraf has hit the stands, adding to the already large number of existing publications.
The Turkish Daily News said Taraf’s stated aim is to provide unbiased honest coverage of events.
One of the founders of Taraf is Ahmet Altan, a widely respected journalist, columnist and novelist, while Alev Er is editor-in-chief and Yasemin Çongar is deputy editor-in-chief.
Experienced journalists and editors have joined this enterprise that has required a large source of funding. Its cover price is quite a bit higher than other Turkish language papers but then the cost of producing a newspaper is very high and is not reflected in the price. However, its management is optimistically hoping for a circulation of 40-50,000.
Taraf said its first day promotional circulation was 296,000 copies and 41,000 were sold.
Taraf means ‘side’ in English, and its management says it means to be on the side of democracy and freedom
FAMOUS PLAYWRIGHT WANTS AUSSIE PM TO LOSE ELECTION BECAUSE HE’S SICK OF SEEING THE B’S KNEES
Internationally-renowned Australian playwright David Williamson has written a brief observation on the looming federal election this coming Saturday for irreverent ‘we wuz wrong…again’ website Crikey.com.
Williamson opened his pithy piece with: “In 1971 I wrote the play Don’s Party about the 1969 election night, when Labor supporters were fervently hoping for the arrival of the Great Gough. As it turned out he was five seats short of arriving and we had to wait until 1972 before the long dark night of conservative rule ended.
“The similarities with this Saturday’s election are obvious, and many of the old baby boomers, faint memories of the idealistic dreams of the sixties not yet erased by Alzheimer’s, are hoping fervently we won’t see a re-run of 1969. There are many reasons to wish Johnnie bon voyage, the most pressing being the thought of another eighteen months of television footage of his morning walks.
“It’s time to say no to those daggy shorts, the horrible knees, the resolute stride towards a neo con past where Anglo man still rules the world, and the total lack of wit or spontaneity in his travelling badinage. Joy number two will be picturing the tears and foot stamping of the well paid hosts of Howard acolytes littering our press.”
Williamson ends the piece with, “If it’s not a re-run of 1969 and John and Janette are prised out of Kirribilli, the greatest relief for me will still be the end of the morning walks.”
FREE ONLINE WALL STREET JOURNAL COULD HURT OTHER DOW JONES SERVICES SUCH AS FACTIVA AND NEWSWIRES
The New Zealand Herald reports that Rupert Murdoch's plan to stop charging for access to The Wall Street Journal's website could hurt other parts of Dow Jones business.
The plan could undercut Dow Jones' internet news archive Factiva and its Dow Jones Newswires, which offer Wall Street Journal content that is unavailable anywhere else, Dow Jones spokeswoman Christine Mohan said.
Dow Jones' Enterprise Media division, which includes Factiva and Newswires, contributed 35 percent of revenue but accounted for 67.2 percent of segment operating income in the first nine months of the year.
"The exclusivity of Journal content provides value beyond the website," Mohan said.
Journal Publisher Gordon Crovitz said at a media industry conference in October that Dow Jones reaps more than half a billion dollars in subscription revenue across the company's services.
The Wall Street Journal would lose an estimated US$63 million in subscription revenue by making its website free.
Recovering that in advertising sales would require boosting traffic by 130 percent, based on calculations by Reuters and veteran media industry consultant Mike Vorhaus, managing director of Frank N. Magid Associates.
NEW CHAIRMAN OF ADFEST 2008
Gavin McLeod, creative director at Mark and executive committee member of both AWARD and the Australian Direct Marketing Association, has been named chairman of the 2008 Asia Pacific Advertising Festival Direct Lotus jury.
Marketing-interactive reports that McLeod joined M&C Saatchi in 2000 and has played an influential role in building the direct creative department. Under his stewardship, M&C Saatchi Direct was last year recognised by the Won Report as the second best direct creative agency in the world.
AdFest 2008 will be held from March 26 to 29 in Pattaya, Thailand.
EARTH HOUR ADVERTISING PARTNERSHIP LAUNCHED TO PROMOTE EARTH HOUR 2008
Leo Burnett and the World Wildlife Fund Australia have launched The Earth Hour Advertising Partnership, to promote Earth Hour 2008 among the advertising and media industry.
Bran Republic reports that thee new initiative calls for advertising and media organisations to encourage clients to promote Earth Hour in their campaigns and programs between February 1 and March 29, 2008.
The first Earth Hour event saw energy usage in Sydney fall by 10.2 per cent after residents and businesses turned out their lights. This was equivalent to 25 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.
MGM WIRELESS SAYS SCHOOL NEWS CHANNEL IS ITS MOST SIGNIFICANT ACHIEVEMENT THIS YEAR
MGM Wireless ceo Mark Fortunatow told shareholders at the company’s fifth annual general meeting that during the past year the company expanded internationally and took its market-leading school communication technology to the world.
Its first international milestone during the year was the opening of its American office in Sunnyvale California and the first sales of its Messageyou system to the US school system. It has signed up more than 10 US schools and is negotiating many more sales to US schools and school districts.
Its joint venture in India is up and running with two highly influential schools receiving excellent parent feedback from their implementation of Messageyou. Its partners in India, the Roltin Global group, part of the Makwana family of companies, have been fielding a steady stream of inquiry. India is an extremely large market for its services.
MGM Wireless reached agreement with the Western Australian Department of Education and Training to install Messageyou in up to 800 schools across the state, against international competition in an open tender. This is the first ever whole-of-state agreement and it hopes to take this model to other state governments in Australia.
The company said its most significant achievement of the past year has been the conception, development, and first sales of our latest service, 191ASK School News Channel.
School News Channel solves an age old problem for parents communicating with schools.
Using the simple mobile phone text service, parents can interact with school databases and find answers to immediate and pressing questions such as “where is my child playing sport today?”, or “what homework assignments are due?”
By texting 191ASK (191275), parents and students themselves can access information that saves time and answers important questions about school life.
School News Channel was formulated and developed with the close involvement and co-operation of several of Australia’s most prestigious Independent and Catholic Schools, in Adelaide, Sydney and Perth.
MACQUARIE RADIO TO BUY BACK TEN PERCENT OF ITS ORDINARY SHARES
Australia’s Macquarie Radio Network will embark on an on-market buy-back of ten percent of its fully paid ordinary shares, a maximum of 8, 290, 294 of its shares.
The number of shares in the class on issue is 82, 902, 940.
The reason for the buy-back is capital management.
Shareholders approval is not required.
The buy-back period will begin on December 6, 2007 and end on December 5, 2008, or earlier if the maximum number of shares is bought.
DARK BLUE SEA LIKENS ITS DOMAIN NAME BUSINESS TO THE REAL ESTATE GAME
Dark Blue Sea unleashed one of the most unusual chairman’s addresses of recent times at its annual general meeting when it explained its domain name business in terms of real estate analogies.
The company said that because its domain name portfolio is and will likely remain the major component of shareholder value, a key strategic objective is to continue to try to improve the value of the portfolio.
Then, resorting the real estate analogies, it described a domain name portfolio is the online equivalent of a land bank.
Monetising the direct navigation traffic on its domain names is like having a billboard on every block of land in the land bank.
On the internet, this is easy to do in scale and this is essentially what it does to generate the annuity style advertising revenue.
Today, this is fairly well established and understood market.
Valuing domain names on the basis of this billboard style advertising involves capitalising the annuity style cash flows.
It is equivalent to buying properties based solely on a rental yield – it is a financially driven transaction.
But this valuation approach is only a floor on the value of the property or the domain name.
Another way to demonstrate value in a land bank is by progressively selling some of the blocks of land, ideally to “retail buyers” that want to build their own house.
Land sold this way will typically be based on comparable sales in the area and often well in excess of the prices suggested by “billboard” advertising based valuations.
The current market for domain names sold to “retail buyers” is an order of magnitude (i.e. ten times) higher than the capitalised advertising revenue.
Liquidity is an important factor is determining value.
As at today, the value of the land is a significant liquidity discount to comparable retail sales.
But more real estate agents, a smoother sales process, more comparable sales will all help improve liquidity and lessen the liquidity discount.
The final way to demonstrate value of the land is to view it as a development opportunity.
Instead of selling the vacant land, build a house on it and then sell the finished product.
In these cases, the value of the land becomes the value of the finished house less the cost of developing the house less a cost of capital.
Whilst development involves the use of additional capital, the returns versus simply selling the land can be massive.
In the same way that no two property development deals are completely the same, domain development deals can vary significantly.
Here are a couple of examples of domain development to provide some indication of the potential returns.
In 2001, during the middle of the dot com bust, a professional domain name owner bought CreditCards.com for US$100,000.
In mid 2004, CreditCards.com was sold by that professional domain name owner to an entrepreneur for US$2.75 million.
With a few staff and some capital to do online advertising, a successful online credit card business was built using CreditCards.com as the centerpiece.
In late 2006, the CreditCards.com business was sold to a private equity buyer for US$95 million cash and approximately 16 percent equity in the new company.
Today, CreditCards.com is in the process of finalising its IPO with a valuation of several hundred million dollars.
Dealtime, a shopping comparison website, was founded in 1998.
After the tech bubble burst, DealTime was one of a number of comparison shopping web sites struggling to gain traction.
In 2001, DealTime bought Shopping.com from Altavista for approximately $500,000.
In 2003, DealTime was rebranded Shopping.com and immediately attracted both customers and major retailers, becoming the third most visited consumer site in the US after Ebay and Amazon.
In mid 2004, the company was bought by Ebay for US$620 million.
In both the CreditCards.com and the Shopping.com cases, the domain name was not the only reason for success – these businesses required both capital and good management.
But, like a prime piece of real estate, the domain name was and remains an intrinsic part of the success.
The domain name provided a natural competitive advantage.
Dark Blue Sea doesn’t own any super-premium domain names like CreditCards.com or Shopping.com.
But it believes the development principles illustrated by these two examples will, in time, be applicable to the whole spectrum of generic domains, including many domain names it owns.
UNESCO PUBLISHES DETAILED REPORT ON THE MONGOLIAN MEDIA INDUSTRY
UNESCO has published a 115-page report on Mongolian media landscape, which is available online at http://snipurl.com/1tqll.
The following is an extract on its report on the Mongolian print industry:
The number of daily newspapers in Mongolia in 2005 increased from 6 to 8, biweeklies increased from 3 to 4; there were 29 weeklies, 63 bimonthly newspapers, 32 monthly newspapers, and 19 newspapers published infrequently.
An additional 68 magazine titles are published on a weekly, monthly, quarterly, and irregular basis. These impressive numbers indicates a thriving print market when it comes to plurality and freedom of expression, but when it comes to circulation and the quality of the print media it is a different story.
The top newspapers by copies sold are Odriin Sonin or Daily News with 13,500 daily sales, followed by Zuuny Medee or Century News with 9,000 daily sales, and Onoodor or Today with 8,000 daily sales.
Some of the weekly tabloids have significant circulation with Seruuleg or Alarm being the largest with 47,500 copies per edition, followed by Khumuus or People with 42,000 and three others between 10,000 and 20,000 copies per edition.
The rest of the newspapers and all the magazines have limited circulation, and in many cases these newspapers are little more than special interest papers.
The print market is concentrated around the capital, although national newspapers and in particular tabloids are distributed widely throughout Mongolia.
Most aimags or provinces have one, if not even two local newspapers.
In 2005 the total number of local daily newspapers was 31, one biweekly, two weeklies and 22 bimonthly or three times a month. The circulation is rarely higher than 500 or 600. Circulation figures are seldom precise and fluctuate depending on the season.
Most of the local papers are printed at the Free Press Printing House in Ulaanbaatar, where the minimum print run is 500.
In minority aimags the printed press also suffers from economic hardship and a severe lack of trained journalists in local languages.
The variety and quality of the newspapers varies considerably. The daily newspapers are comprehensive in size with eight to 24 page broadsheets, and cover a wide range of genres: mainly political, social, financial, and cultural issues as well as crime, international news, sports, leisure, and health.
The newspapers are usually heavily biased in the politicised environment. Udriin Sonin, viewed by many as the newspaper of the highest quality, claims political independence but is considered to be pro DP.
Zuuny Medee supports the current president, and Unuudur, though striving to be more independent, is seen to support another faction in the MPRP.
A prevalent feature even among the most serious dailies is the so-called "business news", which consists of paid for articles in the newspapers. The newspapers fully accept these kinds of PR-like articles from companies, politicians, NGO’s or whoever is willing to pay for publicity.
Usually the journalists will receive commission for the paid articles or TV programs in addition to a salary. At one of the leading daily newspapers, first year journalists receive a salary of around US$50 to 60 per month, while the salary can be doubled and tripled through the procurement of "business news".
A popular and experienced journalist can often make around US$400 a month from "business news" stories alone. With most newspapers it is not possible to distinguish the "business news" from the independent reporting as no differentiation is made in terms of layout.
For these reasons the reporting on social, economic, and political issues is rarely fair and unbiased, as many journalists are willing to give up ethical standards to accommodate political and financial agendas and their own financial gain. As a result, well-researched investigative journalism is rarely seen, due to lack of professional skills, lack of resources, and editorial priorities, as well as political oppression.
POINTLESS GOSSIP NOW DEEMED ILLEGAL IN ITALY TO IMPROVE TV STANDARDS
Hollywood Reporter said that an Italian circuit court ruled on Friday that reporting gossip in Italy will be illegal unless it helps make a larger point about the figure in question.
The case is part of a wider effort to improve standards on Italian television. Upon announcing the ruling, the Rome court said it would "remove gossip that exists only for gossip's sake."
UK MEDIA SNIPES AT GERMAN TROOPS IN AFGHANISTAN ACCUSING THEM OF LEAVING BATTLEFIELD TO RETURN TO BASE FOR DINNER
The British newspaper Sunday Times opened fire on Germany over the weekend, claiming a German medical team in Afghanistan left the battlefield in order to get back to the base by sundown.
German helicopters, the article claims, can't fly at night. But the Bundeswehr is denying the report.
Spiegel Online said the Sunday Times ran the story with a “snarky headline” which read, ‘"For us ze war is over by tea time, ja."
The paper quotes an unidentified Norwegian cavalry officer saying, "It's hopeless. We were attacking the bad guys, then (at) three or four o'clock, the helicopters are leaving. We had to go back to base. We should have had Norwegian helicopters. At least they can fly at night."
The Western allies, the story claims, were forced to retreat as were 600 fighters from the Afghan army because of the withdrawal of a German medical evacuation team.
German troops, the article claimed, "spend much of their time in an enormous base, complete with beer halls and nightclubs."
German mission command, located in Potsdam just outside of Berlin, denies the accusations. A spokesman said that there has been no complaint registered by the Norwegians about the alleged incident and said that occasionally helicopters can't fly because of the weather or due to sand storms.
"But then, it's not just us who can't fly. But everyone else too," the spokesman said.
Lt. Col. John Inge Oeglaend, of the Norwegian Joint Headquarters, told Spiegel Online that he heard nothing concrete of the incident. The fact is, he said, the operation was not abruptly ended.
"I have no idea how the officer on the battlefield drew his conclusions," Oeglaend said.
But according to recent reports, the German Afghanistan contingent, consisting of 3,000 troops, are indeed facing difficulties with their vehicles, which, for some unknown reason, have been given Australian names.
The Bundeswehr spent US$97 million on 388 troop transporters, known as the Mungo, only to realise that the awkward vehicle can't cope with the rough terrain in Afghanistan. The 180 trucks that have been so far delivered are being pulled out of use. Another vehicle, known as the Dingo, is likewise unavailable for a number of missions due to a risk that the armoured vehicle will tip over.
DUBAI TV BEGINS BROADCASTING IN PAKISTAN AGAIN
Pakistani news channel ARY One World is set to resume broadcasting from Dubai following negotiations with the Pakistani government and Dubai Media City.
Salman Iqbal, ceo of ARY, told Gulf News the channel had convinced the government to allow it to operate despite its refusal to sign a media code of conduct imposed earlier this month.
ARY One World and Geo TV, Pakistan’s biggest television network, were ordered to halt transmissions from Dubai on Saturday following pressure from President Musharraf.
Arabian Business reported that a spokesman from the UAE National Media Council said the decision had been taken to uphold the country’s foreign policy by preserving its neutrality. Pakistan’s Electronic Media Regulating Authority issued an order at the beginning of the month banning the media from making any reports “that defame or bring into ridicule” Musharraf, his administration or the military.
Cable operators pulled the plug on domestic and international channels including the BBC, CNN and Fox News, leaving just the state-run Pakistan Television free to broadcast.
UK’S SKY TV LAUNCHES FREE TO-AIR-CHANNEL POSITIVELY PROMOTING 25 AFRICAN COUNTRIES
Southern Africa Direct, a free-to-air channel promoting 25 countries in the region, will launch on the UK's Sky Channel on November 26.
According to a front page story the UK magazine, Marketing, Sky chief executive, Pierre van der Hoven said, “Africa only attracts four percent of overseas travellers from the UK, so there are huge opportunities. 98 percent of the media coverage relating to Africa is negative. This channel will help redress that; it is about telling a positive story of Africa.”
Content will be based on lifestyle and culture, travel and tourism, and commerce.
UK TELEGRAPH MEDIA GROUP TO INTEGRATE ITS ONLINE AND PRINT BUSINESS NEWS
Online Journlaism reports that the UK Telegraph Media Group will create a single multimedia business department to integrate its online and print business news editorial teams.
The department will be responsible for producing content for Telegragh.co.uk, and The Daily and The Sunday Telegraph, allowing each member of the business team to contribute to all three publications.
The papers' City sections will 'retain their own separate identities', according to a release from the group, but reporters and writers from these sections will feature throughout the week online.
INDIA’S LEADING BUSINESS PUBLICATIONS SQUABBLE OVER MISLEADING READERSHIP FIGURES
India’s Business Standard has alleged Mint, the business newspaper from Hindustan Times Media Ltd, of portraying ‘misleading’ figures in their recent print ads. Business Standard has written a letter to the Advertising Standards Council of India and requested it to stop any further Mint ads in any medium till it is cleared by the council.
Exchange4media reported that Business Standard’s letter to the council alleged that through the ads, HT Media had compared the readership of Mint with other business dailies and made a claim that was misleading.
Mint, which was launched in February 2007, is not associated to either Audit Bureau of Circulation or the Indian Readership Survey and the figures quoted came from an independent source.
INDIAN TV STATIONS ORDERED TO APOLOGISE FOR THREE DAYS RUNNING FOR SCREENING CENSORED ONSCREEN KISSING SCENES
India’s Information and broadcasting Ministry has directed two news channels – Zee News and IBN7 – to apologise for violation of code of conduct by showing programs considered not in good taste.
Exchange4media said a letter was sent to the channels on November 15, which directed the two news channels directed to scroll the apology for three days from noon on November 15 to noon on November 18 as punishment for violating the code of conduct, or be taken off air.
The channels had aired a show recently on onscreen kissing where censored Bollywood movie clips were compiled and shown.
AUSTRALIA’S NEWSAT TO CROWD ALREADY CLUTTERED SKIES BY LAUNCHING ITS OWN SATELLITE
Australia’s NewSat Ltd intends to join the international space race by planning to launch its own satellite in partnership with leaders of the world's space community.
In a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange yesterday the company aptly described its plan as “bold” and “audacious.”
NewSat ceo Adrian Ballintine said the company intended to become a major regional satellite player and seek up to $200 million in dollar for dollar commitments with whichever political party forms government in Saturday’s federal election.
NewSat aims to deliver Ka band satellite communications across all of Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Timor.
Ballintine stressed that the plans for a new era in the company's growth was a natural progression from, and will build on, NewSat's world class teleport infrastructure and technical excellence which is critical in its’ current management of more than $3 billion worth of satellites.
The benefits of this strategy should rapidly evolve NewSat from an on-ground satellite services provider to a complete satellite corporation with its own geo-stationary satellite.
NewSat already covered 80 percent of the world’s geography including 100 percent of Australia.
The launch of NewSat1 will require government investment of $200 million matched by $100 million from each of NewSat and an as yet unidentified multi-national.
The Commonwealth Government has pledged nearly $1 billion to Opel whose reach covers 8.3 percent of Australia's land mass. Delivery of affordable services to 100 percent of Australia's land mass will be achieved by using the inexpensive all purpose Ka frequency.
NewSat aims to pre-sell most of the space segment before the satellite is launched. The likely customers for the service will include the military, education, and oil, gas and mining sectors.
AUSTRALIAN TV WILL SOON ADOPT MEONTV INTERACTIVE VIDEO SYSTEM WHICH RUNS ON 3G PHONE NETWORKS
Australian TV shows will soon begin adopting the new MeOnTV interactive video system, which runs on 3G phone networks and, when installed at television stations, allows them to capture video footage from viewers' mobile phones and put it straight to air - live.
SMH.com reported that the system lets callers talk to show hosts on-screen and “is set to further spruce up quizzes, reality TV, betting and talent quest shows. Some already use voice calls and premium-rated text messaging services.
“It will also fast-track the impact eye-witnesses and would-be roving reporters can make on news bulletins. Until now, television newsrooms have had to send camera-ready journalists or film crews to breaking news stories. Eyewitness mobile phone videos delivered to stations on tape or as email attachments are usually only aired after the fact. Now anyone with a camera 3G phone can potentially break news on the spot.”
The technology is not to be confused with a web service of the same name, www.meontv.co.uk, where members of the public can apply to take part in the filming of TV programs.
AUSTRALIA FREE TV INDUSTRY LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN AGAINST PAY TV
Mediaweek Australia reported that FreeTV Australia took its campaign against the pay-TV industry into a metro paper yesterday with a full page ad in The Australian Financial Review featuring a list of the pay TV programs in the top 1000 programs of 2007. At the bottom of an empty page FreeTV comments: “Zero. Zip. Nada. Not surprising really when you consider that over 15 million Australians don’t have pay TV.”
FreeTV released a statement to coincide with the ad campaign.
“Australians have once again confirmed that when they watch television they watch free-to-air television,” Free TV Australia chairman, David Leckie said.
“No matter how hard they try, no matter what they say, pay television channels have nowhere to hide when you look at audience ratings. Free TV is pre-eminent in audience delivery and unsurpassed as a marketing and advertising platform.”
GOOGLE MAY BE LEFT OUT IN COLD IN AUSTRALIAN ONLINE CLASSIFIED ADS CASE
Google could be left out in the cold in Australia, with the Australian Financial Review reporting that Telstra’s Trading Post website is poised to settle a claim of misleading and deceptive conduct brought by the ACCC.
Mediaweek Australia reports that if the Trading Post does settle the case, it will leave Google to defend charges that were laid against the two online businesses relating to online classified ads.
PRO-DEMOCRACY MEDIA ACTIVIST AND OTHERS ARRESTED IN HO CHI MINH CITY
Reporters Without Borders has condemned the arrest in Ho Chi Minh city of three activists from the pro-democracy party Viet Tan (Vietnam Reform Party), including Frenchwoman Nguyen Thi Thanh Van, a renowned freedom of expression activist.
She is a regular media contributor to the Vietnamese community media in exile: the monthly Viet Nam Dan Chu (Democracy in Vietnam) and Radio Chan Troi Moi (New Horizon - the voice of a democratic and reformed Vietnam).
She is also secretary general of the France-Vietnam Mutual Aid Organisation. She is married and lives in Paris.
According to a statement put out by Viet Tan, three of their activists were arrested in Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday, including Nguyen and two Americans. They were arrested along with a Thai national and two Vietnamese as they tried to hold a meeting to promote the pro-democracy movement in the country. They were placed in custody in Ho Chi Minh City, with the exception of Nguyen Quoc Quan, whose whereabouts are not known.
The others being held are: Nguyen Quoc Quan, mathematics researcher in the US, from Sacramento, California; Truong Van Ba, restaurateur in Honolulu; Nguyen The Vu, a trader living in Ho Chi Minh City; Nguyen The Khiem, student and younger brother of Nguyen The Vu; and Thai national Somsak Khunmi.
From MediaBlab news service compiled by Peter Olszewski for Dow Jones's Factiva
GLOVES ARE OFF BETWEEN NEWS LTD AND FAIRFAX IN BATTLE FOR BUSINESS NEWS , WITH MURDOCH DESCRIBED AS A ‘JOHNNY-COME-LATELY’
Rupert Murdoch’s News Ltd flagship newspaper The Australian, riding high with its newly-acquired access to Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswire finance news, took time out today to highlight its revamped challenge to rival Fairfax Media.
It reported today that Fairfax Media chief Jack Matthews has admitted the company faces a serious threat in the lucrative business media market.
He revealed the company charged more for an over-the-page ad on its key websites, which include smh.com.au and theage.com.au, than it did for a full-page ad in its newspapers, took a swipe at Google's business model and revealed the company's overarching push to get its content on to mobile phones.
The Australian said, “Fairfax Media appears to have redesigned afr.com to make it more like a traditional news site, with more free content, including making available some stories from its business newspaper, The Australian Financial Review.
“The Australian contacted Fairfax late last week for comment on the redesign, which appears to give ground on the company's previous stance that it would pursue primarily a subscription model for afr.com.
“Fairfax Business Media chief executive Michael Gill, who has previously described afr.com as an ‘application’ rather than a website, did not respond.”
The Australian said Fairfax Media chief executive David Kirk was reported earlier this year as saying the company got its afr.com strategy "wrong" and the site would be made "more accessible".
Matthews in turn said, "That is a market that we have no intention of ceding to these Johnny-come-latelies like Rupert Murdoch and his ilk."
SBS TV IN AUSTRALIA IN TOP GEAR OVER WORLD FIRST RIGHTS TO PRODUCE LOCAL VERSION OF BBC HIT MOTORING SHOW
Australian SBS television station has claimed a world first over securing the rights to make a local version of the popular British Top Gear car show.
It said it has also extended its commitment to the UK version for the life of the series.
Freehand Productions, BBC Worldwide’s Australasian partner, will produce the local version, which will transmit on SBS in 2008.
Freehand is 25 percent owned by BBC Worldwide.
“This is fantastic news for SBS, for Top Gear fans and for Australian audiences,” SBS director of content, Matt Campbell said.
“Top Gear is a unique show and one of BBC Worldwide’s biggest global properties. In making it, we won’t simply replicate the UK series with an Australian version of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond or James May. SBS plans to make a program that is uniquely and quintessentially Australian.”
“Top Gear is the BBC’s top-rating, high-octane mix of performance cars, adrenalin, comedy and celebrities.
Top Gear has been one of the major, and surprise, programming successes for SBS, pulling more than 750,000 viewers in a competitive Monday-night time slot.
PAID SEARCH ADVERTISING CALLED ONLINE CRACK BECAUSE OF ITS ADDICTIVE QUALITIES
Paid search advertising is growing more than twice as fast as the general advertising market, The Australian reports today.
The paper said paid search advertising is called "online crack" because of its addictive qualities, and will reach $416 million this year, an increase of 65.5 pe cent over 2006.
It said the sector will be the largest in the online advertising industry, which the company estimates will grow at 29.8 percent to $1.428 billion this year, followed by classified advertising ($407 million), general advertising, including banners and other display formats ($384 million) and online directories such as Sensis's Yellow ($221 million).
QUALITY TURKISH-LANGUAGE DAILY LAUNCHED TO PROVIDE HONEST COVERAGE
Yet another Turkish-language daily Taraf has hit the stands, adding to the already large number of existing publications.
The Turkish Daily News said Taraf’s stated aim is to provide unbiased honest coverage of events.
One of the founders of Taraf is Ahmet Altan, a widely respected journalist, columnist and novelist, while Alev Er is editor-in-chief and Yasemin Çongar is deputy editor-in-chief.
Experienced journalists and editors have joined this enterprise that has required a large source of funding. Its cover price is quite a bit higher than other Turkish language papers but then the cost of producing a newspaper is very high and is not reflected in the price. However, its management is optimistically hoping for a circulation of 40-50,000.
Taraf said its first day promotional circulation was 296,000 copies and 41,000 were sold.
Taraf means ‘side’ in English, and its management says it means to be on the side of democracy and freedom
FAMOUS PLAYWRIGHT WANTS AUSSIE PM TO LOSE ELECTION BECAUSE HE’S SICK OF SEEING THE B’S KNEES
Internationally-renowned Australian playwright David Williamson has written a brief observation on the looming federal election this coming Saturday for irreverent ‘we wuz wrong…again’ website Crikey.com.
Williamson opened his pithy piece with: “In 1971 I wrote the play Don’s Party about the 1969 election night, when Labor supporters were fervently hoping for the arrival of the Great Gough. As it turned out he was five seats short of arriving and we had to wait until 1972 before the long dark night of conservative rule ended.
“The similarities with this Saturday’s election are obvious, and many of the old baby boomers, faint memories of the idealistic dreams of the sixties not yet erased by Alzheimer’s, are hoping fervently we won’t see a re-run of 1969. There are many reasons to wish Johnnie bon voyage, the most pressing being the thought of another eighteen months of television footage of his morning walks.
“It’s time to say no to those daggy shorts, the horrible knees, the resolute stride towards a neo con past where Anglo man still rules the world, and the total lack of wit or spontaneity in his travelling badinage. Joy number two will be picturing the tears and foot stamping of the well paid hosts of Howard acolytes littering our press.”
Williamson ends the piece with, “If it’s not a re-run of 1969 and John and Janette are prised out of Kirribilli, the greatest relief for me will still be the end of the morning walks.”
FREE ONLINE WALL STREET JOURNAL COULD HURT OTHER DOW JONES SERVICES SUCH AS FACTIVA AND NEWSWIRES
The New Zealand Herald reports that Rupert Murdoch's plan to stop charging for access to The Wall Street Journal's website could hurt other parts of Dow Jones business.
The plan could undercut Dow Jones' internet news archive Factiva and its Dow Jones Newswires, which offer Wall Street Journal content that is unavailable anywhere else, Dow Jones spokeswoman Christine Mohan said.
Dow Jones' Enterprise Media division, which includes Factiva and Newswires, contributed 35 percent of revenue but accounted for 67.2 percent of segment operating income in the first nine months of the year.
"The exclusivity of Journal content provides value beyond the website," Mohan said.
Journal Publisher Gordon Crovitz said at a media industry conference in October that Dow Jones reaps more than half a billion dollars in subscription revenue across the company's services.
The Wall Street Journal would lose an estimated US$63 million in subscription revenue by making its website free.
Recovering that in advertising sales would require boosting traffic by 130 percent, based on calculations by Reuters and veteran media industry consultant Mike Vorhaus, managing director of Frank N. Magid Associates.
NEW CHAIRMAN OF ADFEST 2008
Gavin McLeod, creative director at Mark and executive committee member of both AWARD and the Australian Direct Marketing Association, has been named chairman of the 2008 Asia Pacific Advertising Festival Direct Lotus jury.
Marketing-interactive reports that McLeod joined M&C Saatchi in 2000 and has played an influential role in building the direct creative department. Under his stewardship, M&C Saatchi Direct was last year recognised by the Won Report as the second best direct creative agency in the world.
AdFest 2008 will be held from March 26 to 29 in Pattaya, Thailand.
EARTH HOUR ADVERTISING PARTNERSHIP LAUNCHED TO PROMOTE EARTH HOUR 2008
Leo Burnett and the World Wildlife Fund Australia have launched The Earth Hour Advertising Partnership, to promote Earth Hour 2008 among the advertising and media industry.
Bran Republic reports that thee new initiative calls for advertising and media organisations to encourage clients to promote Earth Hour in their campaigns and programs between February 1 and March 29, 2008.
The first Earth Hour event saw energy usage in Sydney fall by 10.2 per cent after residents and businesses turned out their lights. This was equivalent to 25 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.
MGM WIRELESS SAYS SCHOOL NEWS CHANNEL IS ITS MOST SIGNIFICANT ACHIEVEMENT THIS YEAR
MGM Wireless ceo Mark Fortunatow told shareholders at the company’s fifth annual general meeting that during the past year the company expanded internationally and took its market-leading school communication technology to the world.
Its first international milestone during the year was the opening of its American office in Sunnyvale California and the first sales of its Messageyou system to the US school system. It has signed up more than 10 US schools and is negotiating many more sales to US schools and school districts.
Its joint venture in India is up and running with two highly influential schools receiving excellent parent feedback from their implementation of Messageyou. Its partners in India, the Roltin Global group, part of the Makwana family of companies, have been fielding a steady stream of inquiry. India is an extremely large market for its services.
MGM Wireless reached agreement with the Western Australian Department of Education and Training to install Messageyou in up to 800 schools across the state, against international competition in an open tender. This is the first ever whole-of-state agreement and it hopes to take this model to other state governments in Australia.
The company said its most significant achievement of the past year has been the conception, development, and first sales of our latest service, 191ASK School News Channel.
School News Channel solves an age old problem for parents communicating with schools.
Using the simple mobile phone text service, parents can interact with school databases and find answers to immediate and pressing questions such as “where is my child playing sport today?”, or “what homework assignments are due?”
By texting 191ASK (191275), parents and students themselves can access information that saves time and answers important questions about school life.
School News Channel was formulated and developed with the close involvement and co-operation of several of Australia’s most prestigious Independent and Catholic Schools, in Adelaide, Sydney and Perth.
MACQUARIE RADIO TO BUY BACK TEN PERCENT OF ITS ORDINARY SHARES
Australia’s Macquarie Radio Network will embark on an on-market buy-back of ten percent of its fully paid ordinary shares, a maximum of 8, 290, 294 of its shares.
The number of shares in the class on issue is 82, 902, 940.
The reason for the buy-back is capital management.
Shareholders approval is not required.
The buy-back period will begin on December 6, 2007 and end on December 5, 2008, or earlier if the maximum number of shares is bought.
DARK BLUE SEA LIKENS ITS DOMAIN NAME BUSINESS TO THE REAL ESTATE GAME
Dark Blue Sea unleashed one of the most unusual chairman’s addresses of recent times at its annual general meeting when it explained its domain name business in terms of real estate analogies.
The company said that because its domain name portfolio is and will likely remain the major component of shareholder value, a key strategic objective is to continue to try to improve the value of the portfolio.
Then, resorting the real estate analogies, it described a domain name portfolio is the online equivalent of a land bank.
Monetising the direct navigation traffic on its domain names is like having a billboard on every block of land in the land bank.
On the internet, this is easy to do in scale and this is essentially what it does to generate the annuity style advertising revenue.
Today, this is fairly well established and understood market.
Valuing domain names on the basis of this billboard style advertising involves capitalising the annuity style cash flows.
It is equivalent to buying properties based solely on a rental yield – it is a financially driven transaction.
But this valuation approach is only a floor on the value of the property or the domain name.
Another way to demonstrate value in a land bank is by progressively selling some of the blocks of land, ideally to “retail buyers” that want to build their own house.
Land sold this way will typically be based on comparable sales in the area and often well in excess of the prices suggested by “billboard” advertising based valuations.
The current market for domain names sold to “retail buyers” is an order of magnitude (i.e. ten times) higher than the capitalised advertising revenue.
Liquidity is an important factor is determining value.
As at today, the value of the land is a significant liquidity discount to comparable retail sales.
But more real estate agents, a smoother sales process, more comparable sales will all help improve liquidity and lessen the liquidity discount.
The final way to demonstrate value of the land is to view it as a development opportunity.
Instead of selling the vacant land, build a house on it and then sell the finished product.
In these cases, the value of the land becomes the value of the finished house less the cost of developing the house less a cost of capital.
Whilst development involves the use of additional capital, the returns versus simply selling the land can be massive.
In the same way that no two property development deals are completely the same, domain development deals can vary significantly.
Here are a couple of examples of domain development to provide some indication of the potential returns.
In 2001, during the middle of the dot com bust, a professional domain name owner bought CreditCards.com for US$100,000.
In mid 2004, CreditCards.com was sold by that professional domain name owner to an entrepreneur for US$2.75 million.
With a few staff and some capital to do online advertising, a successful online credit card business was built using CreditCards.com as the centerpiece.
In late 2006, the CreditCards.com business was sold to a private equity buyer for US$95 million cash and approximately 16 percent equity in the new company.
Today, CreditCards.com is in the process of finalising its IPO with a valuation of several hundred million dollars.
Dealtime, a shopping comparison website, was founded in 1998.
After the tech bubble burst, DealTime was one of a number of comparison shopping web sites struggling to gain traction.
In 2001, DealTime bought Shopping.com from Altavista for approximately $500,000.
In 2003, DealTime was rebranded Shopping.com and immediately attracted both customers and major retailers, becoming the third most visited consumer site in the US after Ebay and Amazon.
In mid 2004, the company was bought by Ebay for US$620 million.
In both the CreditCards.com and the Shopping.com cases, the domain name was not the only reason for success – these businesses required both capital and good management.
But, like a prime piece of real estate, the domain name was and remains an intrinsic part of the success.
The domain name provided a natural competitive advantage.
Dark Blue Sea doesn’t own any super-premium domain names like CreditCards.com or Shopping.com.
But it believes the development principles illustrated by these two examples will, in time, be applicable to the whole spectrum of generic domains, including many domain names it owns.
UNESCO PUBLISHES DETAILED REPORT ON THE MONGOLIAN MEDIA INDUSTRY
UNESCO has published a 115-page report on Mongolian media landscape, which is available online at http://snipurl.com/1tqll.
The following is an extract on its report on the Mongolian print industry:
The number of daily newspapers in Mongolia in 2005 increased from 6 to 8, biweeklies increased from 3 to 4; there were 29 weeklies, 63 bimonthly newspapers, 32 monthly newspapers, and 19 newspapers published infrequently.
An additional 68 magazine titles are published on a weekly, monthly, quarterly, and irregular basis. These impressive numbers indicates a thriving print market when it comes to plurality and freedom of expression, but when it comes to circulation and the quality of the print media it is a different story.
The top newspapers by copies sold are Odriin Sonin or Daily News with 13,500 daily sales, followed by Zuuny Medee or Century News with 9,000 daily sales, and Onoodor or Today with 8,000 daily sales.
Some of the weekly tabloids have significant circulation with Seruuleg or Alarm being the largest with 47,500 copies per edition, followed by Khumuus or People with 42,000 and three others between 10,000 and 20,000 copies per edition.
The rest of the newspapers and all the magazines have limited circulation, and in many cases these newspapers are little more than special interest papers.
The print market is concentrated around the capital, although national newspapers and in particular tabloids are distributed widely throughout Mongolia.
Most aimags or provinces have one, if not even two local newspapers.
In 2005 the total number of local daily newspapers was 31, one biweekly, two weeklies and 22 bimonthly or three times a month. The circulation is rarely higher than 500 or 600. Circulation figures are seldom precise and fluctuate depending on the season.
Most of the local papers are printed at the Free Press Printing House in Ulaanbaatar, where the minimum print run is 500.
In minority aimags the printed press also suffers from economic hardship and a severe lack of trained journalists in local languages.
The variety and quality of the newspapers varies considerably. The daily newspapers are comprehensive in size with eight to 24 page broadsheets, and cover a wide range of genres: mainly political, social, financial, and cultural issues as well as crime, international news, sports, leisure, and health.
The newspapers are usually heavily biased in the politicised environment. Udriin Sonin, viewed by many as the newspaper of the highest quality, claims political independence but is considered to be pro DP.
Zuuny Medee supports the current president, and Unuudur, though striving to be more independent, is seen to support another faction in the MPRP.
A prevalent feature even among the most serious dailies is the so-called "business news", which consists of paid for articles in the newspapers. The newspapers fully accept these kinds of PR-like articles from companies, politicians, NGO’s or whoever is willing to pay for publicity.
Usually the journalists will receive commission for the paid articles or TV programs in addition to a salary. At one of the leading daily newspapers, first year journalists receive a salary of around US$50 to 60 per month, while the salary can be doubled and tripled through the procurement of "business news".
A popular and experienced journalist can often make around US$400 a month from "business news" stories alone. With most newspapers it is not possible to distinguish the "business news" from the independent reporting as no differentiation is made in terms of layout.
For these reasons the reporting on social, economic, and political issues is rarely fair and unbiased, as many journalists are willing to give up ethical standards to accommodate political and financial agendas and their own financial gain. As a result, well-researched investigative journalism is rarely seen, due to lack of professional skills, lack of resources, and editorial priorities, as well as political oppression.
POINTLESS GOSSIP NOW DEEMED ILLEGAL IN ITALY TO IMPROVE TV STANDARDS
Hollywood Reporter said that an Italian circuit court ruled on Friday that reporting gossip in Italy will be illegal unless it helps make a larger point about the figure in question.
The case is part of a wider effort to improve standards on Italian television. Upon announcing the ruling, the Rome court said it would "remove gossip that exists only for gossip's sake."
UK MEDIA SNIPES AT GERMAN TROOPS IN AFGHANISTAN ACCUSING THEM OF LEAVING BATTLEFIELD TO RETURN TO BASE FOR DINNER
The British newspaper Sunday Times opened fire on Germany over the weekend, claiming a German medical team in Afghanistan left the battlefield in order to get back to the base by sundown.
German helicopters, the article claims, can't fly at night. But the Bundeswehr is denying the report.
Spiegel Online said the Sunday Times ran the story with a “snarky headline” which read, ‘"For us ze war is over by tea time, ja."
The paper quotes an unidentified Norwegian cavalry officer saying, "It's hopeless. We were attacking the bad guys, then (at) three or four o'clock, the helicopters are leaving. We had to go back to base. We should have had Norwegian helicopters. At least they can fly at night."
The Western allies, the story claims, were forced to retreat as were 600 fighters from the Afghan army because of the withdrawal of a German medical evacuation team.
German troops, the article claimed, "spend much of their time in an enormous base, complete with beer halls and nightclubs."
German mission command, located in Potsdam just outside of Berlin, denies the accusations. A spokesman said that there has been no complaint registered by the Norwegians about the alleged incident and said that occasionally helicopters can't fly because of the weather or due to sand storms.
"But then, it's not just us who can't fly. But everyone else too," the spokesman said.
Lt. Col. John Inge Oeglaend, of the Norwegian Joint Headquarters, told Spiegel Online that he heard nothing concrete of the incident. The fact is, he said, the operation was not abruptly ended.
"I have no idea how the officer on the battlefield drew his conclusions," Oeglaend said.
But according to recent reports, the German Afghanistan contingent, consisting of 3,000 troops, are indeed facing difficulties with their vehicles, which, for some unknown reason, have been given Australian names.
The Bundeswehr spent US$97 million on 388 troop transporters, known as the Mungo, only to realise that the awkward vehicle can't cope with the rough terrain in Afghanistan. The 180 trucks that have been so far delivered are being pulled out of use. Another vehicle, known as the Dingo, is likewise unavailable for a number of missions due to a risk that the armoured vehicle will tip over.
DUBAI TV BEGINS BROADCASTING IN PAKISTAN AGAIN
Pakistani news channel ARY One World is set to resume broadcasting from Dubai following negotiations with the Pakistani government and Dubai Media City.
Salman Iqbal, ceo of ARY, told Gulf News the channel had convinced the government to allow it to operate despite its refusal to sign a media code of conduct imposed earlier this month.
ARY One World and Geo TV, Pakistan’s biggest television network, were ordered to halt transmissions from Dubai on Saturday following pressure from President Musharraf.
Arabian Business reported that a spokesman from the UAE National Media Council said the decision had been taken to uphold the country’s foreign policy by preserving its neutrality. Pakistan’s Electronic Media Regulating Authority issued an order at the beginning of the month banning the media from making any reports “that defame or bring into ridicule” Musharraf, his administration or the military.
Cable operators pulled the plug on domestic and international channels including the BBC, CNN and Fox News, leaving just the state-run Pakistan Television free to broadcast.
UK’S SKY TV LAUNCHES FREE TO-AIR-CHANNEL POSITIVELY PROMOTING 25 AFRICAN COUNTRIES
Southern Africa Direct, a free-to-air channel promoting 25 countries in the region, will launch on the UK's Sky Channel on November 26.
According to a front page story the UK magazine, Marketing, Sky chief executive, Pierre van der Hoven said, “Africa only attracts four percent of overseas travellers from the UK, so there are huge opportunities. 98 percent of the media coverage relating to Africa is negative. This channel will help redress that; it is about telling a positive story of Africa.”
Content will be based on lifestyle and culture, travel and tourism, and commerce.
UK TELEGRAPH MEDIA GROUP TO INTEGRATE ITS ONLINE AND PRINT BUSINESS NEWS
Online Journlaism reports that the UK Telegraph Media Group will create a single multimedia business department to integrate its online and print business news editorial teams.
The department will be responsible for producing content for Telegragh.co.uk, and The Daily and The Sunday Telegraph, allowing each member of the business team to contribute to all three publications.
The papers' City sections will 'retain their own separate identities', according to a release from the group, but reporters and writers from these sections will feature throughout the week online.
INDIA’S LEADING BUSINESS PUBLICATIONS SQUABBLE OVER MISLEADING READERSHIP FIGURES
India’s Business Standard has alleged Mint, the business newspaper from Hindustan Times Media Ltd, of portraying ‘misleading’ figures in their recent print ads. Business Standard has written a letter to the Advertising Standards Council of India and requested it to stop any further Mint ads in any medium till it is cleared by the council.
Exchange4media reported that Business Standard’s letter to the council alleged that through the ads, HT Media had compared the readership of Mint with other business dailies and made a claim that was misleading.
Mint, which was launched in February 2007, is not associated to either Audit Bureau of Circulation or the Indian Readership Survey and the figures quoted came from an independent source.
INDIAN TV STATIONS ORDERED TO APOLOGISE FOR THREE DAYS RUNNING FOR SCREENING CENSORED ONSCREEN KISSING SCENES
India’s Information and broadcasting Ministry has directed two news channels – Zee News and IBN7 – to apologise for violation of code of conduct by showing programs considered not in good taste.
Exchange4media said a letter was sent to the channels on November 15, which directed the two news channels directed to scroll the apology for three days from noon on November 15 to noon on November 18 as punishment for violating the code of conduct, or be taken off air.
The channels had aired a show recently on onscreen kissing where censored Bollywood movie clips were compiled and shown.
AUSTRALIA’S NEWSAT TO CROWD ALREADY CLUTTERED SKIES BY LAUNCHING ITS OWN SATELLITE
Australia’s NewSat Ltd intends to join the international space race by planning to launch its own satellite in partnership with leaders of the world's space community.
In a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange yesterday the company aptly described its plan as “bold” and “audacious.”
NewSat ceo Adrian Ballintine said the company intended to become a major regional satellite player and seek up to $200 million in dollar for dollar commitments with whichever political party forms government in Saturday’s federal election.
NewSat aims to deliver Ka band satellite communications across all of Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Timor.
Ballintine stressed that the plans for a new era in the company's growth was a natural progression from, and will build on, NewSat's world class teleport infrastructure and technical excellence which is critical in its’ current management of more than $3 billion worth of satellites.
The benefits of this strategy should rapidly evolve NewSat from an on-ground satellite services provider to a complete satellite corporation with its own geo-stationary satellite.
NewSat already covered 80 percent of the world’s geography including 100 percent of Australia.
The launch of NewSat1 will require government investment of $200 million matched by $100 million from each of NewSat and an as yet unidentified multi-national.
The Commonwealth Government has pledged nearly $1 billion to Opel whose reach covers 8.3 percent of Australia's land mass. Delivery of affordable services to 100 percent of Australia's land mass will be achieved by using the inexpensive all purpose Ka frequency.
NewSat aims to pre-sell most of the space segment before the satellite is launched. The likely customers for the service will include the military, education, and oil, gas and mining sectors.
AUSTRALIAN TV WILL SOON ADOPT MEONTV INTERACTIVE VIDEO SYSTEM WHICH RUNS ON 3G PHONE NETWORKS
Australian TV shows will soon begin adopting the new MeOnTV interactive video system, which runs on 3G phone networks and, when installed at television stations, allows them to capture video footage from viewers' mobile phones and put it straight to air - live.
SMH.com reported that the system lets callers talk to show hosts on-screen and “is set to further spruce up quizzes, reality TV, betting and talent quest shows. Some already use voice calls and premium-rated text messaging services.
“It will also fast-track the impact eye-witnesses and would-be roving reporters can make on news bulletins. Until now, television newsrooms have had to send camera-ready journalists or film crews to breaking news stories. Eyewitness mobile phone videos delivered to stations on tape or as email attachments are usually only aired after the fact. Now anyone with a camera 3G phone can potentially break news on the spot.”
The technology is not to be confused with a web service of the same name, www.meontv.co.uk, where members of the public can apply to take part in the filming of TV programs.
AUSTRALIA FREE TV INDUSTRY LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN AGAINST PAY TV
Mediaweek Australia reported that FreeTV Australia took its campaign against the pay-TV industry into a metro paper yesterday with a full page ad in The Australian Financial Review featuring a list of the pay TV programs in the top 1000 programs of 2007. At the bottom of an empty page FreeTV comments: “Zero. Zip. Nada. Not surprising really when you consider that over 15 million Australians don’t have pay TV.”
FreeTV released a statement to coincide with the ad campaign.
“Australians have once again confirmed that when they watch television they watch free-to-air television,” Free TV Australia chairman, David Leckie said.
“No matter how hard they try, no matter what they say, pay television channels have nowhere to hide when you look at audience ratings. Free TV is pre-eminent in audience delivery and unsurpassed as a marketing and advertising platform.”
GOOGLE MAY BE LEFT OUT IN COLD IN AUSTRALIAN ONLINE CLASSIFIED ADS CASE
Google could be left out in the cold in Australia, with the Australian Financial Review reporting that Telstra’s Trading Post website is poised to settle a claim of misleading and deceptive conduct brought by the ACCC.
Mediaweek Australia reports that if the Trading Post does settle the case, it will leave Google to defend charges that were laid against the two online businesses relating to online classified ads.
PRO-DEMOCRACY MEDIA ACTIVIST AND OTHERS ARRESTED IN HO CHI MINH CITY
Reporters Without Borders has condemned the arrest in Ho Chi Minh city of three activists from the pro-democracy party Viet Tan (Vietnam Reform Party), including Frenchwoman Nguyen Thi Thanh Van, a renowned freedom of expression activist.
She is a regular media contributor to the Vietnamese community media in exile: the monthly Viet Nam Dan Chu (Democracy in Vietnam) and Radio Chan Troi Moi (New Horizon - the voice of a democratic and reformed Vietnam).
She is also secretary general of the France-Vietnam Mutual Aid Organisation. She is married and lives in Paris.
According to a statement put out by Viet Tan, three of their activists were arrested in Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday, including Nguyen and two Americans. They were arrested along with a Thai national and two Vietnamese as they tried to hold a meeting to promote the pro-democracy movement in the country. They were placed in custody in Ho Chi Minh City, with the exception of Nguyen Quoc Quan, whose whereabouts are not known.
The others being held are: Nguyen Quoc Quan, mathematics researcher in the US, from Sacramento, California; Truong Van Ba, restaurateur in Honolulu; Nguyen The Vu, a trader living in Ho Chi Minh City; Nguyen The Khiem, student and younger brother of Nguyen The Vu; and Thai national Somsak Khunmi.
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