ASBU ASBU Communications Service

Transcription

1 ASBU ASBU Communications Service 1

2 ASBU ASBU Communications Service The Arab States Broadcasting Union, our Sister Union. 2 DIFFUSION online 2004/10

3 The Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) is one of the oldest Arab jointaction institutions in the framework of the League of Arab States. It was founded in Khartoum in February It is a non-profit making organization whose main objectives are: to boost the spirit of Arab brotherhood; to coordinate, support and defend the positions and interests of Arab States in international fora; to assist in the development of communication technology in the fields of radio and television; to contribute to a new world communication order that guarantees the right to selfassertion and advancement in member States and provides the opportunity for fruitful dialogue; to develop, coordinate and investigate all ways and means to promote broadcasting in the Arab region; to develop and reinforce all forms of technical cooperation among ASBU member organizations; to plan the use of spectrum in the Arab world, in cooperation with international organizations; to keep pace with progress in technical and programme fields; to maintain close ties with international organizations as well as regional broadcasting unions in order to better serve the causes of the Arab nation. In 1995 the ASBU General Assembly amended the Union s convention, thus enabling it to be self-financing and to keep abreast with developments in the audiovisual sector, in particular in the Arab world. Moreover, it opened ASBU membership to private Arabic TV and radio organizations. Exchanges The Arab News and Programme Exchange Centre, officially inaugurated in Algiers in March 1987, coordinates daily audio and video exchanges for ASBU s radio and TV members as well as covering major news and programme events such as Arab summits, song festivals, etc. The Centre is managed by a director with a staff of 20 who handle a number of different exchanges. Television In 2003 the average number of hours of multilateral and unilateral TV exchanges per day amounted to 6.5 hours and 7.5 hours respectively. Daily TV news exchanges: 3 Arab multi-origin Arab news transmissions and international news exchanges (Eurovision, Asiavision and ERN-M [CopeAm]) Weekly TV programme exchanges: 2 sports exchanges, 1 economic exchange, 1 Arab evening show, 1 cultural exchange Monthly TV exchanges: historical, tourist sites and new discoveries, song clips exchange Special multilateral exchanges: breaking news, conferences, debates and open dialogue, live religious broadcast Radio In 2003 the ASBU radio exchanges averaged 13 hours per day. News exchange: news reports, major news events, politics Programme exchange: weekly reports, festivals, evening cultural programmes, archive programmes, religious events, seminars and debates Sports exchange: reports, programmes and live sports events coverage Digitization In 2000 ASBU transformed its two analogue TV channels to four C-Band MPEG-2 4:2:2 digital channels on ASBU leased capacities on the Arabsat satellite (2B). In June 2003 ASBU added a further two Ku-Band 3

4 channels on the Arabsat satellite (2B) thus providing members with the possibility of carrying out TV exchanges using DSNGs, which all members have acquired. Today nearly all the ASBU members are equipped with the necessary digital equipment to transmit and /or receive the ASBU Exchanges. VSAT System ASBU established its own VSAT Network in It now comprises of one master station located in its Exchange Centre in Algiers with a further 27 remote stations in 16 ASBU members. The VSAT provides the following services: 3 high-quality audio channels (64 & 128 Kbits) 2 separate, independent voice conference systems (radio and TV) 11 data exchange channels point-to-point telephone services connecting ASBU members to the ASBU headquarters and other centres automatic TV and audio reservation exchange system Audio archives criteria; selective storage times on the service; data is available to all members as the exchanges are based upon mutual agreements; there is one high-speed, multipurpose delivery system that supports simultaneous delivery outside the existing VSAT channels; the archive system is easily expandable; it eliminates the problems with redundancy and backups; and, finally, maintenance is easier when everything is centralized. Sports One the main ASBU objectives in the field of sports is to acquire, on behalf of its members, the broadcasting rights for major regional and international sports events and to coordinate multilateral and unilateral coverage. Today, ASBU has bought the rights for a number of major upcoming sports events, including: Summer Olympic Games 2004 and 2008 Euro 2004 (football) Copa America 2004 (football) All Asian football major championships ( ) Football Qualifiers FIFA 2006 South American FIFA 2006 European FIFA 2006 and 2010 Asia Global bouquet ASBU and Arabsat are finalizing a project to deliver a digital bouquet of Arab TV and radio channels to Arab communities all over the world. Each bouquet will consist of 10 TV channels and 20 radio channels pulled from Arabsat and Nilesat, digitatized and back hauled to different regions The problem of audio archives will be resolved by expanding ASBU s VSAT network to improve the digital audio network. Not only will this permit the central archiving of audio material but members will be able to browse, organize and manage the archives. The project is not only limited to archiving material but also to providing members with another key service: on-demand, high-speed delivery of archived content. The central storage of archived material has a number of advantages: it avoids the installation of complicated and expensive solutions at members sites; metadata is uniform; simple but universal search Past events for which ASBU acquired the rights include : World Football Cups Summer Olympic Games African Nations Cups Asian Games EURO Football Cups 1992 & 1996 World Handball events Arab Games Copa America Football Asian Football Cups ARABSAT 2B 30 5 E: C-band (left) and Ku-band (right) 4 DIFFUSION online 2004/10

5 of the world (Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, South America and Australia). The satellite service provider for the whole operation is Globecast. There are not only financial costsaving benefits for participating ASBU members. The project will also provide members with the opportunity to reach a large number of listeners and viewers with a minimum of effort, and, in return, the audience is offered a practical cost-effective solution to receive several Arabic programmes on one satellite dish. 5

6 Training The Arab Radio and TV Training Centre, established in 1978 in Damascus, Syria, provides specialized engineering and programming training courses to the personnel of ASBU member organizations, which can last anything from three days to three weeks. On average, 25 courses are held every year. The Centre is managed by a director and 18 staff, and it collaborates with several international broadcast training centres located mainly in Europe, Asia and the Arab region. ASBU decided to introduce longdistance training modules to further promote and complement the training activities of the ASBU Training Centre. This was implemented as a cost-effective solution to the problem of members who were not able to send trainees on courses abroad. Thus, training opportunities are available to the largest possible number of members staff. it possible to provide high-quality video and audio transmissions over the network for interactive discussions between lecturers and participants connected via the VSAT telephone and data services. Not only is this type of exchange far superior to teleconferencing but the IP multicast-based technology provides many added services, such as file transfer, website mirroring, and shared computer applications. New HQ In 18 months time ASBU will have a new $3.2 million headquarters in Tunis. Construction works starts in February. The new five-floor HQ will have a total surface of 5,524m 2, incorporating offices, meeting rooms and technical work areas. Recordings and archives of these courses are made by the members, which are then used as a bench-mark when training additional staff. Two uplinks, one at the ASBU Training Centre in Damascus and the second in Tunis (at the ALECSO HQ), make 6 DIFFUSION online 2004/10

7 Structure Governing Bodies General Assembly (meets annually) Executive Council (meets bi-annually) Permanent Committees Engineering Television Radio Sports Administrative, Financial and Legal Affairs ASBU Permanent Organs The ASBU General Directorate has its headquarters in Tunis. The ASBU is managed by the Director General with a staff of 42. It comprises of the following departments and offices: Programmes Department Engineering Department Administration and Finance Department Office of the Director General Legal Affairs Office Sports Office Documentation, Information & Publication Office Each department and office carries out specific missions under the supervision of the Director General. 7