BBC Bangla TV and radio content now reaches 15m people in Bangladesh every week, according to the BBC’s 2017 Global Audience Measure. This includes 9m people who watch the BBC Bangla weekly television programme, BBC Probaho, and 7m people who tune in to the BBC Bangla radio programmes.

BBC Bangla editor, Sabir Mustafa, comments: “We are thrilled by the progress of BBC Probaho. We will build on its success by expanding the BBC Bangla presence on television – while continuing to deliver a strong and vibrant radio programming and also working to increase our output across digital platforms including social media.”

BBC Probaho is broadcast at 9.35pm local time every Thursday by the BBC’s rebroadcasting partner, Channel-i. The programme is also available on the BBC Bangla channel on YouTube. Presented by Sharmin Rauma, it delivers 25 minutes of news, interviews and debate on key issues affecting Bangladesh. It reports from across the country, giving people the opportunity to express views and raise concerns on issues that matter to them and demanding answers from key decision-makers. Following the Eid festival break, the programme resumes broadcasts on Thursday 13 July.

BBC Bangla radio programmes, produced in London and Dhaka, air on the state FM network, Bangladesh Betar, as well as on shortwave and via bbcbangla.com.

Over the past year, BBC Bangla has seen a significant increase in web and social-media reach. BBC Bangla engages around 1.4m people around the world every week via its website bbcbangla.com and on social media. The BBC Bangla Facebook page has over 11.3m followers (July 2017), nearly 80% of them in Bangladesh.

BBC Bangla is part of the BBC World Service.

-ENDS-

For more information please contact:
BBC World Service Group Communications – Lala Najafova lala.najafova@bbc.co.uk

Intelsat end-to-end managed service enables MNOs to expand 2G voice services in regions where terrestrial infrastructure is limited.

Luxembourg and Geneva and Sint-Niklaas, Belgium, 11 July 2017

Intelsat S.A. (NYSE: I), operator of the world’s first Globalized Network and leader in integrated satellite communications, announced today a managed services solution that will provide 2G services in remote locations. The solution leverages contributions of services provider BCom and technology provider Newtec for core components of the solution.

IntelsatOne Mobile Reach Solar 2G is a turnkey package designed for mobile network operators (MNOs) seeking to expand voice services in a simple, cost-efficient manner to remote populations throughout sub-Saharan Africa. The solution includes all satellite, cellular and power components, allowing MNOs to deploy and connect with their subscribers virtually anywhere.

While some countries and regions are transitioning to 4G and even looking at 5G, it is important to remember that 4 billion people throughout the world are without Internet connectivity. 2G still represents a large amount of existing wireless infrastructure. In Africa, more than 672 million people rely on 2G services, and those networks need to be upgraded and expanded to meet growing connectivity demands throughout the continent. Further, fully half of the continent is unconnected, resulting in a dire need to provide a connectivity solution to regions not served by current mobile network service territories. IntelsatOne Mobile Reach Solar 2G was developed specifically for MNOs to be able to extend their coverage to serve these populations with a cost-effective, easily deployable and efficient cell site that is solar-powered.

The managed service, which will be marketed by Intelsat initially in the sub-Saharan Africa region, integrates satellite services from Intelsat’s globalized network with Newtec’s advanced Newtec Dialog® multiservice platform, and BCom’s backhaul terminal solution and network deployment expertise. Through this partnership, IntelsatOne Mobile Reach Solar 2G delivers a product that can be rapidly deployed and is easily scalable to serve regions and populations of all sizes.

“Satellite is fundamental to improving connectivity coverage in rural areas, especially relevant for the African continent,” said Jean-Philippe Gillet, Intelsat’ Vice President and General Manager, Broadband. “Now that smaller, more portable kits can be used with our high power Intelsat EpicNG platform, connecting those communities will become easier and more cost-effective. The experience of implementing HTS into our customers’ networks has affirmed our beliefs about its potential, and in every region, Intelsat is focused on making access to satellite solutions easier than ever for commercial connectivity providers. This is another example of Intelsat EpicNG expanding the market for satellite-based solutions.”

“Our goal is to design a solution that is easy to deploy, that fits each community with basic 2G GSM services and cover a larger area or population in a very cost-effective way based on a pay-as-you-grow model,” said Patrick Elias, Sales & Operations Director at BCom, a satellite services provider and solution designer. “With each community having its own specificity in terms of landscape and population density, the BCom backhaul terminal solution is designed to be flexible, scalable and resilient. The performance of Intelsat EpicNG and the Newtec platform to lower the operational costs requires a highly competitive backhaul terminal to offer a turnkey solution that fits remote communities’ challenges.”

“Assembling a turnkey solution was essential for rapidly deploying managed mobile services in Africa where so many communities are isolated,” said Semir Hassanaly, Market Director, Cellular Backhaul & Trunking, at Newtec, a specialist in designing, developing and manufacturing equipment and technologies for satellite communications. “The combination of HTS and the Newtec Dialog platform – with its unique, dynamic Mx-DMA® technology – provides the flexibility and the lowest operational costs to make mobile connectivity affordable even for remote communities. The technology can also be upgraded to offer higher order services.”

Supporting Resources:

• Intelsat Solutions for Mobile Network Operators: www.intelsat.com/solutions/data-telecoms/mno/
• Intelsat EpicNG: www.intelsat.com/infrastructure/intelsat-epicng/
• Newtec’s Solutions for Mobile Backhaul and consult application notes and whitepapers: www.newtec.eu/application/cellular-backhaul

About Intelsat

Intelsat S.A. (NYSE: I) operates the world’s first Globalized Network, delivering high-quality, cost-effective video and broadband services anywhere in the world. Intelsat’s Globalized Network combines the world’s largest satellite backbone with terrestrial infrastructure, managed services and an open, interoperable architecture to enable customers to drive revenue and reach through a new generation of network services. Thousands of organizations serving billions of people worldwide rely on Intelsat to provide ubiquitous broadband connectivity, multi-format video broadcasting, secure satellite communications and seamless mobility services. The end result is an entirely new world, one that allows us to envision the impossible, connect without boundaries and transform the ways in which we live. For more information, visit www.intelsat.com.

About BCom

Since its incorporation 10 years ago, BCom, has logged thousands of missions in more than 100 countries in the most challenging configurations, geographically, technically and logistically. Its high experience and quality of work has enable it to be one of the few companies to warrant installed systems and offer the MNO solutions to one of the most challenging financial aspect: the total cost of ownership, crucial element of the Telcos profit analysis.

BCom’s modular services portfolio covers a wide range of satcom systems, from VSAT to large satellite earth stations and networks. Services include site surveys, site commissioning, system refurbishing and upgrade, and teleport audit services, cellular backhauling, and complete satcom network deployments or migrations, equipment procurement, integration, packing and logistics. BCom also offers to bundle the equipment rental with services to ease customer financial exposure and improve revenue. BCom has recently expanded its service offering to cover offshore platform, and broadcasting stations.

For more information, contact: Patrick Elias, Sales Director, p.elias@bcomsat.com

About Newtec

Newtec, www.newtec.eu, is specialized in designing, developing and manufacturing equipment and technologies for satellite communications. As a pioneer in the industry, Newtec is dedicated to creating new possibilities for the broadcast, consumer and enterprise VSAT, government and defense, cellular backhaul and trunking and mobility, offshore and maritime markets. Our products and technologies can be applied in a wide range of single and multiservice applications from DTH broadcasting, video contribution and distribution and disaster recovery and backbones for cellular backhauling, to small and medium enterprises, SCADA and oil and gas networks, aircrafts and vessels.

Since 1985, our dedicated team of specialists has set industry standards with the most efficient, scalable and economical technology solutions. New challenges and customer needs offer opportunities to explore new boundaries. This empowers us to work even harder, helping customers to perform their best so that, together, we can make the world a safer, more informed and connected place. As a result, more than 3 billion people watch TV every day thanks to Newtec technology.

Newtec is a European company headquartered in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium. Through additional commercial offices in Dubai (UAE), Singapore, Beijing (China), São Paulo (Brazil) and Stamford, CT (USA) as well as an extensive network of over 100 certified partners, Newtec can meet customer’s needs worldwide.

For more information contact: Kerstin Roost, Strategic Marketing & Public Relations Director, Kerstin.Roost@newtec.eu.

Contact
Jason Bates
Corporate Communications Manager
jason.bates@intelsat.com
+1 703-559-7044

Network extends online video processing, delivery and distribution into the AWS Cloud for improved quality, greater efficiency and faster time-to-market

Portland, Ore. – July 10, 2017 – Amazon Web Services today announced that Mexican broadcast network Multimedios Televisión has selected video processing, distribution and storage solutions from AWS Elemental and Amazon Web Services (AWS) for its online video content. The agreement broadens the broadcaster’s AWS deployment with additional cloud-based video processing and content distribution solutions, comprising an end-to-end workflow to produce and deliver content for Multimedios’ online platforms.

Multimedios Televisión, part of Grupo Multimedios, is a terrestrial TV network with eight local affiliates across northern Mexico. The network produces and broadcasts original news, entertainment, sports and public affairs programming; in addition to its local channels, Multimedios is available nationwide via paid satellite and cable services, and supports affiliates in the U.S. and Canada.

“When we adopted AWS Elemental encoding software in the cloud, it transformed our workflow,” said Rommel Valencia, digital media operations manager for Multimedios. “Considering the full set of video processing and distribution services available from AWS and AWS Elemental, it made sense to explore the value we could achieve with an end-to-end, cloud-driven workflow. Now, we get reliable, high-quality live streaming, we can publish clips almost immediately, and we don’t spend valuable time managing infrastructure.”

Multimedios first introduced AWS technology to its video workflow in 2015, deploying AWS Elemental Live encoding software for real-time video and audio encoding of its broadcast signals for four live multiscreen streams. With the recent agreement, the broadcaster has incorporated additional AWS Elemental cloud solutions across its online video processing and publishing workflow.

In the Multimedios workflow, AWS Elemental on-premises solutions encode signals from live broadcast playout into RTMP streams for real-time video processing in the cloud. Cloud-based AWS Elemental Live instances perform real-time encoding of three live video streams in adaptive bitrate formats. AWS Elemental Delta in the cloud provides just-in-time packaging (JITP) for video-on-demand (VOD), time-shift and catch-up viewing services for the Amazon CloudFront content delivery network (CDN) for cloud-based distribution of live streams to Multimedios’ online platforms. Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) provides flexible, on-demand, file-based cloud storage for program highlights and VOD content.

With its end-to-end AWS workflow, the network has realized significant improvements in video quality while incorporating time-shifted TV and other functionalities that enhance the viewing experience. In addition, MediaStream’s cloud-based editing tools were integrated into the workflow to streamline creation and publication of clips to Multimedios’ social media channels and web portal; now, network editors can push clips online within moments of broadcast.

“Multimedios has taken an innovative approach to online content, to the benefit of its viewers as well as its business,” said Dan Marshall, senior vice president of field operations for AWS Elemental. “Using AWS solutions from inception to content delivery, Multimedios built a highly efficient, fully integrated and easy-to-manage platform for itself to put a wealth of original content in the hands of the consumer, while making an investment in agile, elastic cloud services that offers significant long-term dividends.”

AWS Elemental will showcase its software-based solutions for video processing and delivery in booth 730 at ConvergenciaShow.MX, July 11 through 13 in Mexico City.

About AWS Elemental

AWS Elemental, an Amazon Web Services company, combines deep video expertise with the power of the AWS cloud. Solutions from AWS Elemental allow broadcast TV and multiscreen video to be customized, originated and monetized at global scale. Flexible, software-based video processing and delivery gives global media franchises, pay TV operators, content programmers, broadcasters, government agencies and enterprise customers the ability to deliver highly differentiated viewing experiences and the freedom to focus on what matters: transforming ideas into compelling content that captivates viewers. Learn more at elemental.com.

Press Contact

Leila Hrycyszyn
Elemental Technologies
hrycyszy@elemental.com
+44 7469 707 355

ITV Choice has announced today a new partnership with Pi Pakistan, the country’s leading IPTV service, which will make the channel available to Pakistani audiences for the first time. The agreement includes HD catch-up and in a first for ITV Choice, all programming will include Urdu subtitles.

ITV Choice specialises in big British entertainment and drama, and from this summer viewers in Pakistan will be able to enjoy the channel’s schedule of current award-winning drama and entertainment programming, including:

• Coronation Street and Emmerdale: Two of the most popular long-running dramas in Britain, with episodes broadcast in Pakistan within 24 hours of the UK broadcast
• Premium dramas: International hits featuring worldwide stars, including Olivia Colman in Broadchurch, Sam Neill in Tutankhamun and Jenna Coleman in Victoria.
• Crime drama: Award-winning crime dramas with some of the most popular detectives on television, including Vera, Midsomer Murders, Endeavour and Grantchester.
• Entertainment hits: Audience favourites Don’t Tell the Bride, The Jonathan Ross Show, The Chase and Tonight at the London Palladium.

Katherine Wen, ITV Choice Channel Director, said:

“ITV Choice already reaches over 100 countries throughout Asia, the Middle East and Africa and I’m delighted that, with this new agreement with Pi Pakistan, viewers in Pakistan will have the same access to award-winning British television.”

Yassir Pasha, CEO of Tapmad , said:
“After the recent success of the PSL and ICC Champions trophy, this is another example of our commitment to bring specialised content for Pakistani viewers. Partnering with a global brand like ITV for the region gives us great pride and we look forward to unravelling an exciting library of dramas, gameshows and documentaries.”

About ITV Choice
Part of ITV, the UK’s largest commercial broadcaster, ITV Choice is the big British entertainment channel with a great big heart. Available through Asia, the Middle East and Africa, ITV Choice is packed full of fresh award-winning dramas, brilliant game shows, star-filled entertainment and inspiring documentaries, all brought to you by famous faces from around the world.

About Pi Pakistan
As a fully licensed Public Internet Television Service provider, Pi Pakistan focuses on delivering technology solutions to the industry. Their state of the art video streaming service, Tapmad TV, offers more than 150 live HQ channels, anywhere, anytime.

SINGAPORE, 10 JULY 2017 – Nielsen has announced the appointment of Johan Vrancken as Managing Director, Singapore with effect from 01 July 2017. In his new role, Johan reports to Patrick Dodd, President, Nielsen Growth Markets Group.

Prior to this appointment, Johan served as Managing Director, Innovation Practice, Growth and Emerging Markets where he effectively led Nielsen’s Innovation Practice across 80 countries globally and leveraged the company’s portfolio of innovation products and consulting services to drive business success for clients.

Before Nielsen’s acquisition of Affinnova in 2014, Johan was Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific at Affinnova, where he accelerated the adoption of Affinnova’s technology platform within FMCG and other verticals throughout the Asia Pacific region to deliver value and growth for global and regional clients. Previously, Johan worked for start-up agencies in Singapore, such as eYeka, the global leader in consumer co-creation and crowdsourcing. He started his career in brand marketing within the Danone Group and AB-Inbev in Europe. Johan holds an MBA and Master in Political and Social Sciences, both from the University of Antwerp in Belgium.

About Nielsen

Nielsen N.V. (NYSE: NLSN) is a global performance management company that provides a comprehensive understanding of what consumers Watch and Buy. Nielsen’s Watch segment provides media and advertising clients with Total Audience measurement services across all devices where content — video, audio and text — is consumed. The Buy segment offers consumer packaged goods manufacturers and retailers the industry’s only global view of retail performance measurement. By integrating information from its Watch and Buy segments and other data sources, Nielsen provides its clients with both world-class measurement as well as analytics that help improve performance. Nielsen, an S&P 500 company, has operations in over 100 countries that cover more than 90 percent of the world’s population. For more information, visit www.nielsen.com.

SINGAPORE, 07 JULY 2017 – HBO Asia today announces the promotion of Ms. Beibei Fan (范贝贝) to Executive Vice President for New Business and Managing Director for China (执行副总裁，新事业部; 执行总经理，中国). In this role, Beibei will oversee all the business aspects of HBO Asia’s business in China from revenue generation to production as well as new business prospects in Asia.

“Beibei has done an excellent job for the company and this promotion is recognition of that contribution,” said Jonathan Spink, CEO of HBO Asia. He further added, “With Beibei at the helm of our business in China, we are confident that we will be able to strengthen our commitment and strategy to bringing our content to more viewers in China.”

Beibei has over 15 years of programming and distribution experience from her time with Warner Brothers, The Walt Disney Company and China Central Television (CCTV). She brings with her an acute and in-depth understanding and knowledge of the media and entertainment business in Asia.

She joined HBO Asia in August 2014 as Senior Vice President, New Business, and has since worked with Tencent Video to expand HBO’s content in China and with local partners including BesTV, SiTV and China Mobile to launch Ding Ji Ju Chang (鼎级剧场), a subscription video on demand (SVOD) service that is home to award-winning HBO Original series and movies, CINEMAX and HBO Asia Original series, as well as independent Hollywood movies. In 2016, Beibei also spearheaded HBO Asia’s first Chinese co-production movie project with China Movie Channel – an anthology of Chinese language martial arts action movies.

# # #

About HBO ASIA
Singapore-based HBO Asia brings the best of Hollywood to Asia first through its exclusive licensing deals with major Hollywood and independent studios, including Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Universal Studios, Warner Bros. and Lionsgate. HBO Asia has proprietary and award-winning HBO and HBO Asia Original programmes produced exclusively for HBO viewers. Wholly owned by HBO (a Time Warner company), HBO Asia reaches 23 territories across Asia with six 24-hour commercial-free subscription movie channels: HBO, HBO Signature, HBO Family, HBO Hits and Cinemax, as well as Red by HBO, internet streaming platform, HBO GO, subscription video on demand service, HBO On Demand, and in China, 鼎级剧场 (ding ji ju chang). HBO Asia is also the exclusive distributor of BabyFirst and the DreamWorks channel in the region. Log on to www.hboasia.com for more information.

For more information, please contact:

Karen Lai | Senior Communications Director | HBO Asia
DID +65 6381 1796 | Mobile +65 9111 2655 | Fax +65 6287 2210 | www.hboasia.com

Awarded as the Best Company to work for in the Media Industry

Mumbai, India, July 6, 2017: Leading global content company, ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) today announced that it has been named as one of the top 100 ‘India’s Best Companies to Work For 2017’ as well as the Best Company to work for in the Media Industry, in a study conducted by Great Place to Work® Institute and The Economic Times.

Speaking on this achievement, Mr. Praveer Priyadarshi, Chief People Officer, ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) said, “It is a great honour for us to be recognized as one of ‘India’s Best Companies to Work For’ and in fact the Best Company to work for in the Media industry. This prestigious recognition highlights our commitment towards fostering a high performance creative culture across the organization. We aspire to become the leading global content company from the emerging and international markets, and our people represent our sharpest competitive edge.

Our underlying ethic and brand positioning is “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam – The World Is My Family” and we strongly believe that family begins at home. To achieve our ambitious goals, we will continue to focus on our employees, whom we consider as our most important assets, with the belief that growth will only occur when employees are encouraged to experiment with new ideas, take challenges and perform with pride. Our organizational practices, our people philosophy, and our employee recognition programmes, are geared towards strengthening our people culture and building a more unified, diverse, creative organization.”

The award was accepted by the HR Team led by Praveer Priyadarshi, on behalf of ZEE, from Mr. Shreejit Mishra – Chief Operating Officer, Bennett Coleman and Co. Ltd. at a glittering ceremony held on June 30, 2017 at ITC Grand Central Hotel in Mumbai.

At ZEE, a conscious effort is put in to attract, nurture and develop world-class talent who will fuel the next level of growth. The people philosophy centres around SAMWAD, which focuses on regular conversations between employees and their managers, and helps build better working relationships within teams. Other notable initiatives are ZEELOMPICS, an employee-recognition programme, where high performers in each role are recognised for their exemplary performance as ‘Heroes’, and ACE, the high-potential development programme to identify top-notch talent from performers in the organisation.

Furthermore, to build a democratic culture and an environment of trust, the performance of all businesses is shared with employees on a quarterly basis through a webcast led by the MD & CEO, followed by a Q&A session with employees in India. Employees are also groomed to adapt to a dynamic environment through multiple training programmes conducted regularly. These programmes, aimed at employees at all levels, include technical workshops as well as behavioural workshops focused on decision making and execution excellence, and leadership programmers for executives from top Indian business schools.

ZEE has achieved the certification as a Great Place to Work® by the Great Place to Work® Institute, India. Every year, over 8000 companies from across 50 countries participate in the certification program conducted by the Great Place to Work® Institute. The Great Place to Work® framework assesses an organization on employee perception through Trust Index© dimensions namely, Credibility, Respect, Camaraderie, Pride and Fairness. It further evaluates and benchmarks people practices through Culture Audit©. In addition, this year, representatives from Great Place to Work® Institute, India had visited the ZEE office in Mumbai and interacted with employees to understand their work experiences at ZEE to get a first-hand experience of the organisation’s culture and processes, for the purpose of benchmarking against other organizations across industries.

-ENDS-

About Great Place to Work®:
Great Place to Work® has conducted pioneering research on the characteristics of great workplaces for over 25 years and is considered the gold standard for assessing and certifying great workplace cultures. It believes that all organizations can become great workplaces, and it’s their mission is to help them succeed. Great Place To Work® partners more than 8000 organizations every year around the world to help create and sustain a High-Trust, High-Performance Culture™ and get Great Place to Work-Certified™.

About Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL):
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (ZEEL) is a worldwide media brand offering entertainment content to diverse audiences. With a presence in over 172 countries and a reach of more than a billion people around the globe, ZEEL is among the largest global content companies across genres, languages, and platforms.

ZEEL is present across broadcasting, movies, music, live entertainment, digital and talent businesses, both within India and overseas. ZEEL has more than 240,000 hours of television content and houses the world’s largest Hindi film library with rights to more than 4,200 movie titles across various languages. ZEEL has also produced several movies for theatrical release and is the fastest growing music label in India. It has presence in the digital space with ‘dittoTV’ and ‘OZEE’ and has also ventured into live events.

More information about ZEE and its businesses is available on www.zeetelevision.com.

Official Social Media Platforms:
Twitter : twitter.com/zeecorporate
Facebook : www.facebook.com/ZEECorporate/
LinkedIn : Linkedin.com/Company/ZEECorporate

Media Contact:
Parag Darade / Arantxa Gonsalves
Corporate Communications – Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL)
Mobile: +91 9820085872 /9820336890
Email: parag.darade@zee.esselgroup.com / arantxa.gonsalves@zee.esselgroup.com