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Carly Barnes

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SkyVision expands to meet IPTV demand in Africa

Carly Barnes
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SkyVision Global Networks Ltd., a global communication provider, has added broadcast services and engineering solutions to its IP connectivity services and solutions portfolio, to answer the demand for DTH, IPTV and OTT services in the markets it serves.

“Following the vast number of customers requesting broadcast services, we quickly took the steps needed to respond to their requirements. As this is a new domain to SkyVision, we saw it only fit to recruit a dedicated senior director, well experienced in the field of broadcast. Eyal Maimon, SkyVision’s Broadcast and Engineering Solutions director, brings over 17 years of hands on technical and sales experience in broadcast services,’ says Ori Watermann, SkyVision’s CEO.

The increasing demand in Africa and the Middle East for DTH and IPTV services is overwhelming. Over the past several years there has been a growing demand for reliable video solutions across many segments – including governments and broadcasters – wanting to cover national and international events such as the Africa Cup of Nations, the World Cup, African U-20 Championship and more.
“Adding global TV satellite distribution and content management fields to our current portfolio of services and solutions seemed only natural, as we have the proven experience, infrastructure and local presence and support to respond to broadcasters and service providers’ needs, wherever they are.’ continued Watermann.

Leveraging on its global MPLS network, extensive points of presence and vast teleport operations in the US, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and the comprehensive satellite coverage under its command, SkyVision offers broadcasters – and any client that needs to deliver video services – a one-stop-shop for contribution, distribution, IPTV, OTT, turnaround and occasional-use services.
In addition to the broadcast services, SkyVision has also launched its engineering solutions specifically suited to satellite operators, such as TT&C, CSM, Satellite colocations and hosting services.

“SkyVision’s dominance in delivering corporate-grade services in Africa, the Middle East, Europe, the US and Asia, backed by its vast footprint through multiple satellites and PoPs, enables it to act as an established broadcasting arm to the region.’ says Eyal Maimon, Broadcast and Engineering Solutions director. “We are proud to have launched these top class solutions suited to broadcasters and satellite operators alike, and believe that our extensive knowhow in the communications arena will offer customers the added value they deserve.’

SABC announces new Commercial Enterprises group executive

Carly Barnes
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Following the early retirement of Anton Heunis, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has announced that Nomsa Philiso has been appointed as group executive for commercial enterprises.

Philiso joined the SABC in a financial capacity in 1994. She progressed to management level within the Technology Division – specifically focusing on systems improvements across SABC divisions and moving to Commercial Enterprises in 2010. She was appointed as general manager: sales operations in 2011 and has since frequently acted as group executive: commercial enterprises.

Heunis began his SABC career in the Human Resources Division in 1979. He progressed through the ranks and management levels within HR before being appointed as group manager: human resources. Thereafter, Anton was appointed as Head of Audience Services and a member of the Group Executive Committee in 1999. He was seconded to Commercial Enterprises in 2010 with a mandate to turn around the division. Under his watch, the division has regained its stature as a credible media advertising partner.

For continuity and to capitalise on his institutional memory, Heunis will stay on as commercial advisor for a period of time.

The SABC’s chief operations officer, Hlaudi Motsoeneng stated, “We would like to thank Mr. Heunis for the dedication that he has shown the organisation throughout the years. He has been a loyal member of the SABC’s executive management team and he has always put the organisation first’.

Motsoeneng further commented that, “The appointment of Ms. Philiso is a handing-over of a baton, as she worked closely with Mr. Heunis for a considerable period of time. It is in line with succession planning that has been happening in the organisation. Ms. Philiso has the required expertise to handle the mammoth task before her and we are confident that she will succeed’.

SA documentary short selected for Hot Docs

Carly Barnes
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Orbis, a short documentary by director Simon Wood has been selected for competition at Hot Docs, North America’s largest documentary film festival. This year the festival received 2,724 film submissions from over 45 countries.

Executive director Brett Hendrie commented, “We’re excited to bring to this city an outstanding selection of films from the world’s greatest documentary talents.’

Director Simon Wood commented, “The film was shot on location in Umlazi for one month last year. My first film Forerunners (which played at IDFA in 2011) took three years to finish. My next film, Untamed, is still not finished after four years of work, so Orbis is response to that. I wanted to see if it would be possible to make a documentary quickly, so I decided to shoot every day for one month. We met all the characters in the film by chance which lends itself to an honest observational approach. After filming was completed we edited for 30 days. So the whole process was finished very quickly.’

The only predetermined choice in the film was the location – Umlazi, a vast township next to the Indian Ocean. Wood chose this area due to its proximity to Africa’s busiest port: Durban, a gateway for global economic trade. Wood became fascinated with the circular notion of the global economy. “Each day in Umlazi hundreds of men search for scrap metal with rented shopping trolleys. The metal is packed into containers and sent to the Far East, then returned as consumer products to feed South Africa’s expanding middle class. Orbis ultimately allows us to explore the circular notion of life itself. All form without exception is transient’ said Wood.

Wood was thrilled that the film’s international premiere would be in Toronto, “Canada is the home of many of the world’s greatest documentary filmmakers and I could not be more excited about showing my film there,I cant’ wait’

Orbis is a SaltPeter Production. For more information visit the Orbis website.

Strong technologies to launch new African pay TV channels

Carly Barnes
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Strong Media SAL-Off-Shore (SMO) has signed a multi-year contract with Eutelsat Communications which equips it to take its pay TV operations in Africa to a new level. SMO has leased capacity on the Eutelsat 16A satellite to deploy a diversified range of English, French and Arabic-speaking television services over Sub-Saharan Africa, leveraging the group’s proven distribution capabilities across the region.

“Ma TELE’ and “Shashatee’, SMO’s new French and Arabic-speaking pay TV services are set to launch in April, joining the established “My TV’ service that has been resized and rebranded as “My TV Smart’ on Eutelsat 16A, taking advantage of the satellite’s strong African footprint. “Ma TELE’ will initially target potential subscribers in Cote d’Ivoire and the Democratic Republic of Congo with an offer of close to 30 channels, including its own flagship Africa-specific channels and AB Sat’s BIS Africa service, complemented by a rich line-up of unencrypted (free-to-air) channels.

Samer Mourad, chief operating officer of SMO commented, “We are excited to announce the launch of our new services for Sub-Saharan Africa. We selected Eutelsat 16A for its solid video neighbourhood and significant audience penetration in our target markets. We are more than confident that our cooperation with Eutelsat will bring the desired added value to the services we intend to deploy over the region.’

Michel Azibert, chief commercial and development officer at Eutelsat added, “Our 16° East neighbourhood is fast ramping up to be a key point of reference for a diverse range of African and international content. With Strong’s skills at assembling compelling digital content and ensuring viewers get access to affordable and quality consumer equipment we are well placed for a new phase of growth. We look forward to collaborating with Strong on accelerating access to digital entertainment in Africa.’

Video collaboration for creatives

Carly Barnes
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Emery Wells, principal of digital content studio Katabatic Digital in New York City, has launched Frame.io, a new video review, collaboration and sharing platform for creative media teams. Developed over the past three years, Frame.io is designed to work as a unified solution which replaces the many different tools pros have been using for file sharing, video review, and even e-mail communication.

Wells says as a studio owner, he often had to overcome workflow obstacles that came with working with multiple vendors and freelancers, all of whom needed to share media. “Collaboration was cumbersome,’ he recalls, noting past use of Vimeo, YouTube, HighTail and YouSendIt, to name a few. “We wanted to create an all-in-one solution that would manage the process of creating content — audio, video, photos…’

Frame.io is browser based, so users don’t need to install any specialty software. The company is offering several different pricing options at the initial launch, including a free plan that allows professionals to try out Frame.io on a single project to get a better feel for how it works. The entry level price of $15/month is designed for freelancers and allows them to work on three active projects. For $25/month, subscribers can work on an unlimited number of projects. Frame.io’s “team’ package is designed for small boutiques, where a group can collaborate for just $50/month. A larger studio of say 15 employees would opt for the $150/month plan. The company will also offer an enterprise package for large facilities.

Media that is brought into Frame.io is stored in a data centre in northern Virginia — where it is secured and backed up. Redundancy in other parts of the world is planned in the future. Original files are stored in their native format. In addition, web previews are automatically created for viewing and collaboration.

“You don’t have to be compression expert,’ says Wells. “Everything is transcoded on web. We always store the original files: documents, videos — if we can generate a preview we do. If we support it, we generate it.’ This includes JPEGs of raw files from DSLR cameras.

At NAB, which runs from 11 to 16 April in Las Vegas, Frame.io will be holding demonstrations at the Red Digital Cinema booth (SL1517). Some of the features they’ll be highlighting include the ability to transcoding video assets for guaranteed playback on any device, including professional formats; hover scrubbing for instant preview of clips; a seamless drag and drop interface for simple manipulation of files, content and communications; and time-based, frame-specific comments and annotations for clear communication.

Watch the demo video:

SA to receive two more IMAX cinemas

Carly Barnes
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Ster-Kinekor has signed a further agreement with IMAX Corporation to install two additional IMAX theatres at key sites in South Africa towards the middle of June 2015. The decision has been made following the current success of The IMAX Experience at three Ster-Kinekor locations – Gateway in Durban, The Grove Mall in Pretoria and the recently opened Cape Gate in Cape Town. One of the theatres will be installed within a refurbished cinema at Cradlestone Mall in Krugersdorp, west of Johannesburg. The second will form part of a brand new Ster-Kinekor complex at Baywest Mall in Port Elizabeth, currently under construction and scheduled to open its doors in June.

IMAX’s cutting-edge projection system – which delivers crystal-clear images – coupled with its customised theatre design and powerful digital sound system, creates a unique immersive environment for audiences.

Doug Place, marketing executive of Ster-Kinekor Theatres says, “Both cinemas will be transformed to include an enormous, floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall IMAX screen, superior acoustical treatment and IMAX’s projection and sound technology to provide audiences with maximum immersion.’

Ster-Kinekor and IMAX confirmed last year that an IMAX theatre would also be installed at the revamped Ster-Kinekor site at Eastgate shopping mall, which is expected to open in late September this year. This latest deal brings Ster-Kinekor’s IMAX commitment to six theatres in under two years.

“We are delighted at the IMAX success that Ster-Kinekor has achieved in just 15 months after opening its first IMAX location, which underscores the growing demand for IMAX in South Africa,’ says Andrew Cripps, president, IMAX EMEA.

Mobile Cinemas to boost entrepreneurship in rural communities

Carly Barnes
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From April 2015, the many small towns and villages of the Nkangala district in Mpumalanga will be the backdrop to an innovative technology experiment which will turn 14 micro entrepreneurs into mobile cinema operators.

Funded by the Department of Science and Technology and the European Commission, this consortium driven project called MOSAIC 2B hinges on the creation of new technologies and the development of a robust and user friendly “Cinema-in-a-backpack’. The overall project management is in the hands of the company GraphicsMedia.net from Kaiserslautern Germany.

The Cinema-in-a-backpack is a mobile, easy to use product incorporating a projector, speakers, a battery and a tablet, which enables micro entrepreneurs to project films, becoming part of their business offering to local communities in far-flung villages.

The MOSAIC 2B project aims to test an alternative and lower cost distribution channel for multi-media content that will offer a secure and viable method for reaching and connecting areas with poor or absent infrastructure. In addition to the development of these technologies, a further goal of this project is to respond to two specific challenges in the SA market. Firstly, the inaccessibility of cinemas in rural areas, and secondly the challenges experienced by entrepreneurs to run sustainable businesses. For that reason, a concept of a micro-franchise model for the “Cinema-in-a-backpack’ has been developed that exploits the advantage of the DTN technology to spur entrepreneurial activities in rural areas through this offering that is underpinned by training conducted by the University of Pretoria.

The technology developed during the initial phases of the MOSAIC 2B project, which commenced in October 2013, includes the development of a cost effective delay tolerant network (DTN) through which content is sent to the cinema operators using public busses, in this case PUTCO busses, carrying so-called infostations to bus depots in rural areas. To receive the content the micro entrepreneurs visit their local PUTCO bus depots with their “Cinema-in-a-backpack’ at which point the MOSAIC 2B application contained in the tablet connects to the so-called infostations via Wi-Fi and the multimedia content is downloaded. Moreover, this business application, developed by EPI-USE, allows the micro entrepreneur to order, pay for and download the content of their choice and plan and document their screening events (capturing information such as number of audience members, ticket price, other business services offered and more). Lastly, the information collected via the business application is packaged using visual analytics, developed by Centro de Computaçao Grafica in Portugal, offering the micro entrepreneurs business intelligence to assist them to optimise their cinema business.

Many of the micro entrepreneurs selected to join the project as cinema operators have expressed their enthusiasm for this opportunity, both as individuals building businesses and as community members recognising that the need for affordable local entertainment. The field experiment is planned and run by Infusion who will be responsible for collecting the data to optimise the learnings over the next six months.

MOSAIC 2B is executed by a consortium of six partners – three from South Africa and three based in Europe – and will end in September 2015.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Programme for reserarch, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no. 611796, as well as from the Department of Science and Technology South Africa under financial assistance agreement DST/CON 0227/2013.

For more information visit the website.

Tanzania to receive ICT support

Carly Barnes
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Avanti Communications has been appointed by the UK Space Agency (UKSA) to deliver a major ICT infrastructure and e-learning programme to teachers in Tanzania. The satellite operator has been awarded the contract under the agency’s International Partnership Space Programme (IPSP), which exists to open up opportunities for the UK space sector to share expertise in real-world satellite technology and services overseas.

The iKnowledge programme will equip up to 250 schools in rural and under-served areas of Tanzania with ICT infrastructure. This includes broadband internet via satellite and provision of ICT training and educational content for teachers to apply in the classroom. It will use resilient Ka-band satellite technology and have support from the NGO Camara Education Tanzania and service provider Infinity Africa Network.

The UK space agency has also selected Avanti to deliver an air navigation project in Africa, SBAS-AFRICA. Africa has just three percent of global air traffic, and yet air accidents in Africa account for roughly 20 percent of the worldwide total. By demonstrating potential improvements in flight safety via SBAS technologies, the project can provide socio-economic benefits to the continent. Modelling identified a EUR 1.7 billion potential economic benefit to the African aviation sector.

SBAS-AFRICA will deliver a satellite based augmentation system for GNSS-based operations in the aviation sector. The project will use a unique asset, Avanti’s ARTEMIS L1 Navigation transponder, to provide a navigation data broadcast service.

Trevor Noah to host The Daily Show

Carly Barnes
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South African comedian Trevor Noah is to replace Jon Stewart as the host of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, a popular late night satirical current events programme and talk show. According to the New York Times, Comedy Central president Michele Ganeless said in an interview, “We talked to women. We talked to men. We found in Trevor the best person for the job.You don’t hope to find the next Jon Stewart – there is no next Jon Stewart. So, our goal was to find someone who brings something really exciting and new and different.’

Noah has performed his stand-up comedy, which is based on his experience as a South African in the US, on the show on three previous occasions. Noah tweeted, “No-one can replace Jon Stewart. But together with the amazing team at The Daily Show, we will continue to make this the best damn news show!’

Stewart, who has hosted the show for 16 years, announced he would be leaving The Daily Show last month. Comedy Central has not confirmed when Noah will be taking over from him, only that it will happen later in 2015. He remarked, “I’m thrilled for the show and for Trevor. He’s a tremendous comic and talent that we’ve loved working with…In fact, I may rejoin as a correspondent just to be a part of it!!”

Speaking on behalf of Comedy Central, Africa, Evert van der Veer said, “When you hear that a South African comedian is going replace Jon Stewart as the host of the most trusted satirical comedy show in the world, you know it’s a great day for Trevor Noah and an extraordinary milestone for African comedy. Supporting African comedians and comedy has been one of the key tenets of Comedy Central Africa since we started, and we salute Trevor’s achievement with pride in our hearts and a tear in our eye.’

Cannes Lions announces 2015 judges

Carly Barnes
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Cannes Lions has announced members of 16 juries for the 2015 Festival of Creativity, which runs from 21 to 27 June in France. The list of judges includes 309 senior industry professionals from 44 countries. This is the most diverse line-up in the history of the festival and includes the first judges from The Czech Republic, Ecuador and Indonesia – testament to an ever-increasing diversity of countries now winning Lions. More women will judge than ever before (31.5% compared to 28.5% last year and 20% in 2013), while the range of job profiles represented also continues to expand, now including an architect, fashion designer and head of emerging technologies.

“Enormous consideration is given to who will judge,’ said Philip Thomas, Lions Festivals CEO. “We seek out those who’ve distinguished themselves over the course of a career in creativity – people recognised for their professional achievements, but equally valued for their vision, admired for their passion and trusted for their integrity.’

Juries will convene in Cannes during the Festival for 11 days in total to review, debate and decide the fate of an anticipated 40,000 entries – a process that Thomas describes as challenging, inspiring and important to the future of the industry.

Thomas added, “The task of judges is to identify truly great creative thinking and award iconic ideas. It involves long hours, impassioned debate and difficult choices. But ultimately their choices will inspire the industry and show the way forward for communications over the coming years.’

South African representatives include:
Creative Effectiveness Jury: Andy Rice, Chairman, Yellowwood Brand Architects
Design Jury: Joanina Pastoll, Executive Creative Director, Lowe Cross Colours
Direct Jury: Justin Wright, Group Creative Director, TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris
Film Jury: Graham Lang, Chief Creative Officer, Young & Rubicam
Media Jury: Tanya Schreuder, Joint Managing Director, Vizeum Media
Outdoor Jury: Ahmed Tilly, Co-Founder & Executive Creative Director, Black River FC
Press Jury: Jonathan Deeb, Executive Creative Director, FCB
Promo & Activation Jury: Pepe Marais, Chief Creative Officer, Joe Public
Radio Jury: Liam Wielopolski, Executive Creative Director, DDB

Visit the Cannes Lions website for more information.

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