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Tag: BBC World

  • BBC World, Newsweek, Shell launch ‘The World Challenge 2006’

    BBC World, Newsweek, Shell launch ‘The World Challenge 2006’

    MUMBAI: BBC World has announced that World Challenge – a global competition seeking to highlight and reward examples of community enterprise and innovation – has reached its final stage, with the launch of six programmes featuring the 12 finalists, and an international appeal for votes to choose the winning project.

    Each programme featuring two finalists is being broadcast to BBC World’s weekly global audience of 65 million viewers. The channel’s viewers are invited to vote online for the most commendable and inspirational project, which will also be featured in Newsweek and online at www.theworldchallenge.co.uk, where summaries and edited versions of the programmes are available.

    BBC World and Newsweek, the weekly global current affairs magazine, have joined with Shell for the second year to launch World Challenge 2006. The next episode airs tomorrow 14 October 2006 at 9.30 am, 4.30pm and on 15 October at 1.30 pm and 8.30pm. Elephant Paper is an ingredient in paper helps protect the elephant in Sri Lanka. Maximus, Sri Lanka Maximus is a papermaking firm that makes high-quality products from a variety of wastes, including paper from offices, bark from banana trees and even elephant dung. Established in Kegalle, Sri Lanka, in 1997, Maximus provides an income for 35 staff and a proportion of the sales are donated to the nearby elephant orphanage. The company’s ‘peace paper’ scheme also helps rural people earn money from collecting dung from wild elephants.

    Another project is Card Aid. Greeting cards help a community recover in Rwanda
    Cards from Africa, Rwanda. Cards from Africa is a company that markets greetings cards made by a poor Rwandan community to shops around the world. The company began in 2004. Operating on a fair-trade basis, it now provides a steady income for 40 young Rwandans. It runs a variety of practical programmes to help the community make best use of its land and also employs a part-time counsellor to help the young survivors of the Rwandan genocide.

    Another episode airs on 21 October 2006 at 9.30 am, 4.30 pm and on 22 October at 1.30 pm, 8.30pm. One project showcased is Well Water. This involves eliminating the threat from arsenic in the water supply. It is the effort of NGO Dalit in Bangladesh. NGO Dalit is fighting the scourge of arsenic contamination in water supplies by locating and tapping rare pure water sources, installing filtration systems and researching herbal remedies for arsenic-related diseases. The project also includes an educational element aimed at acquainting people with the dangers of arsenic poisoning – and how to avoid them.

    Bmooming Business – Seeds of hope for poor communities comes from Flora Marketing in Mauritius/Madagascar. The firm was set up to encourage poor communities in the tropics to set up seed banks for traditional plant varieties. Some of these sustainably harvested seeds are sent to Flora Marketing’s Mauritius headquarters for export to buyers in some 30 countries. The rest are used to reforest degraded land, helping to ensure a future income.

  • BBC World to be available on Dish TV

    BBC World to be available on Dish TV

    MUMBAI: BBC World has inked a deal with the first private direct-to-home operator Dish TV. The BBC’s 24-hour international news and information channel will be part of the Dish Welcome package.

    BBC World, recently shifted to from a free-to-air channel to a subscription model. The channel claims to reach around 15 million homes across India via cable TV. And with the deal with Dish TV, the channel’s total distribution will touch 16.5 million Indian homes.

    BBC World attracts a high-profile audience who are modern-minded, educated and like to keep up to date with what’s going on in the world.

    “India is a fast-growing market for multi-channel television and a key market for BBC World. We are delighted to be part of this Dish TV offer as it brings BBC World to a new and dynamic audience,” says BBC World South Asia head of distribution and business development Amit Upadhyay. “The channel is highly regarded in India and has a loyal following. We are pleased to be providing new viewers with our award-winning journalism and news reporting.”

    “In the last year and a half, Dish TV has emerged as one of the fastest growing digital platforms in the country. Our association with BCC World is in line with our commitment to provide the best of infotainment news and information programming available, in India or abroad, to our subscribers. We are sure that Dish TV subscribers would be happy to access BCC World in India shortly, mentioned Dish TV business head Jawahar Goel.

  • BBC World launches on Dish TV

    BBC World launches on Dish TV

    MUMBAI: BBC World has been launched on DTH platform Dish TV. The channel is now available to all of Dish TV’s 1.5 million subscribers and is available on the ‘Dish Welcome’ package.

    BBC World claims to reach around 15 million homes across India via cable TV and this new deal brings the channel’s total distribution to 16.5 million Indian homes.

    BBC World, South Asia head of distribution and business development Amit Upadhyay says, “India is a fast-growing market for multi-channel television and a key market for BBC World. We are delighted to be part of this Dish TV offer as it brings BBC World to a new and dynamic audience.

    “The channel is highly regarded in India and has a loyal following. We are pleased to be providing new viewers with our award-winning journalism and news reporting.”

    Dish TV business head Jawahar Goel says, “In the last year and a half, Dish TV has emerged as one of the fastest growing digital platforms in the country. Our association with BCC World is in line with our commitment to provide the best of infotainmentnews and information programming available, in India or abroad, to our subscribers. We are sure that Dish TV subscribers would be happy to access BCC World in India shortly”.

  • BBC World again voted the leading TV Channel for travellers

    BBC World again voted the leading TV Channel for travellers

    MUMBAI: BBC World has been named as the Leading TV Channel for Travellers at the 13th Annual World Travel Awards for the second year in a row.

    A total of 110,000 travel agents around the world were invited to nominate their favourite TV channel, as part of an awards ceremony that was established “to acknowledge, reward and celebrate the enormous achievements to be found in all sectors of the global travel industry.”

    BBC World, the BBC’s international news and information channel, received the most votes and was presented the award at a gala ceremony in Turks and Caicos on Wednesday night. The channel also won the same award last year at the Annual World Travel Awards 2005 in London.

    BBC World’s Director of Airtime Sales, Jonathan Howlett said: “This award acknowledges BBC World’s unique appeal to the international traveller and it is a great honour to have received it two years in a row. Through our comprehensive news and business bulletins, and our weekly, award-winning travel news programme, Fasttrack, we keep global travellers fully briefed on the issues that affect them. Travel and tourism is such an integral part of the global economy and this award reinforces BBC World’s commitment to the industry.”

    BBC World’s commitment to travel and tourism has also been recognised in other awards and surveys.

    Fasttrack was voted best television feature of the year in 2005 by the British Guild of Travel Writers. In May 2005, an International Air Travellers Survey [IATS] found that BBC World was the favourite news channel and most trusted international news channel among travellers, who considered it to have greater in-depth analysis than its competitors.

    BBC World reaches nearly half a million frequent flyers per day around the world and has more than 30 tourism board clients across the globe from the Pacific to the Middle East. The channel is also seen in 1.3 million hotel rooms, 36 airlines and 46 cruise liners around the world.

  • Uttaranchal Tourism Board joins hand with BBC World to promote tourism

    MUMBAI: To boost the state tourism sector and to communicate that Uttaranchal is a preferred destination, Uttaranchal Tourism Development Board (UTDB) has tied up with the international news channel BBC World.

    An international electronic campaign has been launched for Uttaranchal, which will be shown on the BBC World.
    The team at BBC World had produced two advertorials focusing on the state’s key tourist attractions, adventure and spirituality, in order to attract its target audience of high-end international travellers. These advertorials have been launched in the UK and European beam, South Asia and Middle East beam and North America with effect from 20 June. The campaign is expected to run till October 2006, informs an official release.

    BBC World was chosen as the most suitable medium of communication to promote the unexplored attractions of the state of Uttaranchal in foreign markets based on proven research endorsing the fact that the channel’s viewership consists of a global audience with avid interest in long haul travel.

    The challenge of the brief provided was to create a presence for UTDB through a campaign, which reflected the state’s unique attractions. In response, BBC World provided a suitable advertorial and sponsorship package to highlight the distinct characteristics of the state, which appropriately engages the core target group of the high-end international traveller.

    BBC World also provided additional exposure to the campaign by airing the commercials on specific US Airways flights.

    “BBC World understood our requirements perfectly and the team was able to creatively do justice and turn our vision into reality. We are hopeful in building the profile of the Uttaranchal region as a holiday destination through this unique campaign and expect increased inbound tourist arrivals from key foreign markets in the upcoming season. With BBC World’s credibility and reach in our focus markets, we are happy to work with them as partners”, says Uttaranchal Tourism Development Board marketing and publicity director Arun Srivastava in the statement issued today.

    BBC World head of sales Seema Mohapatra comments, “We are proud to partner with the UTDB in producing this unique international electronic campaign for the state of Uttaranchal. Delivering successful campaigns to tourism clients has been one of our key strengths amongst many others and we are happy that the campaign has received encouraging reviews from across the globe. It is our endeavour to continuously bring to our clients a range of innovative and creative advertising solutions which reach their focus markets and target audiences worldwide and help them in building their brand on an international platform.”

  • MGM channel gets distribution deal in Africa

    MGM channel gets distribution deal in Africa

    MUMBAI: The MGM Channel will be broadcast to subscribers across sub-Saharan Africa via the new DTH platform, My TV.

    The MGM Channel will join networks such as BBC World and Fox Sports on the growing My TV satellite service.

    MGM Networks executive VP Bruce Tuchman says, “This agreement represents a very positive development for us in the African marketplace and fits nicely into our preferred strategy of providing more and more local viewers with choice in channels and choice in platforms.

    “We believe that the launch of My TV, and the emergence of new opportunities across the region, will help spur higher multi-channel penetration and create even more attractive business prospects for channels across this burgeoning television market.”

    My TV COO John Tydeman says, “The inclusion of western movies on the MGM Channel in the My TV bouquet will complement the news, music, children’s, sports, documentaries and local African programming currently available.

    “My TV offers entertainment for African families across the sub-Sahara at an affordable price. MGM’s decision to join My TV is a further endorsement by the international programming community of the My TV proposition.”

    The MGM Channel broadcasts handpicked selections from the MGM library, the world’s largest collection of modern films, on a 24/7 basis. The agreement with My TV is non-exclusive and follows a number of breakthrough deals in other parts of the world announced by MGM Networks in the last several months, including the launch slated for later this year of the MGM Channel into Central/Eastern Europe, in partnership with Liberty Global’s chellomedia division, as well as a slew of new distribution deals for the MGM Channel in Asia.

  • BBC World Service’s annual review indicates trust on a high

    BBC World Service’s annual review indicates trust on a high

    MUMBAI: BBC World Service has published its annual review. It notes that it managed to enhance its reputation as the world’s leading international broadcaster throughout a “year of change, achievement and innovation.”

    Independent research evidence published in the Review indicates that BBC World Service’s reputation for trust and objectivity is higher than for any other international broadcasters in virtually all markets surveyed – including India, Nigeria, Pakistan, and USA.

    BBC World Service director Nigel Chapman says, “It was a year of major achievements and innovation: a record-breaking audience figure; a step change in our interactive services; and the biggest strategic shift in priorities in BBC World Service’s 70-year history. These welcome developments took place against a backdrop of ever more rapid technological change and the emergence of powerful and often divisive global forces.”

    “It is particularly pleasing to see how our programmes command the highest scores for reputation, trust, and objectivity in most markets when compared to our international competitors.”

    The new weekly audience figure of 163 million, compiled from independent surveys around the globe, is an increase of 14 million on last year’s figure of 149 million. This new figure breaks the previous BBC World Service record audience of 153 million in 2001. The new figure equates to around 50 per cent more listeners than any comparable international broadcaster.

    BBC World Service is now available on high quality FM sound in a record 150 capital cities out of a total of around 190 – up from 145 last year. This higher quality of audibility is vital to retain audiences.

    Online audiences to the BBC’s international facing news sites have also shown significant rises. The sites attracted around 500 million page impressions a month in March 2006 compared to 324 million page impressions in March 2005.

    This is a rise of over 50 per cent over the year. The site now attracts around 33 million unique users each month; up from around 21 million unique users a year ago. BBC World Service achieved efficiency savings of £7.1 million in 2005/06.

  • Putin appears on BBC World’s ‘Inside Russia’ season

    Putin appears on BBC World’s ‘Inside Russia’ season

    MUMBAI: Ahead of the G8 summit in St Petersburg on 15 July, BBC World is dedicating a season of programmes about the host country Russian with news coverage, documentaries and factual programming, which will explore the new cultural climate of Putin’s Russia in a season called Inside Russia.

    BBC Presenter Bridget Kendall will be putting forward some of the 5000 questions received from the BBC and Russia’s Yandex websites’ audience worldwide, to President Vladmir Putin of Russia in an edition of the BBC’s interactive multimedia programme Have Your Say on 9 July. Recorded at the Kremlin on 6 July, the full interview with the Russian President is available on bbcnews.com.

    The BBC’s Emma Simpson in Moscow will be reporting on the new oligarchs and their ambitions; the new business mood in Russia; doing business in Russia; and the flood of money into Europe and what it means for Western companies. On 15 July, the business team will preview the G8 meeting from Saint Petersburg, states an official release.

    BBC will also showcase Crossing the Caucasus: The North Caucasus, which is one of the world’s most ancient battlegrounds. From war-torn Chechnya to volatile Dagestan, today it is Russia’s most explosive region. After 15 years of reporting from Russia, Steve Rosenberg sets off on a journey through the mountains to meet the people who live in the constant shadow of violence.

    The other programme which is part of the line-up is The World Uncovered: Putin’s Palace portrays the men and women who work for the Russian President, with unprecedented access to inside the Kremlin’s walls, adds the release.

  • Shekhar Kapur- on BBC World’s ‘HardTalk Extra’

    Shekhar Kapur- on BBC World’s ‘HardTalk Extra’

    Shekhar Kapur is one of the elite club of Asian film directors who have cracked Hollywood. He talks to Mishal Husain about his early films in Bollywood, controversy around his film ‘ Bandit Queen’ , his breakthrough ‘ Elizabeth’ which gained seven Oscar nominations, including one for Best Picture . He also tells Mishal that Hollywood as we know it, is seriously under threat, as asian culture becomes a force to be reckoned with on the global stage.

    HARDtalk Extra is the BBC’s most widely broadcast arts and entertainment interview programme. Each Friday, the programme profiles leading personalities in the arts, entertainment, science, culture and the media. This edition of HARDtalk Extra will be broadcast on BBC World on Friday 3rd February @ 1000 with additional appointments to view @ 1400, 1700 and 2100 IST.

    Further information:
    Deeptie Sethi/ Neha Sharma
    Tel: 91 11 2341 2672/73 Extn. 102
    Fax: 91 11 2341 1109
    Email: deeptie.sethi@bbc.co.uk

    Notes to Editors: BBC World, the BBC’s commercially funded international 24-hour news and information channel, is owned and operated by BBC World Ltd, a member of the BBC’s commercial group of companies. BBC World is available in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide, and reaches 280 million households (136 million 24-hour homes) and more than one million hotel rooms. BBC World launched in its present format in 1995 and is funded by advertising and subscription. For further information on how to receive BBC World, download schedules or find out more about the channel, visit bbcworld.com.

  • BBC World to produce six programmes on nominees of ‘The World Challenge’

    BBC World to produce six programmes on nominees of ‘The World Challenge’

    MUMBAI: BBC World will produce six 30-minute programmes on each nominee of the The World Challenge – a global competition seeking to highlight and reward outstanding examples of community enterprise and innovation. The programme will examine how the initiative began, its inspiration and why it is socially and environmentally successful. 

    For The World Challenge competition in 2006, BBC World and Newsweek, the weekly global current affairs magazine, have joined with Shell to search for, highlight and reward individuals or groups that have used enterprise and innovation to the benefit of local communities.

    In an official statement issued, the six programmes will feature two finalists per programme and will be broadcast to BBC World’s weekly global audience of 65 million viewers in October and November 2006. The channel’s viewers will be invited to vote online for the most commendable and inspirational project. Full details are available online at http://www.theworldchallenge.co.uk. 

    Newsweek will mirror the programmes’ content in a six-part series of advertorials on the 12 nominees, aimed at driving its readers to the online voting site. The campaign will reach 1.5 million weekly readers across Europe, Asia and Latin America.

    The World Challenge has attracted more than 800 nominations, nearly double the amount received last year.

    Nominations for the 2006 competition closed on 7 June and a total of 816 nominations were received – a 79 per cent increase on last year’s nominations of 457. This year’s competition attracted the greatest numbers from India (159), Philippines (56), Nigeria (47), USA (34), Kenya (32), South Africa (32), England (20) and Uganda (20), states an official release.

    A panel of expert judges will now shortlist the nominations to 12 finalists that show the best examples of community-based business, development or environmental projects. The finalists will then be announced at the beginning of July.

    During The World Challenge in 2005, more than 120,000 votes were cast from around the world. The winning project, Coconets from the Philippines, was presented with a US$20,000 grant from Shell, which has been invested in further developing their system to prevent landslides using waste coconut husks.

    Once voting has closed, the winner of World Challenge 2006 will be announced at an awards ceremony in The Hague in December 2006. The winner will again receive a US$20,000 grant from Shell to invest in their project, plus the two runners-up will each receive US$10,000.