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Tag: David Astley

  • ‘Kansai’ wins 2006 ABU CASBAA Unicef child rights award

    ‘Kansai’ wins 2006 ABU CASBAA Unicef child rights award

    MUMBAI: Kansai telecasting corporation of Japan has been named as the winner of the ABU CASBAA Unicef child rights award 2006 for its documentary entitled Conquering the Darkness – The fight against memories of abuse.

    The child rights award , is given each year in recognition of the best television programming on a child rights issue produced in the Asia-Pacific region.

    The documentary follows Aya, a 33-year-old mother, who suffered abuse as a child and subsequently abused her own children. It is the tale of a parent’s personal struggle to end the cycle of child abuse in the family.

    “We are often quick to point the finger at parents who abuse their children, but patterns of abuse so often begin in childhood, creating a chain that can continue over generations, ” said documentray producer Shinichi Sugimoto.

    This year, the child rights award received a total of 40 entries from countries such as Bangladesh, Bhutan, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Japan, Mongolia, Philippines, Republic of Korea and Singapore.

    Broadcasting union secretary-general Asia-Pacific David Astley said, “The child rights award is a significant platform that allows broadcasters in the Asia- Pacific to demonstrate their ability to produce quality programming on children’s issues. The ABU wants to encourage broadcasters to continue to invest in such programmes in the future.”

    CASBAA CEO Simon Twiston Davies said, “The continued participation of regional broadcasters in the child rights award is welcome and clearly underlines their resolve towards producing educational and entertaining programmes for and about children.”

    The panel of jurors included, Amar Keshar Simha, an independent producer from Pakistan; producer China central television (CCTV) Wang Yan; Mongolian radio and television director of Children’s Programme Ariunjargal Luvsantseren; Infocus Asia executive producer Francis Smith; Australia Network chief executive Ian Carroll and Discovery Networks Asia vice president programming James Gibbons.

    The top ten finalists in 2006 are:

    Winner

    – Conquering the Darkness – The Fight Against Memories of Abuse (Japan)

    Finalists

    – Dark Street Kids (Malaysia)- This documentary chronicles the hardship, as well as the stigma and discrimination of children who are born and live in dark alleys or brothels of Malaysia.

    – Korean Children – I am All Alone (Korea)- This documentary is about Minho is an 11-year-old boy neglected by his parents. His only friend is a TV set. A stark portrayal of how a child is deeply affected by the problems and negligence of his parents.

    – Tuesday Report: Pocket Money (Hong Kong) – This programme documents the life of three children who live in cramped flats and have to sell scrap paper and scrap metal for their pocket money.

    – Young People on Wheels (Bhutan) – The documentary follows a group of unemployed youths who are creating awareness of a campaign on HIV and AIDS in Bhutan.

    – The Orphans, Childless and Predators (Singapore) – The documentary looks at on how orphaned children coped with the devastating experienceof Tsunami. It also features a child trafficker who agreed to tell his side of story and tries to justify his actions.

    – Get Real Child Sex Tourism – Sold for Sex (Singapore) – The programme investigates the plight of child sex workers on the Indonesian Island of Batam.

    – Emergency – Junior Boxer (Philippines) – Residents of general santos city are very fond of boxing even children undergo intensive training to become professional boxers during which many sustain grave injuries that sometimes even result in death.

    – We Shall Overcome (Bangladesh) – This documentary chronicles the life of an eight-year-old girl who is deaf and mute and believes she can succeed in her dream to become a fine arts teacher.

    – School of the Highlands (Philippines) – The importance placed on education by indigenous communities in the Philippines is recounted in this documentary which looks at the challenges families face in schooling their children and promoting their rights.

  • PSBs differ on views of future

    PSBs differ on views of future

    MUMBAI: Public service broadcasters (PSBs) in the Asia-Pacific region have widely different views about their future, the 2006 Public Broadcasting International (PBI) conference in Maputo, Mozambique, was told on Friday.

    The secretary-general of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), David Astley, said that a recent ‘thumbnail survey’ undertaken by the ABU showed that PSBs in the more advanced countries were cautiously optimistic about their future, but those in developing countries – many of whom were in transition from state broadcasting to independent PSBs – were quite pessimistic.

    “Finding strategies to cope with the erosion of audience share from the increased competition that the development of digital broadcasting is bringing about was the major challenge identified by the PSBs in the more advanced countries,” Astley was quoted as saying in a report put out on the ABU website.

    “Audience behaviour is changing as people respond to the growing choice in digital media, and broadcasters, in turn, are having to respond to those changes by providing more content on demand and on different platforms.

    “Generally the PSBs in the more advanced countries are optimistic about their future but recognise that they must embrace change and increase production of local content that is both distinctive and of high quality, to differentiate themselves from commercial broadcasters.”

    Astley said that broadcasters in the developing countries, many of whom were in transition from being state broadcasters to independent PSBs, were mostly pessimistic about their future.

    “The main issue that they identified was funding,” he said. “Many are not confident that they will have sufficient funding to meet their obligations as public service broadcasters.

    “Even without considering the cost of digitalisation in the future, many do not have backup transmitters or money for spares for studio equipment.

    “Some are being pressured to go commercial in order to lessen reliance on licence fees or direct government grants – but this might only be replacing political influence with commercial influence.

    “In any case, few state broadcasters have staff with the management and marketing skills to compete with their more experienced commercial competitors.”

  • ABU Digital Radio Convention to focus on complete digital transition

    ABU Digital Radio Convention to focus on complete digital transition

    MUMBAI: The second edition of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) Digital Radio Convention will be held in Kuala Lumpur from 14 to 17 August.

    The speakers at the convention will speak to radio broadcasters in the Asia-Pacific region on when to make the complete digital transition.

    The speakers lined-up for the convention include: KBS-BTRT director Shinil Chung, Factum Electronics / WorldDAB Forum MD Kenneth Lundgren, Broadcast Systems, STRL, NHK principal research engineer Koichiro Imamura, International Broadcast Business Development Ibiquity Digital Corp director Perry Priestley, Broadcast Electronics Chuck Kelly, AMP Radio GM Michael Blackburn, Dalet director of marketing Nicolas Hans and NPR Labs VP CTO and executive director Mike Starling.

    The four day convention and workshops not only provide updates on digital radio developments, but concentrates on the implementation and application issues – the myriad of decisions on business factors, content production facilities, transmission standards/systems, receiver developments, consumer take-up and switch-over issues.

    According to an official release, around 40 experts from Asia and around the world will contribute to the event by way of presentations, panel discussions and facilitating the in-depth, interactive workshops.

    Sponsors and exhibitors of the ABU Digital Radio Convention brings in big names, which include: principal sponsor Harris; AMP, Broadcast Electronics, Broadcast Australia, iBiquity Digital Corporation, Thomson Broadcast & Multimedia AG, Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM), Commercial Radio Australia, THL Australia Pty Limited, Go-Mobile Pte Ltd, WorldSpace, VT Communications, Klotz Digital, Digital Integrated System Sdn Bhd (DIS), on and DMB.

    “We are delighted to be supporting this major convention which keeps broadcasters in tune with the developments in digital radio,” says Harris Broadcast Communications director, Radio Products & Strategy Rich Redmond.

    “The ABU Digital Radio Convention is the key venue for broadcasters, manufacturers and others who want the full picture of the region’s burgeoning digital future. DRM is excited to play an active role in this year’s convention, and we look forward to meeting the participants in Kuala Lumpur. The ABU is a long-time member of the DRM consortium, and we are proud of its leadership in promoting digital solutions to its own members,” Deutsche Welle director and DRM chairman Peter Senger adds.

    “An increasing number of radio broadcasters in the region are embracing the transition to digital transmission. This convention will provide an excellent platform for broadcasters and industry players to network and understand the business issues as well as new technical developments. We would particularly like to address those issues that seem to be holding up the wide scale adoption of digital radio technologies in the Asia-Pacific,” points out ABU secretary general David Astley.