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News From You

We receive dozens of news tips and press releases each week from ftm contributors. We want MORE. And we want to share the raw information as quickly as possible. NEWS FROM YOU is the forum for adding what you know to what we know. Share what you know...or what your hear. We will apply the light-touch of the editors axe for clarity. We will also accept NEWS FROM YOU in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch and Portuguese...without translation. (We do insist on being able to understand what you contribute.) You also must clearly indicate that your contribution is for publication in NEWS FROM YOU.

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Week ending February 7, 2009

DR France - Littoral Média et Radio Bonheur : accord pour diffuser en DRM - February 4, 2009
from DR France

Radio Bonheur, la première radio des Côtes d’Armor et Littoral Média, la société bretonne exploitante du C2RM (Centre régional de radiodiffusion du Mené), viennent de signer un protocole d’accord pour diffuser en DRM. Ce partenariat entre la radio costarmoricaine et le diffuseur régional constitue une avancée considérable dans le déploiement de la radio numérique en DRM et marque plus largement le point de départ de la RNT pour tous en Bretagne. Littoral Média et Radio Bonheur se positionnent en acteurs majeurs, en proposant un accès immédiat à la radio numérique terrestre aux auditeurs bretons grâce à la technologie DRM. L’emploi du DRM dans le cadre d’une diffusion en ondes moyennes permet une couverture homogène du territoire et en particulierdes zones rurales.

Le constat est simple pour Radio Bonheur tout comme pour Littoral Média : la norme T-DMB retenue pour la diffusion de la radio numérique en France ne permet pas la couverture des zones rurales. En effet, l’appel à candidatures pour la radio numérique lancé le 28 mars 2008 a vu le Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel opter pour le hoix de la norme T-DMB. Ce choix est contestable dans la mesure où cette norme a été développée pour la télévision et non pas pour la radio. Il faut également noter que le T-DMB utilise la gamme de fréquences comprise entre 174 et 230 MHz (Bande 3).

Par rapport à bande FM (88 à 108 MHz), la longueur d’onde de la bande 3, malgré des puissances de 5 à 10 kW ne devrait permettre de couvrir correctement que des zones d’environ 15 Km de rayon, soit deux à quatre fois moins que la portée des émetteurs analogiques FM actuels. L’utilisation de la bande 3 sera donc essentiellement cantonnée aux villes, sauf à utiliser un maillage conséquent et hors de prix pour les radios souhaitant être diffusées en zone rurale. L’exclusivité de ce choix représente un fort risque d’exclure de la radio numérique les radios non urbaines. Ainsi, en Bretagne, en un premier temps seules les villes de Rennes et Brest vont bénéficier de la radio numérique pour la première phase de déploement du T-DMB. Les auditeurs des autres grandes villes (+50 000 habitants) devront sans doute encore attendre 3 à 4 ans pour profiter de la radio numérique. Quant à ceux qui résident à plus de 15 Km d’une grande ville, ils n’auront aucune possibilité de recevoir la radio numérique.

Le choix du CSA aurait pu porter sur une solution plus raisonnable et moins restrictive pour le lancement de la radio numériqueà grande échelle. Cette option consistait dans l’utilisation conjointe de la norme actuellement retenue (le T-DMB en bande 3), et d’une seconde norme éprouvée, déjà adoptée par plusieurs pays européens et inscrite dans le décret de loi sur les normes de radio numérique pour la France: le DRM. Cette norme numérique, utilisée par exemple dans la bande des ondes moyennes (MW) (522 – 1620 KHz), permet une couverture importante pouvant aller jusqu’à 200 Km autour de l’émetteur en fonction de sa puissance. Le DRM couvre parfaitement les zones rurales, comme ont pu le démontrer les expérimentations de diffusions numériques réalisées de février à juin 2008 par Littoral Média deuis l’émetteur de Saint-Gouéno.

S’unir pour lancer le DRM et permettre l’accès de la radio numérique aux auditeurs des zones rurales

Depuis 2003, Radio Bonheur qui enregistre des succès d’audience croissants, souhaite devenir une radio régionale et étendre sa zone de couverture à l’ensemble de la Bretagne. Radio Bonheur, qui n’a pas obtenu de fréquences hors du département des Côtes d’Armor, se tourne aujourd’hui vers la diffusion numérique en ondes moyennes selon la norme DRM.

Pour diffuser ses programmes en DRM, Radio Bonheur souhaite utiliser le centre émetteur de Saint-Gouéno. Le site de diffusion de Littoral Média, permettrait de diffuser conjointement les deux radios bretonnes aux prétentions régionales : Littoral AM et Radio Bonheur. La force financière (1M€ de CA) et l’audience de Radio Bonheur combinées à l’expertise technique de Littoral Média et à l’utilisation des infrastructures du CRM vont au-delà d’un simple projet commun et marquent la volonté des deux partenaires de s’engager dans la voie de l’exploitation commercile du DRM.

Le protocole d’accord signé hier entre Radio Bonheur et Littoral Média prévoit la réalisation d’investissements considérables e équipements de diffusion afin de garantir un démarrage des émissions en DRM dans des délais relativement courts. Radio Bonheur s’est également engagée à promouvoir et commercialiser directement auprès de ses auditeurs des milliers de récepeurs DRM.

A travers cette démarche volontariste, Radio Bonheur et Littoral Média adressent un signal fort en direction du CSA dans le cadre du lancement de la radio numérique. Dans le souci de garantir l’accès de tous à la RNT, les deux opérateurs bretons demandent clairement au Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel de procéder, sans attendre, à l’ouverture d’un appel aux candidatures pour la norme DRM.

A propos de Radio Bonheur
Radio Bonheur est une radio indépendante et atypique émettant dans les Côtes d’Armor avec ses trois émetteurs FM. Radio Bonheur est la seule radio à ne diffuser que des chansons françaises et de l’accordéon…dans la bonne humeur ! Radio Bonheur est une radio populaire : Avec 82 000 auditeurs quotidiens, Radio Bonheur est la 1ère radio des Côtes d’Armor en part d’audience avec 16,6%, devant France Inter (14,6%) RTL (12,7%) Europe 1 (8,5%) France Bleu (5,1%) NRJ (4,1%) et toutes les autres radios des Côtes d’Armor.

A propos de Littoral Média et du C2RM
Littoral Média est la société qui développe Littoral AM, le projet de radio régionale qui souhaite être diffusée en AM numérique DRM depuis la Bretagne. Ce projet a vu le jour en 2000, à l’initiative de Stéphane HAMON, Frédéric GUYON et Cyril FEILLET.

La société Littoral Média a été créée le 8 juin 2006 dans la continuité de l’association qui portait le même nom. Littoral Média a investi près de 200 000 €uros dans la construction du centre émetteur de St-Gouéno, devenu depuis le 30 janvier 2009, C2RM (Centre Régional de Radiodiffusion du Mené). Au travers du C2RM, Littoral Média poursuit son objectif de développement et d’investissements dans les nouvelles technologies de diffusion numérique.

Arbitron puts more ‘Feet on the Street’ to boost PPM survey compliance among young African-Americans and Hispanics - February 4, 2009
from Thom Mocarsky/Arbitron

Arbitron is expanding its in-person PPMTM training program designed to reach out to young African-American and Hispanic respondents in Arbitron PPM panels. Dubbed ‘Feet on the Street’, the program is scheduled to have bilingual Arbitron representatives knocking on the doors of newly-recruited Hispanics and African Americans age 18-34 in the top ten Portable People MeterTM markets by the end of April 2009. The program’s goal: show young, ethnic respondents how easy and rewarding it can be to carry their Arbitron PPM device from ‘rise to retire’ every day.

“Your mother would want you to marry one of our ‘feet on the street’ trainers,” said Nancy Weissman, director, PPM Panel Relations, Arbitron Inc. “We’ve recruited the most charming, engaging and persuasive bilinguals to help young African-American and Hispanic respondents do a better job of carrying their meters on a daily basis.”

‘Feet on the Street’ is designed to reach out to African-American and Hispanic respondents, age 18-34, who have not developed good carry habits within the first eight days of their time on a PPM panel. If the in-tab rate during those first eight days is below a pre-set threshold, a ‘Feet on the Street’ representative will attempt to schedule the in-person visit for a time that is within the first 28 days of the respondent’s tenure in the panel.

The targeted panelist will be offered a gift card for agreeing to and keeping the appointment. The respondent is also offered a bonus for improved performance over the next four weeks after the visit. The Arbitron representative can also provide a travel recharger, carry accessories or even decorative ‘skins’ for the PPM itself. The trainer can also highlight the ‘My Meter and Me’ website that allows respondents to track their compliance hours and their bonus points every day.

“Our pilot tests in New York and Philadelphia showed a double-digit gain for in-tab rates among the young African-Americans and Hispanics that we visited for this extra training,” said Bob Patchen, Chief Research Officer, Arbitron Inc. “The improved in-tab rates also resulted in a large decrease in the turnover rate due to poor compliance. We expect the net effect to be improved representation of ethnic young adults in our PPM panels.”

‘Feet on the street’ deployment schedule

The in-person training program was first deployed as a pilot in New York and Philadelphia in April 2008. It was also introduced in Dallas and San Francisco in June 2008 and in Los Angeles during the Holiday 2008 survey period (12/11/2008-1/7/2009). Subsequent deployments are scheduled for Houston in February 2009 (2/5-3/4), Chicago and Washington D.C. in March 2009 (3/5-4/1), and Boston and Atlanta in April 2009 (4/2-4/29).

Continuous Improvement Program

In the past year, Arbitron has introduced a number of initiatives that have had a significant positive impact on the quality of the PPM samples particularly among young and ethnic respondents, many of whom may not comply with the PPM survey tasks as readily as the general population.

Re-design box & materials (Jan 08)
New personalized website (Feb 08)
Persons 25-34 matching (Mar 08)
Meter accessories for young HHs (Mar 08)
Weekend Reminder calls (Mar 08)
In-person coaching pilot (Apr 08)
Cell-phone-only modems (Apr 08)
Meter skin test (Apr 08)
Concierge service (May 08)
Reliability Calculator (Oct 08)
Address-based cell phone sample (Nov 08)
‘Feet on Street’ expansion (Dec 08-Apr 09)

Arbitron's Thom Mocarsky continues...

"Beth Webb, Arbitron’s Vice President of PPM Research mentioned our in-person PPM training program in our Friday, January 30 client call. Since we always have a lot to cover in those monthly communications, we aren’t able to delve into the details of every component of our continuous improvement programs for PPM.

"Given the past conversations about the value of “in-person” techniques for PPM, I thought it would be worthwhile to highlight this program in some detail.

"We call it ‘Feet on the Street.’ It’s an in-person training program that has bilingual Arbitron representatives knocking on the doors of newly-recruited Hispanics and African Americans age 18-34. The program’s goal: show young, ethnic respondents how easy and rewarding it can be to carry their Arbitron PPM device from ‘rise to retire’ every day. We are expanding the program to the top-ten PPM markets.

"While there are two important concepts in this program– “in-person” and “knock on doors” – I need to stress that this is NOT a change in how we recruit for PPM in markets outside Houston.

"In ‘Radio First’ markets, we are still using two sample frames: Random Digit Dial for landline households and an addressed-based frame to target cell-phone-only households. All recruitment takes place by mail and phone.

"‘Feet on the Street’ kicks in only after a household has been recruited and installed the regular way.

"Again, this is a targeted program…for those markets where compliance patterns among young ethnic respondents would make this effort a particular priority."

IBB - Statement from the Broadcasting Board of Governors and the Voice of America - February 4, 2009
from Lesley Jackson/IBB

Washington, D.C., Feb. 4, 2009 -- The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) and the Voice of America (VOA) condemn the senseless murder of Said Tahlil Ahmed, Director of HornAfrik, a Somali media network. Mr. Ahmed was gunned down today in Mogadishu's Bakara market.

"Targeting journalists such as Said Tahlil Ahmed has a disastrous impact on the institution of the press in Somalia," said Blanquita Cullum of the Broadcasting Board of Governors which oversees the Voice of America. "Free media is one of the building blocks for stability, something greatly needed in Somalia."

HornAfrik, a longtime VOA affiliate, operates two radio stations and a television station in Somalia. The private network has been an important partner in transmitting VOA's news and information in both English and Somali to listeners throughout Somalia.

"This is a tragic loss for HornAfrik, VOA and the people of Somalia who suffer the most when they are without reliable and unbiased news and information," said VOA Director Danforth Austin.

Mr. Ahmed had been director of HornAfrik since 2007 and hosted a popular talk show on the station. No one has claimed responsibility for his death.

Somalia remains one of the most dangerous countries for journalists, a situation that has led many journalists to flee the country or cease their work rather than risk their lives. Mr. Ahmed's predecessor at HornAfrik, Mohamed Elmi, was killed by a roadside bomb in Mogadishu in 2007, and the network has been attacked and shut down at various times by insurgents or government officials.

First Broadcast From New RFE/RL Headquarters - February 3, 2009
from Julian Knapp/RFE/RL

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) began a new chapter in its long and distinguished history today when Radio Free Iraq broadcast its first program from RFE/RL's recently completed Prague headquarters.

The six-minute news bulletin at 18:00 Baghdad time was part of RFE/RL's 17 hours of daily programming to Iraq. Many of today's stories focused on the aftermath of Saturday's elections and what they might mean for Iraq's future.

The broadcast was the first step in relocating all of RFE/RL's more than 500 Prague-based employees to the facility in Hagibor, ten minutes from the city center. The five-story, 236,000 sq/ft broadcast center features multimedia recording studios, interlinking offices, and a modern newsroom. It is also energy-efficient and one of the most secure buildings in Europe.

"Our new home is tailor-made to meet the needs of a 21st century media organization," said RFE/RL President Jeffrey Gedmin. "It allows us to stay ahead of the technological curve as we broadcast news and information to many places where authorities are hostile to free and independent media."

Steve Simmons of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which oversees all U.S. international broadcasting including RFE/RL, credited a number of partners for the successful completion of the project. "We could not have done this without the crucial support of the Czech government, the U.S. Congress, and the U.S. embassy in Prague," he said. "The BBG is delighted that RFE/RL employees, who broadcast in 28 languages to 20 countries via radio, TV, and the Internet, will now have a state-of-the-art headquarters to meet their needs."

The building was constructed by Paris-based Orco Property Group and designed by the architectural firm Cigler Marani. RFE/RL is leaving its home of 15 years, the former Czechoslovak communist parliament building, which is being turned over to the National Museum.