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Tapping into social media is topic number one for radio broadcasters and, certainly, radio consultants. Swedish public radio Sveriges Radio (SR) is rebranding Stockholm local station Metropol as P5 STHLM to become “Europe’s most social radio station.” All media outlets want to find that Facebook and Twitter joy.
"We are changing and developing Metropol to portray multi-faceted Stockholm in an even better way,” said channel director Lotta Mossberg, quoted on the SR website (April 9). “It will be a fresh start for the channel and that is why we are also renaming it.” The name change will be effective May 4th.
“There is a large migration (to Stockholm) from other parts of Sweden and from other countries,” he explained. “According to projections we will have 2.5 million inhabitants in the region by 2022. As a local public service operator that demands we… find new ways of working to continue to be revenant to the audience.” (See more about media in Sweden here)
There will be changes to the music format, currently urban, hiphop and such. And live presentation will be extended to nights and weekends. Exactly how social media will be used isn’t exactly clear, perhaps a secret, although there are no secrets on social media. (See more about social media here)
Metropol has been on the air in Stockholm since 2007 when SR created a multi-cultural youth channel from an FM frequency used by local general interest channel P4 Stockholm. The stations will share staff, resources and facilities.
A comprehensive cyber-attack has taken down French international broadcaster TV5Monde, its websites and related social media portals. Persons claiming affiliation with the terrorist group Islamic State effectively took control of output at about 22h00 Wednesday (April 8). Engineers regained control over Facebook and Twitter pages two hours later, then partial control over broadcast transmission. The hackers, apparently, have been able to disable internal internet and switching networks, affecting all internal communication and production.
“We have been able to restore broadcast of one signal across all of our channels but cannot send out pre-recorded broadcasts nor restart the production of our news shows,” said Director General Yves Bigot on RTL (April 9). “It’s totally unprecedented for us and without precedent in the history of television.” The attack came via the internet, he added, and the breached firewalls had recently been tested. Domestic French public television channels have not been affected. (See more about international broadcasting here)
The French government is taking this very seriously. Speaking to reporters at TV5Monde headquarters Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve announced an investigation and, more to the point, proposed hiring 500 specialists to “combat cyber-jihadists,” reported Les Echos (April 9). Culture and communications Minister Fleur Pellerin, also on site, called the hack “a true terrorist act.” She is organising a meeting with “all the leaders of large audiovisual media and maybe even print media… to determine points of vulnerability or risk… and how to treat them best.” Minister Pellerin is also dealing with the strike at domestic public radio service Radio France now entering its fourth week. (See more about media in France here)
“It will probably be several days or even several weeks to know how the attack took place,” said TV5Monde news director André Crettenant, quoted by francetvinfo.fr (April 9). “Those who attacked us have mastered very sophisticated techniques.”
TV5Monde is a French-language international broadcaster headquartered in Paris and primarily owned by France Televisions with significant participation from Belgian French public broadcaster RTBF, Swiss French public broadcaster RTS and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Programs are distributed via 11 satellite channels to about 200 countries. An HD channel TV5Monde Style for Asia-Pacific, Magreb and North Africa launched this week.
With certain relief on many sides French video sharing portal Dailymotion will soon have a new controlling shareholder. Big telecom Orange SA, formerly France Telecom, notified stock exchanges it has entered into “exclusive negotiations” with very big French media house Vivendi to exit 80% of its stake in Dailymotion for €217 million. Ten-year old Dailymotion remains a French-owned business.
Orange CEO Stéphane Richard has been trying to off-load Dailymotion as a cost-centre almost since acquiring 100% in January 2013. A few months later big US search/tech company Yahoo made a bid for 75% that was shot-down by the French government, which owns a 24.9% stake in Orange. Then Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, before his retirement, expressed interest. The next and current Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, shrugged it off.
Hong Kong investment house PCCW and Orange were just about to enter those “exclusive negotiations” when French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron indicated a preference for European investors. PCCW, which sought a 49% stake, walked away shortly thereafter. "The French government's preferred search for a European solution discourages international companies' participation,” said its statement, quoted by Reuters (April 6).
A deal with Vivendi was apparently fast-tracked ahead of a bid by German broadcaster ProSiebenSat1.Media. “We’ve sought the right partner many times,” said M. Richard to the French National Assembly, quoted by Bloomberg (April 7), “a partner with international reach and a foot in the content world. It wasn’t a simple task.” (See more about media in France here)
Acquiring Dailymotion will, if the deal proceeds as expected, by the biggest for Vivendi Chairman Vincent Balloré to date. Last month Vivendi’s Canal Plus Group and Polish investor ITI Group sold their jointly owned 53% stake in Poland’s biggest private TV operator TVN to US-based publisher and broadcaster Scripps Networks Interactive for €580 million and assumption of €300 million debt. Vivendi shareholders have been stomping their feet for a bigger piece of the company’s cash on-hand.
A court ordered disconnect of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube in Turkey has been lifted after photos deemed offensive were removed from the sites. International social media portals are wildly popular in Turkey, as they are most everywhere. Facebook, Twitter and search engine Google are not popular among Turkish authorities.
The photos depicted a prosecutor being held at gunpoint by masked men in a hostage taking April 1st. Security forces stormed the scene killing two people apparently affiliated with the militant group DHKP/C. The prosecutor was fatally shot, presumably by the gunmen as a rescue attempt got under way. The photos, produced by the gunmen, circulated widely in newspapers and on websites.
Twitter, Facebook and Google, for YouTube, complied with the court order but indicated they would appeal the decision, reported Bloomberg (April 7). A spokesperson for President President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the photos encouraged terrorism. Turkey, the European Union as well as the United States and the United Kingdom consider the leftist DHKP/C group a terrorist organization. These are not nice people.
President Erdogan and other government officials have railed against social media for several years. They’ve also complained about local traditional media but have been far more effective in keeping publishers and broadcasters in line. Corruption allegations against government officials and the brutal crackdown on Taksim Gezi Park demonstrators in 2013 have played out on social media in Turkey yielding one court ordered disconnect after another and laws enabling officials to avoid the courts to remove websites, webpages and link. (See more about media in Turkey here)
And, too, tech-savvy Turks know all about VPN. “Turkish people are looking for all kinds of ways to get to Twitter,” said Republic People’s Party MP Erdal Aksünger, quoted by haberler.com (April 7). “What the government hides is what it bans. There is nothing to defend.”
“In a democratic country all information platforms must be free to fulfil their functions freely,” said the Association of Turkish Journalists (TGC) in a statement, quoted by haberbiz.com (April 6).
The industrial action by unions against public broadcaster Radio France has entered the historic phase with both sides holding firm during the longest strike ever for the broadcaster. Programming on national radio channels has been reduced to pertinent strike information held together by long musical interludes for nearly three weeks. French media watchers are wondering what might happen in first quarter Médiamétrie audience estimates.
At its heart the strike is about jobs and budget cuts. Director General Mathieu Gallet, given the daunting task of preserving the expected quality of France Inter, France Info, France Culture and the 44 station France Bleu network as well as saving money, proposed merging the two Radio France orchestras and introducing the voluntary departure of between 300 and 380 mostly “senior” employees. He also proposed adding 50 new posts of the digital variety. In its soul the strike is about taking the public broadcaster into the 21st Century. (See more on media in France here)
A Saturday meeting of unions and management showed nothing but deadlock, reported Les Echos (April 6), and calls for M. Gallet’s head. “Management remains inflexible, the trade unions reiterated their request for mediation,” said a joint union statement, reported by challenges.fr (April 6). At mid-week M.Gallet meets the Central Works Council to reveal a definitive strategic plan.
In a largely symbolic move, owing to realities on the ground, the Crimea office of Ukraine’s Prosecutor General opened criminal proceedings against “authorities” involved in closing Crimean Tatar radio and television broadcaster ATR, reported Telekritika (April 3). The channels, including websites, went silent and dark April 1st rather than risk heavy fines for continuing after Russian Federation media regulator Roskomnadzor rejected attempts to re-register ATR as a Russian company, required by new rules. The government of Ukraine and most of the rest of the world considers the seizure of the Crimean Peninsula illegal under international law.
Radio and television channels in the Crimea, other media outlets as well, were swiftly taken over by Russian authorities last year, Ukrainian broadcasters replaced by Russian broadcasters. ATR Media Company, which has operated two TV channels and two radio channels in the Tatar language, went through the required steps of registering as a Russian company. Roskomnadzor returned the documents three or four times because of “errors.” The deadline was March 31st. (See more about media in Ukraine here) ATR owner Lenur Islyamov said received offers to buy the stations “that sounded like threats,” quoted by government channel Ukraine Today (April 1).
The Crimean Tatar minority community, estimated at 10% to 12% of the peninsula’s population, has, understandably, rallied to support ATR. "It's obvious that the authorities have no interest in registering the channel,” said spokesperson Ibraim Umerov to Reuters (April 3). “They are finding formal pretexts to deny it.” The Crimean Tatar Mejlis, the community’s organised representative, was shut-down by Russian authorities shortly after the seizure and officials banned from entering the territory. The leadership relocated to Kyiv.
Not so, said Russian appointed prime minister of Crimea Sergei Aksyonov, quoted by censor.net.ua (April 2). The Crimean Tatars “asked” him to create a Crimean Tatar community broadcaster “following the example of Russian public television.” ATR Media Company failed, he said, because it “blew off the licensing process.”
Ethnic Crimean Tatars are Muslim and descend from Turkic nomads aligned with Mongol armies that occupied great expanses around the Black Sea in the 14th Century from modern day Bulgaria to Turkey. They fought wars with ethnic Russians, winning some and losing some, for more than three hundred years. The government of Turkey has been sensitive to the recent Tatar cause but kept criticism of the Russian Federation to a minimum.
The shut-down of ATR radio and TV channels brought a stiff rebuke from Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. “The de facto government in Crimea, unfortunately, refused the license renewal application of Crimean Tatar television,” he said, quoted by haberler.com (April 2). “People in Crimea, especially Crimean Tatars, are under pressure and exposed to attacks. Their rights are being violated.” The Foreign Ministry would soon be sending “an informal delegation” to Crimea, he added.
Ukraine authorities are exploring the possibilities of setting up the ATR radio and TV channels on reliably Ukrainian territory.
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