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Flemish community radio station FM Brussel was granted a reprieve this week, temporary though it might be, after an outcry from the public, staff and politicians to its closure. Directors of the non-profit umbrella organization operating the station Vlaams-Brusselse Media terminated chief executive Michel Tubbax who a week earlier announced the station’s abrupt closure. FM Brussel is a Flemish-language news and culture station operating in French-speaking Brussels since 2004.
Vlaams-Brusselse Media (VBM) was formed in May 2014 to operate FM Brussel, TV Brussel, newspaper Brussel deze week (Brussels This Week), magazine Agenda and news portal brusselnieuws.be all financially supported by the Flemish Community. Brussels is the multi-lingual capital of Belgium, lying within the French-speaking region. VBM is independent of Belgian-Flemish public broadcaster VRT and Belgian-French public broadcaster RTBF.
Mr. Tubbax was recruited as VBM’s first chief executive in October last year. “The idea is to streamline Vlaams-Brusselse Media into a single powerful media organisation, while maintaining the particular qualities of each of the brands,” he said at the time, quoted by flanderstoday.eu (October 14 2014). The VBM board supported the “streamlining,” at least in the abstract. Unions were, of course, skeptical.
Restructuring "also means acting," said Mr. Tubbax in a statement (June 9). “We have decided that radio station FM Brussels is not viable to fulfil our mission.” Focus, he said at the time, would be on the website “and we must step up our profile on social media.” The VBM board has given editorial director Jeroen Roppe until mid-October to figure it all out.
More than a decade ago nations of the world were negotiating the end of analogue television transmission. It was an arduous path but the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), trustee of the radio spectrum, led the way to a brighter, livelier and richer TV future. A deadline was set for Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia - Region 1 to observers of ITU treaties. That deadline - June 17, 2015 - has now passed.
“Today marks a historic landmark in the transition from analogue to digital television broadcasting,” said ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao in the celebratory statement. “The process, which began in June 2006, has re-envisioned the way the world watches and interacts with TV and opened the way for new innovations and developments in the broadcast industry.” (See ITU presser here)
Of the 119 signatory nations, 48 have fully shifted to digital TV. Luxembourg was first, almost as soon as the ink was dry, followed by Finland. Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States - not in Region 1 - scurried on to digital TV nirvana. Laggards include most African and Central Asian nations as well as Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova and several in the Balkans.
In every public pronouncement, the shift to digital TV platforms was touted as a break-through agreement for enhanced TV services, more choice and higher quality. Where the money flows, of course, is shutting down spectrum hogging analogue TV broadcasting that had been occupying space coveted by mobile telecoms. The other side effect of this internationally recognized treaty winds down service-based allocation radio spectrum used for analogue TV. Other services - meaning mobile phones and aviation data communication - can just crash the party.
Nations that haven’t completed - or started - digital TV transition “will have an obligation to immediately resolve any harmful interference that may occur, either affecting neighboring countries that have implemented the transition or emanating from other sources,” explained ITU chief spokesperson Sanjay Acharya. “And they will have abrogated their right to international protection.”
Russian media executives do, quite often, trade seats. This week it was a new director general for radio channel Ekho Moskvy as Ekaterina Pavlova was returned to the role by major shareholder Gazprom Media. She held the position for about four months, until the end of March, when Mikhail Demin stepped into the job.
But then Mr. Demin, whose previous professional activity was handling public relations for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, was almost immediately shuffled to TV channel NTV-Plus as deputy director general. Also at the end of March Aleksander Vronsky was hired at NTV Plus CEO replacing Stanislav Rodionov. Mr. Vronsky had also worked for the Sochi 2014 organising committee. NTV Plus is Gazprom Media’s digital pay-TV channel focusing on sports owned widely expected to become a free-to-air all-sports channel this autumn. (See more about media in Russia here)
“The personnel rotation was planned and fully reflects the strategic priorities of the group,” said the Gazprom Media statement, quoted by onair.ru (June 15). During the “brief hiatus” Ms Pavlova had been reassigned to other duties within Gazprom-Media. Ekho Moscvy is considered a tough place to work as Gazprom Media holds a two-thirds stake, the remainder controlled by the editorial staff with statutory authority for personnel and editorial decisions.
Proposed legislation to replace FM broadcasting with DAB networks in Sweden has been effectively taken off the table until, at least, the next parliamentary session. At its party congress this past weekend the Green Party, minority party in the coalition government, decided to pull the plug on pulling the plug on FM broadcasting. The proposed measure with have ordered FM broadcasting shut-down by 2022.
“The FM network will be maintained as long as the Green Party is in government,” said party cultural spokesperson Nicklas Malmberg, quoted by idg.se (June 15). (See more about media in Sweden here)
“It is very good news,” offered business publication Dagens Industri (June 16) in a scathing opinion. “Digital radio is one of the dumbest political projects.” The argument cited newer technologies available, costs and lack of consumer demand. “Quite often, politics is actually about saying no and stopping the nonsense. This is one such occasion.” (See more about digital radio here)
Public broadcaster Swedish Radio (SR) and private commercial broadcasters MTG Radio and SBS Discovery expressed disappointment. “I think DAB is a necessity if radio has a chance in the future,” said MTG Radio CEO Christer Modig to dagensmedia.se (June 15). After the Norwegian government decided to shut-down FM broadcasting for national channels DAB platform supporters have been hoping other countries would follow.
Publishers have discovered the joy of online video. Smartphone users are evermore staring at videos, actually reading text far too much of a challenge. Producing all of this video is an opportunity, another digital dividend.
The venerable Economist has rolled out Economist Films to produce “high-end” features and mini-documentaries. Two pilots were debuted at a press party last week in New York. The entire package will be available on the Economist website and, of course, Facebook and YouTube, come September. (See more about online news here)
“I don’t think this is about us trying… to be down with the kids," explained Economist Films president Nicholas Minter Green, quoted by Capital New York (June 11). “I'd love to see it as a sort of gateway into the Economist world. For some people, it will be their first point of contact and a powerful experience for them, and for people who are already in the family, it is a gift to them.”
“Commercial partnerships” are available, said Mr. Green but “Economist Films is a pure editorial product. We have other parts of the business that can help brands’ dreams come true in other ways.”
International news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) formally launched video service AFPTV Live after a long trial period. Designed for television networks, the service is available to AFP subscribers. The plan is to offer about 500 live video feeds per year. Chairman Emmanuel Hoog called video “a strategic priority and the leading driver of growth for AFP,” in a statement. (See AFP presser here).
A referendum held this past weekend on changing the Swiss law on radio and television (LRTV) passed by the tiniest of margins. Voters decided to adopt a universal tax supporting public broadcaster SSR-SRG, effectively replacing the household license fee, but reducing the annual charge to roughly 3 million individuals by CHF 50 to CHF 400 (roughly €380), by far the highest “media tax” in the world. Small businesses and elderly people will be exempt.
The Swiss media sector - the SSR-SRG, in particular - was generally “relieved” as a ‘no” vote would have led to a more complicated debate on the “service public” in the digital age. “The advantages of the new radio and television law convinced the majority of the people and voters,” said Swiss private broadcasters association (VSP) president Jürg Bachmann in a statement with Swiss-French regional private broadcasters association RRR . Slightly increased is the percentage of the “media tax” remitted to private local radio and TV broadcasters. (See joint VSP/RRR statement here - in German)
As with all Swiss national voting, considerable attention has been given to regional outcomes; the dominant Swiss-German region vs the rest of the country. Voters in the French-speaking region were more inclined to approve the measure, aided by slight majorities in rural cantons. Privately-owned media in these regions, broadcasting in particular, is disadvantaged by a Zürich-centric advertising business. The Swiss-German region is seat of almost all big newspapers.
The vote’s margin - 50.08% for and 49.92% against - also makes clear that a considerable number of Swiss voters favor something different from the SSR-SRG. That will not escape the Federal Council, which must renew the public broadcaster’s mandate in two year time. “A tough debate is expected,” said NZZ media editor Rainer Stadler (June 15).
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