ASIA

French radio journalist Sebastien Farcis said he was leaving India after more than 13 years, as the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) refused to renew his work permit.He is the second French national in four months to have been denied work permit and the third foreign journalist reportedly forced to leave the country this year.Farcis had served as the South Asia correspondent for Radio France Internationale, Radio France, Liberation and the Swiss and Belgian public radios.He is married to an Indian woman and has Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) status, which allows him to live and work in the country but requires a special permit for missionary activities, mountaineering or journalism.He said that no reason had been provided “despite formal and repeated requests” and that he had applied for a new work permit.Farcis, in a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter), said the MHA had notified the denial on March 7 this year, not allowing him to cover the country’s recently concluded general elections.Describing the decision as an act of “incomprehensible censorship.“, Farcis wrote on X:“After 13 years working as a correspondent in India, the authorities have denied me a permit to work as a journalist. I have thus been forced to leave the country,”

“It was communicated to me on the eve of the Indian general elections, the largest democratic elections in the world, which I was hence forbidden to cover. This appeared to me as an incomprehensible censorship,”“This denial comes in a worrying context of increasing restrictions on the work of foreign journalists: after Vanessa Dougnac I am the second French journalist in four months having to leave India under these conditions. At least five OCI [Overseas Citizen of India] foreign correspondents have been banned from working as journalists in less than two years,” he added.In February, French journalist Vanessa Dougnac left the country after the government revoked her OCI card. Dougnac, a contributor to several French-language publications, including the weekly magazine Le Point, came to India as a student 23 years ago, worked as a journalist, married and raised a son.Vanessa revealed that the Ministry of Home Affairs sent her a notice in January, stating her work was “inimical” to national interests, leading to the cancellation of her permanent residency.Two months later, Avani Dias, the South Asia Bureau Chief of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), said she had been forced to leave India on April 19, the day the general elections started, after the government objected to her reporting on the assassination of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.The ABC had said Dias was informed of the decision by an official from the Ministry of External Affairs, who said her most recent Foreign Correspondent episode on Nijjar “crossed a line.” […]

Lytus Technologies Holdings PTV. Ltd., which operates as a platform services company in India, has  launched a regional Indian audio streaming platform called Radio Room.Radio Room will offer an array of audio dramas that encompass a variety of genres such as classic literature, crime thrillers, romance, and children’s stories, all tailored for the Indian diaspora worldwide.The platform aims to become a pivotal player in the audio streaming sector, which delivers content directly over the internet to consumers (“over-the-top” or OTT), bypassing traditional distribution.Lytus plans to rapidly scale up operations of the newly launched platform, targeting four million subscribers in its first year.By leveraging Lytus’ existing customer base, Radio Room is poised to accelerate its growth and extend its reach across numerous Indian regional languages, including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, and Eezha Tamil.Additionally, efforts are underway to expand into other regional Indian languages such as Marathi and Bengali, as well as international languages like Spanish, Portuguese, and German.Dharmesh Pandya, CEO of Lytus, stated: “Launching Radio Room underscores our mission to leverage cutting-edge technology to enhance user experiences. We are confident that Radio Room will redefine the audio OTT landscape and transform how audiences connect with audio content. Lytus management’s strategic support, large user base, and industry expertise will enable Radio Room to fundamentally transform the audio OTT space, offering a rich tapestry of engaging content that resonates with listeners worldwide.” […]

StreamGuys announced that Dick Broadcasting, which owns and operates 19 radio stations across three southeastern US states, has quintupled its monthly advertising revenue since transitioning to StreamGuys ad insertion services. Dick Broadcasting has amplified its revenue generation through StreamGuys’ programmatic ad services, which automatically fills unsold inventory in ad breaks for live streams and podcasts.StreamGuys has also diversified Dick Broadcasting’s advertising strategy by adding midroll placements to the mix, which required a structural change to how ads were distributed.“Nielsen had long required Dick Broadcasting to faithfully simulcast their over-the-air streams due to how they reported FM ratings in their markets,” said Tyler Huggins, director of advertising, StreamGuys. “That limited the customer to preroll ads, which while effective also limits revenue opportunities for stream monetization. We effectively split their streams into in-market and out-of-market streams, which allowed us to insert midrolls within the latter.”Huggins says that StreamGuys offers a “waterfall system” that prioritizes direct sold campaigns first, then programmatic fulfillment from its network of advertisers. If neither has an impression to serve, StreamGuys returns the opportunity to Dick Broadcasting to place an unsold promo. StreamGuys manages the entire process, from server-side ad insertions to revenue payouts. “Dick Broadcasting communicates open inventory, and we manage all campaigns, advertisers and invoices,” he said. “We also work with their app developer and web team to pinpoint geographic data, which helps us precisely pinpoint where listeners are located. That finite data helps us make decisions on whether a listener is inside or outside the market, and which ads to serve.”Dick Broadcasting also uses StreamGuys’ SGrecast service to create podcasts and side streams from live radio shows, which StreamGuys also automatically inserts ads within. StreamGuys also hosts and delivers all of Dick Broadcasting’s streaming content, using StreamGuys’ enterprise CDN to deliver live and on-demand content to websites, apps and smart speakers among other consumer receive points. The result is a turnkey streaming service that has reduced costs, streamlined internal labor, and increased revenue.“We are lucky to have very dedicated audiences for our streams, many of which live outside our geographic FM footprints,” said Taylor Dick, Vice President of Finance and Strategic Analysis, Dick Broadcasting Company. “We found that we were carrying substantial costs to operate our streaming infrastructure and serving ads that were meaningless to many of our listeners. StreamGuys reduced the costs of our streaming infrastructure while effectively creating zones that allow us to serve ads of interest to out-of-market listeners. We can now offer a better listening experience for our entire streaming audience while substantially increasing our revenue through a programmatic service that requires no heavy lifting from within. StreamGuys has helped us to a much better job of managing, monetizing and growing our streaming business.” […]

GatesAir, a Thomson Broadcast subsidiary dedicated to wireless content delivery, announced the launch of GatesAir Care, an enhanced managed services program that addresses the urgent need for skilled RF resources and services in the global broadcast industry. Available immediately, the GatesAir Care program offers defined service level agreements across three-tiered support plans (Elite, Signature, Standard) that collectively aim to fill widening gaps in engineering skillsets as long time RF engineers approach retirement.The number of services included escalates with each tier, beginning with simple extended warranties, discounted spare parts, and preventative maintenance visits to keep transmitters and associated RF systems in excellent operating condition. Additional services are available with each tier, which can include installation and commissioning, 24/7 remote maintenance and monitoring, and live, onsite technical support for major broadcast events.“Most young engineers coming into the business today possess a strong IT skillset but have limited to no RF expertise,” said Raymond Miklius, Vice President of Technology, GatesAir. “We developed GatesAir Care to alleviate concerns about finding skilled engineers to take care of RF systems and plants as veteran TV and radio engineers reduce hours and ultimately retire.”All three program tiers can also scale to the size of the broadcaster, including dedicated services in smaller markets that are especially light on engineering resources. GatesAir Care will also offer options for crisis team deployment and disaster recovery services in the event of severe weather or other unanticipated events that require immediate attention.Mark Goins, Vice President, Global Sales for GatesAir, adds that the GatesAir Care program ultimately aligns with the broadcast model’s increasing emphasis on operational efficiency. “Changes in the global RF engineering fleet are unfolding at a very swift pace over the past 12-18 months,” said Goins. “The GatesAir Care program will help broadcasters maintain their focus on operational efficiency with the peace of mind that our experienced, dedicated support staff will provide consistent, proactive and responsive service tailored to each customer’s needs.”GatesAir will also offer beginning and advanced RF training courses in alignment with the GatesAir Care program to help younger broadcast engineers strengthen their RF skillsets. More information on all three GatesAir Care tiers, service options and pricing are available at https://www.gatesair.com/services/gatesair-care. […]

The French audio specialist and equipment manufacturer Digigram has announced the release of a new sound card, ALP-AES67, as part of its acclaimed ALP-X range, which was launched in 2022.While the ALP-X range already covers a large range of audio protocols, ALP-AES67 takes Digigram a step further into the Broadcast, Live Sound and Events applications, where critical audio is at stake.Featuring the signature characteristics of the ALP-X range, ALP-AES67 was developed using Digigram’s sturdy hardware platform for unmatched reliability. ALP-AES67 also brings versatility to professional audio users thanks to its low-profile form factor coupled with a fanless design, accommodating most PCs and servers, especially when space is scarce.The ALP-AES67 PCIe card supports 64 playback channels and 64 recording channels, enabling the deployment of large-scale audio structures. Its compatibility with both Windows and Linux environments provides an unparalleled asset for countless applications, giving large freedom to users who are no longer bound by OS support. Additionally, the card is equipped with two Ethernet ports, ensuring seamless network redundancy, and two Ethernet switch ports for straightforward connectivity to other Dante, AES67, and Ravenna devices.Leveraging decades of expertise in audio over IP, Digigram’s ALP-AES67 stands out as a powerful addition to the ALP-X range, offering enhanced capabilities for critical audio applications. Pristine audio quality, low latency and extreme reliability remain at the core of the whole range, benefiting the ALP-AES67 and other cards alike.“This new addition to the ALP range opens new possibilities for our clients. While ALP-AES67 ensures full compliance with Ravenna and SMPTE ST-2110 audio standards, it delivers the usual Digigram high performance and reliability they trust us with,” states Stéphane Bert, Digigram’s Presales Manager. […]

The Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) dominated the radio category at the Malaysia Press Institute (MPI) – Petronas Malaysian Journalism Awards (HKM) 2023 at the Malaysian Journalists Night earlier this month.It won awards in four radio categories: Best Radio Report, Best Radio Documentary, Best Radio Interview and Best Live Radio Broadcast.Bernama Radio’s Nurliyana Farhah Ruslan won the gold for the Best Radio Report category for the report titled “Palestin: Panji Perjjuangan Belum Selesai.”Ahmad Fawzan Azmie Abdul Halil won the bronze in the same category for his report titled “Mek Mulung: Puwitera Wangsa Bangsa.”In the Best Radio Documentary Category Muhamad Azim took bronze with the documentary titled “Menyingkap Kisah Pejuang Kanser.” Raifanabillah Zulkilfi and Natasha Aimee Hasim were awarded the silver award in the Best Radio Interview category for “Membina Pengangkutan Awam Bersana.”In the Best Live Radio category, Wan Nadia Khairani Wan Chik won the gold for live broadcast on “Perkembangan Bedah Siasat Mansa Nahas Elmina” from HTAR, Klang. Ahmad Fawzan Azmie took the silver for “Lintas Langsung Nahas Elmina.”Nurliyana Farah described her win as a recognition of the power to speak out.“I use my trust, duty and responsibility as a journalist to disseminate and expose humanitarian issues and the suffering of the Palestinian people to the public…this is a worthwhile endeavour,” she said. […]