Chinese Puzzle as CRI expands again

China Radio International has been making a fuss in London together with its commercial radio distributor Spectrum Radio and a Chinese-owned TV production company called Propeller TV. They are considerably expanding local production, following an example set by Qatar.

I still find it fascinating to compare how government broadcasters launch things these days compared to thirty years ago.

Actually nothing has changed at all.

It's always a flag waving press conference where a button is pushed and something new is launched.

And "the press" gather round to capture what the Director General has to say. That's usually only the press somehow connected to the deal being struck. Then they have drinks and everyone goes home.



Last Monday June 16th 2014, Wang Gengnian the director general of China Radio International was in London on the same day as the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang kicked off a European visit to Britain and Greece.

China is busy investing in the infrastructure of both countries. But, when it comes to international broadcasting, it looks like Britain is where China is trying to focus its media influence in Europe.

CRI has had a deal with Spectrum Radio, a commercial radio operator that has been distributing the output from several foreign broadcasters since it started in 1990. I remember that World Radio Network brokered the original deal - and they hired Radio Luxembourg's 1440 kHz sender for many years. Great signal, but where was the audience? It quietly went away.

Spectrum have a mediumwave (AM) and DAB licence. They sell the airtime to anyone who wants to reach what they define as "ethnic" communities. That includes Polish Radio in Warsaw (who want to reach Poles living in London) and Sout al Khaleej, an Arabic radio station established by the director of Qatar Broadcasting and Television Corporation H.E. Sheikh Hamad Bin Thamir Al Thani. Spectrum Radio made the following promo video below which claims 100% awareness amongst "Arab Businesses".




They claim the medium-wave signal reaches 10 million people during the day. That doesn't mean that 10 million people are listening. Just that they could pick up Spectrum if their AM radio is tuned to 558 kHz.

And the coverage map for night-time stretches even wider. I suppose the reported coverage in the insert is a result of listener reception reports. Mind you, that's not a listenable signal on a simple portable radio.

They have six studios near the old Battersea Power Station.





And then there is the TV production company

Propeller TV was created in 2005 by a company connected with Grimsby Institute, with UK government investment. Those plans didn't work out, so in 2009 Propeller TV was bought by the Xiking Group based in Central London who changed it into a bi-lingual business, culture and entertainment channel. Propeller TV also quote coverage figures rather than actual viewing figures.

Propeller TV is broadcast on SKY 189 and reaches over 10 million viewers. Our free-to-air channel via Cablecom provides access to higher education television networks across the UK, covering an audience of 230,000 students. Our audience is affluent, well educated and includes business professionals, academics and university students.

The programming is wall to wall coverage of China, including language lessons. I find the programme China Insight to be especially fascinating, probably because of the topics that CCTV never covers.

What intrigues me is the announcement that CRI has now brokered a deal with Spectrum and Propeller-TV to produce 12 hours a day of UK produced English language programming to be aired on DAB in London, as well as ten hours of a day of CRI English programming via 558 kHz in London. CRI has also relaunched its UK website english.china.com, and a bilingual trade magazine Opportunities China.

Remember this is all in addition to CCTV News which has its own 24 hour channel in the UK on Channel 511 (Sky Platform)

I'm just curious to find out whether anyone is really watching or listening. The transmission schedule looks light years behind what the Russians are up to with RT and all the social media platforms they manage. And I wonder if the BBC Chinese Service gets reciprocal access to the airwaves in China? (er no, they don't) What do you think?

BBC World News - Banging the Relaunch Gong Update

Watched the grand relaunch of BBC World News over the past week. It's fascinating, especially on the special site that is targeted to potential BBC partners, i.e. TV stations/networks that would like to use the output from London on their station. They're boasting about their fancy new technology at the top of London's Regent Street, home to 6000 staff who man what is claimed to be the world's largest newsroom. You can only play their promo videos on the site itself - no embedding for you, unlike the competition from Al Jazeera, RT, or France 24.

All this, we're told means a "new era of news broadcasting". Its looks slicker, that's true. Bit early to say whether the journalism is any better. But with copy like that, you have to start comparing. 

Al Jazeera's Newsroom in Qatar

And yet there are striking similarities to the new BBC newsroom with other stations. It looks to me like the new BBC newsroom was built by crossing the colour scheme of Al Jazeera English with the technology that you find in Al Arabiya in Dubai.  

The Gallery at Al Arabiya, Dubai

Except that the production teams in London seem to be much larger.

BBC Persian TV Gallery (BBC Publicity Photo).

Here's the clue to why there is something familiar about all these places. There are only a few people designing newsrooms in the world. And BDA Creative has photos of all these stations as clients on its website. Blue, red and purple seem to be vogue colours everywhere.

I'm still amazed about all these production people in the studios. Were they there because BBC Publicity were taking photos? Quite a crowd for a news studio.

What's my point? For me, the BBC is at its best when it is humble, just getting on with bringing in the best reports from around the world. It's someone like Lyse Doucet explaining a complex situation is a clear way. It's not about claiming "exclusives". Perhaps, because they have been the poor cousin when it comes to facilities for so long, the BBC need the chance to bang the gong a bit. But that backfired on Al Jazeera English in the past. Their promos were so slick at launch that other stations said they were so different in style from what they were putting out locally, that there was no way to integrate AJ programmes into their networks.

The BBC partner site is curious because its aimed at both broadcast partners and advertisers, all rolled into one. That's strange because the sell to distributors is usually rather different. The copy on the home page is for potential advertisers on the BBC Network, not those stations or networks that might be interested in carrying them.

See what I mean?

Update October 4th 2013: I got a very useful response from Stuart Pinfold who works at the BBC and commented:

BBC Persian TV Gallery (BBC Publicity Photo).

Your fourth picture shows the BBC Persian TV gallery, in Peel Wing of New Broadcasting House where it has been for over five years. You conclude from this picture that "production teams [at the BBC] seem to be much larger". I'll tell you exactly what all of these people do, from left (furthest away from the camera) to right:

1) Sound Mixer. Balances microphones, VT packages, incoming satellite links, etc, as well as routes audio around the studio and arranges live translations as required.

2) Technical Co-Ordinator. Balances the cameras, robotically controls some cameras (to keep the number of camera operators down), deals with studio lighting, routes incoming and outgoing feeds including satellite links, and is the first point of contact for any technical requests.

3) Vision Mixer. Cuts the pictures you see on-screen.

4) Director. Liaises with the Output Editor (see below), plays packages, calculates timings and ensures the smooth-running of the programme from a technical point of view.
So far none of the people above speak Farsi/Persian, the language of the channel. So then we have...

5) Output Editor (aka Producer). Speaks Farsi and is editorially in control of the programme, liaises with the Director to ensure the technical team do as required. Checks all material before it goes to air to ensure compliance. Writes suggested scripts and cues for the presenter.

6) Text Outputter. Speaks Farsi and is in control of all text on-screen, from the ticker at the bottom, to name captions in packages, and locations for live contributions. Updates and activates these text elements as packages play and as stories develop.

The photo of the AlArabiya gallery looks, to me, as if the two people in the photograph are more editorial people, rather than technical people. In other words, they are the equivalent of the Output Editor and Text Outputter in the BBC galleries, and their colleagues doing the technical work are not actually shown in this photo.

Thanks Stuart. If the studio is working in a language other than English, then that does explain why there are more people in the gallery than I expected. And I have a huge respect for what they are doing in bringing important news to Iran. Hopefully, with changes at the top in Tehran, there will less jamming of the BBC Signal.

Re-tuned yet?

In London? Did you remember to retune? Couldn't believe how much government money was spent on the poster campaign which only affects Freeview (terrestrial digital TV). Overkill in my opinion. 

Drought Getting Really Serious

Two things clear on my trips round the London transport system this week.

1. That the Brits really know how to get a message across on transport systems. I get mentally refreshed by the ads in the Tube. They're funny and memorable. Bit surprised at the money Freeview has spent on advising people they need to retune their sets. Buses..OK. But plastering the ticket barriers on the Underground must be a waste of money. You come in from the light outside and you don't see anything at all - even though the message is bright pink.

2. Got stranded by a Tube failure just North of Wimbledon on Monday afternoon. System on the District Line suspended for several hours because of a signal failure. The LT transport staff had no clue what to advise passengers, except to say that there were buses to Putney Bridge outside - i.e. on your own mate! Will they have plans to make sure this doesn't happen during the London Olympics? How will they keep London moving? If the posters are anything to go by, they're in for a long hot (and at least dry) summer.