[Prev][Next][Index]

TS News - WTN Launches New News Service

TELE-satellit News, 3 October 1996

TS News - WTN Launches New News Service
  LONDON, England, 96/10/03 (TS) -- Worldwide Television News (WTN) has
launched a full time news service for broadcasters in Latin America and
Africa, the first such service ever to be introduced by a television news
agency. The service, introduced on October 1, 1996, utilizes two full time
Intelsat circuits originating at WTN's New York Broadcast Center.

  Clients across Latin America and Africa now have immediate access to the
full range of WTN's global news, sports, entertainment and feature news
coverage 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The service is fully integrated
with WTN's existing full time satellite news services spanning Europe, Asia
and across the Atlantic, permitting WTN subscribers in virtually any
location in the world immediate access to WTN coverage for their own news
programming.

  "The launch of this 24 hour news service is the culmination of many years
of hard work," notes Terry O'Reilly, WTN Vice President, Americas.  "The
quick pace of growth in Latin American TV markets, along with the promise
presented by Africa's emerging markets prompted us to make this major
investment."

  Subscribers to the service will receive a full slate of regularly
scheduled satellite feeds spread across the day, timed to meet local news
broadcast deadlines. These feeds include coverage of all the day's major
news events, regardless of location. Pictures will come from WTN's own crews
working out of more than 125 bureaus on six continents, as well as from the
global news resources of ABC News and the BBC. WTN is the exclusive
international representative for news coverage from both of these
prestigious organizations.

  The full time news circuit will also include significant periods which are
reserved for use by WTN subscribers for their own unilateral news feeds. WTN
clients will be able to use WTN's worldwide satellite resources to move
their own pictures from the four corners of the globe to their local viewers
quickly and efficiently.

  One of the two satellite circuits will be used for international
distribution of programming to Latin America and Africa, including WTN's own
non-fiction offerings as well as programming produced by independent producers.

  According to Mr. O'Reilly, breakthroughs in digital technology played a
large role in WTN's decision to move forward with the new service.  "We will
use state of the art digital compression to assure our customers the best
quality pictures.  We'll also be using a new, fully addressable security
system to eliminate piracy, and assure that our customers enjoy a
competitive advantage with every service they take."

  In 1995 WTN introduced similar 24 hour news services for its customers in
Europe and Asia.

(c)TELE-satellit 1996. All rights reserved.
[Other mailing list archives]