VT Group Wins Transmission Contract With Radio Australia

By Andy Sennitt, Radio Netherlands Media Network
Support services provider VT Group has expanded its network of shortwave transmission customers with a contract to broadcast programming from Radio Australia. VT, which has over 40 customers for its broadcast services, will output ten hours a day of Radio Australia programming to audiences in South East Asia. The content will be in English, Indonesian, Chinese and Burmese.
VT has a worldwide network of transmitter sites and the programming will be broadcast from locations in the United Arab Emirates and Palau in the Pacific Ocean. The programming will be downlinked from Radio Australia’s satellite channels to VT’s central London Media Management Centre for scheduling and frequency management. VT will then utilize its Global Media Network to backhaul the programmes to the two transmitter sites.
The contract will be for a year and follows VT’s recent success in adding the Polish state broadcaster Polskie Radio to its global transmission customer base.
VT’s John Prior, General Manager Broadcast and Security, said: ”Having previously transmitted Radio Australia programming until 2006, we are delighted that they have re-joined the network of broadcasters using VT’s facilities. It extends our broadcast service customer base and we hope to increase our partnership with Radio Australia further within the scope of the contract.”
(NASB)

VT Group wins transmission contract with Radio Australia

Support services provider VT Group has expanded its network of shortwave transmission customers with a contract to broadcast programming from Radio Australia. VT, which has over 40 customers for its broadcast services, will output ten hours a day of Radio Australia programming to audiences in South East Asia. The content will be in English, Indonesian, Chinese and Burmese.

VT has a worldwide network of transmitter sites and the programming will be broadcast from locations in the United Arab Emirates and Palau in the Pacific Ocean. The programming will be downlinked from Radio Australia’s satellite channels to VT’s central London Media Management Centre for scheduling and frequency management. VT will then utilise its Global Media Network to backhaul the programmes to the two transmitter sites.

The contract will be for a year and follows VT’s recent success in adding the Polish state broadcaster Polskie Radio to its global transmission customer base.

VT’s John Prior, General Manager Broadcast and Security, said: ”Having previously transmitted Radio Australia programming until 2006, we are delighted that they have re-joined the network of broadcasters using VT’s facilities. It extends our broadcast service customer base and we hope to increase our partnership with Radio Australia further within the scope of the contract.”

Radio Australia comprises eight languages and focuses uniquely on Asia and the Pacific. It is the international radio and online service of the Australian national broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
(Source: VT Group/R Netherlands Media Network Weblog/Phil Rood/VT Group)

VT Group secures contract with Polskie Radio

Support services company VT Group has secured a contract to broadcast 20 hours a day of analogue and digital output from the Polish public broadcaster Polskie Radio using its network of European and global transmission sites. VT will deliver the programming on shortwave to listeners in Europe and Israel. Broadcasts by Polskie Radio’s External Service, Poland’s international radio service, will be delivered in Polish, English, German, Hebrew, Russian, Belorussian and Ukrainian.

Programming, originating in Warsaw, will be brought into VT’s Media Management Centre in London for scheduling and distribution to various transmission sites using VT’s Global Media Network - a combination of fibre connectivity and satellite delivery. The majority of transmission will go out from VT’s site at Woofferton in Shropshire, supported by other sites including Rampisham and Skelton, and partner sites in Dhabiyya in the United Arab Emirates and at Moosbrun in Austria.

Most of the programming will be analogue but there is also provision for 1.5 hours a day of digital output using DRM digital short wave.

VT’s John Prior, General Manager Broadcast and Security, commented: ” We are delighted to be appointed as Polskie Radio’s exclusive shortwave transmission partner supplementing their existing output by satellite and Internet. The move demonstrates a continued commitment to short wave from a major European broadcaster.”

The four-year contract with Polskie Radio, which started in late October, is worth some £1.5 million and means VT now has nearly 40 customers for its transmission services. Polskie Radio’s daily output will place it in the company’s top ten broadcast customers.

(Source: VT Group)

Andy Sennitt comments: This confirms our report of 15 October, but at that stage the contract was said to be for six months. A four-year contract is good news for Polish Radio listeners.
(R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)

Related story from Oct. 15
On the latest Multimedia programme of Polish Radio’s English service, presenter Slawek Szefs announced that, like Radio Prague, the future of its shortwave broadcasts is in some doubt, but the station has been able to secure a new six-month contract via a new provider [presumably VT Communications] and will broadcast in English as follows during the B09 transmission period commencing on 25 October:

1300-1400 UTC on 11675 kHz via Moosbrunn, Austria (100 kW)
1300-1400 UTC on 11860 kHz via Woofferton, UK (125 kW)

1800-1900 UTC on 9650 kHz via Dhabbaya, UAE (250 kW)
1800-1900 UTC on 6130 kHz DRM via Woofferton, UK (100 kW)
(R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)