PI/1350
6 June 2001

EUROPEAN TV AGENCY TO BROADCAST
UNITED NATIONS PROGRAMMES

NEW YORK, 5 June (UN Headquarters) -- The European Commission and the United Nations have joined efforts for the regular distribution of TV programmes to broadcast media. As a first step in this cooperation, Europe by Satellite (EbS), the European Union’s TV news agency, will distribute the United Nations productions "World Chronicle" in English and "UN in Action" in five United Nations official languages beginning 5 June.

John B. Richardson, European Commission head of delegation to the United Nations in New York, said: "This is an excellent example of the new relationship that the European Union and the United Nations are building together, a partnership built on common actions in many fields."

The United Nations programmes will be transmitted via satellite on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. CET, Wednesdays at 6 a.m. CET, and Saturdays at 1 p.m. CET. They will also be simultaneously available on EbS’ webcast and will remain available on demand for one week on EbS’ Web site at http://europa.eu.int/comm/ebs.

"World Chronicle" is a weekly current affairs programme taped at United Nations Headquarters, featuring table discussions on priority issues of international concern by key United Nations officials, as well as other experts and well known personalities. Recent guests have included World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director Carol Bellamy, and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson. Recently, the then acting head of the European Commission's delegation to the United Nations, Richard Wyatt, appeared on the programme.

The series "UN in Action" consists of some 60 short programmes (3-5 minutes) on a yearly basis presenting a wide scope of political, environmental, economic and social issues set against the backdrop of the Organization's work. The first instalments of "UN in Action" which will air on the service are on: the rise of women in Viet Nam politics; UNICEF's aid to Indian earthquake victims; education assistance for Afghan refugees from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) project to help Cameroon cassava cooperatives.

EbS essentially offers broadcast professionals live coverage in up to 11 languages and news feeds relative to European Union affairs, as well as programmes about integration processes. The agency offers its services via satellite to TV stations in Europe and the Arab countries and to media worldwide via its webcasts and via daily one-hour feeds to Africa, Asia, the Pacific, Latin America and the United States. EbS also exchanges material on behalf of other international non-profit organizations which have the same goals as the European Union.

For more information on United Nations television programmes, please contact Lily Chau, Chief, Multimedia Resources Unit, United Nations Department of Public Information, telephone (212) 963-2123, fax (212)963-3430, e-mail: chau@un.org, or visit www.un.org/av/tv. For further information on EbS, please contact Maarten Weidenaar, Europe by Satellite, telephone +32 (2) 29.51741, fax +32 (2) 29.90309, e-mail maarten.weidenaar@cec.eu.int, or visit http://europa.eu.int.

EbS can be received on:

-- Satellite :

EUTELSAT HOT BIRD

-- Orbital position :

13° East

-- Receive (or downlink) frequency :

12,47550 GHz

-- Polarisation :

horizontal

-- Footprint :

Widebeam

-- Symbol rate :

27,500 Mbauds

-- FEC :

3/4

-- Decoder card :

not required

 

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