NAB
International Broadcasting Excellence Award
Recipients
2009
Rádio Expres
The Slovak Republic's Rádio Expres informed their community about the
Slovak Republic adoption procedures through radio broadcasts and
investigative reporting. Despite the large number of pre-screened
families waiting to adopt a child, hundreds of orphans were left in
state care because nursing homes failed to effectively carry out steps
in the adoption process. In 2008, close to 1 million Slovaks tuned in to
hear Rádio Expres report on the situation. Rádio Expres generated more
coverage on this issue by convincing a member of the Social
Parliamentary Committee to make a public investigation into nursing
homes. Additionally, an employee at Rádio Expres spearheaded a petition
that was later signed by thousands of Slovaks, leading to the creation
of new legislation that improved the adoption process of Slovak children
under state care.
PRO TV
PRO TV, Romania's first private TV station, developed four major social
campaigns in the past two years. The campaigns contributed to Romania's
50 percent increase in organ donation ("There's life after death"), and
addressed the ecological consequences of land stripping ("Romania, the
big land clearing"). Additionally, PRO TV organized "STOP torturing the
animals," a campaign initiated by PRO TV anchors and hosts that
facilitated the development and passage of The Animal Protection Law in
2008. PRO TV's other initiative, "Any idea what your kid is doing right
now," led to new legislation regarding the protection of abandoned
children in Romania. For their efforts and news coverage on this issue,
PRO TV received the International Academy of Television Arts and
Sciences' International Emmy Award for News and Current Affairs, the
first News Emmy ever for Romania and Eastern Europe.
2008
Tokyo Broadcasting System,
Inc. (TBS)
Since 1994, TBS has worked to draw local and national attention to
global warming. Their comprehensive recycling center allowed TBS to
recycle 75 percent of the company's waste in 2006, setting an example
for businesses throughout the community. They also used the TBS radio
airwaves to promote their "Lighting Down Campaign," encouraging
listeners to switch off their lights for two hours during the summer
solstice. "Lighting Down" generated so much interest within the
community that TBS is currently working on expanding the project to
other countries. As the host broadcaster for the 2007 World Athletics,
TBS drew international attention to their environmental initiatives.
During the eight-day event, TBS provided 80 hours of broadcast and
international signal production to more than 60 broadcasters with
certified green energy. Using energy generated by natural resources
allowed TBS to offset 190 tons of carbon dioxide.
NDTV India
With innovative engineering, NDTV developed a system that allows
broadcasters to deliver high quality graphics at a lower cost and with
less effort than other graphic delivery systems. As an operator of five
national TV channels, NDTV has a constant need for new graphic delivery
systems. The stationary graphics and animations delivered in everyday
broadcasting and breaking news scenarios are expensive to develop and
often require skilled professionals to maintain the system. NDTV
addressed this problem by writing their own software to deliver real
time graphics. Using Adobe Photoshop and Adobe After Effects, NDTV
engineers developed their own software to store, organize, maintain and
deliver graphics. The system is designed using familiar technology that
is user-friendly and cheaper to maintain. The software saved NDTV more
than $300,000, and garnered international attention during the
Commonwealth Broadcasting Association (CBA) General Conference held in
January.
Canada's 106.1 FM, "The Goat"
Five years ago, CKLM "Border Rock 106.1 FM The Goat" became the first
privately held broadcaster in Canada to be awarded with NAB's
International Broadcasting Excellence Award. "The Goat" maintains strong
bonds with the community through participation in local projects and
charities. Year after year, their annual Christmas Convoy provides
enough donations to pack the shelves of every food bank in the broadcast
region. For the past two years, the "No Hair" Extraordinaire program
acquired more than $15,000 for Breast Cancer research, and the Brown Bag
Challenge, featuring a lively hockey showdown, raised hundreds of
dollars for several local charities. From contributing to student
programs to promoting the local Rotary Club, "The Goat" remains closely
connected to their listeners and their community."
2007
Play 99.6
Play 99.6, Jordan's number one hit music station, led educational
workshops to improve the role radio can play in solving social and
community problems. Leading the path in the radio industry, Play 99.6
included broadcasters from the regions of Egypt, Lebanon and Syria.
Project Peace, a campaign that aims to draw attention to the horrors of
war taking place in the Middle East, collected up to $78,000 toward food
and medical supplies for the thousands of suffering families and
children throughout the Middle East.
Radio Haifa 107.5 FM
As a local station, Radio Haifa works to promote community involvement
and awareness. Their reliable reports during the Second Lebanon War
offered continuous accounts of the war to their community and served to
ease tensions and save lives during times of crises. Radio Haifa's
support during the Second Lebanon War reached beyond the airwaves as
they mobilized volunteers to provide assistance and supplies for needy
civilians throughout the community. When the Bnei Tzion Medical Center
Babies Ward was hit by a missile, Radio Haifa initiated and broadcast a
fund drive that raised $300,000 for renovation. Establishing programs to
raise money for small businesses that collapsed during the war, Radio
Haifa succeeded in attracting a benefactor that donated $800,000 that
was distributed to numerous small businesses throughout the region.
2006
Korea
Broadcasting System (KBS)
Recognized
for its innovation in advancing broadcasting, The Korean
Broadcasting
System (KBS) is now the first broadcaster in the world to
provide Terrestrial
Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (T-DMB), a new form of
mobile
broadcasting.
Launched December 1, 2005, T-DMB provides television, radio
and
data services
on mobile devices such as phone, PDA, digital camera and
automobile receivers.
Users can access weather, traffic, real time news and
entertainment. KBS
operates two free-to-air DMB channels, using content from
the
existing
television, audio and data channels. KBS provides four
channels
via DMB,
including national news, youth and family programming, music
and
news,
and a channel dedicated to public service information. Click
here for more on KBS
Joy 99.7FM
Awarded
for excellence in serving their community, Joy 99.7FM was the
first private
commercial station in Ghana. Since 1995, the station has put
help for
children at the heart of its charity, the Joy Needy Fund. The
fund acquired
four acres of land and constructed the Orphanage at Frafraha,
which cares
for 120 children. Joy 99.7FM's charity also provides clothing,
food and
necessities to other orphanages and funds a home for mentally
challenged
children. The Joy Needy Fund screens children who have left
school because
of financial difficulty and sponsors their return to education.
The station's
fund annually feeds more than 35,000 people through its Easter
Soup Kitchen,
which has evolved into an event also providing basic medical
care. Joy
99.7FM has raised awareness of and raised thousands of dollars
for children
requiring major surgery and suffering from HIV AIDS, sexual
abuse and
hunger. The JoyNews Team was the first to monitor and report on
general
and parliamentary elections in Ghana. Click
here fore more on Joy 99.7FM
2005
Colombo
Communications
Colombo
Communications was honored for its outstanding response to the
need of
their community. When the devastating tsunami struck on
December
26, 2004,
CCL quickly developed a plan to organize makeshift field
hospitals, solicit
doctors and medical supplies and locate missing persons. To
begin medical
operations without delay, the staff of CCL donated $6,125 of
their own
funds to purchase medical equipment and worked round-the-clock
shifts.
CCL's missing persons alert service was able to provide
distraught families
with a coordinated, wide-ranging method of finding loved ones.
CCL staff
continued for weeks to coordinate emergency medical
facilities,
dispense
supplies and help find the missing. In total, CCL donated an
additional
$285,000 toward these efforts.
Avtoradio
Also honored for its tremendous service to community,
Avtoradio and
its network affiliates launched and financed a major 6,200
mile
motor
rally "For the Sake of Life," from Vladivostok to Moscow,
stopping
for organized benefit concerts in cities across the country.
The
rally
was joined in each city by cars from every Avtoradio affiliate
station
along the route. The rally had two purposes: first to gather
small boxes
of soil from sacred sites all over Russia to take to a tree
planting at
the school in Beslan, where terrorists murdered many Russian
children
in September. Avtoradio gathered not only 80 boxes of soil but
also messages
along the way from the Russian people expressing support for
the
people
of Beslan. The second goal was to promote safe driving in a
country where
more than 30,000 people die in traffic accidents each year.
Avtoradio
donated nearly $100,000 for the motor rally.
Click here for more on
Avtoradio
2004
Rustavi 2 Broadcasting
Rustavi 2 Broadcasting was honored for its extraordinary
service to
community. In addition to performing public service such as
telethons
for charities, sponsoring kids' sports teams and forming a
national literary
prize, Rustavi 2 has produced a deep menu of independent, and
sometimes
controversial, public affairs programming and investigative
journalism
to serve diverse audiences. The station has been recognized
around the
world for playing a pivotal role in the November 2003
non-violent popular
uprising or "Rose Revolution," after which the Georgian
President
stepped down.
Click here for more
information on
Rustavi 2 Broadcasting
Geo TV
Breaking the molds created by the state-owned media, Geo TV
initiated
independent, live news coverage and programs based on many
important issues
never before addressed in the Pakistan media. Geo's programming
stresses
the need for moderation and tolerance and providing a soapbox in
its communities
for all to speak out. Facilitating social contact and
understanding between
India and Pakistan has been one important mission, as evidenced
by its
program bringing Pakistanis and Indians together to discuss
their cultures
on camera. Geo also undertakes public service campaigns that
have raised
hundreds of thousands of dollars for many local causes.
Click here for more information on
Geo TV
2003
Canal 9 Televida
Canal 9 Televida was honored for outstanding community support
for charities
serving the handicapped, the homeless, nutrition, the hungry and
others
in need. Canal 9 provides its support through community events,
like its
annual marathon or daily or weekly special programs, such as "De
Todo Corazon" ("With All My Heart"). De Todo Corazon has
raised $8 million over the past nine years and more than half a
million
dollars in 2001 alone.
Click here for
more on Canal
9 Televida
Border Rock 106.1FM
Border Rock 106.1FM, "The Goat," is recognized in the radio
category for extensive efforts to improve the lives of its
listening audience,
through local public affairs programming and numerous off-air
community
service projects. Among the many individual campaigns the
station undertook
in the past year were its "Goat's Christmas Convoy," a mobile
food-bank drive utilizing a number of 18-wheelers covering 500
kilometers
over four days in December. On the air since May of 2001, The
Goat has
already captured the heart of its community.
Click here
for more
on "The Goat"
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) was recognized in
the network
category for its unique innovations and effective utilization of
resources
to advance the business of broadcasting. Specifically, the CBC
was being
lauded for its National Satellite DVC Project, a system of
advanced video
coding and modulation technologies that has created an efficient
network
for the distribution of multiple television programs by
satellite.
Click here for more
on the
CBC
Radio Sonora
Radio Sonora received the award in the single station category
and was
recognized for its sustained efforts to improve the lives of its
listening
audience, through local public affairs programming and off-air
community
service. Radio Sonora's response to the tragic Jakarta floods in
January
has been notable. Station employees not only coordinated flood
victim
assistance, they opened a bank account for people wanting to
help, collected
food and medicine, and even purchased three rubber boats to
distribute
vital commodities.
Click here for more on Radio Sonora
2001
Hong Kong's TVB
Hong Kong's TVB received the award in the network category for
its sustained,
broad-based effort throughout its 33-year history to contribute
to community
welfare, through a wide range of charitable activities. Since
its founding,
TVB, through its Jade channel, has raised more than HK$1.76
billion (US$226
million) for charitable organizations. During 2000, TVB
initiated public
charitable fund-raising events once every other week. Despite
the economic
downturn in Hong Kong during 1999 and 2000, TVB was nevertheless
able
to raise charitable funds totaling HK$343 million ($US44
million) in that
period.
Click
here for more on TVB
702 Talk Radio
South Africa's 702 Talk Radio received the award in the single
station
category for its significant role in improving the lives of
the
greater
Johannesburg area over many years. The station is known for
providing
listeners the services they need in their daily lives and as
an
invaluable
resource center which has raised millions of rands for needy
causes. Among
its causes are the "702 Helpline," a telephone counseling and
referral service, Health Awareness Weeks, funding for two
children's homes
and AIDS awareness. 702 sees the process of "harmonizing
diversity"
as part of the station's philosophy and is a leader on
employment equity
and redressing the imbalances of the past.
Click here for more on 702 Talk Radio
RBS TV
Brazil's RBS TV received the award in the network category as an
innovator
in the way television reaches local communities. Operating with
a regional network covering the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do
Sul,
RBS TV produces a high percentage of local programming that
reflects the
concerns of local and regional audiences. To counter the 50,000
citizen
deaths from traffic accidents in Brazil each year, RBS TV
established
a road safety campaign that helps reduce road deaths by nearly
20 percent
in its coverage area.
Click Here For More on RBS
TV
Voice of Barbados
Voice of Barbados received the award in the single station
category for
its efforts in working to eradicate diabetes and other
widespread diseases.
The station provides comprehensive programming on health
education featuring
medical professionals. They also developed the "Roadrunner,"
a unique "broadcast on wheels," which crosses the countryside
every morning with news, gifts and assistance for all.
Seven Network
Australia's Seven Network received the award in the network
category and
is recognized for its outstanding community service. On the air
since 1956, Seven Network has sponsored hundreds of events to
benefit
Australian citizens. Seven's Perth station has sponsored two
popular,
long-standing annual events. Two of which are the 24-hour live
telethon
which has raised over $52 million for medical research and
children in
need of medical treatment, and the Christmas Pageant, which the
station
presents to the community each year to evoke good will and
holiday spirit.
Click here for more on Seven
Network
Australia
Gala Radio
Gala Radio, the top-rated radio station in Kiev, Ukraine, has
also been
honored for community service and received the award in the
single station
category. Gala Radio is setting the standard for privately-run
commercial
radio in Ukraine and is dedicated to serving the 3 million
people who
reside in the city of Kiev.
Click here for more on Gala
Radio
Nippon Television Network Corporation
Tokyo's Nippon Television Network Corporation received the award
in the
network category and is recognized for its innovation and
technical achievement.
The first commercial broadcaster in Japan, NTV has become the
country's
largest commercial network with 30 affiliates and the highest
viewer ratings
for the past four years. NTV Has excelled at the development of
practical
applications for broadcast technology particularly digital
compression
and progressive scan technology, and has worked closely with
many standardization
organizations to bring these new technologies to the world. In
addition,
NTV is aggressively advancing into new territories of the
broadcast technology
landscape including satellite, multimedia and interactive
broadcasting
services.
Click here for more on Nippon
Television
Juventus Radio
Hungary's Juventus Radio, the individual station recipient, has
been honored
for its outstanding community service. Juventus Radio has been
instrumental
in reinstating the sense of charity and volunteerism that was
manifest
in Hungary before the onset of "Szocializmus." The station has
conceived and organized immensely successful events that have
benefited
the community at large and raised money to aid various charities
and community
projects.
Click here for more on Juventus
Radio
Fuji Television
Tokyo's Fuji Television received the award in the network
category and
was recognized for its technical achievements seen in its state
of the
art broadcast facility that utilizes a newly developed optical
network
for video/audio signal distribution. The new broadcasting center
was designed
with an eye to the digital future and uses a flexible video
system that
can accommodate HDTV, NTSC, Wide-Vision, Standard-Vision and
other systems,
all connected digitally by fiber optics. The "Fuji Broadcast
Center"
marks the first time these technologies have been integrated
into one
central distribution point. "Fuji Television's efforts in
developing
a central distribution point for new and established
technologies demonstrates
a visionary approach for our industry, " Eddie Fritts said. "As
broadcasters switch from analog to digital, Fuji recognizes the
importance
of instituting new techniques to enhance this transition."
Click here for more on
Fuji Television
TNL
Sri Lanka's TNL was honored with the individual station award.
TNL received
the honor based on its outstanding community service to Sri
Lanka, the
small Southeast Asian island nation. Since it first went on the
air four
years ago, the station has provided a valuable outlet for a
country that
has endured years of ethnic conflicts. The station also has
sponsored
numerous events to help the country's less fortunate and raise
awareness
of the environment, drug abuse, crime and stress. As the
country's first
privately owned radio station, TNL introduced many innovative
broadcasting
concepts to a nation that had previously received only
government-run
programming. "NAB is proud to recognize TNL, a station that has
helped
provide valuable information and service to Sri Lanka," NAB
CEO/President
Eddie Fritts said. "Their outstanding commitment to public
service
and outreach illustrates perfectly how broadcasters can make a
difference
in peoples' lives."
Click here for more on
TNL
La Cinquieme
La Cinquieme, an innovative French television network, was
honored with
the 1996 Award. A relative newcomer to the French broadcasting
community,
La Cinquieme went on the air in 1994 and quickly established
itself as
one of the country's premier public television networks. The
network is
at the forefront of broadcasting technology in France with a
state-of-the-art
system for program distribution and storage. NAB CEO/President
Eddie Fritts
said, "La Cinquieme's technological expertise is a sterling
example
of the ingenuity and high standards broadcasters strive for
world wide."
Click here for more on La
Cinquieme
Laser 101
St. Maarten's Laser 101 was honored with a special NAB
International Broadcasting
Award for Exceptional Public Service following the devastation
wreaked
by Hurricanes Luis and Marilyn. "Laser 101's performance under
the
most adversarial conditions provided an extremely valuable
public service
to the residents of St. Maarten. Their experience reminds us all
of the
vital role broadcasters serve during times of crises." remarked
NAB
CEO/President Eddie Fritts.
Tokyo FM Broadcasting Co.,LTD.
The first International Broadcasting Excellence Award recipient
was Tokyo
FM Broadcasting Co.,LTD., Tokyo, Japan in recognition of their
exceptional
technological leadership and listener service. Under the
direction of
Tokyo FM President Wataru Gotoh, Tokyo FM is leading its
industry in serving
as the provider of data broadcast services over FM subcarriers.
TFM introduced
its Visual Information Radio service in the spring of 1995 to 33
affiliated
TFM stations providing five channels of information at a speed
of approximately
400 pages per minute. As an example of their global commitment
to the
environment, TFM has produced numerous world-wide broadcasts
including
a concert with over 25 participating countries celebrating
"Earth
Day." According to Gotoh, "TFM's mission is simple - to enrich
people's lives with a dynamic, colorful range of cultural
expressions
through the broadcast media and related activities."
Click here for more on Tokyo
FM
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