The Webit.Festival in Sofia, Bulgaria brings together leaders, innovators and producers in technology, marketing and media to discuss big ideas and best practices. It is a truly international event, with 5,000 participants from over 60 countries. DW’s Managing Director of Distribution, Marketing and Technology Guido Baumhauer appeared at Webit for a panel discussion, The Future of Media.

Joined on stage by Didier Stoessel, CEO of NovaTV Bulgaria and Mattias Hjelmstedt, Founder of MagineTV, Baumhauer spoke about the importance and challenge of engaging audiences with content that is relevant to them. Baumhauer emphasized that actively reaching people is key to success. For example, by working with partners on coproductions, DW can produce content with regional relevance and succeed with programming tailored for different markets around the world.

After the event Baumhauer went more into detail about the future of media in an interview with Bulevard.bg, a Bulgarian media website.

“New technologies are changing the way the media industry works. A general trend is that the diversity of content continues to grow, ” said Baumhauer in response to a question about changes in the media business. “We have to continue to pay close attention to our target audience to make sure that they are receiving the content that they want.”

When asked if more traditional media like print and broadcasting were going “extinct” Baumhauer said, “It’s just another example of how ‘one size fits all’ doesn’t fit anymore. Today’s media landscape makes it possible for each individual to consume content – whether that be news or entertainment – whenever, wherever and however they like. For some, it’s reading newspapers in the park and for others it’s watching vloggers on their tablets on their train ride home.”

Baumhauer maintains that there will always be an inherent need for trusted and unbiased sources of news and media, even in the presence of social media’s growing dominance. “DW wants to ensure that our viewers and users have a balanced view of current events and pressing world issues – because people need a place to turn for credible information,” he said. “And while so many social media sources are mainly concerned about making something go viral, we are concerned about telling the whole story.”

 

 

For audiences across the Arab World, DW (Arabia) makes a valuable contribution to the media landscape with television that breaks taboos and publicizes sensitive social issues. The Arab Media Council in Amman, Jordan recognized this recently with the Al Haitham Arab Media Award for best Arabic youth talk show presented to Shababtalk.

Hosted by Jaafar Abdul-Karim, Shababtalk provides a forum for ideas and issues like freedom of expression, unemployment and women’s rights, which are important to young people in the Arab world, but do not receive media coverage. The show has become a voice for young Arabs.

DW’s Arabic programming is establishing a strong presence in the region. In 2015, DW won the Al Haitham award for best international broadcaster with Arabic-language programming. Shababtalk won the 2015 Arab Festival for Radio and Television Award from the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) for best talk show.

In 2015, Shababtalk went on tour across the Arab world with special episodes broadcast from Iraq, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt and Lebanon. A new series of on-location productions is also being planned for 2016. Launched in 2011, the show is a central part of DW’s programming strategy for the Arab World.

DW takes honors at Worldfest-Houston

Six DW productions from the series Euromaxx and Focus Europe also recently won awards at the WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival held in the US state of Texas. Founded in 1961, WorldFest is the oldest independent film and video festival in the world and recognizes outstanding creative excellence in film and video.

The Focus on Europe report Living with Terrorism won a grand award for its personal depiction of life in Paris directly after the terrorist attacks in November 2015. Also from Focus on Europe, the investigative report Alone Against Al-Qaeda , won a platinum award for investigative journalism. It tells the story of a Danish islamist who joined Al-Qaeda and then changed sides, putting his own life in danger. Bartered Brides, a report covering refugee families that are selling their daughters to Turkish men, won a platinum award in the ethnic/cultural category. Winning a gold award in the same category was a report on an aid worker helping refugees, Guardian Angel of Fugitives.

Euromaxx specials covering the 25th anniversary of German reunification also won awards at WordFest Houston. The broadcast “Euromaxx – Special Edition 25th Anniversary of German Reunification” won a platinum award in the category cultural/historical programming. Winning a gold award in the documentary category was the multimedia documentary special Generation 25,which portrays the lives of young people born after reunification.

This latest series of distinctions for DW show how the diversity and quality of DW’s productions resonates with viewers in different regions around the world.

The MIPTV conference in Cannes is one of the most important media industry events worldwide, bringing together executives and content producers to make deals and exchange ideas. Representatives from DW Transtel along with DW producers were in Cannes this year to discuss potential new coproduction projects and negotiate new content partnerships.

Two DW Transtel productions Art Beats and Farming for the Planet were highlights at MIPTV this year. The high-quality documentary productions from DW Transtel offer international partners a wide variety of content ranging from nature and science documentaries to culture and history. Another trend seen at this year’s MIP TV is the growth of online and mobile productions, which are a growing complement to traditional television formats.

Europe

DW (Arabia 2) has been broadcasting DW’s Arabic programming for Arabic-speaking audiences in Western Europe via satellite partner SES Astra since December. Specially developed news and educational programming from German public broadcasters ARD and ZDF is now also being included on the channel. Target viewers for DW (Arabia 2) are Arabic-speaking refugees and immigrants currently in Western Europe who can benefit from independent journalism and important cultural information.

South America

Brazilian TV broadcaster Climatempo will be carrying DW’s Futurando and Camarote.21 starting in April 2016and available with providers like SKY, GVT, Oi and Samsung TV apps. Climatempo’s technical range of 9 million households will significantly increase the presence of  these regionally tailored programs in Brazil. Climatempo’s website will also be integrating DW’s Portuguese for Brazil online content.

Africa

DW is increasing its presence in West Africa with numerous new partnerships in Niger and Burkina Faso. In Niger, TV Anfani is now broadcasting DW’s English channel. The expanded partnership also marks 20 years of broadcasting cooperation, beginning in 1996 between Radio Anfani and DW. Additionally, Shukrah FM and Radio Kaocen are now broadcasting DW’s Hausa and French radio programming to radio listeners in Niger. In neighboring Burkina Faso, the TV provider Burkina Info is now broadcasting DW’s English channel. And for the first time in the Loroum region of the country, DW’s French radio programming will be available via programming partner Radio La Voix du Loroum.

In South Africa, the motor sports channel Ignition TV and the business news channel Business Day TV from the Times Media Group are now carrying select DW programming.

German music needs a strong voice to be heard by the world and DW is actively involved.  Recently DW’s German music program PopXport was the media partner at an awards event organized by the German Commissioner for Cultural Affairs and the Media. The APPLAUS awards honored 64 outstanding independent clubs, and venues across Germany that help support young musicians and artists while contributing to a vibrant independent music scene.

PopXport already plays a large role in promoting German music as the media partner for the Initiativ Musik, a funding agency from the German federal government that supports new German music acts in every genre. Every month, PopXport features a new artist on the show.

The APPLAUS prize celebrates and supports small and medium sized music clubs and event promoters. The awards were divided into three categories with the top prize set at 30,000 Euros. A report on the awards ceremony is being aired on the PopXport episode starting October 16.