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.

Terrorism, extremism and corruption are things Ahmed Al-Basheer knows personally. The Iraqi comedian has lost two family members to terrorist militias and would face great danger if he returned to Iraq. Nevertheless, Al-Basheer maintains a strong sense of humor and directs scathing satire and absurd jokes at everyone from Islamic State terrorists to corrupt officials.

Every two weeks, Al-Basheer and his team use their own money to produce “The Al-Basheer Show” from a private residence in Amman, Jordan. Up until now the show had only been published online, and despite having more then 30 million views since its 2014 launch, no broadcaster would risk airing it.

As an advocate for freedom of expression worldwide, DW is now the first broadcaster to televise the show. Audiences throughout the Arab world can now watch The Al-Basheer Show in Arabic on DW (Arabia). In cooperation with Jordanian partner Al Sumaria, the show will be broadcast every Friday evening during prime time.  Al-Basheer has made a big name for himself and will make an important contribution to DW’s presence as a beacon for reliable news and free speech in the region.

By using humor to bring serious issues to the public sphere, The Al-Basheer Show represents a small island of free expression in a sea of extremism and oppression. The success of his program indicates that there are many people in the Arab world who relate to his message and understand the deadly absurdity that extremism brings.

 

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.

Online

DW’s online news content is now available in 20 languages on the news aggregator app Google Newsstand. Video content, where available, is also included as a YouTube channel along with the full-length news reports. Previously, DW had only been available in English on Google Newsstand.

The news app Bundle now includes content from DW Turkish. The app, which was developed in Turkey, provides users with news coming from 4,000 sources in 28 countries. Released in 2014, the app generates around 3.5 million visits every month.

Africa

DW has increased its reach in Kenya with a series of expanded partnerships. Hope Channel Kenya and Ebru Africa TV, both with nationwide broadcasting coverage, are now carrying a wide-selection of DW’s English television programming. Shine FM, a radio station based at Daystar University in Nairobi, is now broadcasting selected DW radio programming on VHF and livestream in English and Kiswahili. New Kenyan radio partners Wikwatyo FM in Kitui and Kisimaa FM in Kisii are broadcasting DW Kiswahili radio programs like Habari za Africa, Afya, Michezo and Vjana tugutuke.

In Tanzania, DW has also increased television and radio coverage with expanded partnerships. One of Tanzania’s largest media companies, AZAM media group, has increased its cooperation with DW and is now broadcasting one hour of DW Kiswahili radio programming every day on its new radio station U-FM. AZAM TV has been carrying a selection of  DW television programs since 2013. Also in Tanzania, Channel Ten from the Africa Media Group Ltd. is a new DW partner. The news and information channel now broadcasts the DW programs Conflict Zone, In Good Shape, Tomorrow Today, Made in Germany, Kick off! and Kino. Channel Ten is available via Intelsat 906 to audiences across Africa.

Asia

DW has a new cable TV partner in Vietnam. NetViet will be broadcasting the English-language programs In Good Shape, Drive it! and Discover Germany. The cable provider reaches 8 million people in Vietnam.

The national television network of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC), is now broadcasting the DW programs Global 3000, Shift and Treasures of the World. According to their own estimates, Rupavahini reaches more than 4 million households in Sri Lanka.

In Pakistan, DW’s English-language channel will be broadcast in its entirety on the basic package of the Karachi-based cable provider East&West Entertainment Cable Network.