Africa

A selection of educational programming from DW Transtel was purchased by Channel ED, a new knowledge and education channel based in South Africa. Channel ED was launched in December 2013 and is produced  in Johannesburg at Urban Brew Studios. The channel is a part of a programming package offered by the Pan-African digital satellite broadcaster DStv, which is operated by the South African digital media company, MultiChoice. Channel ED targets young adults and will broadcast to 49 countries throughout Africa.

Asia

The Pakistani business news channel Business Plus has just purchased an extensive programming package from DW Transtel. The channel has also carried the popular DW format Euromaxx since November 2013. Starting in 2014, Business Plus will be broadcasting nationwide 50 hours of DW Transtel’s travel and culture programming. Around 12 million households in Pakistan have access to the channel.

DW has also added three new partners in the Baltistan region of northern Pakistan. New Rakaposhi, Garden Cable Network and Shaheen Cable Network provide television service to around 10,000 households in the city of Gilgit. The Pakistani channel Zaiqa TV will also be broadcasting DW’s lifestyle and fitness program In Good Shape via satellite to a potential audience of 12 million households.

Latin America

DW has a new TV partner in Peru. Since October 2013, RPP TV, the news and information channel from Gruppo RPP has been broadcasting DW’s  En forma, Claves, Enlaces and Reporteros en el mundo. Around 1 million subscribers of the Pay-TV service, Moviestar TV currently pick up RPP TV. The channel will also be available via terrestrial television until the end of 2014, which should considerably increase the exposure of DW (Latinoamérica) to potential audiences in Peru.

Europe

The mobile livestream from DW (Europe) is now available in the Republic of Moldova on the country’s leading mobile carrier, Orange Moldova.  Since the end of 2013 content from DW (Europe) can be uploaded on iOS and Android mobile devices with the Orange TV App. DW is also available on Orange Moldova’s television news package and online at tv.orange.md.

Online

The complete video archives from DW in German, English and Spanish can now be accessed on Google devices via a Smart-TV App.

DW(English) is also available on Google Newsstand and Google Play Kiosk. Google Newsstand for Android mobile phones can be downloaded at the Google Play Store.

Guest commentary

Michael Trobridge, Editor at Kick off!

For football purists, German football has become the benchmark. Its top-flight clubs and the national team have crafted an attacking game that is at times breathtakingly attractive. There’s a real hope here this will finally be the summer that Germany takes home the World Cup after a 24-year drought. After the disappointment of 2010 in South Africa, the Germans are sure to be fierce competitors in Brazil.  And that can only be good news for the Bundesliga.

Fired on by Jürgen Klopp’s Dortmund and Bayern Munich under Jupp Heynckes and now Pep Guardiola, the league has been steadily building up a head of steam. Last season saw both sides contest the Champions League final. Bundesliga attendance is setting new records and clubs are in rosy health thanks to strict financial rules. Not only is the Bundesliga currently Europe’s top grossing league in both fans and profits, it has also become the testing ground for international stars drawn by the mixture of traditional football values and high performance. Increasingly, people are talking about Bayern and Dortmund instead of Barcelona and Manchester United. Success at Brazil 2014 would boost the Bundesliga’s reputation even further.

Of course, we always knew here at Kick off! that we were covering the most interesting football league in the world! But it’s taken the Bundesliga’s recent sporting and financial renaissance to really catch the eyes of the soccer world.

We want to serve that international interest with our new Kick off! Youtube channel, produced in English and starting now as the Bundesliga restarts after its winter break. We’re sharing our best interviews and exclusive insider peeks as well as some real pearls from almost a decade of DW’s Bundesliga TV show. Want to know what it’s like to hang out behind the scenes with Bayern at their training camp in Qatar or explore Rio as people there gear up the World Cup? Or play football on motorbikes? It’s all on the Kick off! YouTube channel!

The Bundesliga’s come a long way since it was founded 50 years ago with 16 teams and poorly paid players. In fact, you can see exactly how far with our award-winning series 50 years of the Bundesliga. It’s jam-packed with fabulous archive footage and is guaranteed to bring you right up to date with the world-class league the Bundesliga is today. Which, I believe, is where we came in.

 

 

 

Representatives from DW are at the 2014 NATPE conference in Miami to promote a selection of content from the DW Transtel programming catalog. Highlighted at the conference will be a wide variety of DW Transtel programming focused on Brazil in anticipation of the World Cup this summer. The multi-lingual programming package from DW Transtel will include a special in-depth look at Brazilian soccer culture with Joga Bonito – It’s all about Football!. The series illustrates how everyday Brazilians feel about hosting the World Cup and explains the important role soccer plays in Brazilian life.

Other highlights include Inside Brazil – A country on the move, which provides insight into how Brazil wants to present itself during the World Cup and important aspects social and technical development in Brazil. Features – All eyes on Brazil, delivers a colorful mix of popular Brazilian themes like Samba dancing, Copacabana beach culture, the wilds of the Amazon and exotic animals. Also featured with the package will be excerpts from DW’s award-winning environmental series Global Ideas with a focus on Brazil. The program covers important issues such as developing solar power and rain forest conservation.

DW Transtel offers international partners everything from documentaries to sports, music and children’s shows in English, Arabic, Russian, French, Portuguese and Spanish. The annual NATPE market and conference is the only event of its kind in the United States aimed at the global television market with over 7,000 content providers, executives and buyers expected to attend this year.

 

How do societies around the world develop into functioning democracies and what does it mean for a country to succeed? It is easy to get lost when trying to learn about these issues, either in the endless lists of numbers or in the complicated explanations of history and bureaucracy.  But behind the numbers and world news headlines are real people who face the consequences of governance and are striving to improve their lives and societies.

The Bertelsmann Transformation Index (BTI) gauges the quality of a democracy by evaluating how developing and transition countries are transforming their societies towards democracies and market economies. The index measures both the status of political and economic transformation along with the management of economic and social growth by governments. The BTI is published every two years and covers 129 countries. You can learn more about how the BTI index works here.

In cooperation with the BTI, DW has created a new internet series called Secrets of Transformation comparing how eight transition countries have succeeded or failed in four categories across eight years of observation. The project introduces you to the ordinary people on the ground and takes you below the surface with personal stories and interviews with officials, journalists and social critics. Secrets of Transformation uses a unique multimedia format combining data journalism with visual effects and video reporting bringing the numbers to life.

The first segment, Separation of Powers, is already online and compares Indonesia and Hungary to see weather or not branches of government are being allowed to function independently or if power is being consolidated and controlled. Every two weeks two more countries will be featured. Issues still to be addressed are Fighting Corruption, Economic Growth and Freedom of Expression. Be sure to check in and get valuable insight on how the world is transforming. After exploring the issues you can share your reactions and thoughts in the feedback section and also learn more about what went into creating the project.

The series was introduced on January 22 by DW Director General, Peter Limbourg and Bertelsmann Foundation Chairman, Aart de Geus during a presentation and discussion session at DW Headquarters in Bonn.

In an interview with World Screen, DW’s Director General sheds some light on the organization’s goals for the future – including making a flagship channel in English and concentrating on the essentials for quality news reporting.

“My goal is to position DW where it should be, as a globally recognized source of information. By using our inherent German sensibilities to cover international news, we will offer new perspectives to world issues, as well as in-depth analysis and insights to help complete the picture. “

You can read the whole interview here. DW also recently announced the action plan for the next four years with details on the areas of focus. The press release is available at dw.de.