At the 2013 World Media Festival in Hamburg, DW programming won three gold awards in competition with over 600 entries coming from 36 countries. The festival, hosted by intermedia, is an international competition that celebrates modern media. The DW documentary Schumann at Pier 2, an all access musical journey featuring special performances of Schumann’s four symphonies, won first prize in the category Documentaries – Arts. DW’s weekly magazine covering all things online, Shift – Living in the digital age, won gold in the category Documentaries- Magazine Formats. Namati’s World – The dreams and fears of a young coral in the South Pacific is a web documentary that tells the story of a 114-year-old brain coral with captivating underwater footage taken off the coast of the Pacific archipelago nation of Vanuatu. The multimedia production won the gold in Education and E-Learning. DW programming also received five silver awards in a wide range of categories.

Promoting democracy has always been important to DW and now you can participate as well! DW’s new multimedia special Power to the People showcases activists who are using modern media and technology to speak out for positive change in their countries. We give you an inside look at who is fighting to make a difference and the real problems they face every day. We also want your opinion! Users can get involved on DW’s social media channels and discuss questions raised by the thought provoking essays and inspiring stories featured every week. Political cartoons cast a light-hearted glow on serious issues and state-of-the-art graphics clarify the data. What do different protest movements have in common? What role does the west really play in promoting democracy and what is in store for the future of developing societies? The questions are endless. If you’re not already curious just visit the site.

Asia

DW programming is now available on Xunlei-Kankan, one of the largest online video platforms in China. The platform has integrated clips from the magazines Global Ideas and Future Now, which have been translated into Chinese, as well as clips in English from shows like Arts.21, Discover Germany, Global 3000, In Good Shape, Made in Germany, Euromaxx, Drive It! und Tomorrow Today. Xunlei-Kankan has more than 260 million users.

In Pakistan, DW content is now available on smartphones via UFone. The provider now offers its more than 2 million mobile customers DW’s English television program.

Learning by Ear is now available for mobile users in Afghanistan with Afghan Wireless (AWCC). The mobile provider has more than 4 million subscribers throughout Afghanistan and is offering the series as content via its interactive voice response (IVR) system.

 

Latin America

DW has acquired another partner for its Spanish television channel in Latin America with Claro Peru. The second-largest television station in Peru will now include DW (Latinoamérica) in its digital TV package. Claro is part of the América Móvil group – the leading telecommunications provider in Latin America with more than 300 million customers.

 

Africa / Middle East

Shahid.net and DU are now featuring content from DW (Arabia) in their programming lineup. The two IPTV platforms are new to the media landscape in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

English episodes of Learning by Ear are now available on Vodafone Ghana. By working with Yassu, the Learning by Ear content will be available on all mobile phones as audio on demand.

Earlier this month, the Facebook page of telenovela Jojo Sucht das Glück and multimedia project Destination Europe won top prizes in their respective genres. Jojo Sucht das Glück won a bronze E Learning Award in an international competition hosted by London-based Bizmedia. Destination Europe won an International Media Excellence Award (the AIBs) from the Association for International Broadcasting, also based in the UK.

The E Learning Awards are one of the most prestigious competitions in the industry. DW’s Esther Weingarten accepted the bronze for “Best use of social media for learning” in London.

The Facebook page for Jojo Sucht das Glück not only features supplementary info about weekly episodes. It is also a forum for fans to directly interact with the star of the show and practice their German. Users have even made fan videos about the telenovela and uploaded them to YouTube.

The AIBs honor excellence in international broadcasting, picking winners from entrants all over the world. DW’s Felix Steiner and Klaus Dahmann accepted the award for Destination Europe at a London ceremony.

The Association for International Broadcasting praised the project for its “first-rate multilingual, multi-platform approach, with extensive use of social media to provide real, relevant information to those seeking a better life in Europe.”

Europe

DW has created a platform for German-Turkish dialogue with Buluşma Noktası. The bilingual (German and Turkish) online specials will showcase how the two cultures are in constant exchange and dialogue. In the spotlight will be four culturally active individuals from Berlin and Istanbul – including the author and artist Werner Felten, journalist Sirin Manolya Sak, author Ahmet Tulgar and photographer Jochen Proehl. For six weeks, these individuals will be posting their views and opinions in a German and Turkish language blog.

 

Asia

DW has signed two new partners for Learning by Ear in Afghanistan. Radio Sabawoon and Radio Zindagi broadcast to the highly-populated and politically relevant provinces of Helmland and Herat. They join the existing partners Radio Ariana, Radio Nawa, the Afghan Independent Radio Association and Radio Amozgar as Learning by Ear partners.

DW gas been added to 15 new cable stations in Pakistan – including several in Islamabad, Lahore and Bahawalpur. The new cable stations reach a total of more than 270,000 households. There are now 262 cable partners that are including DW’s English program in their television lineup.

DW has also added a new television partner in Indonesia with the recently launched DTH provider PentaVision. The new pay TV provider will offer more than 50 channels in English and Bahasa and provide programming to viewers throughout Indonesia via the IPSTAR satellite. PentaVision is looking to expand to include 450,000 subscribers in the next three years.

Global

Deutsche Welle has signed an agreement with the United Nations expanding the partnership that was established five years ago. The agreement enables DW to supplement its television programming with materials from UN-produced documentaries. DW welcomes this as a way of enriching its internationally-focused television series like World Stories and Global 3000 with new perspectives and high-quality reporting from around the world.