DW has secured distribution of several lifestyle and culture programs on four leading Chinese video portals – including  v.huanqiu.com, youku.com, tudou.com and ku6.com. These new partners place great importance on offering high quality, interesting, relevant, international programming to their audiences and reach approximately one million viewers throughout China.  “Networks in China are clearly gearing to meet their viewers’ demand for information, insights and true-life glimpses of how the other half lives,” says Petra Schneider, DW’s Director of Distribution.  “Their choice for DW’s specialized content – all things European – indicates their confidence that our content will satisfy this demand.”

Among the titles that have been chosen are the Chinese editions of Global Ideas and Future Now.  Global Ideas showcases people whose innovative ideas are helping combat global warming – from Thailand to Honduras, Jordan, India and Laos. A multinational team of authors, researchers, TV and online reporters works on a multimedia presentation of the projects. The result is www.ideasforacoolerworld.org, an online platform that offers video content as well as background information on the topics.  Future Now presents 20 visionary scientific projects on the key fields of communication, the environment, mobility and health.  Other titles in English include everything from science to travel. Discover Germany offers a comprehensive travel guide to destinations across Europe.

 

It’s that time of year again. DW is looking for your suggestions for the eighth annual Deutsche Welle International Blog Awards – better known as the BOBs. Like last year, we’re accepting your favorite sites in 11 languages: Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, English, French, German, Indonesia, Persian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. This year our jury of media experts, activists and bloggers will meet up in Berlin in May to debate and decide who takes home top honors in the BOBs.

This year our “Special Topic Award” puts the spotlight on culture and education. This is also the focus of the 2012 Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum in Bonn. While we will certainly continue to commend the bloggers taking a stand for freedom of expression, we’ll also be playing special attention to projects and initiatives that look at the right to education and promote intercultural dialogue.

We have already received more than 1,000 suggestions. If you know of a blog that is worthy of a BOB, you better hurry up – we are only accepting suggestions until March 13!

 

Timeline

Until March 13: Suggest the blogs, websites and projects that impress you.

April 2 to May 2: Look over the nominees and in each category and vote for the ones you think represent the best of the best.

May 2: Sit back and find out who won as we announce the winners.

June 26: Come to Bonn, Germany, and meet the Jury Award winners at the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum.

Asia

DW has a new partner for digital television in Malaysia. Asian Broadcasting Network (ABN) started broadcasting DW in February. The digital cable provider has around 500 channels and is working on becoming Malaysia’s second largest digital TV provider. They are trying to acquire 500,000 customers by the end of the year.

DW is also now available around the clock in Tokyo with NEW IT Venture (NITV). The newly-founded Japanese IPTV provider will be broadcasting DW programming in English.

In Pakistan, DW’s English TV channel is now being offered in the Sindh province. DW recently signed an agreement with Orient Multimedia Cable Network und Sky Cable TV Network.

 

Europe

DW has expanded its online presence in the Ukraine by acquiring a new premium partner. DW content has been available on Ukr.Pravda since February 23. The website features news and information in Russian and Ukrainian and receives approximately 260,000 visits each day. It is currently second in the “News & Media” category from LiveInternet.ru. DW content – including full-length articles and links – can be found in a special section for international mass media on Ukr.Pravda. All articles appear with the DW logo and are prominently promoted on the homepage.

 

 

Guido Baumhauer, DW’s Managing Director of Distribution, Marketing and Strategy, was recently interviewed by TV Real Weekly about the upcoming changes at DW.

“This overhaul is actually the biggest in Deutsche Welle’s history,” Baumhauer says. “We are now bringing our multiplatform strategy to life.”

Find out more about what he had to say about the new direction DW is taking here.

Deutsche Welle (DW) will look different on February 6, 2012. We have set a new course for the future by announcing comprehensive changes to our programming structure, design and online services. At a press conference in Berlin on January 31, Deutsche Welle Director General Erik Bettermann referred to the set of changes as “a milestone for representing Germany better around the world.”

New changes to television include an expanded program for Latin America with 20 hours of Spanish programming daily. There will also be a new channel with 24 hours of English programming, broadcast in North America, Africa, Asia and Australia. DW will also offer additional channels in several regions: In North and Latin America and Asia, the second channel will be made up of 20 hours of programming in German and four hours in English.

In the Arab world, there will be a channel featuring 10 hours of Arabic programming and 14 hours of English; and in Europe, DW will broadcast 18 hours of English and six hours of German during primetime.

Along with the new television program and the completely redesigned website, DW will be creating a unified brand identity with a new corporate design.