Why are people starving in Ethiopia? That is exactly the question that the head of DW’s Amharic editorial team, Ludger Schadomsky and VJ reporter Bastian Hartig wanted to find out as they set out for Africa. The two are reporting from what is being called the worst hunger catastrophe in the last 60 years. The two DW reporters spent time in Dolo Ado on the border to Somalia, face to face with some of the 120,000 refugees that are there waiting for food. You can listen to one of their features here.

Africa
Alrai-TV, a channel in Kuwait, will start broadcasting DW programming starting in September. Alrai is the most successful channel in Kuwait, reaching around 60percent of households. It will include the Arabic versions of In Good Shape and drive it! in its line-up starting September 15.

Asia
DW-TV ASIA+ is making waves in Asia with three new deals. The English-focused channel is now part of the MAX3 cable network in Indonesia. The provider currently has 20,000 subscribers – a number that is quickly on the rise. DW-TV ASIA+ is also being broadcast to more than 50,000 subscribers in Tawain via SHIH HSIN Cable. The provider from Chiayi City has a line-up that includes approximately 50 channels. And in Myanmar, DW-TV ASIA+ has been picked up by the DVB-T provider Forever Group. This will make DW’s television programming available in Rangoon and surrounding areas.

Europe
The next phase of the extensive partnership with RBC TV is in full swing. The Russian channel is now using banners to link to content and articles on DW’s website (in Russian). The website from RBC is among the most popular in Russia, with approximately 1.5 million visitors daily and is the number one website in the area of “Info and News”. This latest development in online comes on the heels of two further programming partnerships – with a live feed and the introduction of GLOBAL 3000 earlier this year.

DW has a new number one in Kosovo. With telegrafi , DW has found a partner that can really deliver. The website has quickly become the best referral website for DW’s Albanian page. Telegrafi has included DW’s online news box on its homepage in the “News” section.

Experts from DW’s Albanian service will also be taking part in broadcasts from RTK (Radio Television Kosova) starting in September. DW’s journalists will be dialed in via video-phone twice per week.

Latin America
Deutsche Welle has entered into a comprehensive agreement with ARTV. The Chilean channel has been broadcasting the Spanish shows Cuadriga and Prisma since last month. In addition, DW and ARTV worked together on a coproduction on July 20, when DW’s Director General was in Santiago. ARTV has been operating for 20 years and is available via cable. The channel focuses on arts and culture, as well the cultural contributions of Latin America in the areas of history, society, the environment and human rights.

 

For the first time, one of DW’s shows was broadcast on free TV in Russia. GLOBAL 3000 – DW’s program on the environment and globalization – will be broadcast on Friday evenings on RBC TV, with re-runs on Saturdays and Sundays. The broadcaster is promoting the new show online and during its daily line-up on air.

For the Russian version of GLOBAL 3000, DW delivers a specially-edited, 21-minute long version – optimized for RBC TV. The Russian channel is the leader in business and informational programming and can be seen in more than 600 cities in Russia. DW and RBC TV have been working together since May – GLOBAL 3000 was broadcast for the first time by RBC on July 22.

DW Director General Erik Bettermann is currently in Latin America, presenting DW’s new television schedule for the region, with stops in Mexico, Chile Paraguay, Brazil, Panama and Colombia. Starting in February 2012, DW will expand its Spanish-language programming from two hours to 18 hours daily.

“Latin America is a continent with a lot of potential. Due to its political, economical and cultural relevance, it is one of our main target regions,” said Bettermann. “DW is already very important for information seekers and partners between Mexico and Argentina – and we want to expand this with more programming in Spanish.”

In Mexico, Bettermann and Germany’s Foreign Minister, Guido Westerwelle, spent more than an hour with participants of the “Young Voices” Media Dialogue. They answered questions posed by up-and-coming journalists from Germany and Latin America. Participants included prominent young media workers who are bringing their ideas, stories and projects to the public forefront – often in unconventional ways. They posted their impressions, ideas and questions regarding the Media Dialogue on the event’s blog. “A positive culture shock”, “A successful exercise in collective intelligence”, “The beginning of a sustainable network,” was how they described the meeting.

In Guadalajara, Bettermann met with officials from La Red – the largest public broadcasting network in Spanish-speaking Latin America – to sign a Memorandum of Understanding. The agreement solidified the two broadcasters cooperation in the future, with La Red integrating audio, video and online content into its line-up.

In Chile, Bettermann met with the country’s President, Sebastian Pinera, who said that DW could fill an important gap with programming and information from Europe.

Alicia Barcena, General Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), also sees the potential of the expansion of programming in Latin America. She said that Germany and Latin America have a lot to offer each other – especially in the transfer of knowledge in the areas of technology and innovation. Barcena and Bettermann signed a Memorandum of Understanding for DW’s participation as media partner in next year’s Latin America-Europe Summit in Santiago de Chile.

Bettermann appeared on “Media and Human Rights” a DW coproduction with ARTV. Host Gonzalo Caceres led the discussion with human rights activists and prominent journalists, as the talked about the relationship between the media and the government in dictatorial countries.

Interactive
DW and its team from New Media has developed a new WebDoc that takes the user on an interactive journey through the Favelas in Brazil. Christoph Kober shows the other side of Rio de Janeiro, with illegally-constructed houses, horrible supply of power and water, and streets that are normally controlled by violent gangs. Manguiera – Life in a Rio de Janeiro Favela is the latest infotainment application from Global Ideas. And, speaking of Global Ideas, the series recently won three design awards from the PromaxBDA World Gold Awards, including gold for “Art Direction & Design: Topical Campaign – News” and silver for “News, Open/Titles” and “Total Package Design – Print”.

Europe
Two weeks after the successful start of the cooperation with the Russian business TV channel RBC, DW started a similar project with the Russian IPTV channel Dozhd. Experts from the Russian editorial department in Bonn will be reporting three times each week on current topics and events. The broadcaster has been live since March 2009 and attracts a predominantly younger target audience.

DW-TV is now also part of the Turk Telekom network in Turkey. DW will be included in the Web-TV platform TivibuWeb which offers more than 90 channels and serves more than one million subscribers in Turkey. DW will also be included in Turk Telekom’s newly-launched IPTV service Tivibu Ev, which offers 113 channels and already has more than 22,000 subscribers.