LAS VEGAS—EVS has announced a major deal Al Jazeera Media Network to deploy its live content management solution at five bureaus run by the international news organization in Doha, London, Washington D.C., New York, and Sarajevo.

“We are pleased to work with EVS to bring MediaCeption into our news production ecosystem,” explained Ahmad Al Fahad, executive director of technology & network operations at Al Jazeera Media Network. “EVS’s proven track record of delivering fast and reliable solutions, combined with their global technical support presence, gives us the confidence to meet the challenges of modern news delivery. The deployment of MediaCeption will not only enhance our operational efficiency but also bolster our ability to deliver high-quality, timely content to our viewers around the world.”

As part of the agreement, MediaCeption will provide Al Jazeera with a unified workflow designed to efficiently manage and edit live and near-live news content. Each bureau will have the capability to ingest multiple live feeds, browse, edit, and share news packages from a centralized storage system, and seamlessly playout news as events unfold, EVS reported.

The solution is scheduled to be installed in Q2, with Al Jazeera planning to go on air with the new system in Q3 2025.

The comprehensive solution from EVS includes XS-VIA servers, the new media asset platform VIA MAP, and the high-performance storage system XStore.

The deployment of MediaCeption will enable faster content turnaround, reliable and stress-free operations, multi-site collaboration, and certified integration with tools from leading technology partners, including Avid Media Composer and Media Central, as well as Viz Mosart, EVS said.

“We are honored to have been selected by Al Jazeera as their trusted partner for this transformative project,” Serge Van Herck, CEO of EVS, added. “Al Jazeera is a longstanding and valued customer, and we are excited to deliver a solution that aligns perfectly with the demands of today’s fast-paced news production environment. This partnership highlights our commitment to innovation, reliability, and customer success, and we look forward to supporting Al Jazeera as they continue to set the standard in global news broadcasting."

PARIS—Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN) and Globecast have extended an 18-year relationship with the launch of a new, comprehensive global distribution solution of the broadcaster’s suite of channels on multiple delivery platforms.

The pair began working together in 2006 with the launch of Al Jazeera English. Globecast now provides AJMN with a comprehensive suite of managed distribution services, including include global satellite distribution on five continents, along with terrestrial distribution to affiliates and a back-up cloud OTT platform for its suite of channels, Globecast said.

"Our partnership with Al Jazeera Media Network has been a journey of mutual growth and learning,” said Giorgio Giacomini, managing director for MENA at Globecast. “Their unrivalled technical expertise has consistently pushed us to innovate and excel, and we've learned as much from them as we've given. This has been instrumental in developing this next-generation solution."

Designed to maximize quality of service backed by reliable, round-the-clock supervision and support using a dedicated and resilient infrastructure with seamless switching capabilities, the setup will achieve a high level of availability and control that enables Globecast to manage and make any requested change in line with the priorities of AJMN, it said.

 "Working closely with Globecast allows us to deliver our content with utmost confidence, knowing that their expertise and technical prowess will maintain the broadcast quality our audience expects,” said Ahmed Al-Fahad, executive director of technology and network operations at Al Jazeera Media Network. "Their dedicated infrastructure, along with the seamless distribution and management services, is now vital for our continued success on a global scale.”

More information is available on the company’s website.

BURLINGTON, Mass.—Avid has announced that it has expanded its long-time relationship with global media conglomerate Al Jazeera Media Network with a multi-year deal that will transition Al Jazeera’s production operation into a cloud-based subscription service. 

The move is designed to enable better multi-site collaboration and remote production, the companies said. 

As part of the agreement, Al Jazeera will use Avid to completely upgrade and expand its news and programming creation workflows and connect teams distributed across its regional hubs – in Qatar, London, and Washington, DC – and its global network of news bureaus and other sites. 

“We’re very pleased to continue our long-standing relationship with Avid,” said Ahmed AlFahad, AJMN’s executive director of technology & network operations. “This new subscription agreement gives us a comprehensive end-to-end solution and all the flexibility we need, so that our journalists can focus on what they do best--telling the important stories of the day.” 

Al Jazeera is one of the largest international news networks in the world. Launched in 1996, it was the first independent news channel in the Arab region, and now broadcasts to more than 450 million homes across 150 countries. 

The new multi-year comprehensive agreement will convert Al Jazeera onto an Avid MediaCentral | Flex subscription model, giving them access to the latest platform tools and Avid NEXIS storage. 

It will also include a transition path in the near future from its existing hardware servers onto Avid’s next-generation software-based and cloud-enabled media ingest and playout platform, Avid | Stream IO, Avid reported.  

In addition, the new agreement comes with subscription licenses to Avid | Edit On Demand, Avid’s complete production environment in the cloud, allowing Al Jazeera to spin up the latest editing capabilities across its entire network of bureaus, while exploring all the possibilities of cloud workflows. 

“We’re delighted to extend our agreement with such a long-time customer as Al Jazeera,” Avid’s chief revenue officer Tom Cordiner explained. “This move to subscription provides them real flexibility and the latest functionality from Avid, while positioning them to take advantage of new upgrades to meet their future requirements.” 

 TORONTO—The World Broadcasting Unions (WBU) has issued a statement saying it is “profoundly shocked, saddened and extremely concerned about the assassination of Al Jazeera TV Correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh” on May 11 and the gun fire that wounded her colleague Ali Al-Samoudi who “is now in stable condition in hospital.”

“Abu Akleh and Al-Samoudi were clearly identified as PRESS and were standing with other journalists covering Israeli army raids in Jenin, in the northern West Bank, when shooting broke out,” the group said. “This aggression is an egregious breach of UN Declaration of Press Freedom, Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Geneva Conventions and UN Security Council Resolution 2222 on the protection of journalists.”

“WBU condemns strongly this aggression and emphasizes the need to ensure accountability,” the statement continued. “Therefore, WBU calls for a thorough, transparent, fair and impartial investigation into the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh and demands that Israel reverses its decision not to investigate the circumstances of her death.”

The death of Abu Akleh brought widespread statements of outrage from government officials around the world and comes at a time when violence against journalists has reached alarming levels. 

The Committee to Protect Journalists has identified 18 cases where journalists have been killed in 2022, including 7 in Ukraine. 

In a separate analysis Reporters Without Borders had identified 26 journalists and two media workers killed so far in 2022.  

The WBU also stressed that “the protection of journalists covering any conflict anywhere is of paramount importance to the WBU and to every global citizen who values a free press….The WBU calls for adherence to international law and guaranteeing the rights of journalists to do their work without fear, especially in conflict and war zones. No journalist should be targeted for doing their job.”

The group also expressed “our deepest condolences to Shireen Abu Akleh’s family, friends, and colleagues around the world to whom she never failed to take the time to share her warmth and passion for their lives and interests.”

BURLINGTON, MASS.—Avid is helping Al Jazeera Media Network head to the cloud, with the deployment of its hybrid cloud workflows. The new workflow will collaborate with Al Jazeera’s MediaCentral platform to assist with story creation and time to market for its programs.

The hybrid cloud workflow is providing Al Jazeera news teams immediate access to a common repository of assets—content, metadata and news run-downs—to assemble, enhance and distribute productions across the network’s TV and online properties.

The international news provider showcased how it is utilizing the Avid hybrid cloud at IBC 2017.

BURLINGTON, MASS.—Avid and Al Jazeera are continuing their strategic relationship with the signing of a Global Services Agreement and Global Product Call-Off Agreement. The pair have also announced a joint collaboration to develop and test cloud-based technology deployments of the end-to-end Avid newsroom system.

Avid is currently working with Al Jazeera on a long-term Avid Everywhere strategy for an open and integrated news workflow based on MediaCentral across its global news network. The next step of that process is the introduction of cloud-based capabilities into the Al Jazeera workflow and new hybrid cloud deployment models for its global news production infrastructure.

The infrastructure will be supported by the newly signed multi-year Global Services Agreement, which includes the supply of advanced services like system support, software maintenance and additional professional services tailored to Al Jazeera’s specific needs. The agreement also covers staff training on the technology’s latest features and functionality, as well as access to Avid Labs.

The Global Product Call-Off Agreement, meanwhile, offers Al Jazeera beneficial commercial conditions for all entities across its businesses worldwide. The agreement offers pre-negotiated pricing, terms and conditions.