Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU)'s 'Tehran declaration on media coverage of the Olympic Games' at the 44th ABU General Assembly in Tehran, Iran

The broadcasting union also wants the IOC to ensure that the free-to-air broadcast rights to the Olympic Games are sold directly to free-to-air broadcasting organisations in the ABU region.

The "Tehran Declaration on Media Coverage of the Olympic Games" was unanimously adopted by ABU members at the 44th ABU General Assembly in Iran on 3 November, which was opened by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

In his speech, Mr Ahmadinejad said that media had an important role in regulating and disseminating news and information, as well as preventing discrimination of the 'have nots'.

"You (the media) must do your best to create a brotherhood to promote peace and understanding," he said, adding that ABU members should share information and technological know-how to serve the best interests of the Asia-Pacific region.

The matter of discrimination was also addressed by the ABU General Assembly, which urged the IOC to adhere to the Olympic Charter by not discriminating against free-to-air broadcasters.

Rule 49 of the Olympic Charter states that the IOC shall "take all necessary steps to ensure the widest possible audience in the world for the Olympic Games". The charter also states that "any form of discrimination is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement".

In August 2000, the IOC issued a press release stating that "The Olympic Games are special to everyone, so everyone should be able to watch them on television free of charge".

In a press conference in Isfahan on 2 November, ABU President Mr Genichi Hashimoto said: "The ABU will continue to fight for the rights of the free-to-air broadcasters in the Asia-Pacific region to get priority in broadcasting major sporting events."

The ABU is also urging Asia-Pacific governments to enact laws to ensure that the Olympic Games are kept on free-to-air television for viewing by the general public.

The ABU, which negotiates broadcast rights fees on behalf of its members via a sports pool, has been facing a lot of pressure to "unbundle" the broadcast rights to sporting events, as governing bodies of various sports were keen to sell them separately to operators of different media platforms.

Election of New Vice-Presidents

The 44th ABU General Assembly in Tehran also elected two new Vice-Presidents. They are Manuel Goncalves of Teledifusao de Macau (TDM) of Macau and Dr Hasan Khojasteh of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting.

One Vice-President post fell vacant when Radio Television Hong Kong's (RTHK) Mr Chu Pui-hing retired as Director of Broadcasting from the Hong Kong public broadcaster in July this year. Under the ABU statutes, Mr Chu automatically relinquished his post in the broadcasting union when he left RTHK.

The other post became vacant when First Vice President of the IRIB-Iran, Mr Mohammad Honardoost, died from a heart attack on 29 September.

Mr Honardoost was a serving as Vice-President of the ABU at the time of his death. HE had been a Vice-President since January 2004.

The other Vice-President of the ABU is Mr Abdul Rahman Hamid, Director-General of Radio Television Malaysia. The broadcasting union is led by Mr Genichi Hashimoto, President of Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK) of Japan.

The Korean Broadcasting System, RTHK-Hong Kong and IRIB-Iran were also re-elected to the ABU Administrative Council, the decision-making body of the broadcasting union. Bhutan Broadcasting Service was elected to the council for the first time.

ABU Prizes 2007

Radio and Television of the People's Republic of China (RTPRC) were the big winners of the ABU Prizes 2007, which was held on the first day of the 44th ABU General Assembly in Tehran on 3 November.

The Chinese state broadcaster walked away with two of the seven RADIO awards: the Children & Youth award for "Sound of the Nature", and the External Broadcast award for "44 Celsius and Rising: How We'll Live with Climate Change". It also received special commendation for its drama "Fragrance" and news programme "16 Seconds to Live or to Die".

Japanese state broadcaster Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK) garnered two TELEVISION awards: the Entertainment award for "Isao Tomita: Symphony for Buh Poh Soh" and the Sports award for "Shizuka Arakawa: The Bid for Gold". It also received special commendation for its drama, "The Vulture Part 1: Buy Japan Out!", and documentary, "Targeted for Takeover".

A total of 199 submissions that met entry requirements were received this year. Out of this number, 141 were for the TV categories and the remaining 58 were for the radio categories.

Also honoured was Thai broadcaster MCOT, winner of the Dennis Anthony Memorial Award. The award is presented to the best news coverage of the year by a member of Asiavision, the ABU daily news exchange. It is offered by CNN and is named after Dennis Anthony, former ABU Senior Officer of News, who died in 1996.

Two broadcast excellence awards were also presented on the same night. The ABU Broadcast Engineering Excellence Award was presented to Mr Kim Sangjin of Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS-Korea).

The annual award, which recognises contributions of an outstanding nature in broadcast engineering and in related disciplines, has been enhanced by a sponsorship by Sony Corporation Hong Kong Limited.

The ABU Engineering Industry Excellence Award was presented to Mr Ding Wenhua of Radio and Television of the People's Republic of China/China Central Television. The award recognises the most outstanding engineering contribution made by an individual to the broadcasting industry in the Asia-Pacific region.

The full lists of the ABU Prizes 2007 winners are provided below:

ABU Prizes 2007 RADIO Categories

Category/ Title/ Organisation

Drama
The Cure of Osteopetrosis
Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK-Hong Kong)

Infotainment
Barbie (Doll)
Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB-Iran)

Children & Youth
Sound of the Nature
Radio and Television of the People's Republic of China/China National Radio (RTPRC/CNR-China)

News
Radio Patrol News
Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas/ABS-CBM (KBP/ABS-CBN-Philippines)

Documentary
Rising Mercury - Deepening Crisis
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC-United Kingdom)

External Broadcast
44 Celsius and Rising: How We'll Live with Climate Change
Radio and Television of the People's Republic of China/China National Radio (RTPRC/CRI-China)

Special Jury Prize
The Ballad of Conch Shell
Bangladesh Betar (BB-Bangladesh)

Special Commendation (Radio)

Category/ Title/ Organisation

Drama
Fragrance
Radio and Television of the People's Republic of China/China National Radio (RTPRC/CNR-China)

Infotainment
Moti Manika
All India Radio (AIR-India)

Children & Youth
The Path to Unification - The Dream We've Achieved
Korean Broadcasting System (KBS-Korea)

News
16 Seconds to Live or to Die
Radio and Television of the People's Republic of China/China National Radio (RTPRC/CNR-China)

Documentary
Little Yu-Jung's Big Challenge
Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC-Korea)

External Broadcast
Save Our Earth
Bangladesh Betar (BB-Bangladesh)

ABU Prizes 2007 TELEVISION Categories

Category/ Title/ Organisation

Drama
Blacky's Mother
Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS-Korea)

Entertainment
Isao Tomita: Symphony for Buh Poh Soh
Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK-Japan)

Youth
Growing Up & Growing Home
Special Broadcasting Service Corporation (SBS-Australia)

Children
Discovering China - Great Railway Journey
Televisoin Broadcast Limited (TVB-Hong Kong)

News
Woitade School
Fiji TV/Media Niugini Pty Limited (EMTV-Papua New Guinea)

Documentary
The Stone Poet and Mother
Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC-Korea)

Sports
Shizuka Arakawa: The Bid for Gold
Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK-Japan)

Special Jury Prize
Last Surviving Potters
Bhutan Broadcasting System (BBS-Bhutan)

Special Commendation (Television)

Category/ Title/ Organisation

Drama
The Vulture Part 1: Buy Japan Out!
Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK-Japan)

Children
Laundry Operation
Radio Television Hong Kong - RTHK-Hong Kong

Documentary
Targeted for Takeover
Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK-Japan)

New Strategic Plan

The General Assembly also adopted a new Strategic Plan for the years 2007-2013 which will guide the development of the union through these years. Five new strategic initiatives were included in the Plan:

That the ABU give priority[1] to the development of its content exchange network.

That the ABU encourage digital productions for multiplatform applications.[2]

That the ABU takes a proactive role in assisting members to preserve their archives.[3]

That the ABU assist its members in the transition to fully digital operations (including acquisition, production, media asset management, content delivery and transmission).[4]

Support its members in the delivery of public service initiatives.[5]