French propose ambitious

Pacific satellite television

FRENCH television and radio network, Reseau France Out remer (RFO) has asked TV members of the Pacific Islands News Association for their support in launching an ambitious “region al satellite television” (RST).

In making the offer, RFO’s director for international relations, Walles Kotra, described the initiative as “strategic.”

He deplored the persisting

trend that often saw images from the northern hemisphere flow into the southern one, but not the other way. But recent technological development, and the satellite tech nology, he added, now allowed for more space available for produc tions. The new space now remained to be filled with programmes.

“The battle for the contents is now launched ... Operators cur rently dig into every possible source for contents ... It is therefore easy to see that there are too many pipes and not enough to fill them,” he told media professionals from some 21 Pacific countries and terri tories.

Yet, the Pacific region was still absent from global media

broadcasts. With its latest Pacific satellite initiative, Kotra hoped to boost a real Pacif ic television, which would rely on RFO’s three Pacific stations, but also other sta tions from the region.

“A television that shuts itself is a dying television. We must therefore open our doors and our windows, open our islands and our countries.” The first RFO- Sat initiative started two years ago, in the Indian and Atlantic oceans and is to be extended this month to the Pacific region.

“These are images from the South, the images from the communities, from the people and the cultures from the South which are fed back to the North. For the past two years, RFO-Sat broadcasts every day about six hours of programmes on this satellite,” he said.

“The problem is, RFO cannot do this alone. Firstly because we do not pretend to represent the Pacific region alone. Second ly because RFO doesn’t have enough pro grammes available to fill a whole satellite

channel. So I make the following suggestion: why don't we make a programme together? Why don’t we create a Pacific channel togeth er-’

The idea was first implement ed in the Indian ocean, where RFO is now working in cooperation with national televisions of Mauritius, Madagascar, Seychelles and Comores.

Last May, an experimental regional television week was held with all those stations and pro grammes broadcast on the Canal Sat Indian ocean channel.

“There were schedules made, programmes exchanged, a lot of coordination work involved, but the result was very encouraging. And on that basis, we decided to offi cially launch the Indian ocean’s regional satellite television on December 4.”

“For the Pacific, the project is now on the table. But once again, we cannot and must not do it alone.”

“With a satellite channel becoming available for the Pacific next month, the regional TV project

could technically become real as soon as next year,” he anticipated.

He asked for the Pacific Islands News Association’s support on the matter.

“We feel the RST converges with PINA’s efforts for the Pacific media. But also for all of us, the Pacific media, work together to expose our peoples and our countries.”

Through its New Caledonia and Wallis & Futuna stations in the Pacific, RFO ran some cooperation and training programmes in the past twelve months with Pacific islands’ media. (PINA Nius) ■

With its latest Pacific satellite initiative, Kotra hoped to boost a real Pacific television