Change of name for NOS — the Dutch public-service broadcaster

From 16 September 2002, the public-service broadcaster in the Netherlands officially changes its name from NOS to Netherlands Public Broadcasting (NL/NPB).

It comprises:

• Algemene Omroepvereniging AVRO
• Vereniging De Evangelische Omroep
• Katholieke Radio Omroep
• Nederlandse Christelijke Radio Vereniging
• Nederlandse Omroep Stichting
• Nederlandse Programma Stichting
• Omroepvereniging VARA
• Omroepvereniging VPRO
• TROS

2002/03 – 13 September 2002

EBU Engineer appointed SMPTE Engineering Director, Television

In March 2002, Hans Hoffmann from the EBU Technical Department was appointed as the new Engineering Director, Television, for the SMPTE. This is an additional role for Mr Hoffmann, who will continue working for the EBU.

After his work in the joint EBU-SMPTE Task Force on harmonised standards for the exchange of TV programmes as bit streams, Hans Hoffmann served as Chairman of the Networking and File Management Committee of the SMPTE. His new appointment will further endorse the close partnership that exists between the EBU and the SMPTE.

Mr Hoffmann worked for many years for the IRT – which is the joint R&D institute of the ARD/ZDF, SRG and ORF – in the field of new TV production technologies. He was also involved in many project groups of the EBU's Production Management Committee (PMC).

In March 2000, Hans Hoffmann joined the EBU Technical Department as senior engineer. Here, he further endorsed his work in the area of new technologies for the TV production environment. Most recently, he has mainly been concerned with the issues of Compression, File Formats, Server and fully IT-based TV production scenarios. His particular concerns are the interoperability questions and the standardization needs of EBU members, which are now apparent from the use of IT systems in the overall TV production chain.

2002/02 – 25 March 2002

Major IEEE Award for EBU co-worker

In October 2001, Stan Baron was deservedly awarded the Charles Proteus Steinmetz award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), the world's largest such institute. This was for his contribution to the development of digital television, and the work cited included his efforts in the SMPTE, which has worked in close partnership with the EBU on many of the most critical technical issues in broadcasting.

For many years, Mr Baron was an active member of a host of EBU technical groups, a stalwart of the EBU Technical Assembly and a respected advisor to many EBU Members. He left NBC in New York during 1998 for retirement in Maine.

Stan's personal contribution to many of the fundamental parameters of digital television was extraordinary, and many of the concepts in the 4:2:2 standard were developed by him.

The EBU Technical Committee offers its warmest congratulations to Stan Baron.

2002/01 – 15 January 2002

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