International Broadcasting Bureau
International Broadcasting Bureau
IBB Budget
IBB Budget
TSI Budget
TSI Budget
TSI Employees
TSI Employees
To enhance employee professional and personal growth, IBB established the Office of Workplace Support and Development (OWSD) that consolidates agency training and employee assistance resources to boost human capital. IBB negotiated an improved telework policy and secured remote access procedures to allow increased opportunities for employees to work remotely.
Direct is a platform developed by IBB for affiliates and digital partners to access video and audio content from all five networks. With BBG Direct, the online content service, affiliates have a streamlined, cost-effective and customizable way to receive broadcast-quality programming to distribute on-air and online to local audiences.
The IBB team, in partnership with MBN, released a new mobile application in June for Radio Sawa. The Sawa app, which is available in Apple iTunes and Google Play stores, offers seven custom, continuous audio streams in Arabic, on-demand episodes of Sawa’s most popular programs, easy access to the hourly newscast and an interactive Sawa Chat feature that allows listeners to respond to questions on relevant community issues. It ranked in the top three for music in Egypt, Kuwait, Jordan, Mauritania and Yemen, and hit the top 30 rankings in more than 25 countries in the Middle East and North Africa region.
IBB’s Office of Strategy and Development (OSD) has grown a successful strategy that places high-quality interactive reports on local affiliate radio and television stations. This strategy, as described in Growing Impact, has been especially effective in Latin America, where audiences grew by 20 million, and is being expanded to include newsgathering activities and professional exchanges.
TSI oversees and manages a broad array of technical functions and agency infrastructure, including IT support. TSI distributes BBG networks’ content in the most effective and efficient way to audiences in more than 100 countries. In addition to traditional radio and television transmissions, TSI maintains, operates and supports multiple delivery platforms including a satellite network, Internet capability and mobile devices.
In 2014 TSI installed a new FM transmitter for Radio Sawa broadcasts in Nouakchott, Mauritania; upgraded the FM signal in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; and replaced the FM transmitter in Ajloun, Jordan. In addition, TSI, in collaboration with VOA, launched two automated program streams using an advanced music software scheduling system: a 24/7 mobile feed in Hausa for VOA’s Dandalin program, and a 24/7 English FM feed for audiences in South Sudan. TSI engineers also completed a project to restore and upgrade 14 VOA FM affiliates in Haiti.
A combination of repairs, upgrades and new transmission techniques have produced exceptional operating results at transmitting stations.
As part of the U.S. delegation to the World Radio Communication Conference, BBG successfully lobbied for a proposal calling on member states to “take the necessary steps” to end jamming. BBG and other broadcasters further pressed the International Telecommunication Union for standards in geolocating the sources of harmful interference. BBG also worked closely with EUTELSAT, the agency’s primary satellite carrier for reaching Iranian audiences, to make jamming by the Tehran government more difficult.
In FY 2014, TSI’s Internet Anti-Censorship (IAC) team countered online censorship in 13 countries and supported 21 BBG language services. The team led the way in the battle against satellite jamming, working closely with other international broadcasters, the Department of State, non-governmental organizations, satellite operators and industry groups.
Half of the BBG’s funding for Internet freedom goes to RFA’s Open Technology Fund (OTF), which supports projects that advance inclusive and safe access to global communication networks.
In 2014, OTF funded innovative efforts for Internet freedom with projects ranging in scale and focus. Programs include avenues to improve access to the Internet, to support awareness of privacy and security threats, to enhance privacy, and to improve security from online threats. The IAC team expanded use of a mobile application for audiences in Iran. The Android-based app incorporates a social news reader, accepts user-generated content and provides a real-time chat functionality.
