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By | November 3, 1999

Investment analysts at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter say they expect BSkyB to achieve total digital sales of 2.4 million by the end of December. BSkyB’s net additions in the last quarter were 122,000 and this number "should be even better in the second quarter" (three months to December 31) according to Morgan Stanley’s analyst Vighnesh Padiachy.

But in an otherwise favourable report Morgan Stanley exercised some reservations about BSkyB’s possible involvement in Leo Kirch’s Premiere World digital platform. Morgan’s reservations centre on the strength of the free TV market in Germany and the disadvantages of the mooted BSkyB 25 per cent minority stake, leading to limited influence. "We think there is also a risk that management’s time and resources are diverted," said the report. The report also says that News Corp’s involvement in Deutsche Telekom’s cable sell-off "further complicates the picture."

Nevertheless, BSkyB remains an "outperform" stock for Morgan Stanley, priced at Pounds 6.90 (against current price of Pounds 6.51) and which sees continued subscriber growth as well as Open… and other new media activities "creating further momentum."

As to hard numbers by the end of the year, Morgan Stanley predicts an overall improvement in BSkyB’s DTH position, growing from 3.582 million (at the end of September), less churn estimated at 9 per cent (46,000), and some 345,000 analogue-to-digital subscribers, plus new and migrated digital subs of 584,000, taking the overall DTH total to 3.775 million.

On the question of digital churn, Morgan Stanley said that current rates are running less than 1 per cent, "although we expect a rise to about 5 per cent in the second quarter." The report says that so far the quality of digital subscribers provides us with comfort on BSkyB recouping its heavy investment.

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By | November 3, 1999

Kids Europe Announces IPO

Fox Kids Europe announced its Initial Public Offering the week before last. The offering is expected to close before Christmas. According to preliminary information, Fox Kids’ revenues this year were $74.7 million (Euro70 million), with 58 per cent ($45.1 million) coming from programme distribution, 31 per cent coming from the Fox Kids channels themselves and another 11 per cent derived from consumer products.

Currently Fox Kids is 100 per cent owned by Fox Family Worldwide, which in turn is owned by Fox Broadcasting (49.5) and Saban (49.5) with a 1 per cent stake held by Allen & Co. As part of the equity transfer into the new company Fox Kids Europe gets a 15-year right of first refusal on any programming produced or acquired by Saban. Saban also transfers its current programme rights to Fox Kids Europe, valued independently at some $480 million, which Fox Kids Europe will acquire via a mixture of debt, cash and new equity. Those rights extend to Israel and the Middle East.

Fox Kids Europe sees considerable commercial advantages through the Internet and e-commerce activity, and for this reason has already brought in-house Fox Kids’ merchandising and licensing divisions.

Fox Kids Europe has begun active negotiations to enter the German and Italian markets with its own channels. While one analyst sees no great hurdles as far as Italy is concerned, especially with News Corp ultimately owning a 35 per cent interest in Italian pay-platform Stream, Germany is seen as representing a major challenge. Nickelodeon lost $100 million from its abortive Nick Germany venture which closed last year.

Fox Kids Europe now has in excess of 15 million viewers, some 9.4 million cable and the rest DTH. However, the prospectus shows that in the UK, Fox Kids Europe’s oldest market, it has still to break through both in ratings or profitability. It launched in October 1996 and currently gets an audience share of some 0.3-0.4 per cent overall (6 per cent of kids audience), lagging well behind the market leaders. In France the channel fares much better. Fox Kids in France has already reached break-even, and is the number one channel for kids (28 per cent share compared to Disney’s 19 per cent and Cartoon Network’s 13 per cent).

Fox Kids revenue forecasts 1997-2004 ($m)
1997 1998 1999 2000e 2001e 2002e 2003e 2004e
Revenue 54.6 63.2 74.7 101.0 121.8 138.1 149.9 185.9
EBITDA 25.1 15.6 20.2 40.6 56.0 71.3 78.0 106.2
Profits (pre-tax) (1.6) (5.2) (4.0) (0.5) 0.7 1.2 1.4 1.6
e= estimate
Source: Company Data/Morgan Stanley Dean Witter
Fox Kids channel revenue analysis
% of revenue % of revenue
UK 24 Nordic 3
Germany 23 Poland 2
France 21 Spain/Portugal 2
Italy 17 Others 3
Benelux 5
Source: Morgan Stanley Dean Witter

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By | November 3, 1999

Hackers have apparently managed to crack the encryption systems of most Europe’s major pay-TV operators, according to a report in weekly German news magazine Focus. The magazine said in a report that hackers had placed the necessary decryption codes on the Internet. Also, some dealers in Germany sell manipulated smartcards for set-top-boxes in Germany which can be used for gaining illegal access, among others, to Premiere World and Canal Plus’ bouquets for France and Italy. Focus reports that in many cases, the codes are downloaded from the Internet and then written onto original cards which are sold together with set-top-boxes, adding that for example a Bavarian dealer made a profit of more than DM30,000 (Euro15,000) in one month by selling those manipulated cards. In particular non-German residents who want to receive their domestic TV channels pay up to DM600 for an illegal smartcard.

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By | November 3, 1999

TPS has introduced a second decoder option, called Option Confort, to enable different members of the same household to watch different programmes on the TPS bouquet or to record one channel while watching another. The household is supplied with a second viewing card. The price of the option is Fr20 (Euro3.05) a month for the first year and Fr40 a month for subsequent years, plus Fr45 a month for rental of a second decoder. The second decoder must be used within the same household as the primary subscription. It must be connected to the same telephone line as the main subscription, enabling TPS to verify that the decoder does not migrate to a different household. The scheme underwent a pilot trial earlier this year, which was deemed to have been successful, although we have not obtained any figures.

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By | November 3, 1999

Norway’s Canal Digital is launching yet another service in its four Nordic territories of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. The newcomer, which will launch on November 8, is Cinecinemas, managed by Paris based Multithematiques, and already operating in France and Italy where one million subscribers have taken the service.

Cinecinemas will show films from the last three decades plus a few new releases, opening its first month with titles such as Striptease, Michael Collins and Mars Attacks. Contracts with leading Hollywood studios like Warner and Fox have been secured.

Cinecinemas will initially be on the air from 13:00 to 02:00 every day. The channel will be played out from the Stockholm office of Canal Plus, the a la carte price is set to SKr69 (Euro8) per month, but Cinecinemas will also be offered in various packages. Subtitling, mainly into Swedish, will be offered.

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By | November 3, 1999

The second failure of a Proton launcher in four months, and with it the loss of a satellite Russia badly needed, has left the hard pressed Russian satellite communications industry in a dire state. Interspace examines the consequences of the failure, both for the Russian launch industry and Russia’s satellite fleet…

The November 27 failure of Proton-K launcher carrying an Express-A satellite for Russian coverage from 80 degrees East will have a number of important repercussions.

First, the failure has meant that the Baikonur launch base is closed once again, for any kind of launch. The last such closure followed the loss of a Proton carrying a Raduga military communications satellite on July 5. The cause of failure was very similar to that which apparently brought about the latest incident: a failure of one of the four engines of the second stage of the four-stage rocket. A failure review board set up by International Launch Services (ILS) (the Lockheed Martin/Khrunichev joint venture which handles "export" launches using Proton and Atlas vehicles) double-checked the findings of the Russian commission. They agreed that the main cause of failure was a burn-through of a weld seam on the turbopump cover and nozzle.

It seems that the Kazakh government – Baikonur is in Kazakhstan and both launchers fell on Kazakh territory – is taking a much more serious view of this second, similar failure in less than four months. No-one was injured in either event, but apparently some damage to buildings was caused by last week’s failure. There was also alleged ground contamination caused by toxic propellants.

Reportedly, it cost the Russian government about $0.27 million in cash paid to Kazakhstan to get the site reopened in late August, and the amount levied this time around will be higher. The worst-case situation would be for the base to remain closed until the new Angara launcher is available (this burns kerosine and liquid oxygen, more environmentally friendly fuels) but could take years. It is believed this is unlikely to happen.

Two failures of government-sponsored domestic missions could revive old allegations that Khrunichev produces two varieties of Proton: one for ILS’ ‘export’ missions and an inferior model for Russian customers. This is strongly denied, but it remains possible that the latter missions get assigned older vehicles. It seems likely that there was a faulty batch of second stage engines, and it is hoped that no more of them will be used.

It has to be noted, however, that the first launch after the July stand-down – two Yamal satellites for the domestic customer Gazkom, used a "Russian grade" Proton and was successful. The fact that one satellite ceased operating once it was in orbit is irrelevant.

The following Proton flight on September 27 was of LMI-1 for Lockheed Martin Intersputnik (LMI), now part of LM Global Telecommunications. This was performed by ILS and was succesful.

After the failed Express-A1 launch last week, the next planned missions were for launching Garuda-1, the first of the GEO-mobile satellites for Asia Cellular Satellite Systems, and Eutelsat’s SESAT.

Garuda-1 was initially set for October 21, then put back for ten days initially, and just before the latest incident was again postponed to an unrelated need to replace the top Block DM stage, Now both are on indefinite hold. Also suspended are the planned and often-postponed flight of the next Zvezda service module for the International Space Station (now planned for February), and that of a Progress carrying fuel to de-orbit Mir.

More peripherally involved is the new Khrunichev-designed Breeze-M upper stage for Proton, This has been launched once (on the July Raduga flight) but of course did not get fired much less achieve orbit. ILS declines to use the Breeze until the Russians have tested it.

Meanwhile, what about the lost Express-A and its disappointed customers? This was to have been the first of three being built for bus manufacturer NPO-PM of Krasnoyarsk, with payloads built by Alcatel Space of France. The customer was Russian government telecoms service provider RSCC, also known as Kosmicheskaya Svyaz. SESAT, also booked for a "domestic" launch later this month, was a similar Alcatel/NPO-PM venture, but the customer was Paris-based international carrier Eutelsat. It is understood from Eutelsat that it planned to lease on capacity to both RSCC and the international Russia-based operator Intersputnik. The latter is also a partner in LMI.

In the case of both Express-A1 and SESAT, Alcatel’s role is understood to be purely that of a sub-contractor, with no involvement in such issues as insurance. It proved impossible to contact Alcatel programme managers following a holiday weekend in France, The satellite was reportedy insured for some $25 million or so by a Russian company.

Without Express-A1, the state of Russian satcoms remains dire. There are understood to be two early-model Express satellites in use, plus about nine much older Gorizonts, Most of these are in unstable and highly inclined orbits. Two other Express-As remain to launch, the second early in the new year (Baikonur reopening permitting). It is assumed that like the first, these will have 12 C-band and five Ku-band transponders. Further ahead, Alcatel has been cooperating with NPO-PM on an Express-K series carryng a significantly higher number of transponders and working life of up to 15 years.

Valery Timofeyev, deputy chairman of Gostelecom (state telecommunications) of the Russian Federation, recently described the Express-A programme as "a part of the global renovation of the Russian satellite group". The project is fully financed by the state.

He said that the second and the third satellites were scheduled to launch in the first part of 2000.

Ultimately, seven new Express satellites are planned. The $250 million project is to be financed by the Swiss Dal Miner Finance and American Power with the participation of Russia’s Gazkom. New contracts have been signed on building new Yamal-100 satellites with Alcatel payloads.

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By | November 3, 1999

Key:
D = Digital
A = Analog

105.5 degrees E:
Asiasat-3S
A. Zee TV has launched a new, exclusively Punjabi-language channel called Alpha Punjabi on 3900 MHz vertical in clear PAL. Alpha Punjabi will offer a mix of Gurbani (Sikh music), regular news bulletins, movies, Punjabi folk music, Bangra music and chat shows. There are already two other Alpha channels providing programming in Marathi and Bangla and a Gujurati channel is due on line soon.

42 degrees E:
Turksat-1C
D. In the StarDigital package on 11469 MHz vertical Star 1 (Kid’s Time), Star 2 (Ladies Life) and Star 3 Metro have all encoded in Nagravision. Star remains free-to-air however. Feed traffic for CNN Turk continues regularly on 10978 MHz vertical, SR 4685, FEC 3/4, VPID 1110, APID 1211.

36 degrees E:
Gals-1/2, Most-1, Eutelsat-II-F3
D. The parameters for Dig Italy on 12533 MHz horizontal have been changed. The PIDs are now V910, A911. The ITN feeds are still using 11096 MHz Horizontal, SR 5630, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256 but only occasionally. At other times SIS is carrying out tests here in MPEG-2 4:2:2 under the EPG banner "SISLINK TESTS". Video footage of the protests by Tibetans during the visit to the UK by the Chinese President, Jiang Zemin, was fed over 11088 MHz horizontal, SR 5632, FEC 3/4 on October 20 at 1845 for ITN in clear MPEG-2.

28.2 degrees E:
Astra-2A & Sirius-3
D. The long awaited radio package featuring a host of UK broadcasters is set to launch in mid November. Testing has already started in readiness for the new service. The line-up will be as follows: BBC Radio One, BBC Radio Two, BBC Radio Three, BBC Radio Four (FM), BBC Radio Four (LW), BBC Radio Five Live, BBC Asian Network, BBC World Service, BBC Radio Ulster, BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Radio Cymru, Capital Gold, XFM, Classic FM, Classic Gold (Capital Radio), The Mix, Planet Rock, Core, Virgin Radio and Talk Radio. With the exception of Talk Radio all of these audio channels will be free-to-air or at least soft-encoded requiring a Sky Digital receiver to decode the signal but at no cost to the listener. So far Virgin Radio, Talk Radio, Capital Gold and XFM can be heard on 12324 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 2/3 in clear MPEG-2 and occasionally encoded in soft Videoguard. Rapture, the channel aimed at 18-25 year olds and until now only available via cable operators who receive their feed via an Intelsat-605 digital transponder and a part time analogue service on Astra 19.2 degrees East, is to join Sky Digital’s Family Package in the next few weeks. So far no frequency details have been released. Asia 1 TV encoded on November 1. The cost for a subscription is Pounds 8.99 for a limited period but will go up to Pounds 11.99 per month soon. Asia 1 can be found in the EPG at Ch.682.

A. The one and only analogue signal available from this slot, the Sky testcard on 12324 MHz vertical, has gone. This was a very useful tool for satellite installers, both amateur and professional, in aligning dishes to this orbital slot.

26 degrees E:
Arabsat-2A & 3A
D. The Abu Dhabi Sports Channel has launched at 12548 MHz vertical in clear MPEG-2, SR 6111, FEC 3/4, VPID 33, APID 34.

19.2 degrees E:
Astra 1A-C & E-G
D. German channel TM3 has moved from 12610 MHz vertical to 12480 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4. Radio Vlaanderen International is to leave its analogue transponder at 10847 MHz vertical, on the back of Granada Breeze and.tv on March 31 2000. (See Eutelsat Hotbird 13 degrees East for RVI’s new digital service). Alice, a new Italian lifestyle TV channel is due to launch on December 15. The new channel will be accompanied by four audio streams providing English, French, German and Italian soundtracks. No frequency details are available yet. Three empty streams are up and ready to provide the Xtra Music Christmas audio channels on 12051 MHz horizontal. Pop Christmas, Hot Christmas and International Christmas are all due to launch by the end of the month.

A. World Radio Network is to launch a new German language service in January. It will be known as WRN EuroMax and will use the 7.38 MHz audio subcarrier on the back of MTV Germany at 11612 MHz horizontal which is currently occupied by WRN3. The Disney Channel UK on 11598 MHz vertical enjoyed a free weekend on October 29-31. For promotional purposes the channel was soft-encrypted in Videocrypt.

16 degrees E:
Eutelsat-W2
D. The feed for Channel 4’s Italian soccer on Sundays can be found at 11132 MHz horizontal, SR 6111, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256 in clear MPEG-2. Israeli feeds are occasionally present on 11131 MHz horizontal, SR 5924, FEC 3/4, V4194, A4195. On October 26 at 1820 the following caption was aired: "BEZEQ EHA 4.44". Also on the 26th, 11013 MHz horizontal carried a live feed from a prayer meeting by evangelist Kenneth Copeland. The parameters were SR 5630, FEC 3/4, V308, A256, EPG: "NTL UKI 457".

A. TVSH from Albania has been missing for a few days on 11178 MHz vertical. The Tirana-based channel normally broadcasts here in clear PAL from 1730-1930 daily.

13 degrees E:
Eutelsat Hotbirds 1/2/3/4/5
D. The Serbian channel Pink Plus is still jumping in and out of encryption on 12476 MHz horizontal and via its Eutelsat-II-F3 outlet. The RAI Sports Satellite channel has started intermittent tests on 11766 MHz vertical in clear MPEG-2, VPID 516, APID 654. 10873 MHz vertical is hosting a Dolby Digital AC3 promo via VPID 720. Erotel TV, a special service based in Mostar aimed at Croatians residing in Bosnia has joined the Croatian package on 12520 MHz. Erotel is encoded in Viaccess. Fiera di Vicenza, yet another offering from Italy, has opened on 12539 MHz horizontal, VPID 4355, APID 4437, replacing the Gold & Watch Channel and sharing the stream with Magic TV. The Vicenza channel was also available via a stream at 12111 MHz vertical, VPID 200, APID 201 before being replaced by TeleLatino Network which was present here for just 24 hours. Belgium’s Radio Vlaanderen International is due to launch shortly via the Belgacom package at 12476 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4 in free-to-air MPEG-2. Radio Montenegro has joined TV Montenegro at 12380 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, APID 3538. Not to be outdone by the UK, France Italy and many others, Greece has launched its own parliamentary channel. Hellenic Parliament has started on 12189 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4 in clear MPEG-2, VPID 512, APID 650. Egypt’s second TV channel, ESC2, is currently free-to-air on 12015 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4.

A. Shop America has launched on 11555 MHz horizontal in free-to-air PAL, sharing the transponder with Channel 7 Europe. Broadcasting times are: Shop America 0530-1600, Channel 7 Europe 1700-0000 daily. Eurotica/Rendezvous has been replaced by Adult X at 11283 MHz vertical. The new adult channel broadcasts in D2-MAC/Eurocrypt from 2300-0400. Outside of these times a free-to-air promo in PAL is played out.

10 degrees E:
Eutelsat-II-F4
D. Alongside the Austrian private channel, Wien 1, at 11004 MHz vertical on PIDs V1110, A1211 a new stream has opened. So far it is empty but the EPG data reads ">NULL LENGTH".

7 degrees E:
Eutelsat-W3
D. A "Best of Eutelsat" digital bouquet has launched on 11387 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4 with this line-up: Fashion TV (V123, A133), RAI Uno (V160, A80), TV5 Asie (V512, A640), ZDF (V570, A571), EuroNews (V2221, A2231), RTP Internacional (V4355, A4356), Radio France International (A642) and Radio France International Asia & Middle East service (A643). All of these are free-to-air. The Caribbean music channel Mizik Tropical appeared briefly on 11517 MHz horizontal, SR 20000, FEC 2/3, VPID 2305, APID 2306 in clear MPEG-2.

5 degrees E:
Sirius-1/2
D. Financial news for the Swedish service Forenings Sparbanken was fed over 12590 MHz vertical, SR 6111, FEC 3/4, VPID 4130, APID 4131 on October 20 at 0640 in free-to-air MPEG-2. The EPG entry was "Stockholm 1". Coverage of a live basketball match between Puchar and Koraca for the Polish sports channel Wizja Sports was fed over 12634 MHz, SR 6000, FEC 7/8, VPID 308, APID 256. The EPG data was "WIZJA TV OB1". Live horse racing from Sweden was observed at 1950 on the 26th at 12590 MHz vertical, SR 6111, FEC 3/4, V4130, A4131 in free-to-air MPEG-2 under the EPG banner "DIGITALSNG". On the same day at 1955 a recorded interview from Sweden with an NBA star was fed over 12630 MHz vertical, EPG: "TERACOM SWE7a". Live street interviews were relayed on 12615 MHz vertical, SR 7028, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256, EPG: "TV2 5grd EAST", in clear MPEG-2 for the Danish channel TV2 on October 27 at 1850.

3 degrees E:
Telecom-2C
A. A three hour feed from the Pan European Glaucoma Symposium was carried on 12643 MHz vertical in clear PAL on October 26 from 1800. Audio was via the 6.60 MHz subcarrier.

0.8 degrees /1 degrees W:
Thor 1, 2 & 3 & Intelsat-707
D. A new Swedish channel by the name of K-World is testing on 12303 MHz horizontal, SR 27800, FEC 3/4, VPID 518, APID 664. The channel’s full name is Kunskaps TV (Knowledge TV). The channel has just been granted a licence to join Sweden’s new terrestrial digital network too. Bratislava based Luna TV is set to launch on November 27 at 11540 MHz vertical, VPID 517, A660. The privately owned Slovak channel is already broadcasting a testcard on the stream. The channel says that they will soon start showing previews of their programmes prior to launch. Luna will also be available terrestrially in Bratislava on UHF Ch.40 in the UPC Slovensko cable network package. Danish state radio channels DR P1, DR P2 and DR P3 have started on 11592 MHz horizontal, SR 17500, FEC 3/4, APIDs 607/608/653 in free-to-air MPEG-2.

A. K-World is testing on 12054 MHz horizontal in clear D2-MAC in addition to its digital outlet.

4 degrees W:
Amos-1
D. Radio Television Serbia relaunched on 11441 MHz horizontal, SR 3440, FEC 3/4, VPID 4194, APID 4195 (left channel) in free-to-air MPEG-2 last week. This is primarily a service to supply its signal to remote terrestrial relays. Radio Belgrade can be heard via the right channel on APID 4195. On October 28 this message was broadcast via a caption: "At 1200 GMT we will change frequency on the Amos satellite. The new frequency is 11335 MHz, horizontal polarization, symbol rate 3.440 MS/s, FEC 3/4." Following this the channel did indeed change frequency to 11335 MHz horizontal.

5 degrees W Telecom-2B/D
D. Mezzo, the French cultural and classical channel, has launched on 11620 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 725, APID 735. The channel is currently broadcasting unencoded but is likely to encrypt soon. Two channels from Spain, Canal Agro Rural (V1821, A1831) and Bloomberg TV (with French audio track), have launched test transmissions on 11598 MHz horizontal. A mosaic screen showing testcards from Tv de Catalunya, TV Valenciana, Canal Sur TV, TV de Galicia and others was occupying 11598 MHz horizontal, VPID 1822, APID 1832, on October 26 at 1210. The EPG entry was "GCC OCC1". On the same frequency via PIDs V1823, A1833 a testcard overlaid with "Telefonica Sistemas de Satelites" was noted on the same day at 1215. At 1815 on October 19 this caption was noted on PIDs V513, A661 at 11493 MHz vertical; "Sima-yeh Moghavemat Tel. 0044 181 906 3721. Fax. 0044 181 906 3711". GMTV reporter Martin Frizzell was out and about on the streets of Paris on October 25 at 0555 trying to entice Parisians to eat British beef. The live feed was carried on 12585 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 122, APID 132 under the EPG banner "OCC1 TC2B". Live ice hockey for the Sport Live programme from German channel TV West was relayed on 11510 MHz horizontal, SR 6109, FEC 3/4, VPID 4194, APID 4195 from 1800 on October 26 in clear MPEG-2. The EPG entry was "Tadiran Scopus". "European Parliament Strasbourg. Output 2" over colour bars was sighted on 12585 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, V122, A132 on the 26th at 1905. A recorded interview with the British Ambassador in Paris was fed over 12585 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4 for BBC News at 1545 on October 27. 11510 MHz horizontal, SR 6109, FEC 3/4, EPG: "SRG FLAVIA 2", carried colour bars overlaid with "FLAVIA 2" on the 27th at 1825

A. It appears that all of Telecom-2 B & D’s analogue transponders have been switched over to digital. None of the usual France Telecom Saint Assise and Bercenay testcards are present any longer and there has been a large increase in MPEG feed traffic.

7 degrees W:
Nilesat-101
D. The Lebanese news channel NBN has been replaced by the Jordan Satellite Channel on 11747 MHz vertical, VPID 1010, APID 1210, which has moved here from 11823 MHz vertical. The Dubai Sports Channel has taken the place of Jordanian TV on PIDs V1001, A1201. The Dubai channel is also occupying an additional stream here on PIDs V1010, A1210. According to Nilesat, Dubai Sports will be replaced soon by two new-to-satellite channels from the Emirates, Dubai Business News and Dubai Drama.

8 degrees W:
Telecom-2A
D. Two GlobeCast promo streams have launched on 12627 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPIDs 1121/1141, APIDs 1122/1142 in free-to-air MPEG-2.

12 degrees W:
Eutelsat-II-F2
D. TeleLatino Network has been testing recently via an SCPC carrier at 11158 MHz vertical, SR 4340, FEC 3/4, VPID 4096, APID 4097 in free-to-air MPEG-2. The channel appears to broadcast mostly programmes drawn from RAI International, which still carries the RAI logo in the top left of the screen.

21.3 degrees /21.5 degrees W:
NSS-803 & NSS-K
D. Live tennis from Bratislava was fed over 11607 MHz vertical, SR 6109, FEC 3/4, VPID 33, APID 34 in clear MPEG-2 on October 20 at 1740. A presentation by the Harvard Business School entitled Ruling the Waves was fed over the GlobeCast Ch.1 stream at 11590 MHz vertical on October 21 at 1410. 11503 MHz horizontal, SR 5630, FEC 3/4, VPID 512, APID 640, is the home of Reuters feeds from its Moscow and Washington bureaux. On October 22 at 1320 a live interview in English from Moscow for an undisclosed recipient was fed here in clear MPEG-2. Whitney Houston’s new video was fed over the BT Washington stream at 11503 MHz horizontal on October 26 at 1220 (see also NSS-K analogue). Recorded video footage of Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco was fed over 11590 MHz vertical, VPID 1160, APID 1120 on October 26 at 1755. Live horse racing for the French channel Equidia, the successor to France Courses International, was fed over 11607 MHz vertical, SR 6109, FEC 3/4, V2021, A2031 in clear MPEG-2 on October 26 at 1845. The EPG data read "GCPOCC1". The opt-out programmes for CNN Germany continues to be fed here in clear MPEG-2/NTSC at various times throughout the day. On October 27 at 0615 CNN This Morning Berlin was being fed here under the EPG title "n-tv Berlin". 11550 MHz horizontal carried this caption at 1600 on the 27th, "ALICE PRODUCTION BRUXELLES. +32.2.230.23.45" over colour bars. The EPG entry was "9MHz, PAL, 2Audio". A live report from Wall Street in English was fed over 11590 MHz vertical on October 27 at 1600.

A. On October 19 at 1430, 11532 MHz horizontal was fired up with a "T.I.A.R Telepuerto Internacional Arganda" testcard in clear PAL. A few minutes later the transponder cut to a live press conference by "El Nuevo Grupo BBVA". A second-hop feed from Los Angeles carrying the video of the new Whitney Houston single, complete with cueing counter, was fed over 11497 MHz horizontal in clear NTSC on October 26 at 0735. The transponder cut to "Pacific Television Center" over colour bars following the feed (see also NSS-K digital). This same transponder was in use again later the same day with "TRANS WORLD INTERNATIONAL EYT V3. +44 181 233 5598" over colour bars from 1755 in clear PAL.

27.5 degrees W:
Intelsat-605
D. Some bad news for movie buffs. The Canal+ Vlaanderen package on 11476 MHz horizontal which contains Canal+, Canal+ Geel and Canal+ Blauw is reportedly to encode from November 8. This bouquet, downlinked from here by Dutch cable headends, has been available in the clear for some considerable time and will be sadly missed.

31.5 degrees W:
Intelsat-801
D. 10964 MHz vertical carried colour bars overlaid with "NTL Winchester Ad-Hoc MCR" at 1830 on October 20. No feed traffic was sighted however. NTL regularly uses Eutelsat-W2 for feeds but is seldom seen here. On October 26 at 1845 10975 MHz vertical was carrying colour bars overlaid with "SOLO SATCOM". This was followed a little later with a live feed from the Norwich-vs-Stockport soccer match for Sky Sports.

37.5 degrees W:
Orion-1 & Columbia-515
D. More news on the new UPC digital package at 12654 MHz horizontal in free to air MPEG-2. The bouquet, which currently contains three active streams offering Film 1, Extreme Sports and Club, will eventually provide seven channels to Dutch and Austrian cable households. It is owned by United Pan-Europe Communications and TeleKabel Wien. The additional four channels will comprise of Avante (for men), Sport 1, Expo, Reality TV. BBC News 24 and BBC Parliament have left 11534 MHz vertical. Both channels have been replaced by the famous BBC testcard featuring the young girl at a blackboard. This particular testcard is something of a rarity these days on terrestrial television now that BBC 1 & 2 are on the air 24 hours a day. One of the streams at 11665 MHz horizontal, on PIDs V1110, A1211, is displaying this message; "This channel is currently unavailable". The EPG entry is "ORIONDV8-1".

45 degrees W:
PAS-1
D. On 11642 MHz horizontal, SR 26470, FEC 3/4, VPID 1160, A1120 a regular, almost continuous, feed from the US network CBS is available in free-to-air MPEG-2/NTSC, complete with commercial breaks. On the same frequency via PIDs V1260, A1220, a test pattern overlaid with "WATERFONT NY MCC" is present.

All times in UTC unless otherwise stated.

SR – Symbol Rate
FEC – Forward Error Correction
VPID – Video Programme Identifier
APID – Audio Programme Identifier

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By | November 3, 1999

Leo Kirch’s digital pay-TV package Premiere World is to get some unexpected competition: Dusseldorf-based media house Rheinische Post plans to enter the German pay-TV market. Media company Deutsche Fernsehnachrich-ten Agentur (DFA), in which Rheinische Post owns a large stake, has applied for several licences for digital pay-TV channels at regional media authority Landesanstalt fur Rundfunk Nordrhein-Westfalen. No details are known about the content of the pay-TV services. DFA already owns stakes in several TV channels, including n-tv, NBC Europe/GIGA-TV and CNN Germany.

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By | November 3, 1999

National Geographic Television has added another UK digital channel, Adventure 1, from November 1. A company spokesman said the material is expected to attract younger viewers than its existing National Geographic and National Geographic plus one hour channels. The channel has a four-hour block rotated through 18 hours of transmission. Described as a "soft launch" it has a schedule that may be changed month-on-month, "but we are seeing how it performs" said National Geographic. Additionally, Scandinavian viewers will also get Adventure 1 as part of the Canal Digital service from Canal Plus/Telenor. BSkyB remains a joint-venture partner in Nat-Geo’s European channels.

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By | November 3, 1999

Fox Kids Poland will extend its transmission hours from November 20, closing at 2200 hrs. At the same time new station idents come into use. Fox’s Polish service now claims one million households, partly from the Wizja TV satellite service broadcast via Astra, with the balance coming from cable. Fox Kids services in central and eastern Europe will also see transmission hours extended, broadcasting from 0600-1900 CET. Fox’s central Europe feeds commenced in April this year in English, Russian and Romanian languages, delivered via DTH and cable.

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By | November 3, 1999

Two regional TV channels from North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany’s largest state, will launch on satellite next year. Media authority LfR last week granted satellite licences to NRW 1, Privat TV and NRW TV Fernsehen aus Nordrhein-Westfalen, valid for 10 years. Both companies aim to offer 24-hour general interest channels with strong regional emphasis. Besides satellite distribution, NRW 1 and NRW TV also are seeking space on North-Rhine Westphalia’s cable networks. LfR will finalise a revised cable allocation plan early next year in which both channels are expected to be included within the analogue offering.

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By | November 3, 1999

Hamburg-based record company Edel Music intends to take over 16 per cent in German music channel Viva. According to chairman Michael Haentjes, Edel considers its investment in the Cologne-based channel as a valuable strategic and long-term participation. He said that he expected the value of his company’s share to increase enormously during the next years. Viva was created in 1993 by major record and music companies EMI, Warner, Universal and Musik im Fernsehen. Edel’s entry is made possibly by Sony’s planned withdrawal as a Viva shareholder. Sony has been opposing the planned flotation of the channel. After the transaction which is subject to approval by the media authorities, EMI, Warner and Universal will each hold 24.9 per cent in Viva, Edel 16 per cent and Musik im Fernsehen 9.3 per cent.

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By | November 3, 1999

German general interest channel RTL Television can launch its planned digital thematic channels.

The federal anti-concentration commission, the KEK, at its latest meeting gave the green light to the licence applications, taking the view that RTL’s owner Bertelsmann/CLT-UFA would not gain dominant power because the new channels wouldn’t substantially increase the company’s overall audience market share. RTL plans to create four thematic channels centering around soap operas, news/magazines, action and "best of RTL". They will be accompanied by an electronic programme guide that uses OpenTV. Also part of the free-to-air RTL World package will be digital simulcasts of existing analogue channels RTL, RTL 2, Super RTL and Vox. Earlier, the directors of the 15 regional media authorities had approved RTL’s thematic channel licence applications, thus media authority Niedersachsische Landesmedienanstalt fur privaten Rundfunk can finally grant the licences at its next meeting.

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By | November 3, 1999

An alliance made up of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, Telecom Italia and German media magnate Leo Kirch may yet be the white knight that will save fledgling Italian TV network TMC.

The Florence-based TV network, which operates two TV channel (TMC and TMC2), forms part of Finmavi, a controlling company owned entirely by leading film producer and Italian senator Vittorio Cecchi Gori. For more than a year, Finmavi has been in search of new shareholders and although two US investment funds have so far stepped forward, Cecchi Gori has proved reluctant to sign a deal. The two candidates are ready to take between 30 and 40 per cent of Finmavi, through a confidential capital increase and the value of the transaction is said to be worth around L1,500 billion (Euro775 million). The strategic goal seems to be the floating of an additional 30 per cent of Finmavi on the stock exchange. However, the condition that needs to be met for this to happen is that TMC and TMC2 leave the holding, something which Cecchi Gori is reluctant to do, fearing that he may eventually lose the controlling interest.

In recent weeks, the prospect of an alliance between Murdoch’s News Corp, Telecom Italia and Kirch Group has emerged, with Silvio Berlusconi’s Mediaset possibly bidding for Cecchi Gori’s interests in the movie sector. Cecchi Gori, together with his top managers, seems to be aiming at some sort of arrangement similar to that which already exists in pay-TV operator Stream, where all of the possible partners, except Kirch, are already present. The three partners would probably be offered 45 per cent of TMC and TMC2, for a price tag of around L600 billion.

The major stumbling block seems to be financial. Market analysts estimate that Finmavi will close the year in the red. Although the company expects to report profits of L90 billion, the losses from the TV operation will certainly pass the L100 billion mark. The situation would not be so bleak, if Finmavi did not have a ballast of debts: on December 31, 1998 they stood at more than L1,800 billion, which represents a major increase compared to L766 billion back in 1997.

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By | November 3, 1999

A&E’s History Channel is expected shortly to confirm three new distribution agreements for the Asian and Far East region. Whitney Goit, executive vice president, A&E TV Networks, said the three markets will be Japan, South East Asia and India, and what Goit refers to as "greater" China. "We are not yet present in these three markets but by year-end we will be making announcements to start services in January or soon afterwards," he said.

History is currently concluding the partnership agreements, which include satellite and cable players. Goit said that in Japan the audience will be modest to start with, "measured as a few millions. In India and China the numbers will be much larger."

Goit said that History’s core content will come from its own archives, and that generally product will be dubbed into local languages with some interstitial material, and possibly local hosting inserted, to make the channel easily accessible. "We strive to put a product out there, so that the viewer sees us as an international channel with an obvious effort to relate closely to that local market."

The biggest coup is adding China to History’s coverage. "The Indian service is the easiest. The Anglo-American influence and point of view, and the sheer amount of English spoken by the middle-class makes them far less sensitive," said Goit, adding that he is confident History will do well there. "In China we are having to send every piece of material into the country in advance of being shown on air where it is checked. The mechanism is in place, but we are keen to create with the authorities a reputation for being ultra-sensitive and reliable to their needs. We want them to have programming that they are comfortable with, but it is a most difficult market. We will start with a block of programming so that they can see how serious we are."

Also high on History’s radar is distribution in Pakistan, Turkey and Israel.

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By | November 3, 1999

German media company Pro Sieben Group managed to increase turnover and profit during the first nine months of this year. Profit before tax climbed by DM10.3 million (Euro5.3 million) to DM166.4 million, an increase of 7 per cent compared with last year. Pro Sieben Media AG’s turnover increased by 10 per cent to DM1.480 billion, leading to a slightly lower return on capital which amounts to 11.2 per cent this year compared with last year’s 11.6 per cent. Chairman Georg Kofler attributed that to the high startup costs for Pro Sieben’s news channel N24 which is to launch on 24 January 2000. According to Kofler, all business segments – television, multimedia and merchandising – remained profitable. Kofler said that despite investments in N24, news agency ddp/ADN and multimedia activities, Pro Sieben Group was able to increase its profit.

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By | November 3, 1999

Italian pay-TV operator Stream has reported a record 120 per cent increase in subscribers to its digital platform for June. At the same time, Stream has announced that Corrado Sciolla (nominated by former News Corp Europe president Letizia Moratti) has left his post and returned to his previous job with responsibility for corporate business development at News Corp.

Meanwhile, the likelihood that Stream will soon switch over to Simulcrypt transmissions in Irdeto-Videoguard seems to be gaining force. The new system could be introduced in the first part of 2000, meaning that new boxes compatible with the OpenTV standard will soon appear on the market. A representative of Stream’s technical department told Interspace that "we will assure all our Irdeto subscribers the necessary support, guaranteeing a smooth passage towards the new technology: we have no intention of discriminating [against] those who have chosen to buy an Irdeto receiver…."

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By | November 3, 1999

The latest figures from Canal Plus reveal a total of 12.789 million pay TV subscribers in Europe as of September 30, an increase of 17 per cent over the previous year. International subscriptions grew 28 per cent. Some 3.4 million of them are for digital services, an increase of 65 per cent. The Canal Plus premium channel in France now has 4.5 million subscribers. Canalsatellite recorded growth of 285,000 over the past 12 months, possibly helped by an expanded football offer.

Internationally, demand was boosted in French-speaking Belgium by an August ‘cash and carry’ offer in shopping centres. In Spain, Canal Satelite passed the three quarter million mark while the premium channel subscriptions increased by 27 per cent over the previous year.

Canal Plus reported an improved performance in the Nordic countries, with close to 90,000 new subscriptions in the first nine months, compared with 30,000 for the year before. Canal Plus also claimed good results in Poland, with a 39 per cent increase in subscriptions to the premium channel. However, the total for Cyfra+ just edged up to 169,698 from the previous year’s 151,916. Although subscriptions in North Africa had declined since January owing to what Canal Plus calls "the highly seasonal nature of the business in this region", Canal reported that subscriptions were 11 per cent up on the figure for September 1998. Canal+ Horizons is to be marketed as a premium channel on the Canalsatellite Madagascar package, which launched in October.

Digital subscribers (in 000s)
France International
Sept 98 1089 996
Sept 99 1,534 1,907
Source: Canal Plus
Pay TV subscribers
France 30.9.99 30.6.99 30.9.98
Canal + (individual) 4,499,675 4,436,003 4,366,695
Canal + (collective) 321,754 319,007 292,491
Canal Satellite (bouquet) 1,248,518 1,196,083 963,744
NC Numericable 369,432 367,177 352,192
Total 6,439,379 6,318,270 5,975,122
International 30.09.99 30.06.99 30.09.98
Belgium (Wallonia) 190,776 187,991 171,297
Canal Plus (premium) 169,668 169,562 171,297
Le Bouquet (basic) 21,108 18,349 –
Belgium (Flanders) 181,906 179,598 166,036
Canal Plus (premium) 160,933 159,281 157,449
Canal Digitaal (basic) 20,973 20,317 8,587
Spain 2,458,510 2,396,502 2,111,679
Canal Plus (premium) 1,707,322 1,682,761 1,564,122
Canal Satelite (basic) 751,188 713,741 547,577
Italy 1,937,544 1,720,576 1,374,789
Telepiu (premium) 1,071,343 991,912 920,573
D+ (basic) 597,038 475,417 281,485
+Calcio (soccer) 269,163 252,247 172,731
Netherlands 281,329 271,797 244,087
Nordic Countries 692,938 635,095 531,948
Canal Plus (premium) 422,561 384,820 333,531
Canal Digital (basic) 270,377 250,275 198,417
Poland 471,132 452,414 245,835
Canal Plus (premium) 301,434 300,498 245,835
Cyfra+ (basic) 169,698 151,916 –
Africa 136,011 139,157 123,866
Total 6,350,146 5,983,050 4,969,537
Source: Canal Plus

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By | November 3, 1999

The satellite TV channel of Montenegro’s public broadcaster RTV Crna Gora has switched to a 24-hour format in clear MPEG-2. TV Montenegro will continue to broadcast in analogue five hours daily via the Eutelsat W2 satellite, in parallel to the new digital channel which is available on the Eutelsat Hot Bird satellites. Besides attracting a large percent of satellite viewers in both Yugoslav republics (Serbia and Montenegro), the channel is also available on cable in Slovenia (Ljubljana, Maribor and Kranj). According to the director general of TV Montenegro, Velibor Covic, there are plans to extend the channel’s coverage to North America. Also, programme agreements have been signed with TV channels from neighbouring countries, such as TV BiH and TV Banja Luka from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The satellite broadcasts of TV Montenegro, which uses a transponder supplied by France Telecom, are being financed by the international community.

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By | November 3, 1999

Liberty Media Group has signed a letter of intent to invest $425 million in the Lockheed Martin-backed Astrolink broadband satellite project. Astrolink was formed as a joint venture between Lockheed Martin Global Telecomm-unications, Telespazio and TRW with an initial investment of $900 million. The latest commitment should take the project over its target for equity investment. Liberty’s investment will make it the largest single shareholder in the project, with a 31.6 per cent stake. Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications will hold 31.2 per cent, Telespazio 18.6 per cent and TRW 18.6 per cent. Gary Howard, executive vice-president and chief operating officer of Liberty, said in a statement that the investment provided "a unique opportunity for Liberty to invest, with a strategic set of partners, in a global distribution network utilising leading-edge technology to take advantage of this important trend that will shape the world economy in the new millennium". Astrolink is scheduled to begin offering services in 2003.

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By | November 3, 1999

Pace Micro Technology’s share price rocketed last week thanks to news of its co-operation agreement with nine other technology companies to adopt a common, open standard for high speed broadband wireless internet services. During the week Pace’s stock hit Pounds 2.86 a share, for stock that during the past year has languished as low as 62p (and 26p in early 1998), representing a five-fold increase for shareholders who have stayed loyal to the company.

Pace has linked with Cisco Systems, developers of the technology described as "breakthrough", which is capable of delivering two-way wireless communications for voice, data and video and will be available to both the consumer and business markets. The coalition’s objective is to offer any organisation developing Internet products and services (whether delivered to the PC, mobile phone or digital television) access to what a statement described as a "best-of-breed" community offering wireless broadband Internet solutions. The basis of the technology is Vector Orthogonal Frequency Division Mutliplexing (VOFDM).

Besides Pace and Cisco, other members of the coalition include Motorola, Broadcom Corp, Texas Instruments, Samsung, Toshiba, Bechtel Telecommunications, KPMG, LCC International and EDS.

Pace CEO Malcolm Miller said "this new technology will radically reduce the cost and time in rolling out networks to deliver digital interactive TV, Internet, telephony and video-conferencing."

Cisco’s new wireless technology is claimed to work well in congested city, suburban and rural environments by overcoming the line-of-sight, distance reach, coverage and antenna size problems of existing proprietary wireless systems mainly in lower frequency bands.

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By | November 3, 1999

Capital Research and Management Funds, part of The Capital Group, will become a shareholder of KirchMedia. In return for a share of 3.5 per cent, the Los Angeles-based company will invest DM507.8 million (Euro259.6 million) in KirchMedia via a capital increase.

This transaction is based on an overall valuation of KirchMedia at DM15 billion, Kirch Group said in a statement. KirchMedia incorporates the Munich-based media group’s activities in international and domestic rights trade, production, free to air television and film technology. Capital Research is the fourth major investor in KirchMedia. In July Fininvest and Prince Al Waleed as well as Lehman Brothers acquired shares. Following the capital increase dedicated to Capital Research, Kirch Group, being the largest shareholder, holds 87.5 per cent with Fininvest, Prince Al-Waleed and Lehman Brothers owning 2.98 per cent each. Leo Kirch’s son Thomas will soon obtain shares in KirchMedia as well. The transfer of his stake in Pro Sieben Media AG to KirchMedia will be effective as of January 1, 2000. KirchMedia is the majority shareholder of the German TV channels SAT.1 (59 per cent) and DSF (100 per cent) and, through the deal with Thomas Kirch, will soon be a major shareholder in Pro Sieben, Kabel 1 and N24. In addition, it holds equity interests in the television operators Mediaset (Italy) and Telecinco (Spain).

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By | November 3, 1999

  • TVE Tematica, the company Spanish public broadcaster Television Espanola (TVE) created two years ago to make channels for Via Digital when TVE had a 15 per cent of the digital platform, is to be absorbed by TVE. The public broadcaster will now not only will make channels for Via Digital but also for other operators such as cable. TVE’s thematic TV activities will be managed by former New York correspondent Martin Dominguez. TVE-Tematica made five channels for Via Digital: Cineparaiso, Alucine, Hispavision, Canal Clasico and Canal Nostalgia. The other two channels from TVE (TeleDeporte and Canal 24 Horas) will continue to be part of the Sports and News divisions.
  • Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) Europe has appointed Barbara Salabe to the post of vice president and managing director of TBS Italy. According to the October 25 announcement, Salabe will be responsible for marketing, distribution and affiliate relations as well as business development for TBS channels CNNI, Turner Classic Movies and Cartoon Network in Italy. Prior to joining TBS, Salabe was head of marketing of Rome-based pay-TV operator Stream and had also worked with leading publishing group RCS Editori.
  • Private pay TV stations like Canal Plus Polska will not be able to buy exclusive rights to broadcast important events under an amended TV law recently passed by the Polish government. Another amendment to the broadcasting law raises the allowed share of foreign capital in Polish media from 33 to 49 per cent.
  • Middle East pay-TV broadcaster Orbit has abandoned its US$50 "minimum threshold" tier and dramatically dropped its charges for an expanded channel line-up. Viewers can now sign up to Orbit’s ‘Mega Bouquet’, comprising all of Orbit’s TV and radio channels for $59 a month. This is a dramatic reduction on previous charges where even watching CNNI cost $3 a month, and premium movie channels were charged at up to $20 a month.
  • The political changes in Pakistan following the recent coup have meant scrubbing plans for a 24-hour news channel (PTV3). Deposed Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif had intended the channel to counter what is seen as an overabundance of Indian news. PTV3 had been expected on air this week (November 1) and final arrangements were being made for the launch when the government was overthrown, a local news agency reported.
  • Flextech has signed to take up to five retail ‘zones’ with Open…’s interactive service. UKTV Shop and SceneOne will be the first to air next year, with Flextech having options to extend the service with ScreenShop and TV Travel Shop. UKTV, which is a Flextech joint-venture with the BBC, has appointed Catherine Mackin as channel editor on its flagship service UK Gold.
  • ShowNet was launched at last week’s Gitex information technology show in Dubai. ShowNet, a KIPCO-owned company, uses DVB-compliant Ku-band digital transmissions to deliver high-speed internet access to PCs with dishes turned towards Nilesat 101 at 7 degrees West.
  • Pan-European news service Euronews has added Portuguese as its sixth language. Euronews will start broadcasting in Portuguese from November 1. The service will go out on Portuguese public broadcaster RTP’s second terrestrial channel from 0800-1600 Monday to Friday and 0800-1000 at weekends. It will also be broadcast on RTP1, RTP Africa, on RTP’s international channel RTPI and on cable networks in Portugal.
  • Atlanta, Georgia-based US wireless and satellite communications specialist EMS Technologies is to provide hardware for BT’s planned Skyphone IP airborne high speed Internet service. BT is planning to offer a satellite delivered Internet service at rates of up to 64bit/s to aircraft in partnership with AT&T and Excite UK Ltd. The service is expected to cost between $60-70,000 to install.
  • Mark Albrecht has been appointed as president of US-Russian joint venture International Launch Services (ILS). He succeeded Wilbur Trafton, who has moved to Sea Launch.
  • It has been revealed that former BSkyB chief executive Sam Chisholm received a final bonus of Pounds 2.8 million when he left the pay-TV broadcaster in May. The amount was made up of salary as a part-time member of the board as well as a final bonus on leaving the board.

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