NEWS BYTES

Merlin Communications has secured a deal to transmit live Scottish Premier League football not available elsewhere on satellite with Albasat. The first match, Rangers vs Dundee, went out on November 28 via Merlin’s multiplex GE1E at five degrees East for reception in pubs and clubs in Spain and Portugal.

Fox Kids Europe, fresh from basking in the success of its Amsterdam IPO, has appointed Martin Weigold as chief financial officer, effective from December 6. Weigold, who will report to Fox Kids Europe chairman and CEO Ynon Kreiz, previously was vice president of finance for Walt Disney International.

Australia’s Nine Network and Seven Network have signed outsourcing contracts with BT Broadcast Services to pool and upgrade their international satellite contribution services. BT will replace the two broadcasters’ current US to Australia services with permanent channels on BT’s Intelsat 701 occasional use multiplex at 180 degrees East. BT will manage Nine and Seven’s existing space agreements and resell their capacity.

Portugal is to become the European Space Agency’s 15th member state. The official agreement will be signed by Portugal’s science and technology minister Jose Mariano Gago and ESA director general Antonio Rodota on December 15 and Portugal should join the organisation by July 1 at the latest.

Matra Marconi Space has been awarded the prime contract for the development and production of three METOP meteorological satellites for use in Eumetsat Polar System developed by ESA and Eumetsat, the European Meteorological Satellite Organisation.

Eutelsat has inaugurated regular television broadcasts to North America from Europe using its Atlantic Gate satellite capacity at 15 degrees West. Digitaly, the 24-hour Italian cultural showcase channel, was the first to use the position. The channel is currently available via Hot Bird 4 on 12.673GHz, vertical, SR 27.5, FEC 3/4.

Europe*Star has opened a regional liaison office in New Delhi, India. Ravi Sharma has been appointed as country manager for the Alcatel Spacecom/Loral Space & Communications joint venture, which plans to launch the first of two GEO satellites mid next year. The 30 transponder craft will have eight focused on India.

Canal Plus reportedly is planning to spin off its Internet arm, Canal Numedia, next month, with a view to floating it later in 2000. The move would be in line with previously announced plans to spin off Canal Plus Technologies, its television and broadcasting technology arm.

Norway will, as expected, retain control of the satellite activities of the combined group created by the merger of Telenor with Sweden’s Telia. However, the two sides are at odds over the location of the new company’s mobile activities, which could threaten to derail the merger. At the end of a fractious board meeting on December 9, the Swedish chairman Jan-Ake Kark exercised his deciding vote to give Sweden the mobile assets. Sweden will now be home to seven of the combined entity’s operating units, while Norway will be home to five, including the satellite and Internet units.

Arab Radio & Television is having talks which could lead to a four-channel Arabic-language bouquet being carried on Astra 2B. ART has recently signed with Asian programmer Bollywood For You (B4U) to carry the channel to Asian expatriate viewers in the Gulf as part of ART’s ArabSat programming. B4U went live on December 10 in time for the Islamic Holy month of Ramadan.

Mindport says it recently shipped its four millionth Irdeto smart card, and that it is now delivering cards at a rate of more than 100,000 a month from its Hoofddorp, Amsterdam, control centre.

Canal + Cyfrowy, operator of the Canal Plus digi-bouquet in Poland has agreed with Hungary’s Mediatech Media & Cabletechnology to develop "several heme channels for the Hungarian market," according to a company statement.

Minimax Hungary, a children’s channel, was launched on December 10, and will be joined by a movie channel in the New Year.

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