NEWS BYTES. . .

Sogecable reported its full year results on February 24, with revenues of Ptas 152 billion (Euro 914 million) and operating losses of Ptas 6.9 billion. Total subscribers, including analogue, stood at 1,766,000. The company expects to break even this year. Sogecable said it would reveal plans for interactive services and Internet access over the next few months.

Last Wednesday (March 1), publishers and US communications group Hearst and the local broadcasting outfit Multipark launched Cosmopolitan TV, based on the Hearst women’s publication Cosmopolitan. This channel, with 24 hours a day of programmes, will be distributed by the V’a Digital digital platform and cable providers in Madrid, Andalucia, and Castilla y Leon, as well as Med Telecom. Cosmopolitan Television says it will add Portugal in the summer and other countries subsequently, after testing the public response.

Poland’s Nasza TV wants to change its name to 4 TV. The National Radio and Television Broadcasting Council (KRRiT) is considering an application, according to a spokesman for the KRRiT chairman, Joanna Stempien. The change of name confirms market reports about the joint investment plans of Nasza TV and Polsat. “We are carrying on joint talks on the matter of improving the programme offer of Nasza TV,” according to lawyer Jozef Birka who sits on the Polsat board.

La Cinquieme has received a 4.5 per cent budget increase for 2000, it was recently announced in Paris. Budget for the sat-caster is set at Fr846.8 million (Euro 129 million), and increase of Fr37.6 million, with Fr452.8 million earmarked for programming.

DW-tv is now available in over 100 million households, either direct-to-home or via cable. Deutsche Welle’s director-general, Dieter Weirich, recently presenting his 1999 reports, said that with this latest statistic, DW had even surpassed the goal it had set itself for the past financial year to extend the technical reach to 100 million TV households around the world.

SES’ raft of radio services will gain an exotic addition this summer if plans by Mallorca 95.8 FM Inselradio come to fruition. The German-language holiday radio from the Spanish island on which millions of Germans spend their vacation each summer intends to launch as a digital service on the Luxembourg-based satellite system (19.2 degrees East). The 24-hour schedule consists of music, news about Mallorca, world news, weather reports and information about events.

Israel’s Cable TV and Satellite Broadcasting Council has licensed three new TV channels: the Muzzic (MCM) channel for classical music and high-quality jazz; Nashe Kino, a Russian-language film and TV series channel; and a Hebrew-dubbed version of Hallmark.

The UK uplink provider Merlin Communications has signed an exclusive agreement with South African broadcast signal distributor Sentech, which owns and operates short wave transmission facilities. Merlin will promote Sentech’s transmission facility as part of its own global delivery network. Merlin uses Sentech to distribute the BBC World Service in Africa.

ZDF.doku, the digital documentary channel planned by German public broadcaster ZDF, will launch on April 1. This was confirmed to Interspace by Andrea Windisch from ZDF’s multimedia department. The channel will be available free-to-air to DTH homes via Astra (19.2 degrees East) and to cable homes, broadcasting between 1400 and 0900 CET.

The public broadcasters of Italy, Spain and France have agreed to form an alliance in terrestrial and digital TV sector, telephony and the Internet. The decision was reached by the presidents of RAI and France Television, Roberto Zaccaria, and Marc Tessier respectively and by the director general of RTVE, Pio Cabanillas. Among subjects discussed during the first meeting of the three delegations were the acquisition of TV rights for sporting events, exchanges and co-productions of movies and TV series, possible synergies for thematic channels, including one dedicated to the “art of living” as well as possible exchanges of shareholding stakes.

Gerry McSloy has been appointed as chief financial officer for FutureTV. McSloy previously was involved in consultancy work related to Internet start-ups.

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