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Sat-Birmingham News Report #: 005
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Sat-Birmingham News Report #: 005
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TODAYS NEWS: Tuesday 4th November 1997.
U.K.'s Carlton May Abandon India Satellite Channel
U.K.-based Carlton Communications said it is reassessing its 15 percent
stake in Home TV, an Indian satellite channel, after admitting the
project
"has had a difficult time."
Carlton paid seven million pounds for the stake in early 1996.
Other investors in Home TV include Pearson, which also has a 15
percent stake, Hong Kong media group TVB and Schroder Capital
Ventures.
DirecTV to Offer Remaining Weeks of Sunday Ticket Free To New Subs
DirecTV announced today that it will offer the last six weeks of '97 NFL
SUNDAY TICKET free to new subscribers.
The offer, which will run from Nov. 10 to Dec. 21, is available to all
new
DirecTV residential customers who purchase a DSS system from an
authorized retailer and subscribe to a DirecTV Total Choice
programming package starting at $29.99 per month.
NFL SUNDAY TICKET delivers up to 13 NFL games every Sunday,
allowing fans to receive up to 71 games between Nov.16 and Dec. 21.
Current DirecTV subscribers can receive the final six weeks of the '97
NFL SUNDAY TICKET and the entire '98 regular season by ordering
'98 NFL SUNDAY TICKET for $179 before Dec. 21.
DirecTV recently signed an agreement with NFL Enterprises extending
its exclusive Ku-band distribution of NFL games via NFL SUNDAY
TICKET through the year 2000.
EchoStar Announces 1997 Holiday Promotion
EchoStar Communications Corporation today announced its 1997
holiday season promotion for the DISH Network digital satellite TV
system.
The promotion, which will run from November 1 through December 31,
1997, will allow customers who purchase a system during that time to
receive either a free Self Installation Kit or $50 off a professional
installation.
This promotion will be supported by a national marking campaign that
will include point of purchase materials, extensive print advertising in
both newspapers and magazines, as well as television commercials.
"As with our 'Fall Install' promotion, we are pleased to continue to
offer
the best value for high quality digital TV," said Mary Peterson, vice
president marketing, EchoStar Communications Corporation. "A DISH
system is a great gift for anyone - even yourself. And the holiday
promotion simply makes this great gift even better."
DirecTV Japan Given Green Light For December Launch
The Posts and Telecommunications Ministry on Friday formally
approved DirecTV Japan and its 90-channel lineup for broadcast.
DirecTV Japan plans to begin broadcasting on a commercial basis Dec.
1 following trial services starting in mid-November. DirecTV Japan will
use 26 of the 90 channels for movies, 10 for drama and animation
programs and nine for music.
DirecTV Japan will be the second digital satellite broadcaster to
operate
in Japan after PerfecTV Corp., which is already up and running. News
Corp.-backed Japan Sky Broadcasting is expected to enter the market
next spring.
GE Swaps Lockheed Stake For Two Companies, Part Of Globalstar
General Electric will exchange a $2.8 billion stake in Lockheed Martin
for two companies controlled by the aerospace firm, a minority position
in a third business and about $1.5 billion in cash.
In exchange for GE's stake, Lockheed Martin said it is giving GE its
Access Graphics division in Boulder, Colo., Lockheed Martin
Aerostructures in Middle River, Md., and 5 million shares in Globalstar.
Access Graphics did about $1 billion in business last year. Lockheed's
Aerostructures, which makes thrust reversers for large commercial
aircraft engines produced by GE and Pratt & Whitney, reported
revenues of about $250 million.
GE acquired the Lockheed Martin preferred stock in 1993, when it was
worth about $1 billion, in exchange for its GE's aerospace business.
EchoStar Files Complaint Over Access To Fox Sports Nets
EchoStar Communications filed a pricing-discrimination complaint with
the Federal Communications Commission against Fox/Liberty Sports,
which controls regional Fox Sports channels.
EchoStar's complaint alleges discrimination by Fox/Liberty, a joint
venture between News Corp. and TCI-backed Liberty Media, through
pricing and licensing of its regional sports programming on EchoStar's
DISH Network.
EchoStar alleges Fox/Liberty's practices have also included, among
other things, programming packaging requirements and tiering
restrictions which the company believes are "much more onerous" than
those required of certain cable companies.
It mirrors a similar complaint EchoStar filed against Cablevision's
Rainbow Holdings, which also offers regional sports channels.
Hometown For TCI Endorses Home Satellite Rival
The mayor of Greenwood Village, Colo., the home of
Tele-Communications Inc., is endorsing another multichannel company
based inside the city as an alternative to the nation's largest cable TV
operator.
Greenwood Village Mayor David Phifer, citing "problem after problem"
with TCI's cable service, is endorsing satellite provider EchoStar
Communications and its DISH Network through a mailing sent to city
residents. The mailing offers free installation of home satellite
equipment,
a value of around $200.
It's viewed by many as another round of the in-your-face methods that
have helped DISH win cable subscribers over to its DBS camp.
The city has encountered trouble with TCI in the past. The city council
had threatened to revoke TCI's franchise last summer, and the operator
is under a six month extension recently agreed to by both sides.
Phifer said the city spent no money on the promotion.
Chinese President Visits Hughes Electronics
Chinese President Jiang Zemin visited Hughes Electronics in California
on Sunday, warmly greeted by a key business ally which showed off
automobiles and satellite technology sold to his country.
He was given a red-carpet greeting by Hughes and its parent General
Motors Corp. Exhibits describing communication satellites that Hughes
builds and China launches with its rockets were part of the visit
During his stop in California, Jiang intended to meet Gov. Pete Wilson,
address business and entertainment leaders and have dinner with
Chinese-Americans on the final day of an eight-day U.S. visit.
Security Hole Invites Outsiders Into Cable Modem Users Files
Working with his new @Home modem, a computer consultant in
Redwood, Calif., suddenly found himself looking at the personal files of
hundreds of other users on his system.
According to an article in Thursday's San Jose Mercury News, divorce
papers, income tax records, corporate merger agreements, brokerage
accounts and electronic mail were just some of the files opened via the
"Sharing" key on the Windows 95 operating system.
While cable operators are working on technologies to improve the
security of their networks, the shared nature of the network makes
security an ongoing - though little publicized - problem.
TCI Prepares For Move Into New Headquarters
Tele-Communications Inc. acquired a 43-acre site in the Meridian
International Business Center, south of its current location in the
Denver
Tech Center, where it plans to develop its future corporate
headquarters.
The new site will be complete within the next 15 months with
groundbreaking expected during the next several weeks.
The company will offset the cost of the new building by utilizing the
proceeds from the sale of its current facility which it has sold and
plans
to lease back until the new facility is completed.
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All contents (C) 1997 Neil Anthony Powell UK SATELLITE CONTROL
Some material (c) 1997 Dominic Sedghi, www.sat-net.com/sat-uk
and Skyreport (c) 1997 All Rights Reserved.
The above may not be reproduced without written consent.
Information is subject to change and/or may be incorrect.
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