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Sat-na April 7,1997
Sat-na
April, 7
1997
This week in Sat-na
Ottawa approves DBS satellite
STAR TV Will Use Seven Transponders on PAS-4
Internet Group Taps PAS-2 Satellite
CBS Eye on People
The California Channel
EchoStar to add Data Broadcasting's AgCast
NBC Restructure's Partnership with Cablevision's Rainbow
EchoStar reports fourth quarter increase in revenues
The Chinese Channel
Hong Kong handover ceremonies available via digital
compression
Groupe AB
Pace Micro Technology
Polish Television USA Selects Microspace's
First HDTV Demodulation Chips Announced by Zenith
Enhanced Features PowerVu Command Centre 3000
CBS Eye On People Network using Avid Media
PanAmSat Officially Opens Teleport
DiviCom Technology Powers Space TV DTH Launch in Asia
Upcoming Launches
In Brief
Ottawa approves DBS satellite
Ottawa has approved Telesat's plan to build a new high-
powered Canadian direct broadcast satellite (DBS). Telesat's
plan, developed in co-operation with Spar Aerospace, is to
build a high-powered 32-transponder DBS satellite and place
it at 91 degrees west. The satellite, which could be in
service as soon as the fourth quarter of 1998. Most, if not
all, Canadian DTH programmers would then use this
satellite.
STAR TV Will Use Seven Transponders on PAS-4
PanAmSat Corporation's PAS-4 Indian Ocean Region
satellite will serve as the transmission platform for STAR
TV's direct-to-home (DTH) television service in India. The
STAR TV service, called Sky, will use seven Ku-band
transponders on the high-power PAS-4 satellite, which is
capable of beaming dozens of television channels to
subscribers in India using rooftop dishes as small as 65
centimetres in diameter.
PanAmSat has conducted extensive tests of PAS-4's
ability to provide high-quality, reliable DTH transmissions
to India in all weather conditions. The tests, which were
performed in 1996, recorded DTH signal power and integrity
at reception sites in major population centres throughout
India.
Internet Group Taps PAS-2 Satellite
PanAmSat has added New Zealand to the list of more than
20 countries that access the U.S. Internet backbone using
PanAmSat's global satellite system. Internet Group, an
Auckland-based international Internet service provider
(ISP), is using PanAmSat and the PAS-2 Pacific Ocean Region
satellite to connect its users to the Internet with higher
reliability, faster speed and increased cost-efficiency.
Internet Group's PAS-2 service consists of 1.544
megabits per second (a T1 circuit) on the satellite's high-
power Ku-band Australia/New Zealand beam. The ISP links into
the U.S. backbone through PanAmSat's Pacific Ocean Region
teleport in Napa, Calif. Internet Group currently has
points of presence (POPs) in Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin
and Wellington, and is setting up its first POP on the
Australian mainland in Sydney.
CBS Eye on People
Group W Network Services has launched the new CBS Eye
on People cable entertainment and information channel using
Scientific-Atlanta's PowerVu MPEG-2/DVB digital video
compression system.
The technical services for the new channel are being
handled at all-digital facilities located at the GWNS Harbor
Plaza operations centre and Glenbrook earth station facility
in Stamford, Connecticut.
CBS Eye On People was launched on Galaxy VII on March
31, 1997. Uplink services are being provided from the GWNS
earth station in Glenbrook, Connecticut.
The California Channel
Owned and operated by a consortium of cable television
system operators, The California Channel is replacing its
analogue transmission system with PowerVu equipment.
Prior to implementing the digital system, public
service programming was transmitted via occasional-use
analogue satellite transponder space segment. Since this
type of segment is acquired on an as- needed basis, The
California Channel was continually moving its signal to
different satellites and dealing with migration and repoint
issues for its broadcasts. Additionally, it had to divert
internal resources to find new space segment and implement
the necessary changes when it wanted to broadcast. Now, with
its digital system, The California Channel only requires a 6
MHz of a transponder .
The in-the-clear digital signal is being received by
150-200 cable headends across the state using PowerVu
Commercial Satellite receivers, and at selected universities
where PowerVu Business Satellite receivers are installed.
The fully redundant system uses the PowerVu Command Centre
1000 for network management, signal security, and subscriber
access.
The California Channel encoder system, which went into
operation in mid-February 1997, is installed at the Spectrum
Satellite teleport in Richmond, California where all
satellite uplink activities are performed.
EchoStar to add Data Broadcasting's AgCast
The DISH Network will carry Data Broadcasting
Corporation's AgCast, a new data service designed to meet
the agribusiness information needs of U.S. farmers and
agricultural professionals.
The new AgCast service will be the first data broadcast
line-up to be carried by the DISH Network. AgCast, a
proprietary application featuring "push" software and
webcasting technologies, includes U.S. and international
commodities and futures pricing, news, weather, stock quotes
and market analysis from the five leading agricultural
advisory groups.
The service will retail for $34.95 a month and will be
available on the DISH Network in May; it is available on a
subscription basis directly from DBC.
NBC Restructure's Partnership with Cablevision's Rainbow
Rainbow Programming Holdings, Inc. and NBC Corp. have
completed an agreement in which NBC has converted its equity
in certain Rainbow networks to a 25% equity stake in Rainbow
Programming overall.
Prior to the completion of this transfer, NBC held
varied percentage equity positions in several individual
Rainbow services, including American Movie Classics, Bravo,
The Independent Film Channel, and several Sportschannel
Regional Networks.
As a result of this transaction, NBC will now also own
an interest in Madison Square Garden (MSG) properties
through its equity stake in Rainbow. Cablevision recently
announced an agreement under which its Rainbow subsidiary
will acquire a majority stake in MSG. The MSG properties
include the Madison Square Garden Arena complex, the Knicks
and the Rangers professional sports teams, and the MSG
television network.
EchoStar reports fourth quarter increase in revenues
EchoStar has reported fourth quarter 1996 total
revenues of $54.0 million, an increase of 33% as compared to
$40.6 million during the fourth quarter of 1995.
Total revenues were approximately $211.4 million for
the year ended December 31, 1996, compared to $163.9 million
in the prior year, an increase of 29%. These increases were
the direct result of the Company's increasing DISH Network
subscriber base.
EchoStar had approximately 350,000 DISH Network
subscribers as of December 31, 1996. EchoStar expects
operating revenues to continue to increase in future periods
as it expands its distribution channels and the number of
DISH Network subscribers increases.
As expected, EchoStar reported net losses of
approximately $44.7 million and $101.0 million for the three-
month period and year ended December 31, 1996, respectively,
as compared to $7.1 million and $11.5 million reported
during the same periods of 1995.
These increases in EchoStar's net losses related
principally to increased depreciation and amortisation
expense (including depreciation of the Company's EchoStar I
and EchoStar II satellites, launched during 1995 and 1996,
respectively), higher interest expense, DISH Network
subscriber promotion subsidies (i.e., subscriber acquisition
costs incurred in connection with certain DISH Network
marketing promotions), and increases in programming and
general and administrative expenses.
The Chinese Channel
The Chinese Channel Ltd has chosen Philips Electronics
as the key supplier of digital set- top boxes for its
planned launch of a digital television service Chinese
Channel Ltd will. under the name "TVB Superchannel",
broadcast digital programmes for 15 hours a day primarily
for the Chinese living in Europe.
TVB, one of Asia's largest television broadcasters
based in Hong Kong, and with operations in Taiwan and the
USA, is the majority 60% shareholder in the Chinese Channel.
TVB intends launching digital broadcast services world-wide,
and TVB Superchannel marks the start of a number of digital
television services for Chinese living abroad. Philips
Electronics is a likely supplier of equipment for these
future channels.
The digital compression and multiplexing system has
also been supplied by Philips, with transmission and uplink
to Astra 1E provided by NTL, Winchester.
The Philips set-top box is MPEG2/DVB compliant and will
receive signals from digital ASTRA satellites.
The box incorporates SECA Mediaguard conditional
access, and the Canal + Mediahighway application system. It
allows access to TV subscription channels, and will in
future have the capability to function interactively and
manage services such as "Pay Per View", "Impulse Pay Per
View" and "Near Video On Demand".
Hong Kong handover ceremonies available via digital
compression
Keystone released details of its turnkey, end-to-end
transmission service for the July 1, 1997, Hong Kong
handover ceremonies.
The service, consisting of four digital transmission
channels_three for full-time use and one for occasional_will
be available June 24 to July 3, 1997.
Using Keystone's Pacific Skylink on the Intelsat 180-
degree satellite, the service will be supported from Hong
Kong by Keystone and its Pacific Skylink partner, Hongkong
Telecom. Domestic turnaround as well as return video to
Hong Kong will be provided through Keystone's Sylmar,
Calif., and Staten Island, N.Y., international gateways.
Given the scope and importance of this event, Keystone
will be deploying significant transmission resources centred
on a multichannel Scientific-Atlanta PowerVu digital
compression system. The PowerVu equipment has passed
independent testing at Intelsat, proving its
interoperability with other MPEG-2 and DVB-based systems.
Groupe AB
Groupe AB as of March 31, 1997 has 4,600 subscribers to
AB Sat, its digital DTH service of 18 thematic channels
which was launched at the end of December 1996. The number
of subscribers grew by 3,100 in March.
The Company also announced it has sold a total of
10,000 decoder boxes, including 7,000 during the month of
March, to approximately 2,000 retail outlets. The Company
has ordered the production of 20,000 new decoder boxes,
which will bring total production to 30,000 by the end of
May.
Subscribers to the AB Sat digital DTH service are
accounted for only after the consumer has installed their
decoder box, benefited from a period of free access to the
entire thematic package and communicated his or her
preferences to AB Sat. The time-lag between the consumer's
acquisition of a decoder box and the actual subscription is
approximately two weeks.
Groupe AB will also begin direct marketing to the
280,000 Canalsatellite subscribers who will soon be able to
receive AB Sat's service using their existing decoders, as
result of the Simulcrypt agreement between the two
companies.
Pace Micro Technology
Pace Microtechnology plc will pursue the development of
a family of DigiCipher II set-top boxes for the Tele-
Communications, Inc. digital network conversion.
TCI is the largest cable network operator in the United
States, with over 14 million subscribers. The Company is
introducing a digital component to its cable service, which
it has branded All TV, and the Pace set-top boxes will be
used for that purpose.
Pace signed a license agreement, reported in SJW, in
February with General Instrument for its DigiCipher II
conditional access technology and has already started
working on the integration of DigiCipher II with its own set-
top box technology. TCI's ALL TV digital programming
service will be Pace's first implementation of the General
Instrument technology.
Polish Television USA Selects
Microspace's
TV POLONIA, a Polish language channel, will soon be
available via EchoStar. To receive the programming you will
need TV POLONIA's smart card and the Echostar receiver.
TV POLONIA is produced and broadcast in Warsaw by
Polish National Public Broadcaster, Polish Television S.A.,
and available exclusively in North America through Polish
Television USA.
First HDTV Demodulation Chips Announced by
Zenith
Zenith Electronics Corporation announced what are
believed to be the first semiconductors for the digital high-
definition television (HDTV) terrestrial broadcast
transmission system adopted by the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC).
The integrated circuits_core components of digital HDTV
sets expected to be on the market beginning next year_will
demodulate the digital television (DTV) signal transmitted
by broadcasters. Zenith invented the FCC-approved "VSB"
digital transmission technology at the heart of the ATSC DTV
standard.
The VSB chip-set, fabricated by LG Semicon, includes
two ASICs (application specific integrated circuits), one
for synchronisation/ equalisation and one for channel
decoding. The sync/equaliser chip locks the receiver to the
VSB signal and removes both NTSC co-channel interference and
multipath distortion (ghosts) from the received signal. The
channel decoder chip corrects errors in the received signal
using powerful Reed-Solomon and trellis coding error
correction methods.
Enhanced Features PowerVu Command Centre 3000
The PowerVu Command Center 3000, the network
management, security, and decoder control system for
teleport and other network operator applications for
Scientific-Atlanta's PowerVu digital video compression
system, has been enhanced to provide additional management
and control capabilities.
The PowerVu Command Centre 3000 is a sister platform to
the PowerVu Command Centre 2000. Both systems include
decoder management associated with conditional access
capabilities, and both systems incorporate control of
compression equipment. The prime differentiation is the
control options within the decoder database.
The new PowerVu Command Centre 3000 features are:
Shared pool of decoders in database (headend decoders
can be accessed/shared by multiple programmers)
Scrambling control to the event level (turn on/off
scrambling with the Event Scheduler)
Multi-signal (supports up to 4 carriers and up to 40
Encoders)
Multiple frequency plans
Modulator Control from PowerVu Command Centre 3000
Software enhancements via downloads
Support and control of MetroMux option
DVB Common Scrambling support
Supports wideband data (13.5 Mb/s) option for use with
PowerVu Business Satellite Receiver
The scaleable approach in the design of the PowerVu
Command Centre enables users to purchase and implement the
right system for their application.
CBS Eye On People Network using Avid Media
CBS Eye On People has leased 24 Media Composer 4000
disk-based editing and finishing systems from Avid
Technology.
The Media Composer 4000 systems will be used by CBS Eye
On People production staff to edit and finish program
content for broadcast directly from disk, allowing for
faster turnaround of stories, promos and other pieces.
Currently, CBS News also edits and finishes segments of its
"48 Hours" weekly news program on Avid Media Composer
systems.
PanAmSat Officially Opens Teleport
PanAmSat has officially opened its teleport facility
that serves as PanAmSat's permanent satellite communications
gateway between North America and Asia. The multimillion-
dollar, 16-acre facility currently houses nine satellite
transmission antennas ranging in size from 2.4 meters to 15
meters
The Napa teleport transmits and receives signals over
PanAmSat's PAS-2 Pacific Ocean Region satellite, which
provides C-band and Ku-band coverage of the Asia-Pacific
region from its orbital location of 169 East. The teleport
also has the capability to access and relay broadcast and
telecommunications signals over U.S. domestic and Atlantic
region satellites and ground-based fibre optic lines.
Staffing at the Napa facility currently consists of 21
local engineering and support personnel. Broadcasters who
use the Napa teleport for transmission services over the PAS-
2 satellite include the BBC, China Central Television
(CCTV), Country Music Television, NHK and The Golf Channel.
DiviCom Technology Powers Space TV DTH Launch in Asia
Taiwan-based Space TV plans a May launch of a new
digital direct-to-home satellite television service for
Chinese audiences in Northeast Asia, Australia and North
America. DiviCom Inc. will provide headend and digital
turnaround equipment for the service.
Space TV will use DiviCom's MPEG-2/DVB-compliant
MediaView MV20 encoders in a system that combines and
retransmits signals on three separate satellites.
Additional DiviCom equipment, including multiplexers,
modulators and a system controller, complete this multi-
continent encoding and retransmission system.
In the initial launch, an MPEG-2 stream of eight
programs originating in Taipei will be sent via satellite to
SpaceTV's transmission centre in Brewster, Wash. There, the
programs will be combined with several film channels and
retransmitted over two satellites direct-to-home to several
countries including Taiwan, mainland China, Hong Kong,
Korea, Japan, Australia, Canada and the United States.
Using four 36 MHz transponders on three satellites
located at different orbital slots, Space TV Systems intends
to initially deliver eight channels of Chinese video
programming and ten channels of audio to its subscribers in
different markets. Space TV is aiming to expand its DTH
service step by step to Southeast Asia, Latin America,
Europe and Africa. It expects to establish a global DTH
network by using a total of nine transponders on seven
satellites to provide television service for Chinese
audiences around the world by the end of 1998.
Next Atlas Launch Next Ariane Launch
GOES-K April 24 , 1997 Thaicom --(delayed)
1:56am - 3:19 am ET
In Brief
Worldnet and VOA have moved to GE II, Transponder 14,
3980 MHz, digital
The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, upheld the "must
carry" law requiring cable TV operators to carry local TV
station broadcasts. The high court affirmed a ruling by a
panel of three federal judges that the so-called "must-
carry" provisions of a 1992 cable-TV law do not violate the
cable industry's free-speech rights.
Alcatel Alsthom NV is seeking strategic equity
partners to fund up to one-third of the total $3.5 billion
funding requirement for its Skybridge 64 satellite global
system.
Comcast Entertainment Holdings LLC has completed the
acquisition of a majority interest in E! Entertainment
Television from Time Warner. E! Entertainment is a cable
network that provides entertainment programming to more than
42 million subscribers. Comcast Entertainment Holdings LLC
is a joint venture between Comcast Corporation and The Walt
Disney Company
Sat-na is sponsored by TELE-satelit International
http://www.tele-satellit.com
and produced by Satellite Journal International
http://members.aol.com/satjournal
(c) Sat-na 1997
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