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Sat-UK #141 30.10.97: SOGECABLE - UK TV - PHOENIX

Sat-UK Report #141:
- Sogecable moves termination date forward
- Phoenix prepares to move in
- Galavision to finally leave Astra
- UK TV prepares for cable and satellite launch
thursday 30th october 1997
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Email: dominic@bigrp.demon.co.uk
Sat-UK Web: http://www.sat-net.com/sat-uk/
UK Satellite Control: http://www.sat-net.com/uk-satellite/
And now the news:


---------- Sogecable moves termination date forward
(part sources: SATCO DX, Astra/SES)

Sogecable, the Spanish television company which holds the rights to such
channels as Cinemania and Documania, has brought forward the date on
which all of its analogue channels on Astra will end. The five pay-TV
channels were originally scheduled to leave on January 1st of next year,
but they will now leave on November 1st, Saturday, as a myriad of
changes takes place on Astra. All four transponder used by the channels
will be used by new or moving channels. Cinemania on 11,656 V will be
replaced by satellite-newcomer ORB 3, another German regional channel.
On 11,686 V, Sportmania will be replaced by Der Bildungskanal, a German
educational channel. Germany wins again, as Documania and Minimax on
11,009 V will cede to German channel Phoenix (see below). And finally,
on 11,068 V, Cine Classics will lose its space to another German
regional channel, Hessen Fernsehen. All five channels can now be
received in digital via Astra as part of the CSD (Canal Satelite
Digital) package.


---------- Phoenix prepares to move in
(part source: Phoenix)

Phoenix, the Germam documentary channel, which has been broadcasting on
Astra 1D for some time now, will supposedly move to Astra 1C on November
1st. Phoenix will start transmissions on 11,009 V on said date, but will
continue to broadcast on 10,891 H until December 1st, when a new channel
will take over this transponder.
The move comes as many German cable networks and satellite households
can still not pick up Astra 1D properly.


---------- Galavision to finally leave Astra

Galavision will finally leave Astra on November 1st this year, alongside
the Sogecable channels. Galavision was originally to leave Astra on
October 1st, but instead simply shortened its broadcast times on
September 1st, leaving the transponder to Sky TV for the rest of the
day, allowing Sky Travel and Sky Movies Gold to transmit from there.
However, Galavision is still not pulling the required viewing figures
from its Astra spot, and will have to leave on Saturday. The transponder
will thereafter be used by Sky TV all day. Galavision is also planning
to leave PanAmSat 1 in analogue soon, and will only be available in
digital.


---------- UK TV prepares for cable and satellite launch

UK TV has begun testing on Intelsat 803, in digital (MPEG-2/clear), on
11,058 V. The three channels UK Arena, UK Horizons and UK Style can
currently be found here. UK Gold, the fourth UK TV channel, is still
only broadcasting via Astra in analogue. UK TV has also placed a new
test card on 10,818 V on Astra 1D, stating that a preview video of the
UK TV Network will begin here on November 1st from 17.50 UTC. It is
still not known whether a UK TV channel will occupy this slot, but if
so, UK Horizons is the most likely candidate.


All contents (C) 1997 Dominic Sedghi, except where indicated. 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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