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Sat-UK #151 13.11.97: SIRIUS 2 - SKY BOX OFFICE

Sat-UK Report #151:
- Sky Box Office to start testing soon
- Sirius 2 information galore
- BSkyB's first quarter profits down
thursday 13th november 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:


---------- Sky Box Office to start testing soon
(part source: SATCO DX, part source: Mediatel)

As from November 17th, BSkyB will start testing its new PPV channels,
Sky Box Office 1, 2, 3 and 4. The four channels will show pay-per-view
movies, sports and special events from December 1st, the official launch
date. The channels 1-4 will be on 11,597 V; 10,877 V; 10,862 H and
10,847 V respectively. They will broadcast whilst the other channels are
not transmitting (although the simulcasts of Sky Movies Gold will be
replaced by Box Office). Sky have already acquired the rights to many
recent movies from such media giants as Buena Vista International,
Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros.. Movies will be
priced at around £2.99 per showing, according to early reports: once you
have paid for one movie, you can see as many reruns as you like. One
point to note - with Sky Box Office starting soon on 10,847 V (tp 58),
what will happen to Zomer TV which currently occupies that transponder?


---------- Sirius 2 information galore

Well, now that Sirius 2 is up in getting ready for tests, I thought I'd
give you all a little information on the new bird. Sirius 2 will be
positioned at 5,2 degrees east alongside Sirius (1). It will
theoretically replaced Tele-X, to the extent that the Tele-X channels
will be removed or transferred to Sirius 2 (although the only regular
analogue channels are already available on Thor 2 - Kanal 5 claims it
will move from Thor 2 to Sirius 2 as soon as possible). Sirius 2 will
use three different beams, targetting Scandinavia, Europe and Central
Europe. Both European beams should be receivable in South UK with a 60cm
dish or a little bigger, whilst the Nordic beam is still a bugger at
250cm, roughly the same as Sirius' beam. Sirius 2 will operate 32
transponder in the Ku-high band, from around 11,700 to 12,700. The
frequency chart for Sirius 2 is now in place at Sat-UK Web:
HTML - http://www.sat-net.com/sat-uk/sats/sirius2.html
Text - http://www.sat-net.com/sat-uk/sats/text/sirius2.txt
Sirius 2 listings will now also be included in the Sat-UK-Tab listings.


---------- BSkyB's first quarter profits down
(source: UK Satellite Control. News information copyright (c) 1996-1997
UK SATELLITE. Neil Anthony Powell. All rights reserved.)

BSkyB reported a fall in first-quarter profits, and said it expects
"flattish" results in the first half of its fiscal year as its launches
digital TV and pays for exclusive sports coverage. BSkyB's pretax
profits fell to 61.6 million pounds ($104.9 million) in the quarter
ending Sept. 30. The company reported 66.3 million in the
same quarter a year earlier. The figures coincided with the company's
annual meeting, where Mark Booth officially took over as chief
executive. Sam Chisholm stepped down after serving seven years as CEO.
The meeting was attended by Rupert Murdoch, whose News Corp. is BSkyB's
major shareholder. Tributes for Chisholm and Booth were delivered by
BSkyB chairman Gerry Robinson.


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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