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TELE-satellit News - 26 November 1995
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TELE-satellit
EUROPE'S SATELLITE MAGAZINE
International Satellite Broadcasting News
Number 79, Week ending 26 November 1995
By Martyn Williams
News Desk : Internet martyn@twics.com or CompuServe CIS:martynw
(c) TELE-satellit Magazine
TCI FORMS NEW FRENCH VENTURE
PARIS, France (TS) -- Tele Communications International (TCI
International) has formed a new joint venture company in Paris that
will result in new channels and programming for European, Latin
American and Japanese cable and satellite viewers.
The new company, Multithematiques, has been formed by the American
cable giant, Canal Plus and Generale d'Images.
For their part, the French companies will contribute their interests
in local television channels, 70% of Planete, 85% of
Canal Jimmy, 60% of Cine Cinemas and 60% of Cine Cinefil. Canal Plus
has also added its 50% interest in Spain's Cine Classics.
TCI will pump over $100 million into the venture over the next two
years to expand branding of the channels across Europe and worldwide.
BIG LATIN VENTURE FOR MURDOCH
LONDON, England (TS) -- Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation is
planning to make it big in Latin America. The company has announced a
$1 billion deal with two of the continent's biggest players in the pay
television business to distribute programming via satellite.
News Corp. will team with TV Globo, a massive Brazilian media
company that operates the country's biggest and most watched TV
network, and Grupo Televisa, the world's biggest producer of Spanish
language drama and operator of the Galavision channel in Europe.
The venture could eventually deliver as many as 150 channels in
digital packets from a new PanAmSat above the continent.
PANAMSAT TO LAUNCH LATIN DIGITAL PACKET
GREENWICH, Conn. USA, (PANAMSAT) -- PanAmSat has agreed in principle
to serve as a long-term satellite service provider for the Latin
America direct-to-home television service announced by News
Corporation, the Globo Organization, Grupo Televisa S.A., and
TCInternational Inc.
Under the agreement in principal, PanAmSat will contribute 48
transponders on its PAS-3, PAS-5 and PAS-6 satellites, which will
enable the DTH partnership to transmit hundreds of digital channels to
subscribers in Latin America and the Caribbean.
For most transponders used by the DTH partnership, PanAmSat will
receive revenue sharing commensurate with DTH subscriber revenues in
addition to minimum service fees.
PanAmSat will also hold the option to become an equity participant
in the partnership. "A powerhouse team representing four media giants
has chosen PanAmSat as a key, long-term satellite service provider for
DTH in Latin America," said Frederick A. Landman, PanAmSat's president
and chief executive officer.
"This is a remarkable opportunity for PanAmSat, with transponder
fees and revenue sharing that offer significant upside potential."
PanAmSat is the first private-sector company to provide global
satellite services and has over 300 customers worldwide.
It currently operates three satellites providing global coverage and
has three additional satellites under construction. The three
satellites that will be used in part for Latin America DTH -- PAS-3,
PAS-5, and PAS-6 -- are scheduled for launch in December 1995, early
1997 and late 1996, respectively. Beyond the six-satellite system,
PanAmSat plans to launch two more satellites in 1997, which will
enable the company to operate at least two satellites in each ocean
region worldwide.
DUMA RULES ORT ILLEGAL
By Robert Orttung, OMRI Inc.
MOSCOW, Russia (OMRI) -- The Duma passed a bill on reorganizing and
privatizing state television and radio stations on 24 November that
makes the recent transformation of Ostankino into Russian Public TV
(ORT) illegal.
The bill would require privatization to be conducted according to
rules established in federal law and all privatizations that took
place before the rules are established would be overruled, Radio
Rossii reported. Yeltsin organized the creation of ORT in November
1994.
It is 51% state owned. On 25 November, ORT reported that Yeltsin had
already vetoed a similar bill and claimed that, if approved, the law
would force the closure of NTV and a number of independent regional
stations.
BULGARIA TO JOIN INTELSAT
SOFIA, Bulgaria (TS) -- Bulgaria has applied to join Intelsat, the
international satellite organisation. The country will be represented
by the Bulgarian Telecommunications Company and get access to
Intelsat's global network of satellites and broadcast services.
The country has been accessing the network via member organisations
in Greece, Yugoslavia, Romania and Turkey although it will now have
direct access, possible as soon as a planned uplink station is built.
HUNGARIAN TV CHIEF RESIGNS
By Zsofia Szilagyi, OMRI Inc.
Hungary (OMRI) -- Adam Horvath resigned as president of Hungarian
Television (MTV) on 20 November, saying he could not stay in his
current position if the media bill is passed by parliament, Magyar
Hirlap reported.
MTV Vice President Ferenc Szekely will run MTV until a new president
is elected. MTV officials attributed Horvath's resignation to several
discriminatory provisions in the media bill, primarily the
restrictions placed on the president's powers during the transitional
period. The media bill was submitted to the parliament on 17 November
and is expected to be passed this year.
DILLER TO BEGIN NEW NETWORK
By Don Fitzpatrick, Shoptalk
SAN FRANCISCO, California USA (SHOPTALK) -- Entertainment executive
Barry Diller announced his acquisition of Savoy Pictures Entertainment
Inc. and a 41% stake in Home Shopping Network Inc.
To purchase the companies Diller used stock from Silver King
Communications, which he also acquired this year.
Silver King owns a group of 12 TV stations that carry programming
supplied by HSN. Sources close to the plan said the acquisition will
give Diller access to about $200 million in cash from the stations,
which he could keep or sell. The two transactions combined could
provide him with the foundation for a new programming network. (Wall
Street Journal)
RADIO STATION'S BROADCAST STOPPED
By Anna Paretskaya, OMRI Inc.
MOSCOW, Russia (OMRI) -- Russkaya Radio's broadcasts were
interrupted at noon on 21 November after 20 men armed with submachine
guns, some dressed in police uniforms, broke into the studio and
damaged the transmitter, Russian media reported citing chief producer
Aleksandr Bunin.
A representative of the Interior Ministry department responsible for
broadcasting said that the transmission was interrupted because the
station lacked the proper licenses, adding that broadcasting could
resume as soon as the radio's papers are in order, ITAR-TASS reported.
Bunin, however, told Public Russian TV that the incident was the
result of the radio's decision to refuse air time to an unnamed
extremist right-wing politician.
PANAMSAT UPDATE
By Nathan Kopel, International Radio Monitors
PERTH, Australia (IRM) -- Pas 2 Update, 26th November 1995
- 3895 Vert 6.80 Mhz, At around 03.15 UTC, 23.11.95, NBA Basketball
(Bulls V Spurs) from Turner Broadcasting Systems (TBS) was noted
followed by a Test Pattern at approximately 03.40 UTC.
- Transponder useage of transmissions "in the clear" as of 01.00 UTC
on the 26.11.95 is as follows:
3967 Vert 6.80 MHz CNN International
4112 Hori 6.60 CNBC Asia
4035 Vert 6.60 NHK Japan
3995 Vert 6.20 CNN Newsource & Audio, Occas.
3895 Vert 6.80 Test Pattern:Pas-2 Sylmar,CA.
3905 Hori 6.20 Test Pattern:Pas-2 Sylmar,CA.
Any new information regarding transponder useage on Pas 2, or other
current or new satellites viewable from the eastern states of Aust,
feel free to Email me at irma@tbsa.com.au
IN BRIEF
- Before anyone tells you of a new Japanese channel to begin
broadcasting on an Eutelsat 2 bird next year you should know the
rumours are untrue. Despite all the Japanese networks owning a slice
of the existing JSTV, staff at the station say they know nothing of
such plans.
- Eutelsat has chosen Arianespace to launch three future satellites.
The new satellites, which include Hot Bird 4, will use Ariane 4 or 5
rockets for launch.
- CNN has announced it will launch a Spanish language news channel in
1997. The network is scheduled to debut on March 1st of that year and
will essentially be a Spanish language version of CNN International
targetted at Latin America.
- Eurosport has signed new cable deals with operators in the UK and
Slovenia. In the UK, the channel will be carried on TeleWest cable to
365,000 homes while the Solvenia deal adds 100,000 homes. The channel
now claims to be available in 63.2 million making it Europe's most
widely available TV channel.
DECEMBER TELE-satellit HIGHLIGHTS
Results of TELE-satellit=92s Software Contest
Have you ever wondered if you could control your satellite dish
using your
computer? That's no longer a problem because TELE-satellit, Europe's
Satellite Magazine, have published the results of our software contest
where we asked people to design software to control receivers from
PCs.
From a total of 47 entries three were chosen and given their
respective prizes. Get a copy of December issue of TELE-satellit to
see the results of the three winning programs.
Apart from that software you'll also find a report on how to get
absolutely non-commercial stations - there are no ads whatsoever when
you receive weather satellites ! TELE-satellit tells you how to do it
and how much it will cost you (not much, really).
Have you got any idea, what the digital future will look like?
TELE-satellit has got some ideas about this, and a lengthy article in
December issue covers this interesting topic.
TELE-satellit contains much more, like test reports on various new
products, like a ADR (ASTRA Digital Radio) receiver. Although
TELE-satellit is published in Germany, most of articles are written in
English as well, translated by some of the best English satellite
specialists.
You may get a copy of TELE-satellit for 4 UKP at: TELE-satellit UK,
c/o customer service, PO Box 1124, ASCOT, Berkshire, GB-SL5 0XH,
England. Or, if you have an Internet connection, just go to
TELE-satellit's Home Page at:
http://www.TELE-satellit.com and use a online order form.
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CREDITS,
Reports in TELE-satellit news are from our worldwide network of
reporters and sources. In particular we would like to thank :
Curt Swinehart for keeping us up to date with all parts of the
satellite industry.
Don Fitzpatrick of DFA in San Francisco for providing permission to
reproduce articles from Shoptalk, the TV news industry's daily news
and information magazine.
OMRI material was reprinted with permission of the Open Media Research
Institute, a nonprofit organization with research offices in Prague,
Czech Republic. For more information on OMRI publications, please
write to: info@omri.cz
Reproduction in part of Jonathan's Space Report was maded possible by
kind permission of Jonathan McDowell. To read the full edition see
http://hea-www.harvard.edu/QEDT/jcm/space/jsr/jsr.html or
ftp://sao-ftp.harvard.edu/pub/jcm/space/news/news.*
News from Radio Sweden is made possible by Geroge Wood, presenter of
Sweden Calling DXers/MediaScan, the world's oldest radio program
about international broadcasting. Radio Sweden has presented this
round-up of radio news, features, and interviews on Tuesdays since
1948. It's currently broadcast on the first and third Tuesdays of the
month. http://www.sr.se/rs
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