TS News - Family Channel Going Digital

• From: martyn@twics.com (Martyn Williams)
• Date: Fri, 13 Sep 1996 18:59:54 +0900
• From owner-ts-news@tele-satellit.com Fri Sep 13 06: 25:47 1996

TELE-satellit News, 13 September 1996

Family Channel Going Digital
  ATLANTA, Georgia, USA, 96/09/13 (TS) -- Family Channel viewers in the
western USA will soon be watching a digital version of the channel, although
they might not realise it. The programmer, whose service is seen in almost
99 percent of America's cable households, has announced it is switching to
Scientific Atlanta's PowerVu system for domestic cable distribution.

  The new system will enable The Family Channel to deliver six video and
audio channels over a single transponder, or six times the programming
possible with its former analog transmission system.Plans call for The
Family Channel to use the PowerVu system for domestic and international
program distribution, MTM syndication, internal corporate communications,
and ad hoc programming.

  "The PowerVu equipment will allow us to save money on our syndication
efforts while maintaining the video quality we deliver to our affiliates,"
said Randy Seiler, senior vice president of engineering and technical
services at The Family Channel. "Since digital compression lowers the number
of satellite transponders we require, we're exploring the potential revenue
we can generate by selling our excess capacity."

  Installation of the PowerVu system will take place at The Family Channel
uplink facility in Virginia Beach, Va., using a transponder on Satcom C3.

(c)TELE-satellit 1996. All rights reserved.

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