Newsgroups: rec.radio.shortwave
From: 70247.3516@compuserve.com (George Wood)
Subject: SCDX 2164
Organization: Finnish University & Research Network
Date: Tue, 20 Oct 1992 16:54:02 +0200
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:: MediaScan ::
:: SWEDEN CALLING DXERS ::
:: from Radio Sweden ::
:: Number 2164--Oct. 20, 1992 ::
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Satellite, shortwave and other electronic media news from Radio Sweden.
This week's bulletin was written by George Wood.
Packet Radio BID SCDX2164
All times UTC unless otherwise noted.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SWEDEN:
SATELLITE-TV 92--The Stockholm City Fair was the site of the Satellite-TV 92
show, held between October 12th and 17th. More than 50 exhibitors took part.
Most were involved in hardware, including such established Nordic names as
Bang and Olufsen, Swedish Microwave, Nokia, and Luxor.
One of the most interesting innovations on display was a subscription card
reader that can read up to four cards at the same time, in both PAL
(Videocrypt) and D2-MAC (Eurocrypt).
On the programming side, there were stands from the Children's Channel,
Discovery, Eurosport, Filmnet, and TV1000.
One of the biggest stands was from Astra, where reception of Radio Sweden's
satellite relay was demonstrated. Radio Sweden also broadcast live from the
show. In this week's English edition of MediaScan we meet British satellite
journalist Julian Clover who explains why he was covering the show. Future
editions of the program will include interviews from Astra, the Swedish
satellite guide "Paa TV", and with Swedish satellite DX guru Bertil Sundberg.
EUROPEAN SATELLITE BROADCASTING:
TV NORGE--Norway's TV Norge has appeared on a new satellite, in addition to
using the Intelsat at 1 degree West. The new satellite is Intelsat 515 at 18
degrees West, and the transponder in both cases is 11.015 GHz. (Russ, G4XKR)
UK GOLD--No sooner than we predicted that the new BBC/Thames venture UK Gold
would appear on Astra transponder 29, than a press release arrived from Astra
announcing a November 1st launch on transponder 23, which is 11.553 GHz. That
channel has been used by Filmnet in parallel with transponder 11, and now
that Filmnet is launching a second service, it was assumed this would show up
on transponder 23. But that isn't the case, UK Gold with its best-of-Britain
package of Dr. Who and Miss Marple, is coming instead. (Astra)
The UK Gold test pattern appeared for the first time on October 19th, in PAL,
replacing Filmnet's D2-MAC signal.
FILMNET--Filmnet is relaunching its current channel on December 1st as
Filmnet Plus, with children's programming, sports, music and special events,
to complement the films. The second, film-only channel, is going to follow at
an unspecified date. ("Satnews")
Filmnet has to complete with Sweden's TV1000, which recently launched a cable
only channel of classic films, called Filmmax.
COUNTRY MUSIC TELEVISION--Country Music Television Europe, or CMT started
broadcasts on October 18th from the old Brightstar transponder on Intelsat
601, on 11.515 GHz. Programming for the 24 hour country music video network
is produced at the Nashville studios of the American CMT. (AP, "In Orbit",
Roger Wennstrom, via Internet News)
PARLIAMENTARY CHANNEL--Now that the British House of Commons has resumed, the
Pariamentary Channel is back on Intelsat 601 on 11.095 GHz.
ASTRA--"Cable and Satellite Express" reports that all 16 transponders on the
upcoming Astra 1C satellite will be fully booked. This is unlike Astra 1B,
which took weeks and months before filling up (one 1B transponder is still
free). Astra 1C is set to be launched at the end of April or beginning of May
next year, and will be placed in the same orbital position as the current 2
Astra satellites, providing a total of 48 TV channels to owners of fixed
dishes 60 to 120 centimeters in diameter.
Astra had already announced that 2 Spanish channels had options on 1C. "Cable
and Satellite Express" says the following channels may also be appearing:
Filmnet's second channel; Discovery, moving from Intelsat; an expanded
Children's Channel; TV Asia, moving from part-time on 1B; the pay-film
channel Bravo; RTL-2, moving from Eutelsat; the Disney Channel; MTV's
children's channel Nickelodeon; Thames, which has an option that could be
used to distribute Britain's channel 5 if it gets the licence; a widescreen
film channel from British Sky Broadcasting; two new German news and
information channels called N-TV and Vox; and the Games Channel.
That makes 15 channels. The magazine also says France's TF1 may launch a
French package on Astra as well. Nickelodeon could actually take over one of
MTV's two current Astra transponders. ("Cable and Satellite Europe")
"Satnews" reports an Astra 1C transponder might be used by Britain's
Independent Television for a proposed ITV 2 service to compete with Sky and
UK Gold, which could start late next year.
Astra 1D, with a further 18 channels, is due for launch in 1994. Astra has
held talks with Hughes about a fifth satellite. ("Satnews")
KOPERNIKUS--Europe has a new television satellite. Germany's DFS Kopernikus 3
was launched from Cape Canaveral October 12th. Built originally as a back-up
for the first two Kopernikus satellites, number 3 is to be positioned over
eastern Russia, and will provide telecommunications to Eastern Europe, as
well as to restore capacity for the international cable system between
Denmark and Russia. Kopernikus can provide 13 television channels, as well as
6000 simultaneous telephone calls. (Reuters, AP)
GERMANY--There may be changes among Germany's satellite broadcasters. A study
ordered by the ruling CDU party is reported to propose that many public radio
and television stations go off the air. ZDF and ARD would be cancelled, ARD
Eins Plus and 3Sat would be merged into ARTE, and satellite transmissions of
terrestrial-delivered programming would be cancelled. But Deutsche Welle
would see its programming output increased from 12 to 18 hours a day.
("Satnews") (See under Global broadcasting, below, for more about Deutsche
Welle.)
BODY SHOP TV--The healthy cosmetic chain "The Body Shop" is launching a
satellite channel to link its 814 stores. There will be television, radio,
and data services, starting by Christmas using Eutelsat II-F3 at 16 degrees
East. ("Satnews")
HUNGARY--Hungary is starting a satellite television channel. Radio Budapest
says the channel is needed because there is a freeze on new domestic
channels, while the government seeks to draft a new broadcasting law and
decide between 80 applicants for the single remaining national TV channel.
The satellite channel is also intended to bring Hungarian programming to
members of the Hungarian speaking minorities outside the country. Test
broadcasts appeared on Eutelsat II-F3 at 16 degrees East, at 11.595 GHz, from
October 11th in connection with the Europa Telecom 1992 exhibition in
Budapest. Eutelsat offered the satellite transponder free during the
exhibition. "Pilot" broadcasts from what is being called Hungaria TV are to
begin in the middle of October and regular programming is to begin on
December 24th. (Radio Budapest, BBC Monitoring, "Satnews")
POLAND--Polish satellite television is due to start on October 24th, with
relays from Polish Television's 3rd program, using the PAL system on Eutelsat
II-F3, on 11.555 GHz. Poland is switching from the French-Soviet SECAM system
to the Western European PAL. (BBC Monitoring)
NEWS FEEDS--One of the most interesting aspects of satellite monitoring is
finding news feeds. While Visnews has scrambled its London uplink on Eutelsat
II-F1, there are a number of interesting feeds in the clear.
Just above Visnews, at 12.560 GHz is the Maxat uplink from London. Among the
feeds there is a 10 minute ITN News (possibly for KLM Airlines) at 18:50 hrs.
There are many interesting feeds from North America on the new Intelsat-K at
21.5 degrees West. "Good Morning America", for rebroadcast by Sky News, is
carried weekdays beginning just before 11:00 hrs. The same transponder
carries news for Super Channel from CNBC in the evening.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation sends news in English and French using
the NTSC standard around 03:00-05:00 hrs on the Olympus satellite at 12.530
GHz. (DX Editor)
RUSSIA--Writing in Sweden's "Paa TV" magazine, Bertil Sundberg has called
attention to Russia's new Ghorizont 26, which was launched back in July. I've
been tuning around, and found what seems to be the new satellite at around 14
degrees West with a Visnews feed transponder from Moscow on 11.525 GHz.
There's another Russian transponder on that same frequency on Ghorizont 11 at
11 degrees West, with a blank screen much of the day with audio only. CNN is
relayed with Russian dubbing at around 19:00-20:00 hrs. (DX Editor)
SWITZERLAND--Radio E Viva is a new radio station broadcasting folk and
country music from Zurich. It can be heard on the Teleclub transponder on
Astra (11.332 GHz), audio 7.74 and 7.92 MHz. (Swiss Radio International via
BBC Monitoring)
SUPER CHANNEL--Super Channel is to carry news from China, Hong Kong, and
Taiwan during the night between 1:00 and 04:00 hrs. The first 90 minutes will
be in English, while the second 90 minutes will be Mandarin and Cantonese.
The new service begins on November 20th. (BBC Monitoring)
PACIFIC SATELLITE BROADCASTING:
AUSTRALIA--On October 8th the Australian Broadcasting Corporation officially
began to lease a transponder on Indonesia's Palapa B-2P satellite for its
Television Australia service to Asia. The new service is scheduled to begin
by the end of November. (BBC Monitoring)
NORTH AMERICAN SATELLITE BROADCASTING:
CANADA--The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and BBC World Service
Television have signed an agreement to share news, programming, and
international news bureaus. Beginning November 2nd, the two public
broadcasting corporations will begin exchanging daily news video. Under the
terms of the deal, the CBC will have exlcusive Canadian rights to broadcast
BBC WS TV's news, business, and weather reports. This will be carried on the
English and French domestic networks as well as the 24 hour cable news
channel CBC Newsworld (which is carried scrambled on Anik E2, transponder
16). (Radio Netherlands "Media Network", "Cable and Satellite Express", and
"Satnews")
SKY PIX--The planned American direct satellite broadcaster Skypix has
cancelled its contract with Hughes. According to reports, Skypix is millions
of dollars in debt. (Gary Bourgois via Internet News)
DIRECTv--Meanwhile, Hughes is going ahead with its direct satellite system
DirecTv. The first satellite is to be launched in December, 1993. A deal for
the second satellite should be in place by January. They will be placed at
101 degrees West. Using digital compression techniques, DirecTv could offer
as many as 200 channels to dishes around 18 inches (46 centimeters) in
diameter. A 150 channel service is planned.
One DBS expert has pointed to the proliferation of magazines on store racks,
and suggested that the magazine racks of the future will be satellites
offering scores, or even hundreds, of narrow channels appealing to various
interests. ("Cable and Satellite Europe")
GLOBAL SATELLITE BROADCASTING:
DEUTSCHE WELLE--Starting November 1st, Deutsche Welle Television is expanding
beyond Europe, globally. Deutsche Welle is using the Intelsat-K satellite to
reach North America, with its program of 90 minutes of German progamming and
30 minutes of English. The signal is to be relayed on Spacenet 2 at 69
degrees West, transponder 3, which has been used by the US Information
Agency, which is sharing Deutsche Welle's transponder on Eutelsat II-F1 to
Europe.
Deutsche Welle is also relayed to Africa on Intelsat 601 at 27.5 degrees
West, transponder 21, at 3745 MHz. Africa, Asia, and the Pacific are covered
by transmissions on Intelsat 505 at 66 degrees East, transponder 38, 4177
MHz. Finally, Deutche Welle is also transmitting to the Far East and Pacific
on Intelsat 508 at 180 degrees East, transponder 14, 3993 GHz. (BBC
Monitoring)
Deutsche Welle hopes to begin programming in Spanish and begin broadcasts to
Latin America. (IPS)
TV5--Another global broadcaster in the making is the French-language TV5,
which has been broadcasting to Europe on Eutelsat I-F1 on 11.080 GHz, and to
North America on Anik E1 transponder 17. TV5 Afrique launched on September
30th, via Ghorizont 12 at 40 degrees East. TV5 plans to expand to Latin
America by the end of the year, using Panamsat-1 at 45 degrees West.
TV5 carries programs from France (TF1, France 2 and 3), Belgium (RTBF),
Switzerland (SSR), and Quebec (Radio Canada). Broadcasts are currently 19
hours a day, but should be round-the-clock soon. (AFP via BBC Monitoring and
"In Orbit")
A Swedish court has ruled that Nordic Channel can continue to call itself TV
5 Nordic. The French TV5 had claimed it had an exclusive right to the name.
BBC WORLDWIDE--BBC World Service has launched its news monthly magazine, "BBC
Worldwide", which replaces "London Calling". Besides giving frequency and
schedule information for World Service radio and television, all around the
world, the magazine contains feature articles. Every month 5 BBC
correspondents will take up a special theme. In the November issue, the topic
is the Mafia, with articles from Italy, Chicago, Colombia, Russia, and Japan.
"Waveguide" host Simon Spanswick also has a monthly column on the technical
side of international broadcasting.
The magazine is very much like those that subscribers to American public
broadcasting receive. The parallel would be perfect if subscribers who buy
cards from TV Extra to watch World Service Television to Europe were to
receive subscriptions to "BBC Worldwide" as part of the package.
SHORT AND MEDIUM WAVE:
ALBANIA--The Christian evangelical station Trans World Radio began
broadcasting via Radio Tirana's high power medium wave transmitter on 1395
kHz on October 1st. The broadcasts, consisting of four 15-minute programs in
various Central and Eastern European languages, are at 20:30-21:30 hrs daily.
(BBC Monitoring)
BOLIVIA--Radio Fides has been observed on a new frequency of 9625 kHz since
mid-September. This is in parallel with 6155 and 4845 kHz. (BBC Monitoring)
COSTA RICA--Radio Exterior de Espana began relay transmissions from Cariari,
Costa Rica on October 6th. The new relay station has 3 100 kW transmitters,
and is to cover everything from the United States to Amazonia.
There are broadcasts to North America, Central America, and the Caribbean on
5970 kHz. Transmissions towards South America will use 17845 kHz. (BBC
Monitoring)
GUAM--KTWR is now broadcasting to the C.I.S. in Russian at 10:00-11:45 hrs on
11805 kHz; at 16:00-16:15 hrs in Kirghiz (Mondays to Wednesdays), Uzbek
(Thursdays), and Kazakh (Fridays to Sundays) and at 16:15-16:30 hrs in Korean
(Mondays to Wednesdays) and Russian (Thursdays to Sundays) all on 9785 kHz.
There's a broadcast to the Far East in English at 08:00-09:15 hrs on 15200
kHz. (KTWR)
Adventist World Radio Asia, KSDA, is back on the air from Guam, after Typhoon
Omar silenced the station for three weeks. The most devastating typhoon to
strike Guam in nearly 16 years, Omar's 165 mile per hoir winds severely
damaged the station's four antennas, while water damage closed down the high
voltage transformers in the two 100 kW transmitters. Station engineers have
completed repairs on three antennas, and have combined parts from the two
transformers to get one transmitter back on the air.
KSDA is broadcasting in English daily at 16:00-17:00 hrs on 11980 kHz.
There's Russian on weekends at 19:00-20:00 hrs on the same frequency. (KSDA)
ICELAND--Rikisutvarpid is now broadcasting: to Europe at 12:15-13:00 hrs on
13835 and 15770 kHz and at 18:55-19:30 hrs on 11402 and 13855 kHz. To North
America at 14:10-14:40 hrs and 19:35-20:10 hrs on 13855 and 15770 kHz and at
23:00-23:35 hrs on 13855 and 15790 kHz. (Jari Perkiomaki in "Euronews")
JAPAN--Radio Japan is adding three new 300 kW transmitters and 3 antennas to
its Yamata transmitting station by March, 1993. The additions are expected to
improve receotion in China and Southeast Asia.
Radio Japan is now broadcasting to Europe in English from the British Skelton
transmitters at 05:00-06:00 hrs on 6085 and 7280 kHz, 07:00-08:00 hrs on 5970
and 6025 kHz, and 23:00-24:00 hrs on 6050 and 6125 kHz. (Radio Japan) The
latter broadcast is at midnight local time in Europe, and we still wonder why
Radio Japan is not relaying the 21:00 hrs European broadcast in English via
Skelton instead of from Gabon?
NETHERLANDS--The Dutch National Media Council has released a 19 page report
on the future of Radio Netherlands. Commenting on the report, the council's
general secretary, Koos Kalkman says Radio Netherlands should be given a
revised mission, as the world and the Netherlands have changed since the
station's statues were drawn up in 1947. The council believes that in the
future Radio Netherlands' budget may be reduced, that the station should be
funded from government ministries rather than licence fees, and that the
station might think about combining resources with other countries, such as
Belgium. (Radio Netherlands "Media Network")
BABY NEWS--For the record, Michael Wood was born on October 18, 1992. Mother
and son are doing fine. Father is smiling a lot. Older brother is uncertain.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sweden Calling DXers is the world's oldest radio program for shortwave
listeners. Radio Sweden has presented this round-up of radio news, features,
and interviews on Tuesdays since 1948.
Radio Sweden broadcasts to Europe in English on 21:30-22:30 hrs:
on medium and shortwave: 1179, 6065 and 9655 kHz
via satellite: Astra 1B (19.2 degrees East) channel 26 (Sky Movies Gold/TV
Asia/Adult Channel) at 11.597 GHz, audio subcarrier at 7.74 MHz,
Tele-X (5 degrees East) (TV4 transponder) at 12.207 GHz, audio subcarrier
7.38 MHz.
We're also relay our half hour program at 13:30 hrs on satellite
The rest of the Radio Sweden English schedule is (half hour programs):
Europe:
23:30 hrs on 1179 and 6065 kHz
Middle East and East Africa:
16:00 hrs 15270 kHz
Asia and the Pacific:
13:30 hrs on 15240 and 21625 kHz
21:30-22:30 hrs on 11955 kHz
01:00 hrs on 9695 and 11820 kHz
North America:
16:00 hrs on 17870 and 21500 kHz
02:00 hrs on 9695 and 11705 kHz
Contributions can be sent to DX Editor George Wood by fax to +468-667-6283,
from Internet, MCI Mail or CompuServe (to the CompuServe mailbox 70247,3516),
through the FidoNet system to 2:201/697 or to SM0IIN at the packet radio BBS
SM0ETV.
Reports can also be sent to:
Radio Sweden
S-105 10 Stockholm
Sweden
Contributions should be NEWS about electronic media--from shortwave to
satellites--and not loggings of information already available from sources
such as the "World Radio TV Handbook". Clubs and DX publications may reprint
material as long as Sweden Calling DXers and the original contributor are
acknowledged, with the exception of items from BBC Monitoring, which are
copyright.
We welcome comments and suggestions about the electronic edition, Sweden
Calling DXers, and our programs in general.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks to this week's contributors Good Listening!