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From: p00489@psilink.com (Terry M Stader)
Subject: SCDX 2192
Date: Tue, 4 Jan 1994 19:43:44 MST
Message-ID: <$scdx2192.1994@ampr.org>
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:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:: MediaScan ::
:: SWEDEN CALLING DXERS ::
:: from Radio Sweden ::
:: Number 2192--Jan. 4, 1994 ::
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Satellite, shortwave and other electronic media news from Radio Sweden.
This week's bulletin was written by George Wood.
Packet Radio BID SCDX2192
All times UTC unless otherwise noted.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sorry about our disappearance over the past few weeks. I've been ill, but all
is well now. The bad news is that Radio Sweden has cut back on the time
allocated to me to write MediaScan. The radio program will only air on the
first and third Tuesdays of the month in the future, which doesn't affect
this Electronic Edition. But I will have much less time to compile the
material. And the orientation will be even more Nordic than previously.
Please note that the deadline for contributions from Internet or CompuServe
will be the Monday evening before broadcast. Fax contributions can be made as
late as the Tuesday morning before broadcast.
NORDIC MEDIA NEWS:
SWEDEN--Here are the changes in the Radio Sweden English schedule that go
into effect on January 10th, caused by deteriorating propagation conditions:
To Asia at 12:30 hrs UTC, 15120 kHz will be replacing 17865, and 13765 kHz
will be replacing 17740.
To South America at midnight 30, 6065 kHz replaces 11650, and 9850 kHz
replaces 9695.
And to North America at 02:30 and 03:30 hrs, 6195 kHz replaces 11650, and
9850 kHz replaces 9695.
We also continue to be part of the World Radio Network package on MTV's
transponder 22 on Astra, audio 7.74 MHz, daily at 21:00 hrs UTC.
Last time we reported that WRN would also be bringing Radio Sweden and other
international broadcasters to North America by satellite. The service has now
begun. The satellite is ASC-1 at 128 degrees West, C-band transponder 23.
That's used for SCOLA, which carries TV news programs from many countries,
including Sweden's TV4. The audio subcarrier is 6.2 MHz. Radio Sweden can be
heard at 01:00 and 21:00 hrs.
THOR AND SIRIUS--One of last year's most interesting Nordic media stories was
the bidding war between Sweden and Norway for Britain's unused Marco Polo 2
satellite. The Norwegians won, renamed the satellite Thor, and moved it to 1
degree West. They're offering a package of CNN, Eurosport, Discovery,
Children's Channel, MTV, and FilmNet to Nordic subscribers. Unfortunately the
Norwegians insisted on using the obscure D-MAC standard, with the equally
obscure Eurocrypt S coding system.
Well, the Norwegians have had to give up on at least part of that. On
December 16th all the Thor channels switched over to D2-MAC, which may be a
dead standard as far as most of Europe is concerned, but it is used by
FilmNet and by Scansat for its various TV3 channels and the pay movie
channels TV1000 and FilmMax. ("Paa TV")
What may have contributed to the change of heart is the Swedish Space
Corporation's successful bid to buy the Marco Polo 1 satellite, a bid the
Norwegians tried to fight in the British courts. The plan is to move the
satellite, now renamed Sirius, to 5 degrees East, alongside Sweden's current
direct broadcast satellite Tele-X, which currently carried TV4, TV5 Nordic,
and Norway's NHK, along with Radio Sweden.
So far it's unclear what channels will be offered on Sirius, but
transmissions are expected to begin in early March. (TT)
ASTRA--Besides competing with Thor, Sirius must also compete with Europe's
most popular TV satellite combination, Astra, which has 50 channels at one
position in the sky. FilmNet has announced that a number of the coded Astra
channels are to be offered on a subscription basis to Scandinavia, using the
Videocrypt 2 coding system. Initially the offering will include the
Children's Channel, Discovery, Country Music Television, with FilmNet and the
Adult Channel as extra options. ("Paa TV")
FILMMAX--TV1000's companion channel FilmMax, which uses Intelsat 601, is now
available for satellite subscribers in Sweden. While the channel has been
carried in Swedish cable networks since it started, until now only Norwegians
could subscribe to the satellite signals. ("Paa TV")
TV5 NORDIC--The French language TV5 has sued to force the Swedish channel TV5
Nordic to change its name. At the end of November, a Swedish court ruled in
favor of the French. TV5 Nordic is appealing to a higher court. (TT)
On the other hand, there's good news for the channel with the decision of
Capital Cities, which owns the ABC network in the United States, to buy 21
percent of Nordic's owner, the Scandinavian Broadcasting System, which also
owns Norway's TV Norge and Denmark's TV2. (TT)
RADIO--The new private commercial radio frequencies in southern and western
Sweden were auctioned off on December 6th, 5 channels in Gothenburg, and 2
each in Malm and 7 smaller towns. These were strictly highest bidder
auctions, with no regard for format or even whether the bidders can afford
their bids.
Sweden's most expensive radio licence went to the Kinnevik media empire,
which bid nearly 400,000 dollars for a Gothenburg channel. Besides TV3,
TV1000, FilmMax, part of TV4, along with cable shopping and video channels,
Kinnevik also won several key frequencies in the first auction in northern
and central Sweden. Besides Gothenburg, they also submitted winning bids this
time in 4 other towns.
France's NRJ (or Energy), which won a Stockholm frequency, picked up new ones
in Gothenburg and Malm, while another growing network, Radio Rix, picked up
channels in Gothenburg and 2 other towns. (TT)
And according to the first surveys after private radio started in Stockholm,
NRJ is the capital's most listened to commercial station. 9.5 percent of the
population listen to the station for a least 5 minutes a day. ("Dagens
Nyheter")
INTERNATIONAL SATELLITES NEWS:
NEW SATELLITES--In recent weeks there have been a number of new satellites
launched. The most exciting was American's DBS-1, launched December 17, which
together with a twin satellite to be launched in June, will provide Americans
with 150 digitally compressed channels at one spot in the sky. (Reuters)
There will be separate services from USSB and Hughes' DirecTV. Together they
will offer 100 subscription channels and 50 more pay-per-view channels, using
digital compression techniques.
Both satellites will be located at 101 degrees West, and will deliver news,
sports, movies, and other programming to American homes equipped with 45 cm
(18 inch) antennas. Receiving systems will cost USD 700 plus installation.
The cost of subscribing to 100 channels will be around USD 50 a month.
Among the broadcasters lined up for DirecTV are several channels from Turner
Broadcasting: CNN International, CNN, Headline News, TNT, Cartoon Network,
Superstation TBS, and Turner Classic Movies. Other broadcasters signed up
include the USA Network, the Sci-Fi Channel, the Nashville Network, Country
Music Television, Discovery, the Learning Channel, E! Entertainment, the
Family Channel, Courtroom Television Network, The Weather Channel, Playboy
TV, The Golf Channel and The Travel Channel.
There are pay-per-view agreements with Paramount, Sony, MGM, Disney, and
Columbia Tristar. Around 50 PPV films will be carried on the 150 channel
system once launched.
USSB has announced that their programming lineup contains 14 premium feeds
(HBO 1, 2, and 3, Cinemax 1 and 2, and Showtime 1 and 2, East and West in all
cases) and six or seven basic channels (MTV, VH-1, Nickelodeon, Comedy
Central, E! Entertainment, All News Channel).
Launched along with DBS-1 was Thailand's first satellite, Thaicom-1, which
will be competing to broadcast across southeast Asia.
On December 15th, another American satellite, Telstar 401, went into orbit.
The Public Broadcasting System will be using the satellite to transmit more
than 40 digitally compressed channels, creating what is being described as an
"education neighborhood". Most of these new channels will be used for
educational programming to schools. The plans include two way contact, in
which participating classes would interact with the programming, sending data
from computers over the telephone to the closest PBS station, which would
relay signals to the satellite.
One transponder would carry the PBS national schedule A and B programs, along
with a high definition television program. While HBO and other programmers
will be using the General Instrument's DigiCipher II technology, PBS will be
using the non-consumer DigiCipher I technology and those digital signals are
not compatable with the other system.
Other users of Telstar 401 will include ABC and Paramount, for relays of such
programs as " Star Trek" and Entertainment Tonight".
Other satellites recently launched include Mexico's new Solidaridad-1, and
the new European weather satellite Meteosat-6, which will be placed over the
Greenwhich meridian, replacing the aging satellite at that position.
EUTELSAT--We have a new satellite channel over Europe, Emirates Dubai TV, on
Eutelsat 2-F1, on 11.638 GHz. Most programming is in Arabic, but there is
news in English at 15:00 and 18:00 hrs UTC.
The German language music video channel Viva is now broadcasting on Eutelsat
2-F1 on 11.006 GHz. ("Paa TV" and James Robinson)
There's also a report that the American Science Fiction Channel will be
appearing on this same satellite in April, possibly on 11.678 GHz. ("What
Satellite TV")
ASTRA--Sky Sports 2 is reported to be delayed until September. ("Skyguide"
and James Robinson)
The Travel Channel is to launch on transponder 24 (JSTV) on February 1, daily
06:00-19:00 hrs.
The new Spanish stations on Astra are the children's channel Minimas on
transponder 36 and Cine Classics on number 40. (James Robinson)
There are also rumors a number of channels may be leaving Astra, such as
Eurosport and the financially ailing VOX. This could open up transponders for
stations such as Super Channel, which would like to be on Astra. ("Skyguide")
There's also a rumor that TV3 and TV1000 could be moving to Sirius, but Per
Zetterqvist of the Swedish Space Corporation has told Radio Sweden that he is
unaware of any such negotiations.
The new Astra channel RTL-5 on transponder 64 is out of reach of most
receivers. But if you really want to view the channel (which contains some
American material in English, with Dutch subtitles), if your receiver has an
offset control you can tune down 15 MHz.
Astra is said to be planning to launch a seventh satellite, Astra 1G, in
1997. It would provide a back-up to the digital TV services that would be
carried on 1E and 1F, due to be launched in 1995 and 1996 respectively.
("What Satellite TV")
RADIO--Belgium's Radio Flanders International is now on Astra, although
they're using the FilmNet Movies transponder at 10.921 GHz, which is outside
the reach of most receivers. The audio is 7.38 MHz.
Irish Satellite Radio is using MTV's transponder 22, 7.92 MHz.
On 3-Sat's transponder 10, RIAS Berlin Radio is to use 7.74 and 7.92 MHz.
Deutschlandfunk (isn't this Deutsche Welle now?) is now using 7.38 and 7.56
MHz, a move from transponder 6. Also moving from transponder 6 are Deutsche
Welle's foreign service on transponder 2 (RTL) on two separate subcarriers--
7.74 and 7.92 MHz.
On West 3's transponder 39 coming radio stations are WDR2 on 7.38 and 7.56
MHz, and WDR4 on 7.74 and 7.92 MHz.
A number of British radio stations are due to start on Astra in the near
future. Coming to the UK Living transponder number 34 are BBC Radio 2 (7.38
MHz) and Radio 3 (7.56), and Capital Gold (7.74) and Capital FM (7.92).
(James Robinson)
SHORT AND MEDIUM WAVE:
SLOVAKIA--The Slovak Ministry of Transport and Communications has cancelled
Radio Free Europe's right to broadcast on a Slovak medium wave frequency.
According to a letter from the ministry, the contract between RFE and the
government of the then-Czechoslovakia allowing broadcasts on the frequency
until 1996, will be terminated by January 31st. (Reuters)
UK--The BBC says that World Service radio now reaches 130 million people, and
the figure could be even higher. The audience figures are based on research
in 90 countries. Major growth areas are Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
The BBC says the actual figure could be much higher as it has no exact
figures from countries like China, Iran, Iraq, and Vietnam. (Reuters)
USA--The Christian Science Church has sold its shortwave transmitter station
in Scott's Corner, Maine to a Seventh Day Adventist organization, Prophecy
Countdown, Inc. It will broadcast over the transmitter for up to 30 hours a
week, beginning January 17.
The Christian Science Church said in August it would consolidate its American
shortwave operations at the station it owns in South Carolina, where an
additional transmitter is being built for broadcasts to Africa. The church
also broadcasts shortwave programs from the Pacific island of Saipan. (AP)
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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 in English:
Europe and Africa:
17:15 hrs on 1179 and 6065 kHz
18:30 hrs on 1179, 6065, and 9655 kHz
21:30 hrs on 1179, 6065 and 9655 kHz (Sundays only)
22:30 hrs on 1179 and 6065 kHz, and
23:30 hrs on 1179 kHz
Middle East and East Africa:
18:30 hrs on 15145 kHz
Asia and the Pacific:
12:30 hrs on 15240, 17740 and 17865 kHz
23:30 hrs on 11910 kHz and
01:30 hrs on 9695 and 11695 kHz
North America:
1:30 and 14:30 hrs on 15240 and 17870 kHz
02:30 and 03:30 hrs on 9695 and 11650 kHz
South America:
00:30 hrs on 9695 and 11650 kHz
The broadcasts at 17:15, 18:30, 21:30, and 22:30 hrs are also relayed to
Europe by satellite:
Astra 1B (19.2 degrees East) transponder 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.
Radio Sweden is also relayed via the World Radio Network on MTV's transponder
22 on Astra, audio 7.74 MHz, daily at 21:00 hrs UTC.
Radio Sweden is also part of the WRN package to North America on ASC-1, on
SCOLA's transponder 23, audio 6.20 MHz, daily at 01:00 and 21:00 hrs.
Contributions can be sent to DX Editor George Wood by fax to +468-667-6283,
from MCI Mail or CompuServe to the CompuServe mailbox 70247,3516, from
Internet to 70247.3516@compuserve.com, 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 MediaScan/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.
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Thanks to this week's contributors Good Listening!