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:: MediaScan ::
:: SWEDEN CALLING DXERS ::
:: from Radio Sweden ::
:: Number 2209--Oct. 4, 1994 ::
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Satellite, shortwave and other electronic media news from Radio Sweden.
This week's bulletin was written by George Wood.
Packet Radio BID SCDX2209
All times UTC unless otherwise noted.
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NORDIC MEDIA NEWS:
The sinking of the ferry Estonia last week attracted international media
attention. But the coverage underlined a key problem in journalism, balancing
between the public's right to know and invading the privacy of grieving people.
Stig Hadenius is Professor of Journalism at the Univesity of Stockholm, and in
today's edition of the program he discussed this sensitive issue and the media
coverage of the disaster with our reporter, Azariah Kiros.
If you missed today's program on satellite, shortwave, or medium wave, you can
access it via the Internet. You'll find the mediascan archives at ftp.funet.fi
in
the library pub/sounds/RadioSweden/mediascan.
If you access to the WorldWide Web, you can also find the programs among the
offerings of Internet Talk Radio at ftp://town.hall.org/radio/Sweden
And please note our new Internet address for contributions to the program:
wood@stab.sr.se
SWEDEN--Unfortunately, in the aftermath of our coverage of the ferry disaster
we've had a problem with one of our new Radio Sweden shortwave transmitters.
One of the transmitters in Hrby was off the air during the weekend between
08:00 hrs Saturday and 17:00 hrs Sunday. We're sorry about the disturbance.
WRN/C-SPAN--But there is also some good news for Radio Sweden listeners.
The World Radio Network is now providing programming to the C-SPAN audio
service in the United States. C-SPAN carries television programming from the
American Congress, and for some time it's devoted one audio channel to
relaying the BBC World Service and another to a selection of International
broadcasters. Radio Sweden has been included, but only one program a month.
Now WRN programming, which includes Radio Sweden and many other
international broadcasters, is available on C-SPAN for eight and a half hours
every weekday and two hours on Saturdays.
The schedule is 09:00-17:30 hrs UTC (05:00-13:30 hrs Eastern Time) weekdays
and 14:00-16:00 hrs UTC (10:00-12:00 Eastern) Saturdays.
According to a C-SPAN schedule sent to us a couple of months ago, WRN is
replacing progrmaming from Radio Korea, Radio Japan, and the CBC, as well as
classicial music and schedule information programming during the week. This is
followed by: 1:00-8:00 PM Voice of America, 8:00 PM Radio Havana Cuba, 9:00
PM Radio Japan, 10:00 PM classical music, 11:00 PM Deutsche Welle, Midnight
China Radio International, 1:00 AM classical music, 1:30 AM Radio Austria
International, and 2:00-3:00 AM Voice of America, followed by classical music
(all times Eastern).
Presumeably when Daylight Savings Time ends in the US later this month, all
UTC times will be one hour later.
The only problem with C-SPAN audio is that it is only available on special
television sets with the SAP, Second Audio Program, feature, as well as via
some cable networks.
Meanwhile, WRN is also now available on the cable system in Antwerp in
Belgium, and permission has been granted for a relay on the Berlin-Brandenburg
system, which is the largest cable network in Europe, with more than one
million subscribers.
We've also heard that WRN's planned German network is delayed until the first
quarter of next year. Preceeding it (in January ?) will be another service
carrying solely programs from public radio in the United States, National Public
Radio, American Public Radio, and Public Radio International. (WRN)
That means the NPR programming will be removed from WRN's Network One in
Europe, so it will be like the North American service. And WRN's Astra
transponder has a new TV program, MTV's sister station for somewhat more
mature music fans, VH-1.
SIRIUS--We've written a lot about Kinnevik's new package on the Sirius
satellite. But does anyone know why Z-TV is as strong as TV 5 Nordic
(Femman) on the supposedly old and worn out Tele-X, while the signals from
TV3, TV4, and TV6/TVG are so much weaker?
TT--The Swedish news TT plans to start distributing text, pictures, and
graphics using Eutelsat II-F4. The 107 newspapers which subscribe to TT are to
have access to the service by the end of 1995. A group of 19 newspapers will
be testing the system during the Fall. The ultimate system will include 3
channels, one for the news service, one for pictures and graphics, and one for
press releases. (TT)
TT is already transmitting audio newscasts to private radio stations in Sweden
using the Tele-X satellite.
EUROPEAN MEDIA NEWS:
ASTRA--VH-1 started on Astra transponder 22 Friday at 10:00 PM British and
European time. The station is broadcasting in videocrypt soft-scrambling for the
moment, which means that anyone with a videocrypt decoder can watch, without
a subscription card.
WRN is available on teletext page 222 on VH-1 (and apparently not on MTV),
with 13 subpages offering special announcements, the schedule, cable systems
and hotels carrying WRN, and stations' addresses. (WRN)
Meanwhile, Country Music Television is now broadcasting in the clear on JSTV's
Astra transponder 24. The Learning Channel has taken CMT's place, sharing
transponder 41 with Discovery. It's encrypted as part of the Sky Multichannels
package, as are the new channels sharing transponder 47 with Sky Sports 2,
Sky Travel and Sky Soap. Chinese News and Entertainment, which is carried
during the night is so far still in the clear. ("TV-Satellit" via Martyn
Williams
and James Robinson)
France's Canal Plus has gought a 24.9 % stake in the ailing German channel
Vox, matching the share belonging to the media group Bertelsmann. Rupert
Murdoch's News Corporation holds 49.9% and the remaining 0.3% is held by
DCTP. ("Tele-Satellit" via Martyn Williams)
The Swedish magazine "Elektronikvaerlden" already has the new Astra 1D
satellite launched, which isn't true, but here's a list of upcoming Ariane
launches, thanks to James Robinson. In the earlier morning hours of October
8th Ariane launch V68 is to carry Mexico's Solidaridad 2 (116.7 degrees West)
and Thailand's Thaicom 2 (78.5 degrees east) into orbit. Astra 1D will be on the
following Ariane flight V69, currently scheduled for October 31st.
That will be followed by flight V70 with PanAmSat-3 (43 degrees West); and
Astra's competitor, Eutelsat's Hot Bird-1, isn't scheduled until flight V71,
along
with the new Brasilsat (70 degrees West).
Unlike previous Astra launches, there's been very little speculation about the
programming on the new satellite. "What Satellite TV" magazine has now printed
a list, which has been spread widely. Unfortunately it seems to be someone's
wishlist for English channels, and ignores the fact that now that the German
Bundespost has bought into Astra's owner, there will certainly be a number of
German channels on the new satellite.
Since NBC Super Channel is now reported to have booked a Hot Bird
transponder, the "What Satellite" list inlcudes a new second NBC service, along
with CMT Europe, which has long be rumored to be planning a 24 hour service
on 1D. The BBC/Pearson combine would have a documentary and sports channel,
Sky Travel would move from 1C and share a transponder with WorldNet, the
Family Channel would start Family Channel 2, and Sky would have its rumored
Sky Sci-Fi channel.
All that is speculation, some based on rumors that have circulated for some
time. More plausible is Sky Movies and the Movie Channel each getting two
more channels, so each would have three, with staggered schedules, creating
something similar the to Video Nearly on Demand service mentioned as an
introduction to a proper digital VNOD service on Astra 1E and 1F.
Here are the Astra 1D frequencies:
Transponder Frequency
49 10.714 H
50 10.729 V
51 10.744 H
52 10.758 V
53 10.773 H
54 10.788 V
55 10.803 H
56 10.817 V
57 10.832 H
58 10.847 V
59 10.862 H
60 10.876 V
61 10.891 H
62 10.906 V
63 10.921 H FilmNet Poland (currently on 1C)
64 10.935 V RTL 5 (currently on 1C)
Plus the following are listed as carrying digital tests:
65 11.710 H
66 11.730 V
67 11.750 H
68 11.770 V
New stereo pairs will be used on 1D, such as 6.30/6.48 and 6.66/6.84 MHz.
("What Satellite TV" and Bertil Sundberg in "Paa TV")
FilmNet's transponder 63 is now carrying FilmNet's Polish Service, which is in
the clear during the day, switching to Videocrypt II between 16:45 and 22:15
hrs UTC. Films are broadcast at 17:00 and 19:00 hrs UTC. Regular sound
continues on 7.02 and 7.20 MHz, and a Polish soundtrack will start on 7.56 MHz
on November 1. Radio Flanders International continues on 7.38 MHz. (James
Robinson)
The Sky Multichoice system is reported to be expanding across Europe, with 35
countries having access to the system, which uses Videocrypt II encoding. ("In
Orbit") So far, no sign of any such service in Sweden, and if it does exist
somewhere, it does not include any of the BSkyB channels.
EUTELSAT--There will be a special live program to Europe broadcast from the
historic British satellite station at Goonhilly. Called, TESUG TV, it will
be from the people responsible for the "In Orbit" teletext pages on UK Gold
and NBC Super Channel. The programming will run between 08:00 and 18:00 hrs
UTC on two days, October 22nd and 23rd, with a test transmission at those
same times the day before. The satellite is Eutelsat II-F1, the frequency
11.617 GHz. There will be a lot of programming of interest to satellite
enthusiasts. The list includes:
The history of satellite broadcasting
The launch of Telstar
Archive footage from the BBC
Live links to Australia, the US, and around the world
A documentary about Kourou, French Guiana, the Ariane launch base
Features on Intelsat, Turksat, Nokia, and Sony
News and weather on the hour every hour
New equipment for both domestic and satellite reception
Feeds for the program will be on Intelsat 601 on 11.135 GHz H (James
Robinson)
BBC World Service Television in Arabic has left Eutelsat I-F4, and is now on
II-F1 on 11.617 GHz before TV13 takes over the channel at 20:30-23:30 hrs.
(James Robinson)
There's a new Turkish station on II-F2, SBG Satel-2 is on 11.016 GHz. (James
Robinson)
EDTV on Eutelsat II-F1 carries news in English at 06:00-06:30, 15:00-15:30, and
18:00-18:30 hrs UTC. (BBC Monitoring)
The Director of Network Development at NBC Super Channel, Paul McGhee, has
denied they are going to Astra. NBC has awarded BT a GBP 30 million contract
for uplinking to Hot Bird. ("In Orbit)
TV5 Europe, MTV, and Dubai's EDTV are all also reported to have booked
transponders on Hot Bird-1. (James Robinson) CNN has also been mentioned
(Bertil Sundberg in "Paa TV")
Here are the Hot Bird transponder frequencies:
11.221 H
11.242 V
11.262 H
11.283 V
11.304 H
11.325 V
11.345 H
11.366 V
11.387 H
11.408 V
11.428 H
11.449 V
11.471 H
11.492 V
11.513 H (EDTV says TV-Sat)
11.534 V (MTV says TV-Sat)
Since the Hot Bird transponders will have a bandwidth of 36 MHz, there is
room for one 27 MHz analog signal, as well as a 9 MHz digital signal. (Bertil
Sundberg in "Paa TV")
The Eutelsat Board of Signatories has given the go-ahead to issue the Request
for Proposals for a new series of up to seven satellites, with the first in
orbit
by late 1997. They would each have 24 transponders with 72 MHz bandwidth,
operating in the FSS frequency band. There would be full coverage of theentire
European continent and the Mediterranean Basin, as well as the possibility for
expansion at orbital positions covering far eastern Europe. (Eutelsat)
TURKSAT--A third channel has begun broadcasting on Turksat at 42 degrees
East, TRT International on 11.466 V GHz. It is directed towards Eastern Turkey.
(Senol Gulgonul, Turksat Control Center via Usenet News, via Curt Swinehart)
It certainly can't be seen in Stockholm, at least on a 1.2 meter dish.
TDF--Two stations have swapped frequencies on France's TDF-1 satellite. Canal
France International is now on 11.727 GHz, while MCM is now on 12.036 GHz.
The Canal France signal is encrypted, and is meant as a feed to Arabsat.
("Tele-Satellit" via Martyn Williams and James Robinson)
A new French channel called La Cinquiem is due to begin broadcasts during the
down hours on the Arte transponder on TDF, as well as Telecom, and
terrestrially in France. ("Tele-Satellite" via Martyn Williams)
AFRICAN MEDIA NEWS:
EGYPT--Besides Eutelsat II-F3, Nile TV International is now being carried on
Intelsat 702 (the "Nordic" Intelsat) on 4.135 GHz, audio 6.60 MHz. (BBC
Monitoring) It is curious that Nile TV's Eutelsat signal is so appallingly weak,
while the Egyptian Space Channel on the same satellite is much stronger. One
would think that Egypt would want its International Service to have a stronger
signal in Europe.
ASIAN MEDIA NEWS:
INDIA--The Insat 2B satellite at 93.5 degrees east now carries a variety of
Doorsashan channels in various languages:
3.825 GHz Kannada
3.865 Bengali
3.905 Punjabi and Kashmiri
3.945 Tamil
4.065 Malayam
4.105 Teluga
4.140 Marathi
4.170 Orlya
4.190 Gurjarati
A new Hindi station called Auro Vision is testing on Statsionar 3 at 85 degrees
East on 3.875 GHz (audio 7.50 MHz) and Statsionar 7 at 140 degrees East on
3.675 and 3.875 GHz. ("Tele-Satellit" via Martyn Williams)
INTELSAT--Intelsat 703 is due to launch from Cape Canaveral October 5. It will
be positioned over the Pacific at 177 degrees East. ("Tele-Satellit" via Martyn
Williams)
PHILIPPINES--ABS-CBN, the Philippines' largest broadcast company, launched a
new 24 hour news and entertainment service on October 3, for subscribers in
the United States and other areas. The new "Filipino Channel" uses the new
PAS-2 satellite to also reach cable operators in Australia and the Pacific. Some
of the network's programs are already available to cable subscribers in the San
Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Honolulu, Guam, and the Marianas.
ABS-CBN is negotiating another agreement with PanAmSat that will allow it to
cover the Indian Ocean region from Europe to Japan by February next year.
(AP)
CYBERSPACE:
TELE-SATELLIT--"Tele-Satellit" news in English is now available in the DER
SPIEGEL Forum on CompuServe (go spiegel) , in Data Library 11. The daily
German language news is being posted to Usenet at de.alt.tv.misc
"Tele-Satellit" can also be found via the Internet at:
ftp.funet.fi:pub/dx/text/satellite/telesatellit and via the WorldWide Web at:
http://xan.esrin.esa.it:2602/satellite.html
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Sweden Calling DXers/MediaScan is 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.
Radio Sweden broadcasts in English:
Europe:
17:15 hrs 1179 and 6065 kHz
18:30 1179, 6065, 9655, and 13690 kHz (also Africa/Middle East)
21:30 1179, 6065, and 9655 kHz (also Africa/Middle East)
22:30 1179 and 6065 kHz
23:30 1179 kHz
Asia/Pacific:
12:30 hrs 13775, 15120, and 15240 kHz
23:30 11910 kHz
01:30 9895 and 11695 kHz
North America:
13:30 and 14:30 hrs on 11650 and 15240 kHz
02:30 and 03:30 hrs on 6200 and 9850 kHz
Latin America:
00:30 hrs on 6065 and 6200 kHz
Our broadcasts on the Astra and Tele-X satellites will only be at 17:15 and
18:30 hrs. We'll continue to use the Sky Movies Gold transponder 26 on Astra
(11.597 MHz), sound 7.74 MHz, and the TV 5 Nordic transponder on Tele-X
(12.475 MHz), sound 7.38 MHz.
The broadcasts at 17:15 and 18:30 hrs are also relayed to Europe by satellite:
Astra 1B (19.2 degrees East) transponder 26 (Sky Movies Gold) at
11.597 GHz, audio subcarrier at 7.74 MHz,
Tele-X (5 degrees East) via TV5 Nordic at 12.475 GHz, audio subcarrier 7.38
MHz.
Radio Sweden is also relayed to Europe via the World Radio Network on MTV's
transponder 22 on Astra, audio 7.38 MHz, daily at 20:00 hrs UTC.
Radio Sweden can also be heard on WRN's North American service on Galaxy-5,
on WTBS's transponder 6, audio 6.8 MHz, daily at 00:00 and 20:00 hrs.
Sound files of Mediascan are archived at:
ftp.funet.fi:pub/sounds/RadioSweden/mediascan.
If you access to the WorldWide Web, you can also find the programs among the
offerings of Internet Talk Radio at:
ftp://town.hall.org/radio/Sweden
Contributions can be sent to DX Editor George Wood by fax to +468-667-6283,
via the Internet to wood@stab.sr.se, from MCI Mail or CompuServe to the
CompuServe mailbox 70247,3516, 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!