From wood@stab.sr.seTue Jan 2 20:59:48 1996
Date: Tue, 2 Jan 1996 14:11:15 +0100
From: George Wood <wood@stab.sr.se>
To: wood@rs.sr.se
Subject: MediaScan/Sweden Calling Dxers 2239
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:: MediaScan ::
:: SWEDEN CALLING DXERS ::
:: from Radio Sweden ::
:: Number 2239--Jan. 2, 1995 ::
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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 SCDX2239
All times UTC unless otherwise noted.
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Welcome to the first MediaScan of 1996, the year when digital
satellite television is set to start in Europe. Today's was a very
special program, an interview with the government minister responsible
for broadcasting in Sweden, Minister of Culture Margot Wallstroem. We
talked about her campaign to restrict violence on TV, whether the new
national channels here will be analog or digital, and the future of
public service broadcasting.
If you missed today's program, the World Wide Web edition carries the
interview, divided up into smaller to download chunks. I'll be writing
it as soon as I finish this version of the program. (I'm also pleased
to report that there are now more than 700 of you on the mailing
list.)
NORDIC MEDIA NEWS:
SIRIUS--By February 1, all of the D2-MAC channels on Sirius will be
encrypted, with the exception of TV3. Here is the channel plan:
TV3 11.785 Ghz
TV6 12.015 GHz
ZTV 11.862 GHz
??? 12.092 GHz
(Bert Dahlstroem in "Paa TV")
PIRATE DECODERS--Regarding the recent report of advertisements for a
satellite viewers club offering pirate decoders on TV3's Tele-Text
service, and in the magazine "Paa TV" both owned by Kinnevik, who's
TV1000 is the target of the cards, Johan (presumeably from the club)
has written to say:
"It is true that the product can be a component in the hunt to decode
pay channels, but that is only part of the truth. The product is an
interface between ISO-7816 and RS-232, two accepted standards. With
this interface card you can connect a card reader (Viedocrypt or
Eurocrypt) to a computer. In the computer you can emulate a smartcard.
The program is available for free on the Internet, and at the moment
can decode most Eurocrypt channels and some Videocrypt channels (not
Sky, however).
"This is, however, a worse alternative than a traditional pirate card,
as the program is updated first when all similar commercial products
have been updated. It is the worse alternative on the market...
"Selling the interface card does not violate Swedish law, as the card
by itself cannot decode images. The card is only an interface between
two standards -- ISO-7816 and RS-232...
"The program is a written work distributed free of charge over the
Internet. Selling the interface card and the program, and installing
them for someone, can be considered as a violation, but this has not
been done by this company.
"Then there is the ethical problem of the advertisement. This is
understandible, but no law has been broken by either "Paa TV" or the
company in question. If I had been the editor of "Paa TV", I wouldn't
have run the ad, without checking first what it was all about. There
is the problem. Ignorance often leads to such problems."
More information about the interface card can be found at:
http://www.paranoia.com/~defiant
http://harley.pcl.ox.ac.uk/~paulmax (note we got a "connection
refused" trying to access this site)
(TV1000 viewers, legal or not, see Star Trek below)
EUROPEAN MEDIA NEWS:
AMERICA ONE--The new America One channel from National Public Radio
and Public Radio International went on the air to Europe as scheduled
right after midnight on New Years. It's on Astra transponder 22, the
sound channel two steps up from the World Radio Network, at 7.74 MHz.
SKY--Sky One viewers will be able to watch Sky Movies in January
without having to use pirate devices! "Murder One", a 23-part
"docudrama" series will be soft-encrypted for its showing on Sky
Movies (beginning January 7, at 21:00 hrs UTC). No slots were
available for the series on Sky One. ("What Satellite TV")
STAR TREK--For Star Trek fans, the "Next Generation" and "Voyager"
series have been running on Sky One. Now the original series is
returning to Sky One as well, Sundays at noon UTC. And Trekkers will
be happy to know that Sweden's TV1000 will be broadcasting the "Deep
Space Nine" series, beginning this Wednesday, at 17:00 hrs UTC. There
seem to be a lot of pirate TV1000 cards out there, especially in
Britain. The programs will be repeated the following Wednesdays at
07:00 hrs, and TV1000 is committed to broadcasting 46 episodes, which
corresponds to the series first two seasons.
Sweden's TV5 Nordic/Femman continues to broadcast the "Next
Generation" Sundays at 15:00 hrs.
TCC/DISCOVERY--The Children's Channel and Discovery seem to be sharing
the transponder at 11.055 GHz on Intelsat 601.
ORION--Orion Network Systems has announced that it will transmit
Performance - The Arts to cable operators in the UK via the Orion 1
satellite. The transmission begins February 1, along with the Channel
One news and entertainment channel, which was announced last November.
For more information:
http://www.prnewswire.com/cnoc/exec/menu?101263
(PR Newswire)
ONXY TV--Onyx TV was scheduled to launch on Hot Bird on January 1, on
channel 22 (11.148 GHz apparently). This is an unscrambled PAL music
video channel in German. ("What Satellite TV")
VH-1--Viacom is proposing launching versions of VH-1 for the Benelux
and Scandinavian markets in 1996. ("What Satellite TV")
ASTRA--Astra 1A, launched in 1988, will probably be used for satellite
news gathering duties from 1998 onwards (after Astra 1H is in
position(, being placed in an inclined orbit, and moved to either
24.3, 26, or 28.2 degrees East. ("What Satellite TV")
HALLMARK--Hallmark Entertainment Network says it will launch its
satellite and cable channel by the end of January, 1996. A segment of
the channel's schedule will probably appear as part of the Sky Multi-
Channels basic tier package. ("What Satellite TV") Another "channel"
for the ever-popular transponder 47? As we've previously reported, the
Hallmark Channel is supposed to be part of FilmNet's digital package
to Scandinavia on Astra 1E.
POLAND--CLT is to launch a Polish-language satellite channel this
Spring. The channel will be called RTL-7, and will be the sixth
satellite delivered Polish channel. ("What Satellite TV")
CLT--There have been reports of various bidders and buyers for all or
part of CLT, owner of the RTL television and radio channels around
Europe. The latest report is that a group made up of Bertelsmann,
Canal Plus, and Havas wants to buy one third of CLT. Recently CLT was
forced to deny rumors that Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB was to buy a 30
percent share in the company. ("Tele-satellit")
DIGITAL RADIO--Digital satellite radio is starting slow in Europe.
Merger talks between Astra's first subscription music broadcaster,
Digital Music Express, and its chief competitor, Music Choice Europe,
may lead to a deal in early Spring. DMX has postponed the full launch
of its UK service until April (although the German service is up and
running), due it says, to a shortage to necessary microchips. But
financial losses accumulated thus far have proved far greater than
anticipated. ("What Satellite TV")
ASIAN MEDIA NEWS:
ASIASAT--The first test signals from the new Asiasat-2 satellite were
sighted on December 18, with the text: "Welcome to Asiasat 2 Merry
Christmas and Happy new year". The position was some degrees West of
Asiasat-1, with a very strong signal on 3860 MHz. (Kim Slyns, TVROSAT
mailing list, via Curt Swinehart)
INDIA--A Hindi language verison of Europe's Family Channel is to be
launched to India in the Spring. ("What Satellite TV")
JAPAN--Rupert Murdoch's Star-TV plans to enter the Japanese market in
April, according to industry sources. The move comes after Japan's
Post and Telecommunications Ministry decided to allow international
broadcasting via satellite. (Kyodo)
NORTH AMERICAN MEDIA NEWS:
ECHOSTAR--The EchoStar-1 satellite was successfully launched from
China on December 28. It was scheduled to reach its final orbital
postition at 119 degrees West after about 10 days, and is expected to
be ready for full commercial transmission by mid-February. EchoStar is
developing a state-of-the-art DBS system called DISH (Digital Sky
Highway). A total of more than 200 channels of digital audio, video,
and data services are expected to be delivered to homes through-out
the continental United States with the launch of EchoStar-2 in
mid-1996. (Reuters and "Tele-satellit")
SEA LAUNCH--Hughes Space and Communication Co. has ordered a series of
at least 10 commercial space satellite launches from Sea Launch, an
international joint-venture company that plans to conduct launches
from a floating platform in the Pacific Ocean. Sea Launch is jointly
owned by the Seattle-based Boeing Commercial Space (responsible for
overall project management), Norway's Kvaerner AS (responsible for
maritime resources), NPO-Yuzhnoye from the Ukraine (which builds the
two stage Zenit rocket), and RSC-Energia in Russia (which builds the
upper stage of the Sea Luanch rocket).
Sea Launch has also announced that it has completed the purchase of a
large semi-submersible platform, and has authorited Kvaerner Rosenberg
in Stavanger, Norway, to convert the 430 foot long former oil rig to
serve as a sea-going launch platform. Long Beach, California is the
potential US home port. (Curt Swinehart)
INDIA--Viewers in the United States will soon be able to watch India's
state-owned television network Doordarshan, via Panamsat.
Doordarshan's signals will be relayed via the PAS-4 Indian Ocean
satellite to a British Telecom station near London, and then
transmitted via PAS-1 to the United States. (Curt Swinehart)
LITHUANIA--Lithuanian Radio and Television has signed an agreement
with Deutsche Welle to rebroadcast Lithuanian Radio programs in
English and Lithuanian on shortwave to North America via DW's Julich
transmitting station, beginning January 1. (Sigitas Zilionis,
"Lithuanian Broadcast News")
CYBERSPACE:
TRAVEL CHANNEL--The Travel Channel can now be found on the WWW:
http://www.travelchannel.com
SATCO DX--Satco DX, in co-operation with "TeleSatellit", has started
an interactive frequency chart, "covering all satellite channels
worldwide" (except that it currently lists only European satellites):
http://www.sat-city.com
NASWA--The North American Short Wave Association, North America's
oldest shortwave broadcast-only club, has launched NASWeb, its home
page on the WWW:
http://www.mcs.com/~ralph/html/naswa/
NET RADIO--Minneapolis-based net.radio corporation has begun
broadcasting its second Internet radio format. "Maestro", a classical
format, debuted on December 24, using RealAudio:
http://www.netradio.net/
(Curt Swinehart)
BLOOMBERG--The business news service Bloomberg has teamed up with Xing
Technology to deliver Bloomberg Information Radio over the Internet,
using the Streamworks format. WBBR AM 1130 from New York is being
carried 24 hours a day. For more information and the Streamworks
program check:
http://www.xingtech.com
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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:
To Europe:
17:15 hrs 1179 and 6065 kHz
18:30 1179, 6065, 7240, and 9655 kHz (also Africa/Middle East)
21:30 1179, 6065, and 7230 kHz (also Africa/Middle East) 22:30
1179 and 6065 kHz (also Africa/Middle East) 23:30 1179
kHz
Asia/Pacific:
12:30 hrs 9835, 13740, and 15240 kHz
01:30 hrs 7120 kHz
North America:
13:30 hrs on 11650 and 15240 kHz
14:30 hrs on 11650 and 15245 kHz
02:30 and 03:30 hrs on 7120 kHz
Latin America:
00:30 hrs on 6065 and 9850 kHz
The broadcasts at 17:15 and 18:30 hrs are also relayed to Europe
by satellite:
Astra 1C on ZDF's transponder 33 at 10.964 GHz, audio subcarrier at
7.38 MHz
Tele-X via TV5 Nordic/Femman's transponder at 12.475 GHz, audio
subcarrier 7.38 MHz
Radio Sweden is also relayed to Europe via the World Radio Network on
VH-1's transponder 22 on Astra 1C, audio 7.38 MHz, daily at 22:00 hrs
CET. 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 21:30 and
00:00 hrs Eastern time.
Our new World Wide Web page is at:
http://www.sr.se/rs
A multimedia version of this bulletin can be found at:
http://www.sr.se/rs/english/media/scdx.htm
Sound recordings of interviews from previous programs can be found at:
http://www.sr.se/rs/english/media/media2.htm
Sound files of Mediascan are archived at:
ftp.funet.fi:pub/sounds/RadioSweden/Mediascan.
You can also find the programs among the offerings of Internet Talk
Radio at various sites, including:
ftp://town.hall.org/radio/Mirrors/RadioSweden/MediaScan
Radio Sweden news (recorded at 01:30 hrs UTC daily) as well recordings
of MediaScan are available in the Real Audio format via the World
Radio Network, at:
http://www.wrn.org
WRN programming is carried live over the Internet in the Streamworks
format. The WRN server is at Internet Multicasting at:
town.hall.org
Contributions can be sent to DX Editor George Wood by fax to
+468-667-6283 or by e-mail to: wood@rs.sr.se
Reports can also be sent to:
Radio Sweden
S-105 10 Stockholm
Sweden
Contributions should be NEWS about electronic media--from shortwave to
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And for general questions, comments, and reception reports, our e-mail
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks to this week's contributors Good
Listening!
************************
George Wood wood@rs.sr.se
Radio Sweden http://www.sr.se/rs
S-105 10 Stockholm tel: +468-784-7239
Sweden fax: +468-667-6283
************************