From wood@stab.sr.seWed Jan 17 17:56:42 1996
Date: Tue, 16 Jan 1996 13:55:59 +0100
From: George Wood <wood@stab.sr.se>
To: wood@rs.sr.se
Subject: MediaScan/Sweden Calling DXers 2240
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:: MediaScan ::
:: SWEDEN CALLING DXERS ::
:: from Radio Sweden ::
:: Number 2240--Jan. 16, 1996 ::
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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 SCDX2240
All times UTC unless otherwise noted.
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Don't miss our Media Links page at:
http://www.sr.se/rs/english/media/links.htm
NORDIC MEDIA NEWS:
BYE BYE TO ALL THAT--At the beginning of the year a 70 year tradition
disappeared from Swedish Radio. The news agency TT no longer presents
radio newscasts on the public service broadcaster.
The Swedish news agency provided the first news on Swedish radio,
beginning on March 5, 1924, even before the company was formally
organized on January 1, 1925. TT had a monopoly on radio news until
1947. As the years have gone by more and more people began to feel it
was an anarchronism for the news agency to provide newscasts, when
Swedish Radio had its own well-respected News Department. SR has taken
advantage of the government's imposed 11 percent budget cutback to
drop the TT broadcasts. (TT)
TT however, continues to provide news for many of the private
commercial broadcasters who have gone on the air in Sweden during the
past two years. The TT newscasts to private radio can be heard on the
TV5/Nordic (Femman) transponder on the Tele-X satellite (12.475 GHz)
on sound carrier 7.56 MHz.
NEW NAMES--We've had some name changes among Swedish TV stations
recently. Public broadcaster Swedish Television's 2 channels used to
be called simply TV1 and TV2. Then a couple of years ago, in
connection with a reorganization, TV1 became Kanal 1 (or Channel 1),
and since then no one has been able to keep the two straight. Now, in
connection with another reorganization, they'd adopted the EBU
designation, SVT1 and SVT2.
Another name change...when the pay movie outlet FilmNet split into two
channels some time back, they called them FilmNet Plus, and FilmNet,
the Complete Movie Channel, which is a mouthfull. (Try to say it fast
5 times.) Now they've become simply FilmNet 1 and FilmNet 2.
SVT1/2--The Association of Swedes living abroad has written to the
Swedish government formally proposing that SVT1 and SVT2 broadcast on
satellite. In the letter, to the Minstry of Culture, the Association
says Swedes abroada have greatly appreciated the satellite programs
from Swedish Radio, which has meant much improved sound quality
(compared to shortwave). The organization underlines that contact with
television programming from home is especially important to Swedish
children and young people growing up outside the country. (TT)
The two channels are actually on satellite already, but relayed by
Norway for cable networks, and no one else is allowed to have decoder
cards, not even the 10,000 irrate Swedes who pay annual licence fees
here, but who are out of the coverage areas of Swedish Television's
transmitters.
When we asked Minister of Culture Margot Wallstroem about this is the
last program, her only response was that the coming switch to digital
transmissions would solve the problem.
KINNEVIK--There are rumors Kinnevik is ready to sell its TV1000 film
channel to arch-rival FilmNet. ("What Satellite TV")
Kinnevik seems to be doing well though, especially outside of Sweden.
It's P4 channel is now the second most popular radio station in Norway
(following the public service NRK), according to a new survey from
Gothenburg University. (TT)
Kinnevik is also extending its TV3 channel to Estonia. Kinnevik
already runs the Estonian commercial station EETV, which shares its
transmitter with another station called RTV. The two stations are to
merge, creating the new TV3, in which Kinnevik would hold the largest
share. This would be a terrestrial channel not a satellite outlet.
Kinnevik already owns a local station in the Lativian capital Riga,
also known as TV3, as well as a 35 percent share of Kaunas Plus in
Lithuania. The company is also applying for a local TV licence in
northern Poland. ("Svenska Dagbladet")
NORWAY--The Norwegian public service broadcaster NRK is starting its
second TV channel NRK 2 in March. A satellite relay is planned
eventually, apparently from the Intelsat 707 satellite at 1 degree
West, which is scheduled to be launched next month. (Bert Dahlstrom in
"Paa TV")
SIRIUS--Bert Dahlstrom has written to update his report on the new
line-up on Sweden's Sirius satellite. Unfortunately, contrary to the
previous report, TV3 on 11.785 GHz will also encrypt in D2-MAC
beginning February 1st. (Bert Dahlstroem)
Z-TV and the TV6/TV-G combination will be encoding as well, and TV6
has now moved to 12.015 GHz in D2-MAC from its former clear PAL
channel on Sirius. The others should follow suit.
FINLAND--A study in Finland has proposed licensing a new national
commercial radio station, as well as a new national TV channel.
Sweden's Bonniers publishing empire, which owns 13 local commercial
radio stations here, has expressed interest in applying for the
Finnish radio franchise. Some observers say it's more likely the
company behind Finland's largest newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat, will
win the licence. (TT)
Finland's YLE Radio is now broadcasting in Finnish and Swedish
digitally on Intelsat 702 at 1 degree West. According to YLE, the
MPEG- 2 signals are on the Deutsche Welle transponder at 3.912 GHz,
although we've never heard of a Deutsche Welle transponder on this
satellite before. (YLE)
EUROPEAN MEDIA NEWS:
ONXY--Updating last time, on January 6, 1996, the German music video
channel Onyx TV launched on Eutelsat II-F1, at 11.146 GHz. The new
music channel, owned by the London-based Excalibur Communications
Limited, operates for 18 hours a day, and addresses "adult music
enthusiasts who no longer find themselves represented in chart-
dominiated music channels...There wiull be something for those who
like pop songs and hit tunes, for jazz lovers, country music
connoisseurs, fans of musicals or follows of rhythm and blues or
rock." (Eutelsat)
MURDOCH AGAIN--Rupert Murdoch has bid a reported two billion dollars
for European rights to the Olympic games from 2000 to 2008. The
massive bid is an attempt to break the long-standing tradition of
awarding the rights the EBU, which in turn has meant the games can be
carried on all EBU member stations across Europe and on Eurosport.
Apparently the deal would place some events on Murdoch's pay TV
channels Sky Sports and Sky Sports 2, while some events would be
carried free to air. If Murdoch wins the games, it would also open Sky
Sports to a Pan-European audience (despite the provisions of the
Maastrict agreement for free access to goods and services across the
EU, Murdoch has refused to open his Sky Multichannels channels to
non-British or Irish subscribers). ("Tele-satellit")
GENERAL ELECTRIC--We've reported that General Electric will be using
half the transponders on Sweden's upcoming Sirius 2 satellite at 5
degrees East, for Pan-European channels. Now GE Capital Satellite
International has announced it is seeking 12 addiitonal satellite
orbital slots to serve the European, African. and Asian-Pacific
regions. Applications for these orbital locations have been made to
the International Telecommunications Union by the government of
Gibraltar, a British Dependent Territory. Satellites launched to these
locations would be operated from a planned control facility on
Gibraltar.
Planned orbital locations include 3 degrees East, and 6.5, 10, 15, and
23 degrees West to Europe; 27.5, 47 and 51 degrees East to Africa; and
97, 100.7, 105.3, and 108.2 degrres East to Asia and the Pacific.
(It's gonna get crowded up there!)
The proposed satellites as currently envisioned would be used mainly
for video programming distribution, including direct-to-home, cable
headend, and other broadcast applications The planned spacecraft
design would accommodate both analog and digtal video formats. ("Tele-
satellit")
BRITAIN--Members of Parliament from both the government and the
opposition have voiced alarm about cuts in the funding of the BBC's
World Service, which claims a global audience of 133 million.
Following November's budget, the government said the international arm
of the public service broadcaster would suffer a 20 percent cut in its
capital budget in the three years from April. (Reuters)
MIDDLE EASTERN MEDIA NEWS:
BBC--BBC World Service Television is investigating reports that news
stories about the expulsion by Britain of a Saudi dissident were
blacked out on its service via the Saudi Arabian-based Orbit
television package. The sginals travel from London via satellite to
Rome, where they are combined with other channels and sent up to the
Arabsat satellite. The Rome Earth station is operated by a Saudi
company with close ties to the Saudi royal family. (Reuters)
AMERICAN MEDIA NEWS:
ECHOSTAR--In international news, quite a few satellites have been
launched recently. On January 11th, EchoStar Communications announced
its first direct broadcast satellite has reached final orbit at 119
degrees West. The satellite was launched from China on December 28th,
and will provide more than 200 channels of digital video, audio, and
data services to 18 inch dishes, together with EchoStar-2, which
launches in mid-1996.
PANAMSAT--On January 12th, an Ariane rocket successfully launched
Malaysia's Measat-1 and PanAmSat-3R. The new Atlantic relay satellite
PAS-3R replaces PanAmSat-3, which crashed on launch 13 months ago, and
will be placed at 43 degrees West. It carries 16 transponders each in
the C and Ku bands, and will be the first international satellite with
primarily digital transmissions. Users include Turner Broadcasting,
Warner Brothers Television, Viacom, ESPN, Home Box Office, Sony, Fox,
and NBC. They'll be part of Latin America's first direct-to-home TV
service, scheduled to start in the second quarter of the year.
(Reuters, AP, "Tele-satellit", and Curt Swinehart)
ASIAN MEDIA NEWS:
MEASAT--Measat will be positioned at 91.5 degrees East, and carries 4
high-powered Ku-band transponders, which can be received by 50
centimeter antennas. The 12 C-band transponders will be used for
video, voice, and data services from Burma to Japan. (Reuters, AP,
"Tele- satellit", and Curt Swinehart)
KOREA--On January 14th, Koreasat-2 was launched from Cape Canaveral.
The identical Koreasat-1 was launched in August, but because of a
booster separation problem, it's lifetime has been shortened. (Curt
Swinehart)
INDONESIA--Next up is Indonesia's Palapa C1, due to be launched
January 31 from Cap Canaveral. (Curt Swinhart)
NBC--NBC announced January 15 it is launching a new television network
to Asia. NBC in Asia is a 24 hour English-language cable service
offering a mix of global and Asian news, documentaries, drama, music,
sports, and children's programming for the Pan-Asian region. A limited
version debuted on January 15th, with an expanded schedule planned for
mid-April. Based in Hong Kong, the new network initially will feature
shows from its companion channel, the business-oriented CNBC Asia. (AP
and Curt Swinehart)
It sounds like this is paralleling NBC's European split between NBC
Super Channel and CNBC Europe.
INDIA--An Indian court has rejected a petition from state television
to stop the granting of broadcast rights for this year's World Cup
Cricket to media baron Rupert Murdoch's Star Television. The state-run
Doordarshan television immediately gave notice it plans to appeal to
the Indian Supreme Court.
The case went to the Delhi High Court after the US film WorldTel,
which bought the broadcast rights from the organizers, rescinded an
agreement signed with Doordarshan in 1994, on the grounds that the
Indian company had missed an installment payment. (Reuters)
The "Asian Age" newspaper says the Indian government is making a new
law to throw open state-controlled airwaves by permitting private
televison and radio broadcasting. The newspaper says the Information
and Broadcasting Ministry is giving final touches to a new bill to be
placed before parliament. It did not say when the bill would be
introduced. The bill would allow private broadcast channels, which
would be regulated by a national broadcasting authority. State-run All
India Radio and Doordarshan television would also be covered by the
regulator. Private Indian broadcasters ship out videotapes to
countries such as Hong Kong, Russia, Singapore, and the Philippines
where they are broadcast by satellite to India's booming cable
television market. (Reuters)
CYBERSPACE:
SUNERGY--The next Sunergy broadcast will be on January 18th, on the
topic "Stocking the Data Warehouse", at 08:30-9:30 AM PST (16:30-17:30
hrs UTC). Besides the relay on the Internet MBONE, it will also be
carried on satellite.
To North America:
Galaxy 7 3.920 GHz (transponder 11) (NTSC)
To Latin America:
Intelsat-K 11.842 GHz (NTSC)
To Europe:
Eutelsat II-F1 12.584 GHz (PAL)
To South Africa:
Intelsat 515 4.188 GHz (transponder 2) (PAL)
More information from:
http.//www.sun.com/sunergy
STREAMWORKS--The World Radio Network is now relaying their WRN2
service to North America over the Internet, using the Streamworks
system. This service carries programming in languages other than
English, including Radio Sweden's Swedish program daily at 14:00 hrs
Eastern Time.
DIGTAL BROADCASTING--The digital future brings us to today's
interview, which is courtesy of New Dimensions Radio in San Francisco.
They've talked to Nicholas Negroponte, director of the Media Lab at
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and author of the book
"Being Digital". Thanks to New Dimensions Radio for making some of his
comments on the potential of digital broadcasting available to us.
More information about New Dimensions Radio at:
http://www.newdimensions.org
NASA TV--During the most recent US government closedown (caused by the
budget crisis), NASA TV disappeared from the CU-SeeMe feed over the
Internet. It returned when federal employees went back to work, just
in time for the current Space Shuttle mission. Here are some of the
video reflectors carrying the NASA TV CU-SeeMe feed into the Internet:
139.88.27.43 at the NASA Lewis Research Center
139.169.165.25 at the NASA Johnson Space Cetner
158.36.33.5 at Oestfold Regional College in Norway
130.235.128.100 at Lund University in Sweden
164.78.252.4 at Singapore Polytechnic in Singapore
CU-See Software can be downloaded from:
http://cu-seeme.cornell.edu/
NORDIC SHORTWAVE CENTER--Some of the oldest DX clubs in the Nordic
countries invite Internet users to visit the Nordic Shortwave Center.
The Danish Shortwave Clubs International and Sweden's "Shortwave
Bulletin" offer the world's DXers a Website that "will prove to be the
ultimate place for all of you who wish to keep up with the very latest
in the DX hobby". Most of the information is free of charge, while
some is intended for club members only. Check out:
http://www.sds.se/org/swl/
SATELLITE COMPANIES ON THE WEB--The following satellite companies have
WWW sites:
http://www.Intelsat.com Intelsat
http://www.worldserver.pipes.com/inmarsat Inmarsat
http://www.directv.com DirecTV
http://www.sattv.com DirecTV Latin America
http://itre.ncsu.edu/misc/TELE-satellit/drdish Dr. Dish Q & A
(Curt Swinehart)
IRELAND--RTE1 Radio has gone 24 hours. Details are at the Web site:
http://ireland.iol.ie/media/rtecork/
(Edward Dunne)
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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
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ftp://town.hall.org/radio/Mirrors/RadioSweden/MediaScan
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WRN programming is carried live over the Internet in the Streamworks
format. The WRN server is at Internet Multicasting at:
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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
satellites--and not loggings of information already available from
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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
************************