From wood@stab.sr.seTue Apr 2 17:38:08 1996
Date: Tue, 5 Mar 1996 15:02:12 +0100
From: George Wood <wood@stab.sr.se>
To: wood@rs.sr.se
Subject: MediaScan/SCDX 2243
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:: MediaScan ::
:: SWEDEN CALLING DXERS ::
:: from Radio Sweden ::
:: Number 2243--Mar. 5, 1996 ::
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Satellite, shortwave and other electronic media news from Radio
Sweden.
This week's bulletin was written by George Wood.
Packet Radio BID SCDX2243
All times UTC unless otherwise noted.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
NORDIC MEDIA NEWS:
RADIO SWEDEN--The head of the Radio Sweden, Hans Wachholtz, has
announced he is retiring as of June 1, 1996.
SWEDISH RADIO--A majority of the Swedish Radio board has opted to
recruit the new managing director internally. Their choice, Lisa
Soederberg, like her predecessor, has been head of the News
Department, and has spent most of her 20 year radio career there.
DIGITAL TELEVISION--Swden's minority Social Democratic has now found
the necessary parliamentary support from the Center and Liberal
Parties for the creation of terrestrial digital TV broadcasting. There
are to be 8 MPEG channels within two years, 24 by the end of the
decade. The public service broadcaster Swedish Television, and the
private TV4 are to have the priority in gaining access to the new
channels. The measure will be voted on by parliament in the Fall. (TT)
SUPERSPORT--Nethold, the owner of FilmNet, has backed down on its
demands on cable networks for its new SuperSport outlet. Originally
Nethold wanted SuperSport to be a pay channel like FilmNet. Now,
because of rival Kinnevik's free and uncoded Sports Channel, which is
due to start broadcasting on March 22nd, SuperSport is to be included
in the cable networks' basic packages. (Frank Oestergren,
"Aftonbladet")
The station has suddenly appeared on the Astra satellites on
transponder 65, that's 11.720 GHz, in soft-scrambled (which is
essential the same as uncoded since you need a decoder anyway) D2-MAC,
rather than digital MPEG, as previously announced. I called up the
Chief Operating Officer of Nethold Nordic, Jan Friedman, and asked
what was going on?
You can hear his answer in today's program (or on our Web pages). In
short, while they continue to broadcast in MPEG, the new transponder
is because of a fire in a South African manufacturing plant, which has
delayed the production and sale of MPEG decoders.
We also talked about the new Hallmark entertainment channel, for which
there are no plans for D2-MAC tranmissions. The channel is already on
one Stockholm's Stjaern-TV cable network.
When digital transmissions really get underway at the end of the
Summer, Nethold expects to offer new thematic channels, video-nearly-
on-demand, and a multi-channel digital audio service from an outside
provider such as DMX.
Nethold's digital broadcasts are to be on Astra transponders 66
(11.730 GHz), 67 (11.750), and 80 (12.010). (James Robinson)
SuperSport has advertisements in both of Stockholm's afternoon
tabloids today, featuring a scantily clad model (implying that
watching sports is better than sex). This may indicate that the
emphasis is to be on sports for men, and not for women.
"What Satellite TV" magazine reports that Nethold will pick and choose
channels for various areas depending on their suitability, and will
price them according to what they think those markets wills tand.
Tough not confirmed, it's almost certain that FilmNet 2 and SuperSport
will be common to all of the packages. Other channels available
include TCC, Discovery, CMT, and Hallmark.
In addition, a 10-channel video nearly on demand service will be
offered and the pay audio service will be from DMX.
Intelsat 601 will serve as the digital hub, receiving digital uplinks
from the various broadcasters for relay to Nethold's network control
center in Hilversum for uplink to Astra 1E. ("What Satellite TV")
Intelsat 601 would also be handy for transfering Nethold programming
to South Africa.
We had a call last week from a very unhappy single mother here, who
was upset that her local cable network (Stjaern-TV), in order to make
room for SuperSport and Kinnevik's coming Sports Channel, has shoved
BBC World up onto the hyperband, out of reach of her old TV and VCR,
and is removing NBC Super Channel. Along with Eurosport, she says,
there will be three easy-to-access sports channels for men, while the
only news channel remaining within reach is CNN.
In order to make room for Hallmark, Stjaern-TV has also taken the
Children's Channel off the air. ("Dagens Nyheter")
One would think that if money is to be made from providing sports
programming for men, those same men probably have newer receivers that
cover the hyperband.
KINNEVIK--Kinnevik has now moved its TV3 Sweden channel on the Sirius
satellite to 12.092 GHz, in D2-MAC. This follows similar switches from
PAL by sister channels TV6 and Z-TV. Next up on Sirius is Kinnevik's
Sports Channel, expected to begin broadcasts on March 22.
Kinnevik's TV1000 Cinema has left Intelsat 601, 11.665 GHz. (James
Robinson)
KINNEVIK RADIO--Kinnevik, which already has its Radio Rix network here
in Sweden, is now beaming programs into this country from its
Norwegian network, P4 Radio Hele Norge. The programs are being relayed
by satellite from Lillehammer to Gothenberg. When Kinnevik took over
the Radio Rix network, it ended up with two transmitters in
Gothenberg, so the second one is now relaying the Norwegian channel.
Within a few weeks, it's promised that Swedish programs will be
substituted, however produced in Norway. (TT)
NORWAY--The World Radio Network has applied for one of 6 FM
frequencies available in Oslo. The authorities have up to 6 months to
consider the applications, and may ask the applicants to share
frequencies. (Jeff Cohen, WRN)
NAZI RADIO--Nazi broadcasts have returned to the airwaves in Denmark
for the first time since the Second World War occupation. Last
Wednesday the Danish National Socialist Movement began twice a week
radio programs. Christopher Follet files a report from Copenhagen in
today's program.
RADIO DENMARK--It was only a few months ago that Radio Denmark resumed
shortwave broadcasts in English, on the first Sunday of every month,
using the transmitters of Radio Norway International. Radio Denmark
now is also being relayed by the World Radio Network on satellite to
both Europe and North America. The first broadcasts were this weekend,
but they'll be repeated again on WRN on March 17th, to Europe at 17:15
hrs UTC, and to North America at 20:15 hrs UTC, which is 15:15 hrs
Eastern time. WRN tells us that Radio Denmark plans to produce extra
programs, not heard on shortwave, so the satellite service can go
weekly.
WRN can be heard in Europe on Astra transponder 22, sound 7.38 MHz,
and in North America on Galaxy 5, transponder 6, audio 6.8 MHz. (Radio
Denmark via Anker Petersen and WRN)
EUROPEAN MEDIA NEWS:
ASTRA--Digital Television in Europe should take another step forward
following the launch of Astra 1F, scheduled for March 28. For the
first time, Astra will be launching on a Russian Proton rocket, rather
than Ariane. ("Tele-satellit")
However, the launch may be affected by the failure of a Russian Raduga
satellite to reach orbit with a Proton after a February 19 accident. A
preliminary investigation has determined that a loose pipe between the
rocket's upper-stage engine and its fuel starter valve was
responsible. (Curt Swinehart)
CHILDREN'S CHANNEL--The Children's Channel has obtained a separate
broadcasting licence for its Scandinavian service on the Thor
satellite, anticipating a take-over by Rupert Murdoch's Twentieth
Century Fox. Fox is apparently only interested in the British version
of TCC, because its US produced kids shows are expected to find a more
recepetive audience in the UK than in Scandinavia. ("What Satellite
TV")
If you compare the current schedules of TCC on Astra and Thor, they're
already almost completely different.
EUROSPORT--The 6.5 MHz English soundtrack on Eurosport on Astra
transponder 4 is being replaced with another language on June 1.
English continues on 7.02 MHz. (James Robinson)
PAY PER VIEW--Rupert Murdoch is giving Europe it's first pay-per-view
event, pre-empting Astra transponder 47 from the Sci-Fi Channel on
March 17th to broadcast the Frank Bruno-Mike Tyson boxing match at
02:00, with repeats at 09:00, 12:00, and 19:30 hrs. Many Sky Sports
subscribers are upset at the extra 10 to 15 pounds they'll have to pay
to watch. (James Robinson and "Tele-satellit")
BRITAIN--In a blow against Rupert Murdoch, the British government
yielded on March 4 to pressure from millions of fans, and says it
would act to ensure major sports events continue to be shown on
regular terrestrial television channels. The announcement lifted a
threat hanging over thousands of Britons -- of having to choose
between paying a 300 pound (USD 459) yearly subscription to satellite
channel BSkyB or missing out on events such as the football cup final
and the Derby horse race.
Junior minister Lord Richard Inglewood said the government would
propose an amendment to a Broadcasting Bill currently going through
parliament to regulate the screening of what have been called the
"jewels in the crown of British sport".
This would "guarantee the availability of live coverage of listed
events for terrestrial free-to-air television," Inglewood, of the
National Heritage Department, said.
Under the government amendment, satellite channels would still
be able to screen the major sporting events, offering ``alternative or
fuller coverage of a listed event. (Reuters)
FROM RUPERT WITH LOVE--Russian state broadcaster RTR is to launch two
pay-TV channels this Spring, one featuring movies, the other sports.
An unnamed European broadcaster, almost certainly Sky, has signed a
USD 15 million dollar joint venture deal for the service. Distributed
in digital form via Intelsat 604, the channels will be redistributed
via cable networks, and should be followed next year by children's and
health channels. ("What Satellite TV")
CLT/MURDOCH--There's speculation that Rupert Murdoch's News Corp may
been developing a digital TV alliance with Luxembourg's CLT. (Curt
Swinehart)
CNBC/SUPER CHANNEL--The long-announced split between CNBC on Astra and
the more entertainment-oriented NBC Super Channel on Eutelsat II-F1
takes place soon, during the week on March 12. ("What Satellite TV")
RTL--While the German RTL channel continues to broadcast in PAL on
Astra transponder 2, the Eutelsat II-F1 transmission on 11.596 GHz isx
switching to MPEG in mid-March. (James Robinson)
RTL is planning to launch a 24 hour news channel early next year.
("What Satellite TV")
POLAND--Polonia 1 has moved from Eutelat II-F1 to Hot Bird, both at 13
degrees East. The new frequency is 11.492 GHz. ("Aftonbladet")
ITALY--The Italian porno channel Jessica Risso has ceased broadcasts.
It has been replaced at the same times on Wednesdays, Fridays, and
Saturdays on Eutelsat OO-F2 by its predecessor, Satisfaction Club.
("Aftonbladet")
ASTRA DIGITAL RADIO--Radio Austria International is joining Astra
Digital Radio on ADR's Astra transponder 45 on 8.10 MHz.
Swiss Radio International has ceased analog transmissions on Astra
transponder 55. It remains as part of Astra Digital Radio via ADR on
7.92 MHz, and analog on Kabel 1's transponder 9, with a mixture of
languages on 7.38 MHz and English on 7.56 MHz.
There will be no more analog radio stations on Astra. On ZDF's
transponder 33 (still the home of Radio Sweden), Radio Ropa is on 6.12
MHz, Star*Sat on 6.30 (both replacing the analog transmissions on
transponder 14), and NRJ Munich on 6.48 MHz.
Radio ORB Fritz can be found using on n-tv's transponder 29, 8.10 MHz.
(James Robinson)
INTELSAT RADIO--There are some new radio stations on the Travel
Channel's transponder on 11.175 Ghz on Intelsat 601. During the day
7.38 MHz is the home of a Virgin Megastore channel. 23:00-08:00 hrs
this channel is used for The Network, Student national station. BHS
Radio is on 7.74 MHz, and Texas FM is on 8.10 MHz. (James Robinson)
MIDDLE EASTERN MEDIA NEWS:
NETHOLD--Multichoice has secured exclusive direct to home satellite
rights for progrmming from ART-TV, and will launch a DTH package to
the Middle East via PAS-4 within the next three months. The service
will be based in Dubai, and will uplink at least 12 programs from a
base in Italy. Programs will include Arabic and foreign programming
aimed at the family, and covering music, sports, children's programs,
movies, culture, and variety shows. ("Tele-satellit" and Curt
Swinehart)
ISRAEL--Israel says it will launch its Amos-1 satellite on an Ariane
rocket in May. The satellite carries 7 transponders. ("Tele-satellit")
AFRICAN MEDIA NEWS:
BBC REPLACES SKY--While Rupert Murduch may have axed BBC World from
Asiasat (and may replace it with Sky News on April 1), things have
gone the other way in South Africa. the SABC says it's replaced Sky
News with BBC World on its satellite service. The SABC says BBC World
is far more international in scope than the highly British-oriented
Sky. ("What Satellite News")
MULTICHOICE--Nethold/Multichoice's African package on PAS-4 will
consist of: M-Net, Movie Magic, SuperSport, KTV, CNNI, BBC WOrld, Sky
News, ESPN, VH-1, TNT/Cartoon Network, Discovery, SeleTV, Sci-Fi
Channel, The Travel Channel, and The Cable Jazz Channel. ("What
Satellite TV")
ASIAN MEDIA NEWS:
BBC--The news and information channel BBC World will be moving to
PanAmSat-4 at 68.5 degrees East, when its agreement with Rupert
Murdoch's Star-TV ends on March 31. The BBC will be joining a number
of international channels, including Asia Business News, China Central
TV, Disney, India's Doordarshan, ESPN, HBO, Liberty
MultiChoice,/Orbicom, NHK, SABC/Sentech, Sony Entertainment
Television, CNN and Viacom's MTV on the new satellite. (Reuters,
"Ariel" via Richard Buckby and "Tele- satellit")
WRN--The World Radio Network launched a special service to Japan in
mid-February. Unlike WRN's usual selection of non-commercial
international broadcasters, the Japanese service includes commercial
stations Virgin, and NRJ, as well as Radio France International and
the BBC Asia-Pacific service. The signals are carried by optical fiber
to Los Angeles, and then relayed by PanAmSat to Japan. The programming
is part of the 440 channels on Usen Cable Radio, which reaches 1.8
million homes. The system is being upgraded to 880 channels. (Jeff
Cohen, WRN)
EUROPEAN BROADCAST BOUQUET--A group of European television channels
and international radio broadcasters have signed an agreement for
sharing C-band transponder 10B on Asiasat-2, using MPEG-2 digital
compression. Listeners through-out the Asia-Pacific region will
receive 24 hours of television from: Germany's Deutsche Welle, the
French TV5, Spain's TVE Internacional, RAI International from Italy,
and France's MCM International. The package includes 20 radio channels
as well, which are expected to be:
Swiss Radio International, YLE Radio Finland, Radio Netherlands, Radio
Canada International, RAI, Radio Nacional de Espana, Radio France
Internationale, France Inter, France Culture, France Info, and the
World Radio Network.
The service is expected to launch on April 18. The uplink will be from
Israel. (Deutsche Welle and WRN)
CHINA--Following the destruction of Intelsat 708 with a Chinese Long
March rocket, the Chinese space launch program is on hold. The next
launch, Apstar-1A, is expected around April 10. China has admitted
that six people died when the Long March rocket crashed into a
village, 22 seconds after launch in western Sichuan, destroying 80
homes. 57 people were seriously injured as well.Apstar is needed to
make up fior the January 1995 loss of Apstar 2, which blew up after
lift-off on a Long March. ("Tele-satellit" and Curt Swinehart)
NORTH AMERICAN MEDIA NEWS:
ECHOSTAR--EchoStar Communications has unveilled its DISH (Digital Sky
Highway) Network, including programming, satellite receiver packages,
on-screen programming guides, and a variety of purchase and lease
packages. The America's Top 40 programming package includes 40 popular
channels. Another package adds 40 CD quality music channels, plus more
channels from HBO, Showtime, or Cinemax. There are also pay-per-view
movies, and network progamming from ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, and PBS. (Curt
Swinehart)
DIGITAL BROADCASTS--Bennett Kobb writes regarding a report last time:
>>
The American decision has been delayed by Congress's insistance that
digital spectrum be auctioned off, while the Federal Communications
Commission wants to give already licenced stations free access to
digital frequencies, to stimulate them to develop new digital
services. <<
This is a bit of an oversimplification.
SOME Congressional representatives want the FCC to auction the
TV channels that stations would use for digital TV (which includes
non-video services).
Congress has so far passed no law that would require such auctions for
TV. Some representatives are against the idea. There certainly is no
Congressional vote or insistence to auction TV channels. As you can
imagine, the National Association of Broadcasters is lobbying heavily
against it. Presidential candidate Bob Dole is in favor of it.
The FCC does not "want" to give licensed stations free access.
It is more correct to say that the FCC previously decided to do
so - but that was long before license auctions of any kind were
permitted in the U.S. So the FCC had little choice at that time.
The FCC will not give the TV stations free access, or any other
access, to the so-called "digital channels" until the Congress tells
it what to do. On this point, FCC Chairman Reed Hundt has been very
clear. Hundt is a major supporter of auctions and I'm sure he would be
delighted to auction the channels if that is what Congress requires.
LATIN AMERICAN MEDIA NEWS:
INTELSAT--Organizacoes Globo says the February 14 failure of China to
launch Intelsat 708 will "indefinately delay" the Brazilian
broadcaster's entry into the DTH market. Even with the Intelsat 707
launch, Globo officials say they don't think the company will maintain
its deadlines.
Despite Globo's sceptism, partners News Corp and TCI say the launch
failure won't hinder their plans to offer DTH services to Latin
America. A News Corp spokesman says the company has a number of
options open, and a TCI spokeswoman says there are back-up plans
including leasing space on another satellite. (Curt Swinehart)
Following the failure of Intelsat 708, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp has
terminated its five year lease with Comsat for satellite capacity on
the Intelsat system. (Reuters)
Intelsat has decided that the upcoming 707 satellite will replace the
destroyed 708, rather than take over from Intelsat 702 at 1 degree
West (which means a delay in new programming to Scandinavia)
However, the planned launch of Intelsat 707 on Ariane has been once
again delayed, first to March 6, and then back to March 13 at the
earliest. Arianespace says it is replacing approximately 1000 nuts on
the launcher primary and interstage structures. (Reuters)
PAS--PanAmSat has begun commercial operation of its PAS-3 satellite,
at 43 degrees West. The satellite carries 16 Ku-band and 16 C-band
transponders, and will cover the Americas, Europe, and Africa.
Among the broadcasters using PAS-3 are: Discovery, ESPN, Televisa,
Turner International, CMT, HBO Ole, Liberty, NBC, Sony, Fox, TV-5,
Warner Brothers, and Viacom International. At least 18 additional
broadcast and telecommunications customers will begin transmissions
shortly. DTH TV to Latin America will be offered from PAS-3 later this
year. (Curt Swinehart)
CYBERSPACE:
FILMNET--FilmNet and SuperSport are now on the Worldwide Web on the
Internet:
http://www.filmnet.se
KANAL 5--Also on the Web now is Sweden's Channel 5, which has an
entire page devoted to its Star Trek programming:
http://www.kanal5.se
RADIO SWEDEN--Remember, you can also now find our daily newscasts and
Friday reviews of the week gone by on our Web pages. We've also got
several pages in connection with the 10th anniversary of the death of
Olof Palme:
http://www.sr.se/rs/
TELEVISION X--The softporn broadcaster Television X is now at:
http://www.televisionx.co.uk
("What Satellite TV")
FRANCE--"Tele-satellit" reports that the following French TV stations
are online:
TF1 http://www.tf1.fr
France Television http://www.francetv.fr
France 2 http://www.france2.fr
France 3 http://www.france3.fr
Canal Plus http://www.cplus.fr
La cinquieme http://www.lacinquieme.fr
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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
satellites--and not loggings of information already available from
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publications may reprint material as long as MediaScan/Sweden Calling
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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
************************