Apparently-to: scdx@get.pp.se
From: "George Wood" 
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  ::           MediaScan             
  ::      SWEDEN CALLING DXERS       
  ::       from Radio Sweden          
  ::    Number 2282--October 4, 1997    
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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 SCDX2282
Updated Web edition at: http://www.sr.se/rs/english/media/
All times UTC unless otherwise noted.
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NORDIC MEDIA NEWS
MEDIA CONCENTRATION--There's been an outcry here, at least from the
Minister of Culture, following the announcement that the Bonniers
media empire is increasing its stake in Sweden's only national
commercial television station, TV4. 
Actually, this isn't Bonniers directly, the new buyer is a company
called Alma, which owns Finland's only commercial television station,
MTV, not to be confused with the international music video channel.
Alma is in turn one fifth owned by a Bonniers subsidiary. Bonniers
dominates print media in Sweden, owning major book publishing houses,
and 7 newspapers, including Stockholm's respected morning daily Dagens
Nyheter and the tabloid Expressen. 
Bonniers has been less active in new media, with a handful of local
radio stations and, most recently, 17 percent of TV4. A few months
ago, when it bought into the private TV channel, Minister of Culture
Marita Ulvskog protested, saying Bonniers was gaining too much power
over Swedish media.
What's happened now is that Alma, of which Bonniers owns 20 percent,
has bought 21 and a half percent of TV4. There's no evidence that this
really gives the Swedish publishers much more control over the TV
station, Alma is a separate company. But it's enough for the Minister
of Culture to threaten to cancel the state's licence with TV4, if
Bonniers doesn't sell some interests somewhere.
Ironically the sale actually reduces media concentration in two
important ways. First of all, Alma is buying out the interests of
Sweden's Wallenberg financial empire, which dominates Swedish
industry. And the sale reduces the power of what has been TV4's
biggest owner, the Kinnevik media group, which holds 22 percent. 
Kinnevik also owns 3 Swedish satellite channels, similar stations in
Denmark and Norway, 2 Nordic satellite pay-film channels,
Scandinavia's most powerful satellite subscription distributor, a
large cable TV network, Sweden's second largest long distance
telephone company, one of three national cellular telephone companies,
and the country's largest Internet provider and network.
The company dominates new media here, and the Bonniers-TV4 deal
weakens its power a bit. Curiously, the Minister of Culture is far
more worried about old media publishers Bonniers than about Kinnevik,
but this may be because her background is in print media.
One result of the Minister's crusade may be the creation of a 4th
Swedish national terrerstrial TV network, besides public service
Swedish Television's 2 channels and TV4. The suggestion has come from
the Liberal and Center Parties. Liberal leader Lars Leijonborg has
told Swedish Radio news that a new private channel should not be owned
by Bonniers or Kinnevik.
CANAL DIGITAL--The French-owned Canal Digital continues to build up
its new digital offerings from the Norwegian satellite position at 1
degree West. But as yet there's no marketing campaign. Canal Digital
seems to be skipping the Christmas season, delaying the launch until
the Spring. (Frank Oestergren in "Aftonbladet")
The Canal Digital package will include:
Canal Plus (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland, along with the Pan-
Nordic "Gul" -- "Yellow" -- channel), Hallmark, Cartoon Network, TNT,
BBC Prime, NBC, CNBC, Discovery, Animal Planet, Travel, Eurosport,
TVS, MTV, VH-1, Nickelodeon, Sci-Fi, CNN, Adult Channel, Eurotica, TV
NOrge, TV Danmark, Kanal 5, NRK 1, 24 PPV channels (called Kiosk), and
20 themed radio channels from Music Choice Europe. All are encoded in
MPEG-2 Conax. (Richard Karlsson in "Aftonbladet")
MTV--The Finnish commercial channel MTV (not the music video channel)
on Intelsat 707, 11.174 GHz, is now encoded in MPEG-2 Conax. (Richard
Karlsson in "Aftonbladet")
SIRIUS 2--Hopefully next week Sweden's long delayed Sirius 2 satellite
will be launched with Ariane from French Guyana. When this is deployed
at 5 degrees East, it will offer some competition to Canal Digital and
the Norwegian satellites. The satellite is an Aerospatiale Spacebus
3000, carrying 32 transponders, with an estimated life of around 15
years. The Nordic beam (http://www.ssc.se/telecom/NORDSTOR.JPG) is 52
watts per transponder, and covers Scandinavia, the Baltic republics,
and parts of Eastern and Western Europe. The European beam is 72 watts
per transponder, and covers Western and Central Europe. There is also
a North/Central European beam, intended for digital data and video,
with 88 watts for each of the 6 transponders. (Teracom) 
Nordic beam:   13 transponders 11.7-12-5 GHz V
Euro beam:     13 transponders 11.7-12.5 GHz H
North/Central:  6 transponders 12.5-12.75 GHz
Half of the transponders on Sirius 2 will be distributed by GE
Americom, broadcasting primarily on the European beam.
Some months ago, at the Cable and Satellite Show in London, I met GE
Americom Vice President of International Marketing George Monaster.
The company is one of the major satellite operators in North America,
and in today's program he tells me how Sirius 2 will launch them into
the international marketplace.
So far GE Americom signed an agreement with the government of Cyrpus
to relay Greek-language programming to Europe from Sirius 2.
Among the channels distributed by NSAB, the Nordic Satellite Company,
are three moving from the aging Tele-X satellite, ABC/Disney's Kanal
Five, the new business station TV8, and the Danish sports channel TVS.
In addition there will be broadcasts from the Danish parliament,
called Star TV, and Swedish Television's new SVT Europe, which will
also relay Swedish Radio and Radio Sweden. The telephone and cable-TV
operator Telia has also booked 6 transponders. (NSAB)
The launch is scheduled for November 10th between 21:48 and 22:33 hrs
UTC, and live coverage from French Guyana will be provided on Telecom
2C and Tele-X on 12.605 GHz. ("SATCO DX")
EUROPE
BBC--The BBC has started its new channels UK Arena, UK Style, and UK
Horizons. They are running in MPEG-2 on 11.058 GHz on Intelsat 803
(which has replaced Intelsat 601 at 27.5 degrees West). The full
versions of all three channels will be cable-only. However, there is a
reduced version called the UKTV Preview Channel sharing Astra
transponder 56. This is in soft Videocrypt 1 (which means anyone with
a decoder can watch), with the following schedule:
07:00-14:00 hrs UK Horizons
14:00-18:00     UK Style
18:00-22:00     UK Horizons
22:00-00:00     UK Arena
00:00-01:00     UK Horizons
(On Friday to Sunday nghts UK Arena starts at 21:00 hrs, rather than
22:00.)
(James Robinson)
Before UKTV appeared, the shopping channel Screenshop had replaced the
information channel AstraVision on this transponder, in clear PAL, for
one week. Screenshop has replaced all HSN Direct transmissions on
transponders 35, 41, and 42. (James Robinson and Richard Karlsson, in
"Aftonbladet")
ASTRA--All Spanish language analog channels on Astra have ceased.
Beginning January 1, 1998, ORB will use transponder 30, with Hessen 3
on transponder 40. There will be ADR channels accompanying each
service. Phoenix is now on transponders 36 and 61. The service on
transponder 61 ends on December 1. Sky's Promo Channel in clear PAL
has now replaced Galavision on transponder 44 (which otherwise is Sky
Travel and Sky Movies Gold).
However, Sky Movies Gold also continues on transponders 26 and 60. A
message advising viewers to retune is at the bottom of the screen.
(James Robinson)
The RTL package has left transponder 75 (11.914 GHz) for transponder
89 (12.188 GHz). ("SATCO DX")
MCM Africa has started 15 new themed radio stations in MPEG-2 on Astra
on transponder 100 (12.402 GHz). Universal's new channel "13th Street"
starts on this transponder on November 13. Fox Kids is to start on
November 15, and Comedie on November 29. All three have been testing.
(James Robinson and Richard Karlsson in "Aftonbladet") 
EUTELSAT--Eurotica Rendez-Vous has left Eutelsat II-F3 11.163 GHz.
("SATCO DX")
Italy's RaiSat 1 has started on Hot Bird 2 on 11.804 GHz in clear
MPEG- 2. Devoted to culture and entertainment, initially RaiSat 1 will
broadcast for 6 hours, repeated 4 times a day. ("Tele-satellit News"
and "SATCO DX")
The first Italian hard-core porn channel, Satisfaction Club
Television, has announced it will start a digital package this month.
The channel will continue in analog on Eutelsat II-F2 (11.163 GHz),
while the new digital service will be on Hot Bird 3 on 12.149 GHz.
There will be three thematic channels: "classic porn", "gays and
lesbians", and "bizarre porn". All three will be on the air for 3
hours every night. ("Tele-satellit News")
The Polish Tylko Muzyka is back on Hot Bird 1 on 11.457 GHz in clear
MPEG-2. ("SATCO DX")
ERT International started on October 23 on Hot Bird 3, on 12.284 GHz
in clear PAL. ("SATCO DX")
INTELSAT--BBC Prime has left Intelsat 803 10.995 GHz (ending a long
BBC presence at this location). This leaves BBC Prime only in D2-MAC
on Intelsat 707 and in MPEG-2 on Eutelsat II-F1. ("SATCO DX" and
Richard Karlsson in "Aftonbladet") 
Intelsat 601 has replaced Intelsat 603 at 34.5 degrees West on October
16. Intelsat 603 is moving to 24.5 degrees West to replace Intelsat
605. ("SATCO DX")
FRANCE--The French digital satellite service TPS has denied a report
in "Le Monde" that it is negotiating a link to competitor AB Sat. AB
Sat says the two having been talking, but "all negotiations aimed at
the comfort of the television viewer, such as decoder compatibility,
would be welcome". "Le Monde" says the talks could lead to a broader
agreement than simply decoder compatibility. Culture Minister
Catherine Trautman said on October 22 the government may force digital
TV operators to reach agreement on decoder compatibility. So far only
Canalsatellite and AB Sat have reached such an accord. (Reuters)
SPAIN--Spanish radio stations are available in clear MPEG-2 on Astra
transponder 78. (James Robinson)
On October 30, all Radio Nacional de Espana radio stations ended
analog transmissions from Hispasat on 12.226 GHz, and are now only
available in digital SCPC on the same satellite, but not for public
access. Digital radio on Hot Bird 1 also ended. From December, the
networks are planning to switch from Canal 24 Horas to Hot Bird 3. The
new service will include R1, R3, R5, and REE, probably on the TVE
Internacional tranponder. ("Tele-satellit News")
AFRICA/MIDDLE EAST
NIGERIA--A private international satellite TV service from Nigeria
started on November 3. African Independent Television is to be
available via Intelsat in Africa, Europe, the Caribbean, the US, and
Asia. The channel promises a mixture of news, feature films, and
locally made light entertainment, similar to the line-up on AIT'slocal
channel. Initally, broadcasts will be in English only, although plans
call for an expansion to french, Spanish, Portuguese, Swahili, and
Hausa. AIT and its radio station, Ray Power, which is also been
carried by satellite, sprang up after the partial deregulation of
Nigerian broadcasting, which began in 1992. Broadcasts are supposed to
be via Intelsat 601 (which could also be Intelsat 803, which replaced
601). ("Tele-satellit News" and Reuters)
SOUTH AFRICA--The SABC says it move into Africa and beyond as a major
supplier of news. New satellites such as a PanAmSat to be launched
next year would make this possible. While an armada of foreign
journalists heads for trouble spots, there is little ongoing coverage
of African issues on most channels. ("Tele-satellit News")
KENYA--The BBC is the first international broadcaster to be allocated
its own FM frequency in Kenya, under an agreement signed in Nairobi on
October 17. Within the next few months, BBC radio programs in English,
Swahili, and Somali will be available for the first time in Kenya 24
hours a day, on 93.7 MHz. Test transmissions will begin shortly. BBC
World Service is already on FM 24 hours a day in Uganda, the Congo,
Senegal, and Ivory Coast. A relay in Kigali, Rwanda is to open in
January, 1998. (BBC via Richard Buckby)
ASIA/PACIFIC
JAPAN--The Posts and Telecommunications Ministry decided on October 31
to allow digital satellite broadcaster DirecTV Japan to offer its 90
channel line-up. DirecTV Japan plans to begin broadcasting on a
commercial basis on December 1, following trial services in November.
Twenty-six of the 90 channels will be used for movies, 10 for drama
and animation programs, and 9 for music. (Kyodo)
AUSTRALIA--The international satellite TV channel Australia
Television, which was privatized last June, has adopted a new
programming format. Starting November 1, the new line-up wil feature a
number of programs from the channel's new owner, Seven Network,
including news and current affairs, sports, and Australian drama.
("Tele-satellit News")
NORTH AMERICA
ECHOSTAR--Echostar 3 has reached geo-stationary orbit at 61.5 degrees
West. ("SATCO DX")
TV5--The French-language TV5 plans to begin round-the-clock broadcasts
to North America in December. The service will initially transmit via
EchoStar's DISH network, although cable relays are also being pursued.
(Reuters)
DMX--DMX Canada has announced it has launched 3 new French-language
channels to the United States. The channels (Soft Hits, Rock and Pop,
and Quebec Hits) have been available on DMX's Canadian residential
service since May. (Curt Swinehart)
PBS--PBS wants to deliver a direct national feed to DBS subscribers by
the end of the year, despite an unsuccessful attempt to offer those
signals last year. PBS will need Congress to change the Satellite Home
Viewer Act to clear copyright restrictions. (Curt Swinehart)
NPR/PRI--Merger talks are underway between public radio rivals NPR and
PRI. Officials from both networks confirm they are talking, but say
the discussions are in a very early stage. (AP and UPI)
VOA--The General Services Administration has recommended that the
Voice of America relay station in Ohio, 20 miles north of Cincinnati,
be turned into a golf course. The 600 acre site was closed in 1994,
when the VOA was consolidated with other international services, such
as Radio Marti and Radio Free Europe. Besides the golf course, the
report recommends the site also be used as a high-tech learning center
by area universities. When it opened in 1944, the VOA station had 24
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