Apparently-to: scdx@get.pp.se
From: "George Wood" 
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  ::           MediaScan             
  ::      SWEDEN CALLING DXERS       
  ::       from Radio Sweden          
  ::    Number 2264--Feb. 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 SCDX2264
All times UTC unless otherwise noted.
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Thanks for all the comments about the proposal to add frames to the
Worldwide Web version of these bulletins. A number of people have
written to say they can't view frames. As a result, the bulletins are
available in both forms. See:
http://www.sr.se/rs/english/media
Our Web pages have undergone a minor upgrade, and should load faster
and be a bit easier to navigate. We're also now offering Swedish news
headlines every weekday, for those who can use Javascript. Our pages
start at:
http://www.sr.se/rs/
NORDIC MEDIA NEWS
SWEDEN--According to a new study by Radioundersoeskningar AB, radio
listening in Sweden has increased. 82.5 percent of Swedes listen to
the radio at least once during an average day. The average listener
spends 185 minutes a day tuned into the radio, an increase of 4
minutes compared to the last survey three months ago.
60.3 percent listen to Swedish Radio's non-commercial public service
channels. 31 percent prefer the new private commercial stations.
Community radio listenership has dropped to 1.5 percent. (TT)
THOR--Last time we reported on the new Sirius 2 satellite to be
launched to Sweden's position at 5 degrees East later this year.
There's a rivalry between Sweden and Norway to establish the foremost
Nordic satellite position. The Norwegians have three satellites at 1
degree West: Thor, TV-Sat 2, and Intelsat 707. A new satellite, Thor
2, was to have been launched on February 22nd. But after the explosion
of a Delta 2 rocket at Cape Canaveral last month, the Thor launch with
a similar rocket has been pushed back until May at the earliest. A
panel has been named by the US Air Force to investigate the explosion.
In the meantime, all Delta 2 launches have put been on an indefinate
hold.
"If we look at similar situations in the past," says Knut Reed,
managing director of Telenor Satellite Services, "we can expect a
delay of between one and three months." He adds that Telenor will be
"doing our best to let our customers start distribution of new
channels to the Nordic market as soon as possible". ("Dagens Nyheter"
and "Tele- satellit News")
Thor 2 can relay 15 analog, or at least 75 digital TV channels, and
Norway's Telenor, which operates the satellites at 1 degree West, has
great hopes to start digital broadcasts. They've been working with
Nethold to use Thor 2 to launch a new package. ("Dagens Nyheter") This
may explain why there's still no marketing here of the existing
Nethold Scandinavian digral package on Astra. 
NETHOLD--Nethold has formally announced that it will be ending analog
transmissions of FilmNet on Astra on the first of April. (Richard
Karlsson, "Aftonbladet") That may open up a transponder for Britain's
new Channel 5.
After April 1st FilmNet will only be available in analog D2-MAC on
Thor. 
DR2--Another channel at 1 degree West has attracted some controversy,
but few viewers, as Radio Sweden's Copenhagen correspondent
Christopher Follet reports in today's program, about Denmark's second
public service channel, DR2, which is only available on satellite and
cable. 
CABLE TV--As we reported last time, Sweden's largest cable operator,
Telia Kabel TV, has come in for criticism for moving the French
channel TV 5 Europe from its basic tier to a pay package with channels
from Britain, Italy, Spain, and Germany. In today's program,  Telia's
press officer, Hans G. Larsson tells us why they've moved TV 5. He
says the reason is to free up channels for the introduction of digital
transmissions. Telia hopes to have digital systems in operation before
the end of this year.
The Swedish Tenants Union has formally complained to the anti-trust
authorities here about the power of the cable companies. The issue was
also brought up in parliament by the chairman of the Cultural
Committee, Aake Gustavsson, who asked about the possiblity of
listeners determining which channels were available on cable. Minister
of Culture Marita Ulvskog agreed, but wanted to wait for the findings
of a study that will be presented soon. The study, conducted by former
Minister of Education Lennart Bodstroem, is investigating how to
include more Nordic TV stations in the Swedish cable TV systems. (TT)
Talking to Radio Sweden, Hans G. Larsson said Telia Kabel TV would
prefer to offer all channels on an a la carte basis, so that viewers
could pick and choose. But he said the stations themselves have
blocked such an alternative.
DIGITAL TELEVISION--Responding to the government's bill to introduce
terrestrial digital television in Sweden, the Swedish Conservative
Party has objected, saying technical developments will soon make the
system obsolete, and the coming introduction of digital cable
television makes terrestrial digital unnecessary. The legislation is
supported by the ruling minority Social Democrats, along with the
Central and Liberal Parties, which ensures a majority in parliament. 
The Left and Green Parties support the legislation as well. However,
the Left Party wants parliament, rather than the government, to decide
which companies will be licenced for digital broadcasts. The Greens
have called for digital spectrum to be devoted to live broadcasts of
parliament and other political debate. The Swedish Educational
Broadcasting Company wants to offer such a service, based on the
American C-SPAN. However the Minster of Culture has expressed
scepticism about the plan. (TT)
The Conservatives' position, seemingly ignorant of the development of
digital television in Europe (the Swedish standard is the European
standard, see below under Britain) is probably explained because the
legislation would probably give the public service non-commercial
Swedish Television a pre-eminent position in digital terrestrial
television. The Conservatives traditionally oppose public service
broadcasting, and prefer private, commercial television.
TELE-X--TNT and the Cartoon Network have started on Tele-X in MPEG-2,
on 12.322 GHz. ("SATCO DX Chart Update")
EUROPE
BRITAIN--Rupert Murdoch's British Sky Broadcasting has finally
announced belated plans for digital broadcasting. But despite the
delay, BSkyB is getting involved in a big way, and in two rival
transmission schemes.
"The Financial Times" has reported that BSkyB is going ahead with
plans to launch a 200 channel digital satellite service, late this
year. The newspaper says that BSSkyB is poised to order one million
digital decoders from four manufacturers. 
More surprising, according to reports, BSkyB will be launching its
service on the recently launched Astra 1F satellite, using 14 of that
satellites' 28 transponders. Previous reports that said that BSkyB had
booked capacity on the Astra 2A satellite, planned to orbit later this
year. Astra 1F shares the 19 degrees East orbital position with the
earlier 5 Astra satellites, where BSkyB's existing channels are found.
2A is to be positioned at another location, 28 degrees East. Writing
in "What Satellite TV" magazine, commentator Barry Fox has strongly
criticised using 2A, since it would mean that existing BSkyB
subscribers would have to not only buy digital receivers and upgrade
their dish LNBs for higher frequency models, but would also have to
move their dishes away from the existing Astra output, or add some
kind of dual-position extender. If the report is true that the BSkyB
digital package will be on Astra 1F, this would make the digital
upgrade much easier for existing viewers.
BSkyB has also teamed up with leading terrestrial British broadcasters
Carlton Communications and Granada to apply for 3 of the available 4
licences for British digital terrestrial TV (DTT). Under the name
British Digital Broadcasting, the new company wants to offer 15
digital channels, including subscription channels from the BBC.
The British DTT plans includes 6 digital networks or "multiplexes",
each capable of broadcasting at least 5 channels. Two have been
reserved for the existing terrestrial broadcasters, the BBC and the
ITV commercial network. The other four will be awarded by the
Independent Television Commission. The service is expected to be on
the air by mid- 1998.
The BDB bid faces competition from the American-owned International
CableTel, Britain's third largest cable operator, which has also
applied for 3 of the 4 available networks.
The BDB plan calls for three premium subscription channels showing top
films and sports events. Another 12 channels will be offered as part
of a basic subscription package. (Reuters)
Hopefully, by having a foot in each camp, BSkyB will ensure that the
decoders for its satellite service will be compatible for DTT as well!
GERMANY--Canal Plus is, as previously reported, planning to reduce or
even give up its share of the German pay-TV channel Premiere, and the
commercial channel Vox. The weekly news magazine "Fokus" says Bavarian
media mogul Leo Kirch is prepared to take over Canal Plus's 37.5
percent stake in Premiere. Kirch currently holds 25 percent of the
channel and Bertelsmann the remaining 37.5 percent. (Reuters)
According to the Italian weekly "L'Espresso", Italian media magnate
Silvio Berlusconi is planning to sell his 33 percent stake in the
German sports channel DSF. The reported buyer is Persimon AG, a
Liechtenstein company loosely linked to Leo Kirch. Under German anti-
trust laws, Kirch is not allowed to hold a controlling interest in
Persimon. ("Tele-satellit News")
SPAIN--The first digital TV service for Spain launched January 31, on
Astra, despite efforts by the government to introduce a common decoder
standard. CanalSatellite Digital, controlled by Sogecable (which is
partly owned by Canal Plus), claims its decoder standard is both legal
and EU compatible (but apparently it only works with its own package,
and no others). The Spanish government favors a different platform to
be offered by Telefonica de Espana, in which the state owns a 20.9
percent share. It will be available later this year, on Hispasat,
rather than Astra. A digital "dogfight" has broken out, as the Spanish
cabinet has approved legislation supporting EU regulations requiring
that any TV decoder on the market be compatible with all potential EU
digital systems. Sogecable says the regulations will hamper its new
digital service. ("Tele-satellit News" and Reuters)
ASTRA--There are now 185 digital TV channels on the Astra satellites.
Most are scrambled. Here are some recent additions:
Transponder 56 is carrying an MPEG-2 channel with no name, but it is
the same as the Cinedom 2 service included in the German DF1 package.
Canal Satellite Espana is using transponders 76, 78, 92, and 94. There
is a mosaic channel in the clear on transponder 78. The rest is
scrambled.
Transponder 103 is carrying three DF1 channels, Aktion 1, 2, and 3.
(James Robinson)
EUTELSAT--The Greek Nethold/Multichoice package has started in MPEG-2
on Hot Bird-2 (13 degrees East) on 11.823 GHz. The Arabesque package
is testing on 12.015 GHz in MPEG-2, but ART Europe is still in PAL in
the evening. The AB Sat promo on 11.766 GHz has changed from super to
wide beam. ("SATCO DX Chart Update")
Italy's RAI 1, 2, and 3 are in clear MPEG-2 on Hot Bird 2 on 11.804
GHz. The Vatican's Tele Pace is also included in this package, and is
now 24 hours. (James Robinson)
VOA Express radio has left Eutelsat II-F1 11.163 GHz. ("SATCO DX Chart
Update")
Algerian TV has moved from 11.678 GHz (super beam) to 11.095 (wide
beam) on Eutelsat II-F3 (16 degrees East). 
TDRS--All DMX channel on TDRS 4 have moved to TDRS 6 at 47 degrees
West. ("SATCO DX Chart Update")
JONES--Jones Intercable Inc. is expanding its educational programming
overseas. The Knowledge TV programming is already available in China,
the Philippiines, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Korea. Since
February 3 it has also been available in Britain. Eventually Jones
hopes to distribute Knowledge TV via satellite through-out Europe,
South America, Africa, and India. (AP)
SPORTS--The European Commission is expected to propose this week that
the TV rights for major sports events be protected from being sold to
channels reaching only a minority of the population. EU members would
draft lists of which events are of such national importance that they
must be sent uncoded or via channels that can be seen by a majority of
residents. (TT)
MORSE CODE--The French maritime authorities sent their last message in
Mose Code at midnight between January 31 and February 1. The 160 year
old system has been phased out in favor of digital and satellite
rescue links. The US Coast Guard abandoned telegraphy in 1995, and it
is scheduled for worldwide maritime extinction in 1999. (AP and
Reuters)
MIDDLE EAST/AFRICA
ARABSAT--Kuwait TV has returned to Arabsat 2A 12.646 GHz. ("SATCO DX
Chart Update")
ORBIT--Orbit News, C-SPAN, CNN International, Discovery, Cine Cinefil,
and Monte Carlo TMC have all left the Orbit package on Intelsat 705
(18 degrees West). 11.056 GHz is no longer in use. ("SATCO DX Chart
Update")
ASIA/PACIFIC
INTELSAT--Khabar TV from Kazakhstan has started on Intelsat 703 (57
degrees East) on 11.650 GHz, in SECAM. ("SATCO DX Chart Update" and
"Elektronikvaerlden")
JAPAN--Sony Corp. says it is negotiating to enter the broadcasting
business in Japan in a venture led by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. News
Corp. and Japan's largest distributor of PC software, Softbank, formed
Japan Sky Broadcasting in December. They plan to begin experimental
broadcasts with 12 digital channels in April, and will increase to 150
channels by April 1998. According to a report in the "Nihon Keizai"
newspaper, Sony would take a 30 percent stake in JSkyB. (AP)
Japan Satellite Systems has announced it will launch its 6th
satellite, JC-Sat 6, next year. The company has placed an order with
Hughes for an HS-601 spacecraft that will be launched by the Lockheed
Martin Commercial Launch Service in June 1998. The new satellite is
expected to enter service in July 1998, and will carry digital
satellite television, including PerfectTV, which launched late last
year, as well as JSkyB. ("Tele-satellit News")
AUSTRALIA--Australia risks damaging its reputation if it axes the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation's international radio and TV
services, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. In
a confidential submission to a government-commissioned inquiry, which
--- NetMgr 1.00.g4+
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