Apparently-to: scdx@get.pp.se
From: "George Wood" 
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  ::           MediaScan             
  ::      SWEDEN CALLING DXERS       
  ::       from Radio Sweden          
  ::    Number 2265--Feb. 18, 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 SCDX2265
All times UTC unless otherwise noted.
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NORDIC MEDIA NEWS
DENMARK--Many years ago (in a galaxy far, far away), Radio Denmark
dropped its shortwave programs in English, and switched to
broadcasting abroad only in Danish. But last year Copenhagen was the
official European Cultural Capital, and in honor of the many events
being staged, Radio Denmark revived English broadcasts on shortwave,
with two quarter hours a month. 
Unfortunately, when the Cultural Year ended, so did the English
broadcasts. But Julian Isherwood, who produced and presented the
programs for Radio Denmark, has gone ahead on his own. Copenhagen
Calling is now being carried on satellite and over the Internet via
the World Radio Network. In today's program, I called Julian
Isherwood, and asked him why Radio Denmark dropped the broadcasts, and
why he's financing the new effort out of his own pocket?
Copenhagen Calling has just expanded to 29 minutes every Sunday, via
the World Radio Network. It's on the air to Europe:
17:00 hrs UTC on Astra transponder 22, audio 7.38 MHz
To Africa:
17:00 hrs UTC on Intelsat 707, 1 degree West, 3.9115 GHz, Right-hand
Circular-Pol, Symbol Rate 8.022 Mbaud, FEC 3/4, MPEG2 Audio Stream
"WRN1"
To Asia and the Pacific:
17:00 hrs UTC on AsiaSat-2, 100.5 degrees East, 4.000 GHz,
Vertical-Pol,
MPEG2 DVB, Symbol Rate 28.125 Mbaud, FEC 3/4, Select WRN1 from
audio menu
To North America:
20:00 hrs UTC on Galaxy 5 transponder 6, audio 6.80 MHz
"Copenhagen Calling" is also available in RealAudio at:
http://www.wrn.org/stations/cph.html
TMF--The Dutch music channel TMF ("The Music Factory") is planning to
start a Nordic version. It would be distributed from Telenor from 1
degree West. (Richard Karlsson in "Aftonbladet")
SBS--The Scandianvian Broadcasting Systems is planning on starting a
new Danish entertainment channel similar to its existing (Swedish)
Kanal 5 and (Norwegian) TV Norge. It would be carried at 1 degree
West. (Richard Karlsson in "Aftonbladet") 
EUROPE:
ASTRA--A youth-oriented channel called "Trouble" has started on
transponder 42 (otherwise home of Bravo, HSN, and Playboy). ("SATCO DX
Chart Update")
The Family Channel has been renamed Challenge TV (and instead of
wholesome family entertainment that failed to attract an audience,
viewers can watch hours of mindless game shows). ("SATCO DX Chart
Update")
EUTELSAT--VOA Europe has stopped transmissions over Eutelsat II-F1 on
the Deutsche Welle transponder on 11.163 GHz. The 7.38/7.56 MHz sound
channels have been taken over by DW. (Richard Karlsson in
"Aftonbladet") Telia Kabel TV, Sweden's largest cable operator, has
apparently missed the change, and is now carrying DW in a variety of
languages as the sound track on its cable information channel. The
same thing happened when BBC World Service radio moved from this same
satellite some months back. For several weeks Telia Kabel carried
Vatican Radio in a number of languages as an FM channel on its
networks.
SPORTS--When commercial satellite TV stations appeared here in Europe
a few years ago, they did something that knocked the complacency out
of the old public service broadcasters. They started winning bids to
broadcast important sports events. Since these channels are often only
on cable and satellite, and not everyone has cable or satellite
reception, and sometimes the events have been on pay channels, what
this has meant is that large segments of the community have been
unable to watch sports events they've been used to seeing.
This was brought home to Swedes recently. In October Bavarian media
mogual Leo Kirch bought exclusive rights to broadcast Swedish soccer
for the next five years. Last week Kirch captured rights to Swedish
ice hockey for the next four years. But neither the public service
Swedish Television or the commercial TV4 are willing to pay what Kirch
is asking for the rights, which are several times what they've paid in
the past. Which means, for example, that no Swedish channel will
probably be braodcasting the World Cup soccer qualification match
between Sweden and Scotland being played here on April 30th. There's
speculation that Kirch may be planning to set up its own Swedish
pay-TV channel, since no one is interested in buying the rights.
Now the European Union has made new proposals which may fix this
kind of problem, as our Brussels correspondent Joe Kirwin reports in
today's program.
Here is how the Associated Press reported the story:
EU Media Commissioner Marcelino Oreja says events like the Olympics,
World Cup, and possibly big national league soccer matches, should be
protected from selective pay-per-view or subscription broadcasting. 
The Commission now wants the 15 member states to draw up lists of
sports events that would enjoy protection from sale to pay-per-view
broadcasters. Oreja said those would obviously include the summer and
winter Olympics and major soccer events including the World Cup and
European Championship. 
But including league and domestic cup soccer matches would upset the
current boom enjoyed by national federations and clubs, who have
reaped unprecentented and still growing income from television rights.
The Commission argues that one way to recoup lost income would come
through increased advertising that it says would be generated by
exposing those events to a much wider public. 
The proposals of the EU's Executive Commission will be put to the 15
member nations and the European Parliament for debate before a final
decision, expected later in the year. (AP)
BRITAIN--British pay television operator BSkyB says it is pressing
ahead with plans to launch a 200-channel digital satellite service in
Britain later this year. BSkyB Deputy Managing Director David Chance
said the company would proceed with plans for an autumn 1997 satellite
launch despite its new digital terrestrial television (DTT) alliance
with leading commercial broadcasters Carlton Communications and
Granada Group. 
The three have teamed up to form British Digital Broadcasting and
apply for licences to run DTT networks when the service comes on air
in mid- 1998. Chance said the two delivery systems were each likely to
find their place in the market. 
"It's horses for courses. Digital satellite will offer 200 channels
and pay- per-view while with digital terrestrial there are only 30
channels but no need for a satellite dish," he said. 
BSkyB said it expected shortly to confirm an order for up to one
million digital satellite decoders from four manufacturers as it gears
up for an autumn launch. It plans to work with partners to offer
interactive services such as home shopping and home banking as part of
the digital satellite package. 
Chance also said that BSkyB was still interested in taking a stake in
German pay television company Premiere, owned by German media
companies Bertelsmann AG and Kirch Gruppe, and Canal Plus of France.
BSkyB appeared set for a 25 percent stake in Premiere early last year
but announced in July that it had instead agreed to take up to 49
percent in DF1, Kirch's German digital platform. However, it has yet
to take up its investment in DF1. 
Kirch is at loggerheads with Premiere partners Bertelsmann and Canal
Plus. Both Bertelsmann and the French pay TV group want Premiere,
currently an analogue service, to be Germany's main digital television
outlet rather than DF1. 
DF1 has made a slow start and reports indicate that it has only
attracted around 20,000 subscribers. (Reuters)
KIRCH--Bavarian media mogul Leo Kirch suffered another setback against
his archrival, media giant Bertelsmann AG, when a German court on
February 12 refused to lift an advertising ban it slapped on Kirch's
DF1 channel. 
DF1, Germany's first digital pay TV broadcaster, had sought a reversal
of a court injunction which prevented it from trying to attract
customers outside of its home state of Bavaria, but the court said
DF1's licence restricted it to Bavaria. The injunction was issued last
month in response to a law suit filed by Premiere, the German analogue
pay TV channel that is owned by Bertelsmann, French pay TV group Canal
Plus, and Kirch. 
Acknowledging that DF1's broadcasting licence was not clear, Bavaria's
media regulator last month issued a "supplementary statement" which it
said would make clear that DF1 should be able to broadcast and market
services nationally. But the court did not agree. A spokesman for DF1
said the broadcaster would appeal against the court's ruling and that
it expected to receive a new, nation-wide licence from media
regulators. 
While a clear setback for DF1, the ruling could improve the chances
that Kirch and Bertelsmann end their pay TV dispute soon and reach a
cooperation deal between Premiere and DF1. (Reuters)
SERBIA--The largest Serbian private TV station, BK TELECOM, will soon
begin to broadcast its program by satellite. BK TELECOM will broadcast
its 24 hour TV program in the digital MPEG-2 system. The broadcasts
will be additionally scrambled. Talks are under way about leasing a
transponder on three possible satellites: AMOS 1 (4 degrees West),
EUTELSAT II-F4 (7 degrees East), or INTELSAT K (21.5 degrees West). 
BK TELECOM also revealed its plans for an Internet presence (which
will be launched by the end of this month). This means that this TV
station will be the first Yugoslav station which broadcasts some of
its program via the Internet. Viewers will be able to watch some of BK
TELECOM's most popular shows, like TELEFAKT (the leading news program
which is broadcast two times during the day: at 15:55 and 18:55 CET)
by logging on to: http://www.bktv.com
("Tele-satellit News")
ASIA/PACIFIC
AUSTRALIA--Australia has been warned it risks losing face in Asia if
it takes its overseas radio and television services off air, as mooted
in an official report. The report's recommendation that the government
close its state-owned short-wave service, Radio Australia, and sell
off its fledgling satellite broadcaster, Australia Television, have
been condemned as near sighted and harmful to Australia's image. 
"The recommendation that was made was one of the most stupid I have
ever come across in my life," says Mark Dodgson, an expert on
Australian business ties with the region. "They are absolutely
critical for Australian foreign policy and for business and to cut
them off for the sake of such a small amount of money is ridiculously
short sighted." 
Dodgson, of the Australian National University, is not alone in
warning Australia risks losing face with its near neighbors. Already,
Papua New Guinea has offered to take a cut in Australian aid if this
money could be used to ensure Radio Australia's future. The service is
often the only source of regional news in the mountainous and isolated
Pacific country. 
A former chairman of Australia's national broadcaster and the
opposition have also attacked the recommendations, designed to help
the government slash its budget deficit. 
Radio Australia, set up decades ago under the control of the foreign
ministry, airs mainly around the Asia-Pacific in seven Asian languages
and English. It costs taxpayers about A$25 million per year, the
source said. Both are operated by the ABC and place heavy emphasis on
news and current affairs. They aim to present an "Australian face" to
the region and to raise Australia's profile in Asia. 
No decision has been made on Radio Australia's future until the ABC
and the government discuss the recommendations, but Canberra has begun
the process of selling Australia Television. (Reuters)
NBC--The National Broadcasting Co said on February 13 its NBC and CNBC
channels were now available in two million Indian homes under an
expanded distribution deal with Indian cable television provider IN
CableNet. 
The U.S.-based broadcaster, a unit of General Electric, has been
offering its 24-hour entertainment and information channel NBC and its
business news counterpart CNBC in India since October through IN
CableNet. But limitations in the country's television infrastructure
meant only about 600,000 subscribers were seeing anything. 
The new arrangement moves NBC and CNBC into the prime band of the
first 14 channels, providing full access to IN CableNet's subscriber
base. The arrangement was not exclusive. According to a spokesman, NBC
is "in constant conversations with other cable operators". 
NBC is on the AsiaSat 2 satellite, with STAR TV acting as the
distribution agent to Indian cable operators. Besides dealing a blow
to competitor Asian Business News (ABN), the addition of the new
Indian subscribers meant CNBC now reaches six million homes in the
Asia-Pacific region and NBC reaches four million. NBC is distributed
in Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Australia, Thailand, South Korea and
Japan, among other places. (Reuters)
RIMSAT--Rimsat G1 has probably left 130 degrees East and might be
located at 137.5 degrees East not. Laotian National TV has left Rimsat
G1. Laotian Channel 3 has started on Rimsat G2 on 3.775 GHz. ("SATCO
DX Chart Update")
PANAMSAT--The Iranian opposition TV station Sima-yeh Moghavmat
(Vision of Resistance) has started on PAS-4 on 4.035 GHz, 19:00-20:00
hrs UTC. ("SATCO DX Chart Update")
INTELSAT--On Intelsat 704, Canal France International on 4.055 GHz has
switched from PAL to MPEG-2. ("SATCO DX Chart Update")
STAR-TV--Media baron Rupert Murdoch's Pan-Asian satellite television
broadcaster Star TV said February 13 it would keep its headquarters in
Hong Kong after the territory's handover to China. Hong Kong is to
revert to Chinese rule on July 1 after more than 150 years of British
colonial rule. In June last year, a newspaper report that it was
considering moving its ase to India from Hong Kong was quickly denied
by the broadcaster. Murdoch has been seeking a market for Star TV in
China. Last June, News Corp. entered into a $5.4 million joint venture
in electronic media with China's official People's Daily. (AFP)
Murdoch has admitted dropping BBC World from Star-TV because China
objected to its critical journalism.
VIETNAM--Accusing the United States of airwave imperialism, Vietnam
said February 12 blocking U.S.-based Radio Free Asia broadcasts. The
move is the latest attempt by the Hanoi government to control how the
Communist country is portrayed inside and beyond its borders. Radio
Free Asia, a U.S. government broadcast outlet, is aimed at promoting
--- NetMgr 1.00.g4+
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