31/05/03
Something Imparja could do to improve the Commercial miss-use of their signal situation?
Not being able to see Imparja over here in NZ, I don't know if they are already doing this or not. But before live games they should put up something like.
"This broadcast is for Viewers inside the coverage area of Imparja TV. It is not available to commercial establishments such as bars and clubs or other viewers outside our coverage area" (screen cuts to coverage area map) map shows for 30 seconds, then cuts to another message. "Please call 12345678 or email [email protected] to report possible breaches of our broadcast
copyright"
Comments?
There may not be a site update on Monday as its a holiday here.
From my Emails & ICQ
From Bill Richards ( South Aus)
2.4M mesh dish
Measat 1 91.5E I am getting p2/p3 reception of Rtm tv1 on 3880h weak but there
Phoniex333 Receiver
Zinwell D21A LNBF
From Tacnal
RE: Imparja Email
Thanks Tim & Craig for this information. I live in Melbourne and work in an industry that takes me to Hotels & Clubs. As I have an interest in satellite TV and take note of what hotel & clubs have what satellite dishes on their roofs. I often ask what they receive with their C band dishes and you they have them.
One Hotel manager was telling me that each Friday afternoon they receive an email form some guy that installed there satellite
equipment any new details PIDS / Frequency ect. He some time emails details that have been changed over the weekend. My understanding this person also supplies a weekly TV guide from the different services.
I was shown a TV guide and the instructions on how to change the details on their set top box. I asked the hotel manager how they get away with showing Imparja and Seven Central in the public bar without getting into trouble and he informed me that there is some type of legal loophole they can get throw. He said that they could have the video from Imparja or Seven Central showing of the big screen with out sound and use the audio sound from one of the local radio station.
It did not seem right to me that a large hotel could do this legally. This hotel and many others that I visit are from the same hotel
group. This entire hotel in the group all appears to have the AFL live on their big screens and no it is not Fox Sport showing.
What I'm trying to say is that the people that install this nequipment into hotels & clubs appear to be very well organized and must have some type of legal right (if not right) to continue to show unencrypted video from satellite services on their hotel big screens.
I do personal find it funny to hear stories about we just started to watch the match and the bastards stopped transmitting the football.
I don't mind if Imparja or others keep changing PIDs its only a search on the Nokia and I'm up and going again. I do feel for the guys that don't have this luxury.
The point of having a mailing list for new details is pointless as well. I can see the merit in a secret PID mails list but again
I'm sure that the people that install and supply satellite gear to hotels & clubs are some of the silent users in this forum and how would you know who is who and who is passing in the information to others. These guys would more than likely have the equipment to find the new details.
Only my say if anyone can make sense of it :)
From the Dish
PAS 8 166E 3860 H "PTS and CTI TV" are now encrypted.
PAS 8 166E 3880 V New SID and APID for WRR 101.9 For Life on : 38 and 1822.
PAS 8 166E 4122 V It's Iglesia ni Cristo TV here Fta, PIDs 258/259.
NEWS
Austar packs up its troubles
From http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/05/30/1054177725328.html
Austar United Communications, which has racked up more than $800 million in losses in the past two years, said its outlook was the best it had ever been, both operationally and financially, and the company was preparing to grow again.
"Service levels are very high and our subscriber growth is very positive month-to-month," said the regional pay-TV provider's chief executive, John Porter, at yesterday's annual general meeting.
The declaration marks a major turnaround for the firm, which still has a $200 million-plus deficiency in equity after recent losses, but earlier this month reported a profit after abnormal items of $17 million for its first quarter of 2003.
With a new major shareholder, renegotiated covenants on its $400 million debt facility and massive cost-cutting, Mr Porter said the financial position was very healthy.
"On a free cash flow basis we have got plenty of cash and many of the overhangs that were on our business . . . are now gone," he said.
Targets for this year included lowering subscriber churn, returning to subscriber growth after dropping customers last year, and substantially improving operating cash performance.
"The company is very focused on taking advantage in key growth areas, such as the launch of the new C1 satellite next month and the digital launch in 2004," Mr Porter said.
The C1 is expected give Austar access to 200,000 new households in remote Australia, from far north Queensland to Tasmania, from September.
Mr Porter said every 1c gain by the dollar added $1 million to Austar's bottom line.
Shareholders voted for Bill Ferris to take over as chairman from Michael Fries. Mr Ferris heads private equity buyout specialist Castle Harlan Australian Mezzanine Partners (CHAMP), which shares 80.3 per cent of Austar with media group UnitedGlobalCom. CHAMP is offering to mop up Austar's remaining shares at 16c each, but the bid has been rejected.
PanAmSat Expanding Use of Fiber With Satellite Networks
From Satellite Today
PanAmSat [Nasdaq: SPOT] CFO Joseph Wright said Thursday that the company plans to expand the use of fiber in its satellite-based global network.
Wright said the fixed satellite services (FSS) company is "coupling our satellites with fiber, state-of-the-art routing equipment and ground stations. This will result in increased capacity and reliability to both our private sector and government customers. We've already initiated this with Level 3 Communications [Nasdaq: LVLT] and will expand this approach going forward, as we believe that customers will require the redundancy and reliability of a hybrid network and are looking for solutions that use the combined strengths of both satellite multi-point distribution and fiber point-to-point transmission."
INSAT 3E launch likely in August
From http://sify.com/news/scienceandmedicine/fullstory.php?id=13160173
Bangalore: Indian Communication Satellite INSAT 3E is likely to be launched from Kourou in French Guyana in August.
According to the provisional flight mission programme of Arianespace, the satellite would be launched with two other passengers -- E-Bird and Smart -- by a generic Ariane five during the 162nd mission of Arianespace.
The satellite, consisting of 24 C Band Transponders and 12 Extended C Band transponders, had been configured and was awaiting green signal from the Arianespace for the exact launch date.
The launch date is likely to be finalised after the 161st flight of Arianespace, scheduled for June 11, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) sources said.
This would be the second INSAT satellite to be launched by Arianespace this year after the launch of INSAT 3A on April 10.
After the launch of INSAT 3E, only one in the third generation series -- INSAT 3D -- remained to be launched.
The Satellite carrying advanced meteorological payloads of six channel imagers and 19 channel sounders was under development and likely to be launched by a future flight of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) from the Satish Dhawan Spaceport at Sriharikota.
India reduces duty on STBs to boost CA
From http://www.advanced-television.com/
The Indian Government has announced a drastic cut in import duty on set-top boxes, reducing it from 45 to five per cent, in order to grow wider acceptance among the consumes for the launch of conditional access system (CAS) on July 14. The basic customs duty on STB is being reduced from 25 to five per cent plus there will be also exemption from countervailing duty of 15 per, reducing the cost of one digital STB from US$85 to $55. The analogue STB will be available for US$42. However, these concessions will be available up to July 31 only. The decision to reduce import duty on STBs was made after Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee directed the Information & Broadcasting Ministry to make CAS consumer friendly
The decision is significant as the CAS controversy has assumed political overtones with opposition from other political parties.
As a result of the price cuts leading cable MSOs say they will have to make changes in their plans. The company will have rework its marketing strategies, said the spokesperson of India’s leading MSO IndusInd Media & Communications, which is sourcing its STB from Germanys Technotrend and Wistron of Taiwan (see separate story).
According to the Consumer Electronics and TV Manufacturers Association, The government has created a situation where low-quality boxes from China will be dumped. Users will face problems as importers will not bother about after-sales service.
30/05/03
There seems to be theme in todays site update, Copyright and Piracy issues.
No sign of Digital Pakistan TV on Asiasat 3 yet.
From my Emails & ICQ
From Tim Mason (Chief Engineer of Imparja)
Dear All,
Firstly can I say how happy I am to be referred to as that "nice" Mr Mason.
It makes a change from some of the other epithets. (And contrary to opinion I don't have horns and a "pointy tail")
From the emails and web page comments there is clearly a large awareness amongst the satellite enthusiast community of what we are doing to what you call our "FTA service on B1"
And this is I suspect one of the problems. Like most of the other so called FTA services on B1 Imparja's signal is nothing of the sort. It is in fact a private point to point link which in our case delivers Imparja's "raw" content to the main Aurora uplink site. It is NOT designed or intended for direct reception. Imparja's broadcast service is on Optus B3, and is scrambled to prevent un-authorised reception. This is why for example (as commented by one of your correspondents) we don't include any
DVB tables, just the basic content. All of the navigation tables for all of the services etc are collated and inserted at the (B3) at the uplink point. All we deliver is the raw content. Now as you know satellite operators charge for capacity and since any tables we send are simply stripped out before uplinking there's little point in our buying capacity to carry them.
In addition when we buy rights to programme content we only buy them for delivery within our licence area. Because we are a remote area service we are often able to broadcast "live" events which are delayed in the capitals and/or which are only on Pay TV in these locations.
Now you may not all be aware but Australian Broadcasting Authority regulations prevent Imparja from delivering its broadcast signal to locations outside its licence area. There are steps we can take with reference to our broadcast service, including but not limited to injunctions and court actions for damages, as well as more technical measures. The B1 signal however is not (as outlined above) our broadcast service. (This however opens up options for us taking action under the Radcomms act for interception of a private telecommunications link)
Early to mid last year we were informed by the rights holders to some of our sports events that a number of hotels, pubs and clubs in capital city and regional locations were displaying and making commercial use of our programmes (particularly sports).
It turned out that certain unscrupulous suppliers had installed so called FTA receivers to enable reception of various C band feeds plus the so called FTA services on B1. The technical details to enable this were freely available and published on various web pages, and via mail groups such as yours.
The first thing we did was to contact the web pages and ask them to remove all references to the Imparja B1 service as FTA and remove any technical information (PIDS frequencies etc) and to publish some information about the B1 service and in particular that :-
"The organisations providing the equipment and those responsible for the technical information on how to intercept our signal have no rights to make any representations about the reception or use of Imparja's signals for any purpose whatsoever."
We are of course particularly concerned about those who are displaying Imparja broadcasts of sports events and the like which are otherwise not available on the "local" free to air TV channels by intercepting this backhaul signal.
We said that
"Imparja has, and will continue to adopt measures against unauthorised reception of its private communications signal, for specific programme content (particularly sports)."
We advised that
"Any organisation outside our licence area who has purchased, for the commercial use of Imparja broadcasts is strongly advised to return it to the suppliers and seek a full refund of any money paid"
So you see the PID changes are not aimed at individual enthusiasts who are watching our programmes, rather at commercial exploitation of signals intercepted from a private point to point communications link. Frankly if any individual particularly wants to watch Imparja there's a number of smartcard based options that they can take. Similarly if Pubs and Clubs install a B3 receiver with a hacked or out of area smartcard we can work with the rights holders/incumbent broadcaster and CA operator to deal with this under copyright and broadcast law.
To be honest I had hoped that the PID changes would be a low cost solution that the enthusiasts could quietly deal with, while for the "commercial exploiters" , finding the new PID and going into the menus and changing PID numbers would be just too hard. I still have (but decreased) hopes that this might be the case.
The alternative is of course full scrambling which will black out all (enthusiasts and commercial) viewers.
I guess one of the questions this raises is why not just scramble anyway. Well there's a few difficulties Without going into details, integrating a scrambler into our uplink is a non trivial task due to the somewhat proprietary nature of the interfacing used There's also a difficulty with where and how the descrambler is located, Once the signal has left us (on it's way to B1) it's part of the Aurora system and is incorporated into the B3 service by Optus . They and we have to be absolutely sure anything
we do won't affect other services in the mux; Scramblers generally don't like none standard DVB signals, (remember we have no tables in our feed) and also add extra content of their own (that we have to pay for to have carried). Then there's the hardware costs.
Finally I'd like to pass on a bit of information about Imparja. You may find it useful (or it might confirm your worst suspicions I don't know)..As well as being a commercial broadcaster Imparja also has a constitution to deliver social and cultural (specifically indigenous) benefits. For example we support 8 channels of indigenous radio, broadcast specially commissioned indigenous programming in prime time, recruit and train young (and mainly indigenous) young people to be editors, VTR operators, newsreaders etc, as well as making and broadcasting a half hour programme aimed at remote and indigenous kids every day. Every dollar we have to spend on protecting our rights from commercial exploitation by "pirates" is diverted from these cultural, and indigenous programming and support initiatives. Like I say it may not touch anyone's heart but believe me I get a positive kick out of being associated with an organisation that both operates in a competitive commercial environment and
also has active social and cultural imperatives, and I will do all I can to ensure that both of these are maximised.
I hope that's at least made everyone aware of what we are trying to do and why. The changes are not aimed at individual enthusiasts such as yourselves, but at those commercially exploiting our signal. If we can stop this in a relatively simple way, we can probably settle back into a fairly fixed configuration and keep everyone happy. By continually publishing and promoting what we are doing, you are probably only advancing the day when it will be blacked out for everyone. On the other hand if it all went quiet for a few weeks, maybe we could then settle back to a fairly fixed configuration?????
Can I ask that I don't get a multiplicity of replies to this mail, but maybe if queries and questions are posted on the website I can do another "update" or response in a few days .
Thanks for your time
Kind Regards
Tim Mason
Chief Engineer
Imparja Television Pty. Ltd. ABN. 78009 630120
Address: 14 Leichhardt Terrace, Alice Springs NT 0870
PO Box 52, Alice Springs NT 0871
Phone: 08 8950 1450 Fax: 08 8953 0322
(Craigs comment, Well there you have it Folks send me your comments and please NOTE if you do or do not want them to be published on the site or if you wish to be published under a pen name or as ANON. I will leave my comments perhaps until tomorow after I have read the email a few times.)
From OZviewer
Hi Craig,
I am subscribed to Imparja on B3, and have been with them from the old BMac days. Tim and his crew were extremely helpful to me in the old days when I first got permission from my local broadcasters, to receive Imparja's services. Imparja liased with everyone of them to ensure I was in a null area, and got me permission to view.
Yes, I look at their signal on B1, but don't have to.....like others, I enjoy the aspect of viewing these services, in another room, with no card being used via B1.
All Tim has said ,will ring true, if the PIDS are kept in open display. Bluntly, Imparja would be forced by the ABA to fix it, or possibly be threatened with license loss for not complying with their licence restrictions as well.
I feel that Tim is trying to help us in his own way now, before he has to do something we will all regret.PIDS could be shared within the group via personal email where necessary, without using this apsattv forum or auto email process we use now.
All we are doing is fostering C7, SBS and the like to do the same, and we will be left with nothing. We already have encryption by broadcasters off of B1...ie 10 car racing, BB etc.....why force more upon ourselves.?
So, my 2 cents worth is to leave the PIDS off the group, and share the knowledge privately.
Thanks Tim for trying to explain your side of things...and..thanks for the warning.
I'll now put on my flame- proof suit for all those that disagree, to tell me how wrong I am!!
ozviewer
From ANON
Hi Craig
>>>"To be honest I had hoped that the PID changes would be a low cost solution that the enthusiasts could quietly deal with, >>>while for the "commercial exploiters" , finding the new PID and going into the menus and changing PID numbers would be >>>just too hard. I still have (but decreased) hopes that this might be the case."
What a joke - it's the "enthusiasts" doing the installs for the "commercial exploiters".
>>>By continually publishing and
>>>promoting what we are doing, you are probably only advancing the day when
>>>for a few weeks, maybe we could then settle back to a fairly fixed
:>>>configuration?????
Another joke - OK guy's lets be quiet & when all is back to normal won't the "enthusiasts" & the "commercial exploiters", still be watching the service. Maybe they should do a PID mail-out (slow mail I'm talking). Frankly, I think Tim Mason is in between a rock & a rock and has to be seen to be doing something by the rights holders to alleviate their concerns about improper use of the signal. Bugger, I can't even watch it cause I'm in NZ. The Aussies always have all the fun!
From the Dish
PAS 8 166E 4122 V "Inc Channel and Net 25" are back,Fta, SR 4773, FEC 3/4,PIDs 258/259 and 513/514.
NSS 6 95E 12595 V The TARBS promo has left .
Thaicom 3 78.5E 3671 HAn RR Sat promo has started, Fta, SR 13333, FEC 3/4,PIDs 2081/2082.
NEWS
$60,000 and a jail term
From http://www.austarunited.com.au/press.asp?action=show&record=1
A SUNSHINE Coast man has been charged over his part in a scam which is costing the Australian pay television industry $50 million a year.
The Warana man's arrest was the latest to come from police operations both here and interstate as pay television operators get tough on the flourishing black market in pirated "smart cards''.
Maroochydore CIB Detective Senior Sergeant Paul Schmidt said police who raided the 29-year-old man's home last week found four pirated Austar cards used to gain all-access to pay television channels and pay-for-view events.
Foxtel, Austar and Optus have created company-based fraud squads and are employing private detectives for investigations across Australia, including the Sunshine Coast.
Industry-wide procedures to detect illegal smart cards via satellite have also been created.
After the joint operation between Coast police and Austar, the Warana man was charged with fraud, possession of tainted property, and unlawfully distributing a decoding device, an offence under the Federal Copyright Act.
Det Snr Sgt Schmidt said the wide-spread illegal scam had grown by "word of mouth''.
Det Snr Sgt Schmidt warned that anyone caught with an illegal smart card could face criminal charges.
The Warana arrest followed the conviction of Victorian-based antenna installer Roger Rivo, who was fined $20,000 on January 29 for making and distributing pirated Foxtel smart cards.
Debra Richards, executive director of the Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association (ASTRA), said people could be fined up to $60,000 under the Federal Copyright Act and face up to five years' jail.
Austar corporate affairs manager Emma Foster said the most common theft of services involved "bumping up'' the basic channel allocation with an illegal smart card.
She said the industry had started to "fight back'' against pirates and those subscribers who thought "they were doing nothing really illegal''.
"A lot of people don't know this act has civil and criminal penalties against it and many people just don't think they can be caught for it.'' But Ms Foster stressed that viewers using illegal smart cards would be eligible for "a second chance''.
"We're not trying to get people arrested, we're just trying to get to the source of the piracy,'' Ms Foster said.
An ASTRA anti-piracy hotline is available for concerned subscribers and people wanting to "dob in'' a pirate on 1800 428 888.
(Craigs comment, bigger crackdowns coming soon)
FTV plans new pay channel
From http://www.indiantelevision.com/mnd/y2k3/may/30maygm3.htm
FRENCH television channel Fashion TV said it will develop another channel on a pay basis called FashionX TV for the conditional access system (CAS) regime. Fashion TV said it will have more "exclusive and glamorous content" in this pay channel.
However, it will continue to offer a `light' version of Fashion TV on the non-encrypted basis to all subscribers while the original version will be offer on pay per view basis.
Fashion TV, which was a pay channel, has become free-to-air. The channel unencrypted its signal on AsiaSat 2 satellite. The channel said it has instructed its signal on Pamansat 10 to be stopped. "Currently, the only signal available in India for FTV is on Asiasat 2 and eutelsat hotbird 13 degrees," FTV said. The channel said its agreement with Modi Entertainment Network has been terminated over legal differences.
In the new free-to-air set up, FTV's revenues will be mostly generated by advertisement, event management, merchandising (Fashionbar), and licence fee. The channel said its response from advertisers has been good.
DStv Blocks SABC And E.tv
From http://allafrica.com/stories/200305290478.html
DStv subscribers beyond South Africa's borders are up in arms following a decision to block viewer access to SABC 1, 2, 3 and e.tv, but Multichoice stresses that it had no choice.
"The bottom line is that these channels do not form part of the DStv bouquet," says Multichoice spokesperson, Caroline Creasy. "They do not have broadcasting rights outside of South Africa and, according to MultiChoice Africa's channel carriage agreements, they should only be available to South African subscribers."
In the past, however, the channels have been available to all subscribers who receive their signal from the Pas 7 satellite - this includes subscribers based in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, Mozambique and (to a lesser extent) Malawi.
According to an official statement from MultiChoice, the ability to see these channels in these countries was caused by a "system mismatch between MultiChoice's central business system and its encryption system". The 'overspill' error was uncovered when the company ran an audit check, and a decision has since been taken to overhaul the systems to correct the error.
This will prevent subscribers from outside of South Africa from receiving South African free-to-air channels.
"MultiChoice Africa is obliged to do this in terms of its channel carriage contracts," the statement concludes.
Stealing The Show
From http://www.forbes.com/2003/05/29/cz_dp_0529directv.html
NEW YORK - On April 30, DirecTV scored what should have been a decisive victory in the company's ongoing war with satellite pirates. An Orlando, Fla., judge granted DirecTV a temporary restraining order (and later a permanent injunction) shutting down 63 hacker Web sites with names like dssbadboys.com and piratesatelitte.net that provided files to break DirecTV's encryption and allow viewers to steal satellite service.
But the company blew it. Instead of quickly sending out a signal to disable priated access cards, DirecTV management waited for the company's weekly disabling blast. When the scramble finally happened, hackers had fixer files available for satellite thieves within 15 minutes.
Given dumb moves like that, Rupert Murdoch might want to reconsider his commitment to keeping most DirecTV's execs in place once his $6.6 billion purchase of a controlling stake in the satellite television company from General Motors closes next year. Industry experts say piracy is costing DirecTV $1.2 billion per year--a nice chunk of its $7.2 billion in revenue--and hackers are laughing at the company's attempts to get the problem under control. Murdoch has shown he has the tools and the will to do so, but forcing DirecTV pirates to walk the plank in America won't be as easy as shutting down their counterparts in Europe.
Part of the problem is DirecTV itself. "The fact that they didn't act more quickly is mind-boggling," says Bob L. Scherman, publisher of Satellite Business News. "Even the hackers were stunned that nothing happened."
The Carmel Group, a satellite-consulting firm, says 2.2 million Americans will steal satellite service this year from DirecTV compared with 720,000 from DirecTV rival EchoStar Communications. The DirecTV-pirate population could jump to 3.3 million by 2006. Piracy is so much worse at DirecTV because its system is easier to break into and there are many more DirecTV boxes available on the open market. Until recently, DirecTV did not require customers to sign a contract when they bought systems. That meant pirates could buy cheap boxes and so-called smart cards that were being subsidized by the company, hack into the system and get free service.
DirecTV boxes come with a removable card that contains a program to decode the signal coming from the satellite. The card tells the box whether you can get HBO and NFL Sunday Ticket games or just the basics like CNN and MTV. Hackers sell devices that let ordinary folks reprogram their cards. Periodically, DirecTV will send down a signal that changes the codes on the cards. Hackers just figure out the new code, paste it on a Web site and let their customers download it to their cards. DirecTV cards are not hard to come by: People legally resell their used boxes and cards on eBay for as little as $35.
Murdoch's not saying exactly how he plans to tackle the piracy problem, but his solution will most likely involve NDS, a British company that makes encrypted cards for Murdoch's satellite holdings in Europe, and is 80%-owned by News Corp.
Until recently, NDS also provided all of DirecTV's cards. But since last September, the two companies have been involved in a bitter spate of lawsuits. DirecTV accuses NDS of misappropriating trade secrets and fraud. NDS filed counterclaims accusing DirecTV of conspiracy to infringe NDS' patents and collusion to unfairly compete and breach agreements. At the heart of the matter is DirecTV's desire to bring the management and encryption of its security cards in-house. But NDS alleges DirecTV is conspiring to create a knock-off of its latest smart card; DirecTV does plan to introduce its own card this summer
"NDS operates on 32 pay-television platforms around the world," says Abraham Peled, NDS' chief executive. "At this point only one is experiencing piracy: DirecTV." Hyperbole, to be sure, but the problem is still worse at DirecTV than at the majority of Murdoch's other satellite companies around the world.
Many of the claims and counterclaims have been dismissed but the case is still slowly working its way through the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Most analysts believe Murdoch will force both companies to drop the cases and work together once he takes over DirecTV. That's what happened in Italy last month when Murdoch bought the Telepiù satellite service from Vivendi Universal for $1 billion and merged it with his own Italian pay-television company, Stream. As part of the merger, Vivendi agreed to drop a lawsuit filed by its Canal Plus division accusing NDS of hacking Canal Plus' security codes and distributing them in Italy. NDS will take over smart-card work for the merged company.
Murdoch will likely try the same trick to get DirecTV and NDS working together again but it won't be easy. In addition to all the bad blood generated by the lawsuits, it will likely take Murdoch a year to get the merger approved by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission. That means DirecTV will have 12 months to make cards complicating things for the merged company.
Is card piracy a big enough problem that Murdoch should have scrapped his plans? Probably not. Murdoch knew he was getting a fixer-upper when he bought DirecTV. But piracy is something that Murdoch may have to learn to live with.
"The best you can do is try to contain piracy," says Sean Badding of the Carmel Group. "You can't stop it."
29/05/03
A rather quiet news day today. Has anyone check for Pakistan TV in digital on Asiasat 3 4108 V? sr 6666 fec 3/4
The other Frequency for SBS on B1 is 12456H, 12600, FEC 5/6 but nothing loading as yet. The start date for transmissions is supposed to be June 1st.
From my Emails & ICQ
From Dave Ross
AsiaSat 2
3935V Sr 6110 Fec 3/4 "Tennis Feed" Vpid 308 Apid 256
Starts approx 0830z
From Glenn Gibson
The 2 filipino channels on Pas 8 Inc and Net25 seem to have returned with a lot more power than before.
Same freq etc as before . 4121V 4773 3/4
Glenn
From John Vandeven
SBS on B1!
12437mhz 85% signal 73% Quality
12420mhz 85% signal 79% Quality
1.5m prime focus dish
eMtech eM 300 Receiver
Best Regards
John Vandeven
Albury NSW Australia
From Joe
Optus B1 SBS From Melbourne
12437H 66% Signal 46% Quality
12420H 65% Signal 55% Quality
90cm Toroidal
Strong 4710 Receiver
regards
joe
From the Dish
Optus B1 160E 12420 H and 12437 H "SBS Radio" has started, Fta, APIDs 201 and 202.
Yamal 102 90E 3612 L "Europa Plus" has started , Fta, APID 257.
Thaicom 3 78.5E 3454 V "Raj Music" has started testing Fta, PIDs 514/670.New SR: 9427.
Apstar 2R 76.5E 4007 H A test card has started, Fta, SR 6111, FEC 3/4, PIDs 33/34.
PAS 10 68.5E 4064 V The radio channels in the TARBS World TV mux on are now Fta.
NEWS
New Sony console revealed
From http://www.khabal.com/fullnews.php?id=2212
At a media briefing in Tokyo earlier today, Sony announced that it will release a new game console named PSX in Japan before the end of the year. Scheduled for release in North America and Europe sometime in 2004, the sleek-looking PSX console is essentially a redesigned PlayStation 2--albeit with plenty of additional features.
With the exception of the console's 120Gb hard drive and built-in Ethernet support, the PSX console's new features won't offer any benefits as far as gaming is concerned but--thanks to the inclusion of a TV and broadcast satellite tuner, and a DVD recorder--will instead transform the PlayStation 2 into a set-top box capable of delivering online play, music, and movies straight out of the box.
When playing games, the controllers will plug into the rear of the PSX console where the hard drive and Sony Memory Stick compatibility have clearly rendered the standard PS2 memory cards obsolete. No pricing information for the PSX has been announced at this time, but the box will be marketed as a high end electronics product rather than as a game console and, as such, will be handled by Sony's Home Electronics Division as opposed to Sony Computer Entertainment.
(Craigs comment, Hope it has a C.A slot!)
28/05/03
Some changes on B1, SBS is now here. ABC might not need so many transponders if they are dumping FLY and KIDS so perhaps they will make some changes as well.
French Tennis feed anyone located it?
Measat 2 page updated with new info.
Rumours
ERT/NET Greek channel going FTA worldwide? supposedly reported in the Greek Australian Newspapers? can anyone confirm?
From my Emails & ICQ
From Jundong Wu
Dear Craig,
SBS network (http://www.sbs.com.au) has started on
B1, 12420 H, SR 12600, FEC 5/6, contains three TV and two radio services.
Pids 102/103 "SBS EPG" (http://www.theworldnews.com.au or http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/) is an English text only guide showing the world news headline ,the weather of Australia capital cities and "SBS TV" program guide.
Pids 161/81 "SBS TV" using multi-languages(http://www.sbs.com.au/whatson/index.php3?tvsch=1)
Pids 162/83 "SBS World News Digital TV" using multi-languages (http://www.sbs.com.au/WNC-Schedule.html)
Audio Pid 201 "SBS radio 1" and Pid 202 "SBS radio 2" (http://www.sbs.com.au/radio_new/index.html)
All of them are FTA services.
There is a same as above five-service line-up on
12437 H, SR 12600, FEC 5/6
(Craigs comment, some are reporting 12452 H as well but nothing loading)
From Doug
hi all
(B1 SBS) its signal of 85% quality 60% in ballarat
on a 1.6metre ground mount and a humax 5400
doug
From Vk7kt
SBS on B1!
Receiving here in NW Tassie on 1.2m signal 95% on a Humax...
I like the EPG channel.. very interesting..
From Dave Knight
G'day,
Optus B1, SBS muxes 95% signal /49-53% Quality
Twinhan PCI sat Card.
1.2 Offset
5 Channels
SBS DIGITAL 1
SBS DIGITAL 2
SBS EPG
SBS RADIO 1
SBS RADIO 2
SBS EPG, SBS Eastern and SBS World News
Albury , NSW
From MR Humax
Getting 4F-55 on Nokia with 90cm dish in Brisbane
From Amar Mahfooz (Abu Dhabi, UAE)
PAKISTAN TELEVISION (PTV) IS GOING TO BE DIGITAL ALONG THAT THEY ARE GOING TO START ONE MORE CHANNEL ON 29TH MAY 2003. FOLLOWING ARE THE TECH. INFORMATION FOR THAT
Satellite = Asiasat 3s
Frequency = 4108 (I assume H? pol not mentioned)
Channel name = PTV-WORLD CHANNEL
Transmission standard = DVB Encryption = CLEAR Symbol Rate = 6.666 Fec = 3/4
and they will also start a new channel, which must be on the same transponder.
Channel name = PTV CHANNEL- 4 Transmission standard = DVB Encryption = CLEAR Symbol Rate = 6.666 Fec = 3/4
(Craigs comment, another Analog gone.)
From the Dish
Optus B1 160E 12420 H and 12437 H "SBS and SBS World News Channel" have started, FTA, SR 12600, FEC 5/6, PIDs 161/80 and 162/83.
Optus B1 160E 12483 V The TVNZ mux is still on , enc., SR 22500, FEC 3/4.
Thaicom 3 78.5E 3520 H All channels in the TARBS World TV mux are encrypted again.
PAS 10 68.5E 4064 V All channels in the TARBS World TV mux are encrypted again,except EuroSport News.
PAS 10 68.5E 4154 H "Fashion TV" has left .
NEWS
China completes satellite system
From http://news.ninemsn.com.au/Sci_Tech/story_49004.asp
AFP - China's hopes of becoming a space superpower edged closer to reality with the launch of a satellite which completes a home-grown navigation and positioning system.
The Beidou satellite, which western observers have said may also have military uses, lifted off from the Xichang launching site in southwestern Sichuan province 34 minutes after midnight, according to Chinese state media reports.
It was transported on board a Long March 3-A carrier rocket, just like the two previous satellites in the system, which were launched in late 2000.
With the three satellites in orbit, China now has a complete system for all-weather navigation and positioning information, serving as a "radio beacon in outer space," Xinhua news agency said.
The system will play a key economic role, providing services in fields such as transportation, telecommunications and meteorology and helping in preventing forest fires as well as in police work, it said.
However, the Beidou navigation system is also expected to have military uses capable of improving the accuracy of Chinese missiles, according to Western military sources.
China has been seeking to build a satellite navigation system accurate enough to be incorporated into precision munitions, similar to the smart weaponry that has helped the United States to victory in recent wars.
As part of its effort to enter the space age, China has said repeatedly it plans to send its first human into space on board a craft called Shenzhou V some time this fall.
China has so far launched four unmanned spaceflights, the last of which, Shenzhou IV, returned to earth in January after 162 hours in orbit seen as the final dress rehearsal before a manned mission.
With a successful manned space flight, China would become only the third country to send a human into orbit following the former Soviet Union and the United States.
Iraqi channel surfing flourishes
From http://www.statesman.com/news/content/coxnet/iraq/story/0527_SATELLITE.html
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Ra'ed Hameed secretly bought a satellite dish on the black market four years ago and kept it well hidden in his house.
He waited patiently for the day when television stations beamed in from other parts of the world would not be forbidden.
Hameed got his wish when U.S. troops marched into Baghdad, driving dictator Saddam Hussein from power. He fished out his unused dish and connected his TV set, ready to watch Fox News and "those racy German movies I had heard about."
But freedom to channel surf came with a price in Iraq.
"I finally was able to use my satellite but now I have no electricity," Hameed said. "Can you imagine how I feel?"
Baghdad remains without electricity for a majority of the day, but those who can afford to buy satellite dishes are scooping them up.
In the weeks since Saddam's collapse, dishes of all sizes and varieties have sprung up in reputable electrical appliance shops as well as makeshift vending stands across the city. Satellite telephones, also banned during Saddam's days, are selling like hotcakes, too, in Iraq, where most of the telephone system is still down.
The Capital Flower Shop dumped its floral arrangements for a few good imported dishes. Supermarkets, shoe stores and even produce stalls cleared inventory to make way for the hottest item in town.
Wisam Saadi, 22, parked his white hatchback on a busy street and plopped a Korean-manufactured Panorama dish on the street. "$150," his handwritten sign read.
He said he has 700 dishes stored at home and sells as many as seven a day for a profit of $7 to $10 on each.
"It's a good business right now," Saadi said. "Hard to sell anything else to people."
Shipped in from the Kurdish-controlled regions in the North, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, the dishes sell from $125 to $300, more than an average Iraqi's annual salary. But shopkeeper Wathel Kamel said yesterday's "forbidden fruit" sells fast. The satellite dishes are, perhaps, a small but tangible proof of a new Iraq.
Sidewalks crammed with hundreds of the giant saucer-like instruments give some parts of Baghdad a Space Age look.
Curious passers-by checked out the once-unfamiliar dishes, running their fingers on the smooth surfaces. Others stopped to catch a glimpse of Lebanese singer Haifa gyrate in a black tube top and skin-tight pants.
"Before we saw only darkness," said Kamel, 37, who cleared out space in his electrical appliances shop to make way for hundreds of dishes. "Iraqis want to see how the outside world lives, how it thinks. This was forbidden under Saddam."
The Iraqi dictator had anyone caught with satellite TV put behind bars for as much as two years.
Still, some folks went to great lengths to get their MTV.
Kamel made a Styrofoam cage for his dish and kept it out of sight behind his house. "I knew the fine was steep but I took the chance anyway," he said.
But most Iraqis were privy to just four state-run channels that broadcast turgid news about the glories of Saddam and his Baath Party. Pro-Saddam slogans would appear even between reruns of American shows such as "Dallas" or "Charlie's Angels."
Satellite phones were banned, too. Baghdad had its share of Internet cafes but as Rafah Goria, 30, said: "Every page we tried to open said 'access denied.' They blocked everything."
Goria said now Iraqis have the freedom to flip through hundreds of channels of movies, entertainment and most of all, "real news" about their own country.
"Satellite TV is a great way to shape Iraqi minds," she said. "We don't know the truth about our own land. Iraqis can now learn about our past. I want every Iraqi to have satellite."
Goria bought her dish a month ago and stays glued to her 19-inch Toshiba TV set whenever she has power. She admitted to enjoying "romantic films." Her favorite, she said, was "You've Got Mail" with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.
"If there is electricity, I stay up till 4 in the morning watching TV," she said. "I used to love to listen to music. But now I just want to watch political discussions. It's so new for us."
27/05/03
Livechat tonight 9pm NZ and 8.30 Syd time onwards
New Sky Channel 95 mentioned yesterday is called "Property TV" website is www.propertytv.co.nz
Is this what they put the subs up for?? an advertising channel???? unbelievable .. and the previously mentioned "Rural TV" channel I heard is dead and buried.
Feedback for Globecast, if you wish for JCTV to remain after the trial period is up.
Email your support to ***[email protected]
Please note remove the *** at the front of their email address I have done this to upset the spam collectors that scan sites collecting email addresses.
Remember the more support they get the more chance they have to bring us more FTA channels.
From my Emails & ICQ
From Jeff
Re: Star sports audio
Hello sports fans just been watching Star sports on Asiasat 3 .
Sounds like the English soundtrack is back.
First was the Spanish soccer followed by PGA golf in english from CBS
America.
Im tuned to the 6.2 Mhz audio carrier.If only Mr Murdoch could switch it to PAL.
Jeff in Perth
From MR Humax
Hey Craig.. I reckon you should add this to your webpage to help save fly and abc kids
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/kidsfly/
I know alot of people dont watch these channels but what next? they might sell the ABC or triplej or something stupid..
anyway its a good cause and needs apsattv's members support
Thanks
From the Dish
Yamal 102 90E 3588 L Nord FM has started Fta, APID 257.
Thaicom 3 78.5E 3671 H "Kairali Channel, TCT World and Daystar TV" have started on ,Fta, SR 13333, FEC 3/4, PIDs 3105/3106, 7202/7203 and 7204/7205, global beam.
Thaicom 3 78.5E Tarb's is still operating on 3520 and 3640 H
Apstar 2R 76.5E 12730 V "Hi-Play Channel and Happy Channel" have started on , Viaccess 1,SIDs 2807 and 2808, PIDs 2160/2161 and 2176/2177. (Asia only)
PAS 10 68.5E 3863 V Big Brother Africa has started, Irdeto 2, PIDs 2036/2035. The Big Brother Africa promo has left this mux.
Intelsat 906 64E 3721 R "Uganda TV, Radio Uganda and Star FM" are back on , Fta, SR 4882,FEC 2/3, PIDs 33/34 and 35, West hemi beam.
NEWS
ABC pulls plug on digital channels
From http://afr.com/australia/2003/05/27/FFXUNBTC5GD.html
Digital television suffered a setback yesterday when the ABC announced it was closing its digital channels because of a lack of federal funding.
ABC managing director Russell Balding blamed the federal government for rejecting the broadcaster's plea for an extra $250 million in the budget, "in the full knowledge that it would affect our programming".
Angered by the broadcaster's announcement it will shut its two children's channels, ABC Kids and Fly, within five weeks, Communications Minister Richard Alston said there was "absolutely no justification for the ABC blaming the federal government for its own decision to cease its two digital multichannels at the end of the financial year".
Although he had supported the ABC's decision to set up a digital channel two years ago, yesterday Senator Alston placed responsibility for the extra cost incurred by providing the new service squarely on the public broadcaster. He noted that the government had ensured that the ABC's funding had kept pace with inflation in the budget.
But the ABC's move is a blow to Senator Alston's plans for promoting digital television to a sceptical Australian audience - he believes that offering multiple TV channels is crucial to seducing audiences into buying digital television equipment - and to his attempt to push through his controversial media ownership rules.
Once ABC Kids and Fly are turned off, just two multichannel broadcasters will remain: SBS, with its digital world news channel, and Foxtel pay TV.
SBS managing director Nigel Milan said yesterday SBS would continue operating its digital channel, noting it was "a priority".
Commercial free-to-air TV stations are banned from using the digital spectrum to provide more than one channel - known as multichannelling - but from July they will need to use new digital spectrum to transmit high-definition pictures 20 hours a week.
However, Senator Alston argued that the ABC and SBS should be exempt as they had a "special role to play in the national take-up of digital broadcasting by consumers".
Asked if the ABC's decision would slow the switch to digital, Mr Balding said: "It will certainly have an impact ... We believe that by providing content on those services we will provide incentive for people to switch over to those services."
The ABC funded its digital channels through a series of "one-off" cuts to other services, but Mr Balding said there were no more "one-off" savings to be made.
"Without additional funding for content we are unable to sustain our current level of output. We regret having to make this decision, but we are left with no other choice," he said.
The ABC's announcement prompted independent Senator Meg Lees, who is negotiating with Senator Alston over his media ownership plan, to say ABC funding "is absolutely still on the negotiating table".
FTV becomes fully FTA, shuts off PAS 10 signal
From http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k3/may/may193.htm
MUMBAI: Court cases notwithstanding, French channel Fashion TV today became a fully free to air (FTA) feed beaming off the Asiasat 2 satellite. It has stopped its encrypted signal that till now was beaming as a "dual feed" off PAS 10.
With this move, it becomes the first private pay channel to become FTA in the lead-up to the CAS rollout deadline of 14 July for the four metros of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai.
FTV announced that "as of today..., FTV is now broadcast in the clear on Asiasat 2 satellite." It remains to be seen how its former distribution partner turned foe Modi Entertainment Network (MEN) responds to this fait accompli.
According to a statement issued by MEN, FTV has continued to keep its signal FTA since 17 April despite clear directions of a Delhi High Court order of 19 May. The Modis have now filed a further petition in the Delhi High Court, which will be heard next week.
Modi Entertainment's legal council, claims its dispute has arisen "on their agreement (with FTV) for distribution, marketing, ad sales, advertising, merchandising and licensing for which Modi has a sole and exclusive agreement for India and the SAARC region." The dispute came about due to FTV transmitting the channel free to air on the Asiasat 2 satellite and entering into an ad sales and marketing partnership with Worldwide Channel.
Modi now claims that due to FTV not abiding by the fundamental premise of the agreement - that the signal must be encrypted, not free-to-air, Modi has approached the High Court which has granted an interim order on 19 May directing FTV Paris to abide by the existing agreement. Which means FTV Paris has to re-encrypt the signal immediately, and has been restrained from entering into any distribution, ad sales, marketing, merchandising and licensing agreements with anyone else for the entire region.
Worldwide Channel, a part of the Worldwide Group, had issued a statement last week claiming that FTV had gone FTA and that several new programming initiatives would be launched shortly.
The problems between the Modi's and Fashion TV came to a head during a meeting in Paris on 5 May between MEN president Lalit Modi and FTV president Michel Adam. According to an FTV statement issued on 5 May, the meeting was a heated one and "both parties agreed to disagree on further cooperation."
"This dispute will be settled in a court of England. Meantime, Fashion TV is unencrypting its signal on AsiaSat 2 satellite by going Free to Air. Fashion TV is now developing a new strategy and reviewing its options for the Indian market," the FTV statement had said.
Whether Indian court or UK court, lawyers from both sides have a pretty busy time ahead.
FTV's technical specifications for its FTA feed:
Satellite: Asiasat 2
Signal: MPEG-2/DVB
Mod: QPSK
Symbol rate: 2.6259 Msym/sec
FEC: 3/4
D/L Freq: 3796MHz
Polarisation: V
26/05/03
Not good news for Abc Fly / KIDS channel viewers. They are being dropped due to lack of funding. This will be a step backwards for Terrestrial Digital television in Australia. Should mean a few changes on Optus B1 as well.
SKY NZ channel 95 to be "The property channel" ? waiting for my SKY Magazine to confirm the details.
The new Tamil Channel that will be starting on Globecast, Optus B3 will be a pay channel but I expect they will run it in FTA mode for a while so people can see what its like.
More Thaicom 3 power problems? Not good for Tarbs perhaps they will re-locate to PAS 10?
From my Emails & ICQ
From "ANON Installer"
(Austar)
Commercial Delta V4 smart card and Titan decoder 'marriages' will commence
when we roll out the first 3000 Titan with V4 card in June as Project
Alexander starts. This is planned to result in substantial piracy
reductions.
Titan and later Atlas decoders will be delivered to contractors from MXR
with the new Delta V4 card pre-married and installed in the decoder. Later
in the year, ICSS will automatically configure an ADB , G3 or SMS decoder
to 'marry' itself to it's V4 smart card.
All contractors and commercial customers will need to be educated on this
over the coming months, and a letter drop to all customers is planned.
From Bill Richards
Thaicom 3
0450 UTC
3551H Sr 13330. FEC 3/4, Apid 7217 SID35
Somali Radio has started here.
Apid7233 SID36
RR Radio has started here.
Regards
Bill
From SiamGlobal
Subject: MPEG 4:2:2
Several items have appeared on this website over the past months concerning how to receive MPEG 4:2:2 , the most recent one saying it could be recorded but not watched live on a Nokia with suitable software. Well good news for those interested appears in the June edition of What Satellite TV., a UK mag
With a Sky Star 2 PCI card from Technisat (www.technisat.com) and software from www.progdvb.com., viewing is a piece of cake .
The card costs only about a hundred Aussie dollars and one can view on practically any recent computer.
Siam Global, Bangkok
From the Dish
Thaicom 3 78.5E 3551 H An STN Radio promo has started Fta, SID 35, APID 7217.
PAS 10 68.5E 3836 H "ARY Digital Asia" has left , replaced by an test card.
PAS 10 68.5E 3897 V "NDTV 24x7 and NDTV India" are Fta. (expected to stay that way)
Intelsat 906 64E 3721 R Uganda TV, Radio Uganda and Star FM have left .
NEWS
ABC to end digital TV shows
From http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,6494604%255E1702,00.html
THE national broadcaster will end its digital multichannelling programs, Fly TV and ABC Kids, citing a lack of funding.
ABC managing director Russell Balding told a Senate estimates committee the programs would end.
"This morning the ABC will be issuing a media statement advising that we've decided to close our digital multichannels," Mr Balding told the committee.
"That's Fly TV and ABC Kids.
"Senator, we regret in having to make this decision but we were left with mostly no other option."
An estimated 35-38 staff would be impacted by the decision, he said.
But he could not say how many people would lose their jobs.
Mr Balding said consultations with the union would begin today.
The Federal Government rejected the ABC's call for more money for multichannelling in its triannual funding submission.
Mr Balding said there was no further option other than to withdraw from multichannelling but he did not indicate when they would end.
"We haven't got the source of funding to keep those channels going," he said.
He also flagged more ABC cutbacks in coming months.
"I'm still working through, with my executive, and we'll be working through those decisions with the board over the next two-month period," Mr Balding said.
Communications Minister Richard Alston said the ABC had discretion as to how it spent its funds.
He said if the ABC was serious about digital TV it had the option to pursue it further.
He said the ABC did not consult the Government or seek funding or commitments when they decided to introduce digital TV.
"That is their decision (to cut digital TV)," Senator Alston said.
"But as I say if they haven't examined other options then it would seem strange that there is no other area in which they could have sought additional funding if digital is in fact a priority."
Further details were expected in a statement to be issued later this morning.
(Craigs comment, looks like another nail in the coffin for Terrestrial Digital TV in Australia)
iPSTAR Set to Enter Australia and New Zealand
From http://www.thaicom.net/eng-press/news-press.html
Thailand's Shin Satellite to cooperate with REACH
Nonthaburi, Thailand, May 21, 2003 - Shin Satellite Public Company Limited of Thailand ("SATTEL") has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Reach Global Services Limited (a member of the REACH Group) to deploy its iPSTAR broadband satellite program in Australia and New Zealand. This cooperation brings together the services of Shin Satellite's iPSTAR technology and REACH's state-of-the-art global network and teleport infrastructure. The program is due to begin its first implementation period from June 2003 until October 2003. The introductory period is open for a select number of potential iPSTAR carrier customers and government organizations and will be available later for a larger group of participants such as Internet Service Providers.
The system will employ Intelsat Ku band satellite capacity with coverage of Australia and New Zealand that is being supplied by REACH. Shin Satellite will introduce its advanced iPSTAR Gateway in conjunction with high performance iPSTAR Professional Series user terminals capable of providing up to 4 Mbps download capacity and 2 Mbps of upload capacity. This performance is ideal to run applications that require high return speeds, such as Video Conferencing, Telemedicine and Long-distance Learning. The service will be provided using iPSTAR Gateway located at REACH's teleport in Sydney and will be available on Intelsat 804 for services covering Australia and New Zealand.
Dr. Dumrong Kasemset, Executive Chairman of Shin Satellite noted, "SATTEL's strategy at this phase is to introduce its iPSTAR technology to the Australian and New Zealand markets prior to the launch of its iPSTAR 1 satellite in 2004. Australia is an ideal market for the broadband business because users there are sophisticated, and the large distances dividing the continent make it perfect for satellites. Australia has a population of more than twenty-two million with most able to afford high-end broadband service such as iPSTAR. Supply of efficient broadband access service today is far below demand, which should be an attractive market.
About Shin Satellite Plc:
Shin Satellite is one of the leading satellite operators in Asia with 3 satellites in operation, Thaicom-1A (120oE), Thaicom-2 and Thaicom-3 (both co-locate at 78.5oE), totaling 20 Ku-band and 49 C-band transponders. It also has extensive experience of end-to-end turnkey satellite service solutions, value-added services and other infrastructure, i.e., teleport facilities for satellite TV uplink, DTH services, global broadcast services, and Internet backbone and broadband services. Thaicom has an extensive customer base ranging across Asia, Africa, Europe and Australasia. With over 100 satellite television channels on its 3 satellites, it is considered one of the satellite TV hotbirds for Thailand, Indochina, India and the subcontinent, and Europe-Australia. Shin Satellite is a listed subsidiary of Shin Corporation, Thailand's leading telecom group with business interests in cellular mobile phones, Internet, satellite, data communications, etc.
About REACH
REACH is a joint venture between Australia's Telstra Corporation Limited and Hong Kong's PCCW Limited. It is Asia's largest international carrier of combined voice, private line and IP data services and one of the world's top ten carriers of international voice traffic. REACH's products and services include an extensive portfolio of voice, data, IP and satellite connectivity. It has interests in more than 40 submarine cable and satellite systems (including Asia's largest teleport), and operating licences and landing rights in most major markets including Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Australia, North America and Europe. REACH is headquartered in Hong Kong, with a significant presence in Australia and substantial businesses across Asia, North America and Europe. For further information, please visit www.reach.co
Contact: Marketing Communications, Shin Satellite Plc, 41/103 Rattanathibet Rd. Nonthaburi 11000, Thailand. Tel. (66 2) 591-0736 to 49 Ext. 426, 427 Fax. (66 2) 591-0714, [email protected]
(Craigs comment, Ku signal from I804 mystery solved??)
BSAT-2c arrives at the Spaceport for Flight 161
From http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=9223
Preparations for Arianespace's upcoming Flight 161 have moved into full swing following the BSAT-2c satellite payload's arrival at the Spaceport.
The spacecraft was flown into Cayenne's Rochambeau International Airport May 13 aboard a cargo airliner.
Protective covering on the satellite's shipping container included signatures of workers at spacecraft manufacturer Orbital Sciences Corp., along with a drawing of an Ariane 5 and a good luck message for the launch.
The production of BSAT-2c, which began at Orbital's Virginia facility, is part of a series for Japan's Broadcasting Satellite System Corporation (B-SAT) to provide direct-to-home digital high-definition television throughout Japan.
After its arrival at the Spaceport, BSAT-2c was moved into the massive S5 satellite preparation facility, where final checkout began with electrical tests.
BSAT-2c is designed for an operational lifetime of 10 years, and it will be positioned 110 degrees East over Borneo with coverage over all of Japan.
The satellite is based on Orbital Sciences' Star-1 platform, and will have a mass at launch of 1,300 kg.
Liftoff of Flight 161 with BSAT-2c and Australia's Optus and Defence C1 remains on schedule for early June from the Spaceport's ELA-3 launch complex.
STAR to launch 2nd entertainment channel
From http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=47301929
MUMBAI: STAR is launching a new entertainment channel, ‘STAR Classic’, in the free-to-air mode aimed at rural and small-town audiences.
The object is to provide an alternative to advertisers of mass brands and to compete with channels like Doordarshan and regional channels offering a high reach at cheap prices. Business plans for the broadcaster also include the launch of two more news channels for Tamil and English-speaking audiences. Currently on the drawing board stage, these news channels are expected to be launched towards the end of this year.
There would be economies of scale if several news channels make use of the large newsgathering structure STAR is setting up for its Hindi channel, Peter Mukerjea, Star TV’s CEO in India, told ET.
STAR Plus, the broadcaster’s premier entertainment channel, currently charges an average advertising rate of Rs 3.5 lakh for 30 second spots during prime time. Despite the channel having an undisputed grip over the popularity charts — close to 45 of the Top 50 all-India programmes are on the STAR Plus platform — it has recently experienced a plateauing of ad revenue. Resistance from advertisers to repeated hikes in ad rates and cheaper alternatives like DD have stymied further growth of ad revenue.
To stem the drift of media planners to other broadcasters, STAR is pitching a free-to-air entertainment channel which will offer competitive airtime rates to advertisers as well as provide a reach to markets in small towns and the hinterland.
Programming costs for the channel will be kept rock bottom by putting on air re-packaged versions of old shows like ‘Saans’ and ‘KBC’. “An entire generation may not have seen many of these good shows in the STAR library, when the channel was first launched,” Mr Mukerjea said.
For instance, the average cost of advertising on prime time shows of DD averages around Rs 75,000 for 30 seconds. STAR also faces the problem of escalating programming costs to stay in the lead, while the advertising air time inventory is limited to 12.5 minutes per hour.
(Craigs comment, Hopefully on Asiasat 3?)
T S I C H A N N E L N E W S - Number 21/2003 25 May 2003 -
A weekly roundup of global TV news sponsored by TELE-satellite International
Editor: Branislav Pekic
Edited Apsattv.com Edition
A S I A
AUSTRALIA
FOXTEL SEEKS TO MAKE DIGITAL TV PAY
Australia's largest pay-TV operator, Foxtel, is very confident with the launch of its digital services early next year and has invested $600 million in the project. The launch date has already been pushed back from October this year, with Foxtel laying the blame on the delayed launch of Optus's C1 satellite. But the pay-TV provider has the right shareholders to back up its strategy. Rupert Murdoch's News Corp and Kerry Packer's Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd each has a 25 per cent stake in the privately held company. Telstra owns the remaining 50 per cent, and provides the digitised cable network which allows Foxtel to deliver more channels, interactive services or a higher quality broadcast over the same bandwidth as the old cable network. In a recent announcement by OpenTV, it was confirmed that FOXTEL will use the ‘latest version’ of OpenTV’s middleware, ‘Core 1.1.’ Plus in a separate agreement, FOXTEL announced that they will source their set-top-boxes from UK manufacturer PACE in addition to one, as yet unannounced, manufacturer. NDS will also be providing FOXTEL with a wide range of solutions and will act as the lead systems integrator on the project. Security of both the cable and satellite networks will be enhanced by the deployment of NDS’ digital VideoGuard CA system in Simulcrypt with the existing IRDETO CA, whilst for interactivity, FOXTEL and their partners will be able to deploy interactive TV and applications using NDS’ Value@TV solutions. Australian pay-TV industry has invested an estimated $8 billion into the local market since its inception, yet the three operators - Foxtel, Optus and Austar - are still struggling for financial viability.
Internet - http://www.foxtel.com.au
CAMBODIA
FTA CHANNEL LAUNCHES
A new free-to-air terrestrial television channel Cambodian Television Network (CTN), a joint venture between local conglomerate Royal Group of Companies and Stockholm-based Modern Time Group, has been recently launched in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The launch initially covers the Capital city but CTN will go nationwide by the end of 2003. CTN is offering viewers a wide variety of entertainment and educational programs. Over US$1 million dollars will be spent on programming in 2003 alone. Cambodia currently has six TV stations and the most popular ones include sports and entertainment channels TV3 and TV5, respectively. CTN is aiming to attract a daily viewership of five million, which is approximately half of country’s population, by the end of next year. CTN is already producing some of its own television programs such as documentaries, computer learning programs and sit-comes at its facility at Srok Ta Khmao. In addition to this, the channel has bought the rights to Sunday English Premier League football matches as well as European comedies and Asian and South American dramas. International news is delivered to CTN's broadcast facility at Srok Ta Khmao via satellite from London enabling the channel to offer up-to-the-minute international and Asian news.
CHINA - HONG KONG
CCTV NEWS AND PHOENIX TO COEXIST
China Central Television’s (CCTV) newly-launched 24 hour, satellite-delivered news channel will not be a threat to Hong Kong-based Phoenix Satellite Television’s InfoNews channel, according to the latter’s CEO. Liu Changle likened the relationship between his InfoNews and the new CCTV service to that of Fox and CNN in the United States saying “There is room for both of us.” Liu said he expects that InfoNews’ audience will grow from six millions at present, to eight to 10 million by the end of 2003. Observers noted that the planned total is considerably less than the 20 million forecast at the start of the year. InfoNews posted a €3.29 million loss for the third quarter ended December 31, compared to a €4.13 million loss 12 months earlier.
INDIA
NEW CABLE TV SYSTEM FOR 4 CITIES
India’s Information & Broadcasting Ministry has set July 14 to introduce new conditions for cable TV in four major cities, Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata, the Hindu newspaper has reported. In the new Conditional Access System (CAS), there will be clearer segregation of the pay channels and the free-to-air channels. Indian broadcasting companies will decide which channels would be free-to-air and which need to be paid for. The newspaper quoted a senior ministry official as saying it would push local cable operators to provide better customer service and make pay-TV broadcasters more accountable and aware of customer preferences. The government is also likely to ask the broadcasting companies to come out with prices of individual channels by June 15. The pricing guidelines will prevent broadcasters from pricing one or a few premium pay channels in a bouquet at a higher cost.
TV18 AND CNBC ASIA-PACIFIC RESTRUCTURE INDIAN VENTURE
CNBC India on May 22 announced that it has become the first foreign channel to comply with the Indian government's recent guidelines limiting foreign equity to 26% for channels intending to uplink from India. Currently uplinked from Singapore, CNBC India is a joint venture of Delhi-based TV18 and Singapore-headquartered CNBC Asia Pacific, which is registered as a Mauritius-based broadcaster with TV18 holding 51% and CNBC 49% equity. Though the revised equity structuring was not announced, TV18 managing director Raghav Bahl said, "We were given a three-month deadline that expires June 26 to comply with the new guidelines and we have informed the Information and Broadcasting Ministry about our decision to reduce CNBC Asia Pacific's equity."
FASHION TV SWITCHES SATELLITES
Fashion TV India has moved from Panamsat 10 to Asiasat 2 and is now available free to air. The official Fashion TV site exhorts cable operators to collect their new smart cards from FTV, as the channel has switched satellites. Modi Entertainment Network's Amit Nag meanwhile maintains that the Asiasat 2 feed is merely a parallel feed to overcome technical glitches in transmission and that the MEN distribution agreement with FTV India stands as previously.
JAPAN
TV ASAHI PROFITS PLUNGE
Asahi National Broadcasting Co. (TV Asahi) said on May 23 its group net profit for fiscal 2002, which ended March 31, plunged 67.9 per cent from the previous year to 1.91 billion yen. In its consolidated earnings report, TV Asahi posted a pretax profit of 6.93 billion yen for the just-ended year, down 45.6 per cent, with overall revenues down 5.0 per cent to 209.04 billion yen. Net profit per share was 1,780.39 yen, down from 5,903.72 yen the year before. For the current fiscal year to next March, TV Asahi forecasts a net profit of 800 million yen and pretax profit of 3.75 billion yen on revenues of 212 billon yen.
LOSSES WIDEN AT SKY PERFECT
Digital satellite pay-TV operator Sky Perfect Communications has announced its net losses increased by Yen6.4 billion to reach Yen18.4 billion in the year to March 31. However, revenues for the period increased by 16.8% to reach Yen68.2 billion, with 641,000 total new subscribers to the Sky Perfect platform (including cable distribution) for a 384,000 net increase after 8% annualized churn. Total Sky Perfect subscribers were at 3.43 million for the year and have since risen to 3.44 million at end-April. The company is forecasting revenues of Yen72.5 billion for 2004 and a return to the black with profit of Yen3 billion.
RETURN TO THE BLACK FOR WOWOW
Satellite pay-TV operator WOWOW has posted net profit of Yen538 million for its fiscal year to March 31, compared to a loss of Yen2.1 billion the previous year. The company attributed the gains to a reduction in marketing costs and completion of digital upgrades, although it also reported a fall in total subscribers. The number of subscribers to WOWOW's services declined 6.3% in the year to 2.45 million. The company is forecasting a group net profit of Yen550 million for 2004, with a pretax profit of Yen650 million and revenues of Yen63 billion. It is hoping to take total subscribers up to 2.55 million.
PROFITS DOWN AT FUJI TV
Net profits at Japan's Fuji Television Network fell 14.4% to Yen14.8 billion in the year to March 31. Fuji TV's pretax profit also fell, by 15.6% to Yen37.7 billion, with revenues down 1.8% to Yen429 billion. For the fiscal year to March 31, 2004, Fuji TV is forecasting a net profit of Yen17 billion and a pretax profit of Yen34.5 billion on revenues of Yen430.5 billion.
TBS PROFITS SLIDE
Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc. (TBS) said on May 23 its group net profit fell 27.7 per cent for the year ended March 31 due to lower television commercial revenues. The radio and TV network reported a group net profit of 10.60 billion yen, against a year-earlier net profit of 14.65 billion yen. Group pretax profit fell 21.5 per cent to 23.04 billion yen and operating profit dropped 22.1 per cent to 24.33 billion yen. TBS said its core broadcasting business posted a 28.6 per cent fall in operating profit to 18.33 billion yen. For the current year ending in March 2004, TBS expects group net profit to fall sharply to 2.5 billion yen because of start-up costs for digital broadcasting services. Group pretax profit is estimated at 21 billion yen and sales at 292 billion yen, TBS said.
PROFITS DOWN ALSO AT NIPPON TV
Nippon Television Network Corp., better known as NTV, said on May 22 its group net profit dropped 41.4 per cent to 20.30 billion yen for the business year ended March 31 due to a plunge in advertising revenues amid the weak economy. Group pretax profit fell 26.1 per cent to 46.33 billion yen on a 6.2 per cent decline in consolidated operating revenues to 336.30 billion yen. For the year to March 31, 2004, the company projects a group net profit of 6.5 billion yen and a group pretax profit of 14.5 billion yen on operating revenues of 329 billion yen.
MALAYSIA
MALAYSIA TO LAUNCH OWN NEWS CHANNEL
Malaysia is planning its own version of the Al-Jazeera satellite television network to counter what it perceives as biased reporting by the Western media. Information minister Khalil Yaacob told the press that the government has long felt the need for such a setup similar to the Arabic network. "It is time we had one, considering Malaysia's status as a leading developing country," he said. Talks are being held with television station operators in the region to establish satellite links. Also in the cards is a permanent news team for reporting on international conflicts, to ensure Malaysians a "true picture" of the hot spots.
NEW ZEALAND
SKY TV FORSEES BETTER FINANCIAL RESULTS
Leading pay-TV operator Sky Network Television on May 21 said it expects a full year result between break-even and a NZ$2.5 million loss, better than previously expected. The company previously forecast a full year loss between NZ$8.5 million and NZ$11 million but "better" programming arrangements and an increase in revenue from wholesale customers resulted in the revision. Sky has 537,217 subscribers while churn, which is the percentage of subscribers who disconnect, is on track to reach an all time low. Sky TV says it could breakeven in the current financial year.
SINGAPORE
CONAX SIGNS DEAL WITH MEDIACORP
Conax, a supplier of conditional access technology for digital TV, has entered into a contract with MediaCorp Technologies. The Conax CAstream will enable MediaCorp Technologies to broadcast IPTV with conditional access. MediaCorp Technologies provides broadcast transmission infrastructure for digital and analogue broadcasting services in Singapore. The company will use Conax CAstream USB tokens as the hardware security feature for this pioneer project.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
CNBC ARABIYA TO LAUNCH
CNBC Arabiya, a regional Arabic-language satellite economic channel, will launch operations from Dubai next month. News editor Walid Kurdi told a news conference that the channel, which will operate from Dubai Media City, would provide in-depth coverage of the economic and business implications of local and international affairs. CNBC Arabiya, owned and run by Middle East Business News (MEBN) under a licensing and affiliation agreement with CNBC, will invest up to US$45 million in the service over the next three years. CNBC Arabiya will have bureaux in Lebanon, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Bahrain. The transmission footprint covers all 19 Arabic-speaking countries in the region. The new venture will spend $30 million over three years to establish a network of bureaus. Officials expect to win five to seven per cent of a market for TV news advertising that they estimate to be worth $200 million.
A F R I C A
ERITREA
STATE TV AVAILABLE VIA SATELLITE
Good new for Eritrean residents around the world - they are now able to watch programmes of Eritrean television [state-owned EriTV] via satellite. Eritrean television programmes are broadcast via the Arabsat satellite located at 26 degrees East, on transponder frequency 11623 [MHz]. The Voice of the Broad Masses of Eritrea [state-owned radio] will also be on satellite in the coming few weeks.
SOUTH AFRICA
TAMIL TV CHANNEL FROM SEPTEMBER
South Africa will have its first-ever Tamil TV channel from September 1. The content would be sourced from Chennai-based Jaya TV. The channel would be beamed nationwide and would include neighbouring countries, reports PTI. The 24-hour subscription-based channel will beam movies, movie-based programmes, songs, serials, live shows, cartoons, and programmes of religious and educational nature. The predominant language would be Tamil. The company will provide the satellite dish free of charge to initial subscribers. The Tamil speaking South Africans have been complaining for some time that Indian TV channels - Zee, Sony and Star - that operate in the country only show North Indian movies and serials, and neglect Tamil programmes.
25/05/03
No update Sundays
24/05/03
Mystery KU update
Both signals mentioned yesterday appeard to have come from I804 at 176E. A mystery as to who and why though! Both signals were turned off around 6 a.m NZ. That was after changing to what appeard to be Mpg 4.2.2. Channel labels were LAX_MNCD001 and NYC_MNCD002
Does anyone have any info about these mystery signals?
From my Email & ICQ
From SiamGlobal
Subject: THAICOM 1
With regard to the report of a test signal apearing on Thaicom 1 120 degrees East , may we hazard an informed guess of what is the likely reason ? The Nation tv news channel was recently removed from the UBC bouquet and placed on a local Bangkok MMDS service. Since then promises have been made it would be available on satellite but the Co. refused to disclose details. Only yesterday we spoke to the Co and they mentioned Thaicom 1 as the possible satellite which the channel would appear on next month . Clearly there is a strong possibility now of the Nation channel being shown FTA on this frequency. By the way this is not the best choice as hardly any dishes here are pointed at Thaicom 1 but clearly the Nation Group were offered a good deal and provincial cable services can get their feed from here as they do now for ITV.
Siamglobal Bangkok
From Various people
Imparja B1, The Vpid changed from 1186 to 1207 at around 4:00pm EST.
From Various people
B1 12430 ver s/r 06110 fec 3/4 "V8 feed"
From the Dish
PAS 2 169E 4087 V The test card is back on , Fta, PIDs 518/646.
PAS 8 166E 4121 V "Net 25 and the IncTV" tests have left (unconfirmed).
Agila 2 146E 12541 V "Karaoke Channel (clear) and IBC 13 (enc.)" have started on ,SR 26600, FEC 5/6, PIDs 42/43 and 44/45.
AsiaSat 3 105.5E 3880 HAll channels have left the STAR TV mux , replaced by test cards on PIDs 512/640 and 513/644.
Thaicom 3 78.5E Sout Al-Arab, Radio Dimensione Suono, Radio Pink, Radio Italia and Radio Italia Anni '60 have started on 3520 H, Fta, APIDs 660-664. All channels in this TARBS World TV mux are Fta.
PAS 10 68.5E 3836 V A Big Brother mosaic (Fta) and BBC Prime (enc.) have started on ,PIDs 1635/1634 and 1638/1637.
PAS 10 68.5E 4064 V Armenia Radio has started, Fta, APID 667.All channels in this TARBS World TV mux are Fta
Intelsat 906 64E 3754 RTBN has left , moved to 3963 R.
G-Sat 2 48E G-Sat 2 has arrived at 48 East.
NEWS
Fashion TV India shifts satellite, gets new ad sales partner
From http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k3/may/may175.htm
MUMBAI: Fashion TV India has moved from Panamsat 10 to Asiasat 2 and is now available free to air, according to its new ad sales and marketing partner, the Worldwide Group.
The official Fashion TV site exhorts cable operators to collect their new smart cards from FTV, as the channel has switched satellites. Modi Entertainment Network's Amit Nag meanwhile maintains that the Asiasat 2 feed is merely a parallel feed to overcome technical glitches in transmission and that the MEN distribution agreement with FTV India stands as previously. MEN has been distributing the pay channel thus far in India.
Worldwide Channel, a part of the Worldwide Group, meanwhile has taken over the marketing and ad sales functions for FTV India from 5 May. According to Worldwide Channel MD Ratnakar Kumar, a new show called Fashion in Films has been launched on Fashion TV, on the occasion of the Cannes film festival 2003, as a precursor to changing programming that will be evident on FTV in the coming days.
Fashion In Films, a daily programme showing the main fashion trends as they appear in the latest movies will have clips devoted to one movie, and highlights the fashion of that movie. For example, in The Gangs of New York, Fashion TV shows all the men's fashion of the period. In Charlie's Angels, FTV shows the style of hair, the dresses, bikinis the stars are wearing. FTV edits the films into three-minute fashion clips, honouring the costume designer who was responsible for the creative look of the film.
Fashion In Films is a 15-minute daily programme, and will be broadcasted four times a day at 11.30 am, 9.30 pm, 2.30 am and 5.30 am India time.
JSAT to lease satellite to NTT DoCoMo
From http://www.advanced-television.com/pages/pagesb/newsdaily.html
JSAT Corporation and NTT DoCoMo concluded an agreement whereby NTT DoCoMo will partially lease transponder capacity on the JCSAT-9 satellite from JSAT for the duration of the satellite's design life. JSAT will purchase the JCSAT-9 satellite to succeed the N-STARa satellite, which is jointly owned with NTT DoCoMo. N-STARa is currently positioned in a 132 degrees east orbit.
NTT DoCoMo also announced that, together with its eight regional subsidiaries, it will launch an on-line payments service, named ÔDoCommerce,' at 9:00 am on May 26, 2003, enabling both 2G and 3G SSL-compatible handset users to enjoy mobile shopping and pay online with their VISA, or JCB credit cards.
An account aggregation feature enables DoCommerce users to check simultaneously, and on one single screen, the balances of their various accounts with banks, credit card companies, etc. Initially, 15 financial institutions will participate.
EDD Wins Another Contract C-Band Amplifiers For Orbital
From http://www.spacedaily.com/news/satellite-biz-03za.html
Boeing has been awarded a contract from Orbital Sciences Corporation to provide Linearized C-Band Traveling Wave Tube Amplifiers (LTWTAs) for the TELKOM-2 Satellite for Indonesia.
Orbital awarded the contract to Boeing Electron Dynamic Devices, Inc. (EDD) located in Torrance, Calif. EDD is a leading provider of high reliability products for space and defense customers and is a business unit of The Boeing Company.
"We are extremely pleased to continue our successful relationship with Orbital on the TELKOM-2 program," said Chris Stephens, vice president and general manager of EDD. EDD recently completed delivery of 96 linearized C-Band TWTAs for three satellites Orbital is building for PanAmSat. Galaxy 12, the first of the three satellites was successfully launched on April 9.
In communication satellites, TWTAs are used to amplify and transmit radio frequency signals back to Earth for a variety of applications including voice, video and data.
On satellites that carry a large number of signals, a linearizer is often added to the TWT to cancel the amplifier distortion. This results in clearer communications that benefits the customers of the satellite operator. The final assembly is referred to as an LTWTA.
A typical TWTA consists of a traveling wave tube (TWT) and an electronic power conditioner (EPC). The TELKOM-2 C-Band TWTAs will be comprised of a 41 watt Model 8560HT TWT, a Model 2000HAB EPC and a linearizer from L3 Narda Microwave West in Folsom, California. The C-Band TWTAs will be integrated into Orbital's STAR-2 Spacecraft and will be launched into geosynchronous orbit in 2004.
GSAT-2 Reaches Home At 48 East
From http://www.spacedaily.com/news/india-03c.html
ISRO's experimental satellite, GSAT-2, which was launched by GSLV-D2 on May 8, 2003 from Satish Dhawan Space Center, SHAR, has been successfully placed in its final geo-stationary orbital slot at 48 deg East longitude.
It may be recalled that, after the injection of GSAT-2 into geostationary transfer orbit by India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, (GSLV), orbit-raising manoeuvres were carried out from ISRO's Master Control Facility (MCF), Hassan, by firing the 440 Newton Liquid Apogee Motor on board the satellite to place it in the geo-stationary orbit.
At the end of these manoeuvres on May 11, 2003, the satellite was allowed to drift slowly towards its designated orbital slot. In this drift orbit, deployment of antenna and solar arrays was carried out on May 12, 2003.
Station acquisition manoeuvres were conducted from MCF, Hassan, from May 14 to 19, by firing the 10 Newton Reaction Control Thrusters on board to position GSAT-2 precisely at 48 deg East longitude.
The last of these manoeuvers was successfully completed yesterday (May 19, 2003) by 10 pm [1630 UTC] positioning the satellite in its orbital slot.
In the coming weeks, the payloads comprising four C-band transponders, two Ku-band transponders and a Mobile Satellite Service Payload will be tested out and data on the four scientific experiments on board GSAT-2 will be collected.
It may be noted that GSAT-2 carries four experimental payloads -- Total Radiation Dose Monitor (TRDM), Surface Charge Monitor (SCM), Solar X-ray Spectrometer (SOXS) and Coherent Radio Beacon Experiment (CRABEX).
ISRO poised to rake in big money
From http://www.siliconindia.com/shownewsdata.asp?newsno=19581
KOLKATA: With a $100 million contract already under its belt, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is poised to rake in many more millions offering its commercial services to other countries.
Telecommunication, building and launching of commercial satellites and resource hiring are some of the services that ISRO has been offering, its chairman K. Kasturirangan told reporters here Thursday.
"We have already launched four satellites for South Korea, Germany and Belgium. Countries like Canada are also interested in utilising our resources. We have entered into a contract with a couple of other countries," Kasturirangan, in the city to receive an award, said.
He said ISRO would together receive $100 million from these countries in the next 10 years for developing their telecommunication system.
"We are also working with quite a few Indian entrepreneurs so that we can fulfil our basic objective of developing India's space programme. A few SAARC countries have also approached us to build and launch satellites for them."
Kasturirangan said ISRO was also aiming to work on developing civilian space programme. "The launch of an education satellite has already been approved by the government. We hope to launch it within the next 18 months."
He said 2003-2004 would see ISRO launch INSAT 3E, a satellite to be primarily used in resource sensing. The CARTOSAT 1 and 2 will be launched by August.
"These would be used for mapping and surface imaging," the ISRO chief said.
"The launch of INSAT-3A has improved our telecommunication, meteorology and disaster management systems. So, now we plan to launch heavier satellites from Kourou in French Guyana.
"Amongst them are the INSAT 4A and 4B and the GSLV (Mark 3). These will redefine our space technology," added Kasturirangan.
Essel group's HITS model to have additional 3rd party TV, radio channels
From http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k3/may/may176.htm
NEW DELHI: The Subhash Chandra-promoted Essel group is looking at having over 20 third party television channels and 12 satellite radio channels as part of the headend in the sky (HITS) project and KU-band direct-to-home television service.
The HITS and DTH project is being implemented by Zee Telefilms' cable arm Siti Cable, while the licence holder for uplinking and turning around TV channels (in case of HITS) is another Chandra company, ASC Enterprises, which is also separately implementing India's first private sector satellite project called Agrani. Zee Telefilms is an Essel Group enterprise.
Zee Telefilms additional VC and head of Siticable Jawahar Goel
"We are looking at giving about 12 satellite radio channels as an add-on service for the HITS and DTH projects," Zee Telefilms additional vice-chairman and head of Siti Cable Jawahar Goel told indiantelevision.com.
HITS is the project through which Siti Cable is introducing conditional access system with the help of imported set top boxes that are claimed to be costing about $ 48, apparently cheaper than the cost of box being bandied around by some other broadcasters.
Though at the moment, the Zee Turner bouquet has 19 channels, including the newly launched Trendz, additional third party channels would be brought in as part of the HITS and DTH offering to the subscriber.
"We have to bring in more channels to increase the depth of the offerings in the DTH package and, for that, we are looking at more niche channels that are available globally," Goel, a younger brother of Chandra, said, adding that he has not been able to find some time because of the fast developments taking place on the conditional access front in India at the moment, otherwise he would have closed more third-party channel deals.
For the DTH package, the Essel-Zee combine is looking at introducing 48 television channels in the first phase that would be increased to 60 in the second phase and after a year the number of channels would be further enhanced.
Dwelling on the satellite radio channels that are to be offered by Zee, Goel said that the company has already received a letter from India's pubcaster Prasar Bharati to include some All India Radio channels as part of the sat radio offering.
Goel is also hopeful that some of the private FM radio players would like to hop on to the sat radio bandwagon being offered as part of HITS and DTH and where the service would be as good and cheaper than that of World Space, which offers over 100 radio channels delivered through satellite, including the likes of CNN, BBC, DD and music channels.
"How many people have World Space receivers in the country that are fairly costly ?," Puneet Goenka, chief executive of ASC Enterprise asked, pointing out that their service comes at no extra cost to the consumer and the radio channels can be played through the television sets only without having to buy a separate radio set. Goenka is the eldest son of Chandra.
And, if to give the icing on the cake, Goel added that Zee's DTH service, slated to be launched later this year (15 August looks like a good date, it seems), would only be about $ 12 costlier than the HITS offering for the customer.
The battle to get the boxes into the homes of Indian cable consumers, it seems, has begun in all earnest.
23/05/03
Website for the new Tamil Channel starting on B3 Globecast service soon. Looks like its called Tamil Vision.
http://www.hannaitsolutions.net/TVN/default.htm
New mystery KU signal over NZ appears to be from an Intelsat? fine on 76cm dish at my place.
12610H Sr 25220 Fec 2/3
12646H Sr 25220 Fec 2/3
Have skewed my feed right around SO ASSUME its H not v
2 services loading on each Transponder (same)
"Intelsat SA LAX 3" label with SBC Broadcast Operations Hollywood Toc over Color Bars (PAL)
"Lax-MNCD001" label with Colour bars (NTSC)
anyone have any ideas about these signals?
From my Emails & ICQ
From Mr Humax
B1, 12397 H 7200 3/4
football warm ups tape feeds
From ANON
Imparja Vpid 1198
From the Dish
Agila 2 146E 12566 V "Global TV (Taiwan)" has left .
Thaicom 1A 120E 3746 H A test card has started , Fta, SR 5758, PIDs 308/256.
ST 1 88E 3582 H "MATV has replaced Phoenix Channel", enc., PIDs 32/33.
NEWS
Shin Satellite signs deal in Australia
From http://www.bangkokpost.com/Business/23May2003_biz64.html
Shin Satellite says it has signed a deal with Reach Global Services to use Shin's iPSTAR broadband satellite in Australia and New Zealand. The first stage of implementation will take place from June to October.
In the introductory period, services will be offered to a select number of potential iPSTAR carrier customers and government organisations, after which more participants including Internet service providers will be approached. The iPSTAR satellite, Shin's fourth, is scheduled to be launched next year.
Reach is a joint venture between Telstra Corp of Australia and PCCW Ltd of Hong Kong.
Shin Satellite shares closed yesterday at 12.80 baht, unchanged, in trade worth 24.2 million baht.
It's GalaxZee for Zee's HITS project
From http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k3/may/may152.htm
NEW DELHI: After Trendz, it's GalaxZee that is soon coming to a television set near you. Trust Zee to come
up with a catchy brand name for its headend in the sky (HITS) project that would also serve as a back office
company for the venture.
Having decided on the brand name for the HITS project, to be implemented by the company's cable arm Siti Cable, the Subhash Chandra-promoted Zee Telefilms has started wooing prospective franchisees and partners for HITS and has begun distributing a colourful brochure amongst cable operators in cities like Delhi and Kolkata.
The brochure also tantalisingly says that HITS is an opportunity for cable ops to earn up to 40 percent in distribution margins.
Under the HITS concept for conditional access, Zee is proposing to offer dealers (cable ops) up to 40 per cent of the distribution margin, the distributor getting 10 per cent, the company managing the subscriber management system (in Zee's case it is Cyquator, according to company sources) for CAS cornering 10 per cent, the CAS software provider (Zee has tied up with Conax for CAS software) getting 10 per cent, while Galaxzee would keep 30 per cent of the pie.
However, it has been made clear that the margins for the dealers "may vary in accordance to the distribution margins provided by the broadcasters." In the government-piloted task force on CAS, Siti Cable representatives have opined several times that multi system operators (MSOs) like it would prefer getting between 60-70 per cent of the distribution margin from broadcasters.
According to the GalaxZee brochure, interested dealers for HITS would have to apply through a form, filling in various financial and business details, which would have to be accompanied with a cheque/demand draft of Rs 10,000 in favour of Siti Cable towards refundable security. This has been done to weed out non-serious players as the whole of Zee Telefilms, which is part of the Essel Group, has pinned lots of hope on HITS as something that would usher in a new era in cable television in India.
GalaxZee has been touted as a cost-effective and transparent solution. It has also been explained to cable ops, via text and diagrams, the way the whole system would work.
Amongst the benefits accruing to cable ops it has been said that operators need not install CAS/SMS at the head-end level and they need to invest in trans modulators (costing Rs 1,200 per channel), which would significantly reduce investments for the cable ops.
What is HITS ? In short, it is an end to end digital system involving downloading of television channels (that are interested in being part of HITS) at a single location. These channels are then encrypted with a single CAS and uplinked to a satellite (in this case it's likely to be an INSAT satellite).
Signals from the satellite are received by cable ops who have to use a trans-modulator to redistribute the same (may be after mixing the signals of the FTA channels) to their subscribers who, with the help of a digital set-top box, can receive the channels that they wish to subscribe to. All the boxes can be addressed from a single CAS/SMS.
STAR, Zee & ESPN to remain pay
From http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=47103293
NEW DELHI: Belying hopes of policy-makers that pay channels would choose to go free-to-air once CAS comes into force, STAR, ESPN and Zee made it clear they will remain pay channels after July 14.
This was revealed at a meeting of the implementation taskforce held amidst talk of putting off the proposal under political pressure.
It was also agreed that these pay channel broadcasters would make public the individual prices of channels four weeks from now. This, according to other stake-holders like cable operators and MSOs, will help the industry gauge demand for set-top boxes (STBs). Sources said the broadcasting lobby was harping over availability (or lack of it) of STBs, while “demand” would depend on the price of pay channels. “This talk of need for more than 6m STBs from day-one is a fallacy and is needlessly spreading panic,” government sources said. The I&B ministry has made it clear that CAS will be rolled out on July 14, “no matter what the media speculates”.
Cable operators and MSOs, who are putting in place equipment and are placing orders for STBs, assured Star’s Peter Mukherjee, who reportedly said the channel reached one million homes across the four metros, that if that’s true, one million STBs would also be available. Jawahar Goel of Zee TV and Manu Sawhney of ESPN were also present at the meeting.
While the government has been talking of some intervention to stop bundling of channels and ensure individual pricing, which would give “real choice” to consumers, indications are that the authorities may choose to wait for the broadcasters to reveal their plans first. Since the pay channels can neither afford to lose viewers nor advertisers, so goes the official line of reasoning, the pricing they opt for may not require any intervention.
Meanwhile, Mumbai Grahak Panchayat’s representative Varsha told ET the consumer organisation will start a campaign, advising consumers not to purchase STBs. “If pricing is to be left to market forces, a regulatory authority should be in place to redress consumer grievances, be it technical, legal, economical or social issues,” she said.
The cable industry has requested the government to educate the public on CAS and explain to them that it is a “worldwide norm.”
for access to pay TV. There is no other method to administer it.”
As for consumer resistance, cable operators reason that it will only pressurise pay channels to turn FTA.
On the subject of the cost of digital STBs considering that Tulsi of Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi often appears on Star Plus to inform the viewers that an STB could cost “up to Rs 7000” government sources say that according to information given by the MSOs who have placed orders, it would be in the range of Rs 4,000-Rs 4,500.
22/05/03
Very quiet, so quiet that I decided no update for today! Back Friday
21/05/03
Latest date for Optus C1 launch is June 11th. Has anyone heard anything about live coverage of the launch on B1 or B3? perhaps someone from Optus might like to provide details?
Good to see more people are using the FTA forums, see the link on the left. The more people that post the quicker it will take off and become worth the daily visit.
Sky NZ have added "Coming soon" on channel 95
Very Quiet, not much news to report.
From my Emails & ICQ
Nothing to report
From the Dish
Palapa C2 113E 3760 H All test cards have left .
Insat 3A 93.5E 3825 VA test card has started, PAL.
New launch date and window for BSAT 2C & Optus C1 with Ariane:
22:36-00:01 UTC on 11/12 June.
NEWS
Sky TV's shares climb after improved forecast for year's end
From http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2490502a13,00.html
Sky Television's shares have climbed a couple of notches after the company today predicted a rosier end of year outcome than first expected.
Sky chief executive John Fellet said the company now projected a result between a net loss after tax of $2.5 million and break even when reporting on June 30.
It had earlier estimated a net loss in a range between $8.5 million and $11 million for the 12-month period.
The announcement buoyed Sky's shares, which closed at today up 10c at $4.10.
Sky's main shareholders - Telecom which owns 66 per cent and INL which owns 12 per cent - also showed rises in their stocks.
Telecom shares rose 14c to close at $5.04, their highest level since November last year, and INL shares were up 4c at $4.10.
Mr Fellet said Sky's better programming arrangements with movie suppliers and an increase in average revenue per unit from wholesale customers were behind the improvements.
The improved result did not build in benefits from the appreciating New Zealand dollar, as Sky had hedged 95 per cent of its forecast foreign currency exposures for the 12 months.
It expected the average payment rate for US currency commitments in the 2002-03 year to be about US45c to the kiwi, which is currently trading near five-year highs around US58.60c.
For the 2003-04 year, Sky had hedged its exposure to US currency fluctuations at US53.7c, Mr Fellet said in a statement.
Other factors behind the change in fortunes included fewer service disconnections among its 537,217 customers.
"This has allowed Sky to lower its acquisition costs and improve free cash flow, which decreases interest costs," he said.
Because the America's Cup coverage was broadcast by another network, Sky was able to lower its acquisition costs and improve free cash flow, decreasing interest costs.
Mr Fellet said the improved forecast was based on the best assessment of the information available.
CCTV news channel and Phoenix to coexist
From satellite today
China Central Television’s (CCTV) newly-launched 24 hour, satellite-delivered news channel will not be a threat to Hong Kong-based Phoenix Satellite Television’s InfoNews channel, according to the latter’s CEO.
Liu Changle likened the relationship between his InfoNews and the new CCTV service to that of Fox and CNN in the United States saying “There is room for both of us.” Liu said he expects that InfoNews’ audience will grow from six millions at present, to eight to 10 million by the end of 2003. Observers noted that the planned total is considerably less than the 20 million forecast at the start of the year.
InfoNews posted a E3.29 million loss for the third quarter ended December 31. This compared to a E4.13 million loss 12 months earlier and the it prompted Liu to predict that he could reach breakeven by the end of year, despite the impact of SARS.
Liu said increased revenue from advertisers of health and hygiene products as well as medicines, will boost the advertising take, despite the sharp fall in income from travel and tourism sources.
20/05/03
Live satellite related chat tonight 9pm NZ and 8.30pm Syd onwards in the chatroom.
Optus C1 Brochure has been removed by request due to Copyright.
Imparja Vpid 1214 ?
Not much news today.
From my Emails & ICQ
From Channel 8 (P.N.G)
NBN-Pinoy Central on PAS-8
According to the Engineering Department at NBN, Manila,
their transmission at 3716V will remain FTA until Sep/Oct
2003. And yes, TARBS have purchased the global rights.
(Craigs comment, not really a surprise is it? Lyngsat isn't reporting this one yet)
From Zapara W.A
Screenshots of DX reception of Palapa C2 KU band
TV5, Ar-Rahman, Global/MTV and Metro
From the Dish
PAS 2 169E 12336 V Occasional Fuji TV feeds, SR 6620, FEC 3/4.
Palapa C2 113E 11132 V "MATV has replaced Sun TV", Viaccess 2, PIDs 66/67.
AsiaSat 2 100.5E 3946 H "Sichuan TV" has left , replaced by occasional feeds.
NEWS
Two-way satellite broadband streaks across Australia
From http://www.zdnet.com.au/newstech/communications/story/0,2000048620,20274638,00.htm
Multiemedia has announced two-way satellite broadband will be available at a number of commercial sites across Australia this week.
The satellite technology will allow 60 Mbps download speed and 1.15 Mbps upload speed, according to Multiemedia. The service is being offered by a syndicate of companies including New Skies Satellites, Viasat (who will provide the hardware), IP Access International (backbone and consulting) and Kavera Software (billing and subscriber management).
The US$650 million NSS-6 satellite used to provide the service "covers more than 60 percent of the world's population," said Adrian Ballintine, the group managing director and CEO of Multiemedia.
The initial sites that will receive commercial access include Austrade, ISPs Norfolk Island Internet Services and Internet Whitsundays, and the Seventh Day Adventist Church, which is planning a virtual private network for its 155 Australian and Pacific Island schools.
FTA channels may ride on DD’s DTH
From http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/printedition/200503/detECO07.shtml
National television broadcaster Doordarshan is positioning itself to become the first direct-to-home (DTH) television operator in the country. And unlike plans by Zee TV and Star TV, DD will be a free-to-air DTH operator. The launch will take place early next year.
Information and broadcasting secretary Pawan Chopra told the Hindustan Times that, "it is a part of DD's charter to cover the enter geographical space of India. As of today, DD covers only 90 per cent of the country and the signal is strong only in about 75 per cent of the nation."
The logic behind DD's move is that instead of spending upwards of Rs 4,000 crore building and staffing low-power and very-low power transmission towers to service these areas, it makes more sense to build a DTH infrastructure for a similar amount of money.
"We will transmit open signals (uncoded) in the Ku-band and all that consumers will have to do is to buy a converter. That may cost Rs 5,000 initially. However, with time, these converters will cost much lesser," Chopra said.
"We are trying to get the clearances as quickly as possible. ISRO has already promised us a transponder and hopefully we should be able to go on air by early 2004," Chopra said.
Chopra said the DTH infrastructure built by DD could also be a source of revenue. "We are more than willing to carry the signals of other free-to-air channels for a marginal telecast fee. This will help these channels reach parts of the country that they currently do not reach," he said.
19/05/03
G.P last night was Live on Insat 2E DD Metro 3961 V analog, english coms, also via Metro digital 3979V sr 5000 3/4.
Latest Imparja B1,Vpid 1188
From my Emails & ICQ
From Chris 18/05/03
Superbikes
1.35am SA time
Superbike Qualifying, B1, 12326 H, sr 6980
Sidecar World Championship race just starting
Chris
From the Dish
Agila 2 146E It's still Kabayan TV on 3986 H, Fta, SR 3000, FEC 1/2, PIDs 355/356.
Sinosat 1 110.5E 12260 H Sars channel started????
AsiaSat 3 105.5E 3760 H NOW, Bloomberg TV Asia-Pacific, Indus Music, the test card, Indus Vision, and Tech TV are still on , fta, SR 26000, FEC 7/8, PIDs 1010/1011-1060/1061.
AsiaSat 3 105.5E 3840 H Star Movies International Taiwan, Star Movies Mandarin, National Geographic Channel Taiwan, Channel V Taiwan, Fox News Channel and Sky News have started, Videoguard, SR 26850, FEC 7/8, SIDs 1757-1762, PIDs 513/644-518/664.
ST 1 88E 3582 H "Phoenix Chinese" is now encrypted.
Thaicom 3 78.5E 3545 V "Star News" has started, Fta, PIDs 512/650.,Sanskar TV is now encrypted.
Apstar 2R 76.5E 12367 H Macau Jockey Club has left .
Apstar 2R 76.5E A new TV Plus package has started on 12584 V, 12650 V and 12730 V,Viaccess 2. See the new TV Plus chart for more line-up and more details.
PAS 10 68.5E 3863 VA Big Brother Africa info card has started, Irdeto 2, PIDs 2036/2035.
PAS 10 68.5E 12638 H Occasional feeds, SR 6620, FEC 2/3.
Intelsat 906 64E The AFN mux has left 3646 L again.
NEWS
DD wants BSNL, MTNL on board DTH venture
From http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=46812390
NEW DELHI: Public broadcaster Prasar Bharati has approached state-owned telecom service providers Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Ltd (MTNL) to participate in a consortium for its DTH (direct-to-home) telecast through the digital Ku-band proposed to be launched by Doordarshan.
Sources privy to the talks say Prasar Bharati is willing to offer up to 35 per cent equity to the telecom service provider in the proposed DTH venture.
The consortium holds the key to Prasar Bharati's DTH service as the government has barred any broadcaster or cable company from owning more than 20 per cent of the total equity in a DTH venture.
The Ku-band offers better picture and sound quality and is easier to reach homes in remote and inaccessible areas as it is beamed from satellites.
DD is hiring four satellite transponders for the KU-band transmission project that is aimed at covering the remaining 10 per cent of the population that does not get its transmission due to the lack of the terrestrial system's reach.
Initially, DD plans to start the Ku-band transmission with 20 channels uplinked from Delhi. This is to go up to 60 channels in a year's time. All the channels would be free-to-air.
The Planning Commission has approved Rs 500 crore for Prasar Bharati's DTH foray, to be spent over five years. DD has chosen the Ku-band DTH scheme to cover the country's entire population. The alternative route of transmission through terrestrial towers would have been many times costlier.
While DTH service would cost Rs 638 crore, the terrestrial transmission route would have required Rs 345.6 crore and recurring expenditure of Rs 519 crore annually.
According to government estimates, about 200,000 homes in rural, remote, inaccessible mountainous regions and border areas would be covered by DD by providing cable headends and set-top boxes.
Insat 3E ready for shipment in early June
From http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holnus/02181815.htm
Bangalore, May 17. (UNI): The Indian Communication Satellite INSAT 3E, now being built at the ISRO Satellite Centre here, will be ready for shipment by early June to Kourou in French Guyana for launch, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman K Kasturirangan said today.
He said ISRO was waiting for a word from Arianespace about the launch date for INSAT 3E. It could be in July or later this year, he said adding "we are waiting for a confirmation from Ariane Space."
INSAT 3E would have 24 C Band transponders and 12 extended C band transponders.
On transponder utilisation of INSAT 3A launched in April Kasturirangan said the National Coordination Committee would meet shortly to take a decision on allocation of the transponder capacity.
Booking for seven C band transponders by Doordarshan, four by private operators and some in KU band by private broadcasting companies had been made. There was demand for extended C band transponders (six) for use by VSAT operators, education and telemedicine users.
A broad division of transponders had already been made, but they have to be allocated, he added.
GSAT-2 to reach its space home soon
From http://www.newindpress.com/
BANGALORE: India's experimental communication satellite, GSAT-2, launched by the indigenous GSLV rocket will reach its designated slot at 48 degree east longitude in the geo-stationary orbit (GTO) early this week.
"The satellite is expected to reach its designated space home soon," Indian Space Research Organisation sources told PTI here on Sunday.
GSAT-2 was launched by the geo-synchronous launch vehicle (gslv-D2) From the launch pad at Satish Dhawan space centre in Sriharikota off the eastern coast on May 8.
The experimental satellite carries four C-band transponders, two KU-band transponders and a mobile satellite service (MSS) payload operating in S-band forward link and C-band return link, besides four piggyback experimental payloads.
The additional payload include total radiation dose monitor (TRDM), surface charge monitor (SCM), solar X-ray spectrometer (SOXS) and coherent radio beacon experiment (Crabex).
"Various communication experiments will be carried out from the satellite in the course of the next few days," ISRO sources said.
The 1,800 kg satellite is the second in a series of launches by the GSLV rocket aimed to propel India into launching heavier communication satellites.
T S I C H A N N E L N E W S - Number 20/2003 18 May 2003 -
A weekly roundup of global TV news sponsored by TELE-satellite International
Editor: Branislav Pekic
Edited Apsattv.com Edition
A S I A
AUSTRALIA
FOXTEL DENIES SEVEN DEAL
Pay-TV group Foxtel on May 13 denied media speculation that it is going to grant an option over a 5% equity stake to Seven Network if the broadcaster drops a legal action. Seven has taken legal action against Foxtel's three shareholders, News Corp., Publishing & Broadcasting and Telstra Corp. and other parties, alleging anticompetitive behavior in relation to sports rights and the pay-TV market. The broadcaster alleges that its opponents acted together to enshrine a monopoly in subscription TV infrastructure and content, with a view to seriously damaging Seven. Last week, the Federal Court struck out parts of Seven's statement of claim, but the case continues. Telstra owns 50% of Foxtel, while PBL and News Corp. each own 25%.
NO EXTRA FUNDING FOR ABC
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation's push to get an extra A$250 million in taxpayer funding over the next three years has failed. With nearly A$65 million of the sought-after increase earmarked for 180 hours of comedy and drama to be made in partnership with the independent production sector, it is a blow to Australia's top television producers. The ABC will get A$742.6 million in taxpayers money in 2003/4, to be spread over its Australian terrestrial and digital channels, the Asia-Pacific television network, radio stations and on-line services. Australia's other public broadcaster, SBS, will get A$151 million for its television and radio services.
FIJI
MEDIA REPRESENTATIVES OPPOSE GOVERNMENT MOVES
The media on May 14 strongly reaffirmed its opposition to any attempts by the government to regulate it. After a meeting of media leaders, Fiji Media Council Chairman Daryl Tarte said a working committee prepared a joint submission on the draft media bill, which would be presented to government soon. Tarte said media executives remained adamant that the proposed legislation would be a major breach of media freedom.
INDIA
SET TOP BOX QUERIES WORRY VIEWERS
Come July 14 and the most popular cable TV channels will disappear on Indian TV screens. Though the manufacturers claim that they will be able to meet the industry demand of 1.5 million estimated for the first year itself, orders have not been forthcoming from the cable operators through whom the STB has to be mandatory routed to the end-user. According to a major broadcaster, set top boxes for only 2 per cent of the cable channel subscribers have been ordered by the multi-system operators (MSOs). Now, with the government standing its ground that conditional access system, or more popularly CAS, will be fully implemented from July 14, for most of the subscribers their television will go blank. Broadcasters are aware of the possible drop in subscriptions due to the non-availability of set top boxes and have made a presentation to the standing committee asking for implementation of CAS in phases but, the government has turned down the proposal. Although prices are still being worked out, the entire strategy is purely based on the number of subscribers more the subscribers the less one pays for viewing the channels. Most of the MSOs are still debating whether to opt for an analogue set top box or a digital one - the price difference between the two is around Rs 5,000. All the major multi-system operators have signed up deals with foreign set top box manufacturers. For instance, Hathaway, in which Star has a stake, has struck an alliance with News Corp's Technology arm NDS, InCablenet has entered into an agreement with Nagravision, while Zee has tied up with Conax.
DD GETS FRENCH OPEN RIGHTS
Indian public broadcaster Doordarshan has signed a three-year deal to broadcast the French Open at Roland Garros, one of tennis' four grand slam events, beginning this year with live coverage of the semi-finals and finals of the men's and women's singles competitions. The agreement was negotiated by Ray Media, a London-based company appointed by French Open organisers to distribute television rights to the tournament in India. As well as the singles semi-finals and finals, Doordarshan also plans to televise live mixed doubles matches if either of the pairings including Indian players Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes make it into the final rounds. The 2003 French Open takes place in Paris on May 26-June 8. The matches will be aired on DD1 and DD2 as they cannot be shown on non-terrestrial platforms.
ISRAEL
CHANNEL 10 WINS REPRIEVE
Israel's second commercial broadcaster, Channel 10, got a temporary reprieve from bankruptcy proceedings when a Tel Aviv District Court on May 14 accepted a plan presented by the controlling shareholder to continue funding the channel. Yossi Maiman, the controlling shareholder, said that he is prepared to continue supporting the station to the tune of $1.2 million monthly for April and May and to "consider positively" doing the same in July and August. Israel 10, which operates Channel 10, was granted court protection on April 14 and the station is currently being managed by trustees Eli Zohar and Lipa Meir.
JAPAN
OWNERSHIP LIMITS TO RISE
A Japanese government panel has recommended that the upper limit on foreign ownership of broadcast satellite (BS) digital DTH services should be lifted from 33% to 50%. The panel was concerned that some of the current BS services are struggling and may need foreign investment to thrive.
MALAYSIA
SATELLITE TV CHANNEL PLANNED
Malaysia plans to set up a satellite television network and form an international media team. Information Minister Tan Sri Khalil Yaakob said that the government had long wanted a news set-up similar to the Arabic Al-Jazeera television or the US-based Cable News Network (CNN). “Talks are underway with television station operators in the region to establish a satellite linkage. There are several such facilities in Asia and I feel it is time that we should have one," Khalil said. The move came after the government sent 30 local journalists to cover the war in Iraq. Khalil said a permanent media team would also be formed to cover international conflicts and to get the "true picture" of the situation.
NEW ZEALAND
GOVERNMENT TO BOOST LOCAL PROGRAMMING
The New Zealand government will spend almost US$23 million in new funding to boost local programming on radio and television, under measures announced in the 2003-2004 Budget, the New Zealand Herald has reported. State-owned Television New Zealand (TVNZ) will get an additional US$10 million over the next four years to implement its new public service charter. Broadcasting Minister Steve Maharey said the new funding would assist TVNZ to "commission and screen programmes for a wider range of New Zealanders than would be possible if only commercial considerations were taken into account”.
THE PHILIPPINES
SKY VISION AND HOME CABLE IN TALKS WITH CREDITORS
Sky Vision, a unit of Lopez-owned Benpres Holdings, and PLDT-controlled Philippine Home Cable Holdings are negotiating with their respective creditors on the proposed restructuring of P2.5 billion in secured and unsecured debt. Both companies, which operate the cable television brands SkyCable and Home Cable, respectively, also need their creditors' consent to their pending consolidation under Beyond Cable Holdings Inc. The merger was created by a master consolidation agreement signed by Benpres, Lopez, ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp., Philippine Long Distance Telephone and Mediaquest Holdings on July 18, 2001. The merged operators have continued consolidation and cost-saving efforts to improve cash flow and the overall financial viability of the business. Key initiatives included a reduction of programming costs by streamlining channels between the Sky and Home/Sun brands, renegotiating contracts to leverage on larger economies of scale, and moving from flat rates to cost per subscriber (CPS) fees. Net subscriber numbers have been positive since then, resulting in more than 200,000 subscribers as of end-2002.
ABS-CBN SAYS FIRST QUARTER RESULTS UP
ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp., the Philippines' largest media broadcasting network, on May 13 posted sharply higher first-quarter earnings. Net profit in the three months to March surged to 107.6 million pesos from the year-ago level of PHP3.82 million, as airtime and other broadcasting revenue rose 30% on year to PHP2.26 billion. Net sales and services improved 17% on year to PHP735.6 million, with the bulk coming from its international unit, ABS-CBN Global. In the first quarter, ABS-CBN Global accounted for 72% of net sales and services on strong subscriber growth. The unit's cable and direct-to-home subscribers worldwide rose 7% on year to 158,998 as of end-March, from 148,925 at the end of last year. ABS-CBN said its operating expenses expanded 18% on year to PHP2.28 billion. Production costs, which accounted for 35% of total operating expenses, rose 22% on year to PHP794 million.
SAUDI ARABIA
OPPOSITION TV ON AIR
Al-Islah, a satellite TV channel operated by the London-based Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia (MIRA), has begun satellite broadcasts. The channel was observed on May 15 on the Hot Bird 3 satellite, frequency 12.149 GHz, vertical polarization. A caption on the satellite TV channel states: "Soon on this frequency, the channel which you have been waiting for a long time. The Al-Islah [Reform] satellite channel. The only channel on which you can express yourself from where you are in the land of the Two Holy Mosques, without fear or worry." A spokesman for Al-Islah told the BBC on May 15 that programming would consist of two to three hours' live broadcasting of talk shows with contributors from around the world, repeated during a 24-hour cycle, as well as news displayed on the screen in text format. Editorial control over the channel rested outside the UK, and it expected to be fully operational within a week, the spokesman added.
Internet - http://www.alislah.info
SINGAPORE
SARS TV CHANNEL TO LAUNCH
A Singapore broadcaster is to launch a new TV channel next week that will show nothing but information programmes about SARS. Mediacorp said "it aims to inform and educate Singaporeans on all aspects of SARS so they can better overcome it.”The channel will be in operation so long as it is needed to fight SARS." It will begin broadcasting on May 21, between 12:00 and 24:00 every day via a free cable channel that should be available to 95% of households. It will screen news and educational shows about SARS as well as some overseas programmes about the deadly pneumonia-like illness. Twenty eight people have been killed by SARS in Singapore out of 205 reported cases. The project was jointly organised and supported by local newspaper publisher Singapore Press Holdings and cable provider StarHub.
THAILAND
NATIONAL TV CHANNEL PULLED
The Nation Group and UBC said they had mutually agreed to close the Nation Channel, which came into place at the start of May, three years into a 10-year carriage deal. The long-standing difficulty in creating a single broadcasting regulator for Thailand has been blamed for the decision of the Nation Group to pull its locally-made Nation Channel from the country's dominant pay- TV platform, United Broadcasting Corporation (UBC). In a joint statement, the Nation Group and UBC said they had mutually agreed the decision, which came into place at the start of May, three years into a 10-year carriage deal. The long-awaited establishment of a broadcasting authority to replace the overlapping regulatory powers of existing bodies, has in turn delayed plans to allow pay-TV operators to carry advertising. UBC, which has been campaigning to be allowed to carry advertising for the last five years said that nothing would be done until the establishment of the National Broadcasting Commission and the passing of a new Broadcasting Act by Thai legislators. The Nation Channel was the second domestically-produced service to exit UBC, following the decision by the documentary-led Panorama Channel in late 2002.
18/05/03
No update Sunday
17/05/03
Insat 3a should have a number of Analog test signals running at the moment.
Latest Imparja pid Vpid 1185
From my Emails & ICQ
From Mitch
Fashion tv is NOT encrypted. fta here now on Asiasat 2, 11.24am Saturday
From Zapara
Chinasat 87deg E
I connected the Kong meter and Nokia and found a weak carrier on aprox 87deg E if there is anyone with a large Ku dish greater then 2.7mt they may want to look around 12200 to 12400 Horx for some signals, the meter gives a noticeable tone and DVBedit shows spikes arounf th12200 to 12400 aprox 35 on DVbedit, with 45 bring threshold on the spectrum scan.
(Craigs comment, can anyone else have a look?)
From Bassett
Craig,, The following item appeared in out local Coffs Harbour paper, "The Advocate" its only the local rag, so no web site,, I think they might have the phone connected...
40 Protest over satellite
About 40 people protested in Melbourne yesterday over the launch of Australia's first Military satellite.
The protesters from OzPeace gathered in front of Optus House in Collins Street to oppose its involvement in the operation.
OzPeace convener Jacob Grech said Optus was launching the C1 satellite in partnership with the Department of Defence .." We are opposed to the milita-risation of space," Mr Grech said.
We see space as belonging to mankind and not the province for the worlds militaries, he said..
From the Dish
Intelsat 701 180E 10975 H "Mezzo" is now encrypted.
PAS 2 169E 12495 V "KNTV - Korea Now TV" has left , replaced by a test card.
PAS 8 166E 4121 V New PIDs for Net 25 : 513/514.
Agila 2 146E 3986 H "Kabayan TV" has started, Fta, SR 3000, FEC 3/4, PIDs 355/356.
JCSAT 3 128E 3960 V "Hot Channel has replaced Rainbow Channel 2", Viaccess,PIDs 1216/1217, 23-07 HKT.
Palapa C2 113E 4160 H A TV 5 Asie info card has started, PAL.
Telkom 1 108E All channels in TelkomVision are encrypted again.
Telkom 1 108E 3890 H Occasional Trans TV feeds, SR 6000, FEC 3/4.
AsiaSat 3 105.5E 3760 H "NOW, Bloomberg TV Asia-Pacific, Indus Music, Indus Vision, Tech TV" and the test card have left .(Someone check this can't be right???)
AsiaSat 2 100.5E 3796 V "Fashion TV" is still Fta
Yamal 102 90E 3564 R Avtoradio is back Fta, APID 4200.
ST 1 88E 3582 H The TBL TV mux is now encrypted in Viaccess 2 too.Phoenix Chinese is still Fta.
ST 1 88E 3632 V "The TV Star" mux is now only encrypted in Nagravision.
Thaicom 3 78.5E 3451 V "Raj TV" is still Fta.
Apstar 2R 76.5E 12405 V "Hot Channel" has left .
PAS 10 68.5E 3924 V "FETV - Far East TV" has started, Fta, SR 3003, FEC 2/3,PIDs 4194/4195.( NO not a new Chinese channel, a religous channel)
NEWS
Shin Sat in talks with India to extend contracts
From http://www.deepikaglobal.com/ENG3_sub.asp?ccode=ENG3&newscode=7603
BANGKOK, May 16 (Reuters) Asia's second-biggest satellite operator, Shin Satellite Plc, said on Friday it expected to conclude talks with the Indian government this month to extend the lease of seven transponders on its satellite.
Executive Chairman Dumrong Kasemset told analysts the leasing contracts with the Indian government, one of its major foreign customers, could be extended for a further three months after they expire in June.
India would then use its own satellites, he said.
The Indian government has leased 10 transponders from Shin Sat since 1998. It has already decided not to renew a separate contract for three of the transponders, due to expire this month.
Shin Sat has found new customers for the three transponders, Dumrong said.
The company, meanwhile, plans to invest an additional $1.5 million in its mobile phone network in Cambodia to meet strong demand, he said.
The firm, which has already invested about $50 million in the business, will launch its dual-band 900 and 1800 mobile phone system in Cambodia in July, Damrong said.
"'The Cambodian market is expected to give us good revenues this year, while incomes from satellite are declining,'' he said.
In the first quarter of this year, Shin Sat made a net profit of 352.70 million baht ($8.4 million), versus 389.26 million baht in the same period last year due to lower revenues from its transponder rental business.
Shin Sat, 51 percent-owned by Shin Corp, the flagship of a telecoms empire founded by Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, operates three satellites covering Asia, Australia, Africa, the Middle East and most of Europe.
It plans to launch a $350 million high-speed satellite, iPSTAR, by early 2004 in the hope that it will become a major source of revenues in the next few years.
Shin Sat shares closed up 0.8 percent at 12.90 baht, while the benchmark Stock Exchange of Thailand composite index was down 0.58 percent.
(Craigs comment, could mean bad news for viewers of Indian services off Thaicom 3!)
Singapore to launch Sars TV channel
From http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_782097.html?menu=
A Singapore broadcaster is to launch a new television channel that will show nothing but information programmes about Sars.
Mediacorp said "it aims to inform and educate Singaporeans on all aspects of Sars so they can better overcome it.
It added: "The channel will be in operation so long as it is needed."
It will begin broadcasting on Wednesday, between noon and midnight every day via a free cable channel that should be available to 95% of households.
It will screen news and educational shows about Sars as well as some overseas programmes about the deadly pneumonia-like illness.
"These will give local viewers insights into how other countries are handling the Sars outbreak," Mediacorp said.
Twenty eight people have been killed by Sars in Singapore out of 205 reported cases.
The project was jointly organised and supported by local newspaper publisher Singapore Press Holdings and cable provider StarHub.
16/05/03
Latest info on Optus C1 is Launch date Mid-June , BSAT-2c is going up with it. The news section has details of BSAT 2c though I don't think it will offer any reception into Australia or NZ
From my Emails & ICQ
From Zapara W.A
I managed to get Palapa c2 ku last night 10970 Horz 28125 3/4
Got 8 chs to load just on threshold, I put a straight Ku feed on Polorator on my 2.7mt solid and just it for ages to get the best signal, which was still just under threshold then left it on the signal with the Nokia, came back later to be greeted with a frozen screenshot of Metro TV with all the correct PID.s this signal fluctuates depending on atmospheric conditions, with the best reception my way around 6pm WST will remember to re install DVBedit and do a screenshot grab. can anybody see it in the East?
From John Harrison
Imparja as @ 11.42 EST.
Vpid 1104 Apid 1025
(Craigs comment, before I had the chance to upload the site they had changed again this time they are on Vpid 1184 you can find the latest imparja pid on the mailing list)
From Jundong Wu
RE: Report yesterday
Hi Craig,
In fact, Terry's reception was from Jcsat 2A at 154E,
not 145E. Please review my first report(17/12/02) to
you nearly half-year ago!
Cheers,
Jundong Wu
From the Dish
Agila 2 146E New FEC for all Dream muxes: 5/6.
Agila 2 146E 12661 H "Dream Cinema 1" has started, Nagravision, SID 51, PIDs 172/128.New SID and PIDs for Soho: 50 and 171/124.
Telkom 1 108E 3580 H The Soundtrack Channel Pacific has replaced ESPN Asia on , Fta,PIDs 60/61.
Insat 3A 93E 4145 VA test card has started , PAL.
Apstar 2R 76.5E 12405 V Several updates in C-Sky-Net.
NEWS
BSAT-2c Set For Mid-June Launch From French Guiana
From Satellite Today
Japan's Broadcasting Satellite System's (BSAT) BSAT-2c geostationary communications satellite has been shipped to Arianespace's launch complex in Kourou, French Guiana. The satellite will be launched aboard an Ariane 5 rocket in mid-June. Dulles, Va.-based Orbital Sciences [NYSE: ORB] manufactured the satellite for BSAT.
Over the next several weeks, a team of engineers from BSAT, Arianespace and Orbital will work to integrate the satellite with the launch vehicle and perform tests and inspections to ensure that the combined systems of the satellite and rocket are working properly.
(Craigs comment, Why is this of interest? because Optus C1 will go up with it)
Orbital Ships BSAT-2c Geo Communications Satellite To South American Launch Site
From http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=11543
Third Direct-Broadcast Satellite in BSAT-2 Series in Final Preparations for June Launch Aboard Ariane Rocket
Orbital Sciences Corporation announced today that the company-built BSAT-2c geostationary (GEO) communications satellite has been shipped to the space launch complex in Kourou, French Guiana, where it is scheduled to be launched aboard an Ariane 5 rocket in mid-June. The BSAT-2c satellite is the third direct-broadcast television spacecraft Orbital has manufactured for Japan's Broadcasting Satellite System Corporation (B-SAT). The Ku-band satellite was successfully built and tested at Orbital's state-of-the-art satellite production facility in Dulles, VA in just over 17 months following contract award, a new record for the company's STAR small GEO satellite platform.
"We are very pleased to respond to the needs of one of our most valued customers with a responsive, 17-month satellite manufacturing program," said Dr. Ali Atia, President of Orbital's GEO communications satellite unit. "We are looking forward to the on-orbit delivery of BSAT-2c, which will enhance the reliability and capacity of the BSAT network, of which the Orbital-built BSAT-2a satellite has been a part since 2001."
Over the next several weeks, a team of engineers from B-SAT, Arianespace and Orbital will work together to integrate the satellite with the launch vehicle and perform an extensive series of tests and inspections to ensure that the combined systems of the satellite and rocket are working properly.
In the past several years, Orbital has developed a strong niche position in the world market for GEO communications satellites. With its ramp-up in the production of small, lighter-weight satellites, the company is on track to replicate its decade-long success following the introduction of its small- sized Pegasus® and Taurus® rockets to the world launch vehicle market in the early 1990's.
Orbital's GEO satellites are based on the company's STAR family of smaller GEO satellite platforms, which are able to accommodate most types of commercial communications payloads. For many applications, the STAR design is an attractive alternative to the larger, more costly GEO satellites offered by the industry's traditional suppliers.
The STAR satellites are smaller and are significantly less expensive to manufacture and launch. They are a perfect fit for customers in the early stages of building their business or established companies that wish to replace or add capacity to their network.
Orbital develops and manufactures small space systems for commercial, civil government and military customers. The company's primary products are spacecraft and launch vehicles, including low-orbit, geostationary and planetary spacecraft for communications, remote sensing and scientific missions; ground- and air-launched rockets that deliver satellites into orbit; and missile defense boosters that are used as interceptor and target vehicles. Orbital also offers space-related technical services to government agencies and develops and builds satellite-based transportation management systems for public transit agencies and private vehicle fleet operators. More information about Orbital can be found at http://www.orbital.com
Russia to launch nine satellites in June
From http://www.spacedaily.com/2003/030515212449.zh794jyr.html
Russia is to launch nine satellites in late June from the Plesetsk military cosmodrome in northwestern Russia, space officials said Thursday as quoted by ITAR-TASS news agency.
Russia's lightweight Rokot rocket will carry the Canadian Space Agency's Bridge satellite, the Mimoza satellite owned by the Czech Academy of Aciences, a Russian Monitor-E space complex model and six small Japanese satellites.
The Rokot, developed on the basis of an intercontinental ballistic missile RS-18, was first launched in March 2002.
Tamil satellite channel for SA
From http://www.witness.co.za/content%5C2003_05%5C15368.htm
An exclusive 24-hour Tamil television channel will be launched on September 1.
This will be a first for South Africa and will transmit via satellite from Chennai, India.
Executive directors of EastWest Television Raju Kannigan and Devan Nair announced on Wednesday that they have secured rights to transmit Jaya TV, one of the top five Tamil television channels in India, to South African subscribers.
"Through our research we have established that 55% of the South African [ethnic Indian] population are South Indians - that is 150 000 families and households. At 19 cents an hour, we plan to broadcast a variety of entertainment such as sitcoms, soapies, magazine programmes and at least two feature films daily. Initially, some of the programmes will include English subtitles," explained Kannigan.
Nair added that they will supplement Jaya TV with local advertisements and, further down the line, they plan to include local content such as educational, cultural and musical shows and documentaries.
An applicant for the channel will receive a satellite dish, decoder, smart card and remote control handset free and thereafter pay a monthly subscription.
When asked if a DSTV satellite dish and decoder could be used instead, Nair replied: "This is an independent satellite in a different position to that of DSTV. It has a growth for more channels and by using DSTV's satellite we would be infringing on a copyright law."
Centres will be set up nationwide and Nair said that installations cannot begin immediately as they first need to have a test broadcast.
Plans for further channels and content will be reviewed following viewer research in January next year.
"This is a community-driven project with commercially rewarding success and sustainability," said Kannigan
15/05/03
Interesting file Supplied by ANON, about Optus C1 containing transponder details and footprints! read the Brochure here
If Optus have a problem with me putting this document online please get in touch and I will remove it.
Have any installers been approached to install Tarbs including some kind of service via Optus B3???? please send me an email if you know what I am talking about.
Sorry not much news to report today.
From my Emails & ICQ
From Terry Bell
Hi Craig,
I am getting a c band signal from around 145 deg east. It is fairly strong. I get 2 signals, one on 4050 26495 7/8 and 3917 3700 3/4 both vertical and both come up with main pacrim. Any ideas, I thought I had found as/4 at first but the dish is at maximum elevation.
Thanks.
Terry Bell.
P.S I am in victoria east of Melbourne.
(Craigs comment, anyone have any ideas?)
From John Harrison
Imparja Pids vpid 1232 apid 1025(still)
From Mario Garcia
SINOSAT 1
4106 V 6200 2/3 SBN Signal is there but humax can not get a lock.
PAS 8
No signal for new philipino channel
PERTH 3.0 M mesh dish
From the Dish
I701 180E 10975 H "Mezzo (Fta), Cinestar 1 and Cinefaz" have started on , SIDs 2004-2007, PIDs 163/92-166/104.
I701 180E 11610 H "Sport + and L'Equipe TV" have started on , SID 7022, PIDs 180/150.
Chinasat 6 125E 3802 V Sr 10000??? Not sure where this satellite covers?
AAP-1 108.2E 12467 V Sr 2592?
Telkom 1 108E All channels in TelkomVision are Fta.
Palapa C2 113E 4160 H (PAL) "TV 5 Asie and RFI" have left , moved to 4080 H.
Insat 3A 93.5E 3745 V and 4065 V, PAL. "Test cards" have started
Insat 2E 83E 3660 V Occasional Jeevan TV feeds, SR 1500, FEC 3/4, wide beam.
Thaicom 3 78.5E 3545 V "Sanskar TV" has started regular transmissions, Fta, SR 26663,FEC 3/4, PIDs 273/274.
Apstar 2R 76.5E 3843 HCelestial Movies has started on , PowerVu, SR 4780, FEC 3/4, PIDs 1110/1120.
PAS 10 68.5E 3924 V "IPN" has left , replaced by occasional RR Sat feeds.
PAS 10 68.5E 3930 V "Occasional feeds", SR 3030, FEC 3/4.
NEWS
Stratos To Provide Satellite Communications For Australian Defence Force
From Satellite Today
Stratos [TSX:SGB], a Bethesda, Md. -based provider of satellite communications, has signed a multi-million dollar contract with the Australian Defence Force to provide Inmarsat-B voice and data leased services. Under the contract, Stratos will supply four Inmarsat-B leased circuits to the Australian military for up to five years. The Australian Defence Force will uses these services for strategic, tactical, and logistic communications among a number of its naval and land-based units.
14/05/03
Nothing to report up here today.
From my Emails & ICQ
From Mr Humax
Subject: [Apsattv] B1 Imparja
New Vpid is 1063 Apid remains 1025
1263 is the info channel
From D Dawson 13/05/03
Optus B3
12407V 30000SR Vid 35, Aud 33, PCR 35
Optus Business TV "The Health Channel" seen FTA
From the Dish
PAS 8 166E 3718 V "Occasional feeds", SR 3260, FEC 7/8.
Optus B3 156E 12336 V "JC-TV" has started , Fta, PIDs 501/540.
JCSAT 2A 154E 3915 V "BYU TV" is Fta again, new PIDs: 4377/4385.
JCSAT 3 128E 4033 H The test card has left .
PAS 10 68.5E 3924 V "IPN" has started, Fta, SR 3003, FEC 2/3, PIDs 3105/3106.
Agila 2 146E 12301 H "4UTV" has started, Fta, SR 25600, FEC 5/6, PIDs 160/80.
Agila 2 146E 12581 H "TBN Philippines" is now Fta.
AsiaSat 3 105.5E 3780 V "Star Movies Middle East" has replaced Star News, Videoguard,SID 1767, PIDs 518/664.
AsiaSat 3 105.5E 3940 V "Star Movies Asia" has started , Videoguard, SID 1805, PIDs 516/656.
NEWS
TV to offer new visions
From http://www.thewest.com.au/20030514/news/state/tw-news-state-home-sto97978.html
NEW technology enabling television viewers to buy goods, participate in game shows and get multiple camera angles of sports events is on its way to Australia.
Foxtel pay-TV has signed Californian company OpenTV to provide products and services for interactive digital television on cable and satellite.
Cable television networks in Europe and North America began digitising services in the 1990s but there has been limited provision and take-up of such broadcasts in this country.
Telecommunications analyst Paul Budde said that Foxtel - half owned by telecommunications giant Telstra - would set the industry standard in interactive television.
He predicted that Foxtel would develop a set-top box for interactive television that would become the de facto industry standard nationwide.
"It won't be an open standard," Mr Budde said. "It will be a proprietary standard which will be the gateway for all future interactive television content in Australia."
The set-top boxes could provide internet reception but Telstra was unlikely to provide it in order to safeguard Telstra telecommunications.
As a result, expected savings and convenience of having one box providing pay-TV, interactive television and the internet were unlikely to eventuate, Mr Budde said.
Foxtel said nothing had been decided on the exact format of its interactive services. Everything else was rumour and speculation.
A pay-TV installation via cable costs between $37.95 and $73.80 a month, depending on the entertainment package, while a satellite-based system costs $47.95 to $83.80.
Foxtel has not said how much interactive television will cost, nor whether it will be in HDTV - High Definition TV - supposedly offering the best available pictures.
Free-to-air television already broadcasts digital signals which must be converted either through a set-top box, an adapter or a new television incorporating a converter.
The Federal Government has ordered free-to-air channels to transmit at least 20 hours a week of HDTV by next January 1. Free-to-air channels are also experimenting with interactive television but, unlike Foxtel, have not decided on a format.
For example, Channel 7 is working on an extra three or four channels of digital-TV. Interactive experiments are being conducted to make contact with individual viewers.
Foxtel audiences can expect a massive expansion of the digital-TV network, with up to 120 channels almost tripling its existing 47.
Some of the new Foxtel technology will allow messages to be broadcast to individual set-top boxes or groups of set-top boxes.
Future possibilities will include Dolby digital surround sound for a home-theatre experience and higher quality colour.
DD gets exclusive rights to telecast French Open
From http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=46303454
NEW DELHI: Doordarshan has tied up with London-based Ray Media Limited — a Company floated by former CNN South Asia Bureau chief, Ashis Ray — to telecast live the semi-finals and finals of the French Open tennis championships for three years, starting this year between June 5 and 8.
Under the agreement signed today, all matches including the men’s doubles and mixed doubles finals will be telecast on DD- (national) and DD-2 (Metro). The rights vested with Ray Media has been licensed exclusively for terrestrial transmission as the Grand Slam is ‘listed’ meaning it can be telecast only on terrestrial channels, explained Mr Ray. Repeat telecasts, if any, also have to be on DD1 and DD2 only.
For DD, the deal means a minimum guarantee of approximately Rs 25 lakh as Ray Media would purchase time slots (mostly prime-time) as per DD’s rate-card. At present it is Rs 1 lakh for a half hour slot. Since Ray Media has already bought the slots for the next three years with an option open to renew it for another two years, it seems like it has got a good bargain too. Especially with the free commercial time it bags in the bargain —which it is free to sell to advertisers and sponsors to recover its investments.
“For DD, it is a no risk, no cost proposition,” S Y Quraishi, deputy director general, Doordarshan told reporters. According to him it is becoming increasingly difficult for the national broadcaster to buy rights for sporting events as they are exorbitantly priced. “The auditors invariably raise questions. Our experience in the ICC WorldCup showed us an alternative way.”
Ray Media is planning customised half-hour programmes for India featuring expert commentators like Australian players John Alexander and John Fitzgerland from Roland Garros, Paris. With Indian players like Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupati standing a good chance of making it to the finals, 16-year-old Sania Mirza given a direct entry in to the singles’ main draw and Sanaa Bhambri, Somdev Dev Verman and Karan Rastogi having earned a wild card into the qualifying draw, Mr Ray is confident that the tennis fever will see TRPs soaring.
A MoU for a similar tie-up with DD for Wimbledon coverage is already in place.
India's first teleport to be set up in Bangalore
From http://www.deepikaglobal.com/ENG5_sub.asp?ccode=ENG5&newscode=7150
Bangalore, May 13 (UNI) This high tech city will soon boast of another landmark with the setting up of the country's first teleport at a cost of Rs 2060 crore by the Global Telecom City Developers Private Limited.
Besides a satellite broadband link, the Teleport would house terminals of submarine cables drawn from Mumbai, Kochi and Chennai to provide hazzle-free services to both bulk consumers of bandwidth and major telecom companies, both public and private, that could be linked.
The teleport would be an international telecom gateway that would direct traffic both within the country and abroad. The facility would also house various telecom and Business Process Outsourcing Companies, Karnataka IT Secretary Vivek Kulkarni told UNI.
The teleport was promoted by M/s Data Access India Ltd, a leading internet service provider accounting for nearly 45 per cent of the internet connections in the country, Hong Kong-based Pacific Century Cyber Works and Mr S A Peeran of Bangalore. The project had been approved by the high-level Committee for Industrial Investment, headed by Chief Minister S M Krishna.
Mr Kulkarni said private telecom operators such as Reliance and Bharti could lease out switching circuits from the teleport for their operations. The teleport would also link to the National Broadband highway.
He said Bangalore, which had registered a 25 per cent growth in IT exports last year to touch over Rs 12,500 crore of foreign exchange revenue, was fast becoming a major BPO city in the country.
BPO turnover accounted for Rs 850 crore last year and this would witness manifold increase this year in view of several new players setting shop. Currently, Bangalore was behind Delhi and Mumbai in the BPO market.
Mr Kulkarni said another new trend catching up with the multinationals having multiple location offices in the city was setting up of independent campuses. Closely following Motorola and Iflex Solutions, Intel had recently announced a 41 million dollar investment for its campus here.
He said the Cabinet nod for setting up an IT corridor was in the final stages. Promoted by the IT Department and Bangalore Development Authority, the IT Corridor would be managed by a separate Authority to be set up in accordance with a legislation that would be approved by the State Legislature.
13/05/03
Livechat 9pm NZ and 8.30 P.M Syd time onwards in the chatroom tonight
TV5 on Palapa C2 have switched off their Analog service
Current Pids for Imparja B1, Vpid 1279 Apid 1025
From my Emails & ICQ
From A7mad
Hi Craig
Theres new channels running on Intelsat 701 KU-Band CSN Caledonie
Mezzo: SID 2004 VPID 163 APID 92 10975MHz 3/4 30000
Cinestar: SID 2006 VPID 165 APID 100 10975MHz 3/4 30000
Cinefaz: SID 2007 VPID 166 APID 104 10975MHz 3/4 30000
Sport+/L'Equipe TV SID 7022 VPID 180 APID 150 11610MHz 3/4 30000
Test SID 7023 VPID 181 APID 158 11610MHz 3/4 30000
TCM AUS (replacing old TCM) SID 7001 VPID 161 APID 84 11610MHz 3/4 30000
TCM has just been renamed by uplinkers it seems, but now has English audio...
Mezzo is FTA
From Bill Richards 12/05/03
Pas2
0925 UTC
3958V Sr 6571 FEC 7/8 Vpid308 Apid256 SID1 "ESPN-PT-STANDBY" ESPN Tennis Masters Hamberg Feed
Sichuan TV Asiasat 2 screenshot
Regards
Bill
From the Dish
Lyngsats on a break
NEWS
PanAmSat to Review Satellite Insurance
From Satellite Today
According to an SEC filing, insurance policies covering nine
of PanAmSat's satellites expire this month.
The company is currently negotiating renewal policies.
As of March 31, PanAmSat had "launch and in-orbit" insurance
policies covering 15 satellites for up to $1.9 billion.
The filing stated that the company could discontinue insurance
policies on some of its satellite due to higher premiums and
stricter terms.
THAICOM-3 INSURANCE: ShinSat makes $35m damage claim
From http://www.nationmultimedia.com/page.news.php3?clid=6&theme=A&usrsess=1&id=13779
Power-supply glitch suffered in February has yet to be fixed
Shin Satellite (SSA) submitted a damage claim recently for about US$35 million (Bt1.48 billion) to the insurance firm covering its Thaicom-3 satellite.
Chief financial officer Tanadit Charoenchan said yesterday that SSA submitted the claim last month to UK-based insurer International Space Broker, which covered the Thaicom-3 satellite.
"It's now in the process of assessing the real cost of damage," he said.
Thaicom-3 suffered a power-supply glitch in February, and the problem is yet to be fixed.
"I don't think we'll get as much as we claimed but only $20 million would be good enough," Tanadit commented.
He said the company had evaluated the value of Thaicom-3 and found that the outage did not affect its overall value.
Meanwhile, Tanadit said Shin also submitted a claim for $600,000 to the Cambodian government last month for damage to the office of mobile-phone operator Cambodia Shinawatra, which was set alight during the anti-Thai riot in Phnom Penh on January 29.
"I think the [compensation] deal is expected to be concluded soon," he said during SSA's announcement of financial results for the first quarter of 2003.
SSA posted consolidated revenue of Bt1.428 billion, 10-per-cent more than the Bt1.303 billion reported in the same period last year, due mainly to strong Internet and mobile-phone sales in Indochina.
Revenue from its mobile-phone businesses in Indochina jump-|ed to Bt337 million, from Bt176 million, due chiefly to 44-per-|cent growth in Cambodia Shinawatra's pre-paid users in the first quarter.
SSA's telecom business in Laos, Laos Telecommunications, also generated substantial revenues - Bt60 million - in the quarter.
Revenue from its Net service increased to Bt200 million, from Bt92 million, due to surging demand for its leased-line service.
But consolidated costs and expenses also rose, to Bt962 million in the first quarter this year, up from Bt831 million over the same period last year. Consolidated net profit was down to Bt353 million from Bt389 million.
Satellite-service revenue fell to Bt873 million in the quarter, down from Bt968 million last year, due to its cancellation of "fraudulent" customers and depreciation of the dollar.
Tanadit said that while competition among Asian satellite operators was still tough, it hoped to earn big revenues from iPSTAR. This broadband-Internet satellite is due to go into orbit early next year to tap "explosive" demand for fast Net-access throughout the region.
STAR agrees to uplink via Isro satellite to provide DTH services
From http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/xml/uncomp/articleshow?msid=46104985
NEW DELHI: The government has decided to issue a conditional letter of intent (LoI) to Rupert Murdoch’s STAR TV to usher in direct-to-home (DTH) services.
The LoI will help STAR find a “large Indian corporate partner” and in return it has agreed to uplink only through an Indian satellite and to ensure inter-operability of set-top-boxes used in DTH.
Government sources told ET that STAR had already completed talks with Isro and would be uplinking through one of its satellites. Earlier, it had intended to use a foreign satellite AAP-1. While the guidelines make it clear that uplinking should be done from India (meaning an Earth station should be set up here) there was no mention of using an Indian satellite only. With security concerns in mind, the government is pushing for this too.
Dubbing the applicant — Space TV — a special purpose vehicle — to help STAR TV find an Indian partner, the ministry of information and broadcasting has also asked it to first deposit Rs 10 crore and then get down to complying with the other stringent guidelines attached to DTH services. These include a provision that the applicant company must have Indian management control with majority representatives on the board and with a resident Indian as its CEO.
While a LoI has also been issued to ASC Enterprises promoted by Zee TV’s Subhash Chandra, the application was found in order with respect to the foreign equity holding — that the total including FDI/NRI /OCB/FII in the applicant company was not exceeding 49%. However, in the case of STAR, it would also have to clear another stipulation that the FDI component is not more than 20%. Armed with the LoI, STAR may be able to do just that, sources said pleading no further knowledge than stray media reports on a possible tie-up with the Tata group. The government first received an application from Space TV about a year ago and raised queries on ownership, equity pattern and DTH plans when it was found to have obvious links with Murdoch’s STAR TV.
12/05/03
Jc-tv will run on B3 Globecast Adhoc 23 hours a day for a month as a trial to see viewer response.
Various pages updated.
From my Emails & ICQ
From Jsat (W.A)
Sinosat 1/ 110.5e
Well guys,
Im getting Sinosat 1 at 110.5 here in the lower south west of WA..4106v 6200 2/3 on the China beam on my 3m mesh KTI with a split C/KU feed ..approx 30% signal lock with a clear picture of the SHANGHAI BROADCASTING NETWORK.
regards jeff.
MANJIMUP WA
(Craigs comment, I have added this to the website now who else can also pick this one up? please send in some reports from other locations)
From Jsat (W.A) again
Insat 3a 93E
I have an analog picture at P2 at 3885H.
I cant make out channel name .
jeff
manjimup WA
From the Dish
PAS 2 169E 3850 H The test cards are now encrypted.
PAS 2 169E 4087 V One of the test cards has left .
Optus B1 160E 12456 V "A TVNZ promo" has started , Fta, SID 666, PIDs 515/653.
Optus B3 156E 12336 V "Abu Dhabi TV Europe and Emarat FM" have replaced Med TV, Fta, PIDs 1861/1824 and 1826.
JCSAT 2A 154E 3915 V "BYU TV" is now encrypted.
Apstar 1 138E 4020 V Sr 12400 "feed?"
Apstar 1 138E 4050 V Sr 11637 "feed?"
AsiaSat 3 105.5E Star News has moved from 3860 V to 3780 V, Fta, PIDs 518/664.
Yamal 102 90E 3576 L "Echo of Moscow has replaced Kanal Melodia" , Fta, APID 256.
PAS 10 68.5E 3863 H "ARY Digital promos" have started , Fta, PIDs 513/660-514/670 and 516/690-517/700.
PAS 10 68.5E 3913 V "KBS World" is now encrypted.
NEWS
GlobeCast Sets Up Government Services Group In U.S.
From Satellite Today
GlobeCast, a satellite service subsidiary of France Telecom [NYSE: FTE], has created its Government Services Group to provide satellite, terrestrial network and integrated value-added services in the United States to the federal, state and local and governments and to related non-governmental organizations.
GlobeCast's new U.S. unit will tailor the company's global satellite and terrestrial network capabilities to accommodate government communications, including closed video networks, data communications, disaster recovery, mobile communication services, homeland security, IP connectivity and other secured network services. Heading the group is David Codacovi, based at its technical operations center in Washington, D.C.
Malaysia's satellite operator Measat plans listing this year: report
From http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/corporatenews/view/39599/1/.html
Malaysia's Measat Broadcast Network Systems Bhd, the operator of satellite pay television Astro, is preparing for a listing this year, said a report on Sunday.
The Edge business weekly said that international investment bankers Goldman Sachs has been mandated for the exercise, which could happen as early as the third quarter of this year.
Industry sources valued the company, owned by tycoon Ananda Krishnan, at between US$1.5 billion and US$2 billion.
Sister company Maxis Communications Bhd, a cellular operator, was floated last year and is valued at around RM12 billion, or US$3.2 billion.
Astro subscribers had grown from 777,747 at the end of 2001 to more than 900,000 by the end of 2002.
$3m to establish Fiji TV service: Clark
From http://www.fijilive.com/news/show/news/2003/05/10/10l.html
It will cost Fiji Television Limited two to three million dollars to establish a satellite project, which will carry out that task that many people seem to want, and the nation should have, television service, says Fiji TV chief executive Ken Clark.
The Fiji TV boss believes that the Commerce Commission has the authority to approve a handshake between Government and Fiji TV to allow more people to watch TV but in their draft determination decided not to approve that handshake.
Speaking at the Fiji Institute of Accountants Congress in Nadi yesterday Mr Clark said that having reached the 85 per cent threshold, it came a time for some decisions on what should happen next.
"We could have gone back to the Government and asked that it supply the funding for the extension of television signals to those people that do not yet have television."
Mr Clark said that Fiji TV was prepared to do that with their own money and also support the introduction of a new and socially relevant non-commercial television service, which will carry out that task to making sure that all citizens of this country have access to TV.
"The Commerce Commission can make that dream come possible and we need that handshake for a period of time as it would reduce competition."
He added that the Commerce Commission in a newspaper advertisement said, "The Commerce Commission received an application from Fiji TV on February 13, 2003, seeking an extension to its exclusive license for a further 10 years."
T S I C H A N N E L N E W S - Number 19/2003 11 May 2003 -
A weekly roundup of global TV news sponsored by TELE-satellite International
Editor: Branislav Pekic
Edited Apsattv.com Edition
A S I A
AUSTRALIA
PACE GETS FOXTEL CONTRACT
OpenTV on May 8 announced that FOXTEL has selected a full suite of OpenTV products and services, including OpenTV Middleware Solutions Core 1.1, OpenTV PVR Extension, OpenTV Publisher, OpenTV H2O, OpenTV Account, OpenTV Advertise, OpenTV Gateway as well as professional services including project management, to enable interactive services on both FOXTEL's cable and satellite platforms. The selection of OpenTV for both FOXTEL's broadband cable and satellite platforms represents the broadest global deployment by a single network operator to date of OpenTV technology. FOXTEL has requested OpenTV to provide it with interactive applications including multi-camera angle sports and enhanced news. FOXTEL is Australia's leading subscription television provider and is connected to more than one million homes on cable and satellite through retail and wholesale distribution. FOXTEL is owned by Telstra Corporation (50%), The News Corporation (25%), and Publishing and Broadcasting (25%). FOXTEL plans to launch its digital service in early 2004. Pace Micro Technology on May 8 announced a new digital set-top box agreement to supply FOXTEL, Australia's leading subscription television provider. FOXTEL will utilise Pace's latest digital set-top box platform to launch its new digital cable service and extend its existing digital satellite operation.
Internet - http://www.foxtel.tv
CHINA - HONG KONG
TIGHTER CONTROLS ON PAY-TV PIRATES
The Hong Kong government has approved the introduction of a bill to tighten the control of unauthorised reception of licensed TV programme services in the territory. The Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill allows civil action against unauthorised reception of licensed subscription television programme services without subscription payment, and both civil remedy and criminal sanction against the possession of unauthorised decoders for commercial purposes. People convicted of possessing an unauthorised decoder for commercial purposes face a fine of HK$1 million and up to five years imprisonment. The Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA), whose 120 members include the major pay-TV channels based in Hong Kong, has welcomed the move. It described the proposed law as a sign that the authorities were supporting the industry’s position on these issues. The association also welcomed the planned strengthening of the law regarding unauthorised reception for private use.
FIJI
GOVERNMENT DENIES EXCLUSIVE LICENSE TO FIJI TV
The Government has decided to support the recommendation not to grant Fiji Television an exclusivity license. A senior government official who did not wish to be named on May 8 confirmed that the 10-years exclusivity license will not be granted. He said that government was going to respect the decision by the Commerce Commission and is also encouraging the spirit of competition. The Commerce Commission had earlier last month ruled that the 10-year exclusivity license sought by Fiji TV should not be granted because it was not justified considering the submissions made by the public into the contents of the programmes they aired. However, Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase had later told a press conference the government had the last say on the issue and they could over-turn the appointment of the Commerce Commission. Fiji Television was given 14-days to appeal the decision however the senior official said government has made its decision despite waiting for these. In a related development, Fiji Media Council members are against the government's plans to introduce a media bill, according to a report by Pacific Media Watch. Media Council members and stakeholders told the Information Minister, Simione Kaitani, that there was no need for a media bill as the self-regulating Fiji Media Council was already in place. Mr. Kaitani said the government firmly believed that a media bill was needed to ensure that the media acted responsibly and also to protect "reasonable and justifiable media freedom". Fiji’s government has cited the recommendations of a 1996 Thomson Foundation consultancy report as a basis for introducing the bill.
INDIA
RATAN TATA EXPLORES DTH OPTION
Tata group tops the list of potential partners identified by DSP Merrill Lynch for Star TV's search for a potential partner for its direct-to-home (DTH) broadcasting project in India. Executives in Tata group have already completed a preliminary analysis of Star TV promoter Murdoch's DTH operations in overseas markets. Ratan Tata (Tata group Chairman) is considering the issue. Issues relating to management and proprietary technology control are under consideration.
GOVERNMENT BANS BUNDLING OF TV CHANNELS
If Indian viewers want to watch a Hollywood blockbuster on Star Movies but not a serial on Star Plus, they won’t have to pay for both after mid-July. The government has decided to ask private television channels to declare their rates, and have prohibited “bundling”, or clubbing channels together and setting a price on them. Besides, the information and broadcasting ministry is likely to issue another notification prohibiting cable-operators from charging more than Rs 72 from households who don’t want pay channels and would want only the minimum (and maximum of 80) free channels. After some consultations, the government will ask each media house to publicly declare the cost of each channel. For instance, if Star has channels like Star Plus, Star World, Star News and others, it cannot charge a flat rate for all the channels. Nor can it tell the viewer that he or she has to take all channels or none at all.
ADVERTISERS TO WAIT FOR CAS
Advertisers in India are not committing money to TV slots beyond July 15 due to continued uncertainty over which distribution strategy channels will choose once the county's conditional access system is introduced. It is thought that only free-to-air channels will be able to reach critical mass for advertisers. To allay fears, some broadcasters have told media planners that their channels will be available in both pay-TV and free-to-air format. Fashion TV, DD Sports, Star News, Zee News and Alpha channels have already announced they will switch from pay-TV to free-to-air models when CAS is launched in July.
IRAQ
FIRST PRIVATE TV CHANNEL TO LAUNCH
Preparations are under way in Baghdad to launch the first independent and privately-owned satellite channel with Arab and Iraqi "political" capital. The channel is expected to employ 200 Iraqi journalists and technicians in addition to its correspondents abroad after the idea of launching it from London as originally planned was dropped. Sa'd al-Bazzaz, the Iraqi opposition figure who fled Iraq more than 11 years ago and launched Al-Zaman newspaper in London, said the feasibility study for the project was completed some time ago and the licence to establish the Al-Zaman satellite TV channel was issued in London seven months ago. He added that the "channel would be launched in Baghdad and transmit from Iraq and there would be no subject it would not tackle, except the ones of religious creed". The channel's capital is $10 million. Al-Bazzaz told Al-Hayat: "There are five million dollars from private investors, both Arabs and Iraqis living abroad, and another five million dollars that we will offer for investors inside Iraq." He asserted that there are no foreign partners, "therefore no one will think that there is an Israeli or American investor or from some other nationality other than an Arab one."
JAPAN
CABLE OPERATORS DELAY DIGITAL TRANSMISSIONS
Many of the country's 300 cable TV operators are delaying retransmission of digital terrestrial TV signals beyond the intended 1 December 2003 start date as a result of concerns that not enough consumers are ready for the technology. Jupiter Telecommunications, the largest cable operator, a yet to make a decision on whether it will meet the 1 December 2003 deadline. However, Its Communications from Tokyo has said that it will meet the deadline as long as the terrestrial channels it carries agree to retransmission of their signals.
MALAYSIA
GOVERNMENT CONSIDERS DIGITAL TERRESTRIAL
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has released a discussion paper on a comprehensive policy to implement digital terrestrial television in Malaysia. The paper takes a look at various issues and challenges in coverage, spectrum, set-top boxes, migration and adoption of digital television in Malaysia. “The paper proposes the phasing out of analogue transmission from 2009 onwards. We expect the process to complete by the end 2014, or when 90 per cent of population has switched to digital television," said an MCMC spokesperson. The consumer's experience of digital TV in Malaysia so far has been in the form of digital television via satellite.
NEW ZEALAND
MAORI TV GETS LEGAL STATUS
The controversial Maori Television Service (MTS) was given legal status by Parliament on May 6. National MP Murray McCully said it was ``absurd' MPs were debating setting up a television service that had already spent millions of dollars and been involved in endless controversy. Government speakers said they were proud of finally getting MTS off the ground as it would encourage Maori language and culture to spread. MTS has gone through a series of delays and arguments over how it would be set up, how it would transmit and who would run it. It has also been hit by scandals, most notably hiring Canadian John Davy to be its chief executive and sacking him when it was found he lied about his background. Previous Maori television station, the independent Aotearoa Television Network which broadcast with limited range from Auckland, collapsed in 1997. Both National and Labour have tried to set up a Maori television service to comply with a Privy Council ruling on meeting the terms of the Treaty of Waitangi.
11/05/03
No update on Sundays
10/05/03
No update this weekend , back Monday
9/05/03
A correction to the site update yesterday, Jsat in W.A was actually using a 3M mesh KTI when he picked up analog and Digital off the new Insat 3a at 93E.
Asiasat 4 signal reported 4055V ??? 6pm Syd time. Nokia people please check
From my Emails & ICQ
From Anon
Hi Craig,
Imparja has started using an encryption type program that randomly changes the pids every few days. Apparently they were getting cheesed off with some commercial operators selling their programs, mainly sport, to pubs+clubs etc.
Anon
(Craigs comment, why do they bother?? any receiver with auto pids will find it, and if not Nokias will find it anyway using a pid scan.)
From Mr Humax
craig, found imparja vpid 1066,apid 1025
nokia is reporting 12360 H Sr 5422 3/4
From SiamGlobal
The mystery channel on Pas 8 3716V in yesterday's report is Pinoy Central TV from the Philipines . It comes up as Reuters tv ! The second channel named APTN was not broadcasting when I checked at 1700 gmt.
It might be weak in Australia but here the signal is very strong.
Siamglobal Bangkok
From the Dish
Lyngsat update has not arrived yet
NEWS
Arianespace To Launch Australian Commercial Military Satellite
From http://www.spacedaily.com/news/optus-03a.html
One of the two satellites to be launched by the next Ariane 5 mission is the product of a close cooperation between Australia's civil and defense sectors. With a liftoff mass of approximately 4,700 kg., the Optus and Defence C1 satellite carries a mixed payload that will serve the needs of Singtel Optus Pty. Limited - a large Australian integrated telecommunications provider, and the Australian Department of Defence.
The Optus and Defence C1 relay platform will operate in four different frequency bands: commercial services in Ku-band for Singtel Optus; and military communications at UHF, X and Ka-bands for the Australian Department of Defence.
This cooperative effort began in 1997 as the result of an unsolicited invitation from Optus to the Australian Department of Defence for a sharing arrangement on Australia's next generation commercial communications satellite.
Contracts were signed by the Australian Department of Defence and Optus in October 1999, with participants agreeing to share the costs, benefits and risks of acquiring, launching and operating the spacecraft.
Optus and Defence C1 is one of the most advanced communications satellites ever built, carrying a total of 16 antennas that will provide 18 beams across Australia, New Zealand and the Asia-Pacific region, as well as global beams covering from India to Hawaii. It is to operate from an orbital slot of 156 degrees East Longitude.
Singtel Optus has the prime contractor role to the Australian Department of Defence for the military communications payload, and the satellite was built under the responsibility of Japan's Mitsubishi Electric.
The spacecraft uses a FS 1300 satellite bus from California's Space Systems/Loral, which handled its assembly, integration and testing, as well as the supply of the commercial Ku-band payload subsystem. Raytheon from the U.S. was the military UHF payload subsystem contractor.
Australian military officials said the benefits of this shared program are substantial - providing a large satellite communications capability, delivered years ahead and at a fraction of the cost than if the Australian Department of Defence had acquired a telecom satellite alone.
In addition, lessons learned from the program will assist the country's defense forces in its acquisition of satellite communications capabilities in the future.
The military Ka-band payload has four 33-MHz active transponders and one spare. It will provide medium to high data rate defense theatre coverage and duplex video, along with voice and data communications. This Ka-band communications service is a new capability for the Australian Department of Defence.
X-band telecommunications links provided via the satellite will be used by the military for medium to high data rate one- and two-way video, as well as voice and data communications.
Service will be provided by four 60-MHz active transponders, with an additional transponder serving as a spare. The X-band communications links also are new for the country's defense network.
UHF links via the relay satellite will enhance UHF capabilities already employed by the Australian Department of Defence, and will be used for low data rate two-way voice and data communications. There are five 5-kHz channels and one 25-kHz channel provided via the satellite.
Optus and Defence C1 will share the Ariane 5 ride on Flight 161 with BSAT-2c, which will be orbited for the Broadcasting Satellite System Corporation (B-SAT) of Japan. Liftoff of Flight 161 is set for early June from the ELA-3 launch complex at the Spaceport in French Guiana.
Foxtel digital TV edges closer
From http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/Weekly2003/05.06.2003/Australia5.htm
Foxtel has moved closer to its much-touted digital television launch, announcing that it has secured a digital set-top box supply agreement with British outfit Pace Micro Technology and signed a technology deal with US interactive TV group OpenTV.
Foxtel, which has committed $600 million to digital TV services, will use the Pace technology for the launch of its digital cable service and will extend its digital satellite operation.
At the same time, Australia's third-largest telco, AAPT, has agreed to sell Foxtel's pay TV service. Shoppers will also be able to sign up to Foxtel at furniture and white goods retailer Harvey Norman stores.
Foxtel - owned by Telstra, News Corp and Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd - hopes digital TV will boost its subscriber base, which has stalled at 23 per cent of Australian households.
Over the next 12 months, it will double the number of channels to 120 but many will be devoted to almost video-on-demand, in which a given movie is shown at half-hour intervals on a loop.
Foxtel chief executive Kim Williams said it was unlikely viewers would be lured to pay TV in great numbers until the Federal Government relaxed its anti-siphoning legislation, which ensured that popular sports remain on free-to-air channels.
GSLV-D2 places satellite in orbit
From http://www.business-standard.com/today/story.asp?Menu=19&story=14024
India today took one more step towards self-reliance in its space programme with the “textbook” launch of its second Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-D2). The GSLV-D2 placed into orbit an 1,825 kg experimental communications satellite GSAT-2.
The 49-metre tall three-stage GSLV-D2 blasted off from the Satish Dhawan spaceport in Sriharikota at 4:58 pm.
Addressing ecstatic colleagues just after the successful launch of the GSLV-D2, K Kasturirangan, Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) said, “GSLV-D2 has made a classic textbook flight. It is a major milestone for Isro and a proud technological achievement”.
“Most importantly we have full confidence in this launch vehicle, which can place 2,000 kg satellites into space, though we further need to work on increasing payload capacity,” he said.
The first developmental flight (GSLV-D1) was successfully conducted on April 18, 2001, when an experimental 1,540 kg satellite, GSAT-1, was placed in a geosynchronous transfer orbit.
Isro was able to achieve a higher payload capacity of 1,825 kg with the launch due to enhanced propellant loading in the core solid motor, high pressure engine in liquid propellant strap-ons in the second stage and the optimisation of structural elements.
The GSLV-D2 carried a heavier satellite and was placed in a geosynchronous transfer orbit of 180km perigee (nearest point to earth) and 36,000 km apogee (farthest point to earth).
Later at a press conference, Kasturirangan said the GSAT-2 was healthy and was placed in a geosynchronous orbit 17 minutes after the launch.
“Signals have been picked up by monitoring stations in Indonesia, Brunei, and Canada,” he said.
On the status of the indigenous development of the cryogenic engine technology, used in the third and most crucial stage of the flight, Kasturirangan said Isro was working on integrating the stage and engine.
“We are confident of having our next developmental flight with the indigenous cryogenic engine in the next two years,” he said.
At present Russia has provided seven cryogenic engines to ISRO out of which it has used up two.
“We have five more cryogenic engines which we will utilise for operational flights to put into orbit satellites of the same 2000 kg class. We are in talks with countries that make this class of satellites,” he said.
The entire cost of today GSLV-D2 flight was put at Rs. 200 crore with the cost of the launch vehicle pegged at Rs 150 crore, while the estimated cost of the satellite was put at Rs 50 crore.
The GSAT-2 will be positioned at 48 degree east longitude in the geo-stationary orbit.
The GSAT-2 carries four C-band transponders, two Ku-band transponders and a mobile satellite service (MSS) payload operating in S-band forward link and C-band return link.
Besides the communication payloads, GSAT-2 carries a total radiation dose monitor, a surface charge monitor, a solar X-ray spectrometer, and a coherent radio beacon experiment.
Moon mission
India's proposed unmanned mission to the Moon has been approved by the technology commission.
"We have to go the government now for funding. We are in talks with other countries who want to participate in the mission," ISRO Chairman K Kasturirangan said after the successful launch of the GSLV-D2.
(Craigs comment, maybe another for the guys in W.A to look for?)
Indian Pay channels won’t go free
From http://www.mid-day.com/entertainment/television/2003/may/52184.htm
Rumours about pay channels such as Star Plus, Sony, Zee, and Star Sports are going free in the CAS scenario have turned out to be baseless.
Zee Turner CEO Sunil Khanna said yesterday, “There are misleading reports.
None of the Zee channels, including the Alpha channels, are going free.
The bouquet will be priced at Rs 55 and the a-la-carte prices will be the same as being charged currently.”
Star too has denied offering any of its channels as free-to-air though Star News will have dual feed which means in poorer rural areas it will be free to allow greater penetration.
Various broadcasters of pay channels have been in meetings the last few days in the capital and in yesterday’s discussion it emerged that none of the existing pay channels will go free.
Jawahar Goel of Zee said on behalf of others including Manu Sawhney, managing director of ESPN Software India and Shantonu Aditya of Sony, “At this juncture every broadcaster will continue to remain as pay channels. There is no intention of migrating from pay to free-to-air.
Tomorrow we are releasing a signed agreement that everyone will remain pay and all channels will work toward smooth implementation of CAS.”
Citing reasons why a pay channel will continue to remain so, Zee’s Khanna says, “Personally, I think a large amount of a channel’s revenue comes from subscriptions and in the years to come it will be more than the ad revenue.”
8/05/03
Abu Dhabi TV seems to be testing on B3 already, looks like it replaced Med TV channel. Also new is Emirates FM and Adhoc channel has JCTV on it. If you have any support emails for JCTV channel let me know and I will pass them on to Globecast.
Imparja finally encrypted video on B1?? or have they changed pids?
Some new activity on B1, TVNZ 12456V (NZ beam) they have added another service which appears to be running Promos for TV1 and TV2 shows? could just be a test for the new Maori TV service.
From my Emails & ICQ
From Zapara
Insat 3a 93deg E
Weak test card p3 seen on 3725 vert power level fluctuating
2.7mt solid dish Perth West Australia
and more amazing..
Palapa C2 113E 10970 H mux almost strong enough to lock on c/ku dual feed!
From Jsat
Insat 3A in W.A via 3.M Dish
3747 V P4 Analog Test card.
Then they tested in Digital.
3747 V Sr 18804 Fec 3/4 which he managed to lock with some breakup!
(Craigs comment, good DX as Insat 3A beam is on India!)
From Victor Holubecki
Subject: Imparja
Anyone else having problems with Imparja on Optus B1?
The audio remains, but the video is gone.
Have they encrypted or just changed the pids?
Fron Jundong Wu
Hi, Craig and All Apsattvers
Yesterday, I scanned PAS8, found a new signal 3716V,
SR3260, FEC 7/8. It may be the weakest signal off PAS
8, two channels could be loaded just over threshold by
using a 2.6M mesh dish in Melbourne, my IRD showed the
channel names were Reuters and APTN, the picture
quality of "Reuters" was worse, and it seemed not
Reuters feed. "APTN" was scrambled.
Could anyone try to load it?
Cheers,
Jundong Wu
From MR Humax
Subject: PAS8 Unknown data stream
12275 H 8145 3/4, very strong signal
PID 128,105 active with internet data
From the Dish
Optus B1 160E 12456 V "TVNZ promos" vpid 515 apid 653 sid 666 could be a test for Maori TV???
Koreasat 3 116E 11785 L AniOne TV is now Fta.
AsiaSat 3 105.5E 3860 V The SR for the Star TV mux is still 27500.
Yamal 102 90E 3489 L "TV Shkolnik" has replaced TeleShkol, Fta, PIDs 111/112.
PAS 10 68.5E 3924 V An RR Sat promo has started, Fta SR 3003, FEC 2/3,PIDs 4194/4195.
NEWS
New channels for Foxtel
From http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,6397457%255E1702,00.html
FOXTEL subscribers will be able to access 53 new channels and the ability to pause live television under a package providing new set-top boxes from early next year.
Foxtel's digital platform will feature more than 100 channels at a cost to the company of more than $600 million, the company said.
Foxtel's analogue business had grown, with great expectations for digital in 2003/04, the company's digital project director, Patrick Delany, told the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) conference.
The future was not about technology but about entertainment, with a vision to give people the power of choice, he said.
Viewers will be able to pause and rewind live TV.
"We aim to launch in early 2004," Mr Delany said.
"You will not need a new TV set for Foxtel digital.
"We will simply turn up, swap your box - for existing subscribers - install your return path and you're off.
"There will be better quality picture and sound - it'll be DVD-like in the crispness of the picture and Dolby sound.
"We will have over 100 channels at launch, which is a large amount of channels compared to our current 47."
Mr Delany said program guides would be upgraded and Foxtel hoped to take a little bit of the box office market from DVDs and videos.
News would also get a working over, with specialist news category video screens and textual information so that people did not have to wait for TV news bulletins to get updates, he said.
Satellite and cable TV were expected to grow evenly, he said.
"We're expecting growth to be evenly distributed across satellite and cable," he said.
"The product will be absolutely the same on both."
For free-to-air viewers, the Nine Network said story-telling was the way of the future, via interactive digital TV.
Nine's strategy and technology director Kim Anderson said the network would expand HDTV (high definition television) programming next year, with HDTV three times the quality of DVD.
This includes drama such as ER and McLeod's Daughters, she said.
Nine also wanted to engage the audience with interactive methods such as text messaging, or SMS, she said.
The network's Getaway travel program being viewed tomorrow night would allow viewers to use SMS to vote on each segment of the show they would like to see next, with results broadcast live.
FOXTEL Announces Selection of OpenTV Technology for Its Digital Cable and Satellite Platforms
From Press Release May 8, 2003--
OpenTV Selected to Provide a Broad Suite of Products, Including Middleware, End-to-End iTV Platform and Applications
OpenTV (Nasdaq:OPTV)(Euronext Amsterdam:OPTV), one of the world's leading interactive television companies, today announced that FOXTEL has selected a full suite of OpenTV products and services, including OpenTV Middleware Solutions Core 1.1, OpenTV PVR Extension, OpenTV Publisher, OpenTV H2O, OpenTV Account, OpenTV Advertise, OpenTV Gateway as well as professional services including project management, to enable interactive services on both FOXTEL's cable and satellite platforms.
The selection of OpenTV for both FOXTEL's broadband cable and satellite platforms represents the broadest global deployment by a single network operator to date of OpenTV technology. FOXTEL has requested OpenTV to provide it with interactive applications including multi-camera angle sports and enhanced news. A key benefit of the end-to-end complete solution that FOXTEL has selected is that it can give content developers the flexibility to create interactive content in HTML, or XML or with OpenTV's Software Developers Kit.
"FOXTEL has always been committed to providing our cable and satellite customers across Australia with a rich, engaging television viewing experience and we're pleased to be adding this robust suite of interactive services to our cutting edge digital service," said Kim Williams CEO of FOXTEL. "We believe that OpenTV's extensive global experience in deploying iTV and content will provide a strong foundation as we build and enhance the way our customers watch television."
"FOXTEL has selected OpenTV to implement an end-to-end solution for a fully integrated interactive television platform," said James Ackerman, CEO of OpenTV. "OpenTV is thrilled to have this opportunity to fully execute on our vision of the interactive experience that all television viewers should be able to enjoy. We believe that the deployment of such a robust, broad interactive platform can truly benefit FOXTEL, FOXTEL's subscribers and the international developer community."
FOXTEL has selected the latest version of OpenTV middleware, Core 1.1. A key new product feature that Core 1.1 provides is functionality, that allows messages and notifications to be broadcast to individual set-top boxes or groups of set-top boxes. Potential uses of this technology could include email notification, community messaging, or the provisioning of FOXTEL services. Core 1.1 provides additional functionality that FOXTEL can access in the future should it choose to, such as:
-- Dolby Digital (AC-3) Sound for a rich surround-sound audio experience.
-- True color On Screen Displays (OSD) providing higher quality interactive visual elements
FOXTEL plans to launch its digital service in early 2004.
Chinese tighten licence laws
From http://www.advanced-television.com/
The Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (Casbaa) has welcomed moves by the Hong Kong government to introduce legislation that will make possession and commercial use of set top boxes designed for overseas pay TV reception illegal. The Legislative Council has been asked to consider new laws that will tighten the control of the unauthorised reception of licensed programme services. In addition, legislators will be asked to strengthen laws against the unauthorised reception of satellite TV signals by private individuals. The news comes in the week after two companies supplying satellite TV receivers agreed to pay damages to five channel providers who had taken civil action against them. The five, STAR, CNN, Turner Entertainment Networks Asia, ESPN STAR Sports, Discovery Networks Asia and National Geographic Channel Network Asia sued the Hong Kong-based companies for selling consumers set top box technology capable of receiving signals from pay TV operators in Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand. Five more cases are still before the Hong Kong courts.
The five channels based their case on the issue of copyright, citing the failure of the companies to gain their permission to carry signals aimed at one market into Hong Kong, and for failing to pass on any fees for their use. Currently, it is not illegal to watch signals reaching Hong Kong from other markets.
Casbaa believes the proposed legislative change will radically change the mindset of TV viewers and anyone attempting to sell pirated signals. "The new sanctions on the possession of decoders for commercial purposes are particularly welcome," said Simon Twiston Davies, Casbaa CEO.
"The new legislation will help with the public recognition of the importance of intellectual property rights. This is a great start, but it will require political will as well as public support. Casbaa looks forward to working with the Hong Kong government to create a better IPR environment."
"We also welcome the strengthening of the law regarding the unauthorised reception for private usage. This sends a clear message to the community that even the private reception of signals via an unauthorised decoder is not acceptable."
Zee to use 7 transponders on Insat
From http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k3/may/may53.htm
NEW DELHI: The Subhash Chandra-promoted Zee Telefilms Ltd will use three C-band transponders and four KU-band transponders on Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro)'s Insat satellites for its proposed head-end in the sky, or HITS, project and direct-to-home television venture, respectively.
According to a senior Zee executive, the three transponders on Insat 3A, recently put into geo-stationary orbit, would be used for the HITS project, while negotiations are on for KU-band transponders for the DTH project that is slated to get off the ground later this year.
Isro at its headquarters in Bangalore had said on Sunday the organisation is finalising allocations of transponders on Insat-3A among private broadcasters.
"That we would beam the DTH service from Insat satellite is definite. The thing that is being finalised is on which Insat satellite would we be given the KU-band transponders. It can be also Insat 3A," the Zee executive said.
Though the Zee executive was not forthcoming on the issue whether the company has been directed by the Indian government to use Insat satellite, government sources did give indications on these lines.
"The government would always like private broadcasters, desirous of operating in India, give preference to Insat satellites for transponder usage," a senior government official told indiantelevision.com.
Meanwhile, Isro chairman K. Kasturirangan told presspersons on Sunday that the multipurpose Insat 3A satellite, launched on 10 April 10, would be declared operational by the end of May.
The transponders being hawked to private broadcasters include four in the Ku band for DTH purposes and three in the C band for HITS operators under the conditional access system.
Agreements are to be signed shortly for these, according to Isro joint secretary SK Das. India's pubcaster Doordarshan and the department of telecom have been its main customers until recently.
Isro hopes to wean away all or some of the 70 private broadcasting channels and users from foreign satellites with competitive pricing in the coming years.
Kasturirangan had said these channels would offer a potential business of $120 million. The Insat system's transponder capacity was being augmented and stood at 120 after the launch of Insat 3A. Allocations on 3A and the forthcoming satellite, 3E, around June-July should bring these users into Insat fold, Kasturirangan said.
(Craigs comment, Those in Western Aus might be in luck!)
Zee upgrades Asiasat 3 transmission signals for cable ops
From http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k3/may/may57.htm
MUMBAI: As part of Zee's initiative of bringing the best to their viewers the Subhash Chandra network upgraded transmission signals to cable operators yesterday.
Viewers of Zee News, Zee Music, Alpha Punjabi, Alpha Gujarati, Alpha Bangla and Alpha Marathi will find the technological upgradation reflected in crisper and sharper images with better colour resolution on their existing TV sets.
The head Siticable Jawahar Goel said, "We have completed a major exercise for upgrading our transmission quality of our six channels which were being uplinked from our Noida facility. Our investments will result in our viewers getting enhanced quality of our channels. We are happy to say that majority of our cable operators have already switched on to the upgraded format and we are expecting the others join within the next few days".
Zee asked all its cable operators to re-tune their equipment for accessing the upgraded services. The deadline for the cable operators was yesterday at 4 pm and the upgraded services are available across Asia, Middle East and Far Eastern countries.
As reported earlier by indiantelevision.com Zee Turner switched off InCable Net in Mumbai. With this two of the major broadcasters have disappeared.
MH One Network launches music channel
From http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=45682666
NEW DELHI: MH One TV Network on Wednesday launched a free-to-air music channel, MH1, and it would introduce a medical channel soon.
The MH1, the company's maiden venture, would be linked from India. The channel would primarily cater to Punjab, MH One TV Network chairman and managing director Mahinder Bhatia told a news conference here.
The 'MH1' could also be viewed in the UK, UAE and Canada simultaneously, he said.
The channel would be beamed through the Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) whose latest equipment enable it to be received in the best of audio and visual quality through dish antennas, Bhatia said
(Craigs comment, this one is via Thaicom 3 but Asia beam only)
7/05/03
NEW FTA CHANNEL! From Friday the B3 Globecast mux will add Abu Dhabi TV from the United Arab Emirates. It will be a FTA service. It has already started on Intelsat I701.
Website for them is below but in Arabic.
http://www.emi.co.ae/television/adtv/
From my Emails & ICQ
From JohnZ
hi Graig
Abu Dhabi TV Europe start on Intelsat 701 @180E
3769V 20000 replaced duna TV FTA
Auckland New Zealand
Johnz
From the Dish
PAS 8 166E 4121 V "IncTV" is only testing.
Koreasat 3 116E 11785 L "AniOne TV" has replaced English TV, Videoguard, PIDs 400/401.
Koreasat 3 116E 11938 L "English TV" has replaced AniOne TV , Videoguard, PIDs 1376/1377.
Palapa C2 113E 4080 H Occasional SCTV feeds on , PIDs 516/654.
AsiaSat 3 105.5E 3780 V Several updates in the Star TV mux .
AsiaSat 3 105.5E 3860 V "Star News" has started, Fta, PIDs 518/664. New SR for this mux: 28100.
AsiaSat 3 105.5E 3940 V Several upd ates in the Star TV mux.
AsiaSat 3 105.5E 4140 V New SR for the Zee Network mux : 27450.
NEWS
News Corp. Also Eyes PanAmSat, HNS
From Skyreport
In its application detailing its proposed takeover of DirecTV
and Hughes sent to the Federal Communications Commission, News
Corp. didn't leave out its intentions about two other Hughes
units - PanAmSat and Hughes Network Systems.
The media giant told the FCC late last week that there will no
competitive harm if it controls the two non-DBS businesses.
If News Corp. takes over the 81 percent stake in PanAmSat
controlled by Hughes, the new ownership structure won't
"increase FSS (fixed satellite service) concentration, nor
will it raise any prospect of competitive harm in the MVPD
(Multichannel Video Program Distribution) market," News Corp.
told the FCC. For similar reasons, potential control of HNS
raises no issues of competitive harm, the company said.
News Corp. said while it doesn't compete in the same
manufacturing or satellite service sectors as HNS, "the
complementary nature of the News Corp.'s satellite and
technological expertise, as well as the energy and capital
access that News Corp. will bring to bear on the Hughes
businesses, will yield only more and enhanced public benefits
for the businesses and consumers that HNS serves," the company
said in its application.
News Corp. also said it's eyeing how it could use HNS'
SpaceWAY project, a Ka-Band endeavor that's expected to launch
service next year, to extend local TV service for DirecTV into
more DMAs.
AGS and JSAT Announce Regional Agreement
From Press Release
Two Satellite Service Leaders to Collaborate on Communications Solutions for U.S. Government in Japan and Asia Pacific Region
May 6, 2003 – Princeton, NJ and Tokyo, Japan – AMERICOM GOVERNMENT SERVICES (AGS) and JSAT Corporation (JSAT) announced today that they have just signed a business collaboration agreement to mutually support each company’s pursuit and execution of U.S. government-related satellite-based communications services in Asia-Pacific region. Based on the agreement, JSAT will support AGS in securing contracts for U.S Government related services by providing transponder capacity.
David Helfgott, President & CEO of AGS, said, “The demand for communications networks and services by a variety of U.S. Government agencies and organizations throughout Asia Pacific is rapidly growing; we’re delighted to work with JSAT, a regional operator recognized for technical and service excellence, a distinction that will facilitate our success in the region.”
Takuya Yoshida, President & CEO of JSAT, said, “We are pleased that our presence and experience in the Asia Pacific region was a factor for AGS to select our transponder capacity for the U.S. Government requirement. We are confident that all government organizations will benefit from the best engineering, network services and satellite capacity that we can deliver.”
Dean Olmstead, President & CEO of SES AMERICOM and AGS Board Member, said, “With this most recent agreement, we are adding another building block to the long cooperative relationship between SES and JSAT. Begun in 1997 with transmission and turn-around services through AMERICOM’s Hawaii earth station; today we have four antennas at Sunset Beach supporting the distribution of sports, religious and VOIP services for JSAT. The agreement was expanded in 1999 between JSAT and SES with the establishment of a network between Japan and Europe to explore multimedia and other new service opportunities.”
About AMERICOM GOVERNMENT SERVICES
AMERICOM GOVERNMENT SERVICES, Inc. (AGS) is an independent corporation and wholly owned subsidiary of SES AMERICOM, formed when SES GLOBAL acquired GE AMERICOM. Leveraging a 30 year heritage of experience in the government SATCOM market, AGS offers comprehensive satellite-based communications solutions that enable federal agencies to extend secure broadband communications to fulfill both routine and mission-critical applications. With access to a fleet of 41 satellites, AGS’ full range of satellite services and end-to-end solutions allows for secure, reliable communications and comprehensive global coverage. AGS' reputation for operational excellence and highly reliable network solutions have been validated by long-term relationships with diverse government customers including, DoD, US Army, US Air Force, Department of Commerce/NOAA, Department of Justice, Department of the Interior, Department of the Transportation, NASA, and other civilian and defense-related agencies. For more information, visit www.americom-gs.com.
About JSAT
JSAT Corporation is a leading satellite operator in the Asia Pacific region. The company owns and operates eight satellites in seven orbital slots. JSAT provides communications and broadcasting services that offer a variety of solutions to a wide range of customers. Based on its corporate slogan, “JSAT, Expanding Horizons,” the company is actively expanding its operation internationally and cultivating new customer sectors. JSAT is listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. For more information, visit www.jsat.net.
# # #
CONTACT:
Monica Morgan,+1-609-987-4143
[email protected]
Hideki Nakagawa, O: +813-5219-7778 or F: +813-5219-7878
[email protected]
Kerala: MET to be a multi-lingual satellite channel
From http://www.keralanext.com/news/index.asp?id=10304
Thiruvananthapuram: Middle East Television (MET), the Dubai-based 24-hour Malayalam digital satellite channel, is to go multilingual with the telecast of more programmes in English and other Indian languages like Hindi and Tamil.
MET Chairman Ali Hassan and Managing Director John Thomas told newspersons here that the channel would air more Malayalam programmes with immediate effect, besides regular news bulletins in Malalayam and English.
They said though the channel, launched in November last, was essentially catering to Malayalee audience worldwide, specific time slots for English and other Indian languages were being provided by keeping in mind the overall sub-continental viewers residing in the Middle East, Far East, Africa, Europe and Australia.
Channel Vice-Chairman Soman Baby said MET used the latest server based transmission technology on the PANAMSAT10 platform, which was a key link for broadcast networks that delivered the most advanced value-added video data and internet services across the world.
He said to step up the quality and content of the news bulletin, MET had set up studio and other facilities at Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode. ''The production facility in the UAE would function as the hub, with the programme and news generation facilities in Kerala adding value to the channel's overall fare,'' he said.
6/05/03
Livechat tonight 9pm NZ and 8.30pm Syd onwards in the chatroom
From my Emails & ICQ
From George Kamal
dear sir,
Star news fta on [email protected] d east
in star package.
(Screenshot by Zapara)
regards- -george
From the Dish
AsiaSat 4 122E Test carriers on 3640 H, 3700 V, 3720 H, 3780 V, 3820 V, 3860 V, 3900 V,3940 V, 3980 V, 4020 V, 4060 V, 4080 H and 4140 V.
The vertical signals are 25-28 dB above noise level, somewhat weak.
(Y Sugimoto with 300 cm in Japan)
Asiasat 3 105.5E 3700 V "Zed TV" has left .
Asiasat 3 105.5E 3980 V "Viva Cinema" has started, Videoguard, SID 1746, PIDs 517/660.
Thaicom 3 78.5E 3451 V "Raj Digital Plus" is now encrypted.
Thaicom 3 78.5E 3626 V "Mh1" has started regular transmissions , Fta, PIDs 3105/3106.
NEWS
New Skies, KMS/FalconStream Partner In Multi-transponder Deal
From Satellite Today
New Skies Satellites [NYSE: NSK], a Dutch-based satellite communications company, and KMS/FalconStream, a Kuwaiti information technology firm that provides Internet connectivity services via satellite, have signed a long-term multi-transponder, multi-satellite agreement to offer high-speed Internet access services to customers throughout the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and North Africa.
KMS/FalconStream is using Ku-band capacity on the NSS-6 satellite to deliver Internet traffic, via New Skies' IPsys Internet connectivity services, directly to end users, as well as to ISPs and telecom companies across the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. Internet content transmissions originate from New Skies' IP hub, which the company uses through a partnership agreement with REACH to provide communications services across the Middle East/Asian region.
(Craigs comment, Internet data via NSS6 @95E on the Asian beams I expect)
Insat-3A to be operational from May-end
From http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/may/05insat.htm
Insat-3A will become operational by the end of May and provide services ranging from telecommunications, television broadcasting, weather forecasting to helping search and rescue operations with crucial information.
The multi-purpose satellite of the Indian Space Research Organisation is India's heaviest satellite.
Acknowledging a delay of fortnight in making the satellite operational, ISRO chairman K Kasturirangan told rediff.com in Bangalore on Monday that the launching of the Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, scheduled on May 8 from Sriharikota range, had held up the operational activities of Insat-3A.
The satellite was finally placed in the geo-stationary orbit by the Master Control Facility at Hassan in Karnataka during April third week.
The Department of Space, meanwhile, is carrying out price negotiations with various users of the satellite's 12 C-band, 6 extended C-band, and 6 Ku-band transponders.
"All the 24 transponders of Insat-3A are fully booked. At least four transponders will be used by private television channels, including Zee and NDTV, while the remaining will be used by private operators for the Conditional Access System (CAS) broadcasting, Doordarshan, VSAT operators, and telecom service providers," an ISRO official disclosed.
Once the satellite goes into the operational mode, India will have a total of 120 transponders in the Insat series, though the requirement continues to grow from various quarters, including distance education, tele-medicine, weather forecast, and rescue operations.
In addition, about 70 transponders of foreign satellites are in use by different end-users in the sub-continent for bridging the supply-demand gap.
According to ISRO estimates, India will be requiring about 250 transponders in the next couple of years to meet the increasing demand from various utility service providers, including financial and commodity markets at a later stage.
ISRO plans to meet the additional demand from the transponders of the Insat-4A and Insat-4B, to be launched by the Ariane-5 rocket of the European Space Agency between 2004 and 2006.
7 channels set to sign up for Insat-3A
From http://thehindubusinessline.com/stories/2003050602770500.htm
THE Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is finalising allocations on Insat-3A among seven private broadcasting channels.
This includes four in the Ku band for DTH (direct-to-home) purposes and three in the C band for head-end in the sky (HITS) operators under the conditional access system. Agreements are to be signed shortly for these, according to the ISRO Joint Secretary, Mr S.K. Das. DD and DoT have been its main customers until recently.
The ISRO Chairman, Dr K. Kasturirangan, today told presspersons that the multipurpose satellite, launched on April 10, would be declared operational by the end of May.
The ISRO hopes to wean away all or some of the 70 private broadcasting channels and users from foreign satellites with competitive pricing in the coming years.
Dr Kasturirangan said these channels would be a potential business of $120 million. The Insat system's transponder capacity was being augmented and stood at 120 after the launch of Insat 3A on April 10. Allocations on 3A and the forthcoming satellite, 3E, around June-July should bring these users into Insat fold, Dr Kasturirangan said.
He expected ISRO to fill the gap further when the next generation 4A and 4B are also put in orbit in the coming years.
ISRO, according Mr K.R. Sridhara Murthi, Executive Director of Antrix Corporation, is in talks with major US and European industries to jointly develop satellites for the global market.
Changhong wins Iraq TV contract
From http://www.thestandard.com.hk/thestandard/news_detail_frame.cfm?articleid=38682&intcatid=2
China's Sichuan Changhong electric, the world's second largest colour television manufacturer, has been awarded a contract to supply Iraq with one million digital satellite colour TV receivers.
The US$50 million (HK$390 million) contract has enabled Changhong to become the first mainland enterprise to enter the post-war Iraqi market amid fierce competition from overseas rivals, the Sichuan Daily reported yesterday. Many mainland firms are now searching for business opportunities in Iraq, hoping for a share of the market after the war.
With the contract, Changhong's exports to the Middle East market would exceed US$100 million.
Currently colour TV sets made by Changhong had about a 30 per cent market share in the Middle East, Changhong senior manager Deng Peng said.
Changhong had to beat electronics giants from the United States, Japan and South Korea to win the contract, Deng was quoted as saying.
At present, Changhong's production capacity for the digital satellite TV receivers was about 3 million sets a year. All the production lines were now running in full gear to honour the contract and to meet further demand, Deng said.
Changhong has already airfreighted 100,000 receivers to Iraq.
Shanghai-listed Changhong is based in Mianyang city, Sichuan province. Last year, it sold 11.3 million colour TV sets, according to statistics from the Ministry of Information Industry.
Of the total, domestic sales was a record 7.3 million sets, up 32 per cent over the previous year. This enabled Changhong to take a 17.2 per cent share in the domestic TV market.
Exports jumped almost nine-fold last year to 3.98 million sets.
Changhong's profit in 2002 doubled to 176 million yuan (HK$166 million) from 84 million yuan in 2001, the company said.
South Korea's Samsung currently produces about 12.5 million colour TV sets a year.
But Changhong chairman and chief executive Ni Runfeng last year announced an ambitious plan to become the world's No1 TV maker by the end of this year.
Changhong planned to invest in Guangdong and Russia to expand annual production to 18 million sets, or about 15 per cent of world total output, Ni said, adding that by then, it would be world No1.
5/05/03
Asiasat 4 testing? any reports?
KU activity at 150E from Jcsat 1B? might be worth checking for.
I701 @ 180E changes, JC-TV a new channel from Trinity (TBN) is new on channel 2 of transponder 11 (3769 Rhc). Duna and HRT have moved and are now Quam 16.
New audio services on B3 Globecast
Martin Davis added to the userpages
DX Page added (Please send in your reports)
JC TV added to I701 page
Website link added for TV7 (Indonesia) lots of Soccer on this one (Telekom 1)
From my Emails & ICQ
From Bill Richards 5/05
Optus B3 12336V Sr 30000 FEC 2/3
Apid 552 SID17 "Kossuth Radio" has started here FTA
Apid 1026 SID30 "RNW1 International Service" FTA
Apid 1023 SID31 "RNW2 Dutch" FTA
From Bill Richards 3/05
Pas 2
0300 UTC
4036 H S/R 6620 FEC 3/4 Vpid 1160 Apid 1120 SID1
NAPSA1 NBA Basketball Feed
Regards
Bill
From George Kamal
dear sir,
PAS10@ 68.5 D EAST
:FEED FROM TURKY( EARTHQUAKE)- 4102H SR-6111 -3/4VPID-308 APID-256 PCR PID-8190 fta.
NEW PACKAGE ON 3863H SR-19850 -7/8
CHANNEL NAME--V PID--A PID--PCR PID
SERVICE 1 512 650 128 fta
" 2 513 660 129 fta
" 3 514 670 130 fta
" 4 515 680 131 fta
" 5 516 690 132 fta
" 6 517 700 133 fta
" 7 518 710 134 fta
" 8 519 720 135 fta
" 9 520 730 136 fta
SERVICE10 521 740 137 fta
Regards -George
From the Dish
Intelsat 701 180E 3769 R "JC-TV" has started , Fta, PIDs 2260/2220.
Intelsat 701 180E 3769 R "HRT 1 and Duna TV" have left .
PAS 8 166E 12422 H "Inter FM" has started, Fta, APID 3605.
PAS 8 166E 3860 H "MTV Taiwan" has left again, replaced by occasional feeds.
PAS 8 166E 4060 H "NIME World" has left , replaced by a test card.
Optus B3 156E 12336 V "Kossuth Radio AM, Radio Netherlands Wereldomroep Europa and Radio Netherlands Wereldomroep International" have started, Fta,SIDs 17, 31 and 30, APIDs 552, 1023 and 1026.
JCSAT 1B 150E 12415 V Occasional NHK feeds and 12435 V, SR 6910. (Check Lyngsat for various other active frequencys)
Agila 2 146E 3838 H A PRCI test card and Stellar have started , Fta, SR 5210, FEC 3/4, PIDs 49/52 and 512/650.
Agila 2 146E 3864 H "One TV" has left .
Agila 2 146E 4080 H WCPI has left .
AsiaSat 4 122E Very strong test carriers on 3760 H, 3840 H, 3880 H, 3920 H, 3960 H, 4000 H, 4040 H and 4160 H, about 30 dB above noise level. (Reported in Japan) local reports needed
Yamal 102 90E 3564 R Avtoradio has left .
Thaicom 3 78.5E 3475 V "Jain TV" has left , moved to PAS 7.
Insat 3C 74E 3756 H "DD Metro and DD National" have started, Fta, SR 14063, FEC 3/4,PIDs 512/650 and 513/660.
PAS 10 68.5E 3730 H "NIME World" has left , replaced by a test card.
PAS 10 68.5E 3863 H "ARY Digital Asia "and five promos have started, Fta, SR 19850,FEC 7/8, PIDs 512/650-517/700.
PAS 10 68.5E Occasional feeds on 4102 H, SR 6111, FEC 3/4.
NEWS
CASBAA Convention 2003 in Hong Kong in October
From http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k3/may/may8.htm
HONG KONG: The Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) has announced that the tenth annual CASBAA Convention will be held in Hong Kong from 29-31 October 2003.
The SARS menace has affected media events, which were scheduled to be held in Hong Kong. SPORTELAsia 2003, which should have been going on at the moment, was cancelled this year. Next month's BroadcastAsia, one of the biggest events of the region, has also been cancelled.
Coming back to the October event, Convention Chairman Bloomberg Television's James Ross made the following comments, "We're very pleased that the CASBAA Convention 2003 will be staged in Hong Kong, and we have some exciting plans in prospect. The event will once again be an excellent opportunity for the entire cable and satellite TV industry to get together, debate the issues, share experiences, and build closer business relationships." What makes this year's Convention special is that it coincides with the tenth anniversary of the launch of pay-TV services in Hong Kong and more than a decade of cable development in China.
CASBAA CEO Simon Twiston Davies said, "That's why the CASBAA Convention 2003 will have a central focus on Hong Kong and China as well as addressing key industry issues such as advertising, broadband developments and programming trends".
CASBAA has already gained significant support for Convention 2003 from InvestHK as a lead sponsor along with Hong Kong cable operator i-Cable. CASBAA has appointed Hong Kong-based specialist agency 'Branded', to undertake the marketing of the event.
T S I C H A N N E L N E W S - Number 18/2003 4 May 2003 -
A weekly roundup of global TV news sponsored by TELE-satellite International
Editor: Branislav Pekic
Edited Apsattv.com Edition
A S I A
AFGHANISTAN
DEUTSCHE WELLE ON KANDAHAR TV
Germany's international broadcaster Deutsche Welle has provided the Afghan TV station with a 3.6 meter satellite dish and receiver, and is expanding its technical and programme assistance for Radio and Television Afghanistan (RTVA). DW bought the satellite equipment in Islamabad, Pakistan, and sent it via Quetta in the south across the Afghan border to Kandahar. It was installed by technicians from Pakistan on April 18. This follows a similar package for Kabul TV in 2002. DW-TV also supplies Kandahar TV with documentaries and features on a regular basis, and transmits news in Dari and Pashto from its studios in Berlin twice a day. Kandahar TV tapes the newscasts and rebroadcasts them at 18:20 and 19:20 local time.
AUSTRALIA
BVN-TV SIGNS DISTRIBUTION DEAL WITH GLOBECAST
A carriage deal with Globecast's digital DTH platform on the Optus B3 satellite sees Dutch public broadcaster BVN-TV break into new territories Australia and New Zealand. Broadcasting from the DTH platform, a free-to-air 24-hour TV service now beams into 10.3 million households across the two countries, along with one audio channel. BVN-TV is a partnership between NOS, Radio Netherlands and VRT and targets expatriate Dutch and Flemish communities with a mix of programming from broadcasters in the Low Countries. The network is already available in Europe, Latin America, North America and Dutch speaking communities in the Antilles and Aruba.
CHINA - HONG KONG
FIRST 24 HOUR NEWS CHANNEL LAUNCHES
Chinese state television broadcaster launched China's first 24-hour news channel on May 1. The CCTV News Channel program lineup includes current affairs, finance, business, arts and sports.
SUN TV SUSPENDED
China has cracked down on a TV joint venture between Sun Media, the Hong Kong-listed TV company, and the Taiwanese station Eastern Broadcasting Company (ETTV) by suspending its 'Sun TV' satellite-delivered broadcasts. The broadcasts into China have been suspended after an order from the State Administration of Radio, Film and TV, for 'violating regulations' according to officials. The suspension, which is open ended, means that Sun TV's infotainment programming can no longer be seen in China, along with that of its subsidiary, Jet TV. There are suggestions that the Chinese move is designed to prevent ETTV from gaining access to the massive Chinese advertising market.
INDIA
ZEE TV TO LAUNCH FASHION AND LIFESTYLE CHANNEL
ZEE TV seems to be preparing for conditional access system (CAS) by launching a range of niche channels. For starters it has decided to come up with a fashion and lifestyle channel - trendz. This will be followed by the launch of a business news channel and even a spirituality channel. The new channel will provide news and analysis on the latest fashion trend from around the world. It is being targeted at the 21-28 years of age belonging to SEC A and B living in the metros and mini-metros. The Zee-Turner bouquet at the existing price of Rs 55 will distribute this channel as well. While initially the content is being sourced from Video Fashion Network USA - international content providers of fashion, beauty, celebrity and lifestyle programming, Indian content will be added in the next three months.
FIVE COMPANIES TO ENTER DTH BUSINESS
Star TV's Space Television, Prasar Bharti, Data Access and ASC Enterprises and Essel-Shyam Communication plan to enter the direct-to-home (DTH) business. The companies have no apprehensions regarding the market size for this business and feel that with the implementation of the conditional access system (CAS), the DTH market will widen. They feel that the difference between the set-top box for CAS and the box for DTH is very little. In India the DTH market will be 15 per cent of the 40 million cable households. The number of households is likely to increase to 80-90 million by 2013. ASC plans to commence operations in this direction by October-December 2003. Essel-Shyam and Data Access plan to provide only the required platform for DTH. Essel-Shyam plans to get 250 channels to use its platform for this purpose. ASC plans to have 60-100 channels at an investment of Rs3 crore. Investments in this line of business will be Rs500- 1,000 crore for creating a platform and developing the required channels.
JAPAN
UNCERTAIN FUTURE FOR DIGITAL TV
According to an article published by Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan Cable Laboratories, which sets the standard for digital transmission through CATV, is preparing for terrestrial digital broadcasting, and it has become technically possible for CATV operators to transmit digital terrestrial TV waves. In December, terrestrial digital TV transmissions will be received in parts of Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka. However, many other CATV operators are reluctant to start retransmitting DTT signals. The largest company in the industry, Jupiter Telecommunications Co. has yet to decide on the issue, while Tokyo Bay Network says it will be difficult to retransmit digital terrestrial TV from December 1. Their reluctance is due to the fact that TV sets equipped with digital tuners are not yet sufficiently widespread and that the number of users who want digitization is not likely to increase drastically. For operators, it is possible that the whole procedure will increase expenses without adding to profits.
NEW ZEALAND
SKY TV PLANS PRICE HIKE
Leading pay-TV operator Sky TV Network says it raise subscription fees by about 4% from June The company plans to use some of the extra revenue raised to fund new initiatives. The operator has 535,000 subscribers and churn of 18.4%. It expects to add 40,000 new subscribers this year.
SINGAPORE
MEDIACORP TAKES OVER TV MOBILE
Singapore’s MediaCorp TV has become the sole shareholder of TVMobile, with effect from April 21, after purchasing all of Nera Telecommunications’s shares. TVMobile was Singapore's first outdoor digital TV channel and was said to be the first in the world to use Digital Video Broadcast (DVB) technology to deliver high-quality mobile TV programmes to commuters. It was launched in 2001 on 1,500 SBS Transit buses island-wide and is also available at the Suntec Fountain Food Terrace and on Bintan Resort Ferries. TVMobile is reported to have a net reach of over 1.5 million viewers. It telecasts a wide range of programmes in English and Mandarin from 06:00 to midnight daily.
THAILAND
HISTORY CHANNEL ON UBC DIGITAL PLATFORM
The History Channel went on air on May 1, following a licence agreement between A&E Television Networks and United Broadcasting Corporation of Thailand (UBC). The History Channel has been added to UBC's 29-strong bouquet available via DTH platform and cable, becoming the first full 24-hour service for the A&E network in the South East Asia region. Programming will be broadcast in Thai. Airing a mix of ancient, contemporary and military history, the network has been gaining ground in Asia in recent months. The licence with UBC will add another 430,000 subscribers to The History Channel's footprint, which already totals 190 million households worldwide.
4/05/03
Sunday no update
3/05/03
No update this weekend back Monday
2/05/03
Not a lot to end the week with.
Impactv site has had a bit more info added on the "About us page" They will be adding more details to that page soon.
From my Emails & ICQ
From Yalickit
Optus B3 "aTmail Radio" has began broadcasting on 12313H 3000 3/4
From the Dish
PAS 8 166E New PIDs for Net 25 on 4121 V: 529/530.
Optus B3 156E 12336 V "Raw FM" has started , Fta, SID 10, APID 1722.
Apstar 1A 134E 4180 V "CCTV News" is now encrypted.
Asiasat 3 105.5E 3700 V "Trendz has replaced Nickelodeon India", Mediaguard, PIDs 168/112.
PAS 10 68.5E 3897 V "NDTV 24x7 and NDTV India" are now mainly encrypted.
PAS 10 68.5E 3940 V "Al-Arabiyah" has left .
NEWS
China launches first 24-hour news channel
From http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/cnn/0503/01china.html
BEIJING -- Sharply dressed anchors. Jazzy theme music. A bustling high-tech newsroom.
Could this possibly be Chinese state television?
The stodgy government broadcaster launched China's first 24-hour news channel Thursday, imitating Western models and promising faster, more thorough coverage.
Of course, CCTV News Channel didn't get to China's deadly SARS outbreak -- possibly the biggest story in the world -- until four hours into its inaugural broadcast. Instead, it led its first newscast with a live telephone report on a more patriotically heartwarming topic -- a flag-raising ceremony at Peking University.
Still, experts say the livelier format could revolutionize China's entirely state-run broadcasting, whose turgid newscasts frequently feature long reports on grain harvests and factory visits by Communist Party bosses.
CCTV News Channel's emphasis on live reports will challenge the willingness of Chinese authorities to relax censorship and propaganda controls, said Li Xiguang, a journalism professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing.
"Live coverage is unpredictable," Li said. "Not even journalists will be able to predict what will happen, let alone propaganda officials."
China has been loosening its rules as it tries to make its media both more financially self-supporting and relevant to a nation that is opening up to the world.
China Central Television, which runs the CCTV News Channel and 12 other channels, was widely criticized in China for its slowness in covering the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Viewers in households that receive foreign television with illegal satellite dishes were watching continuous reports from abroad just minutes after the attacks occurred, while state TV took several hours to switch to extensive coverage.
Apparently chastened by that experience, state media in March showed extensive and unprecedented live coverage of the U.S. and British attack on Iraq. Television stations in Beijing have been showing daily live coverage of government news conferences about the SARS outbreak.
Some foreign broadcasters such as CNN and the BBC World television service of the British Broadcasting Corp. are licensed to air in China in luxury hotels and apartment buildings for foreigners. But censors often black out broadcasts that touch on Chinese politics or other sensitive topics.
Besides live reports and hourly newscasts, the CCTV News Channel program lineup includes current affairs, finance, business, arts and sports.
"CCTV has opened a new window today," said one stylishly groomed anchor shortly after the channel went on the air. "Through this window, you can see the world and what goes on at home and abroad. The window will never close, whether it is night or day."
Another promised "faster, more and more comprehensive" news, a slogan that sounds snappier in Chinese -- "geng kuai, geng duo, geng quanmian."
Viewer reaction after the first few hours was unenthusiastic.
"The format isn't so dead. It's not so rule-bound," said Wang Wei, a Beijing restaurant owner. "But that's the only difference. The content is about the same."
In the longer term, following a Western news model will mean very different standards for reporting, said Li, the journalism professor.
The new channel will have to "go out in the field to interview people of their own choice, set topics of their own choice, find their own sources," he said. But whether this will happen, Li said, "we have to wait and see."
It wasn't immediately clear whether CCTV planned to transmit its service abroad, joining an international satellite news industry that already includes CNN, the BBC and the Arabic-language Al-Jazeera, based in Qatar.
Station officials refused a request to visit the studios to see the new channel debut.
CCTV estimates its combined broadcasts reach 300 million homes -- most of the mainland's 1.3 billion people. It wasn't immediately clear, however, how many homes would be able to see the new channel.
And there were plenty of signs that despite the new style, news in China is still delivered by the communist government.
Anchors invoked party slogans such as the "Three Represents," a pet theory of recently retired President Jiang Zemin that calls on the party to modernize and make room in its ranks for entrepreneurs
1/05/03
A new service started on B3 Globecast, "RAW FM" see below for details.
A few comments to those idiots at Austech bitching about my spelling and grammer. I am not perfect, and never claimed to be you try emailing people at 3.am and not making a few stuff-ups. I have enabled the spell checker that should fix a few problems with my emails.
Impactv is mentioned over at Bruce Simpsons Aardvark website today http://www.aardvark.co.nz/
Satfacts section has been updated.
From my Emails & ICQ
From Bill Richards
Nss 6
2000 UTC
12570H Sr 5500, FEC 1/2
Unknown Data Service Pids 869 and 4137
Regards
Bill
From the Dish
PAS 8 166E 3780 H "CNN J" has started, PowerVu, SID 6, PIDs 1560/1520.
PAS 8 166E 3808 V New SID and APID for Yumi FM on : 1 and 1211.
PAS 8 166E 4004 V "Occasional feeds" on , SR 6670, FEC 3/4.(I am a Celeb get me out of here, UK Edition)
Optus B3 156E 12336 V "Raw FM" has started FTA on Apid 1722 Sid 10
Agila 2 146E 12566 V "Global TV (Taiwan)" has started , fta, SR 6666, FEC 3/4, PIDs 1026/1025.( perhaps worth lookng for those in W.A that get Ku from this bird)
Gorizont 33 145E 3875 R "Telekanal Rossiya (+8h)" is back on , SECAM.
Apstar 1A 134E 4180 V "CCTV News" has started, Fta, PIDs 516/690.
NEWS
JSAT Corporation Awards Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems Contract for Powerful A2100 Satellite
From Press Release
NEWTOWN, Pa., April 30, 2003 -- Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems (LMCSS) has been awarded a contract by JSAT Corporation of Japan to build its latest geostationary telecommunications satellite. The satellite, designated JCSAT-9, will provide satellite communications services throughout Asia and Japan following its scheduled launch in 2005.
JCSAT-9, a high-power hybrid satellite, will be located at 132 degrees East longitude. The spacecraft will be based on the award winning A2100AX platform, manufactured by Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems, Newtown, Pa. with a minimum service life of 12 years.
“We are truly honored to be selected to build JCSAT-9 in this global competition,” said Ted Gavrilis, president, Commercial Space Systems. “The award demonstrates the competitive success achieved through our initiative to create a more efficient business infrastructure, combined with the A2100's consistent record of performance and dependability. We are absolutely dedicated to producing a reliable, high-performance spacecraft, on schedule, and achieving mission success for JSAT.”
The A2100 geostationary spacecraft is designed to meet a wide variety of telecommunications needs ranging from high-power Ka, Ku and C-band fixed satellite and direct broadcast services to high power mobile satellite services using the L- and S-band frequency spectrum. The heritage A2100's modular design features flight-proven equipment, thus simplifying construction, shortening delivery schedule, and increasing on-orbit reliability.
In recognition of the A2100's reliability, Lockheed Martin recently received an award for "Product of the Year," by Frost & Sullivan. Calling it “the most reliable and efficient of its class,” Frost & Sullivan recognized the LMCSS-built A2100 satellite platform for its “outstanding on-orbit reliability record since it was first offered in 1996.”
About JSAT
JSAT is the leading satellite operator in the Asia-Pacific region. The company owns and operates eight satellites in seven orbital slots. JSAT provides satellite communications and broadcasting services that offer a range of unique features that are well suited to support high-volume, wide-distribution, high-speed networks. Implementing its corporate slogan, "JSAT, Expanding Horizons," the company is actively expanding its business throughout the Pacific region. JSAT is listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. For more information on JSAT, visit the company’s web site at http://www.jsat.net.
About Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems
Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems markets, designs and builds geostationary and non-geostationary telecommunications and remote sensing satellites for customers worldwide.
LMCSS is an operating unit of Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, one of the core business areas of the Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT). Lockheed Martin has a 41-year heritage of building reliable spacecraft for commercial and military customers, having launched more than 875 spacecraft and clocking over 1,500 years of successful in-orbit operation.
Contact:
Contact: Steve Tatum (408) 742-7531 Pager: (888) 926-2912 [email protected]
For more information about Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems, see our web site at http://www.lmcommercialspace.com
Sun beams in China as ban is lifted
From http://www.thestandard.com.hk
Sun Media Group's rights to broadcast satellite channel Sun TV on the mainland have been restored, according to sources.
The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television at the end of March suspended the landing rights beginning last month because of regulatory violations - believed to be Sun Media's co-operation with Taiwan-based Eastern Broadcasting (ETTV). Sun Media had formed a venture with ETTV and Jet TV to provide at least 16 hours of programming daily for Sun Media's Entertainment Channel.
Sun Media submitted a plan of action to the agency on April 4 for restoration of the rights and said a preliminary agreement had been reached.
The sources did not say whether Sun Media got back the rights at the expense of scrapping its co-operation with ETTV. Group chief executive Bruno Wu could not be reached.
Sun Media, which launched its Sun TV satellite operation two years ago, had a 60 per cent stake in Jet TV. The licences allowed the two channels to be downlinked by cable to foreigners' compounds and upscale hotels on the mainland.
China restricts direct broadcasts by foreign television stations. A spokesman for ETTV told The Standard last month the joint venture would not go ahead if Sun Media could not secure government approvals.
Sun Media broadcasts to about 31 million households on the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan by cable and satellite and reaches another 70 million mainland households by selling programmes to local stations.
Sun Media has posted losses since it started its China-focused broadcasting business in 2000. The satellite-TV unit has accounted for about 70 per cent of its revenue.
Trading in its shares has been halted since February 28 pending a price-sensitive announcement. They last traded at 5.4 HK cents.
(Craigs comment, This channel is on Asiasat 3)
DirecTV Helps NDS Quarter
From satellite today
Despite the continuing legal wrangling with DirecTV (even with
News Corp.'s proposed takeover of the satellite TV business),
NDS reported that the DBS powerhouse helped its fiscal third
quarter.
NDS, the U.K.-based TV technology arm of News Corp., reported
that conditional access revenues were 41.9 million pounds
($66.69 million U.S.) for the quarter that ended March 31,
compared to 33.3 million pounds ($53 million) for the same
period in the previous year. The increase was attributed to
significant shipments of smart cards for DirecTV, the company
said.
The company said it commenced shipments of a new generation
smart card for DirecTV in February 2002, and its current card
order from the satellite TV provider should be completed
during the fourth quarter.
NDS said the base of its active smart cards in use jumped by
800,000 in the fiscal third quarter, to 32.6 million as of
March 31. There was modest growth on all of the significant
platforms NDS serves, the company said, but overall the rate
of growth was slower than in previous quarters.
During the quarter, NDS won new customers, including European
platform Viasat, Australian pay-TV provider FOXTEL, and
Italy's new combined satellite platform, Sky Italia. Sky
Italia and FOXTEL are units of News Corp.
Doordarshan's DTH plan to cost Rs 6,380 million
From http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k3/apr/apr225.htm
NEW DELHI: Information and broadcasting minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today told policy makers that pubcaster Doordarshan was opting for a KU-band DTH scheme at an estimated cost of Rs 6,380 million as terrestrial expansion to cover the whole population would have been much more costly, something that was first reported by indiantelevision.com some days back.
India's pubcaster Doordarshan is setting up a KU Band transmission project at a cost of Rs 6,380 million to cover the remaining 10 per cent of population, which at present is unable to get DD transmission due to the lack of reach of the terrestrial system.
To begin with, the project would have 20 channels uplinked from Delhi. In a year’s time this is likely to be extended to 60 channels. All the channels would be free to air, according to Prasad, who was briefing the Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to his ministry about the latest developments in the media.
According to Prasad 200,000 homes in rural, remote, inaccessible mountaineous regions and border areas would be covered by DD by providing cable head ends and set top boxes. He said, the KU band transmission will be the most cost effective option for extending coverage to the uncovered areas.
As compared to Rs 6,380 million on KU band project, the coverage through the terrestrial method would have required capital investment of Rs 34,560 million and recurring expenditure of Rs 5,190 million annually. Doordarshan is hiring 4 satellite transponders for the purpose, he said.
Prasad informed members that apart from the KU band extension, DD is extending coverage to 160 uncovered villages in the eight states of the North-East by establishing cable head ends. The headends are set up by Doordarshan to downlink the TV signals in the village. The cabling from headends to the households is also done by DD.
While DD bears the entire cost, the system is handed over to the local panchayats for its day-to-day running and maintenance with the technical assistance from DD staff. Prasad said the system has been operationalized in 44 villages and the work is nearing completion in another 43 villages. The target is to cover 16,000 households at a cost of Rs 7,150 million.
Those who attended the parliamentray panel meet included Balram Singh Yadav, Abdul Rashid Shaheen, Gandhi Azad, Balkavi Bairagi, Vijay J Darda, Kartar Singh Duggal, Ajay Maroo, Lalhmingliana, Dr Ramanaidu Daggubati and Shabana Azmi.
(Craigs comment, that will please my readers in India 60 FTA Ku channels is something we can only dream of!)