30/11/01

Not much happening today havn't felt much like doing the website today. I looked on the big dish for the Aus vs Nz cricket without much luck. Abc Northern on B1 has improved power levels, loads on my 65cm again now.

From my Emails & ICQ

From Ross Woollett (NZ)

TV 2 FTA on 12671 v Sr 22500, Fec 3/4

(Craigs comment, no picture when I last looked)

From John Vandeven

All B3, Pay TV channels free to air. Was scrambled even on my subscription card.
Seem like they may be have some technical problems.

Best Regards
John Vandeven

From the Dish

Optus B1 160E 12671 V "Tv 2" Vpid 516 Apid 654 Txt 580 Sid 1032

Telkom 1 108E 3500 H "Indosiar, SCTV, Metro TV, CNBC Asia, BBC World, Bloomberg TV Asia, Metro
Business, Fashion TV, Trans TV tests" and Anteve (enc.) have started on, Sr 27500, Fec 3/4, PIDs 60/61-656/657.

NEWS

Foxtel stalks the bush

From http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,3339041%5E15316%5E%5Enbv%5E15306,00.html

FOXTEL is poised to significantly expand into regional areas serviced by troubled pay TV group Austar after buying a satellite licence from the federal Government.

The Australian Communications Authority offered the satellite slot to Foxtel, believed to have cost $1 million, after other bidders withdrew from a planned auction.

The deal gives Foxtel leverage on two fronts - its negotiations to merge with Austar and to extend its access deal to the Optus/Austar satellite.

But while Foxtel has bought the licence to operate a satellite service, the cost of launching a satellite is believed to range between $250 million and $400 million and has yet to be approved by Foxtel's board.

Foxtel chief executive Jim Blomfield would not comment on whether the company would set up its own satellite infrastructure. He would only say: "The potential of the slot for the expansion of Foxtel's business is unlimited."

Foxtel now uses the Optus/Austar satellite to send 45 channels into metropolitan areas. But that deal is believed to be close to expiry and Foxtel wants assured satellite access.

The new licence gives Foxtel the ability to broadcast 21 channels of up to 27 Mhz each. That is a huge capacity given that free-to-air digital TV channels are 7 Mhz.

It means Foxtel could provide new services such as video-on-demand and interactivity. Further, the channels could be divided into a greater number of less MegaHertz, providing more capacity for usual broadcast-style offerings.

Of Foxtel's 760,000 metropolitan subscribers, 35 per cent are serviced via satellite.

Austar, believed to be discussing its future with both the Foxtel and Optus metropolitan groups, has about 450,000 regional subscribers.

Any move by Foxtel into regional markets would be without much of Foxtel's premium programming, such as the movie packages and Fox Sports channels, which are sub-let to Austar.

However, there remains other non-exclusive programming which Foxtel could use to attract regional subscribers at discounted rates.

It would be able to use its existing call centre but would need to meet the higher cost of installing set-top boxes in regional areas.

Austar early next month is due to report its financial position to the market as it waits to learn whether the company has been able to refinance its $400 million debt facility.

If that does not occur by December 31, the loan must be repaid by its parent company UnitedGlobalCom (UGC).

However, UGC does not seem to have the funds to meet the repayment after defaulting on a $US34.5 million ($66.3 million) interest payment to mostly US owners of senior discount notes issued to buy its Austar stake.

(Craigs comment, $250-$400 Million for the satellite? a Lite sat only costs around $50 million and the location they are talking about is 152E)

Reuters closes financial video service

From http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_id=369849572

REUTERS is closing down a financial video news service that was distributed directly to traders, saying the costs were too high.

Reuters Financial Television was seen only by a "modest" number of financial professionals through Reuters terminals, Reuters spokeswoman Nancy Bobrowitz said Thursday. She declined to be more specific.

She said about half the division's work force, or about 45 people, would be laid off. The company hadn't decided what would happen to remaining workers after the service shuts down next May 31.

The move does not affect Reuters' broadcast television news service, Reuters Video News, which serves more than 330 broadcast networks in more than 90 countries.

Bobrowitz said the shutdown of Reuters Financial Television was part of an overall company reorganization first announced in July.

The financial TV service, which served customers in various regions of the world, did not operate full time but at intervals throughout the day based on news that was affecting financial markets.

It was delivered by satellite, which made the service too costly to maintain, Bobrowitz said.
( AP )

29/11/01

No copies of Badtrans so far today which is good. I have been adjusting my dish had it up on I701 I got 3769 R ok , 4086 L with a lot of breakup. Of the TVNZ globals 4194 R is the only one above threshold. Of course my dish is nowhere "tuned up" I have left it on Pas 8 for the night. I will have a look at 701 again tommorow afternoon see if I spot some feeds.

From my Emails & ICQ

From "SIAM GLOBAL"

THE SIGNAL FROM THE BOUQUET ON PALAPA 3580H CANNOT NOW BE RECEIVED IN BKK WITH A 12 FT DISH SO PRESUMABLY HAS GONE OR THE SYMBOL RATE HAS BEEN CHANGED.. THE SIGNAL FROM TELKOM IS VERY STRONG BUT THE THREE CHANNELS,
"UNKNOWN" AND TVRI TEST ARE NOT VIEWABLE AND THE HDT SHOWS THEM AS
"SCRAMBLED CHANNEL" .

SINCERELY SIAMGLOBAL BKK

From Andrew Harrison

I receive Telekom 1 108E 3500 H as a very strong signal indeed here in Vanuatu (3.7M). 2 blank channels and another loads as test. All encrypted.

(Craigs comment check again?)

From the Dish

Intelsat 701 180E 4086 L "RFO Tempo Tahiti", the occasional feeds and RFI are still on ,but without SIDs.

PAS 8 166E 12726 H All channels are encrypted, except Thai TV Global Network.

Optus B1 160E 12671 V "TV ONE" Vpid 516 Apid 654 TXT 580 Sid 1031 (No FTA video here as at 3.20pm NZ)

Optus B1 160E 12519 V "SDM House" Audio service, Apid 661, Sid 1075
Optus B1 160E 12519 V "SDM 50's and 60's" Audio service, Apid 662, Sid 1076
Optus B1 160E 12519 V "SDM Disco" Audio Service, Apid 656, Sid 1077

Optus B1 160E 12546 V "SDM Rock" Audio service, Apid 660, Sid 1078 (FTA)
Optus B1 160E 12546 V "SDM Country" Audio Service, Apid 661, Sid 1079 (FTA)
Optus B1 160E 12546 V "SDM Classical" Audio Service, Apid 662, Sid 1080
Optus B1 160E 12546 V "SDM Kids" Audio Service, Apid 665, Sid 1081 (FTA)
Optus B1 160E 12546 V "ADTRACK" Audio Service, Apid 666, Sid 1090 (FTA)
Optus B1 160E 12546 V "Merry Christmas" Audio Service, Apid 663, Sid 1184

Optus B1 160E 12581 V "SDM Chart Attack" Audio service, Apid 664, Sid 1070
Optus B1 160E 12581 V "SDM POP" Audio service, Apid 665, Sid 1071

Optus B1 160E 12608 V "SDM Smooth" Audio Service, Apid 661, Sid 1072
Optus B1 160E 12608 V "SDM Chill" Audio Service, Apid 662, Sid 1073
Optus B1 160E 12608 V "SDM Jazz" Audio Service, Apid 666, Sid 1074

Optus B3 156E 12313 H Austar TV Homepage has started on , Vpid 33 Apid34.

Telekom 1 108E 3500 H "Indosair, SCTV, Ch2, Trans TV JKT, CNBC, BBC, Bloomberg, Metro BU , Digitl Video, Trans TV JKT, Anteve" all reported here! Sr 27500, Fec 3/4 (Very interesting this covers nearly everything thats on Palapa C2, Could everything be moving off Palapa C2.)

Asiasat 2 100.5E 3640 H All TV channels have encrypted again.

NEWS

SpeedCast launches NetTV today

From Indiantelevision.com

Leading broadband enabler SpeedCast launched NetTV today. The online multimedia service will serve the Pan-Asian region.

NetTV will offer subscribers more than 20 channels of streaming multimedia programs. The network delivers streaming multimedia content directly into ISP networks, solving the hassles of Internet congestion. NetTV brings content closer than ever before to the end-user, to enable subscribers to enjoy high quality streaming audio and video content directly from their PCs.

NetTV's browser combines video and audio content and offers data and search functions. There are four viewing modes: minimal, compact, standard and full screen display interfaces. NetTV will enable ISPs increase subscriber base, as well as generate new revenue streams. ISPs that have formed partnerships with Speedcast, have a wide selection of premium audio and video content that they can choose from the NetTV package.

NetTV is available for ISPs within the AsiaSat 3S satellite footprint that covers the entire Asia-Pacific region. The coverage area extends from Russia to New Zealand, Japan to India and Egypt. Based in Hong Kong, SpeedCast, which provides satellite based services throughout Asia, delivers the latest news, business, entertainment, lifestyle, cultural and sports content directly into ISP networks throughout Asia and the Middle East.

Deutsche Welle, Eurosportnews, Radio Free Virgin, Hownew's CCTV-4 channel, CETV and Asian News International (ANI) are the latest companies to partner SpeedCast. Its other partners include Bloomberg Television, Fashion TV and Channel NewsAsia. NetTV is the latest step in the company's bid to become the leading broadband Internet and multimedia service provider.

SpeedCast claims that NetTV has successfully aggregated world-class content providers to deliver branded audio, video and data content to qualified ISPs throughout the Asia Pacific and Middle East.

PanAmSat Exercises Option to Buy Two More Small Geostationary Communications Satellites from Company

From http://www.orbital.com

Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB) received another major industry endorsement for its smaller-sized geostationary (GEO) STARTM satellite systems today when PanAmSat Corporation (NASDAQ: SPOT) exercised a contract option to purchase two additional company-built C-band spacecraft. The two new satellites will be based on Orbital's STAR-2 platform, which offers the satellite industry's highest performance and lowest per-transponder acquisition costs of any small commercial GEO spacecraft in production today. The two companies did not disclose the financial details of the option exercise, which follows PanAmSat's original order with Orbital for one STAR-class satellite in March 2001. The first of the two new PanAmSat satellites is slated for delivery in the fourth quarter of 2003, while the second satellite is expected to have its delivery date determined in the near future.

"We are exceptionally pleased that PanAmSat has given us the go-ahead to build two additional satellites for its in-orbit fleet," said Mr. David W. Thompson, Orbital's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "With this order, Orbital continues to develop strong momentum throughout the satellite market as established and emerging operators in the U.S. and abroad are recognizing the benefits of our smaller-sized GEO satellites. Our STAR products offer customers lower acquisition and launch costs, the ability to cost-effectively add incremental capacity and the flexibility to meet certain regulatory requirements," he added.

Over 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.

"Now that there is an established and proven alternative to the larger, more costly GEO satellites offered by our competitors, I think we are seeing a clear and encouraging trend around the world of satellite operators re-examining their acquisition strategy, budget flexibility and overall capacity requirements. With numerous new business proposals submitted or currently in the works, we are seeing more interest in our STAR satellites than ever before," said Dr. Ali Atia, President of Orbital's GEO communications satellite business unit.

With PanAmSat's exercise of its two option orders, Orbital has built and delivered, or is now in the process of manufacturing, eight GEO communications satellites, including IndoStar-1, B-SAT-2a, -2b and -2c, N-STAR c (in conjunction with Lockheed Martin), PanAmSat's Galaxy XII, and the two new spacecraft PanAmSat just ordered. Orbital is also one of the world's leading suppliers of low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites. The company has developed and produced, or is now under contract to deliver, over 90 LEO spacecraft for commercial, scientific and defense applications.

Mr. Mesut Ciceker, Orbital's Vice President of Business Development for GEO satellites, said, "All of us at Orbital are grateful for the confidence that PanAmSat has shown in our ability to deliver three highly reliable, state-of-the-art satellites for their extensive worldwide communications network. We hope that this initial order is just the beginning of a long and beneficial relationship between Orbital and PanAmSat, one of the world's 'blue-chip' satellite operators."

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 add incremental capacity to their network.

About PanAmSat:

PanAmSat Corporation is the premier provider of global video and data broadcasting services via satellite. Operating a global network of 21 in-orbit spacecraft with more than 800 transponders and seven technical facilities on the ground, the company reaches 98 percent of the world's populations with entertainment and information delivered through cable television systems, TV broadcast affiliates, direct-to-home TV operators, Internet service providers, and telecommunications companies. PanAmSat is 81 percent owned by HUGHES Electronics Corporation. For more information on PanAmSat, visit the company's web site at http://www.panamsat.com

About Orbital:

Orbital develops and manufactures affordable space systems, including satellites, launch vehicles, electronics and advanced systems. Orbital is also involved with satellite-based networks that provide wireless data communications and high-resolution Earth imagery to customers around the world. For more information on Orbital, visit the company's web site at http://www.orbital.com

28/11/01

16 Copies of Badtrans in my email thanks to all you guys who have passed it on. At this stage Nortons Antivirus is winning 16-0 on my machine.

I note Tv1 running labled "Eng45" inside Sky mux on B1, 12671V Vpid 516 apid 654 txt 580 pcr 8190 sid 1045 PMT 273

No audio, and TXT dosnt work...loads as radio channel on my Nokia. anyone else find it loading as radio? Could it be intentional? so that some fta boxs will have trouble with it? I think we need to wait until December 1st. In the meantime Skys new channel numbers are listed below in the News section

From my Emails & ICQ

From "Siam Global"

IN RESPONSE TO YOUR REQUEST FOR INFO ON TELKOM 3500H I CAN REPORT 0800GMT MONDAY THAT THERE ARE THREE CHANNELS THERE, TWO ARE MARKED UNKNOWN THE OTHER TVRI TEST. ACCORDING TO THE HDT RECEIVER I HAVE ALL THREE ARE " SCRAMBLED " AND INDEED NO VIDEO CAN BE SEEN.

SIAMGLOBAL BKK

From the Dish

PAS 8 166E 12726 H "TARBS services here are currently FTA, Sr 27067, Fec 3/4

Optus B1 160E 12456 V "TVNZ TV One" has new pids Vpid 518 Apid 656.
Optus B1 160E 12456 V "TVNZ TV 2" has new pids Vpid 519 Apid 657.
Optus B1 160E 12483 V "T81" is FTA, Apid 654 PCR 148 Sid 81 PMT 269, with "Pop Music"

Asiasat 2 100.5E 3640 H Nile Variety, Future TV USA and ESC 2 have left.

NEWS

New Remote Control Configuration for Sky Digital Channels

Source : Sky Network Television Limited

SKY Television confirmed today that from 1 December 2001, SKY Digital channels will be allocated new positions on the SKY remote control.

The new format will group SKY channels into genres making navigation and channel selection easier and more user friendly.

As announced earlier this month TV1 and TV2 will join SKY’s digital service on December 1 and will become part of the first tier, the broadcast channels, which will also include TV3, TV4, SKY 1 and Prime.

Travis Dunbar, SKY Television Director of Entertainment said, “As we continue to increase the number and variety of channels that we offer we need to ensure that they sit in logical tiers”.

?It will now be much easier to select channels as they will now be grouped together in genres such as Broadcast, Sports, Movies, Entertainment, Documentaries and News” said Dunbar.

Sky Digital Channels As of 1 Dec 2001

Source : Sky Network Television
28 Nov 2001

0 Mosiac
1 TV1
2 TV2
3 TV3
4 TV4/Fashion TV
5 SKY1
6 Prime
7 SKY Sport
8 SKY Sport 2
9 ESPN
10 Trackside/Fashion TV
11 SKY Movies
12 SKY MovieMax
13 MGM
14 Hallmark
15 Sundance
16 UKTV

Nothing listed for 17

18 Juice TV
19 J2
20 Cartoon Network
21 Nickelodeon
22 Discovery
23 National Geographic
24 Animal Planet

Nothing listed for 25/26

27 CNN
28 SKY News Australia
29 CNBC
30 SKY Box Office
31 SKY Box Office Movies
32 SKY Box Office Movies 2

38 Playboy
39 Spice

61 JTV
62 KTV
63 CTVN
64 CTVE
65 Phoenix
66 CTVC

70 Chart Attack
71 Pop
72 Easy
73 Chill
74 Jazz
75 House
76 50 & 60's
77 Disco
78 Rock
79 Country
80 Classical
81 Kids

101 National Radio
102 Concert FM
103 Wolf Radio
104 Edge

200 Interaction

Ihug Changes Settings for ULTRA users in Australia and NZ

Panamsat 8 Australian users

Dear Customers,

To make further improvements to the performance of ihug Ultra, on the
4th of December 2001 at 05:00 AEST ihug will be altering the settings to
it's PAS8 carrier.

As a result of these changes please ensure that your settings are
changed. The new settings are below.

Downlink Frequency 12564.000MHz (currently 12560.137MHz)
Symbol rate 23.7036MSym (currently 17.981MSym)

The changes will take place on the 4th of December 2001 at 0500hrs AEST.
Please note that these new settings will not work before 0500hrs AEST on
the 4th of December but from 0500hrs AEST onwards you will have to
change your settings to continue to receive the Ultra service.

Panamsat 2 NZ users

On the 4th of December 2001 at 0500hrs NZDT Ihug will be altering settings to
the satellite carrier, which is used for high-speed connection.

As a result of these changes users will be required to change the frequency and
symbol rate settings of your computer. The new settings are below.

Frequency: setting: 12489 MHz (currently 12490 MHz)
Symbol rate setting: 11.111 MSym (currently 9.63 MSym)

27/11/01

Live chat in the chatroom usual time 8.30pm Syd and 9pm NZ onwards be in there for the latest satellite chat. Abc Northern on B1 down in power again it seems not playing here on the 76cm. If someone has good instructions how to setup NTSC on the Nokia then I am interested. Mine isn't displaying properly although the TV handles NTSC Star sports fine. (even has a tint control)

Just noticed some changes on the TVNZ mux on Optus B1, 12456 V Sr 22500 Fec 3/4, see "From the Dish" Section. As you can see Teletext has been added. Also the picture resolution is now 720x576!

Satfacts Page updated

From my Emails & ICQ

From "Siam Global" 26/11/01

Incredible website today. Firstly a Satfacts article about the MMBN bouquet on Palapa shutting down and then in complete contradiction a letter saying it is alive and well . Therefore checked out the bouquet with disbelief, certain the letter saying the bouquet was up again was an error. But no, there it was.... all twelve channels. The signal strength however was extremely weak as the letter had stated...a third the strength of the other Palapa channels, and that was with a 12 foot dish, 15kLNB and mechanical polariser. The moral I suppose is never disbelieve anthing in this game but check it out oneself !

Siam Global Bangkok

(Craigs comment, the Satfacts item went up before the Item From Dave Ross came in, not sure what MMBN is up to)

From the Dish

Intelsat 701 180E 4086 L "France Culture" has replaced France Bleu on , Apid 267.

Optus B1 12456 V "TVNZ MUX" Sr 22500 Fec 3/4

Optus B1 12456 V "Tv1" Vpid 518, Apid 656, TXT 582, PCR 154, Sid 101, PMT 41
Optus B1 12456 V "Tv2" Vpid 519, Apid 657, TXT 583, PCR 155, Sid 102, PMT 44

Palapa C2 113E 3880 H "MMBN is back 12 services" Sr 26850 Fec 3/4. (Very weak!)

Telekom 1 108E 3500 H "Indonesian MUX reported here, includes Metro, RCTI, Tvri , Global TV" Sr 24000 Fec 3/4. ( I need reports of this one please..could it be that Palapa C2 is on its way out and that they will shift here. I hope not!)

Intelsat 704 66E 3924 R "CNBC Asia" has left

Intelsat 604 60E 4173 R "Occasional feeds" , Sr 5632, Fec 3/4, global beam.

NEWS

New Worm Replaces Sircam as No. 1

From http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,48613,00.html

Yet another worm that takes advantage of an old and well-known vulnerability in Microsoft software is on the loose.

The worm, dubbed "BadTrans.B" by antiviral application vendors, installs a piece of spy software on infected computers. This program attempts to record and relay private information such as user names and passwords to an e-mail address that is presumably accessible to the worm's author.

Most of the major antiviral application companies ranked the worm as a moderate to high threat on Monday morning. MessageLabs' virus activity tracking indicates that BadTrans.B is being transmitted at about 100 copies per minute.

BadTrans.B even knocked the worm that just won't die, SirCam, from its first-place post on MessageLabs' tracking list on Sunday afternoon. SirCam had reigned for four months as the most prevalent computer virus.

"BadTrans.B is propagating as quickly as any virus we have ever seen, and has replaced SirCam as the most virulent virus in the wild," Mark Sunner, chief technology officer at MessageLabs, said.

But some antiviral vendors said that it hasn't yet reached the saturation levels of other worms that wiggled across the Internet this year.

"Although BadTrans.B seems to be out there in significant numbers, it does not at the moment seem to be spreading as fast as Nimda, Kournikova or the Love Bug," Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos Anti-Virus, said. "Calls to our technical support department are simply not coming in as quickly as they did with those earlier virus incidents."

The worm can infect computers running Microsoft's Windows operating systems and unpatched versions of Outlook, and is aimed at slackers who haven't stayed current with Microsoft's cavalcade of patches.

BadTrans.B is a retooled version of a worm that was first released in April. The new version has been reworked to exploit a known Microsoft vulnerability, which was also used by the Nimda worm, so that BadTrans.B may now be able to spread more effectively.

BadTrans.B exploits a previously patched hole in Microsoft's Outlook e-mail program, allowing the virus code to be executed simply by clicking to open and read an infected e-mail in Microsoft Outlook. It is not necessary to double click on an attachment, which may not even be visible to the user, to launch the malicious code.

Cluley said that once the virus is active on a system, BadTrans.B will e-mail itself to addresses contained in e-mail address books, Web cache and the "My Documents" folder.

If the virus sends itself to an e-mail address found on the hard drive rather than in the address book, then it will simply use the subject line "Re:".

If sent to an address culled from Outlook's address book, then the worm will generate a subject line by "reading" e-mail on the infected machine and "replying" to it, using the same subject line, thus "lulling the recipient into a false sense of security," Cluley said.

BadTrans.B also randomly generates a file name for the infected attachment, using a variety of different phrases.

Once active on a system, BadTrans.B activates a Trojan horse program that will attempt to monitor the infected system and record user names, passwords and other sensitive data and forward them to a designated e-mail address on free e-mail service MailandNews.com.

"The fact that BadTrans.B can log private details through keystrokes has huge implications for personal and corporate confidentiality, and underlines the recent advances in virus-writing techniques," Sunner said.

Whether the e-mail address that the private information is relayed to belongs to the worm's author is still unknown, Cluley and Sunner said. E-mails sent to the address have neither bounced back nor netted a reply from a recipient. The MailandNews service did not immediately reply to inquiries.

Antiviral companies such as Symantec and McAfee have posted removal information for the worm on their sites.

Taiwan Broadcast Rights Delayed Not Rejected Says Phoenix Satellite TV

Phoenix Satellite TV Holdings Ltd. explained that its application for the right to broadcast its infonews channel in Taiwan has been delayed and not rejected by Taiwan.

Phoenix Deputy Chief Executive N.K. Leung said it was untrue that the company’s satellite broadcaster's application had been denied because its programs are “unfriendly to the Taiwanese government.” Leung pointed out that the application has simply been “stalled” because Taiwan required more information from Phoenix. The market has been expecting Phoenix to receive formal transmission rights this year.

Leung described the situation as a consultation involving normal correspondence between Phoenix and Taiwan. Leung expects that rights won't be obtained before the year-end since both sides were still in talks at this late date. He estimated that the earliest time Phoenix would receive its license might be by the first quarter of 2002.

A factor in the lengthy negotiations was that various Taiwanese departments were busy preparing for the December legislative and mayoral elections, hence Phoenix’s application will not be “high priority in the relevant departments' agenda of things to discuss.”

Hong Kong's Chinese language media earlier reported that Phoenix had been given permission to broadcast its infonews channel last May this year, but hadn’t received an official license to carry its channel on the island's cable networks.

Australia’s News Corporation owns some 38 percent of Phoenix. Industry analysts believe that Phoenix’s close ties with mainland China might be worrisome to Taiwan and might be a major factor in the government’s decision to grant or refuse a broadcast license.

Taiwan is also concerned about Beijing’s recent order that foreign television networks to distribute their channels through a centralized broadcasting system beginning January 1, 2002. Phoenix said it would hold another round of talks with Beijing on details about migrating to the platform.

Market analysts said this move was intended to allow the Chinese government to tighten control on broadcasting activities by foreign TV broadcasters.

Although Phoenix broadcasts are already seen throughout China, the company has only recently been given official approval to broadcast in the southern province of Guangdong.

In China, licensed foreign broadcasters send their programming by satellite to a small market comprising hotels, high-end residential compounds and local cable companies.

(Craigs Comment, Pheonix Infonews is FTA off Asiasat 3 inside one of Stars transponders)

Only Local Investors Allowed in Indonesia Broadcasting Business

From satnewsasia.com

Only domestic Indonesian investors will be allowed to buy shares in television broadcaster Indosiar, according to the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA).

IBRA executive Dasa Sutantio said the agency would abide by the law that forbids local broadcasting businesses from falling into foreign hands. Sustantio dismissed reports that Indosiar would be bought by ABS-CBN, the largest broadcasting company in the Philippines.

Sutantio, however, admitted that ABS-CBN had indicated interest in taking part in a tender to sell 49 percent of Indosiar. Sutantio revealed that seven prospective Indonesian investors have been shortlisted to take part in the tender.

Indosiar, a subsidiary of the Salim Group, is controlled by IBRA as part of a deal by Salim to pay its debt to the Indonesian government. Salim is Indonesia’s largest conglomerate.

TVB Unit to Launch Mandarin Entertainment Channel in Japan

From satnewsasia.com

TVBI Co. Ltd and Dai Fu Co Ltd will jointly launch a 24-hour Mandarin entertainment channel for the more than one million Chinese in Japan on December 1.

TVBI, a unit of Hong Kong-based Television Broadcasts Ltd. (TVB), said the channel would be called TVB Dai Fu and would be TVB's first 24-hour channel in Japan. The channel will be operated under a license specific to TVB content held by Dai Fu.

The new channel will be carried by direct-to-home (DTH) satellite system, SkyPerfect, which has a subscriber base of about three million households in Japan.

TVBI said a strategic alliance has been formed between TVBI and Dai Fu following a similar cooperation format for the CCTV Dai Fu channel in mainland China. Under the terms of the alliance, Dai Fu will be responsible for channel operation, sales and marketing, while TVBI will provide programs and marketing support.

TVBI is the worldwide operating arm of TVB, the largest producer and distributor of Chinese-language programs.

World's fastest Internet service crashes before Tongan liftoff

From http://www.it.mycareer.com.au/breaking/2001/11/23/FFX2ZV3UCUC.html

A plan by Tonga's bachelor crown prince to sell his kingdom the world's fastest Internet service has crashed, one of the key contractors confirmed today.

Eccentric Crown Prince Tupouto'a, 53, had swapped playing with toy soldiers to set up a wireless phone and Internet service which he had promised would be up to eight times faster than anywhere else in the world.

As part of the deal his local company, Shoreline Communications, signed a deal with Singapore's Datacraft Asia for more than $US10 million ($A19.5 million) to build a highspeed digital network.

But a spokeswoman for Datacraft in Singapore said today: "The project has been cancelled". They would not provide a reason.

The Tongan Government did not respond to requests for comment on the issue.

Tupouto'a, who is set to take the throne when ailing King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, 82, dies, has been engaged in an increasingly bitter commercial battle with his sister, Princess Pilolevu Tuita, who controls the satellite communications company Tongasat.

She recently revealed that Tongasat had moved from leasing out equatorial satellite slots to actually owning its own satellites.

Tonga has a colorful history of projects that failed even before they got off the ground. These included buying into a bogus Korean plant to turn seawater into natural gas, nuclear waste and old tyre storage and more recently, a failed multimilliondollar investment on insurance on terminally ill Americans.

That saw Tonga lose around $US20 million ($A39 million) in a scheme dreamed up by the king's official court jester, American Buddhist Jesse Bogdonoff.

He is also involved in Tupuoto'a Internet scheme although it is not entirely clear what he was doing with it.

Shoreline, Tupuoto'a and Bogdonoff were to have run a company called Tonfon which was to have run a wireless phone service in competition against the stateowned Tonga Communications Corporation.

Tupouto'a had sung the democratic potential of the Internet he was going to offer.

"It will provide liberation for the common man greater than that originally given him by the automobile."

Tonga, a chain of 45 inhabited islands north of New Zealand, has a per capita gross national product of $US1263 ($A2456) and is largely dependent on remittances from thousands of Tongans abroad and pumpkin exports to Japan.

An estimated 67,000 of the kingdom's 100,000 people live on the southern island of Tongatapu, which hosts the capital Nuku'alofa.

(Craigs comment not exactly Satellite related but interesting comment about Tongasat owning its own satellite?? hmm they have a website that dosn't say much http://www.tongasat.com/ )

Europe Plans to Compete With U.S. G.P.S Satellite Network

From http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nyt/20011126/tc/europe_plans_to_compete_with_u_s_satellite_network_1.html

Countries are building independent satellite navigation networks, troubled that the G.P.S. system is run by the United States military.

Around the world, countries are mobilizing to build independent satellite navigation networks, troubled that the Global Positioning System, the only functioning worldwide network, is run by the United States military and controlled by the government.

In the last decade or so, the continuous signals emitted by a constellation of orbiting satellites have allowed users to compute time, location and speed with high accuracy, calculations that play an increasing role in everything from firing missiles in Afghanistan to guiding ships at sea to flashing directions in rental cars. As the American technology becomes a worldwide standard, foreign governments are wary that that dependence raises issues of strategic and economic security.

The United States government sees its Global Positioning System, or G.P.S., as a resource freely available to the world. Even foreign militaries use it. It is managed by an interagency board, but is operated by the Defense Department, a fact that raises qualms around the world.

But other countries see the system as an American monopoly, intent on reinforcing its dominion. "Europe cannot accept reliance on a military system which has the possibility of being cut off," said René Oosterlinck, head of the navigation department at the European Space Agency, fairly summing up the emotions G.P.S. elicits abroad.

In response, Europe will spend billions assembling a civil satellite system called Galileo, scheduled to be in operation by 2008. By the end of this year, Europe is expected to have allocated 1.1 billion euros ($966 million) to Galileo, with another 450 million euros expected to be approved by the European Transport Commission next week.

China, which hopes to build an independent satellite navigation system within the next decade, launched two experimental positioning satellites last year. The Beidou navigation satellites, named after the Northern Ladle, or Big Dipper in Chinese, sit in an orbit over China. The government uses the systems for things like urban traffic control and earthquake monitoring.

Russia has said it will launch three satellites before the end of the year to resuscitate its ailing Global Navigation Satellite System, a military-operated system known as Glonass. It was first designed with 24 satellites when it went into operation in 1993, but aging satellites dropped out of service as Russia's economic health declined. Only six satellites are now running; new satellites would bring the total up to nine.

Galileo has the most momentum of the alternative satellite projects, and has sparked interest in countries outside Europe. Canada has been financially involved in the early stages of the project. Russia has lent technical expertise and is looking for a bigger role. China has shown a strong desire to participate. And other countries, including Israel, India, South Africa and Australia, have expressed interest.

The United States has promoted G.P.S. as a global standard. In addition to its military and transportation applications, G.P.S. is used because it provides a relatively inexpensive and highly accurate time signal for synchronization. The time synchronization is used in networks like power grids, telecommunications and banking. Disruption in G.P.S. would cause those networks to slow down, but not necessarily fail.

Galileo arose from Europe's concerns about falling behind the United States technologically. At an estimated cost of 3.6 billion euros (about $3.16 billion) for design and deployment, Galileo would be the most significant infrastructure project by the European Union to date.

In the long run, the European Union envisions Galileo as a private-public partnership. But some question the economic wisdom of spending billions of euros, expecting private support and then charging for a certified signal when the G.P.S. signal is free, reliable and a worldwide standard.

"Galileo is a very confusing system, at least to my American mind," said Pete Brumbaugh, a spokesman for Garmin International, which makes G.P.S. receiving equipment. "There is already this really equitable system. There are already receivers that provide incredible accuracy to users worldwide."

An independent study released by PricewaterhouseCoopers last week, however, predicted that Galileo would have considerable economic benefits. Europe also wants a larger share of the billions of dollars made in maintaining and making satellite navigation equipment. Right now that business is dominated by the United States and Japan.

The European Union says that the United States cannot guarantee the reliability and availability of the G.P.S. civilian signal, as United States national security needs could potentially trump any other needs. In contrast, Galileo proposals describe a free public signal as well as certified services available for governments or paying subscribers.

Analysts see an advantage to having a system separate for G.P.S. in case of any sort of disruption. "It provides a lot more accessibility, redundancy, robustness," said Glen Gibbons, editor of GPS World, a satellite navigation trade publication.

The emphasis on homeland defense since Sept. 11 has increased support for redundant satellite systems, Mr. Oosterlinck said.

The G.P.S. system, which gained prominence during the Gulf War, was originally developed for the United States military. The system was made available for public use in 1993, with a separate, intentionally degraded civilian signal that provided less accurate positioning as a built-in obstacle to anyone using the system for criminal or rogue purposes.

Last year, however, the United States stopped degrading the civilian signal because advances in technologies like jamming now allow the military to selectively interfere with signals wherever it wants to for instance, in arenas of armed combat like Kosovo or Afghanistan. On Sept. 17, the United States reiterated that it had no future intention of degrading the public signal. But these statements have only slightly soothed international concerns.

Minor friction has emerged between the United States and Europe over the development of Galileo, and American officials have expressed skepticism about the relative costs and benefits of the project.

As Galileo continues to move forward, the United States has voiced concerns about trade, security and technology standards. The last diplomatic meeting on Galileo and G.P.S. took place in late October. At the meeting, the two sides began serious discussions about the text of fundamental principles for Galileo, said Ralph Braibanti, head of the Galileo and G.P.S. negotiating team for the State Department.

Some officials in the Defense Department are concerned about an independent satellite system that could erode their military advantage. While it is cooperating in creating shared standards, the United States has insisted that Galileo not interfere with the parts of the spectrum used for American military signals.

In addition, the United States government fears Europe may impose regulatory restrictions that give European industry technological advantages over its American counterpart. As an example of such past regulations, American officials point to a proposed restriction on jet engine mufflers, called hushkits, which was seen as an attempt to protect European aviation industries by disproportionately affecting American aircraft and equipment manufacturers.

Another technology developed under the American military which has since passed into wide international use is the Internet. But whereas G.P.S. is strictly under American control, the Internet was intentionally designed with no central authority.

The ultimate implications of Galileo will only be sorted out in the minutiae of negotiations. Politicians, industry executives and trade representatives are wrangling over what type of institutions and structures should manage a dual-use technology that transcends borders and oceans.

"It really is a global utility and it's a new one," said Mr. Gibbons, of GPS World. "People are still trying to get their minds around what it all means."

26/11/01

Some interesting odds and ends for you all today. Some of you who are having virus trouble, I am sure they are not comming through the mailing list as I have disabled all attachments. Some virus scanners may be triggerd by the embedded html advert that the mailing list inserts but that should not be a problem. If you are not using a modern up to date scanner you only have yourself to blame for getting a virus. The main problem is people using older versions of Microsoft Outlook Express for emails this program has security fix/patches weekly thats how bad it is. I suggest anyone using an old version of this to upgrade to version 6 which has improved attachment handling. Or else use a different email program! %95 of most viruses come into the system via holes in Microsoft Outlook email client.

You can download the FULL Nortons antivirus 2002 from this site. (If you don't mind using a illegal version, If using Win XP I recommend only using the latest Nortons 2002 Antivirus older virus checkers do not work with XP!)

http://www.pulox.i-p.com/

Once there click "Mirror -1 U.S" down the bottom of the page

Several virus scanners available I recommend Number 6, Nortons Antivirus 2002

Click on it then you will have to click on mirror-1 on the next screen and it should start downloading (use a download util as its probably around 40 megs) Note its a RAR file so you may need winrar to unpack it.

After installing go through the options and set it up PROPERLY

SATFACTS PAGE updated

Article

Decoding Unencrypted Mpg 4:2:2 streams via the Nokia and your PC

1st If you don't already have a mpg 4:2:2 playback codec installed for Windows Media Player, install Ligos LSX-MPEG Player from http://www.ligos.com

2nd Use the well known "Dvb Recorder" Software and record the stream via scsii, (use the realtime mode). I recomend you shut any other open applications and have plenty of HD space to spare.

3rd When recording is finished playback using Windows Media Player! Newer version higher than Mediaplayer version 6.4 may already handle mpg 4:2:2 video, so try before installing the Ligos player

Note in this pic the stream was being played back scaled down to %50 (my current ancient video card chokes at anything higher) also the screengrab above has had a high amount of JPG compression applied (to compress for the site) but you can see the result a normally "unviewable" without expensive commercial 4:2:2 decoder can be examined and played back! there are limits though a very high SR, may not work this one was using SR 6110. Let me know if you have some success with this.

From my Emails & ICQ

From ANON

Unconfirmed report from a Tarbs installer:

Tarbs are currently having difficulties with their encryption system, resulting in (as we are already aware of), some channels being 'free' on C band for extended lengths of time.

Also unconfirmed at this stage, if you sign up for your 'language' you may be getting many more channels than what you are supose to be. This is being caused by problems with the encryption system, or as Tarbs put it in another polite way, "we are currently providing some extra channels at present, a sort of promotion if you like, just in case you should also understand Chinese, Arabic, Italian, Spanish, Serbian, Greek, Turkish..................

How Kind and Sweet, we must all go and learn some more languages!

From Dave Ross

Palapa C2 3580 H Sr 26850 Fec 3/4

Its 12 channels from the MMBN network.
It is very week in Northern Aust.

This Transponder was used by Indovision, and was much stronger than MMBN signal.

(Craigs Comment, others report problems with this sat as well seems its on its last legs)

From Chris Pickstock 25/11/01

B3, Mediasat 12363V, Trotting from Kapunda, SA. Good signal, the power must be up again.

4.10 pm SA time

B3, 12336 V, "V8 Superstars" in 16:9 format

From the Dish

Optus B3 156E 12626 H TCM Australia has left..

Yamal 102 90E 3582 L "STS Ladya" has started , Sr 4295, Fec 3/4, Vpid 308 Apid 258.

NEWS

Maharishi channel to start Ku-band digital transmission next month

From http://www.financialexpress.com/fe20011126/con7.html

Maharishi Channel is switching over to Ku-band digital transmission, making it the first channel in India to use this technology. It will, however, continue to be a free-to-air channel.

The switchover to the Ku-band platform on EuropeStar satellite will be from December 15, sources said. The channel, however, will be available in the dual mode and cable operators will be allowed time to shift as it will continue on PanAMSat till February 28, 2002. The satellite covers India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

As broadcasters have not used Ku-band transmission in India, a lot of capacity is available. Though satellite providers are offering Ku band at reduced prices, broadcasters are reluctant to switch over as cable operators do not have the equipment. Earlier, government had banned Ku-band transmission. Broadcasters in India are currently using the C-band.

For a short time, Maharishi Channel is offering a special promotional price for a complete equipment package. Those who switch over to Maharishi’s Ku-band broadcast can receive a 25 per cent price reduction on digital satellite receiver, small dish antenna and LNB. All equipment comes with a full 12-month warranty for parts and service. The package includes a high quality digital receiver, Ku-band LNB, and 24-inch professional dish antenna. Maharishi Channel Cable Network is planning to start shipping equipment packages to cable operators.

The company plans to add new channels. Switching to Ku-band digital broadcasting will enable Maharishi Channel to expand the offerings. “Instead of offering just one channel, there will be a full bouquet of free-to-air channels,” the source said.

Ku-band transmission allows for very small dish antennas to be used for reception. “In America, Europe and Japan, these small dish antennas are especially popular with homeowners for their ease of installation and excellent reception. The highest power satellites in the world utilise the smallest dish antennas. In America, the dishes are 18 inches and Japan 14 inches. Maharishi Channel will be using dishes as small as 13 inches,” the source added.

Maharishi Channel is part of Maharishi Satellite Network, which broadcasts Maharishi’s vedic wisdom through a network of 10 satellites. It is available in 19 languages and reaches out to over 200 countries

T S I C H A N N E L N E W S - Number 47/2001 November 25 2001 -

A weekly roundup of global TV news sponsored by Tele Satellite International

Editor: Branislav Pekic

Edited Apsattv.com Edition

A S I A

AUSTRALIA

ASIA GLOBAL CROSSING WINS SKY CHANNEL CONTRACT

Asia Global Crossing, the leading pan-Asian telecommunications services
provider, announced it will deploy an ATM service for Australia's National
Racing Broadcaster, Sky Channel. Sky Channel provides live and exclusive
telecasts of Australian and international horse and greyhound events using its
global broadcast network. Asia Global Crossing's ATM service will be delivered
using its dedicated global fibre network, enabling Sky Channel to provide
audiences with live transmission of Australian horse race meetings from its
premises in Frenchs Forest, Sydney to a re-broadcaster in Louisville, Kentucky
via a gateway in Los Angeles. Video, voice and data will be delivered on the
ATM backbone replacing Sky's traditional satellite delivery. The new dedicated
Sydney-Louisville ATM service replaces Sky Channel's satellite services which
are typically booked on an hourly rate and only offer simplex transmission
capacity. Dedicated fibre from Australia to the United States via Asia Global
Crossing is expected to reduce transmission costs and provide Sky with a
dedicated video duplex, audio and data transmission capability. Sky Channel
broadcasts approximately 41,000 live horse and greyhound races each year from
Australia. The new capability will launch in February 2002. Sky Channel
delivers its services within Australia via the Aurora platform on the Optus B3
satellite and a tailored service to domestic households via the pay-TV networks
distribution infrastructure. Sky Channel has international capacity on the
Thaicom 3 satellite to deliver its service across Asia, Europe, Africa and the
Middle East.

Internet - http://www.asiaglobalcrossing.com/index.htm

NEW ZEALAND

SKY SEEKS CABLE LINK-UP

Leading pay-TV operator Sky said it wants to utilize the country’s cable
networks to increase subscribers from their current 439,000. CEO John Fellet
told local press that telco Telecom will probably be one of Sky’s first
partners although no timescale was specified.

TAIWAN

PHOENIX DENIED BROADCAST LICENSE

News Corp.-backed Phoenix TV has had its application to broadcast its InfoNews
channel refused, according to local reports. The channel already airs on
Taiwanese cable networks and has been tacitly accepted by authorities, but they
are thought to be unhappy about the its content and Hong Kong-based Phoenix’s
links with mainland China. The DTH operator recently received approval to air
its Chinese Channel in certain parts of China.

A F R I C A

SOUTH AFRICA

CFN CLOSURE TO HIT DSTV SUBSCRIBERS

Carlton Food Network, DSTV’s popular food and drink channel, will no longer be
on local TV screens from the end of the month. The decision to terminate the
service came from the channel’s owners, Carlton Communications, said
Multichoice corporate affairs GM Lebogang Hashatse in an interview for
+usiness Day”. He said UK-based Carlton Communications was having “difficulty
with its business model” and the Food Network would cease broadcasting soon.
Hashatse added that many viewers were likely to be disappointed by the news
that the channel would no longer be broadcast. “It’s a very popular channel
with our subscribers,” he said. “We will be informing them of the changes
before the end of the month.”

25/11/01

More playing with my dish today managed to find PAS 8 ! Loaded up a whole lot of channels on H pol havn't got the V pol sorted yet. But I did have trouble with NTSC, my tv is NTSC compatible with both formats and works fine on Star Sports (Analogue receievr) but the Nokias NTSC output needs to drop way down the screen its quite scrunched up Perhaps I need to venture into the dreaded NTSC Expert menu. Loaing up the various channel muxs I can see I will have to do a lot of channel renaming.

From my Emails & ICQ

From "ZOR"

Some of the Arabic channels in the TARBS Asiasat 2 group (3640H)
are currently unencrypted:

ESC 1
Nile News
Nile Variety

From Chris Pickstock 24/11/01

1.10pm SA time

B1, 12326 H Sr 6980, BBC World currently showing
B1, 12317 H Sr 6980, CNN currently showing

Pas 8, 12726H Sr 28067 Thai TV5 is on FTA, Vpid 524, Apid 652

Chris

From Me 23/11/01

B3, 12336 V Mediasat Ocasional 2 "Kings Soccer match"

B1, 12357 V "EBU Oxford Falls" "NBL Basketball" MPG 4:2:2, Sr 6110 Fec 3/4 Vpid 308 Apid 256. This was in MPG 4:2:2 and yes I worked out how to show it on the Nokia!!! using scssi and streaming it off the pc!!!! more on this later!

From the Dish

Intelsat 701 180E 4086 L "RFO Tempo Tahiti, RFI" and the occasional feeds have left.(Looks like they havn't paid their Bills)

Agila 2 146E 3711 H "ABC 5" on (MPEG-2) is now fta.
Agila 2 146E 3736 H The test card has left (MPEG-2).
Agila 2 146E 3853 H "ESC 1" has started, S 3200, Fec 3/4, Vpid 4144 Apid 4145.
Agila 2 146E 4082 H "Ezmall Shopping" has started on, Sr 3200, Fec 3/4, Vpid 4144 Apid 4145.

Sinosat 1 110.5E 3720 V Occasional TVB feeds on Sr 5700, Fec 3/4.

Asiasat 2 100.5E 3640 H All TV channels here are currently .
Asiasat 2 100.5E 3994 V The occasional TVB feeds have moved here , Sr 5700, Fec 3/4.
Asiasat 2 100.5E 3951 H "The test card is now encrypted in Irdeto".

Insat 3B 83E 11575 H "Apnet"has started, SRr 2222, Vpid 4194 Apid 4195.(KU band use here is very new worth checking)

NEWS

Sky Channel speeds up live telecasts with ATM service

From indiantelevision.com

Asia Global Crossing (AGC) will deploy an ATM service for Australia's National Racing Broadcaster, Sky Channel.

The leading pan-Asian telecom services provider says the ATM network will deliver transmission at an access speed of 45 Mbps with a constant bit rate (CBR) of 8 Mbps. The new capability starts from February 2002.

Sky uses its global broadcast network to provide live and exclusive telecasts of Australian and international horse and greyhound events. The ATM service will enable Sky to provide audiences with live transmission of Australian horse races from its premises in French's Forest, Sydney to a re-broadcaster in Louisville, Kentucky via a gateway in Los Angeles. Video, voice and data will be delivered on the ATM backbone replacing Sky's traditional satellite delivery.

Sky Channel's satellite services only offer simplex transmission capacity. The new arrangement is expected to reduce transmission costs and provide Sky with a dedicated video duplex, audio and data transmission capability. Nearly 41,000 live horse and greyhound races are covered each year from Down Under on the channel. The company delivers its services within Australia to commercial customers through the Aurora platform on the Optus B3 satellite and offers a tailored service to domestic households via the Pay TV networks distribution infrastructure. It has international capacity on the Thaicom 3 satellite to deliver its service across Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

AGC offers broadcasters uncompressed 270 Mbps television broadcast capability and provides transmission speeds up to 1.28 Tbps, while fully resilient hubs ensure automatic global re-routing capability.

EWTN channel to start on Pas 10, Q1 2002

From indiantelevision.com

Religious channels have been prospering on Indian television for the last couple of years. Aastha, Sanskar, etc Punjabi (with its Gurbani telecast), Maharishi Veda Vision and the MiracleNet are some of the channels which have made their debut. Now there's another waiting on the sidelines to make a foray: the Eternal World Television Network (EWTN) Global Catholic Network. The channel's management has announced that it will launch a television service for India in the first quarter of 2002. As part of the launch, EWTN will also expand the reach of its television service currently available in Africa.

According to EWTN president Michael Warsaw, the Network has reached an agreement in principle with PanAmSat to move its current Africa channel from the PAS 3 satellite to the recently launched PAS 10 spacecraft. With this shift, Warsaw says this move will not only allow EWTN's content to be seen and heard by more than 99 per cent of the Catholic population on the African continent, but will also make both its radio and TV service available to more than 10,000 cable television systems in India.

"Like the Apostle Thomas, who first preached the Gospel in India two thousand years ago," Warsaw notes "EWTN will soon bring that same message to new television and radio audiences throughout this vast region."

In a related move, EWTN has signed an agreement with satellite radio provider WorldSpace Direct Media Service to bring EWTN's multimedia content to personal computers throughout Africa and Asia. Says Warsaw: "EWTN is extremely pleased to once again be working at the cutting edge of technology by being able to offer our Internet content directly to the end users of the WorldSpace system."

EWTN has been in existence for than 20 years and telecasts to more than 70 million TV homes accross the globe. Its founder Mother M. Angelica, a Poor Clare nun, set up Our Lady of Angels Monastery in Irondale, Alabama, and then started creating mini-books with religious teachings. As these gained in popularity, she created a video series of her talks taped at a local Birmingham television station and followed this up with a television studio on monastery property in Irondale. That small TV studio has now evolved into a state of the art audiovisual complex funded totally by gifts from individuals and groups, and visited annually by thousands of pilgrims.

In 1992, her vision ever expanding, with contributions from the late Piet Derksen couple, Mother Angelica established the world's largest privately owned short wave radio station on a mountain top 20 miles from EWTN. The station broadcasts 24 hours a day in English and Spanish to areas of the world including those remote places not reached by television.

The heart of EWTN TV Channel is its show, Mother Angelica Live, hosted by Mother Angelica, which is broadcast before a live audience every Tuesday and Wednesday night. In addition, EWTN offers several live programs including the Daily Mass from the chapel in Irondale, Life on the Rock, a teen and young adult show with host Jeff Cavins, The Journey Home with Marcus Grodi and The World Over with news anchor Raymond Arroyo. The network also airs documentaries, weekly series hosted by leading Catholic theologians, coverage of Church events in the U.S. and abroad, seasonal music specials, the Rosary and other devotional prayer segments.

EWTN will be a free to air channel.

24/11/01

Sorry no update today, just have not had time.

23/11/01

There is a delay with the Saturn channel Details on B1. Hopefully I will have them in the next couple of days. Not much happening newswise today.

For those in Thailand after the BBC News feed

Pas 2 3941 V "BBC 1 NEWS Feed " Sr 6620, vpid 1460 apid 1420 text 8191 pcr 1460, sid1, pmt 5001

From the Dish

Express 9 103E 3675 R "Radio Moscow" has started on : 7.92, 8.10, 8.65 and 8.82 MHz.New frequencies for Radio Junost and Radio Mayak: 7.50 and 8.28 MHz.

ST 1 88E 3632 V "CTS" has New PIDs Vpid 2081 Apid 2082.

Thaicom 3 78.5E 3585 V "Star Vijay and Channel Nepal" have started on , Vpid 512 Apid 640 and Vpid 513 Apid 641, Asian beam.

NEWS

Aaj Tak to stay all-Hindi channel for now

http://www.business-standard.com/ice/news5.asp?menu=1

Television news channel Aaj Tak has decided it will stay an all-Hindi channel for the moment.

?We believe there is an opportunity in English programming. There is enough scope for improving on what rival channels are doing, but we do not have any plans right now. The stress is on getting more viewership for Aaj Tak in its present form,” executive director and CEO of TV Today Network Ltd, G Krishnan, told Business Standard.

TV Today, part of the India Today Group, owns the Aaj Tak channel.

Aaj Tak had recently attempted to shed its “only Hindi” tag by airing a ten part series 25 Incredible Years, both in English and Hindi.

Announcing the series on August 30, editor in chief of the India Today Group Aroon Poorie had said that the company was planning English and regional language channels as part of its growth strategy. However, he had also said that the company was yet to finalise the time-frame in which the new channels would come up.

On starting regional channels or programming on Aaj Tak, Krishnan said: “We are not even looking at it”.

Krishnan said the current focus of the company was to maintain its leadership and improve on its programming based on feedback from viewers.

?The effort is to augment our news coverage, improve graphics and presentation and sharpen editing,” he said.

Aaj Tak, the Hindi channel launched by the company less than a year ago, now accounts for nine of the top 10 news programmes as per the TAM figures for the week ended November 3, Krishnan said.

.ven in terms of the four-week average of TAM ratings, Aaj Tak recorded the highest viewership and reach and accounted for 45 per cent of news channel share among viewers. We now reach 20 million viewers,” he said.

On advertisers’ interest in the channel, Krishnan said Aaj Tak caters to a much wider range of advertisers and carries commercials of products ranging from mass consumption items such as `masalas’ and undergarments to automobiles. Keeping in mind viewers’ requirements, the channel has now decided to limit commercial time to 12 minutes per hour, he added.

Craigs comment, since this channel is the number 1 Indian news channel I wonder why they havn't hopped onto Asiasat 3 for better coverage.

22/11/01

Mediasat on B3 were running the Cricket for a while this afternoon. I really enjoyed it until they switched things off. Tommorow I should be able to post the channel details of Saturn running on B1.

From my Emails & ICQ

From Chris Pickstock

B1 12356 V, Sr 6110 has a Test Card up. Interestingly it is labelled "Mediasat" Vpid 1160, Apid 1120. The Pids on my Integra changed all by themselves from the usual 308, 256. I didn't touch it.

Mediasat on B3, 12363V currently have some trotting on, and the Integra keeps switching itself off and restarting. Only on this frequency. Any clues anybody? Last week it was reported that Mediasat were trying new software.

B1 12367V, Sr 6110 has a test card up saying "Globecast, Foxsport Basketball"

From the Dish

Nothing to report.

NEWS

Austar parent is in default

From http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,3294273%5E15306%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html

AUSTAR United's parent company has defaulted on an interest payment on debt used to partly fund its Austar stake, highlighting its precarious financial position.

US-based UnitedGlobalCom (UGC), which owns 81 per cent of the regional pay TV group, has told the US Securities and Exchange Commission it could not make the first interest payment of $US34.5 million ($66 million) on the senior discount notes which was due last Thursday.

The news comes as Austar continues negotiations to roll over its $400 million debt facility by the end of December.

But an Austar spokesman said the issue of UGC's bonds was unrelated to the local company's refinancing negotiations.

However, the default yesterday prompted ratings agency Standard & Poor's to downgrade the notes to D from triple C.

"At the same time the ratings are removed from credit watch where they were placed on August 22, 2001," the agency said.

UGC's local subsidiary United Australia/Pacific issued $US488 million in bonds from 1996.

UGC said the notes had begun to accrue interest from May 15 this year and the first payment was due last Thursday.

"The company does not have enough cash to make this interest payment. Accordingly, the company will not make this interest payment," UGC said.

In another filing, the 10K document, it said that if it did not pay the amount within "30 days or more" the trustee can declare the amount payable.

"The trustee ... could initiate bankruptcy proceedings against the company, sue to recover the amount of the notes or take any other action available to creditors," the company said.

"Based upon current market prices, the value of the company's assets is significantly less than the amount of outstanding principal and accrued interest.

"While the company has sought financing from United, at this point the company believes it is unlikely United will make such a contribution."

UGC said it had engaged legal and financial advisers in relation to the matter and had received a letter from the trustee of the indentures confirming it was in default.

UGC is now believed to have entered discussions with the bondholders in an attempt to restructure the debt.

The thinly traded notes hit a year high of $US1.30 last December and hit a year low of US15c last Monday.

Austar's shares have recently been buoyed by takeover speculation and rose yesterday 1.5c to 31.5c.

ESPN Star Sports makes inroads in south east Asia

From indiantelevision.com

ESPN Star Sports recently signed its first-ever terrestrial carriage deals in Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar with national broadcasters LNTV, TV5 and Mywaddy TV.

The deals will run for three years and include an agreement to air the English Premier League and other sports programmes. ESS has also concluded a carriage agreement with Vietnam's terrestrial national network, VTV3. Under this arrangement, VTV3 will broadcast, in addition to the English Premier League, exclusive ESS programs like the Asian X Games Qualifier in Malaysia in February 2002, the US X Games, the world's richest 5-a-side international football event Tiger 5s, and the CGU Asian Bowling Tour.

ESS programming was earlier available in the region through a combination of hotel and cable platforms, mainly to expatriates and tourists.

The EPL season began on August 18 2001, carried live on ESS' two channels, ESPN and Star Sports. This season, football fans across Asia will see 165 live games and over 1000 hours of EPL programming. In addition, there is a line-up of support news programming seven days a week, with a comprehensive menu of pre- and post-game analyses, predictions and information.

According to an official release, a potential 9.2 million viewers have been added to ESS's distribution figures, taking it up to a total of 79 million households on ESPN and 56 million households on Star Sports.

Craigs comment, Mywaddy is FTA on Asiasat 2 so maybe football fans will be in luck.

Satellite TV beams into more Chinese homes

From http://www1.chinadaily.com.cn/bw/2001-11-20/44463.html

Domestic satellite television stations are capturing bigger audiences nationwide as a result of better programming and wider coverage, according to new research.

The third nationwide survey on the audience ratings of China's satellite TV stations by China Mainland Marketing Research Co (CMMR) found that by the end of August 57.8 per cent of national viewers watched TV via national cable networks, while only 36.3 per cent used antennas. The remaining families watched TV by other means, such as through networks within their housing estates, according to the survey of nearly 7,000 families from 30 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities.

Fourteen national and regional television satellite TV stations, including China Central Television (CCTV) 1, CCTV-6, CCTV-7, Liaoning, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Hubei, Guangdong, Guangxi, Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan, each have potential audiences of more than 100 million people.

Among them, CCTV-1 can reach 1.08 billion viewers, CCTV-6 700 million and CCTV-7 640 million. The three CCTV channels increase their coverage by 10 million viewers every year.

Zhejiang leads the regional satellite stations by reaching a potential audience of 660 million people. Sichuan, Guangdong and Guizhou can reach more than 450 million people.

Since gradually connecting with satellites networks in 1989, regional satellite stations have extended their influence far beyond their provincial borders, and have reached a national audience over the past decade.

About 80 per cent of CCTV viewers are happy with the reception they receive via satellite, while the figure for provincial viewers is 60 per cent.

Most people (81.4 and 60.7 per cent respectively) said they enjoyed programmes on CCTV-6 and CCTV-7, while programmes on all the 11 provincial TV stations received support from more than half of those surveyed.

Among the 209 programmes on the 14 satellite TV stations surveyed, 86 (41.1 per cent) attracted an audience of more than 50 million people.

21/11/01

The chatroom was a lot of fun lastnight, good to see many in NZ joining in. Well worth joinng in and picking up all the juicy gossip on whats happening. Did someone say 4 new FTA Iranian channels? "Jame Jame" was one mentioned and something about German football coverage which should please a few soccer fans. I did eventually hook the Nokia up to have a look at Palapa C2, RCTI had a huge signal and I could get Channel News Asia as well. Its raining today so no chance to get out and make furthur adjustments. Two service loaded but didn't show a picture one a freq for RCTI and the other CNBC Asia which is listed with Channel News asia. On the analogue side Tv5 and TVRI are there also. No sign of any Verticals but thats more to do with needing to adjust the feed alignment. Also today I picked up another Dish (FREE) for the holiday home a 76cm with Sharp LNBF. I measured up the one I have been using its actually 65cm not the 60cm I thought it was. I will compare them later on.

From my Emails & ICQ

From Chris Pickstock 20/11/01

B1, 12357 V "Rove" Sr 5632, Fec 3/4
B1, 12367 V "Channel V" bus feeds continue here

From the Dish

PAS 8 166E 12410 H "Venus-Eye" has started, Sr 4410, Fec 5/6, Vpid 33 Apid 34.(This is a Japanese porno channel! The fec will make this one tricky obviously they are trying to limit the coverage area, They are using the North East Ku Beam. which I think is a little dodgy. Please report if you find any sign of this service)

NEWS

Sorry none for today

20/11/01

Livechat tonight 8.30pm Syd time and from 9 P.M NZ.

I have spent the day trying to get the dish moving. The 1st problem was the actuator I wired it corectly but for some reason some smoke came out the end (Don't laugh) I unconnected it all and cut a bit of excess wire off it seemed fine after that. The 2nd problem is one I have known about all along when we lifted the dish onto the pole (with mount already on the pole) in the rush we got the mount opposite to what it it should of been. So we need to lift the dish and flip it over. Hopefully will get that done once I find enough helpers. I have left it on Palapa C2 at the moment so I will hook the Nokia up later and see if I can get the digitals. Sorry not much else for today.

Sky NZ are running some services FTA again the same services as last time this happend see below.

From my Emails & ICQ

From Chris Pickstock

Mediasat on 12397 H

On B1, 12397 H, sr 7200, Network 7's usual feed freq, a channel loads titled "Mediasat". Vpid 1160, Apid 1120. Currently showing a Test Card with the words "Parker U14". Could be for the soccer tonight I guess.

From the Dish

PAS 8 166E 12726 H "test card" on , Vpid 522 Apid 650, is now in fta.

Optus B1 160E 12608 V The following currently FTA on SKY NZ
Sundance, JTV, Prime, Sky Boxing preview (this one running Sky promos) Sky
Sports Extra (Running a replay of the Boxing PPV Fight from Sunday)

JCSAT 3 128E 3960 V FTV, Hollywood Movie Channel, ETTV Movie, CTS, CTV and TTV are encrypted again.

NEWS

Disney to launch 24-hour Hindi pay channel

From http://www.financialexpress.com/fe20011120/efetop1.html

Winnie the Pooh, House of Mouse, Lizzie McGuire, Even Stevens....are all getting ready to speak desi lingo and make an entry into your drawing rooms. Walt Disney, one of the biggest media and entertainment groups in the world, is planning to launch a 24-hour Hindi pay channel in India soon, perhaps around the new year, according to sources. This TV channel is expected to showcase the Disney portfolio of products and programming in their full glory.

The channel is being set up through a 100 per cent fully-owned subsidiary in India. The immediate investment proposed to be made in the Indian channel is around $30 million, said sources. In Asia, India will be the third market to be tapped by the Disney group, the other two being Hong Kong and Japan.

Even as no fresh investment is being made in the media and the broadcasting sector at this point, Disney is viewing India as a lucrative market.

Interestingly, this project is said to be close to the heart of Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj.

Ms Swaraj had recently visited the Disney Studios in the US, and deliberations on this channel had been initiated during that trip itself.

The Disney proposal, which is in the process of being cleared by the Indian government, envisages setting up a studio for animation products, a theme park and a publication business related to Disney, besides the TV channel.

The channel, sources said, is being launched individually and not on any other broadcasting platform. Disney is also eyeing the radio and movie business. The annual turnover of the group is around $25.4 billion. It has presence in 40 countries around the world and employs 1,20,000 people in its several offices.

19/11/01

Some interesting stuff today a few feeds, new TARBS stuff (BOO HISS) and news of a new Satellite for the Pacific region. The India vs South Africa cricket feed is on Pas 2 (see below). Meanwhile I have been getting instructions on how to wire up my actuator (Don't laugh I know its simple stuff, but it's not like I can pop to the local shop if I fry anything)

From my Emails & ICQ

From Chris Pickstock

On Pas 8, 12729 H, sr 28067, 13 TV channels and 13 radio channels now load. All are showing on my unit as "Encrypted" except for one ( "CH55", Vpid 522, Apid 650 ) which is showing, surprise, surprise, a TARBS Card. I suppose with all these channels they keep snapping up they have run out of room on existing transponders and needed to get another. This frequency is the one that "Boomerang" used to occupy.

Craigs comment , Lyngsat reports this one today at 12726 H, one wonders what Tarbs has planned for this transponder

From Rolly Whitehead

Re: Leonids shower

In Tairua NZ (175.0E 37.0S) today I saw about 25 before 5:00am 19/11. At
45' elevation South east travel to South West. Peak was 5 within one
minute. - Rolly

From the Dish

Pas 2 169E 4148 V "Hong Kong Jockey Club Races" Sr 24430 Fec 2/3
Pas 2 169E 3776 ? "Baseball" Sr 5632 Fec 2/3 (Unconfirmed)
Pas 2 169E 3785 ? "Baseball" Sr 5632 Fec 2/3 (Unconfirmed)
Pas 2 169E 3892 V "Tennis Masters Cup" From Australia, no other details.
Pas 2 169E 3961 V "Cricket Ind vs Saf" Sr 5632 Fec 3/4, Vpid 308 Apid 256

PAS 8 166E 12726 H "13 test cards have started", Sr 28067, Fec 3/4, Pids 512/640-524/652.(More Tarbs stuff)

Sinosat 1 110.5E 4088 V "Golden Shopping Channel" has started on , Sid 5, Vpid 650 Apid 651.

Asiasat 2 100.5E 3984 V "Macau Grand Prix Feed" Sr 6111, Fec 3/4

NEWS

Tiny Pacific Nation Planning its Own Satellite

From satnewsasia.com

The tiny Pacific island of Niue intends to launch a geostationary communications satellite that it hopes will earn millions of dollars for this country of only 1,600 persons.

Prime Minister Sani Lakatani said the satellite project is part of a grand plan to have American-based partners launch the satellite and station it in a position approved by the International Communications Union.

The five-year project is estimated to cost around US$300 million with funding from American investors. Lakatani said the project “will not cost Niue anything.” Call centers to be staffed by half the nation’s 400 civil servants would be established on Niue to receive satellite communications.

Lakatani said his IT adviser in the United States was talking to people about the project, and he was soon to receive a report from this as yet unnamed adviser.

He said the intention was to lease out the Niue satellite. Niue expects to receive 35 percent of the profit derived from the satellites use. Lakatani is confident about the scheme’s viability. Lakatani said his interest in Niue having its own satellite was heightened in 1999 when he met John Rex Wood, his adviser in Sydney

Craigs comment, Very interesting I wonder what location they will use and where they will beam.

Isro readies for Leonid meteor showers

From indiantelevision.com

They're streaks of lights in the sky which make for a pleasant sight. But meteor showers are known to damage manmade satellites in their orbits. Bearing this in mind, Indian space agency Isro has braced itself for the Leonid meteor showers expected to peak on Sunday, 18 November, during their ongoing passage through Earth's orbit.

The government agency has taken steps to ensure its satellites' wellbeing when the showers reach their zenith between 2.30 PM and 3.30 PM and again between 10.30 PM and 11.30 PM on the weekend. Isro will temporarily suspend camera operations and the camera steering mechanism for its remote sensing satellites (IRS) which help meteorologists predict weather through satellite images. Solid state recorders will be off for about 10 hours.

It is taking precautions for its communications and broadcast satellites as well. The solar arrays of the Insat series of satellites will be positioned so that they present minimum surface area to the showers. The Gyros on board these birds will be kept continuously on to detect any disturbances due to impact. In case of any disturbances, the satellites will be brought back to their proper orientation using reaction control thrusters on board. ISRO has also kept designers of the various satellite subsystems on alert to help in taking contingency measures in case of any incident.

Leonid meteor showers are a result of the dust and debris left behind by the comet Tempel-Tuttle, which passes through the inner solar system every 33.25 years. The debris is burned off the comet's nucleus by a wind of charged particles that stream outward from the Sun. Most meteoroids are no larger than a grain of sand, that vaporize when they zoom through Earth's atmosphere at 260 times the speed of sound.

While the visual spectacle is a treat, in the form of 'shooting stars' lit brilliantly by the constellation Leo, they also have the potential to create havoc to satellites by pitting solar cells, optical surfaces and mirrors. Equipment could get damaged and thus send satellites spinning out of their geostationary orbits. The satellite's microprocessors are sensitive to the meteoroids. The plasma cloud can cause elcetrical circuits and short fuses or even ruptures. Even the momentum of the impact can throw a satellite off course.

IRS satellites are in the near earth polar orbits. According to the Isro, the probability of meteors hitting the IRS satellites is about 0.013 per cent and for INSATs, it is around 0.035 per cent. ISRO currently has five satellites in operation (IRS-1C, IRS-1D, IRS-P3, IRS-P4 and TES) in the Polar sun-synchronous orbits and five satellites (INSAT-2C, INSAT-2DT, INSAT-2E, INSAT-3B and GSAT-1) in the geo-stationary orbit.

The last time Leonids produced what astronomers call a storm was in 1966 when only a handful of satellites orbited Earth. This time round, hundreds of satellites are at risk, providing services ranging from pagers and television to weather forecasts. Predictions for the number of meteors per hour during this year's peak on 18 November range from 1,400 to 15,000, with Asia slated to see around 8000 per hour.

In 1999, the last year that a strong Leonids meteor shower was predicted, satellite operators effectively put many of their spacecraft into hibernation (turning off or minimizing data collecting and sending operations) while still maintaining critical services here on Earth.

NASA Space Flight Center's Bill Cooke has told media that the odds of a satellite being damaged during the peak hours of the Leonid meteor shower are between 1 in 10,000 and 1 in 1,000. Cooke has indicated that at least one satellite could be significantly damaged during the entire storm which spans several days. The risk this year is five to 10 times greater than in 1999, Cooke said.

Leonid showers: No effect on Indian satellites

From http://www.hindustantimes.com/nonfram/191101/detNAT24.asp

The first peak of the Leonid meteor showers in the solar system passed by on Sunday with no impact on Indian satellites in orbit. An ISRO spokesperson told the Hindustan Times in Bangalore that the satellites passed by the meteor showers at 2.30 this afternoon. "There were absolutely no problems," the ISRO spokesperson said.

The first peak was at 2.30 p.m. while the second is around 11.30 on Sunday night. The chances of the showers affecting any satellite is extremely remote, the spokesperson said. Apparently, the chances of any impact are just around 0.34 per cent.

However, as a matter of caution, the cameras on board the Indian Remote Sensing Satellites (IRS) were switched off for the day while the solar panels of the INSAT communication satellites were aligned so that the showers were parallel to the surface of the panels. "This way, we reduce the probability of anything untoward happening," the spokesperson said. The effect of switching off the cameras is minimal while communication satellites for all practical purposes continue to function normally. Around the world, all countries take such precautionary measures routinely during this time.

Already, Indian satellites in orbit have passed by the showers twice - in November 1999 and November 2000 - without any hassles.

New TV channel likely to go into trial operation on Dec 16

From http://independent-bangladesh.com/news/nov/18/18112001mt.htm#A8

A new TV channel named Inquilab Television (ITV), with provision for both satellite and terrestrial transmission is expected to go into trial operation on December 16 coinciding with the Victory Day.

ITV Chairman AMM Bahauddin told The Independent on Friday their channel would be a modern news and entertainment medium of international standard. It would cover the whole world through five satellites.

Side by side with fulfilling the entertainment needs of viewers it would uphold the ideals of Bangladeshi nationalism and Islamic values, said Bahauddin who is also the Editor, The Daily Inquilab.

The channel would air all programmes, local and foreign, and maintain a high technical standard, he said.

ITV has contacted Mark Tully, former South Asia Correspondent of the BBC and of Sirajur Rahman of the BBC, Bangla service to enlist their services to programmes, he said. The channel would operate for 24 hours.

ITV’s Managing Director Salahuddin Shoaib Chowdhury said viewers in Bangladesh and the rest of the world would be entertained with the latest movies from Hollywood and TV serials from world class producers.

ITV authorities are now installing their equipment at the Inquilab Bhaban at RK Mission Road. They have hired technicians from USA to run and maintain those.

T S I C H A N N E L N E W S - Number 46/2001 November 18 2001 -

A weekly roundup of global TV news sponsored by Tele Satellite International

Editor: Branislav Pekic
Edited Apsattv.com Edition

AUSTRALIA

TALKS ON PAY-TV ALLIANCE

According to local press reports, the country’s number two and number three
pay-TV platforms are in talks about an alliance. Austar CEO John Porter and his
Optus counterpart John Anderson are reported to be in discussions that could
see their respective regional and metropolitan operations unite in a move that
will undermine market leader Foxtel. Foxtel sells programming to Austar and the
two companies jointly own the XYZ content company that makes or distributes six
channels carried on both platforms. In addition the potential loss of Austar's
435,000 subscribers from Foxtel's 750,000 total would limit Foxtel's
negotiating position with the Hollywood studios. Optus has 225,000 pay-TV
subscribers.

INDIA

BOMBAY COURT RULES IN FAVOUR OF CABLE SUBSCRIBERS

In a ruling which will favour cable TV subscribers, the Bombay High Court has
barred TV channels from switching off TV signals in case of payment default by
cable operators. The Bombay High Court has held that TV channels are not
necessarily entitled to cut off signals of pay-channels in case of payment
defaults, keeping in mind the interest of consumers or cable TV subscribers.
The court's decision is aimed at safeguarding the rights of the average TV
viewer. The ruling is part of an arbitration petition filed by ESPN Software
India against Mumbai cable network 7 Star Satellite Network.

STAR TV TO INCREASE CABLE RATES

Star TV will hike cable subscription rates from Rs30 to Rs42 per connection
from January 2002. As a result, cable subscription rates across the country
will go up by at least Rs25 to Rs40 per cable home, according to a report
published in the “Times of India”. Sony TV has recently become a pay channel
charging Rs20 (for Sony, Setmax, CNBC and AXN) and the Zee bouquet costs Rs30
to the cable operator. Turner package costs Rs11 and ESPN-Star Sports Rs16 in
addition to the Rs15 entertainment tax levied by the government. According to
Star India CEO Peter Mukerjea, only 6 million subscribers in the country share
the cost of 38 million cable homes.

NEW ZEALAND

TVNZ OFFERS DIGITAL SERVICE VIA CABLE

Television New Zealand has struck a deal with telephone and television provider
Telstra Saturn to offer a digital television service by cable, according to
?The New Zealand Herald”. TVNZ also plans to offer a satellite-based digital
service as an alternative, with Telstra Saturn and Sky being mentioned as
potential partners, and a decision is expected by Christmas. Television New
Zealand has paid $6 million for a slot on Australian telecommunications company
Cable & Wireless Optus’ B1 satellite which be used to deliver digital
television across New Zealand.

SKY ADDS BBC WORLD

DTH operator Sky has added the BBC World international news and information
service to its offering, effective from January 2002. The 24-hour channel will
form part of Sky’s basic tier. The pay-TV operator also said that it now has a
total of 439,000 subscribers, 290,687 of which are digital.

QATAR

AL JAZEERA PREPARES ENGLISH LANGUAGE CHANNEL
The Al-Jazeera TV channel is planning to launch an English language channel
early next year. Currently broadcasting in Arabic, the channel is seen by an
estimated 15 million viewers in the Middle East and central Asia as well as by
satellite subscribers in the west.

SOUTH KOREA

NEW JAPANESE-KOREAN CARTOON CHANNEL

A number of Japanese and Korean toon and toy corporations have united to launch
a new digital satellite animation channel, AniOneTV, for broadcast across
Korea. Japanese toy manufacturer Bandai and Daiwon C&A Holdings, the South
Korean outfit who own the character licences to Pokemon, Digimon and Dragonball
Z, have inked a deal to establish Daiwon Digital Broadcasting. The company has
also attracted investment from four other Japanese animation studios, namely
Toei Animation, Shogakukan Productions, Tokyo Movie Shinsa Entertainment and
Sunrise, alongside Bandai’s Korean subsidiary. Investment for the venture runs
at 5 billon won, with two-thirds coming from Daiwon C&A Holdings, Gina World
(Korea) and Bandai Korea, with the other Japanese companies supplying the
remaining 33%. DDB, which will be carried by Korean satellite broadcaster
Skylife, will commence full-scale broadcasting in December 2001. AniOneTV will
broadcast new animation and classics as well as amateur toons in an effort to
appeal to mainstream fans and aficionados.

18/11/01

Well the Leonids are supposed to Peak early Monday morning can you imagine the chaos if B3 was taken out of action? a quick shift to a temporary sat would be out of the question imagine all those thousands of dishs to repoint. I think that almost as bad would be for Pas 8 to be damaged. Wouldn't that be a disaster to all those Tarbs viewers. I guess they could jump to Pas 2 KU nothing much there on the Australia beam nowdays...

From my Emails & ICQ

From Bob Cooper

"There will be a signal interruption to CNNI and CNNfn on 18 November 2001
within the period 1900 - 2000 GMT (most likely to start at 19:05 GMT - which
will be November 19th at 8:05 AM in NZ). A scheduled maintenance exercise at
the California uplink operator (to PAS-8) is the cause of the scheduled
outtage; the interruption should last no longer than 5 minutes." (Note for
future reference: Contact for Globecast uplinker in California is
1-310-845-3800)

From Andrew Harrison 18/11/01

Rahman vs Lewis Boxing

LIVE FTA Indosiar on Palapa C2, Sunday Afternoon

Live Rugby

Australia VS England

I701 (180 degs) 3769 RHC half time score 40 - 0 to the Aussies - coff coff.
3rd round advertised as same place same time next week, channel 1 this BQ.
Also this BQ is the best bet for the Boxing today 12-1pm. Costa Tzyu fight
was here on channel 2 last week.

Rgds,
Andrew Harrison.

Craigs Comment, Thanks for the report, 701 reports are very welcome, I think it must of been rugby 7's from Durban with that kind of scoreline.

From John Harrison (no relation) 18/11/01

For those that are Able to Receive
The Rahman v Lewis Fight

Optus Aurora Bouquet
BTV 3 @ 12.55pm aedt

From Chris Pickstock 18/11/01

10.25 am SA time

B1, 12367 V "Channel V are again doing a live cross. Setting up equipment at the moment.same as last night".

From Chris Pickstock 17/11/01

5.25 pm SA time

B1, 12367 V "Live feed for "Channel V".Sr 6110 I think its some music awards.
it's a boomer of a signal. Looks like its at a concert
somewhere.

Chris

Craigs comment this was a powerfull signal heaps stronger than Sky NZ

From the Dish

Optus B3 156E 12313 H The Austar promo is currently FTA.

Asiasat 3 105.5E 12447 H "ChinaCast TV" has started , Sr 9766, Fec 2/3, Vpid 41 Apid 42

Asiasat 2 100.5E 12245 V "TsingHua Education TV" has started on , Sr 4100, Fec 3/4, Vpid 4194 Apid 4196.(Asia only)
Asiasat 2 100.5E 3640 H "Future TV USA has replaced BK 063 Sat" on , Sid 6, Vpid 517 Apid 645.

Yamal 102 90E 3524 L "Yuzhniy Region" is still on , Sr 4285, Fec 3/4, Vpid 308 Apid 256.

NEWS

Sorry nothing for today

26/11/01

Some interesting odds and ends for you all today. Some of you who are having virus trouble, I am sure they are not comming through the mailing list as I have disabled all attachments. Some virus scanners may be triggerd by the embedded html advert that the mailing list inserts but that should not be a problem. If you are not using a modern up to date scanner you only have yourself to blame for getting a virus. The main problem is people using older versions of Microsoft Outlook Express for emails this program has security fix/patches weekly thats how bad it is. I suggest anyone using an old version of this to upgrade to version 6 which has improved attachment handling. Or else use a different email program! %95 of most viruses come into the system via holes in Microsoft Outlook email client.

You can download the FULL Nortons antivirus 2002 from this site. (If you don't mind using a illegal version, If using Win XP I recommend only using the latest Nortons 2002 Antivirus older virus checkers do not work with XP!)

http://www.pulox.i-p.com/

Once there click "Mirror -1 U.S" down the bottom of the page

Several virus scanners available I recommend Number 6, Nortons Antivirus 2002

Click on it then you will have to click on mirror-1 on the next screen and it should start downloading (use a download util as its probably around 40 megs) Note its a RAR file so you may need winrar to unpack it.

After installing go through the options and set it up PROPERLY

SATFACTS PAGE updated

Article

Decoding Unencrypted Mpg 4:2:2 streams via the Nokia and your PC

1st If you don't already have a mpg 4:2:2 playback codec installed for Windows Media Player, install Ligos LSX-MPEG Player from http://www.ligos.com

2nd Use the well known "Dvb Recorder" Software and record the stream via scsii, (use the realtime mode). I recomend you shut any other open applications and have plenty of HD space to spare.

3rd When recording is finished playback using Windows Media Player! Newer version higher than Mediaplayer version 6.4 may already handle mpg 4:2:2 video, so try before installing the Ligos player

Note in this pic the stream was being played back scaled down to %50 (my current ancient video card chokes at anything higher) also the screengrab above has had a high amount of JPG compression applied (to compress for the site) but you can see the result a normally "unviewable" without expensive commercial 4:2:2 decoder can be examined and played back! there are limits though a very high SR, may not work this one was using SR 6110. Let me know if you have some success with this.

From my Emails & ICQ

From ANON

Unconfirmed report from a Tarbs installer:

Tarbs are currently having difficulties with their encryption system, resulting in (as we are already aware of), some channels being 'free' on C band for extended lengths of time.

Also unconfirmed at this stage, if you sign up for your 'language' you may be getting many more channels than what you are supose to be. This is being caused by problems with the encryption system, or as Tarbs put it in another polite way, "we are currently providing some extra channels at present, a sort of promotion if you like, just in case you should also understand Chinese, Arabic, Italian, Spanish, Serbian, Greek, Turkish..................

How Kind and Sweet, we must all go and learn some more languages!

From Dave Ross

Palapa C2 3580 H Sr 26850 Fec 3/4

Its 12 channels from the MMBN network.
It is very week in Northern Aust.

This Transponder was used by Indovision, and was much stronger than MMBN signal.

(Craigs Comment, others report problems with this sat as well seems its on its last legs)

From Chris Pickstock 25/11/01

B3, Mediasat 12363V, Trotting from Kapunda, SA. Good signal, the power must be up again.

4.10 pm SA time

B3, 12336 V, "V8 Superstars" in 16:9 format

From the Dish

Optus B3 156E 12626 H TCM Australia has left..

Yamal 102 90E 3582 L "STS Ladya" has started , Sr 4295, Fec 3/4, Vpid 308 Apid 258.

NEWS

Maharishi channel to start Ku-band digital transmission next month

From http://www.financialexpress.com/fe20011126/con7.html

Maharishi Channel is switching over to Ku-band digital transmission, making it the first channel in India to use this technology. It will, however, continue to be a free-to-air channel.

The switchover to the Ku-band platform on EuropeStar satellite will be from December 15, sources said. The channel, however, will be available in the dual mode and cable operators will be allowed time to shift as it will continue on PanAMSat till February 28, 2002. The satellite covers India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

As broadcasters have not used Ku-band transmission in India, a lot of capacity is available. Though satellite providers are offering Ku band at reduced prices, broadcasters are reluctant to switch over as cable operators do not have the equipment. Earlier, government had banned Ku-band transmission. Broadcasters in India are currently using the C-band.

For a short time, Maharishi Channel is offering a special promotional price for a complete equipment package. Those who switch over to Maharishi’s Ku-band broadcast can receive a 25 per cent price reduction on digital satellite receiver, small dish antenna and LNB. All equipment comes with a full 12-month warranty for parts and service. The package includes a high quality digital receiver, Ku-band LNB, and 24-inch professional dish antenna. Maharishi Channel Cable Network is planning to start shipping equipment packages to cable operators.

The company plans to add new channels. Switching to Ku-band digital broadcasting will enable Maharishi Channel to expand the offerings. “Instead of offering just one channel, there will be a full bouquet of free-to-air channels,” the source said.

Ku-band transmission allows for very small dish antennas to be used for reception. “In America, Europe and Japan, these small dish antennas are especially popular with homeowners for their ease of installation and excellent reception. The highest power satellites in the world utilise the smallest dish antennas. In America, the dishes are 18 inches and Japan 14 inches. Maharishi Channel will be using dishes as small as 13 inches,” the source added.

Maharishi Channel is part of Maharishi Satellite Network, which broadcasts Maharishi’s vedic wisdom through a network of 10 satellites. It is available in 19 languages and reaches out to over 200 countries

T S I C H A N N E L N E W S - Number 47/2001 November 25 2001 -

A weekly roundup of global TV news sponsored by Tele Satellite International

Editor: Branislav Pekic

Edited Apsattv.com Edition

A S I A

AUSTRALIA

ASIA GLOBAL CROSSING WINS SKY CHANNEL CONTRACT

Asia Global Crossing, the leading pan-Asian telecommunications services
provider, announced it will deploy an ATM service for Australia's National
Racing Broadcaster, Sky Channel. Sky Channel provides live and exclusive
telecasts of Australian and international horse and greyhound events using its
global broadcast network. Asia Global Crossing's ATM service will be delivered
using its dedicated global fibre network, enabling Sky Channel to provide
audiences with live transmission of Australian horse race meetings from its
premises in Frenchs Forest, Sydney to a re-broadcaster in Louisville, Kentucky
via a gateway in Los Angeles. Video, voice and data will be delivered on the
ATM backbone replacing Sky's traditional satellite delivery. The new dedicated
Sydney-Louisville ATM service replaces Sky Channel's satellite services which
are typically booked on an hourly rate and only offer simplex transmission
capacity. Dedicated fibre from Australia to the United States via Asia Global
Crossing is expected to reduce transmission costs and provide Sky with a
dedicated video duplex, audio and data transmission capability. Sky Channel
broadcasts approximately 41,000 live horse and greyhound races each year from
Australia. The new capability will launch in February 2002. Sky Channel
delivers its services within Australia via the Aurora platform on the Optus B3
satellite and a tailored service to domestic households via the pay-TV networks
distribution infrastructure. Sky Channel has international capacity on the
Thaicom 3 satellite to deliver its service across Asia, Europe, Africa and the
Middle East.

Internet - http://www.asiaglobalcrossing.com/index.htm

NEW ZEALAND

SKY SEEKS CABLE LINK-UP

Leading pay-TV operator Sky said it wants to utilize the country’s cable
networks to increase subscribers from their current 439,000. CEO John Fellet
told local press that telco Telecom will probably be one of Sky’s first
partners although no timescale was specified.

TAIWAN

PHOENIX DENIED BROADCAST LICENSE

News Corp.-backed Phoenix TV has had its application to broadcast its InfoNews
channel refused, according to local reports. The channel already airs on
Taiwanese cable networks and has been tacitly accepted by authorities, but they
are thought to be unhappy about the its content and Hong Kong-based Phoenix’s
links with mainland China. The DTH operator recently received approval to air
its Chinese Channel in certain parts of China.

A F R I C A

SOUTH AFRICA

CFN CLOSURE TO HIT DSTV SUBSCRIBERS

Carlton Food Network, DSTV’s popular food and drink channel, will no longer be
on local TV screens from the end of the month. The decision to terminate the
service came from the channel’s owners, Carlton Communications, said
Multichoice corporate affairs GM Lebogang Hashatse in an interview for
+usiness Day”. He said UK-based Carlton Communications was having “difficulty
with its business model” and the Food Network would cease broadcasting soon.
Hashatse added that many viewers were likely to be disappointed by the news
that the channel would no longer be broadcast. “It’s a very popular channel
with our subscribers,” he said. “We will be informing them of the changes
before the end of the month.”

25/11/01

More playing with my dish today managed to find PAS 8 ! Loaded up a whole lot of channels on H pol havn't got the V pol sorted yet. But I did have trouble with NTSC, my tv is NTSC compatible with both formats and works fine on Star Sports (Analogue receievr) but the Nokias NTSC output needs to drop way down the screen its quite scrunched up Perhaps I need to venture into the dreaded NTSC Expert menu. Loaing up the various channel muxs I can see I will have to do a lot of channel renaming.

From my Emails & ICQ

From "ZOR"

Some of the Arabic channels in the TARBS Asiasat 2 group (3640H)
are currently unencrypted:

ESC 1
Nile News
Nile Variety

From Chris Pickstock 24/11/01

1.10pm SA time

B1, 12326 H Sr 6980, BBC World currently showing
B1, 12317 H Sr 6980, CNN currently showing

Pas 8, 12726H Sr 28067 Thai TV5 is on FTA, Vpid 524, Apid 652

Chris

From Me 23/11/01

B3, 12336 V Mediasat Ocasional 2 "Kings Soccer match"

B1, 12357 V "EBU Oxford Falls" "NBL Basketball" MPG 4:2:2, Sr 6110 Fec 3/4 Vpid 308 Apid 256. This was in MPG 4:2:2 and yes I worked out how to show it on the Nokia!!! using scssi and streaming it off the pc!!!! more on this later!

From the Dish

Intelsat 701 180E 4086 L "RFO Tempo Tahiti, RFI" and the occasional feeds have left.(Looks like they havn't paid their Bills)

Agila 2 146E 3711 H "ABC 5" on (MPEG-2) is now fta.
Agila 2 146E 3736 H The test card has left (MPEG-2).
Agila 2 146E 3853 H "ESC 1" has started, S 3200, Fec 3/4, Vpid 4144 Apid 4145.
Agila 2 146E 4082 H "Ezmall Shopping" has started on, Sr 3200, Fec 3/4, Vpid 4144 Apid 4145.

Sinosat 1 110.5E 3720 V Occasional TVB feeds on Sr 5700, Fec 3/4.

Asiasat 2 100.5E 3640 H All TV channels here are currently .
Asiasat 2 100.5E 3994 V The occasional TVB feeds have moved here , Sr 5700, Fec 3/4.
Asiasat 2 100.5E 3951 H "The test card is now encrypted in Irdeto".

Insat 3B 83E 11575 H "Apnet"has started, SRr 2222, Vpid 4194 Apid 4195.(KU band use here is very new worth checking)

NEWS

Sky Channel speeds up live telecasts with ATM service

From indiantelevision.com

Asia Global Crossing (AGC) will deploy an ATM service for Australia's National Racing Broadcaster, Sky Channel.

The leading pan-Asian telecom services provider says the ATM network will deliver transmission at an access speed of 45 Mbps with a constant bit rate (CBR) of 8 Mbps. The new capability starts from February 2002.

Sky uses its global broadcast network to provide live and exclusive telecasts of Australian and international horse and greyhound events. The ATM service will enable Sky to provide audiences with live transmission of Australian horse races from its premises in French's Forest, Sydney to a re-broadcaster in Louisville, Kentucky via a gateway in Los Angeles. Video, voice and data will be delivered on the ATM backbone replacing Sky's traditional satellite delivery.

Sky Channel's satellite services only offer simplex transmission capacity. The new arrangement is expected to reduce transmission costs and provide Sky with a dedicated video duplex, audio and data transmission capability. Nearly 41,000 live horse and greyhound races are covered each year from Down Under on the channel. The company delivers its services within Australia to commercial customers through the Aurora platform on the Optus B3 satellite and offers a tailored service to domestic households via the Pay TV networks distribution infrastructure. It has international capacity on the Thaicom 3 satellite to deliver its service across Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

AGC offers broadcasters uncompressed 270 Mbps television broadcast capability and provides transmission speeds up to 1.28 Tbps, while fully resilient hubs ensure automatic global re-routing capability.

EWTN channel to start on Pas 10, Q1 2002

From indiantelevision.com

Religious channels have been prospering on Indian television for the last couple of years. Aastha, Sanskar, etc Punjabi (with its Gurbani telecast), Maharishi Veda Vision and the MiracleNet are some of the channels which have made their debut. Now there's another waiting on the sidelines to make a foray: the Eternal World Television Network (EWTN) Global Catholic Network. The channel's management has announced that it will launch a television service for India in the first quarter of 2002. As part of the launch, EWTN will also expand the reach of its television service currently available in Africa.

According to EWTN president Michael Warsaw, the Network has reached an agreement in principle with PanAmSat to move its current Africa channel from the PAS 3 satellite to the recently launched PAS 10 spacecraft. With this shift, Warsaw says this move will not only allow EWTN's content to be seen and heard by more than 99 per cent of the Catholic population on the African continent, but will also make both its radio and TV service available to more than 10,000 cable television systems in India.

"Like the Apostle Thomas, who first preached the Gospel in India two thousand years ago," Warsaw notes "EWTN will soon bring that same message to new television and radio audiences throughout this vast region."

In a related move, EWTN has signed an agreement with satellite radio provider WorldSpace Direct Media Service to bring EWTN's multimedia content to personal computers throughout Africa and Asia. Says Warsaw: "EWTN is extremely pleased to once again be working at the cutting edge of technology by being able to offer our Internet content directly to the end users of the WorldSpace system."

EWTN has been in existence for than 20 years and telecasts to more than 70 million TV homes accross the globe. Its founder Mother M. Angelica, a Poor Clare nun, set up Our Lady of Angels Monastery in Irondale, Alabama, and then started creating mini-books with religious teachings. As these gained in popularity, she created a video series of her talks taped at a local Birmingham television station and followed this up with a television studio on monastery property in Irondale. That small TV studio has now evolved into a state of the art audiovisual complex funded totally by gifts from individuals and groups, and visited annually by thousands of pilgrims.

In 1992, her vision ever expanding, with contributions from the late Piet Derksen couple, Mother Angelica established the world's largest privately owned short wave radio station on a mountain top 20 miles from EWTN. The station broadcasts 24 hours a day in English and Spanish to areas of the world including those remote places not reached by television.

The heart of EWTN TV Channel is its show, Mother Angelica Live, hosted by Mother Angelica, which is broadcast before a live audience every Tuesday and Wednesday night. In addition, EWTN offers several live programs including the Daily Mass from the chapel in Irondale, Life on the Rock, a teen and young adult show with host Jeff Cavins, The Journey Home with Marcus Grodi and The World Over with news anchor Raymond Arroyo. The network also airs documentaries, weekly series hosted by leading Catholic theologians, coverage of Church events in the U.S. and abroad, seasonal music specials, the Rosary and other devotional prayer segments.

EWTN will be a free to air channel.

24/11/01

Sorry no update today, just have not had time.

23/11/01

There is a delay with the Saturn channel Details on B1. Hopefully I will have them in the next couple of days. Not much happening newswise today.

For those in Thailand after the BBC News feed

Pas 2 3941 V "BBC 1 NEWS Feed " Sr 6620, vpid 1460 apid 1420 text 8191 pcr 1460, sid1, pmt 5001

From the Dish

Express 9 103E 3675 R "Radio Moscow" has started on : 7.92, 8.10, 8.65 and 8.82 MHz.New frequencies for Radio Junost and Radio Mayak: 7.50 and 8.28 MHz.

ST 1 88E 3632 V "CTS" has New PIDs Vpid 2081 Apid 2082.

Thaicom 3 78.5E 3585 V "Star Vijay and Channel Nepal" have started on , Vpid 512 Apid 640 and Vpid 513 Apid 641, Asian beam.

NEWS

Aaj Tak to stay all-Hindi channel for now

http://www.business-standard.com/ice/news5.asp?menu=1

Television news channel Aaj Tak has decided it will stay an all-Hindi channel for the moment.

?We believe there is an opportunity in English programming. There is enough scope for improving on what rival channels are doing, but we do not have any plans right now. The stress is on getting more viewership for Aaj Tak in its present form,” executive director and CEO of TV Today Network Ltd, G Krishnan, told Business Standard.

TV Today, part of the India Today Group, owns the Aaj Tak channel.

Aaj Tak had recently attempted to shed its “only Hindi” tag by airing a ten part series 25 Incredible Years, both in English and Hindi.

Announcing the series on August 30, editor in chief of the India Today Group Aroon Poorie had said that the company was planning English and regional language channels as part of its growth strategy. However, he had also said that the company was yet to finalise the time-frame in which the new channels would come up.

On starting regional channels or programming on Aaj Tak, Krishnan said: “We are not even looking at it”.

Krishnan said the current focus of the company was to maintain its leadership and improve on its programming based on feedback from viewers.

?The effort is to augment our news coverage, improve graphics and presentation and sharpen editing,” he said.

Aaj Tak, the Hindi channel launched by the company less than a year ago, now accounts for nine of the top 10 news programmes as per the TAM figures for the week ended November 3, Krishnan said.

.ven in terms of the four-week average of TAM ratings, Aaj Tak recorded the highest viewership and reach and accounted for 45 per cent of news channel share among viewers. We now reach 20 million viewers,” he said.

On advertisers’ interest in the channel, Krishnan said Aaj Tak caters to a much wider range of advertisers and carries commercials of products ranging from mass consumption items such as `masalas’ and undergarments to automobiles. Keeping in mind viewers’ requirements, the channel has now decided to limit commercial time to 12 minutes per hour, he added.

Craigs comment, since this channel is the number 1 Indian news channel I wonder why they havn't hopped onto Asiasat 3 for better coverage.

22/11/01

Mediasat on B3 were running the Cricket for a while this afternoon. I really enjoyed it until they switched things off. Tommorow I should be able to post the channel details of Saturn running on B1.

From my Emails & ICQ

From Chris Pickstock

B1 12356 V, Sr 6110 has a Test Card up. Interestingly it is labelled "Mediasat" Vpid 1160, Apid 1120. The Pids on my Integra changed all by themselves from the usual 308, 256. I didn't touch it.

Mediasat on B3, 12363V currently have some trotting on, and the Integra keeps switching itself off and restarting. Only on this frequency. Any clues anybody? Last week it was reported that Mediasat were trying new software.

B1 12367V, Sr 6110 has a test card up saying "Globecast, Foxsport Basketball"

From the Dish

Nothing to report.

NEWS

Austar parent is in default

From http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,3294273%5E15306%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html

AUSTAR United's parent company has defaulted on an interest payment on debt used to partly fund its Austar stake, highlighting its precarious financial position.

US-based UnitedGlobalCom (UGC), which owns 81 per cent of the regional pay TV group, has told the US Securities and Exchange Commission it could not make the first interest payment of $US34.5 million ($66 million) on the senior discount notes which was due last Thursday.

The news comes as Austar continues negotiations to roll over its $400 million debt facility by the end of December.

But an Austar spokesman said the issue of UGC's bonds was unrelated to the local company's refinancing negotiations.

However, the default yesterday prompted ratings agency Standard & Poor's to downgrade the notes to D from triple C.

"At the same time the ratings are removed from credit watch where they were placed on August 22, 2001," the agency said.

UGC's local subsidiary United Australia/Pacific issued $US488 million in bonds from 1996.

UGC said the notes had begun to accrue interest from May 15 this year and the first payment was due last Thursday.

"The company does not have enough cash to make this interest payment. Accordingly, the company will not make this interest payment," UGC said.

In another filing, the 10K document, it said that if it did not pay the amount within "30 days or more" the trustee can declare the amount payable.

"The trustee ... could initiate bankruptcy proceedings against the company, sue to recover the amount of the notes or take any other action available to creditors," the company said.

"Based upon current market prices, the value of the company's assets is significantly less than the amount of outstanding principal and accrued interest.

"While the company has sought financing from United, at this point the company believes it is unlikely United will make such a contribution."

UGC said it had engaged legal and financial advisers in relation to the matter and had received a letter from the trustee of the indentures confirming it was in default.

UGC is now believed to have entered discussions with the bondholders in an attempt to restructure the debt.

The thinly traded notes hit a year high of $US1.30 last December and hit a year low of US15c last Monday.

Austar's shares have recently been buoyed by takeover speculation and rose yesterday 1.5c to 31.5c.

ESPN Star Sports makes inroads in south east Asia

From indiantelevision.com

ESPN Star Sports recently signed its first-ever terrestrial carriage deals in Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar with national broadcasters LNTV, TV5 and Mywaddy TV.

The deals will run for three years and include an agreement to air the English Premier League and other sports programmes. ESS has also concluded a carriage agreement with Vietnam's terrestrial national network, VTV3. Under this arrangement, VTV3 will broadcast, in addition to the English Premier League, exclusive ESS programs like the Asian X Games Qualifier in Malaysia in February 2002, the US X Games, the world's richest 5-a-side international football event Tiger 5s, and the CGU Asian Bowling Tour.

ESS programming was earlier available in the region through a combination of hotel and cable platforms, mainly to expatriates and tourists.

The EPL season began on August 18 2001, carried live on ESS' two channels, ESPN and Star Sports. This season, football fans across Asia will see 165 live games and over 1000 hours of EPL programming. In addition, there is a line-up of support news programming seven days a week, with a comprehensive menu of pre- and post-game analyses, predictions and information.

According to an official release, a potential 9.2 million viewers have been added to ESS's distribution figures, taking it up to a total of 79 million households on ESPN and 56 million households on Star Sports.

Craigs comment, Mywaddy is FTA on Asiasat 2 so maybe football fans will be in luck.

Satellite TV beams into more Chinese homes

From http://www1.chinadaily.com.cn/bw/2001-11-20/44463.html

Domestic satellite television stations are capturing bigger audiences nationwide as a result of better programming and wider coverage, according to new research.

The third nationwide survey on the audience ratings of China's satellite TV stations by China Mainland Marketing Research Co (CMMR) found that by the end of August 57.8 per cent of national viewers watched TV via national cable networks, while only 36.3 per cent used antennas. The remaining families watched TV by other means, such as through networks within their housing estates, according to the survey of nearly 7,000 families from 30 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities.

Fourteen national and regional television satellite TV stations, including China Central Television (CCTV) 1, CCTV-6, CCTV-7, Liaoning, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Hubei, Guangdong, Guangxi, Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan, each have potential audiences of more than 100 million people.

Among them, CCTV-1 can reach 1.08 billion viewers, CCTV-6 700 million and CCTV-7 640 million. The three CCTV channels increase their coverage by 10 million viewers every year.

Zhejiang leads the regional satellite stations by reaching a potential audience of 660 million people. Sichuan, Guangdong and Guizhou can reach more than 450 million people.

Since gradually connecting with satellites networks in 1989, regional satellite stations have extended their influence far beyond their provincial borders, and have reached a national audience over the past decade.

About 80 per cent of CCTV viewers are happy with the reception they receive via satellite, while the figure for provincial viewers is 60 per cent.

Most people (81.4 and 60.7 per cent respectively) said they enjoyed programmes on CCTV-6 and CCTV-7, while programmes on all the 11 provincial TV stations received support from more than half of those surveyed.

Among the 209 programmes on the 14 satellite TV stations surveyed, 86 (41.1 per cent) attracted an audience of more than 50 million people.

21/11/01

The chatroom was a lot of fun lastnight, good to see many in NZ joining in. Well worth joinng in and picking up all the juicy gossip on whats happening. Did someone say 4 new FTA Iranian channels? "Jame Jame" was one mentioned and something about German football coverage which should please a few soccer fans. I did eventually hook the Nokia up to have a look at Palapa C2, RCTI had a huge signal and I could get Channel News Asia as well. Its raining today so no chance to get out and make furthur adjustments. Two service loaded but didn't show a picture one a freq for RCTI and the other CNBC Asia which is listed with Channel News asia. On the analogue side Tv5 and TVRI are there also. No sign of any Verticals but thats more to do with needing to adjust the feed alignment. Also today I picked up another Dish (FREE) for the holiday home a 76cm with Sharp LNBF. I measured up the one I have been using its actually 65cm not the 60cm I thought it was. I will compare them later on.

From my Emails & ICQ

From Chris Pickstock 20/11/01

B1, 12357 V "Rove" Sr 5632, Fec 3/4
B1, 12367 V "Channel V" bus feeds continue here

From the Dish

PAS 8 166E 12410 H "Venus-Eye" has started, Sr 4410, Fec 5/6, Vpid 33 Apid 34.(This is a Japanese porno channel! The fec will make this one tricky obviously they are trying to limit the coverage area, They are using the North East Ku Beam. which I think is a little dodgy. Please report if you find any sign of this service)

NEWS

Sorry none for today

20/11/01

Livechat tonight 8.30pm Syd time and from 9 P.M NZ.

I have spent the day trying to get the dish moving. The 1st problem was the actuator I wired it corectly but for some reason some smoke came out the end (Don't laugh) I unconnected it all and cut a bit of excess wire off it seemed fine after that. The 2nd problem is one I have known about all along when we lifted the dish onto the pole (with mount already on the pole) in the rush we got the mount opposite to what it it should of been. So we need to lift the dish and flip it over. Hopefully will get that done once I find enough helpers. I have left it on Palapa C2 at the moment so I will hook the Nokia up later and see if I can get the digitals. Sorry not much else for today.

Sky NZ are running some services FTA again the same services as last time this happend see below.

From my Emails & ICQ

From Chris Pickstock

Mediasat on 12397 H

On B1, 12397 H, sr 7200, Network 7's usual feed freq, a channel loads titled "Mediasat". Vpid 1160, Apid 1120. Currently showing a Test Card with the words "Parker U14". Could be for the soccer tonight I guess.

From the Dish

PAS 8 166E 12726 H "test card" on , Vpid 522 Apid 650, is now in fta.

Optus B1 160E 12608 V The following currently FTA on SKY NZ
Sundance, JTV, Prime, Sky Boxing preview (this one running Sky promos) Sky
Sports Extra (Running a replay of the Boxing PPV Fight from Sunday)

JCSAT 3 128E 3960 V FTV, Hollywood Movie Channel, ETTV Movie, CTS, CTV and TTV are encrypted again.

NEWS

Disney to launch 24-hour Hindi pay channel

From http://www.financialexpress.com/fe20011120/efetop1.html

Winnie the Pooh, House of Mouse, Lizzie McGuire, Even Stevens....are all getting ready to speak desi lingo and make an entry into your drawing rooms. Walt Disney, one of the biggest media and entertainment groups in the world, is planning to launch a 24-hour Hindi pay channel in India soon, perhaps around the new year, according to sources. This TV channel is expected to showcase the Disney portfolio of products and programming in their full glory.

The channel is being set up through a 100 per cent fully-owned subsidiary in India. The immediate investment proposed to be made in the Indian channel is around $30 million, said sources. In Asia, India will be the third market to be tapped by the Disney group, the other two being Hong Kong and Japan.

Even as no fresh investment is being made in the media and the broadcasting sector at this point, Disney is viewing India as a lucrative market.

Interestingly, this project is said to be close to the heart of Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj.

Ms Swaraj had recently visited the Disney Studios in the US, and deliberations on this channel had been initiated during that trip itself.

The Disney proposal, which is in the process of being cleared by the Indian government, envisages setting up a studio for animation products, a theme park and a publication business related to Disney, besides the TV channel.

The channel, sources said, is being launched individually and not on any other broadcasting platform. Disney is also eyeing the radio and movie business. The annual turnover of the group is around $25.4 billion. It has presence in 40 countries around the world and employs 1,20,000 people in its several offices.

19/11/01

Some interesting stuff today a few feeds, new TARBS stuff (BOO HISS) and news of a new Satellite for the Pacific region. The India vs South Africa cricket feed is on Pas 2 (see below). Meanwhile I have been getting instructions on how to wire up my actuator (Don't laugh I know its simple stuff, but it's not like I can pop to the local shop if I fry anything)

From my Emails & ICQ

From Chris Pickstock

On Pas 8, 12729 H, sr 28067, 13 TV channels and 13 radio channels now load. All are showing on my unit as "Encrypted" except for one ( "CH55", Vpid 522, Apid 650 ) which is showing, surprise, surprise, a TARBS Card. I suppose with all these channels they keep snapping up they have run out of room on existing transponders and needed to get another. This frequency is the one that "Boomerang" used to occupy.

Craigs comment , Lyngsat reports this one today at 12726 H, one wonders what Tarbs has planned for this transponder

From Rolly Whitehead

Re: Leonids shower

In Tairua NZ (175.0E 37.0S) today I saw about 25 before 5:00am 19/11. At
45' elevation South east travel to South West. Peak was 5 within one
minute. - Rolly

From the Dish

Pas 2 169E 4148 V "Hong Kong Jockey Club Races" Sr 24430 Fec 2/3
Pas 2 169E 3776 ? "Baseball" Sr 5632 Fec 2/3 (Unconfirmed)
Pas 2 169E 3785 ? "Baseball" Sr 5632 Fec 2/3 (Unconfirmed)
Pas 2 169E 3892 V "Tennis Masters Cup" From Australia, no other details.
Pas 2 169E 3961 V "Cricket Ind vs Saf" Sr 5632 Fec 3/4, Vpid 308 Apid 256

PAS 8 166E 12726 H "13 test cards have started", Sr 28067, Fec 3/4, Pids 512/640-524/652.(More Tarbs stuff)

Sinosat 1 110.5E 4088 V "Golden Shopping Channel" has started on , Sid 5, Vpid 650 Apid 651.

Asiasat 2 100.5E 3984 V "Macau Grand Prix Feed" Sr 6111, Fec 3/4

NEWS

Tiny Pacific Nation Planning its Own Satellite

From satnewsasia.com

The tiny Pacific island of Niue intends to launch a geostationary communications satellite that it hopes will earn millions of dollars for this country of only 1,600 persons.

Prime Minister Sani Lakatani said the satellite project is part of a grand plan to have American-based partners launch the satellite and station it in a position approved by the International Communications Union.

The five-year project is estimated to cost around US$300 million with funding from American investors. Lakatani said the project “will not cost Niue anything.” Call centers to be staffed by half the nation’s 400 civil servants would be established on Niue to receive satellite communications.

Lakatani said his IT adviser in the United States was talking to people about the project, and he was soon to receive a report from this as yet unnamed adviser.

He said the intention was to lease out the Niue satellite. Niue expects to receive 35 percent of the profit derived from the satellites use. Lakatani is confident about the scheme’s viability. Lakatani said his interest in Niue having its own satellite was heightened in 1999 when he met John Rex Wood, his adviser in Sydney

Craigs comment, Very interesting I wonder what location they will use and where they will beam.

Isro readies for Leonid meteor showers

From indiantelevision.com

They're streaks of lights in the sky which make for a pleasant sight. But meteor showers are known to damage manmade satellites in their orbits. Bearing this in mind, Indian space agency Isro has braced itself for the Leonid meteor showers expected to peak on Sunday, 18 November, during their ongoing passage through Earth's orbit.

The government agency has taken steps to ensure its satellites' wellbeing when the showers reach their zenith between 2.30 PM and 3.30 PM and again between 10.30 PM and 11.30 PM on the weekend. Isro will temporarily suspend camera operations and the camera steering mechanism for its remote sensing satellites (IRS) which help meteorologists predict weather through satellite images. Solid state recorders will be off for about 10 hours.

It is taking precautions for its communications and broadcast satellites as well. The solar arrays of the Insat series of satellites will be positioned so that they present minimum surface area to the showers. The Gyros on board these birds will be kept continuously on to detect any disturbances due to impact. In case of any disturbances, the satellites will be brought back to their proper orientation using reaction control thrusters on board. ISRO has also kept designers of the various satellite subsystems on alert to help in taking contingency measures in case of any incident.

Leonid meteor showers are a result of the dust and debris left behind by the comet Tempel-Tuttle, which passes through the inner solar system every 33.25 years. The debris is burned off the comet's nucleus by a wind of charged particles that stream outward from the Sun. Most meteoroids are no larger than a grain of sand, that vaporize when they zoom through Earth's atmosphere at 260 times the speed of sound.

While the visual spectacle is a treat, in the form of 'shooting stars' lit brilliantly by the constellation Leo, they also have the potential to create havoc to satellites by pitting solar cells, optical surfaces and mirrors. Equipment could get damaged and thus send satellites spinning out of their geostationary orbits. The satellite's microprocessors are sensitive to the meteoroids. The plasma cloud can cause elcetrical circuits and short fuses or even ruptures. Even the momentum of the impact can throw a satellite off course.

IRS satellites are in the near earth polar orbits. According to the Isro, the probability of meteors hitting the IRS satellites is about 0.013 per cent and for INSATs, it is around 0.035 per cent. ISRO currently has five satellites in operation (IRS-1C, IRS-1D, IRS-P3, IRS-P4 and TES) in the Polar sun-synchronous orbits and five satellites (INSAT-2C, INSAT-2DT, INSAT-2E, INSAT-3B and GSAT-1) in the geo-stationary orbit.

The last time Leonids produced what astronomers call a storm was in 1966 when only a handful of satellites orbited Earth. This time round, hundreds of satellites are at risk, providing services ranging from pagers and television to weather forecasts. Predictions for the number of meteors per hour during this year's peak on 18 November range from 1,400 to 15,000, with Asia slated to see around 8000 per hour.

In 1999, the last year that a strong Leonids meteor shower was predicted, satellite operators effectively put many of their spacecraft into hibernation (turning off or minimizing data collecting and sending operations) while still maintaining critical services here on Earth.

NASA Space Flight Center's Bill Cooke has told media that the odds of a satellite being damaged during the peak hours of the Leonid meteor shower are between 1 in 10,000 and 1 in 1,000. Cooke has indicated that at least one satellite could be significantly damaged during the entire storm which spans several days. The risk this year is five to 10 times greater than in 1999, Cooke said.

Leonid showers: No effect on Indian satellites

From http://www.hindustantimes.com/nonfram/191101/detNAT24.asp

The first peak of the Leonid meteor showers in the solar system passed by on Sunday with no impact on Indian satellites in orbit. An ISRO spokesperson told the Hindustan Times in Bangalore that the satellites passed by the meteor showers at 2.30 this afternoon. "There were absolutely no problems," the ISRO spokesperson said.

The first peak was at 2.30 p.m. while the second is around 11.30 on Sunday night. The chances of the showers affecting any satellite is extremely remote, the spokesperson said. Apparently, the chances of any impact are just around 0.34 per cent.

However, as a matter of caution, the cameras on board the Indian Remote Sensing Satellites (IRS) were switched off for the day while the solar panels of the INSAT communication satellites were aligned so that the showers were parallel to the surface of the panels. "This way, we reduce the probability of anything untoward happening," the spokesperson said. The effect of switching off the cameras is minimal while communication satellites for all practical purposes continue to function normally. Around the world, all countries take such precautionary measures routinely during this time.

Already, Indian satellites in orbit have passed by the showers twice - in November 1999 and November 2000 - without any hassles.

New TV channel likely to go into trial operation on Dec 16

From http://independent-bangladesh.com/news/nov/18/18112001mt.htm#A8

A new TV channel named Inquilab Television (ITV), with provision for both satellite and terrestrial transmission is expected to go into trial operation on December 16 coinciding with the Victory Day.

ITV Chairman AMM Bahauddin told The Independent on Friday their channel would be a modern news and entertainment medium of international standard. It would cover the whole world through five satellites.

Side by side with fulfilling the entertainment needs of viewers it would uphold the ideals of Bangladeshi nationalism and Islamic values, said Bahauddin who is also the Editor, The Daily Inquilab.

The channel would air all programmes, local and foreign, and maintain a high technical standard, he said.

ITV has contacted Mark Tully, former South Asia Correspondent of the BBC and of Sirajur Rahman of the BBC, Bangla service to enlist their services to programmes, he said. The channel would operate for 24 hours.

ITV’s Managing Director Salahuddin Shoaib Chowdhury said viewers in Bangladesh and the rest of the world would be entertained with the latest movies from Hollywood and TV serials from world class producers.

ITV authorities are now installing their equipment at the Inquilab Bhaban at RK Mission Road. They have hired technicians from USA to run and maintain those.

T S I C H A N N E L N E W S - Number 46/2001 November 18 2001 -

A weekly roundup of global TV news sponsored by Tele Satellite International

Editor: Branislav Pekic
Edited Apsattv.com Edition

AUSTRALIA

TALKS ON PAY-TV ALLIANCE

According to local press reports, the country’s number two and number three
pay-TV platforms are in talks about an alliance. Austar CEO John Porter and his
Optus counterpart John Anderson are reported to be in discussions that could
see their respective regional and metropolitan operations unite in a move that
will undermine market leader Foxtel. Foxtel sells programming to Austar and the
two companies jointly own the XYZ content company that makes or distributes six
channels carried on both platforms. In addition the potential loss of Austar's
435,000 subscribers from Foxtel's 750,000 total would limit Foxtel's
negotiating position with the Hollywood studios. Optus has 225,000 pay-TV
subscribers.

INDIA

BOMBAY COURT RULES IN FAVOUR OF CABLE SUBSCRIBERS

In a ruling which will favour cable TV subscribers, the Bombay High Court has
barred TV channels from switching off TV signals in case of payment default by
cable operators. The Bombay High Court has held that TV channels are not
necessarily entitled to cut off signals of pay-channels in case of payment
defaults, keeping in mind the interest of consumers or cable TV subscribers.
The court's decision is aimed at safeguarding the rights of the average TV
viewer. The ruling is part of an arbitration petition filed by ESPN Software
India against Mumbai cable network 7 Star Satellite Network.

STAR TV TO INCREASE CABLE RATES

Star TV will hike cable subscription rates from Rs30 to Rs42 per connection
from January 2002. As a result, cable subscription rates across the country
will go up by at least Rs25 to Rs40 per cable home, according to a report
published in the “Times of India”. Sony TV has recently become a pay channel
charging Rs20 (for Sony, Setmax, CNBC and AXN) and the Zee bouquet costs Rs30
to the cable operator. Turner package costs Rs11 and ESPN-Star Sports Rs16 in
addition to the Rs15 entertainment tax levied by the government. According to
Star India CEO Peter Mukerjea, only 6 million subscribers in the country share
the cost of 38 million cable homes.

NEW ZEALAND

TVNZ OFFERS DIGITAL SERVICE VIA CABLE

Television New Zealand has struck a deal with telephone and television provider
Telstra Saturn to offer a digital television service by cable, according to
?The New Zealand Herald”. TVNZ also plans to offer a satellite-based digital
service as an alternative, with Telstra Saturn and Sky being mentioned as
potential partners, and a decision is expected by Christmas. Television New
Zealand has paid $6 million for a slot on Australian telecommunications company
Cable & Wireless Optus’ B1 satellite which be used to deliver digital
television across New Zealand.

SKY ADDS BBC WORLD

DTH operator Sky has added the BBC World international news and information
service to its offering, effective from January 2002. The 24-hour channel will
form part of Sky’s basic tier. The pay-TV operator also said that it now has a
total of 439,000 subscribers, 290,687 of which are digital.

QATAR

AL JAZEERA PREPARES ENGLISH LANGUAGE CHANNEL
The Al-Jazeera TV channel is planning to launch an English language channel
early next year. Currently broadcasting in Arabic, the channel is seen by an
estimated 15 million viewers in the Middle East and central Asia as well as by
satellite subscribers in the west.

SOUTH KOREA

NEW JAPANESE-KOREAN CARTOON CHANNEL

A number of Japanese and Korean toon and toy corporations have united to launch
a new digital satellite animation channel, AniOneTV, for broadcast across
Korea. Japanese toy manufacturer Bandai and Daiwon C&A Holdings, the South
Korean outfit who own the character licences to Pokemon, Digimon and Dragonball
Z, have inked a deal to establish Daiwon Digital Broadcasting. The company has
also attracted investment from four other Japanese animation studios, namely
Toei Animation, Shogakukan Productions, Tokyo Movie Shinsa Entertainment and
Sunrise, alongside Bandai’s Korean subsidiary. Investment for the venture runs
at 5 billon won, with two-thirds coming from Daiwon C&A Holdings, Gina World
(Korea) and Bandai Korea, with the other Japanese companies supplying the
remaining 33%. DDB, which will be carried by Korean satellite broadcaster
Skylife, will commence full-scale broadcasting in December 2001. AniOneTV will
broadcast new animation and classics as well as amateur toons in an effort to
appeal to mainstream fans and aficionados.

18/11/01

Well the Leonids are supposed to Peak early Monday morning can you imagine the chaos if B3 was taken out of action? a quick shift to a temporary sat would be out of the question imagine all those thousands of dishs to repoint. I think that almost as bad would be for Pas 8 to be damaged. Wouldn't that be a disaster to all those Tarbs viewers. I guess they could jump to Pas 2 KU nothing much there on the Australia beam nowdays...

From my Emails & ICQ

From Bob Cooper

"There will be a signal interruption to CNNI and CNNfn on 18 November 2001
within the period 1900 - 2000 GMT (most likely to start at 19:05 GMT - which
will be November 19th at 8:05 AM in NZ). A scheduled maintenance exercise at
the California uplink operator (to PAS-8) is the cause of the scheduled
outtage; the interruption should last no longer than 5 minutes." (Note for
future reference: Contact for Globecast uplinker in California is
1-310-845-3800)

From Andrew Harrison 18/11/01

Rahman vs Lewis Boxing

LIVE FTA Indosiar on Palapa C2, Sunday Afternoon

Live Rugby

Australia VS England

I701 (180 degs) 3769 RHC half time score 40 - 0 to the Aussies - coff coff.
3rd round advertised as same place same time next week, channel 1 this BQ.
Also this BQ is the best bet for the Boxing today 12-1pm. Costa Tzyu fight
was here on channel 2 last week.

Rgds,
Andrew Harrison.

Craigs Comment, Thanks for the report, 701 reports are very welcome, I think it must of been rugby 7's from Durban with that kind of scoreline.

From John Harrison (no relation) 18/11/01

For those that are Able to Receive
The Rahman v Lewis Fight

Optus Aurora Bouquet
BTV 3 @ 12.55pm aedt

From Chris Pickstock 18/11/01

10.25 am SA time

B1, 12367 V "Channel V are again doing a live cross. Setting up equipment at the moment.same as last night".

From Chris Pickstock 17/11/01

5.25 pm SA time

B1, 12367 V "Live feed for "Channel V".Sr 6110 I think its some music awards.
it's a boomer of a signal. Looks like its at a concert
somewhere.

Chris

Craigs comment this was a powerfull signal heaps stronger than Sky NZ

From the Dish

Optus B3 156E 12313 H The Austar promo is currently FTA.

Asiasat 3 105.5E 12447 H "ChinaCast TV" has started , Sr 9766, Fec 2/3, Vpid 41 Apid 42

Asiasat 2 100.5E 12245 V "TsingHua Education TV" has started on , Sr 4100, Fec 3/4, Vpid 4194 Apid 4196.(Asia only)
Asiasat 2 100.5E 3640 H "Future TV USA has replaced BK 063 Sat" on , Sid 6, Vpid 517 Apid 645.

Yamal 102 90E 3524 L "Yuzhniy Region" is still on , Sr 4285, Fec 3/4, Vpid 308 Apid 256.

NEWS

Sorry nothing for today

17/11/01

Boxing Sunday afternoon Rahman vs Lewis should be a good fight. Not sure where it may turn up, keep your eyes open for it and report via the mailing list if you see it. It may be via SCTV on Palapa C2. Maybe also via one of the Adhocs on Pas 2.

From my Emails & ICQ

From "Bill Sydney" via mailing list

He Reports a strong KU band signal in the 113E region, This could be Sinosat 1 at 110.5E (Ku band seen in Melbourne before) or the new AAP1 High power Ku sat at 108E (maybe 108.2 not sure)

From Me 16/11/01

B1 12367 V "Globecast LF8, Fox Sports Big Time Boxing feed"

From the Dish

PAS 8 166E 3940 H "BBC World has replaced TNT" on Vpid 2460 Apid 2420.

Palapa C2 113E 3880 H "A test card has started" Vpid 512 Apid 650

Asiasat 3 105.5E 12595 H "Macau Pop Channel" has New PIDs Vpid 450 Apid 451.
Asiasat 3 105.5E 12447 H "China Cast TV" Sr 9766, Fec 2/3 Vpid 41 Apid 42 (This one unconfirmed maybe visable in Australia as the Macau ones are)

Yamal 102 90E 3524 L "Yuzhniy Region" has left.

NEWS

Regulations favor pay TV, says Nine

From http://www.theage.com.au/business/2001/11/17/FFX7HZ0U2UC.html

Australia's pay TV providers should be subject to the same strict content regulations as commercial broadcasters, says Nine Network chief executive David Leckie.

Speaking at a Screen Producers Association of Australia conference in Melbourne yesterday, Mr Leckie renewed his attack on stringent program-content regulations and urged they be scrapped. He estimated the free-to-air networks spent about $600 million on Australian content last year compared with about $7 million by the pay TV industry.

"We're so highly regulated, we're the ones paying the money; others should be doing it as well," he said. "The rules they are under are really undermining our business and, added to that, they're not paying any money either - and (they've taken) $100 million from the advertising pie."

Commercial broadcasters are required to show an average of 55 per cent of Australian programming from 6am to midnight, which includes guaranteed amounts of locally produced drama, children's shows and documentaries.

Adult drama is calculated on a points system and networks earn more points for high-production-value programs.

Mr Leckie said a more expensive series such as the recently axed Water Rats drama should have earned more points than Blue Heelers, which screens on the Seven Network.

He suggested the commercial networks be able to accumulate points through co-productions with the ABC.

Layoffs Hit TechTV

From http://www.tvinsite.com

Hit by the meltdown in the technology sector and the sour economy, TechTV laid off 130 employees Friday, according to officials.

The layoffs, at headquarters in San Francisco and its New York office, will affect all areas of the network, which covers technology information and news.

TechTV, which reaches 28 million homes, is owned by Paul Allen’s Vulcan Ventures Inc.

TechTV is also cutting back on live original programming, which will drop to six-and-a-half hours per day from 11, according to Alyssa Donelan, senior director of corporate communications.

Donelan would not say how many employees TechTV has in total.

'The business changes we need to make are difficult and reflect the volatile economy we are all faced with,' TechTV chairman Larry Wangberg said in a prepared statement.

'We must focus on what is best for our business success, while at the same time do our best to have the least possible affect on our associates,' he added. 'We are confident that TechTV will continue to provide its customers with the unique programming they value and expect from us.'

Turner renews broadcast agreement with CCTV

From Indiantelevision.com

Turner Broadcasting System, Asia Pacific has renewed its broadcast agreement with China Central Television (CCTV), to allow the two networks to share news footage and strengthen newsgathering affiliation.

The two organisations have had a news sharing co-operation agreement since 1990. CNN International is distributed in major hotels, many government offices, universities, research institutes, as well as diplomatic compounds in China through CCTV's commercial arm, China International Television Corp. (CITVC).

CCTV, established in 1958, is China's earliest and largest TV broadcaster, and runs 11 channels reaching one billion viewers. CNN's reach extends to 16 cable and satellite television networks; three private, place-based networks, two radio networks and 12 web sites.

Aaj Tak claims absolute numero uno status amongst news channels; launches new ad campaign

From indiantelevision.com

Aaj Tak is making hay out of the conflict in Afghanistan. If the ratings are to be believed, the Hindi news channel from the India Today stable has soared way ahead of competitors Star News and Zee News, as well as the BBC and CNN.

As per TAM figures for the week ended 20 October, Aaj Tak commanded a 50 per cent share as against Zee News' 35 per cent share. BBC had a share of 5 per cent while CNN boasted a 3 per cent share. As per INTAM figures for the week ended 7 October, Aaj Tak had a channel share of 42 per cent as against Zee News' 37 per cent. Aaj Tak maintained the channel share among the premium audiences (Sec A,B/25+) as well, while the channel share of Zee News dropped by 5 per cent.

The channel claims that on 7 October, the day the news that the hilly nation had been attacked by the coalition against terrorism broke, Aaj Tak drew the highest audience, with the channel witnessing a 156 per cent increase in its viewership. Viewers, says a press release, tuned into Aaj Tak for national as well as international news.

It had earlier witnessed an increase of four times in its usual viewership immediately after the attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York.

Says Aaj Tak CEO G Krishnan: "Aaj Tak's dynamic programming wheel format coupled with the state-of-the-art technology and uplink facility from India allows it to break news immediately."

The media group is hoping to further consolidate the gains it has made in recent times by harping on this point in a new ad campaign, which is planned to run across outdoor, cinema, radio and print until March 2002. The campaign tries to reinforce the message Aaj Tak is the first to deliver news to viewers.

Communication for the outdoors is largely slated to be through hoardings (billboards), kiosks and buses in Delhi and Mumbai. The key line of the ad campaign: "Aaj Tak -Sabse Tez Channel". Promos can also be watched in leading cinema halls nationally and heard on select FM and Vivid Bharati radio stations in all major cities.

The extensive media activity is to be complemented through ad releases in group magazines such as India Today and Business Today.

Craigs comment, could be good when they start up their planned English channel in a few months (Hopefully)

16/11/01

Sorry about the delay its Friday often don't get the update done before I go do the shopping so sorry the sites a little rushed. Plenty of press Releases today from Sky. Lets hope some competition appears soon. Yesterdays Mediasat Tv5 Asie appearance and TZU Chi multiples were due to testing of new software. Good news though Tzu Chi channel has signed up for 3 Years, Good work Mediasat keeping FTA alive. Be on the Lookout for Cricket feeds, India vs South Africa, West Indies vs Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe vs Bangladesh. These matchs must be up there somewhere.

Pas 2,8,10 Pages updated

From my Emails & ICQ

From Chris Pickstock

B1, 12397 H Sr 7200, "Fox Sports" coverage of Australian PGA championship from Queensland

5.10 pm SA time

B1, 12367V, Sr 5632 "Globecast Australia" Currently has a test card up saying "Fox Sport Boxing"

Chris

From Ernie the Satellite Man

g,day craig , today I found bbc world on pas 8 cal bqt ch 1 fta ntsc . .this is handy ,next to ewtn .
also lots of action on optus b1 , atn 7 sydney is running since saturday test patten and cricket .
during this week i have seen cnni plus aptv feeds .
ch.7 news exchange most days . golf from fox sports
this afternoon . (12.397h 7200 3/4 )

thanks for a great web site ..
ernie the satellite man

Craigs comment, BBC World in NTSC via Pas 8 3940 H "replaced TNT"

From the Dish

Optus B1 160E 12483 V "Saturn Cinema promo" has started, Sr 22500, Fec 3/4, Sid 16, Vpid 516 Apid 654.

Palapa C2 113E 4071 H "CNBC Asia" has left

AAP 1 108E 12730 V "TVBS MUX" Sr 27500 Fec 3/4 (This Satellite formally Ge1a) Start checking this one, there is a sharp beam peak to mid Northern Australia. Greater China: 8-16 Transponders NE Asia/Philippines: 8-16 Transponders South Asia: 0-8 Transponders.

NEWS

Sky TV aims to break even

From http://www.stuff.co.nz/inl/index/0,1008,1009855a28,FF.html

Sky Television aims to break even within two years, according to chairman Tom Mockridge.

He told the pay-television company's annual meeting in Auckland yesterday that the net loss of $42.6 million for the year to June had been the price of continued growth and, in particular, the low buying-power of the New Zealand dollar.

Sky attracted more than 53,000 new customers during the year and revenue topped $300 million.

Mr Mockridge became chairman in January.

"We still have value to create by building the business. The board is very committed, not only in growing the company in terms of subscribers, but of bringing this company to profitability."

He said New Zealand now had a "rational" market in the broadcasting sector, referring to the recent agreement between Sky and TVNZ, which will see TV1 and TV2 carried on Sky's satellite platform from December 1.

Chief financial officer Paul Smart said after the meeting that trading in the first quarter of the new financial year "was in line with expectations".

Chief executive and board director John Fellet told about 100 shareholders that in the June year, the value of Sky TV shares appreciated 24 per cent in total, a 23 per cent better return than the NZSE 40 index.

Signing up 53,864 subscribers during the year was a record. As at this week, Sky had 440,000 subscribers, and 290,000 of them were digital customers.

At the current rate of connections, net customer gain for the new financial year would be about 33,000, he said.

The company had so far downloaded "open TV" to 175,000 customers' satellite decoders. About 10,000 downloads were being completed a night.

Open TV is the application software which all Sky's interactive applications will hang off. One week after downloading was completed, Sky would launch its interactive services.

An e-mail service would be launched in the first quarter of next year.

Mr Fellet said the "biggest bane" of Sky's existence was the continuing low value of the Kiwi dollar. Sky must buy its programmes in US dollars.

A one cent drop in the Kiwi dollar-US dollar exchange rate cost Sky $3.5 million in operating cash flow.

"When Sky was floated in December 1997, one New Zealand dollar could buy US61.5 cents. If that rate had been in effect for the year just ended, I would have reported a $26 million profit rather than a loss."

Subscriber growth was continuing to drive top-line revenues, Mr Fellet said.

In the past six years, the compound growth rate had been 21 per cent. Although earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation was up only slightly for the year, the compounded growth rate had been 21 per cent. Ebitda was on track to grow another 20 per cent this financial year.

Mr Fellet later said the company might service its bank debt, which falls due in March 2004 at $215 million, with another capital notes issue or bonds offer.

He announced several new programming initiatives, including BBC World from January, and a new music package on December 1.

On the sharemarket yesterday, Sky TV closed steady at $3.73 in moderate turnover.

MEDIA RELEASE

Thursday, 15 November 2001

BBC WORLD COMPLETES SKY’S NEWS BOUQUET

SKY Television confirmed today that BBC World’s 24-hour news and information service will be available to all SKY Digital subscribers commencing January 1, 2002.

Soon to become an integral part of SKY’s basic “start-up” package, BBC World provides the latest news, sport, business and weather, 24 hours a day. Along with that, are the BBC's vanguard current affairs, documentary and lifestyle programming.

World renowned for its unmatched, impartial and in-depth analysis of breaking news, as well as investigating the stories behind the news, BBC World stands alone as the leading international news service for most New Zealanders.

Stephanie Dovey, Channel Manager BBC World said, “BBC World has always been popular amongst New Zealanders and we are delighted that we can now offer SKY New Zealand viewers 24-hour access to the channel.”

John Fellet, SKY Television’s Chief Executive said, “BBC World will be a excellent addition to SKY’s channel line-up. We are looking forward to offering subscribers yet another option.”

SKY currently has over 439,000 subscribers of which 290,687 receive the SKY Digital service.

-Ends-

MEDIA RELEASE

Thursday, 15 November 2001

SKY TELEVISION LAUNCHES 12 NEW MUSIC AUDIO CHANNELS

SKY Television in association with AEI Music confirmed today that from December 1, 2001, SKY Digital subscribers will be able to choose from twelve new music audio channels.

This new audio service under the brand SKY Digital Music will offer twelve different music styles, in full stereo, 24 hours a day, without intrusive commercials or DJ’s.

SKY Digital Music will be available to all digital domestic subscribers for a monthly fee of just $1.99, with the channels being updated each month to feature new releases and further reflect changes in popular musical trends.

To give subscribers a taste of the channels, SKY Television will provide the service at no cost to all digital subscribers for the first month.

AEI Music Limited, who became a business partner of SKY Television in June 2000 with the launch of SKY Music, will provide the content for the new service. Operating in more than 50 countries, AEI Music Network Inc. is the world’s leading provider of both custom music and imaging content for business.

?SKY is delighted to be able to provide more new and innovative services for our subscribers,” said John Fellet, SKY Television’s Chief Executive Officer.

SKY currently has over 439,000 subscribers of which 290,687 receive the SKY Digital service.

Audio Channel line-up:

Chart Attack Non stop top 40 hits
Pop The greatest pop hits from the 60s to today
Smooth Sounds to soothe the soul
Chill Mellow dance tracks and warm acoustic sounds
Jazz A blend of traditional and contemporary jazz
House rhythmic beats and thumping base
50s & 60s Rock'n'Roll and 60s classics
Disco Boogie On Down all over again
Rock Turn It Up And Rock On!
Country Nashville comes to your living room
Classical Elegant time honoured pieces from the Masters
Kids Collection of fun children's music and classic tunes

-Ends-

Austar slides further into red

From http://www.theage.com.au/business/2001/11/16/FFXU5REE1UC.html

Austar United Communications' losses deepened in the third quarter as its investment in the financially draining Telstra Saturn joint venture in New Zealand took its toll, the company revealed yesterday.

The regional pay TV operator's earnings before tax and interest (EBIT) plunged 33 per cent, or $57.1 million, further into the red to $235.7 million for the nine months to September 30.

This compared with an operating loss before interest and tax of $178.6 million in the corresponding period last year.

Losses from Austar's $49.8 million partnership with Telstra in the New Zealand pay TV joint venture offset the benefits of tighter cost control.

15/11/01

Some activity on Mediasat, Tzu Chi appearing in multiple places and TV5 Asie back on Msatt 6 hopefully it will stay. Keep an eye on it. Has anyone seen Feeds of the Masters Tennis? A new edition of the Scat India magazine is out see above. Satfacts page has had an update. I will be working on updating the satellite pages tonight adding various changes.

From my Emails & ICQ

From John Harrison

Leonids Meteor Storm 2001 Predicitons (as at November 2001)

These estimates are by Robert H. McNaught (Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Australian National University) and David Asher (Armagh Observatory)


date (WA Time) rev zhr best viewing
2001 Nov 18, 17:55 7-rev 800 3 N. & Central America
2001 Nov 19, 1:24 9-rev 2,000 3 Australia, E. Asia
2001 Nov 19, 2:13 4-rev 8,000 3 W. Australia, E., SE & Central Asia

also as of today

Mediasat 6 now showing TV5
MediaSat Occ Showing TZICHI

Craigs comment ok this is what I note at 5pm NZ, TZu Chi is on Mediasat Ocasional 1, 2, and it normal labeled channel, TV 5 Asia is BACK on Msatt 6 ( Vpid 1760 Apid 1720, Sid 7), Ocasional 2 had the regular news feed on at 4.30pm NZ then flicked back to Tzu Chi again. Worth keeping an eye on, 12363 V at the same time had a horse racing feed. I hope they can get Dwelle back also.

From Siam Global

I JUST WANT TO CONGRATULATE YOUR WEBSITE FOR ALL THE GOOD WORK IT IS DOING AND IN PARTICULAR ENRICHING THE LIFE OF UK EXPATS SAT VIEWERS IN THE ASIA PACIFIC REGION AND OTHERS. FOR THE LAST FEW YEARS WE HAVE HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF BEING ABLE TO WATCH THE BBC SIX O'CLOCK NATIONAL ( UK ) NEWS ON PANAMSAT 2 FREQ 3939V SR 7500. NOT EVEN THE BBC CORESPONDANT FOR S.E. ASIA KNEW ABOUT THESE BROADCASTS ( I SPOKE TO HIM MYSELF LAST YEAR) SUDDENLY A FEW MONTHS AGO THESE TRANSMISSIONS DISAPPEARED, BELIEVED ENCRYPTED, AND WE WERE SUDDENLY CUT OF FROM UK MAINSTREAM NEWS. THEN MIRACULOUSLY YOUR WEBSITE, IN TWO EMAILS SENT IN LAST WEEK , INFORMED US THAT THE BBC NEWS WAS STILL OUT THERE ALIVE AND WELL ON PAS 2 AT THE SAME FREQUENCY .. ONLY THE SYMBOL RATE HAD CHANGED. SO NOW ONCE AGAIN WE CAN FOLLOW OUR NATIONAL NEWS !

LYNGSAT ONLY NOW HAS NOTED THE CHANGE AND SATCODX STILL GIVES THE INCORRECT PARAMETERS. FULL MARKS TO YOUR GREAT WEBSITE AND KEEP IT UP.

SIAM GLOBAL BKK

Craigs comment, glad my website is helping the satellite community that was the whole point of starting it to bring together all the Satellite users in the Asia Pacific region to share information. Its always good to have reader feedback.

From the Dish

PAS 8 166E 12686 H IPPV (Irdeto) and Barker Channel (clear) have started on , MPEG-2,

PIDs 2110/2120-2210/2220.

Palapa C2 113E 4074 V "Radio Elsinta" has started on, Apid 1215.

Express 6A 80E 3640 R "Occasional feeds" , Sr 5966, Fec 1/2.
Express 6A 80E 3975 R "Occasional feeds", Sr 3000, Fec 3/4.

Thaicom 3 78.5E 3569 H "Video Italia has replaced Kanal 7" on , Sid 14, Vpid 512 Apid 640.

NEWS

MEDIA RELEASE

TelstraSaturn to acquire Clear Communications

From http://www.austarunited.com.au/press.asp?action=show&record=2

15 Nov 2001

Austar United Communications Limited today announced that its New Zealand joint venture company with Telstra Corporation, TelstraSaturn had agreed to acquire Clear Communications from British Telecom.

The acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approvals, will be funded without a requirement for further equity contributions by Austar.

As a result of the acquisition, Austar’s share in TelstraSaturn will be reduced to approximately 38%. Austar will continue to have two of the six board seats and retain certain rights under the shareholders agreement, including the put and call options referred to in Austar’s announcement of 1 October 2001.

?This is an excellent development for TelstraSaturn and its shareholders,” said John Porter, Chief Executive Officer of Austar United Communications. “It will cement TelstraSaturn’s position as dynamic challenger and bring enough scale to really take on Telecom in the New Zealand communications market.

?There are obvious synergies between the two companies which will reduce the capital requirements of TelstraSaturn in the future and bring forward achievement of positive EBITDA. Clear also brings an excellent customer base, especially in the SME and corporate markets,” said Mr Porter.

*s a result of these benefits we believe that the value of Austar’s shareholding in the new entity will be significantly enhanced,” Mr Porter concluded.

Do not adjust your set

From http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,3252242%5E15309%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html

IF ever there was to be a tie-up of the Austar and Optus pay TV interests, the decision will certainly not be made in Australia.

This is a potential deal driven by the Singapore parent of Optus, Singtel, and Austar, 81 per cent owned by the US-based group UnitedGlobalCom. And it is also a deal whose outcome will largely depend on the whim of Liberty Media's major owner, John Malone.

In recent years, Malone has had a voracious appetite for all things cable and satellite related.

To that end, he has emerged as the largest shareholder in The News Corporation Ltd (when preferred shares are included) and has essentially taken control of the failing UnitedGlobalCom (UGC).

It would therefore seem unlikely he would allow UGC to sell its Australian business to the company that is the main rival to News Corp's Australian pay TV interests.

News, which publishes The Australian, has 25 per cent of Foxtel and its main metropolitan rival is Optus. The Malone-Murdoch connection has always made it more likely Austar will eventually join with Foxtel but discussions have come to nought.

Then there's the issue of SingTel's commitment to the consumer and multimedia business.

The review is continuing and SingTel will have numerous options. Given its shares have fallen about 30 per cent since buying Optus, the prospect of spending more cash should not seem enticing.

So while Optus chief Chris Anderson and Austar chief John Porter may be talking, the only discussions of significant interest are those taking place at SingTel and the discussions between Murdoch and Malone.

CanWest hit by deal costs and weak economy

From http://news.ft.com

A sagging economy and charges associated with major acquisitions last year eroded profit at CanWest Global Communications, the Canada-based media conglomerate, in its fiscal full year results.

CanWest, which draws most of its revenue from television stations in Canada, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, radio in New Zealand and newspapers in Canada, said profit slumped to C$46.6m (US$29.3m), or 27 cents a share, from C$177.6m, or C$1.17 last year.

Revenue, however, more than doubled to C$2.2bn from C$1.1bn in 2000, largely on the strength of the acquisition of the Southam chain of Canadian daily newspapers from Hollinger International last year.

A C$108.5m increase in amortisation charges and additional financing costs of C$309.8m were the main causes of the profit drop. The charges largely reflected the Hollinger purchase.

Management is striving to cut debt. Canadian television and newspapers each contributed more then C$220m to operating profit, close to the amounts they would have contributed had CanWest owned the same assets last year.

But operating profit from Australias Network TEN fell by more than C$30m to almost C$70m, and New Zealand's TV3 and TV4 fell into a C$8.9m loss from a C$832,000 profit last year.

TV3 in Ireland made C$2.7m, reversing a C$8.7m loss and New Zealand radio made C$14.3m, down slightly.

14/11/01

Saturn testing FTA again on Optus B1, see below for details, NZ beam only. Also on B1 yesterday a direct feed of NBC NJ including adverts.

CNBC NJ and Saturn Cinema Promo

From the Dish

Optus B1 160E 12483 V "S16" Telstra Saturn Cinema Promo is currently Fta, Vpid 516 Apid 654 Sid 16
Optus B1 160E 12397 H "CNBC NJ feeds seen here" Sr 7200 Fec 3/4

Palapa C2 113E 4055 V "Anteve" has moved here, Sr 6510, Fec 3/4, Vpid 257 Apid 258.

Asiasat 3 105.5 3749 V "Ekushey World" has started, Sr 3418, Fec 2/3, Vpid 1160 Apid 1120, 18-09 UTC, time sharing with Ekushey TV on the same frequency.

Asiasat 2 100.5E Occasional feeds on 4050 V, MPEG-2, SR 6110, FEC 3/4.

Express 6A 80E 3975 R "Sakhalin TV" has started, Sr 3000, Fec 3/4, Vpid 4130 Apid 4131, 08-12 MSK.

Thaicom 3 78.5E 3569 H "Kanal 7" has replaced Video Italia on , Sid 14, Vpid 512 Apid 640

Apstar 2R 76.5E 3696 V "Mystery" Sr 5185, Fec 3/4
Apstar 2R 76.5E 4120 H "Mystery" Sr 28000, Fec 2/3

NEWS

Austar needs pay TV deal: report

From http://news.ninemsn.com.au/business/story_21929.asp

The Australian pay television industry could be set for a major shake-up with Optus and Austar United Communications Ltd in talks over a possible alliance, it has been reported.

While the talks are at an early stage, any deal between the pair could lead to an alliance of their respective metropolitan and regional pay-TV businesses to create a national pay TV broadcaster, The Australian Financial Review said.

A deal would also ensure the survival of Austar, which is under pressure to renegotiate a $400 million debt facility that falls due on December 31.

Austar's 81 per cent parent and guarantor, American company United Global Communications, is also struggling under the weight of its own massive debt and is said to be eager to secure a rescue deal for its Australian operations, the newspaper said.

It is understood the chief executive of Optus, Mr Chris Anderson, and his counterpart at Austar, Mr John Porter, have been engaged in high-level negotiations for at least a week on options for the Austar business, it said.

Optus, Australia's second largest telco, is owned by Singapore Telecommunications Ltd.

Optus talking on Austar's future

From http://afr.com/companies/2001/11/14/FFXDQCJJYTC.html

The Australian pay-television industry could be set for a major shake-up with Optus and Austar in talks over a possible deal as the latter struggles with a mountain of debt.

While the talks are at an early stage, any deal between the pair could lead to an alliance of their respective metropolitan and regional pay-TV businesses to create a national pay-TV broadcaster.

A deal would also ensure the survival of Austar, which is under pressure to renegotiate a $400 million debt facility that falls due on December 31.

Austar's 81 per cent parent and guarantor, American company United Global Communications, is also struggling under the weight of its own massive debt and is said to be eager to secure a rescue deal for its Australian operations.

"This will strike at the heart of the interests of Foxtel and its domestic pay-TV strategy," one source close to the talks said.

"This is a complex deal that will have massive implications for the valuation of Foxtel and Telstra."

It is understood the chief executive of Optus, Mr Chris Anderson, and his counterpart at Austar, Mr John Porter, have been engaged in high-level negotiations for at least a week on options for the Austar business.

The talks come as Optus prepares to start a second round of job losses at the group, on top of the 350 workers that were made redundant late last month. Optus had previously indicated it would cut 350 more jobs in phase two of the reduction program. However, it is expected that many more staff than that will be notified of the cuts today.

A further 344 staff will be cut, along with 217 contract workers.

It is also understood that the company is on track to exceed its target of cutting $75 million to $100 million in costs from the business by the end of the next financial year.

Singapore Telecommunications, which recently acquired Optus, indicated as recently as last week it would assess acquisitions that were of strategic merit.

It is understood the Austar-Optus negotiations are not the first in recent times as Mr Porter seeks to secure the future of his business.

He is believed to have canvassed a potential deal with Foxtel to unite its 750,000-strong metropolitan subscriber base with Austar's 432,000 subscribers in the bush. Preliminary discussions held earlier this year were fruitless.

A merger between Austar and Optus or takeover by Optus would be a major blow to Foxtel, which is controlled by Telstra, Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd and News Corporation and which has important strategic relationships with Austar.

Foxtel relies on selling programming to Austar to meet undisclosed minimum subscriber numbers it has guaranteed to the Hollywood studios in return for movie programming.

The elimination of Austar's customer numbers from the total subscriber base that Foxtel brings to the US studios could also limit Foxtel's ability to renegotiate the $US-denominated Hollywood contracts, which keep the pay-TV venture as a loss maker.

Also, any deal between Optus and Austar would endanger the XYZ content company, jointly owned by Austar and Foxtel, which makes or exclusively distributes six channels.

13/11/01

Livechat tonight 8.30pm Syd time onwards in the chatroom and for those that want to come in early I am in there from 9pm NZ (7pm Syd). Satfacts page has been updated.

IMPORTANT the news items posted yesterday (now removed) concerning TVNZ digital plans was a glitch these new items were from 1 year to the day ago. Somehow one of my news mailers stuffed up by including this in its daily new items. I didn't pick it up as the news sounded possible. Dosn't seem to be much happening at the moment.

An interesting link for those Interested in how the NDS encryption system works

http://www.nds.host.sk/

October added to the History pages

From my Emails & ICQ

From Chris Pickstock

On B3 12363V at the moment (3.10 pm SA time) a channel labelled "MPEG TEST" with Vpid 4096 and Apid 4097 has appeared. (These are not the usual settings) It is currently displaying the usual Mediasat colour bars but could be worth keeping an eye on in case something interesting appears.

Also on B3, 12313 H, Austar Homepage and Austar Demo have gone FTA.

Chris

From the Dish

Express 9 103E 3714 R "STS (+7)" has new PIDs 2160 2120.

Asiasat 2 100.5E 3640 H "Radio Sana'a has replaced El Sharq" on Sid 33, Apid 663.
Asiasat 2 100.5E 3966 V "Occasional TVB feeds" on , Sr5700, Fec 3/4.

Thaicom 3 78.5E 3608 V "PTV mux with PTV World, PTV News, PTV Channel 3 and Radio Pakistan" is
back on , Sr 3333, Fec 3/4, Vpid 308 Apid 256 and Apid 256, Asian beam.

Thaicom 3 78.5E 3612 V "PTV 1 and Radio Pakistan" are back on , Sr 3333, Fec 3/4, Vpid 308 Apid 256 and Apid 256, Asian beam.

Thaicom 3 78.5E 3554 V "ATN Music" has left, replaced by a test card.

NEWS

Meteor storm threatens high-flying satellites

From http://www.canada.com/vancouver/news/

Craft can be disabled by plasma clouds that wreck their circuitry

While skywatchers cheer the largest meteor storm in more than 30 years in the early hours of Nov. 18, civilian and military satellite operators will be holding their breath and watching their display panels.

This year's Leonid Meteor Storm is considered the greatest threat to date to satellites circling the Earth.

In 1966, during the last major meteor storm, only about 100 devices were in orbit. Now, with more than 650 up there transmitting signals 24 hours a day for services such as search-and-rescue, entertainment, telecommunications, as well as the global-positioning system (GPS) used by commerce, transportation industries and military forces, the odds of a solid hit are greater than ever -- and though the meteoroids are minuscule, they can pack a solid punch; during the far less intense 1993 summer Perseid shower, an Olympus communications satellite was lost after being struck.

The possibility exists that a meteoroid may strike a fragile antenna or sensor, or an electricity-generating solar panel, possibly creating electrical shorts that can disable the craft, or that the impact will throw a satellite off course. Even a grain of sand travelling at more than 70 kilometres a second hits with the impact of a .22 calibre slug, and with a little something extra a bullet doesn't have; the more imminent danger from the Leonids is not that one or more might carve a hole through a satellite but that the impact when the meteoroid vaporizes could release a plasma cloud, electrically-charged particles that can melt down computers and circuitry. When the Olympus com-sat was hit by such a plasma cloud, its control system fried and by the time its attitude-controls were back online, the satellite was doomed, wobbling off into the void.

Satellites in orbit up to 965 kilometres above the Earth will be subjected to the meteors we can see from the ground, but higher up, at the 36,000-km mark where geostationary satellites are set, they will be near the heaviest concentration of cosmic debris,Ýand because the comet that created them orbits the Sun in the opposite directionÝto Earth, the impact will be more severe.

While no great disaster is anticipated, the U.S. Air Force's Milstars, a series of advanced military communications satellites designed to provide global jam-resistant communications for military users and built to survive nuclear blasts, will serve as a strategic, tactical relay system. Some satellites may be turned off as a precaution, others positioned so they present the least delicate target. The Hubble Space Telescope will be oriented with its aft bulkhead facing into the direction of the meteoroid stream and its solar panels will lay flat, or parallel to the meteoroid flow.

Project scientists predict Hubble has less than a one-in-10,000 chance of being hit by a particle large enough to pierce its aluminum skin. The HST is protected from plasma-induced short circuits by design; its electronics are housed inside aluminum boxes that also act as meteoroid shields.

The International Space Station, where the three crew members of Expedition Three are nearing the end of their four-month shift, are likewise safe, according to Meteor forecaster Bill Cooke at NASA's Marshall Space Centre.

"The station is armoured to withstand [projectiles] up to an inch across and we don't expect anything that big."

The crew -- Frank Culbertson, Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Turin -- will be relieved at the end of the month when a new crew is ferried up by the space shuttle Endeavour.

LUCK PAYS OFF AS SKYWATCHERS ENJOY A ONCE-IN-DECADES DISPLAY

The Earth's orbit puts it on a collision course with tens of thousands of meteoroids and astronomer David Dodge of the H. R. MacMillan Space Centre just smiles.

"We'll be looking right down the throat of this", he says, anticipating the half-hour between 1:45 a.m. and 2:15 a.m. PST Sunday Nov. 18, when the bulk of the Leonids, named for their seeming point of origin in the constellation Leo, arrive. Or as he says, "when we get whacked."

If he seems a little cavalier about the whole thing, one reason is that the 2,500 Leonids expected in our eastern sky that morning are technically micrometeoroids, bits of cosmic dust and gravel sloughed off from the comet Tempel-Tuttle's frozen bulk, four kilometres in diameter, during its orbital fly-by of the sun every 33 years.

Another is that, like their parent, the Leonids follow a schedule, too, and each November our planet's orbit intersects with Tempel-Tuttle's debris trails, hundreds of thousands of kilometres across, left by previous visits. This usually means 15 or 20 meteors burning up in our atmosphere per hour, but the comet's path is such that the moment of perihelion, its closest point to the sun, is changeable and the closer it passes the more of its mass is melted, boiled off and torn free.

That adds a roulette-wheel aspect to the annual Leonid Shower; this year the wheel pays off as we pass through heavy fields of cosmic debris left in 1767 and the forecast has been upgraded to a meteor storm, a once-in-decades occurrence. The 1833 storm caused an end-of-the-world panic across North America, but the storm of November 1966 is the current record holder for intensity, peaking at 150,000 meteors per hour. This year, skywatchers in Australia will see upwards of 25,000 in a half-hour.

The tiny meteoroids -- most smaller than the diameter of a human hair -- will burn up harmlessly in the atmosphere and pose no danger, but there is some concern over possible damage to the estimated 650 satellites orbiting the Earth. Dodge advises that if you really want to see the Leonids, do as he will and get out of town, heading for an unobstructed view to the East and as much altitude as you can get; the higher you are, the more you'll see. Warm clothes and hot beverages are recommended.

12/11/01

Some interesting news in the News section about the ST 1 satellite at 88E might be quite a few channels turning up on it for those lucky enough to receive it.

From my Emails & ICQ

From Bill Richards 11/11/01

0550 UTC

Pas 2 3786 H "Baseball Feed Australia vs Japan" Sr 5622, Fec 2/3 Vpid 308 Apid 256

From Zapara 11/11/01

Asiasat 2, 3909 H "Hong Kong Cricket 6's" Sr 5632 2/3?

From the Dish

Thaicom 3 78.5E 3521 V "PTV 1 and Radio Pakistan" have left

NEWS

China to Form Satellite Telecoms Group as First Step to Revamp Telecoms Sector...

From satnewsasia.com

China has established a giant conglomerate to take charge of its state-run telecommunications satellite operations.

China Telecommunications Satellite Group Corporation will begin operations on January 1, 2002. The corporation merges a number of satellite-based telecom companies such as China Telecommunications Broadcast Satellite Corporation (ChinaSat), China Orient Telecommunications Satellite Company and a few smaller satellite companies.

The merger, however, will not include China's remaining satellite operator, Sino Satellite Communications Company (Sinosat), which focuses on broadcasting rather than telecommunications.

The new group consists of firms once owned by the Ministry of Information Industry (MII). SinoSat is partially owned by the Shanghai city government and the central bank, which is why it is not part of the new group.

The new corporation will be one of seven telecommunications operators in China. Chinese sources said the new company will provide Internet, telephone, broadband and other services

There are only two in-orbit ChinaSat satellites, ChinaSat 5 and ChinaSat 6, that are operating near design capacity. ChinaSat 5 transmits domestic TV programs and satellite communications transmission services throughout China. ChinaSat 6 is, however, in a wrong orbit that has halved its service life. Six other ChinaSat satellites are no longer functioning.

Sino Satellite was formed in 1994 to overturn ChinaSat's domination of the Chinese satellite communications market. Sinosat’s only satellite, Sinosat 1, carries 24 C-band and 14 Ku-band transponders covering China and the Asia-Pacific. It provides telecommunications, data transmission and TV broadcasting for customers within its footprint. Sinosat 1 was successfully launched in 1998.

Top leaders of the new satellite services giant come mostly from ChinaSat. ChinaSat's current general manager, Zhou Zehe, has been appointed to head the new group. ChinaSat executives also dominate the group's higher management and board of directors, according to industry sources.

Sources at the MII said that merging China’s telecommunications satellite operators into a group company is part of a restructuring of all state-owned firms that dominate the telecom sector. MII expects that the greater size and flexibility of the new group may help prepare local enterprises face tougher competition after China's entry into the World Trade Organization in 2002. The new group also makes a more attractive partner for foreign companies looking to enter China's telecom market. The merger of the satellite assets and business licenses of the firms in the new group will make it easier for China Satellite to sign deals with foreign companies.

Besides forming the new group, China’s State Council, its highest policy making body, has also made a decision to split up fixed-line monopoly China Telecom, although no formal government announcement has been made to this effect.

Industry sources believe the announcement of the government's plan is likely being delayed while officials sort out the politically sensitive issue of who will lead the restructured state firms.

Plans to Control and Foreign TV Channel Distribution

From satnewsasia.com

Beginning January 1, 2002, all foreign television networks in China must distribute their channels through a government controlled “re-broadcast platform” or be banned.

China International Television Corporation (CITV), the government agency that administers foreign satellite broadcasts, has ordered foreign channels to re-route their transmissions through this re-broadcast platform and gave them until November 16 to begin talks with them. No annual fee was mentioned in the faxed memorandum to foreign broadcasters although there is speculation that CITV may charge a fee as high as US$100,000.

CITV is a quasi-commercial state-owned agency that approves more than 20 foreign channels for broadcast to about 60,000 hotel rooms and residential foreigner compounds.

Sources said Sinosat 1, a satellite of state-owned Sino Satellite Communications Company (Sinosat), is expected to become the authorized re-broadcast platform. CITV intends to intercept TV signals from foreign satellites, encrypt the channels and retransmit them over Sinosat 1.

Launched in July 1998, Sinosat 1 has linear C-band landmass coverage, which makes it ideal for video distribution networks; Internet backbone connections or ISP access; regional business voice/data networks; multimedia and VSAT/virtual private networks. Sinosat 1 is a three-axis satellite with a payload of 24 C-band channels (36 MHz) and fourteen Ku-band channels (54 MHz).

Foreign broadcasters, however, claim that Sinosat 1 operates in a bandwidth susceptible to distortion during rainstorms, raising the prospect of coverage distortions and angry viewers.

Foreign observers say this new centralized broadcasting system will greatly increase China’s ability to censor incoming foreign broadcasts. The CITV order appears to be one of the most ambitious efforts yet by conservative propaganda officials to control China's satellite-TV market.

By law, reception of foreign satellite channels is off limits to most households. A small number of foreign channels such as Cable News Network and the BBC have been permitted to air only in some hotels, foreigner compounds and authorized government buildings.

A “favored few,” however, have gotten away with violating these strictures. Phoenix Satellite Television is seen throughout China although its reception is permitted only in southern Guangdong province. Other channels are “free to air,” which means any viewer with a satellite dish can get the signal.

Observers question whether China can successfully implement the new system, which will mean the confiscation of huge numbers of unapproved decoder boxes and dishes across the country.

Sahara TV's November rendezvous with four new shows

From http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k1/nov/nov33.htm

Slowly but surely, the fourth player in the Hindi entertainment television sweepstakes, Sahara TV, is keeping up with its plans to innovate its programming content. To add to Vilayati Babu, which it unveiled on 5 November, the channel is aiming to launch three more serials this month. (Vilayati Babu, a comedy show airs at 11:00 am on Mondays, and brings together two ace comedy stars, Shekhar Suman and Satish Shah, for the first time on television.)

Zindagi...Teri Meri Kahani -the new attraction on Sahara

Sahara TV vice-president (publicity, promotions & PR) Priya Raj says that Apnapan, the first of these will launch on 12 November at 1:30 pm (repeat telecast at 11:00 pm). The weekly drama series stars Kiran Kumar.

It will be followed by the flagoff of a daily soap, Santaan on 22 November. Santaan revolves around the issue of equal opportunities for the girl child and airs at 8:00 pm.

Zindagi...Teri Meri Kahani, the third new show from the Sahara TV stable, hits the small screen on 23 November. The series is an emotional drama and is inspired by the hit seventies movie Kramer vs Kramer. It focuses on the suffering that a spouse goes through when a couple decides to divorce and the psychological problems their child faces. Produced by Ashwin Verma of A.V. Telefilms, it is directed by Arun Frank and stars Parmeet Sethi, Iravati Harshe, Minal Kulkarni and a host of others.

Earlier this month, Sahara had rejigged the timings of two news programmes. The evening news programme at 7.30 pm was shifted to an earlier slot at 5.30 pm while the late night news hour was extended by 30 minutes. The late night news hour now comprises 75 per cent news in Hindi, while the rest is in English.

Says Raj: "We realized that the 7.30 pm news slot was not too popular. We found that viewers were watching Sahara programmes till the news came on, and were then shifting to other channels. They would then return to Sahara for prime time programmes. On the other hand, we have a strong viewership for the late night news programme. Hence, the decision to change the timings. "

Zee making a pitch for B4U?

From http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k1/nov/nov31.htm

The shakeout in the television business continues. Several channels have shut down, some are struggling to stay afloat and are laying off people as advertising and subscription revenues continue to shrink. This makes for a prime environment for mergers and acquisitions.

Into this fray has stepped Zee Telefilms once again, which has made a couple of botched efforts at trying to acquire other channels or forge alliances. (Asianet and UTN are some of the alliances which failed.)

In its current attempt, it is apparently trying to take over the entertainment channel B4U Television Network once again, according to a report in The Hindustan Times.

The Delhi daily has reported that the Zee group is in negotiations with a senior B4U management team in London currently and that the deal will be finalised shortly. B4U sources in India, however, denied any such development.

Sources say that the deal is likely to focus on acquisition of the impressive B4U movie library. B4U CEO Ravi Gupta had told indiantelevison.com recently that the channel holds rights to 1,000 films in India and overseas rights of 1,600 films.

The Zee Network is apparently in a hurry to strike a deal. The reason: its agreements for telecast rights for a large chunk of its movie library are reportedly expiring this year. (In 1994, the company had acquired several movies from various producers with licences ranging from five to seven years.) The channel needs to bolster its stock of films for the days ahead.

Zee's proposed acquisition of B4U Television Network, which owns and runs the satellite TV channels, B4U Movies and B4U Music, is believed to follow the recent absorption of UK-based parent company LMB Holdings into B4U, sources say. Reports say that while Zee has appointed global consultancy major KPMG as its advisor for the deal, B4U has appointed another major consultant, Pricewaterhouse Coopers.

B4U, which is expected to come out with an IPO in September next year, has dropped its massive expansion plans in the broadband and e-commerce business, reports say. The company has an estimated 70 movies under production but further movie plans have been substantially scaled down.

As part of the deal, reports say, Zee will also get B4U's lucrative international operations, including UK and US, reports said. In UK, B4U has around 40,000 subscribers. With B4U Movies, the company had broken even on cash basis in the overseas marketing during the first year of operation, reports said.

This is not the first time that Zee Telefilms is trying to acquire B4U Telelvision. Earlier in May, the Subhash Chandra-promoted Essel Group’s investment companies claimed to have advanced funds for acquiring a 15 per cent stake in B4U Multimedia (now B4U Television Networks) from the disgraced stock broker Ketan Parekh. The company had then refuted these claims saying that Parekh’s holding was between "four to five per cent".

SABe TV fills gap in programming

From http://www.agencyfaqs.com/www1/news/stories/2001/11/12/3522.html

Starting November 19, 2001, SABe TV will introduce a new half-hour cartoon slot called Toon-Time from 7.00 PM to 7.30 PM, Monday to Friday. The cartoon strip, Turtle Island, which is aimed at the children’s segment, where SABe TV does not have a presence, is being shown for the first time in India. Canal Famille, in French-speaking Canada, and Canal J, France’s children’s specialty channel, have shown this 26-episode (half-hour each), $11 million animation series Turtle Island.

The series, which has been dubbed in Hindi, is the creation of the Montreal-based children's programme producers Henri Desclez and Norma Denys, and their company, Mimosa Productions, which specialises in exclusive programmes for kids in animation, multimedia, puppet and live-action formats. The series features a "cast" of unusual puppets that include a turtle king and an octopus beauty in a series of adventures and misadventures with surprise guests like bumbling pirates and beached castaways.

The story line is likely to appeal to children. In the South Seas, Turtle Island is the home to King Tiki, the last survivor of the Royal Dynasty of the Tiki Flying Sea Turtles. The turtles have a dazzling collection of treasures, which the pirates are after. Pirate Captain Minus, and his crew, vainly attempt to take over the Island. King Tiki and his friends do everything in their power to protect the Turtle Island.

Says Sandeep Singh, vice-president, marketing, SABe TV, “Programmes such as Alif Laila are doing very well, and have a substantial number of children among its viewers. So we were trying to appeal to children with a programme specifically aimed at them. It is this gap that the current programme fills.”

Children’s programming and animation are among the untapped sectors of the Indian television industry. Currently, there are more than 70 television channels beamed into 15 mn households and they require hours of content. But the supply side scenario is sad, with very few indigenous software producers looking specifically at kids. Most of the content for children is sourced or developed by overseas producers. For example, since last year, Toon Boom Technologies Inc, which specialises in animation, and enjoys a premier marketing position in China, Taiwan, Korea and the Philippines, has made significant inroads in India. Yet, the potential is immense.

The National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) expects the animation/content development industry in India to almost double each year over a five-year period, growing from Rs 9.5 billion (US$ 202 million) in 1999/2000 to Rs 210 billion by 2008, driven largely by exports. This compares with a global rate of 40 per cent.

Another potential beneficiary, if animated programmes catch on, are television software production houses. Industry estimates indicate film-makers could save as much as $60,000 by using Indian animation houses rather than South-east Asian animators to produce a 22-episode series of 30 minutes each. Retail merchandising, based on popular television programmes for children, could also be a boom area. “Children are much more likely to buy merchandise associated with their favorite television programme. The instinct to associate is strong among them,” says a senior media executive associated with a children’s channel in India.

The picture in the rest of Asia, and in Europe, where the latest craze is Harry Potter, bears this out. For example, the TV programme Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle has spawned comic books, computer games, movies and countless commercials over radio and TV to make it a household name in Asia.

It is probably to latch on to this idea that SABe TV is looking at children’s programming with such seriousness.

T S I C H A N N E L N E W S - Number 45/2001 November 11 2001 -

A weekly roundup of global TV news sponsored by Tele Satellite International

Editor: Branislav Pekic
Edited apsattv.com Edition

A S I A

N O R T H A M E R I C A

TECHTV ON EXPANSION COURSE

Technology-themed channel and distributor TechTV has added Malaysia, New
Zealand, Japan and Israel to its channel and branded-block portfolio. In
Malaysia, multichannel service Astro has added TechTV to its roster, as a
24-hour pass-through channel to an estimated 450,000 subscribers. TelstraSaturn
(New Zealand) has licensed techtv.com video and text content for use on their
website, as well as offering TechTV as a pass-through cable channel. In Japan,
The Computer Channel has licensed a daily TechTV branded-block via the
satellite feed. Finally, TechTV: The Internet and Hi-Tech Channel in Israel has
launched on the Yes DTH platform, providing TechTV programming subtitled in
Hebrew, along with locally-produced technology content.

CHINA

FOREIGN BROADCASTERS REQUIRED TO USE STATE SYSTEM

China has ordered all foreign television broadcasters to channel their programs
through a government controlled broadcasting system beginning January 1. The
order came in a letter sent by China International Television Corp., the agency
that administers the satellite broadcast industry, to foreign television
channels. The move will make it much easier for China to block foreign
programs it considers inappropriate.

TVB GETS PERMISSION TO BROADCAST TO CHINA

Sir Run Run Shaw’s Hong Kong-based broadcast group Television Broadcasts (TVB)
has become the third group to gain official permission to broadcast in China.
TVB will set up a joint venture with state broadcaster China Central Television
(CCTV). TVB will subscribe HK$23.4 million and CCTV HK$15.6 million for 60% and
40% stakes respectively in a Hong Kong-based parent company. The new company
will create programmes and operate a new channel for Chinese audiences in
mainland China and abroad. As part of the deal TVB will gain wider Chinese
coverage for it two existing channels, Xing He and TVB8. In return TVB will be
expected to carry the Mandarin-language CCTV-4 on its overseas platforms.

JAPAN

SKY PERFECTV ADDS AL-JAZEERA

Satellite TV provider SKY PerfecTV on November 9 started airing - free of
charge - Al-Jazeera, a Qatar-based news network known for its coverage of the
ongoing war in Afghanistan. The channel will be available to those equipped
with a dedicated tuner and antenna for SKY PerfecTV and will not require
decoders needed for other paid services. For Japanese viewers, (SPC), the
Tokyo-based operator of the SKY PerfecTV service, will offer 30 minutes of
program briefings in Japanese, twice a day. Excluding these briefings,
Al-Jazeera, in Arabic, will be broadcast unedited without any translation. SKY
PerfecTV, which also airs CNN, BBC and Fox News as well as other news channels
from other parts of the world, is available throughout Japan.

MALAYSIA

MEGA TV SUBSCRIBERS TO RECEIVE ASTRO DECODERS

Mega TV in a special collaboration with MEASAT Broadcast Network Systems Sdn
Bhd, the operator of ASTRO, will be giving away up to 3,000 decoders free to
former Mega TV subscribers. However, the subscribers need to meet certain set
of criteria, including having been "loyal" to Mega TV and a good bill paying
record, Astro said in a statement on November 7. The joint effort, it said was
to ensure that former Mega TV subscribers continued to receive their favourite
programmes. Mega TV ceased transmission from October 1 to facilitate the
financial and business restructuring of its operator Cableview Services Sdn Bhd
(CVS), an associate company of Sistem Televisyen Malaysia Bhd (TV3).

SOUTH KOREA

SKYLIFE CHOSES ALTICAST AS TECHNOLOGY PROVIDER

Alticast was selected as the primary DVB-MHP interactive TV technology provider
for Korea Digital Satellite Broadcasting (SkyLife). The selection of Alticast’s
open standard solution will represent the largest deployment of DVB-MHP
services worldwide. SkyLife services will expand from 76 video channels, 60
audio channels and 10 PPV channels to accommodate an estimated two million
subscribers by 2005. Initial deployments are scheduled for the middle of next
year. Companies that will join Alticast in fulfilling SkyLife
requirements include Samsung, Lysis, and Imagine Broadband as well as Sun
Microsystems, BBC Technology, Deutsche Telekom and AGENCY.COM. SkyLife decided
on Alticast’s open standard DVB-MHP technology over proprietary systems like
OpenTV and Canal+ Technologies because of its core advantages in scope of
business plan, technical competence and pricing. Another key factor in the
decision was the low price of MHP set-top boxes ($155 per unit). System
installation is scheduled to be complete in time for preliminary field trials
in mid-May 2002.
Internet - www.alticast.com
www.skylife.co.kr

ESPN LAUNCHES LOCAL JOINT-VENTURE

ESPN STAR Sports (ESS) has launched a joint venture channel with local network
Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC). The new service, called MBC-ESPN Sports
is the first joint venture that the Walt Disney and News Corp owned
joint-venture has created in Asia. It will feature a mix of US major league
baseball and national basketball league fixtures, as well as Korean football,
golf and international tennis from the ATP tour. The channel is a customised
feed for the Korean market and it will be transmitted from Seoul. MBC-ESPN is
the third channel created for the market with local partners this year,
following the lead of MTV Asia and its regional music channel rival, Channel V.
ESPN STAR now has a total of nine channels that serve a region ranging from
India across Asia to Taiwan.

11/11/01

I have a Sky Zenith 310 DTH IRD here that I am playing around with can't seem to get it to do anything much, yes there is a card in it (switched off) I can't seem to get into the menus though. Think the box needs a major reset or is stuffed dosn't seem to respond properly to the remote ,yes I checked the batterys.

From my Emails and ICQ

Apstar 1 138E 4132 V "News 98" has started, Sr 4285, Fec 3/4, Vpid 33 Apid 34.

JCSAT 3 128E 3960 V "Taiwan Service International" is now FTA.

ST 1 88E 3632 V "Tzu Chi TV" has replaced "Global TV" on, Sid 205, Vpid 4145 Apid 4129.

This from Lyngsat

From the Dish

From Bill Richards

0000 utc

Pas 2 3941 V Sr 6620 Fec 3/4 Vpid 1460 Apid1420 SID1 Tower Broadcast Centre Test Card / BT Feeds
S/R and FEC Changed from 7500 Fec 2/3

Regards
Bill

NEWS

Tennis' big boys converge for Masters championship on Star Sports

From indiantelevision.com

The highly anticipated year-end Tennis Masters Cup in Sydney kicks off on Star Sports on Monday at 5:30 pm.

The final will be telecast on 18 November at 6:30 pm. Only the top eight players are allowed entry into the tournament, so one can expect the quality of tennis to be of the highest order from day one. Expectedly, it is considered the most prestigious tennis tournament after the Grand Slam events.

In Sydney, huge banners have been put up on the main city streets, as part of the promotional campaign. A prize money of US $ 3.7 million is at stake for the eight gladiators. Two groups - the Ken Rosewall Group and the John Newcombe Group, will compete in the round robin competition. The top two players from each group will advance to the semi finals.

All four Grand Slam winners are competing in the event this year. This includes temperamental Croat Goran Ivanisevic, who shocked his peers by winning Wimbledon as a wildcard, Australian sensation Leyton Hewitt, who stunned Pete Sampras in the US Open final, and the best clay court player in the world, flamboyant Brazilian Gustavo Kuerten. Wimbledon runner up Pat Rafter will be the sentimental favourite, as he has indiacted that this could very well be the last time he plays in a Masters Cup event or perhaps even in Australia.

Zee to acquire B4U Television

From http://www.hindustantimes.com/nonfram/101101/detECO11.asp

Subhash Chandra-promoted Zee Network is all set to acquire B4U Television Network. According to sources, the Zee group is in an advance stage of negotiations with a senior management team of B4U in London. The deal is expected to be finalized shortly.

B4U Television Network is the holding company of B4U Multimedia that owns and runs the satellite TV channels — B4U Movies and B4U Music. According to sources, Zee is pressing for a hassle-free buy-out. In fact, sources added that the process of absorbtion of its UK-based parent company LMB Holdings is a step towards the proposed deal.

While Zee has appointed global consultancy major KPMG as its advisor for the deal, B4U has appointed another major consultant PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Subhash Chandra had earlier acquired strategic stake in the B4U through Ketan Parekh. Zee has been involved in a controversies regarding stake buy-out of B4U and ABCL.

After the deal, B4U chief executive officer Ravi Gupta who is in London at present may step down from the company stewardship. Gupta wanted to sell his personal film library, however, this is not a part of the whole deal.

B4U, which is expected to come out with an IPO, has dropped its massive expansion plans in the broadband and e-commerce business. The company has 25 to 30 movies on the floor. These are expected to be sold in the package deal. However, further movie production plans have been substantially scaled down.

As part of the deal, Zee will also get B4U's lucrative international operations, including UK and US. In UK for instance, B4U has around 40,000 subscribers. With each subscriber paying around 15 pound, Zee is expected to get at least Rs 4.2 crore from subscription fee alone.

With B4U Movies, the company had broken even on cash basis in the overseas marketing during the first year of operation.

10/11/01

Not much happening today.

From my Emails & ICQ

From David Pemberton

The B.T feeds that are on PAS 2(ex PAS 9) on 3939V have changed.The SR has changed.

So it is now on PAS 2 as 3939V SR is 6620.FEC is 3/4.
Pids are 1460/1420/1460.


Best regards,
DAVID PEMBERTON.

From Chris Pickstock

B1, 12397 H Tas v SA on again. Note that the SR today is 6110, not the usual 7200

Chris

From Me

B3, 12363 V is active with election feeds
B3, 12336 V Msat ocassional 2 was running Sky news Australia

From Ken Kirby 9/11/01

PAS2 Adhoc II Tennis stuff from Madrid PAL 20:40 AEST.
Hemin vs Rachel McQullian from Newcastle on Adhoc II
Mens tennis on Adhoc I both from Madrid.

Ken

From The Dish

JCSAT 3 128E 3960 V "Hollywood Movie Channel and ETTV Movie" are time sharing on , Sid 407, Vpid 1136 Apid 1137.

Palapa C2 113E 4153 V Anteve has left

Asiasat 2 100.5E 3640 H All TV channels here have encrypted again.

NEWS

Nothing to report

9/11/01

No cricket test feed seen anywhere today :-(.

Look for a feed of the Hong Kong Cricket 6's Saturday & Sunday. Try 4148V Pas 8 , Sr 24430, Fec 2/3 vpid 1560 apid 1520. NZ isn't playing in it but many other world sides are including a team of "oldies" from Aussie. Bangaladesh vs Zimbabwe Test match is on also. Not sure which Bangladeshi channel is screening it, maybe Channel I (Apstar2r) or Ekushey (Asiasat 3)

From my Emails & ICQ

From John Harrison 9/11/01

B1, 12398 H "Pura Cup cricket" SA vs Tas on again

From John Harrison 8/11/01

B1, 12398 H "Pura Cup Cricket South Australia v Tasmania" Sr 7200 Fec 3/4- "ATN 9 MHz" From Bellerive Oval

From Chris Pickstock 8/11/01

B3 Mediasat, 12363 V, Vpid 4160, Apid 4120. Horse Racing from Clare in SA.

Mediasat on B3, 12336 V have got the first test on at the moment. It is in
16:9 format.

Chris

From Me 9/11/01

B3, 12363 V "Horse racing"

From Me 7/11/01

B3, 12363 V "Lexus Awards show" usual settings
B3, 12336 V "SBS"

From the Dish

JCSAT 3 128E 3960 V "FTV, ETV Movie Channel, CTV and TTV" are currently fta

Palapa C2 113E 4153 V "Anteve" is back, Sr 6510, Fec 3/4, Vpid 257 Apid 258.

Telkom 1 108E 4082 H "Trans TV" is only testing here

Thaicom 3 78.5E 3554 V "Shop 24 Seven" has started, Sid 4, Vpid 515 Apid 643, Asian beam.

NEWS

Urdu channel ARY Digital to start beaming end November

From indiantelevision.com

Urdu Satellite entertainment channel ARY Digital which has started its test run in India recently, is all set to launch the channel by end November.

Atul Saraf, director, Live Satellite Media Ltd, which is handling distribution and marketing for the channel in India says: "We are planning to reach close to 20 million homes in the next five months." Currently, the channel is shown only on two networks. "Our target is to reach out to the Urdu speaking people in India." Initially, the channel will target the north, where Urdu is better understood.

Asked how ARY would avoid the fate that befell UTN and other Urdu channel wannabes, Saraf says the problem with other Urdu channels has been that they don't have enough quality programming. "We have quite a good number of quality programmes with us. We also have the rights for many Pakistani movies. Moreover, we are procuring programmes from India too." The channel has currently commissioned four serials. Seventy per cent of the programming mix is currently sourced from Pakistan, the rest is sourced from India.

The channel is a 24-hour free to air channel, with 10 hours of original programming.

Saraf brushed aside doubts on whether the heavily Pakistani programming would create any problems in India, claiming that entertainment based programmes were not likely to cause any upsets. "We are planning to come out with serials with both Indian and Pakistani actors, which will be shot in the UK and Dubai. The message that we want to send is that people don't have animosity against each other, it is the lack of communication and trust that has worsened relations."

ARY is planning to start its pay services after April 2002. Advertisers have not yet been approached, but Saraf does not seem worried about the marketing part.

The channel will be shifted from Pas-4 to Thaicom-3 within the next fortnight, to avoid the time lag in transmission.

ARY Digital is a television network owned by ARY, one of the largest gold manufacturers in the world, based in London. The channel was launched in August 2001. The network was formerly known as The Pakistani Channel; its name was changed when it was purchased by the ARY Group.

Craigs comment , I like that bit about moving from Pas 4 to Thaicom 3, hmm its actually on PAS 10

Sony ditched us,’ says WorldTel

From http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_ID=2074556221

The milk has spilt, the television rights gone to a third party, but the WorldTel-Sony Entertainment Television battle has not exactly been resolved.

WorldTel president Mark Mascarenhas maintains his company had signed a “detailed, binding” contract with SET last November, while his opposite number Kunal Dasgupta says there was none.

Mascarenhas claimed on Wednesday, that WorldTel had signed a contract with SET relating to telecast of Bangladesh cricket matches on November 9 last year.

This included coverage of the Bangladesh-Zimbabwe series which started in Dhaka on Thursday. According to Mascarenhas, SET asked for a renegotiation just weeks before the series.

WorldTel did not comply and today, the entire plan lies in disarray. Meanwhile, a Bangladeshi network is televising the cricket.

?Given Sony's reputation, their high standards and ethics, I was astounded by what they did,” Mascarenhas said.

?I don't really know what went wrong. Our last meeting was on September 19 in London where SET Chief Executive Officer Kunal Dasgupta and representatives of the Bangladesh Cricket Board were present. What transpired after that fateful Wednesday night is a mystery.”

According to Mascarenhas, Dasgupta called him up a week after their London meeting, asking to rework the contract.

With the series just weeks away, WorldTel was not prepared to entertain such a request.

?We then engaged a Singapore counsel. We wrote to Sony giving them the facts and asked them to honour their commitment. If they failed to do that then we would be forced to take legal action. Before we could do anything, however, Sony took a preemptive strike at us and sued us in Federal Court, Connecticut (where WorldTel has its headquarters), seeking a declaratory judgment that no contract existed.”

He added, “It would be unfortunate if the matter went to court but the facts would come out there.”

8/11/01

Sorry no update today , just no time today ! been at my brothers place, fixxing up the new PC, seems the DVD won't read any DVDS or even cd's. Site will updated tommorow as usual.

7/11/01

Thanks to those that showed up in the chatroom, it was fairly quiet though. Where are all you chatroom regulars? Hopefully tommorow a feed will show up somewhere of the cricket. NZ vs Aus if the site updats very late you will know I have found it !

Does anyone have the manufacturer details of cheap twin tuner digital receivers. Also I believe there are some very cheap Taiwanese?? Digital FTA units available for $99 U.S? anyone have details of these also? I believe they are popular units for the Thai channel on Mediasat?

From my Emails & ICQ

From Bill Richards

Asiasat 2 screenshots

Nile News, Nile Variety, Nile Tv

Esc 1, Esc 2, Telibon

Syria TV, PTC,

Future TV, V Italia

From the Dish

Jcsat 3 128E 3960 V "all services currently FTA" Sr 30000 Fec 7/8 (unconfirmed, visable in Australia on a decent setup)

Palapa C2 113E 4055 V "Anteve" has left
Palapa C2 113E 4140 V "Singapore International TV" has left (PAL).
Palapa C2 113E 4144 V "Anteve" has started, Sr 6510, Fec 3/4, Vpid 257 Apid 258.
Palapa C2 113E 4153 V "Anteve" has left.

Thaicom 3 78.5E 3485 H "Thai TV Global Network" has left
Thaicom 3 78.5E 3521 V "PTV 1 and Radio Pakistan" have moved here from 3612 V, Sr 3333, Fec 3/4, Vpid 308 Apid 256 and Apid 256, global beam.
Thaicom 3 78.5E 3608 V "The PTV mux with PTV World, PTV News, PTV Channel 3 and Radio Pakistan" has left

PAS 10 68.5E 4154 H The test card here is now encrypted.

NEWS

Telstra And Sky Get Cosy

From http://xtramsn.co.nz/business/0,,5111-869683,00.html

TelstraSaturn and its pay-tv rival Sky TV are close to reaching a bundling deal.

If the deal is concluded, TelstraSaturn would offer Sky channels bundled up with its own phone and internet services, in much the same way that Telecom does now.

Under the Telecom/Sky bundling arrangement, Telecom subsidises the installation of Sky's set-top boxes.

That deal was made non-exclusive due to Commerce Commission concerns about an alliance between the country's biggest telco and pay-tv company.

A bundling deal would be a win-win for Sky, which could leverage off Telstra Saturn's customer base.

By being able to offer Sky channels, TelstraSaturn could compete more effectively with Telecom in areas where it does not have network coverage.

TelstraSaturn's network runs past 114,000 homes in Wellington and the Hutt Valley. The telco is building a network in Christchurch and plans to cover Auckland and the CBDs of Hamilton, Tauranga and Dunedin by 2005.

But a deal with Sky casts doubt on the future of TelstraSaturn's pay-tv service as it promotes Sky's TV channels.

"Their [TelstraSaturn's] pay-tv model has never been that robust anyway," said one analyst.

Earlier in the year TelstraSaturn pulled out of a deal with TVNZ which would have allowed it to offer its pay-tv channels nationwide via TVNZ's satellite distribution service.

TelstraSaturn's corporate development manager Deanne Weir said the telco had been talking to Sky TV about bundling deals since then. "Those talks are continuing. If there's anything definitive to tell we'll let you know," she said.

Sky pr-man Tony O'Brien would not comment on the deal.

Last week Sky reached an agreement with TVNZ, allowing it to offer TVOne and TV2 on its digital service.

BBC World Pas 10 going digital 1 December

From indiantelevision.com

Television news channel BBC World, which completed 10 years of operations in India last month, is going digital from 1 December, 2001.

Speaking to indiantelevision.com, Erica Rowe, head of specialist news distribution, BBC World, said to ensure a smooth transition to a digital feed, the 24-hour British news channel would be operating a dual illumination feed, continuing the analog feed on the PAS 10 satellite till 31 March 2001.

Rowe and Gerrie Richie, head of network development, are currently in India for the dual purpose of announcing the digitalisation plan and meeting cable operators from across the country to "thank them for the support they have extended to BBC World" over the last ten years.

Richie said the conversion of BBC World to a digital field "was part of an overall strategy we have for the distribution of BBC World."

Rowe said she was in India for the next four weeks as part of a communication effort celebrating BBC's ten years in India where meetings with cable operators were being organised across the four metros of Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Calcutta.

Over 500 guests were invited for the Mumbai bash held Sunday night at the Taj Hotel in south Mumbai, Rowe said. There would be similar parties in Bangalore (12th November), Delhi (16th) and Calcutta, 23rd, Rowe said.

The digitisation effort was not restricted to India but would extend across the full footprint of the PAS-10 satellite's BBC World South Asia feed, Rowe said. This would cover Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Middle East, Bhutan and Bangladesh, Rowe said.

On the distribution front, Richie said BBC World reached 11 million households in India. Worldwide, BBC is received as a 24-hour service in 81 million homes.

An important area where attention is paid is distribution in hotels. BBC World is available in over 55,000 hotel rooms around the world and there is a a separate person dedicated to ensuring that BBC World "is received in all the major hotels in the region," Richie said.

Queried as to why BBC hadn't considered a free-to-air encrypted feed, Rowe said: "BBC's philosophy for India is we want as many people as possible to view our channel. We don't want to restrict it any way?" Richie replied in the negative when asked whether there were any possibilities of BBC allying with a bouquet or channel. "Our principle objective is to make sure there is a smooth transition from analog to digital and to hold on to the distribution numbers that we have. We haven't considered at this stage tying up with any of the other players in the marketplace."

Technical Specifications Post Digitalisation
Satellite: Panamsat PAS-10

Transponder: 14C
Downlink Polarisation: Vertical
Downlink Frequency: 3970 MHz

BBC World to go digital on December 1

From http://www.financialexpress.com/fe20011107/con5.html

BBC World will go digital on December 1, but will remain a free-to-air, unencrypted channel across South Asia.

The news channel will offer dual illumination by transmitting its existing analogue signal on the PAS-10 satellite until March 31, 2002.
?We will give four months to the cable operators to switch over. As we are not going pay, we do not expect any major droppage in carriage in the immediate run,” said Erica Rowe, head of specialist news distribution, BBC World.

PanamSat-10 will offer BBC World a larger footprint and post digitalisation, the channel will be part of the multiplex on transponder 14C, the vertical polarisation available on the downlink frequency of 3,970 MHz.

&#xle operators will not require proprietary receivers and can use any DVB compliant digital satellite receivers that are readily available from local suppliers. This move will improve the quality of the BBC World signal in the region, strengthening the channel’s distribution and partnerships with cable operators in India,” said Mr Gerry Ritchie, head of network development, BBC World.

The company is hosting road-shows in four cities-Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi and Kolkata in the month of November to announce this transition and celebrate its tenth anniversary in the Indian market. “We finished Mumbai on November 4,” said Ms Rowe.

6/11/01

Livechat tonight in the chatroom 8.30pm Syd time and 9pm NZ onwards. Plenty of activity with Thaicom 3 and Asiasat 2 services fta. Most probably short term FTA untill Tarbs encrypts them. More good news the crickets been found oddly it was reported on a Taiwanese website. Does anyone have the pids for it Day 3 of its starts in a few hours. Also did anyone check those Asiasat 3 feeds freqs strong signals were reported there but the person checking didn't have the pids.

From the Dish

From "ANON":

Dear Craig,

I spoke with one of your regular contributors for over an hour last night about T.....
We both have the same views. T..... must be telling everyone to accept the money and don't talk to anyone else.
I did get a reply from Unitel Helios (the uplinker for TC3), that I would like you to print.
People should email them, (flood might be a better word), especially if they feel disadvantaged by not being able to either,

a) not able to receive the limited coverage signal on Ku band, or
b) feel that the channel they would like to watch should not require large sums of money every month.

Looks about time the public should find out through the media, exactly how many people are suffering because of the changes brought about by pay-tv. I know what they are doing is perfectly legal, and we must be cautious not to give them any ammunition to fire back at us, but there are programs such as A Current Affair that may run the story, and hopefully slow them down the changes a bit!

I wonder what the local tv networks think of pay-tv, when given the chance to run a story?

EMAIL SENT TO UNITEL HELIOS:

Dear Sir / Madam, Could you please explain why ERT/NET a
government run station, is ENCRYPTED on Thaicom 3.
I can not believe that Encryption is being applied to a government channel
that should be freely available to Greeks living in Australia and the
Pacific.

You surley cant be that desperate for money.........
If you justify encryption, then the world is slowly becoming worse every
day. Sadly.

ANSWER FROM UNITEL HELIOS:

I do not disagree with you but this is not the the worst thing can happen to the world like lets say bombing countries and running after ghosts...

Anyhow, please contact TARBS in your country for more info.

BR,

Simos Hajiraptis [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

From Siam Global

Re Thai Global Network (TGN)

No fireworks here today. I can confirm that TGN is still available on 3600 its usual frequency at 0600 gmt 5 Nov despite reports to the contrary. Also confirmed is the TARBS frequency for TGN as given on your website. Should

FTA C band TGN indeed disappear from Asia Pacific screens then I would remind those that can receive the signal,.... and I would not know the position outside SEAsia....... that TGN is still available FTA on Ku band 12666H 27500

Siamglobal Bk

From Tony Drexel

Hi Craig, Do you like listening to radio channels.

This would have to be the best variety I have heard on sat apart from B3 of course.

Here is a list of new radio channels that started today (4th Nov)

Pas 8 3850 H Sr 13240 Fec 3/4 mpeg 2

Uplinker ID: TASC

name video audio pcr language broadcasting free
best enka 0000 0671 0670 Taiwanese yes
instrumental 0000 0681 0680 Instrumental yes
tango 0000 0691 0690 Instrumental yes
pops new song 0000 0701 0700 English yes
hmv the music 0000 0711 0710 English yes
sweet love songs 0000 0721 0720 English yes
hip hop 0000 0731 0730 English yes
rock / pops 0000 0741 0740 English yes
country song 0000 0751 0750 English yes
seasonal 0000 0761 0760 Instrumental yes
jazz, main street 0000 0771 0770 Instrumental yes
for shopping 0000 0781 0780 Instrumental yes
Italian pops 0000 0791 0790 Italian yes
Latin 0000 0801 0800 Latin yes
symphony 0000 0511 0510 Instrumental yes
opera 0000 0521 0520 English yes
baroque 0000 0531 0530 Instrumental yes
bird hamming 0000 0541 0540 Bird noises yes
piano, easy list 0000 0551 0550 Instrumental yes
bgm 0000 0561 0560 Instrumental yes
bgm 0000 0571 0570 Instrumental yes
Japan music 0000 0581 0580 Japanese yes
Taiwanese mus 0000 0591 0590 Taiwanese yes
Mandarin pop 0000 0601 0600 Mandarin yes
Chinese lyrics 0000 0611 0610 Chinese yes
Mandarin pops 0000 0621 0620 Mandarin yes
wedding & goo 0000 0631 0630 Taiwanese yes
birthday song 0000 0641 0640 English yes
electron comp 0000 0651 0650 English yes
test channel 0000 0661 0660 Taiwanese yes

Quite a lot!
Kind regards,
Tony Drexel

Manager, Free To Air Satellite Services, Australia.
[email protected]
home page www.senet.com.au/~ftass

From the Dish

PAS 2 169E 3901 H "TV Chile" is back / still on ,PowerVu, Sid 3, Vpid 1360 Apid 1320.
PAS 2 169E 3961 V (could be H unsure) "India vs South Africa Cricket test" Sr 5632 Fec 3/4 (Someone got the pids for this one?)

Palapa C2 113E 4153 V "Anteve" has started, Sr 6510, Fec 3/4, Vpid 257 Apid 258.

Telkom 1 108E 3995 H "Indonet" has left

Asiasat 2 100.5E 3640 H "All channels in the mux are now in clear. BK 063 Sat has replaced Future TV USA on SID 6, PIDs 517/645., RTS Sat has replaced Nile Drama on SID 11, PIDs 522/650., Video Italia has started on SID 12, PIDs 523/651.

Thaicom 3 78.5E 3569 H "A new mux has started here" , Sr 9000, Fec 3/4, global beam, SIDs 14-16, PIDs 512/640-515/643, line-up: Video Italia, Lig TV, Future TV USA and BK 063 Sat. (looks like another TARBS mux..)

Thaicom 3 78.5E 3600 H "Thai TV Global Network" has replaced CMM Music, Sid 1, Vpid 512 Apid 650.

NEWS

TVNZ to be FTA inside SKY Transponder

From http://www.mediawatch.co.nz/

With two failed attempts to go digital behind it, TVNZ has announced a deal with the dominant digital broadcaster, Sky - the company with which it once wanted to compete.

Under the deal, TV One and TV2 will occupy the one and two positions on Sky's remote control and electronic programme guide. They will be broadcast unencrypted as part of the Sky Digital bouquet, using Sky's satellite capacity.

But, as a legacy of its lapsed joint venture with Telstra Saturn, TVNZ has leased capacity on the same satellite, and it is this it will use to deliver any additional services - both and educational channel and interactive advertising have been mooted - it wishes to launch next year.

TVNZ chairman Ross Armstrong has described the deal as a victory for viewers that leaves TVNZ in control of its own destiny. Our read is that commercial, technical and regulatory matters will all have an impact on that issue.

TV One and TV2 can now be viewed in digital by anyone who pays Sky $4 weekly for decoder hire without pay services - or, in theory, any satellite decoder (and dish) compliant with the DVB standard.

Where it might get interesting is if TVNZ launches a service to which it wishes to control access (typically so it can charge for it). Will it be able to negotiate its own conditional access (CA) system - in effect, play gatekeeper of its own gate on Sky's box?

Other countries, such as Spain and Italy, have approached the digital TV market by legislating a single CA system standard in pursuit of an "open access" market, where any decoder can receive services from any provider.

New Zealand Broadcasting Minister Marion Hobbs has also promised to regulate for open access. A draft cabinet paper has been written and will probably go to Cabinet before the end of the year, but legislation - and perhaps technical feasibility - is some way off yet.

Elsewhere in the digital satellite business, it seems the shock success of US satellite TV company EchoStar in its protracted battle with Rupert Murdoch to take over DirecTV in a deal work $US25.8 billion may not be the end of the story. Murdoch, who wants DirecTV in order to complete a global satellite network, says the EchoStar offer faces "considerable regulatory risk."

Nonethless, Wall Street banks are already lining up to supply financing to EchoStar to replace the $2.75bn bridging loan it agreed with DirecTV's present owner, General Motors.

Murdoch also launched a verbal assault on what he called the anti-success culture of British media.

Michael Jackson, the celebrated chief executive of Britain's Channel 4, soon to depart for a new career in American television, chimed in too: unless it changes, public service broadcasting is dead in the water, he said this week.

The Pentagon has bought exclusive rights to satellite images from a company named Space Imaging, effectively blocking media access to satellite pictures of Afghanistan.

The chairman of CNN has ordered his staff to balance images of civilian devastation in Afghan cities with reminders that the Taliban harbors murderous terrorists, saying it "seems perverse to focus too much on the casualties or hardship in Afghanistan."

Australia's Seven TV network is alleging that Rupert Murdoch, Kerry Packer and Telstra conspired to "kill off" its fledgling C7 pay TV sports channel by snaring the AFL and NRL broadcast rights.

MTV Networks is to cut 450 jobs - about nine per cent of its workforce - in response to the global advertising slump. The bulk of the job losses will come from MTV's Internet operation.

Hold that revolution: major US TV networks ABC, CBS and NBC have filed a copyright suit against ReplayTV, alleging that its new digital video recorder violates copyright laws.

While Britain participates in the military action in Afghanistan, 35 million people - 70 per cent of the country's population - is listening to a BBC radio drama that is essentially an Afghani version of the Archers.

SCAT 2001 gets underway on Tuesday

From indiantelevision.com

Over 90 Indian and foreign companies will display their latest cable and satellite systems and hardware at SCAT 2001, the satellite and cable TV trade show that kicks off on Tuesday at the World Trade Centre, Mumbai.

The two-day show is being organised by Satellite and Cable TV magazine for the tenth year consecutively. According to the organisers, the show will be an ideal meeting ground for the cable and satellite industry to catch up with the latest changes in the industry.

According to SCAT Media Consultancy media director Dinyar Contractor, at least 12,000 trade visitors are expected to participate this year. The terrorist attack on the WTC buildings in New York has had a marginal impact on participation on this year's show, only two participants have pulled out.

Leading Indian cable companies will be launching indigenously developed fibre optic cable. Commscope Inc. and Delhi based Ask Infosys are among the top few companies in India which will introduce their fibre optic cables and cable TV products at the exhibition. Two addressable set-top boxes, developed in China, will also be unveiled at the trade show, Contractor says.

Several broadcast companies have booked exhibitor display pavilions in the trade show, prominent among them Subhash Chandra headed Zee Telefilms, ARY TV, B4U Movies Ltd and BBC World.

International players like Echostar and Eurostar Networks will also be displaying their products and services at the show.

All systems go for ISRO's new satellite

From indiantelevision.com

The Technology Experiment Satellite (TES), launched on 22 October by ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C3) from Sriharikota in southern India, is functioning well, according to the space research agency.

Tests on various subsystems like telemetry, command and power have been completed. The Satellite Positioning System (SPS), which helps in accurate determination of the satellite's location, has also been tested. The data handling systems will be tested in the coming days before the camera payload on board is turned on, an official release says.

The satellite is being monitored from the Spacecraft Control Centre (SCC) of ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) at Bangalore along with its network of stations at Lucknow, Mauritius and Bearslake in Russia. The two other satellites, PROBA of Belgium and BIRD of Germany, which were launched by PSLV along with India's TES, are also reported to be functioning well.

In a previous launch in May 1999, PSLV had launched Indian IRS-P4, German DLR-TUBSAT and Korean KITSAT-3. While TES and BIRD will be placed in a 568 km sun-synchronous orbit, the third satellite, PROBA, will be placed in an elliptical orbit of 568 x 638 km, which will be achieved by firing the Reaction Control Thrusters of the fourth stage of PSLV-C3.

The TES, weighing 1108 kg, is an experimental satellite to demonstrate and validate, in orbit, technologies that could be used in the future satellites of ISRO. Some of the technologies that are planned to be demonstrated in TES are altitude and orbit control system, high torque reaction wheels, new reaction control system with optimised thrusters and a single propellant tank, light weight spacecraft structure, solid state recorder, X-band phased array antenna, improved satellite positioning system, miniaturised TTC and power system and, two-mirror-on-axis camera optics. TES also carries a panchromatic camera for remote sensing experiments.

Splash TV not to join Sony bouquet; may go with three major cable operators

From http://www.agencyfaqs.com/www1/news/stories/2001/11/05/3484.html

Splash TV, a 24-hour kids’ channel from Intelivision (promoted by Pentamedia Graphics), is going full steam ahead with its plans to reach a national audience by December-end 2001. According to sources, it is pursuing distribution pacts with the three major cable operators Hathway, Siticable and InCable to facilitate the spread of the channel on a national scale.

This move, meanwhile, also squashes the rumour that Splash is looking to join the Sony bouquet of channels. According to a senior media observer, what spiked Splash’s efforts to join hands with Sony was its decision to remain free-to-air, while all the channels in Sony's cluster are pay. This decision is driven by the fact that a free-to-air status will give Splash easy access to the numerous small town homes that are serviced by small, local cable operators.

The channel, which is available in Tamil Nadu, Bangalore and some parts of Kerala since mid-October, is finalising its distribution pacts with cable operators right now. It is toying with the idea of either setting up its own sales teams in Delhi and Mumbai, or, to sign up an agency that could handle the task of airtime sales on its behalf. Of course, it has the option of using the services of Media Dreams, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Pentamedia Graphics, which is in the business of film production, distribution and exhibition and also handles TV software production and marketing. Yet, with its limited presence, Splash TV has not been able to rally distributors or garner advertiser interest in a big way.

In fact, some media planners in Chennai say Splash hasn’t approached them yet for an update and presentation on the channel. The channel brass contends such moves will be initiated once the national network is in place.

Indeed, the entry of Splash TV, targeting an audience of below 18 years, is being seen with a lot of skepticism. “Barring Cartoon Network that has ‘voluntary viewership’ from kids, not many people have managed to corner junior audiences. Even Discovery Channel with its block on kids is a case where parents insist their wards watch the programme. With a majority of Indian homes having a single television set, most kids end up watching programmes meant for older audiences,” observes a media planner.

That is the reason why Animal Planet and Nickelodeon are still fighting for TRPs, while Kermit Channel has gone off air. In such a situation, what makes the team at Splash so sure that its offering would succeed in drawing kids to its fold? “We have content that, we know, will find takers in this country. The problem with Kermit, for example, was that kids simply could not relate to the content,” opines Vishnu Athreya, marketing manager, Splash TV.

Splash TV, which is available through the C-band transponder of New Skies NSS 703 satellite, has done its bit of homework, it seems. Its research has shown that kids want a wide variety of fare on their channel. “You ask a kid: Do you want to watch a movie, cartoon, or a chat show? They say yes to everything,” says Athreya. Hence, the channel has come up with a diet that includes bits of everything. And all its shows are hosted by kids.

The channel has a mix of international as well as Indian fare. While it shows films such as Apollo 13, Back to the Future, Kindergarten and serials such as Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys and Sherlock Homes, it also tries to rope in children with programmes on their schools and on their hobbies. Splash plans to air animation versions of the popular tales of Panchatantra, Sindbad and the Pandava brothers. The last two, incidentally, were shown on Cartoon Network in August this year. Some of its other popular programmes are based on fairy tales like Thumbelina and The Little Mermaid. To cap it all, the channel has a news-based show Splash-In on Sundays.

For the records, the advertising account for Splash TV is with rubecon Communications in Chennai. Incidentally, it is rubecon, which designed the logo of Splash TV, and the agency is currently working on some below-the-line activities for the channel. “The idea is to make kids feel that they have a chance to be featured on the channel. That is why we show live footage of kids at shopping malls, cinema halls etc on the channel. Once kids find their friends on the show, the enthusiasm is bound to be infectious. We have a great line-up of programmes for November which would be kicked off with a lot of fanfare on Children's Day,” adds Athreya.

5/11/01

A larger than normal "From the Dish" section today,which is good as things have been a bit quiet lately, whats not good to see is Thaitv5 on Thaicom 3 shifting. They have responded to any of my emails to them, so it may be they have been told by Tarbs to keep quiet. Just like what happend with the Greek services.

Melbourne Cup day tommorow, usually seen via Mediasat on B3 should be on various other feeds also

From my Emails & ICQ

From Bill Richards 4/11/01

A screenshot of Mediasats new 16x9 card on B3 12336 V

RE: "Thaicom 3 78.5E 3485 H "Thai TV Global Network" has started on , MPEG-2/clear, SR 18180, Fec 3/4, PIDs 101/102, global beam."

Further:

Note my Nokia produces a Channel name of TARBS which seems to be
heading in line with the rumors that Thai TV5 will encrypt using the
TARBS Company early next year for there service into Australia via
Pas8 Ku.

Regards
Bill

Craigs Comment, No replys to any of my emails I sent out to them either, this goes along with other services who were told by Tarbs to make no comments to any viewers etc about going from FTA over to Encrypted via Tarbs. Let me know if you have had a reply from Thai tv with the email address of the person that responded.

From Chris Pickstock 4/11/01

12.15 pm SA Time

B1, 12367 V, Sr 6110 Ten's feed of Telstra Rally Australia

5.45 PM SA Time

SKY Racing feed currently on Mediasat.

Chris

From Me 4/11/01

B3, 12336 V, "Channel 7" running here for a while on Sunday afternoon

From the Dish

Optus B1 160E 12546 V "Merry Christmas" Audio service has started (encrypted) on Sid 1184, Apid 663.

Apstar 1A 134E 4050 V "ZheJiang TV" has new pids Vpid32 APid 33.

Telkom 1 108E 4082 H "Trans TV" has moved here from 4028 H, Sr 6000, Fec 3/4, Vpid 308 Apid 258.
Telkom 1 108E 3620 H "CNBC Asia" has left.

Asiasat 3 105.5E 3820 V "Feed" Sr 27500 Fec 3/4
Asiasat 3 105.5E 3749 V "Ekushey TV" has a new SR and FEC, Sr 4340 and Fec 3/4.
Asiasat 3 105.5E 4065 H "Feed" Sr 2000 Fec 3/4

Asiasat 2 100.5E "Tarbs Egyptian service reported fta"

ST 1 88E 3632 V "MusicCountry Pacific Rim has replaced Open TV" on Sid 207, Vpid 6193 Apid 6177.
ST 1 88E 3632 V "A test card has started" on Sid 214, Vpid 5665 Apid 5666

Thaicom 3 78.5E 3485 H "Thai TV Global Network" has started, SR 18180, Fec 3/4, Vpid 101 Apid 102, global beam. (suggest you keep an eye on this one, this one mentioned the other day on a Asian site with TARBS? written next to it.)

Thaicom 3 78.5E 3600 H "CMM Music has replaced Thai TV Global Network", Sid 1, Vpid 512 Apid 650. (Say goodbye to Thai tv5, Does anyone have an address for the King of Thailand an email to him may see the situation change)

Thaicom 2 78.5E 3764 H "BBTV Channel 7" has started, Sr 4700, Fec 5/6, Vpid 33 Apid 34.

PAS 10 68.5E 3776 V "BBC World India" has started on , Sid 255, Vpid 1660 Apid 1620.
PAS 10 68.5E 3776 V "BBC World Service" has started on , Apid 1620.

NEWS

Media Release

TV Deal Has Potential to Disadvantage Viewers

Source : Regional Broadcasters' Association

5 Nov 2001

The Minister of Broadcasting’s claim that Sky Television’s position as the gatekeeper for New Zealand television was not a crucial issue because no date had been set to switch off the analogue system, has been taken to task by the Regional Television Broadcaster’s Association of NZ

The organisation, which represents 17 mainly UHF broadcasters around the country, says that her comments do not take into account the possibility that existing UHF antenna feeds may not be reconnected by the installer of the set top box required for satellite reception. The installer could also tune over the UHF channel when making the connection

?In fact, UHF stations in a number of centres have already reported receiving numerous calls from disappointed viewers who can no longer receive their local station once “digital” television has been installed. These are not isolated in any one area.” said Jim Blackman, Chair of the Association.

?We are concerned that unless there is an obligation imposed on the supplier of the signal and its installers to ensure existing free to air channels are tuned in at the time of changeover, the monopolistic situation government has said it wishes to avoid, could easily occur.

The small regional channels provide an important alternative source of local and international information and programming which is unlikely to be screened on commercial networks. They also provide an opportunity for the development of new ideas and hands-on training for media professionals.

Regional channels currently receive no financial assistance from NZ o A or other government sources and have to rely on local advertising and programming support to meet their operating costs. While a number of the stations are already digital capable and could broadcast terrestrially in this format with little cost, none could afford to make the transition to satellite transmission at this stage.
?It is vital that viewers are not deprived of a service which they were previously able to receive free of charge and which should of right continue to be provided to them at no cost” said Mr. Blackman. “To allow this situation to go unchecked, or without the opportunity to participate in digital satellite transmission along with other broadcasters will doubtless result in many of these stations closing”.

Iridium Satellite Set to Relaunch Services in Asia-Pacific Region

From satnewsasia.com

Just two years after going belly up, Iridium is once again on the air, this time offering satellite telephony services to Asia and Australia at cheaper rates.

Iridium Satellite LLC, the new company, offers phone coverage throughout the globe without land-based base stations.

A call via Iridium costs between US$0.99 and US$1.50 a minute compared to the US$7.00 a minute charged by the original company.

Iridium Satellite’s second-generation handsets are smaller and lighter than the originals and are capable of transferring data such as e-mails. Handset costs range from US$500 to US$1,500 compared to US$3,000 for the old handsets.

People stuck with Iridium handsets when the first company collapsed can hook up to the new network.

Iridium Satellite’s new owners is a consortium of investors led by Melbourne-based Quadrant Australia Ltd. and Inepar SA of Brazil plus a group of private American and British investors.

The new company bought all the old Iridium’s assets, including 66 satellites in a low earth orbit constellation, for a mere US$25 million on condition that a contract with the United States military is included in the buy out.

The low acquisition cost has enabled Iridium Satellite to dramatically cut call costs. Quadrant has been appointed Asia Pacific regional coordinator and will offer Iridium services in 37 countries.

Michael Abela, Quadrant's chief commercial manager, said new Iridium would wholesale the service to ISPs throughout Asia Pacific. There are already four service providers offering it in Asia and Australia, said Abela.

Analysts said the new owners might have learned many lessons from the failure of the first Iridium, especially in marketing. The present marketing effort now targets specific users rather than the broader mobile market. New Iridium is going after customers that operate in remote areas where there is only partial or no mobile phone coverage.

Iridium Satellite's first major contract, however, is with the U.S. Defense Department, which id paying US$72 million for Iridium Satellite services globally.

Iridium Co. was originally developed in 1988 by a consortium headed by Motorola. After launching more than 70 satellites and attracting only 60,000 customers worldwide, however, Iridium went bankrupt in August 1999 because of a customer backlash against call charges as high as US$14 a minute, poor call quality and pricey handsets.

Motorola is still the main supplier of Iridium subscriber equipment

China - Phoenix-CCTV Venture to Bring Chinese Programming to U.S.

From satnewsasia.com

Phoenix Satellite Television and state-run broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) have signed an agreement to jointly bring Chinese language programs to overseas markets.

The China News Service said that Phoenix will put the CCTV-4 channel on mainstream U.S. satellite television platforms. The joint venture partners will also produce programs for Chinese-speaking viewers worldwide and promote both companies’ channels in the USA.

Zhao Huayong, president of CCTV, will be the first chairman of the new company. Liu Changle, chairman and CEO of Phoenix TV will be vice chairman.

The powerful State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), which regulates China’s broadcast industry, has said it would give its full support to the joint venture.

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation owns 38 percent of Phoenix.

Al Jazeera Channel Makes Inroads in the International News Market

From satnewsasia.com

Qatar’s Al-Jazeera satellite TV channel exploded onto the world’s consciousness—and ignited a continuing debate on press freedom in the USA—when it broadcast the now infamous videotaped message of terrorist Usama bin Laden worldwide.

Facing mounting criticism, America’s five leading national networks, NBC, ABC, CBS and CNN and Fox News, volunteered not to broadcast further unedited messages from terrorists or terrorist organizations, a pact that CNN recently broke by sending a questionnaire via third parties to bin Laden.

*l Jazeera's attitude seems to be you show anything and everything. Since these very provocative figures play well in the Middle East, they're getting good mileage out of it,” said Orville Schell, dean of the graduate school of journalism at the University of California at Berkeley.

Known as the CNN of the Arab world, the Arabic language Al-Jazeera was almost unknown in the United States prior to the Afghan crisis.

Because of the immense publicity it is generating by being the only news organization allowed inside Afghanistan, Al-Jazeera is “scooping” world networks. America’s ABC News will now share video feeds and other information with Al-Jazeera under a new non-exclusive agreement.

Under the ABC deal, Al-Jazeera will gain access to stories that ABC puts on its NewsOne affiliate feed. The companies can also share satellite feed points in the Arab and U.S. world and reporters from both news entities can debrief each other. No money changed hands, said ABC.

The deal differs from the one Al-Jazeera executed with CNN because under the latter agreement the video was embargoed for six hours. CNN later agreed to drop the embargo after other networks complained.

To prevent being used as a propaganda tool by bin Laden, ABC said it would exercise its “editorial judgment” in deciding how to deal with video from al-Qaida.

Al-Jazeera’s deals with CNN and ABC puts it in the big league with the “big boys” of world media. Analysts do not expect further Al-Jazeera stories to be broadcast in their entirety, however.

Al-Jazeera broadcasts from tiny offices in Doha, the capital of Qatar, and is tolerated by the Qatari government.

Al-Jazeera remains the only news organization with correspondents reporting live from the besieged Afghan capital of Kabul and Kandahar. Al Jazeera opened a bureau in Kabul in 1999.

Al-Jazeera's apparently close relations with the shadowy and brutal Taliban Islamic militia that rules Afghanistan and bin Laden's men has left it facing heavy criticism, especially from the Americans.

Washington had expressed concern about allegedly biased coverage of the September 11 attacks by Al-Jazeera to Qatar's ruler, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. The Sheikh said he would consider this "friendly advice."

Al-Jazeera chairman Sheikh Hamad bin Thamer Al-Thani, however, said his organization would never change its strategy of covering news wherever it is.

Hamad, a member of Oman's ruling family, said it was not true that Al-Jazeera was a propaganda tool for putting forward the viewpoints of the Taliban or bin Laden

Hamad conceded that there may be errors in Al Jazeera's coverage, but these did not alter the channel's mission of providing diversity of viewpoints and real-time coverage of news.

T S I C H A N N E L N E W S - Number 44/2001 November 4 2001 -

A weekly roundup of global TV news sponsored by Tele Satellite International

Editor: Branislav Pekic

Edited Apsattv.com Edition

A S I A

INDONESIA

DISCOVERY PROGRAMMES ON TPI

Terrestrial channel TPI is soon to get a Discovery Channel branded block seven
days a week, after a deal with Singapore-based Discovery Networks Asia. The
two-hour Discovery block will launch on November 5, with all programming dubbed
into Indonesian Bahasa. TPI will handle ad sales around the block, with all
revenues shared between the two outfits. The deal runs until the end of 2003.
Discovery Channel already reaches some 65 million households across Asia and
Pacific Rim.

JAPAN

SKY PERFECT REVISES FINANCIAL RESULTS

Sky Perfect Communications has revised its financial forecasts because of the
success of its cost cutting initiatives. The Japanese DTH operator said it now
expects revenues for the 2002 financial year ending March to total Y63 billion,
up on earlier forecasts of Y60 billion. Pre-tax losses are now predicted to be
Y14 billion and net loss Y13.5 billion less than the Y16 billion and Y15
billion forecast earlier. Sky Perfect has an estimated 2.8 million subscribers.

NEW ZEALAND

TV NEW ZEALAND ON SKY

Public broadcaster TV New Zealand has reached an agreement with Sky and will
air its TV One and TV Two channels on the digital DTH platform from December 1.
Sky, which has about 260,000 digital subscribers, already carries the TV3 and
TV4 free-to-air channels owned by Canadian media company CanWest. TVNZ
officials said that the agreement is non exclusive and allows it to introduce
its own digital channels.

THE PHILLIPINES

SMALL CABLE OPERATORS CONTINUE TO CARRY STAR TV

Even though leading cablers Sky Vision Corp. and Phillipines Home Cable
Holdings Corp. have already dropped Star TV Group’s channels from their program
lineups, other local cable operators are not about to follow suit. Philippine
Cable Television Association Inc. president J. Manuel Dabao said in a statement
on October 30 that the smaller operators will still continue airing Star TV
channels despite ongoing tension between the program provider and the sister
cable companies, the biggest in the industry. Metro Manila cable operators
Destiny Cable, Las Piñas Cable, Parañaque Cable, Global Cable and Dream
Broadcasting direct-to-home service continue to have Star TV programs in their
lineups. Another 300 other cable systems all over the country still carry Star
TV channels as well. Star TV on October 19 cut off signals to SkyCable and Home
Cable because of 160 million pesos in debts.

SINGAPORE

FOOD NETWORK SIGNS TERRESTRIAL TV DEAL

Local terrestrial Channel 5 is soon to get a Food Network branded block every
weekday, after a deal with US-based Scripps Networks. The one-hour Food Network
block currently goes out to the MediaCorp-owned Asian channel’s 800,000
viewers. Under the deal, some 130 hours of Food Network programming will air on
the channel. Food Network programming is already available in South Korea,
Thailand, Hong Kong and the Philippines.

THAILAND

PAY-TV OPERATORS TO BUY STAR TV PROGRAMMING

Fifteen provincial pay-TV operators on October 29 signed a three-year contract
to buy Star World programmes from Hong Kong-based Star TV in a move to widen
their audience base, according to a report in the Bangkok Post. The operators
will pay 100,000 baht to 800,000 baht each per year, depending on their
subscriber base, to the distributor Star Group Regional (Thailand) Co.
Altogether, the operators claim 200,000 subscribers. Kasem Inkaew, president of
the Cable TV Association of Thailand, said the purchase would help change
negative perceptions about programme piracy while also offering more choices to
subscribers. The 24-hour Star World channel carries movies, talk shows,
cartoons and world news. All the programmes are in English and Thai subtitles
are planned in the near future. Mr Kasem said the operators were also in talks
with CNN and the Cartoon Network. The October 29 accord reflects Star World’s
intention to fight back against United Broadcasting Corp (UBC), the country’s
largest pay-TV operator, which claims more than 380,000 subscribers nationwide.

A F R I C A

SOUTH AFRICA

REALITY TV JOINS MULTICHOICE PACKAGE

Digital satellite TV platform MultiChoice is to expand its channel bouquet with
the factual offering Reality TV, after a deal with Zone Vision. The channel has
launched to MultiChoice’s 600,000 subscribers on November 1, bringing the total
number of territories receiving the service to some 95 across Europe, Africa
and the Middle East. It will draw on its regular fare of docu-dramas and
real-life stories. MultiChoice already telecasts the channel throughout 46
other African territories, 24-hours a day in English. The channel’s subscribers
now stand at some 7 million.

4/11/01

Sorry no time for an update today, hope you all understand that ocassionally a break is needed, Back tommorow!

3/11/01

Sorry about the late update I had to mow the lawns, and managed to break the lawn mower starter cord so that took a while. FTV on Asiasat 2 is staying FTA until Dec 1st I am sure some will be happy about that. Has anyone seen a feed of the Rally from Perth yet?

From my Emails & ICQ

From "Siamglobal"

I CAN CONFIRM THAT BBC WORLD AND WORLD SERVICE RADIO ARE STILL UP AND RUNNING IN ANALOGUE ON PAS 10. IN ADDITION I CAN CONFIRM A BRAND NEW INDIAN BBC WORLD HAS JUST STARTED FTA ON THE FREQUENCY GIVEN YESTERDAY...3776V 19850 AND THAT THE RIGHT AUDIO CHANNEL HAS THE BBC WORLD SERVICE RADIO.

SIAMGLOBAL BANGKOK

From the Dish

Optus B1 160E 12546 V "Merry Christmas" new audio service on Sky, Apid 663 Sid 1184 (encrypted)
Optus B1 160E 12608 V "Feeds channel" on Sky is now labled "Sky B" Vpid 517 Apid 655 TXT 581 Sid 1026 (encrypted)

NEWS

FTV encryption rescheduled to 1 December

From http://www.indiantelevision.com

French fashion channel FTV's plans to switch to an encrypted feed appear to have gone awry and it has now set 1 December as the new date for this to happen.

As per the original plan, 1 November was to see the channel becoming an encrypted feed. When contacted Rajan Kaaicker, CEO Distribution Group, Modi Entertainment Network, the channel's current distributor in India, said 1 December was the new date fixed for the channel's' encryption but gave no reasons for the delay.

The rollout of set top boxes was continuing he said, adding that he expected the rollout to be more or less complete before the end of November.

Queried as to why FTV had been knocked off TV screens in Kolkata, Kaaicker played down the issue and said the matter was being sorted out. Kaaicker said he expected FTV to be back on air in Kolkata within a week.

RPG Netcom, the leading signal provider in Calcutta, reportedly dropped FTV in response to the imminent switch to a pay channel, saying it did not see any demand from viewers.

DD-Bharti set to re-write Doordarshan's stylebook

From http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/today/03tech06.htm

DOORDARSHAN'S new edutainment channel, DD-Bharati to be launched on January 26, 2002 is all set to re-write DD's stylebook.

A niche channel with clearly demarcated health, children and music-dance components, DD-Bharati is making a determined bid to rope in all sections of society — pre-dominantly the industry—to participate in its efforts to "enrich lives."

Among those who have either evinced interest are pharmaceutical companies like Morepen Laboratories, Dabur and Cipla, government departments like the health ministry, hospitals and institutes like the Chennai-based Ramachandra Institute of Medical Sciences, Bangalore based Narayana Hridyalaya and Hyderabad-based Apollo Hospitals.

All of them are discussing with DD how they could contribute "software" either through programmes commissioned out to production houses or participatory talk shows.

The 24-hour channel to be available on PAS-10 on transponder No C-19 and C-23 both in analog and digital mode (where DD News is at present), would feature four hours of health programmes (6 am -10 am), six hours of childrens' programmes (2 pm -8 pm) and four hours of programmes on music, dance, fine arts, literature (8pm -12 midnight).

Since the channel is being positioned as a public service one, the telecast fee for a half hour slot on prime time (8 pm to 10:30 pm) has been fixed at Rs 5000 while the non-prime time rate would be Rs 3000 -— both with free commercial time of 210 seconds. The last date for proposals is November 23.

Sources in Prasar Bharati said that in a departure from the usual practice of running "dry" advertisements in newspapers, promos had been devised for both TV and Radio.

Accordingly, in addition to the newspaper announcements, racy promos are being telecast across all DD channels as well as the AIR FM -1 and FM-2 channels.

In addition, direct mailers and letters are being sent to event management companies and organisers of live concerts like ITC and Spic-Macay with a view to having live telecasts. Special slots for folk and tribal culture are also planned.

The insurance sector is also being similarly contacted and positive vibes have come in from players like Oriental, National, United, Bajaj-Allianz and Max New York Life. The channel plans to incorporate a one hour live phone in on health issues daily.

DD-Bharati is also hopeful of active industry participation for the childrens' hour —especially a news bulletin by children for children. "There is no reason why big players in the chocolate, toys and kids-wear segment should not sponsor this bulletin," Prasar Bharati sources told the Economic Times.

Talks are on with production houses like Nimbus and UTV who have experience in this segment to bring in sponsors as well.

A special effort is being made to get well-made fairy tales rich with animation and special effects. In the literature segment, a project is on to offer serialised classics in Hindi.

2/11/01

Mark at Mediasat has told me Thaitv are thinking of signing up with Tarbs you have to wonder how much $$ and what kind of deal Tarbs are handing out. I have to wonder what is in it for Thai Tv5. They can only lose viewers from this kind of deal. Thai TV Global is FTA everywhere else. If they were to go on Tarbs that means once again People in NZ and some of the Pacific islands lose yet another channel that they have no chance at all of receiving anymore due to the Tarbs KU Pas 8 footprint only covering Australia. There are many in NZ and Australia who have paid for small dish systems just to get Thai tv off Mediasat. Once again greed and the mighty $ of TARBS

Send Thai TV 5 An email at any of the addresses below and let them know what you think.

http://www.thaitvnetwork.com/contact-eng.shtml

[email protected]
[email protected]

From my Emails & ICQ

From George (Thailand)

Dear Craig;

Some news from the far east

-Telkom 1

Turbo TV that was running CNBC Asia has left coninceiding with that CNBC Asia has left Palapa C2 4040 H analogue

-PAS 2

NASA TV has encrypted its signal on 3901 H SR 30800 (It was fun while it lasted!)

-PAS 10

BBC World Service radio has left analogue 4184 V and is running in digital on 3776 V SR 19850 on the right audio channel with BBC World Colour Bars

-Thaicom 2/3

BBTV Channel 7 Bangkok has started in digital on 3764 H SR 4700

(This confirming the dish's report! I'm in Thailand and can surely confirm this one!)

OK well there it is Craig. By the way the BBC world Service did not give notice to the move also the CNBC-Asia feed also left with short notice and BBTV 7 also started without any prior notice)

George
THAILAND

From the Dish

PAS 8 166E 3780 H "CNN Financial Network" is now encrypted.

Optus B1 160E "ABC Fly" has started on 12670 H, 12688 H and 12706 H, Apid 1021 Vpid 1031

Optus B3 156E 12407 V"ABC TV National" has started Vpid 848 Apid 849.(Encrypted)

Palapa C2 113E 4040 H "CNBC Asia" has left (PAL).

Insat 2E 83E "ETV Marathi" has left 3485 V (PAL), replaced by a test card.

NEWS

Green light as major iTV hurdle falls

From http://www.bandt.com.au/articles/c2/0c008ac2.asp

A MAJOR hurdle to the free-to-air roll-out of interactive television (iTV) has been overcome with the announcement yesterday that the industry has agreed on a standard way to deliver iTV services.

The announcement gives the green light to iTV content producers and set-top box manufacturers because they now have specifications to work to.

The Federation of Australian Commercial Television Stations (FACTS) announced that DVB-MHP (Multimedia Home Platform) had the support of the free-to-air (FTA) networks, public broadcasters and regional broadcasters.

The announcement was made by FACTS Digital TV Strategy Group, set up to help facilitate the Australian FTA industry’s complex transition to digital broadcasting.

Agreement by all FTA broadcasters to a standard delivery platform will mean Australia should avoid the UK situation where the BBC has to provide iTV applications in a variety of platforms.

Project manager Chris Williamson said the group expected the first Australian terrestrial implementations of DVB-MHP to be available towards the end of 2002.

Williamson said the DTV Strategy Group would continue to work with consumer electronics manufacturers to deliver interactivity as early as possible.

DTV Strategy Group chairman Judi Stack said the free-to-air broadcasters’ unified approach to iTV would mean FTA would continue to set the standard for television in Australia.

?The decision underlines the industry’s firm commitment to providing a digital television experience free to the Australian viewing public and to ensuring advertisers and agencies have the best opportunity to reach the widest possible audience,” Stack said.

The DTV Strategy Group sent a delegation to Europe in August and September to research the development of set-top boxes and televisions based upon the DVB-MHP standard.

Stack said yesterday’s announcement was the result of deliberate and careful assessment of the delegation’s findings in Europe, and from its continued work in the development of a common, open platform for digital TV in Australia.

ABC flies into digital TV with new youth network

From http://www.bandt.com.au/articles/d5/0c008ad5.asp

THE ABC launched its first foray into digital television and broadband Internet applications with today’s unveiling of its new youth network Fly at Sydney’s Bondi Beach.

Conspicuous by his absence was Jonathon Shier who last night announced his resignation, effective at the end of the year, as managing director of the national broadcaster after a controversial 19 months at the helm.

In his place at the launch was ABC director of television Sandra Levy who launched the new Web site, TV station and broadband site.

?We’re seeing the birth of a new TV station it’s a great moment in history,” Levy said.

Fly TV will be available to people with digital set-top boxes and on Optus and Austar pay TV networks.

Fly Net is the standard access Web site and Fly Screen is the broadband site.

All of the Fly channels aim to incorporate programming from across the ABC and encourage young people to interact with the various Fly media.

Old Auntie gives youth a buzz with some digital tricks

From http://www.smh.com.au/news/0111/02/entertainment/entertain11.html

Among all the politics, the ABC launched a new youth channel last night.

Known as FLY, the new channel is broadcast through the ABC's digital television network and aimed primarily at the 15-25 age demographic. It will focus on technology, the environment, money, films, music, emerging artists and lifestyle issues, as well as air some imported shows.

The channel is being sold as "an eclectic mix that takes in the weird, the nostalgic, the inspired and the bad".

Its producers say the philosophy behind it is to create television for young people made by young people.

"Up until now the ABC has had a huge void in youth programming," FLY marketing manager Allyson Moore said yesterday.

"And with this we really do hope that the people who make content for us also go on to bigger and better things within the ABC or the whole television industry."

The ABC called for nationwide applications for people to work on the channel and received some 3,500 responses. From these it hired a small team of 18 contributors.

All those creating the content for the channel fall into the 21-27 age category.

FLY will be on-air seven days a week from 6pm through to 6am on the digital network.

Those without digital access will still be able to view it it for free through Optus and Austar.

Austar down to last $127m

From http://australianit.news.com.au

REGIONAL pay TV group Austar has revealed it has only $127.5 million left in the bank as the deadline to roll over and extend its $400 million debt facility approaches a crucial stage.

The company spent $125.7 million in the last quarter, according to its third-quarter cash-flow statement released yesterday, but that included three one-off payments that are not expected to recur.

Austar paid the final $30 million instalment for metropolitan spectrum bought from Television & Radio Broadcast Services, made a $25 million contribution to the Telstra Saturn business in New Zealand and paid its parent company, United GlobalCom, $19.9 million in accrued management fees.

However, the Telstra Saturn business was restructured in early October so that Telstra takes responsibility for ongoing funding.

Austar spokesman Bruce Meagher said expenditure in the current quarter was expected to "reduce significantly".

"And we will start to see more significant reductions in the general operating expenditure because of the cost-saving measures that are being undertaken," he said.

He also reiterated that Austar was comfortable with its discussions with the banks, saying an announcement on a debt rollover was expected "within a number of weeks".

The debt must be repaid or restructured before the end of December. Austar intends seeking an extra $150 million from the banks to fund it to a cash-flow-positive state.

Austar shares fell marginally to 24.3c.

Networks Suing Super VCR

From http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,48065,00.html

Three major television networks are suing the maker of the first Internet-ready personal digital video recorder, saying the ReplayTV 4000 lets people make and distribute illegal copies of television programs.

NBC, ABC and CBS filed a lawsuit Wednesday in federal court in California against Sonicblue, claiming the ReplayTV 4000 would violate their copyrights by allowing users to distribute copies of programs over the Internet.

The networks also complained that technology in the personal video recorder can automatically strip out commercials.

In a joint statement, the networks said the device "violates the rights of copyright owners in unprecedented ways" and "deprives the copyright owners of the means by which they are paid for their creative content and thus reduces the incentive to create programming and make it available to the public."

The ReplayTV 4000 has not yet been released for sale to the public, and the networks are asking the court to prevent the device from coming to market. Sonicblue, which is based in Santa Clara, Calif. and acquired ReplayTV this year, was planning to begin sales in mid-November.

Sonicblue officials said they have not seen the lawsuit but stressed that they took precautions against a Napster-like unfettered distribution of television programming.

The company limited the number of times to 15 in which a user could send a particular show to another ReplayTV 4000 owner, or so-called "TV buddy." A recorded show could only be sent or resent to another user a maximum of 15 times.

"I think we've treaded softly," Sonicblue's chief executive Ken Potashner said.

The product also supports a digital rights copy protection technology made by Macrovision, giving broadcast networks the option to use that technology to restrict consumers from sending copies of a show over the Internet.

The ReplayTV 4000 is a souped-up version of digital video recorders which were first introduced to consumers in 1998 by ReplayTV and its rival, TiVo. So-called DVRs allow consumers to store hours of TV programming on built-in hard drives, and while watching live television, users can pause, rewind, and even do instant replays.

The networks, some of which have invested in ReplayTV, did not object to earlier versions of the ReplayTV recorder or devices by TiVo. Both allow users to fast-forward through commercials but unlike the ReplayTV 4000 do not include technology to automatically delete the ads or share the files of the recorded shows.

"We do have an investment. However, we never consented or would consent to the misuse of our copyrighted works," said Michelle Bergman, a spokeswoman for Disney, also a plaintiff. "We made clear we expect the use of copyrighted materials to be licensed and this technology does not allow for that. We're protecting ourselves."

Digital video recorders devices have yet to take off; there are only an estimated 750,000 users.

Analysts say the lawsuit marks the broadcast networks' pre-emptive strike against a technology that is expected to flourish and could raise the same kind of thorny piracy issues that plagued the record industry after Napster helped popularize the practice of song-swapping over the Internet.

The ReplayTV 4000 "is not going to impact the revenues of networks today but they care about what the technology could to do them by 2003 and 2004," said Carmel Group analyst Sean Badding.

"The networks will have to figure out a way to adjust to it, or capitalize from it."

Copyright © 2001 Associated Press

1/11/01

More news and reports on the Sky/TVNZ deal, sorry its not much of interest to the Australian readers.

Satfacts section has been updated

From my Emails & ICQ

From Chris Pickstock

This morning I find that ABC Fly has the Pids that ABC Kids had yesterday, yet programming is ABC Kids.

ABC Kids now has Pids of ABC NSW and is ABC NSW programming. My guess is someone has sent the wrong info to the sat, unless of course it is just my receiver giving me a hard time. Anybody else noticed this?

ABC TV National has started within the Aurora service on B3. 124707 V, Vpid 848, Apid 849, card required. Not really sure why as so far it just seems to be ABC SE/NSW programming and we already have a few frequencies to receive this.

ABC National and ABC Kids has also started within Austar on B3, 12376 H, Vpids 512 and 519, Apids 640 and 647, pay tv card required.

Also Tzu Chi on Mediasat is currently showing a live view from somewhere in Sydney ( I Guess). Is this another channel at the end of its trial period?

Chris

From the Dish

Optus B1 160E 12608 V "The Edge" has started (Radio), Encrypt, Sid 1174, Apid 664.
Optus B1 160E 12670 H "New PIDs for ABC Kids", Vpid 1021 Apid 1031
Optus B1 160E 12688 H "New PIDs for ABC Kids", Vpid 1021 Apid 1031
Optus B1 160E 12706 H "New PIDs for ABC Kids", Vpid 1021 Apid 1031

Optus B3 156E 12376 H "ABC TV National" Started Vpid 512 Apid 640 (Encrypted)
Optus B3 156E 12376 H "ABC Kids" Started Vpid 519 Apid 647 (Encrypted)

Thaicom 2/3 78.5E 3764 H "Channel 7 Thailand" Sr 4700 , Fec 5/6 (unconfirmed may be 3746 H)
Thaicom 2/3 78.5E 3484 H "Tarbs"??? (unconfirmed could someone with Nokia scan Thaicom 3?)

Intelsat 902 62E 3967 L "E.TV, Akermans and Good Hope FM" have started, Sr 9326, Fec 3/4, pids 34/35, 32 and 33, SW zone beam.
Intelsat 902 62E 3715 L "Occasional feeds" on, Sr 6110, Fec 3/4, NW zone beam.

NEWS

Press Release: New Zealand National Party

Wednesday, 31 October 2001, 3:31 pm

From http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0110/S00542.htm

Katherine Rich National Broadcasting Spokesperson
31 October 2001

TVNZ forced to cadge a ride with Sky

Television New Zealand's TV1 and TV2 being broadcast on Sky from December was inevitable given the deteriorated financial state of the company, during Marian Hobbs' reign as Broadcasting Minister, National's Broadcasting spokesperson Katherine Rich said today.

"Marian Hobbs and TVNZ can try to put a positive spin on the channels going onto Sky but the reality is that TVNZ's poor financial state and prognosis made it clear the company had no other option.

"This was inevitable for TVNZ after it lost its battle to get support for its own strategy.

"While Marian Hobbs deludes herself that TVNZ's digital strategy remained intact despite the breakdown of the Telstra Saturn deal, what was presented today is a pale shadow of TVNZ's earlier plans.

"Sky has won the digital battle. TVNZ meanwhile is entering a new era where it is no longer a broadcaster but just another content provider on the digital platform and just another option on Sky's remote," Katherine Rich.

Ends

Press Release: ACT New Zealand

Wednesday, 31 October 2001, 3:48 pm

From http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0110/S00547.htm

Penny Webster Press Releases -- Broadcasting
Wednesday 31 Oct 2001

Government Meddling Deals Blow to TVNZ

Government meddling and the Charter have caused TVNZ's digital aspirations to amount to nothing, ACT Broadcasting Spokesman MP Penny Webster said today.

"New Zealanders will be grateful that a deal between TVNZ and Sky has finally been reached, however it is incredibly frustrating that Government meddling has meant resolution took so long.

"TVNZ's own digital aspirations have been sunk by the Government. The state broadcaster's first plan was rejected. Then Telstra Saturn was scared off by the Charter and Marian Hobbs.

"This is another example of a government that doesn't comprehend business.

"Today's announcement is good news for television viewers. Unfortunately, it is bad news for our taxpayer-funded television station," Mrs Webster said.

ENDS

For more information visit ACT online at http://www.act.org.nz or contact the ACT Parliamentary Office at [email protected].

Government vows to block Sky monopoly

From http://www.nzherald.co.nz

The Government says it will legislate to protect viewers from a digital broadcasting monopoly by Sky TV.

Television New Zealand has signed an agreement to work with Sky on future digital channels and interactivity rather than launch its own service.

TV One and TV2 will be placed on the Sky digital platform next month.

Broadcasting Minister Marian Hobbs welcomed the agreement but said the Government would not let viewers be restricted to one provider or be at the mercy of their set-top box.

She said the Government would legislate for open access, which would allow consumers to buy any set-top box and then subscribe to any pay service and receive all of the free-to-air channels.

Sky has more than 250,000 subscribers to its digital service and carries the other free-to-air channels, TV3, TV4, Prime Television and Trackside.

Those channels, along with TVNZ, are also available on TelstraSaturn's cable network.

TVNZ hailed the 10-year agreement as a low-cost digital option for the company and a victory for viewers, by giving people access to a better picture and sound quality through digital transmission.

Sky subscribers will benefit most from the deal by having all of the free-to-air channels on one remote control.

People who cannot receive TVNZ on the analogue system - less than 1 per cent of the population - will be able to see TV One and TV2 on Sky digital. That would mean paying between $99 and $399 for a dish and just under $4 a week to rent the set-top box.

But opponents said the decision gave the Rupert Murdoch-owned Sky control of the digital gateway.

"Sky has won the digital battle," said National broadcasting spokeswoman Katherine Rich.

"TVNZ, meanwhile, is entering a new era where it is no longer a broadcaster but just another content provider on the digital platform and just another option on Sky's remote."

Digital television commentator Bob Cooper said Sky would decide on a commercial basis which channels were in its best interest to carry.

"This ... points up that Sky has just become the gate-keeper for all New Zealand television. If you want to launch a programme ... you have to deal with Sky."

Mrs Hobbs said the issue was not crucial because no date had been set to switch off the analogue system.

TVNZ chief executive Rick Ellis said the option existed under the agreement with Sky to introduce more free-to-air and interactive content channels.

TVNZ would transmit the channels using space on a satellite transponder it was leasing for $2.8 million a year.

"We expect that in 10 years the proliferation of digital devices in New Zealand homes will be such that we will be able to distribute our free-to-air signal in pretty much an unfettered way in the same way that we do with analogue today," he said.

TVNZ spent millions of dollars preparing digital strategies before agreeing to hand over its channels to Sky. It wrote off $13 million in costs associated with a joint deal with British cable company NTL, which was shelved by the Government.

It has also invested millions in preparing to launch a free-to-air service with TelstraSaturn.

TVNZ chairman Ross Armstrong had been pushing for a deal with Sky for more than a year.

TVNZ and Sky had a public falling-out over TVNZ's decision to sell its 12.6 per cent stake in Sky at a discounted price.

Sky then struck a deal with TVNZ rival CanWest to screen the free-to-air sports rights on TV3.

Dr Armstrong has spent months rebuilding bridges between Sky and TVNZ, working with Sky chairman Tom Mockridge, to enable TVNZ to piggyback on the Sky platform.

TVNZ-Sky deal wounds cable-based pay-tv operator

From http://www.stuff.co.nz/inl/index/0,1008,993198a13,FF.html

Sky Network Television's new deal to carry TVNZ's two channels on its digital platform is expected to provide another small competitive stumbling block in the pay TV market.

Digital television commentator Bob Cooper said the deal was likely to have a small negative impact on cable-based rival pay TV operator TelstraSaturn.

TelstraSaturn, which has customers in Wellington and Christchurch and plans to expand into Auckland, already offers TVNZ's channels on its platform.

Mr Cooper said yesterday's deal between Sky and TVNZ meant viewers tossing up between Sky and TelstraSaturn were now being tempted with a more attractive offering on the Sky platform.

The deal also helped cement Sky's dominant position in the pay TV market. By the end of June it had 430,000 subscribers, including 162,000 digital customers.

Sky's chief executive, John Fellet, said the addition of TV One and TV2 would boost subscriber demand for the network's digital service.

However, the deal failed to excite investors. Sky shares closed down 5c yesterday, at $3.45.

TVNZ chief executive Rick Ellis said he expected the Sky deal would have a positive impact on TVNZ's value because "digital homes" were being included in ratings and if TVNZ was not broadcasting digitally that would ultimately affect ratings and revenues.

"Being on that platform, I've no doubt it will enhance the value of the company," he told Parliament's finance and expenditure select committee yesterday.

Foxtel first in a one-horse race

From http://australianit.news.com.au

THE Australian Communications Authority will offer pay TV group Foxtel a satellite licence in coming weeks after it emerged as the only bidder for the two licences on offer.

The other three companies that had previously expressed interest - Optus, PanAmSat and Electronic Media Services - all failed to register formal interest before yesterday's deadline.

If Foxtel accepted the offer, it would be able to place a satellite in one of two slots of space allocated by the International Telecommunciation Union. That would reduce its reliance on Optus (it now rents transponder space on one of Optus's satellites) and may provide future channel capacity.

ACA executive manager of spectrum marketing John Grant would not speculate on the expected price of the licence but said the emergence of only one bidder was no surprise.

"We tested the market some months ago and the indications were that several companies were interested and the only way of resolving to whom licences should be allocated was to go through the process. And as it turns out, only one company is prepared to put up its hand," he said.

Mr Grant said competition rules prevented Foxtel being offered both satellite slots.

He said the price at which it would be offered to Foxtel had yet to be determined.

But he said this would occur in the next few weeks.

"It will be a one-shot offer rather than a negotiation," Mr Grant said.

While Foxtel had expressed interest in the slot, a spokesman would only say yesterday that the company was considering its options.

It is believed that Foxtel, which is 25 per cent owned by The Australian's owner News Limited, wants to secure transponder space, as 35 per cent of its subscribers receive the service via satellite.

But if it chooses to operate its own service, questions will be raised about the economics of any deal.

Much of that determination would depend on whether Foxtel funded the cost of launching its own satellite or agreed on a long-term partnership with a satellite company.

Previous reports have suggested that the cost of fully funding satellite infrastructure could be between $250 million and $300 million.

Any change from the Optus satellite may also mean many of Foxtel's satellite-receiving dishes would need to be repositioned as the satellites operate at different longitudes.

An Optus spokesperson said that the company had withdrawn from the bidding as the slots available did not fit its satellite strategy.

Political ties to help Chinese broadcaster compete

From http://news.ft.com

Phoenix Satellite Television Holdings, the leading private sector Chinese broadcaster, on Wednesday said it would be able to cope with an expected influx of Hong Kong and foreign competition into the mainland market because of its political connections.

Liu Changle, chairman and chief executive of the Hong Kong-listed company, made the comments at a meeting with international investment analysts in Hong Kong.

"At the end of the day we are a Chinese company, if you know what I mean. We know the guys that matter," Mr Changle said.

A Shanghai businessman, Mr Changle is a former member of China's military and previously part of the state broadcasting establishment. He controls Phoenix together with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

His remarks illustrate the risks of investing in China, where business success often depends on personal and political contacts.

Phoenix TV, which listed in Hong Kong last year, provides a Chinese-language pay-TV service to more than 40m households in China's wealthy Guangdong province via the local state-run cable operator.

Until this month, when it formally received permission for landing rights in Guangdong from the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, its service in the province had been technically illegal under national law. But it was protected by friendly ties with Beijing.

Now the company is facing increasing competition from international competitors, including its current partner News Corp as well as AOL Time Warner. Both recently received permission to start their own Guangdong services, while Hong Kong channels are also competing keenly.

Mr Changle said he was not concerned about the new competition. "We are well-connected [politically] and the new foreign competitors, AOL and News Corp are not expected to be able to provide any service other than news. Phoenix remains unique in being able to provide both [news and entertainment]," he said.