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=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/magazines/SKYGUIDE/skyguide.01 [ 8395] Skyguide Issue #1 (March 20, 1993)
=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/magazines/SKYGUIDE/skyguide.02 [ 11359] Skyguide Issue #2 (March 27, 1993)
=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/magazines/SKYGUIDE/skyguide.03 [ 1669] Skyguide Issue #3 (March 31, 1993)
=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/magazines/SKYGUIDE/skyguide.04 [ 6256] Skyguide Issue #4 (April 3, 1993)
=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/magazines/SKYGUIDE/skyguide.05 [ 4705] Skyguide Issue #5 (April 10, 1993)
=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/magazines/SKYGUIDE/skyguide.06 [ 6097] Skyguide Issue #6 (April 17, 1993)
=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/magazines/SKYGUIDE/skyguide.07 [ 11611] Skyguide Issue #7 (April 24, 1993)
=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/magazines/SKYGUIDE/skyguide.21 [ 9689] Skyguide Issue #21 (August 22, 1993)
=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/magazines/SKYGUIDE/skyguide.22 [ 6952] Skyguide Issue #22 (August 22, 1993)
=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/magazines/SKYGUIDE/skyguide.23 [ 6361] Skyguide Issue #23 (August 29, 1993)
=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/magazines/SKYGUIDE/skyguide.24 [ 10707] Skyguide Issue #24 (September 12, 1993)
=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/magazines/SKYGUIDE/skyguide.25 [ 10267] Skyguide Issue #25 (September 26, 1993)
=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/magazines/SKYGUIDE/skyguide.26 [ 5704] Skyguide Issue #26 (October 10, 1993)
=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/magazines/SKYGUIDE/skyguide.29 [ 7647] Skyguide Issue #29 (November 28, 1993)
=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/magazines/SKYGUIDE/skyguide.31 [ 7694] Skyguide Issue #31 (January 9, 1994)
=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/magazines/SKYGUIDE/skyguide.32 [ 5291] Skyguide Issue #32 (January 16, 1994)
=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/magazines/SKYGUIDE/skyguide.32b [ 1040] Skyguide Issue #32b (Special Edition)
=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/magazines/SKYGUIDE/skyguide.33 [ 8710] Skyguide Issue #33 (February 6, 1994)
=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/magazines/SKYGUIDE/skyguide.34 [ 15605] Skyguide Issue #34 (March 6, 1994)
=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/magazines/SKYGUIDE/skyguide.35 [ 9766] Skyguide Issue #35 (April 8, 1994)
=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/magazines/SKYGUIDE/skyguide.36 [ 15590] Skyguide Issue #36 (May 28, 1994)
=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/magazines/SKYGUIDE/skyguide.38 [ 14041] Skyguide Issue #38 (July 23, 1994)
=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/magazines/SKYGUIDE/skyguide.39 [ 18380] Skyguide Issue #39 (August 20, 1994)
=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/magazines/SKYGUIDE/skyguide.40 [ 16352] Skyguide Issue #40 (October 30, 1994)
magazines/SKYGUIDE/skyguide.01
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--------------------------
Skyguide Issue 001 Page 1
--------------------------------- SKYGUIDE UK ---------------------------------
| |
| Your digest of the latest news in the world of Satellite & Cable Television |
| |
----------------------- Week Ending Sat 20th March 1993 -----------------------
* RED HOT BANNED
On the day that the Home Secretary announced he thought letting children into
public houses was a good idea, Heritage Secretary Peter Brooke announced in a
commons written reply that in 15 days it will be a criminal offence to sell
subscriptions to, or equipment to recieve, Red Hot Television, partly because
of the danger to children.
He said: "This Government will not tolerate exploitive material of a sexually
explicit or gratuitously violent nature. The sexually explicit content of Red
Hot Television is unacceptable and has the potential to cause great harm to
children who may see it. The service exceeds, by a wide margin, the standards
we expect from UK broadcasters and I see no reason why material of this sort
should be avaiable in the UK simply because it is broadcast from overseas."
The Government has written to both Red Hot Television and the EC Commission,
informing them that they intend to proscribe the service pursuant to the EC
Broadcasting Directive.
The EC Broadcasting Directive also ensures freedom of reception of television
channels, providing they are legal in the EC country from which they originate
The Government's decision of today may well infringe this agreement, and it is
likely that it is this that will be Continental's main point of attack in the
courts.
Britain's view of pornography would appear to be very much out of step with
Europe, it being the only EC country to outlaw hardcore. Laws made in Britain,
however, only apply to Britain. The UK Goverment would have no means of
preventing a company outside the UK from selling decoders or subscriptions,
although it could prevent such a company from advertising in any UK-controlled
media.
Continental Television will challenge the Government in court, saying they
are happy that they have the chance to settle the matter once and for all.
* RED HOT VIDEOCRYPT?
Meanwhile, rumours are currently circulating that Red Hot Television will
change from their current scrambling system to a variant of Videocrypt.
Continental Television, the owners of the channel, have been saying for some
time now that they will change their scrambling system in early 1993, although
from previous information it was expected that the Cryptovision system would
be used.
The latest information is that scrambling will be achieved by means of "Enigma
1", originally thought to be a standalone decoder, but now thought to be a
card which would function in a Videocrypt decoder. Videocrypt decoders are
widely available in the UK, being the scrambling system used by Sky.
Red Hot Television (formerly Red Hot Dutch, until EC pressure forced them to
move their uplink from Holland) currently face two problems in the UK: Firstly
that their current scrambling system, SAVE, is notoriously insecure and has
already been widely pirated. Owners of some satellite systems need only flick
a switch to invert the video for a watchable picture - hardly a secure
access-control system.
==========================
skyguide/skyguide #3, from bignoise, 2744 chars, Mar 19 19:20 93
This is a comment to message 2.
There are comments to this message.
--------------------------
Skyguide Issue 001 Page 2
The second, and perhaps most important problem, is that recent media attention
has been focused on the channel by the UK press, in turn attracting government
attention amid calls to ban the channel. While it would be impossible to
prevent the channel being beamed into the UK, a ban on the sale of decoders
would prevent the channel being legally subscribed to.
This is where the card-based system comes in. As the majority of UK satellite
viewers own Videocrypt decoders, Videocrypt cards to watch the channel could
be posted to subscribers from elsewhere in Europe - thus there would be no
actual decoders for the channel being sold to be banned.
The scrambling is expected to change on March 20th, and at the time of writing
no-one would appear to have seen the mysterious Enigma 1, be it a card, a
decoder, or anything else.
* CARTOONS & TNT .. AN EXPLOSIVE COMBINATION
It has now been confirmed that Turner International, owners of CNN, will be
taking a transponder on Astra 1C to launch two new services.
The Cartoon Network, already running in the US, shows non-stop cartoons,
mostly from the archives of Hanna Barbera which was acquired by Turner earlier
last year. The channel will run from 6am to 8pm.
>From 8pm onwards the transponder will carry Turner's entertainment channel TNT
(Turner Network Television), also already running in the US. The channel
screens made-for-TV movies, classic American movies from a library of some
2,500 acquired by Turner, and "premium" entertainment.
Initially the services will be clear, but a spokesman said that encryption was
being looked into. Promotions for the new channels are being carried on CNN
International.
* BYE BYE JUKEBOX
The Cable Jukebox, a video request channel currently carried on a number of UK
cable television networks, closed suddenly on March 15th.
As a sister channel to the Lifestyle Satellite Jukebox, which closed at the
end of January, it was launched in 1987 by WHSTV (WH Smith Television), then
owners of the Lifestyle and Screensport channels, now also defunct.
Many cable networks will be carrying rival jukebox service "The Box" in its
place. Owned and operated by the American company Video Jukebox Network, it
was launched at the Cable and Satellite show in 1992.
While the Cable Jukebox offered just 75 tracks to choose from in an entire
month, The Box offers 500 videos to choose from at any one time, from a
library of over 2,000 laserdiscs. Tracks are requested by means of a premium
rate telephone number.
Each "The Box" is equipped with an AVS broadcast-quality standards converter
worth around 20,000 to convert the American NTSC format video into UK PAL.
==========================
skyguide/skyguide #4, from bignoise, 1822 chars, Mar 19 19:20 93
This is a comment to message 3.
--------------------------
Skyguide Issue 001 Page 3
* PHILIPS CLAIM 50 MILLION FROM SKY
A High Court has ruled in favour of a damages claim made by electronics
company Philips. The company alleges that Sky Television beached a contract
between themselves and BSB when the two operators merged in November 1990.
Up to 40,000 receivers had been ordered by BSB from Philips, an order which
was cancelled when the merger took place.
Philips is claiming up to 50 million in damages. BSkyB is appealing against
the ruling.
* COUNTRY MUSIC FOR EUROPE
Q-CMR (Quality Country Music Radio) is expected to launch in Europe at the
upcoming Cable & Satellite show in April.
The station will play non-stop country music, and is backed by Country Music
Television in the USA. Programming will be predominantly American, but
material from the UK and Europe will also be broadcast.
The station is expected to utilise the frequency vacated by Euronet, on the
Sky Sports transponder. (Mono, 7.56, Astra Transponder 20)
Country Music is growing in popularity in the UK. Sales of albums in the UK
Country Chart rose 43% last year and cable operators are finding Country Music
Television Europe to be a popular channel.
* BBC RADIO FOR EUROPE
Satellite households all across Europe can now enjoy some of the BBC's
terrestrial radio services. The BBC is now utilising the audio subcarriers on
its co-venture satellite channel UK Gold to transmit BBC Radio One, Four,
Five, and World Service to the whole of Europe.
All services are in mono, and can be found on the 7.38, 7.56, 7.74 and 7.92
audio subcarriers of UK Gold, which itself can be found on Transponder 23 of
the Astra 1B satellite, 19.2 degrees east.
***
THE END
magazines/SKYGUIDE/skyguide.02
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--------------------------------- SKYGUIDE UK ---------------------------------
| |
| Issue 2 - Index - Issue 2 |
| |
----------------------- Week Ending Sat 27th March 1993 -----------------------
Page 1
* JUDICIAL REVIEW FOR RED HOT BAN
* RED HOT RUSH
* HARDCORE UK
* THE HOT TICKET
Page 2
* EVEN NON-VIEWERS WANT THE CHOICE
* YET ANOTHER STORY ABOUT HUNDREDS OF CHANNELS FROM ASTRA
* WRN RETURNING TO ASTRA
* DAS DEUTSCHES STEREO KANAL
Page 3
* BBC SATELLITE RADIO "A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION"
* KEEP AN EYE ON SKY
* CABLE LIFESTYLE
* UK GOLD FILLS IN THE BLANKS
Page 4
* DALEKS? WHO?
* SKY ONE AIMS FOR LIFESTYLE VIEWERS
* ANORAK TIME
==========================
skyguide/skyguide #6, from bignoise, 2811 chars, Mar 26 18:48 93
This is a comment to message 5.
There are more comments to 5.
--------------------------
Skyguide Issue 002 Page 1
--------------------------------- SKYGUIDE UK ---------------------------------
| |
| Your digest of the latest news in the world of Satellite & Cable Television |
| |
----------------------- Week Ending Sat 27th March 1993 -----------------------
* JUDICIAL REVIEW FOR RED HOT BAN
It took just ten minutes for Red Hot Television to win permission for a
Judicial review in the High Court, on Wednesday this week.
The judge, Justice McPherson, said that there was an arguable case for a
judicial review, although adding that "It seems to me a bit bleak that we can't
stop pornography coming into this country if we don't want it to". Mark Garner
of Continental Television said the ruling was a "Victory for democracy".
The UK Government intends to proscribe the channel under Article 22 of the
European Community's ironically named "Television Without Frontiers"
directive. This allows member states to block broadcasts which might "seriously
impair the physical, mental or moral development of minors".
However, Article 22 goes on to say that broadcasts may be proscribed EXCEPT
when "it is ensured, by selecting the time of the broadcast or by any technical
measure that minors would not normally see such broadcasts" - As RHTv
broadcasts after midnight and requires a smart-card based decoder (of which
more later), it seems to comply with the directive on both counts.
Continental Television have employed leading media barrister David Pennick to
handle their appeal.
* RED HOT RUSH
The Government may have done RHTv a favour - following the announcement of the
ban last Friday, more than 3,500 people rushed to get subscriptions to Red Hot
Television over the following four days. Much overtime was had by all, it is
claimed.
This brings the number of subscribers in the UK alone to around 27,000.
* HARDCORE UK
Meanwhile, The Adult Channel are refusing to comment on speculation that they
will uplink from abroad in order to show more explicit films to their 135,000
viewers.
SES, owners of Astra, have recently stated that they would not allow Astra to
be used as a vehicle for the bypassing of UK laws on pornography.
The Adult Channel is apparently putting pressure on the Government and
Independent Television Commission to allow them to uplink harder-core
programming from the UK.
* THE HOT TICKET
RHTv are soon to be posting out smartcards to their subscribers. The cards are
advertised as working in one of Continental Television's "Enigma" decoders, or
in viewers existing Videocrypt decoders. Transmission tests of the new system
are ongoing.
==========================
skyguide/skyguide #7, from bignoise, 2758 chars, Mar 26 18:49 93
This is a comment to message 5.
There are more comments to 5.
--------------------------
Skyguide Issue 002 Page 2
* EVEN NON-VIEWERS WANT THE CHOICE
According to a survey of 1,200 people, most viewers disagree with banning
channels that feature explicit films - as that is censorship.
The majority of people polled said that even if people do not wish to watch
hardcore programming, they should be allowed the freedom of choice to do so, as
long as the programming was limited to after midnight and children were not
exposed to it.
Only one in three actively disapprove of hardcore on television, with just one
in seven disapproving of the "soft" pornography that is already available.
The poll proves that not all opinion polls are biased to reflect the views of
those who commission them. This particular poll was commissioned by the
Independent Television Commission, who have been badgering the Government for
quite some time to outlaw Red Hot Television.
* YET ANOTHER STORY ABOUT HUNDREDS OF CHANNELS FROM ASTRA
SES have now confirmed that they will be launching a sixth Astra satellite in
1995. Astra 1F will join Astra 1D and 1E as carriers of compressed digital
television transmissions, which could result in the much-quoted figure of 180
channels from one dish.
Astras 1D, 1E and 1F will be able to carry conventional analogue television
like Astras 1A, 1B and 1C, as well as a much higher number of digitally
compressed television services.
Naturally viewers will need some leading-edge technology in their own homes to
decode the digital transmissions. It is hoped that a common platform can be
established among a number of differing possible formats for the broadcasts.
Any such equipment is unlikely to be seen before the end of 1994.
The decision to launch the sixth satellite was confirmed by Dr. Pierre Meyrat,
SES's director general, in Los Angeles, where he was viewing the Astra 1C
satellite which is due to launch in May this year.
* WRN RETURNING TO ASTRA
The World Radio Network, a radio station made up of programming from radio
broadcasters across the world, returns to Astra on the 1st of July this year.
The service had transmitted experimentally last year on an audio subcarrier of
The Comedy Channel. The new service will be transmitting on a subcarrier on
Sky News.
A report on Radio Sweden indicated that a number of broadcasters are already
signed up for the service, including the USA's National Public Radio, Vatican
Radio, Radio Finland, Radio Japan, Radio France International and Radio Canada
International.
* DAS DEUTSCHES STEREO KANAL
German entertainment broadcaster Sat-1 is planning to transmit a stereo
soundtrack for its programming on Astra.
It already provides a stereo soundtrack on its service on the TV-Sat satellite.
==========================
skyguide/skyguide #8, from bignoise, 2692 chars, Mar 26 18:49 93
This is a comment to message 5.
There are more comments to 5.
--------------------------
Skyguide Issue 002 Page 3
* BBC SATELLITE RADIO "A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION"
Chris Garrett, leader of a campaign to save Radio 4's Long Wave broadcasts in
the face of the BBC's decision to launch a news service on the frequency, has
greeted the news of the BBC's radio broadcasts on Astra as "A step in the right
direction".
The Astra service, to be launched officially on April 3rd, brings the stations
into homes across Europe, where a number of ex-patriate listeners were upset at
the prospect of losing Radio 4. Listeners in the UK were also concerned that
they may lose the service as their FM reception of the station was marginal.
Mr. Garrett made the point that many listeners will not be able to afford the
receiving equipment, and that satellite radio cannot be received in cars.
* KEEP AN EYE ON SKY
Sky's programming will be under scrutiny in a two-week investigation by the
Independent Television Commission, starting this Saturday.
Programming on Sky, ITV and Channel 4 will be monitored from 6pm to midnight
each day for acts of violence. The study is intended to prove false the claims
that "there's nothing but violence on TV".
On the first day of their survey, the ITC will be able to note a number of
explicit acts of violence in Sky's pre-watershed screening of Terminator 2.
* CABLE LIFESTYLE
Many cable operators across the UK found themselves deluged with complaints
following the closure of the Lifestyle channel. They're hoping to fill the gap
with a new channel, "The Cable Network", which would primarily cater for the
Women's daytime market.
TCN, which launches on May 4th, will feature a number of programmes on topics
such as cooking, fashion and pet care, as well as quizzes and competitions. It
is also currently considering purchasing some of Lifestyle's more popular
programmes.
It's unlikely that satellite viewers will be able to get in on the action,
though, since it is thought that the new channel will be delivered to
cable head-ends on videotape.
* UK GOLD FILLS IN THE BLANKS
New shows in April for UK Gold include the game show Blankety Blank, which
will be screened daily in the 5pm slot.
New in the evening is Colin's Sandwich, starring Mel Smith - 10:30pm on Friday
nights from April 30th. Also a screening of the popular satellite spoof series
KYTV from Monday April 19th at 10:30pm. Carrott's Lib takes over once the
supplies of Carrott Confidential episodes are exhausted.
Another blank being filled in the shape of UK Gold's teletext service, which
launches on April 2nd, providing enhanced listings and synopsis information
for programmes, amongst other things.
==========================
skyguide/skyguide #9, from bignoise, 1536 chars, Mar 26 18:50 93
This is a comment to message 5.
--------------------------
Skyguide Issue 002 Page 4
* DALEKS? WHO?
Apparently no Dr. Who episodes featuring The Daleks can be screened on UK Gold,
since permission to show any Dalek stories on Satellite television has been
witheld by the writer.
* SKY ONE AIMS FOR LIFESTYLE VIEWERS
Sky One could be hoping to attract the audience of the defunct Lifestyle
channel in April - game show Concentration is screened daily at 10:30am, and
talk show Sally Jessy Raphael gets a daily outing at 2:15pm.
* ANORAK TIME
It was Pal Plus night on 3sat's transponder this (Friday) morning - around one
and a half hours of widescreen tests took place from 1am UK time. As well as a
BBC High Definition film of a Scottish castle, a number of helpfully-labelled
and headache-inducing test patterns were broadcast...
U/B 1MHz 2MHz 4.4MHz Staircases
U/B 0.5 - 5.0 MHz Sweep
U/B 1MHz 2MHz 4.4MHz Staircases Compressed
U/B 0.5 - 5.0 MHz Sweep Compressed
Hyperbolic zone plate (75%)
Circular zone plate (75%)
Hyperbolic zone plate (75%)
Multi-burst
Pulse & bar
Static YUV test pattern
Moving Y test pattern (camera mode)
Moving UV test pattern (camera mode)
75% colour bars
Grids and fans
Swinging colour bars (camera mode)
Eye Balls
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Skyguide is published weekly and is copyright. Not to be redistributed without
consent. (c) 1993 bignoise@cix.compulink.co.uk
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
magazines/SKYGUIDE/skyguide.03
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Skyguide Issue 003 Page 1
--------------------------------- SKYGUIDE UK ---------------------------------
| |
| Your digest of the latest news in the world of Satellite & Cable Television |
| |
------------ Special newsflash edition - Wednesday March 31st 1993 ------------
Only one story this week, so I might as well bring you that today instead
of waiting for Friday...
* SCOTT CHISHOLM FIRED
Scott Chisholm was today fired from Sky News following an alleged incident
yesterday involving co-presenter Chris Mann.
Chris Mann was taken to hospital in November last year after he was
attacked by Chisholm, who claimed that Mann had been rude to his wife on
the telephone. (See bskyb/sky_news, message #2)
At the time, Chisholm was suspended for 14 days, however a further incident
occured yesterday during a break in "Live at Five". According to staff,
Chisholm launched a flood of abuse at Mann, who was with his wife (fellow
Sky News presenter Stephanie Callister) at the time.
The root of the disagreement appears to have been an interview with
Chisholm in Sunday World, an Irish newspaper, regarding his private life.
Chisholm accused Mann of tipping off the London Evening Standard about the
interview, which contained a number of obscenities, among which the quote
"I still have to dress like a f*cking bank clerk, but it doesn't mean I
have to act like one."
The race is now on to find a presenter to host Sky World News Tonight with
Selina Scott.
magazines/SKYGUIDE/skyguide.04
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Skyguide UK - Issue 4 Index
--------------------------------- SKYGUIDE UK ---------------------------------
| |
| Issue 4 - Index - Issue 4 |
| |
----------------------- Week Ending Sat 3rd April 1993 ------------------------
Page 1
* CHRIS MANN JOINS SCOTT CHISHOLM IN THE DOLE QUEUE
* MUCH MORE MUSIC ON MTV
* GOLD GOINGS-ON
* TV AND SATELLITE WEEK REVEALS SOME FIGURES
Page 2
* DSF LOSE THEIR LICENCE TO BROADCAST
* ANOTHER AMERICAN NETWORK COMING TO ASTRA 1C .. MAYBE
* RED HOT BAN APPROVED BY THE EC
* AND NOW THE GERMANS WANT TO BAN THE ADULT CHANNEL!
==========================
skyguide/skyguide #12, from bignoise, 2516 chars, Apr 2 17:46 93
This is a comment to message 10.
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--------------------------
Skyguide Issue 004 Page 1
--------------------------------- SKYGUIDE UK ---------------------------------
| |
| Your digest of the latest news in the world of Satellite & Cable Television |
| |
----------------------- Week Ending Sat 3rd April 1993 ------------------------
In the event, a few more stories turned up.. More hot news!
* CHRIS MANN JOINS SCOTT CHISHOLM IN THE DOLE QUEUE
Christopher Mann has been fired from Sky News for alleged gross misconduct.
This follows the Wednesday sacking of fellow presenter Scott Chisholm. The two
were known to be rivals, which on one occasion resulted in Chisholm putting
Mann in hospital.
Mann, who has been with Sky News for four years, said that in that time he had
recieved no warnings, either verbal or written. He has instructed his
solicitors to sue Sky for damages arising from his dismissal.
Meanwhile, Selina Scott continues to present Sky World News Tonight on her
own.
* MUCH MORE MUSIC ON MTV
Virgin 1215, the new Independent National pop music radio station, can now be
found on subcarrier 7.74 of MTV's Astra 1A transponder. (Tp 15)
The service is distributed to regional transmitters in the UK by satellite,
and it is said that there was some difficulty receiving their signal from a
lower-powered satellite, particularly in Scotland when weather was inclement.
The station is currently broadcasting test transmissions, and will launch for
real on Friday April 30th, at 12:15pm.
* GOLD GOINGS-ON
UK Gold's teletext service is now on air. It is produced for the channel by
London-based company Intelfax Ltd., who also provide full teletext services
for Superchannel and MTV, in addition to the "4-Tel" database on Channel 4.
Meanwhile, it is thought that publishing company Pearson, who own a VAT-sized
17.5% stake in BSkyB, is preparing to purchase a 58% stake in Thames
Television from Thorn-EMI. Such a move would give them a controlling interest
in the company.
* TV AND SATELLITE WEEK REVEALS SOME FIGURES
New satellite listings publication TV and Satellite week has unveiled its
early sales figures. IPC magazines currently print around 700,000 copies of
the magazine every week, although at the moment circulation has yet to top
200,000.
IPC claim this is due to "distribution problems", which are now being attended
to.
==========================
skyguide/skyguide #13, from bignoise, 2540 chars, Apr 2 17:47 93
This is a comment to message 10.
There are comments to this message.
--------------------------
Skyguide Issue 004 Page 2
* DSF LOSE THEIR LICENCE TO BROADCAST
German sports channel Deutsche Sports Fernsehen has lost its license to
broadcast following a ruling by the Bavarian Industrial Tribunal.
The tribunal was concerned at the influence of a shareholder, Leo Kirch, a man
with a number of interests in the field of German Broadcasting.
Nonetheless, DSF is merrily continuing to broadcast, during which time the
Bavarian media authority intends to appeal against the ruling.
* ANOTHER AMERICAN NETWORK COMING TO ASTRA 1C .. MAYBE
It is understood that US Broadcasters Home Box Office will be leasing at least
one transponder on Astra 1C when it launches late next month.
HBO's service is likely to run major feature films and seriously rival BSkyB's
two movie channels.
* RED HOT BAN APPROVED BY THE EC
The European Community said this afternoon that the UK Government is not
breaching the "Television Without Frontiers" directive in its attempts to ban
Red Hot Television.
Joao de Crus Pinherio, an EC commissioner, said that it was clear that any
state could take action against channels that might "seriously impair the
development of minors".
Red Hot Television have their day in court to challenge the ban on April 23rd.
* AND NOW THE GERMANS WANT TO BAN THE ADULT CHANNEL!
The Heritage department, fresh from their attempts to initiate a ban on non-UK
broadcaster Red Hot Television have recieved a plea from the German government
to ban The Adult Channel. Attempts in Germany to ban the channel legally have
failed.
Johannes Voeking, German state secretary, wrote to Peter Booke seeking the
assistance of the UK Government. Following the Adult Channel's link up with
German erotica publisher VTO, they intend to begin a new season of films in
the German language. A number of trailers for the films have been already
aired on The Adult Channel.
German law dictatates that pornographic broadcasts are illegal, although soft
porn is permitted at a suitably late hour. The German government is said to be
concerned that hardcore programming may be uplinked to The Adult Channel from
the UK. The VTO link-up allows them to sell Adult Channel subscriptions in
Germany.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Skyguide is published weekly and is copyright. Not to be redistributed without
consent. (c) 1993 bignoise@cix.compulink.co.uk
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Skyguide Issue 005 Page 1
-------------------------------- SKYGUIDE UK ---------------------------------
| |
| Your digest of the latest news in the world of Satellite & Cable TV |
| |
---------------------- Week Ending Sat 10th April 1993 -----------------------
* HERE IS THE NEWS
Not much to write home about this week..
* VIDEO DIALTONE
British Telecom has been attacked by the Cable Television Association
following the announcement of its plans to introduce a "video on demand"
service, sometimes known as "Video dialtone".
The idea would allow BT customers to request video programming - most likely
to be films - which would be sent to their homes via BT lines. Extra equipment
would be required in the home for the service, the technology for which is
liable to be available in under three years.
The Cable Television Association, representing cable television companies who
themselves are planning to offer a similar service, said that under
anti-monopoly rules drawn up by Oftel, BT is prohibited from offering such a
service until the regulations come up for renewal, which will not be before
1998.
* RADIO ACTIVE
Much seems to be happening on the Satellite Radio scene at the moment. The
feed of Virgin 1215 on Astra, as reported last week, is rumoured to be only
temporary, and that once engineering trials are completed, the Astra service
will cease.
Hopefully it's a decision that isn't set in stone - you don't need to be a
genius to recognise the much improved quality that even a mono Astra signal
gives over ordinary Medium Wave reception.
Meanwhile, Q-CMR (Quality Country Music Radio) has failed to launch as
expected (see Skyguide Issue 1). Reports suggest that the audio subcarrier
that they were hoping to use has been given to another broadcaster by BSkyB.
If this is the case, QCMR are likely to challenge the decision in court.
Two Christian Radio services are said to be launching soon. If and when they
appear, you're likely to find them on any of Sky's spare audio subcarriers.
Super Channel's "In Orbit" satellite news page, supplied by The European
Satellite User Group, reports that Power FM, a radio station on MTV's
subcarriers, is not closing, it is just changing its name (to Love FM), its
music format (to Easy Listening), and its satellite (to a digital delivery
mechanism on Eutelsat).
It was unclear from the somewhat garbled report whether the Astra service will
stay or go, although TESUG took the opportunity to have a go with the
revelation that it would be cheaper to give away dedicated equipment to cable
head-ends than to broadcast on Astra. Leaves the home dish owners out in the
cold, though.
Apparently the mailbag resulting from the closure of Euronet has prompted the
return of the station. Early reports suggest that the channel will return,
although possibly on a new transponder on Astra 1C. More news as we get it.
==========================
skyguide/skyguide #15, from bignoise, 1530 chars, Apr 9 19:39 93
This is a comment to message 13.
--------------------------
Skyguide Issue 005 Page 2
* SPRING GOLD
More new shows come to UK Gold in the springtime, including a mix of comedy
and drama drawn from the BBC's archives.
"Are You Being Served?" returns to Satellite television after its previous
screening on Sky's ill-fated Comedy Channel. "It Ain't Half Hot, Mum",
screened on UK Gold's opening night, also comes to the channel.
Ronnie Barker appears in seven different situation comedies under the banner
of "Seven Of One", and Mel Smith weighs in with "Colin's Sandwich".
A rapid repeat for "Moon And Son", starring Adam Faith, only recently
broadcast on BBC1. The popular vet series "All Creatures Great And Small"
appears, along with other dramas "Colditz" and "Rockliffe's Babies"
* NEW AND IMPROVED
>From this issue, Skyguide resticts itself to 78 columns per line, to be more
amenable to offline readers like Matrix.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Skyguide is published weekly and is copyright. Not to be redistributed in any
form without consent. Errors and Omissions expected. (c) 1993 by Ant Purvis
Comments, suggestions, and even news stories are always appreciated! You can
contact Skyguide in the following ways:
CIX : mail to bignoise
Fidonet : Netmail to ANTONY PURVIS at 2:251/22, or leave a message in the
Satellite TV echo.
Internet: bignoise@cix.compulink.co.uk
magazines/SKYGUIDE/skyguide.06
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Skyguide Issue 006 Page 1
-------------------------------- SKYGUIDE UK ---------------------------------
| |
| Your digest of the latest news in the world of Satellite & Cable TV |
| |
---------------------- Week Ending Sat 17th April 1993 -----------------------
* SKY SHOWS WHAT NO BROADCASTER HAS SHOWN BEFORE
(Also in this edition: Writer shot for naff, cliche-ridden headlines)
Sky One will premiere the fourth season of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" on
May 3rd. The show will continue straight on from the current repeats of the
third season, currently airing daily.
Also in the Star Trek vein, the spin-off series "Deep Space Nine" will
premiere on Sunday, May 9th at 7pm, continuing weekly at that time. It was
previously thought that this series would begin screening in August, shortly
before the encryption of Sky One.
Deep Space Nine replaces Sky's long-running series 21 Jump Street. Also being
replaced in May is the "saucy" gameshow Studs, which disappears in favour of
daily showings of US Comedy "Night Court".
Also coming to Sky One shortly are The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, and The
Untouchables - not the black and white Robert Stack vehicle but an all-new
series.
* MORE ON THOSE RADIO STATIONS WE MENTIONED LAST WEEK
Expect two new satellite radio stations very soon on Astra. United Christian
Broadcasting will be broadcasting "Easy listening" music, interspersed by DJ
interruptions of great meaning and moral value. Expect to see this new
service on the 7.56 subcarrier on Sky Sports.
Also due is Quality Country Music Radio, which has now agreed a deal with Sky
to use the 7.56 subcarrier on Sky News.
* ANOTHER FABULOUS GERMAN CHANNEL ON ASTRA
"In Orbit", Superchannel's teletext satellite news page has reported that RTL
is in negotiation with SES for another transponder. The report says that the
broadcaster is seeking a transponder for "RTL-5", likely to feature more of
the same RTL, RTL-2 and RTL-4 style of programming.
However, don't expect to see this alleged new channel if it launches - the
report states that RTL are seeking one of Astra 1C's two transponders that
transmit on too low a frequency for domestic Astra systems to recieve. The
idea behind this odd arrangement being that the channel will be for cable
viewers only.
This seems a very strange use for a direct-to-home satellite. And the first of
April was weeks ago.
==========================
skyguide/skyguide #17, from bignoise, 2135 chars, Apr 16 18:51 93
This is a comment to message 16.
There are more comments to 16.
--------------------------
Skyguide Issue 006 Page 2
* WV LAUNCH NEW SATELLITE MAGAZINE
In your newsagents now is a new magazine from the creators of What Satellite
(TV). "Buying Satellite" combines "easy-reference buying information, advice
and topical programme listings".
Also featured in the first issue is a report on "New SEX channels!!!", details
on "Secret Satellite Stations", and a feature on top celebrity Bob Monkhouse's
"Amazing Home Satellite TV Control Centre".
It is worth noting the content of the old magazine from the creators of
"Buying Satellite". Called "What Satellite TV", this monthly publication
features buyers guides, programme listings, and this month has a special
supplement on "Secret Satellite Stations".
Among the pages in the first issue of What Satellite, back in May 1989, were
news of a ban on satellite pornography and a report on top celebrity Bob
Monkhouse's amazing home satellite TV system.
* CABLE NETWORK FOR SATELLITE VIEWERS
Further to our report on "The Cable Network" (Issue 2), it has now been
announced that the channel will transmit on Intelsat VI, home of fellow
United Artists cable channels Discovery, Bravo and The Parliamentary Channel.
The channel is reported to intend to broadcast from 1pm to 11pm daily.
* STILL BROADCASTING!
Following on from our report of DSF losing their licence to broadcast
(Skyguide Issue 4), The Bavarian Licensing authority is taking the decision to
the German Federal Supreme Court.
The authority were asked to withdraw DSF's license following a Bavarian
tribunal, concerned at the growing influence of Leo Kirch on the German media.
The authority themselves will await the decision of the court before taking
action.
* FAMILY VIEWING
The Family Channel will launch on Astra 1C later this year. Backed by US
Evangelist Pat Robertson, the channel will broadcast from the headquarters of
ex-regional ITV company TVS in Maidstone.
The channel is expected to provide competition for a proposed second
Thames/BBC channel, liable to be a subscription-based channel focusing on
Women's lifestyle programming.
==========================
skyguide/skyguide #18, from bignoise, 1062 chars, Apr 16 18:51 93
This is a comment to message 16.
There are comments to this message.
--------------------------
Skyguide Issue 006 Page 3
* AND FINALLY.. THE NEWS
Test transmissions are currently being conducted for a news and financial
teletext service provided by Reuters. The service will cover UK and World
News, as well as providing extensive up-to-the-minute business and financial
information.
The service will launch at a future date on Magazine 2 (Pages 200 to 299) on
Sky News teletext.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Skyguide is published weekly and is copyright. Not to be redistributed in any
form without consent. Errors and Omissions expected. (c) 1993 by Ant Purvis
Comments, suggestions, tip-offs, and even complete stories are always
appreciated! You can contact Skyguide in the following ways:
CIX : mail to bignoise
Fidonet : Netmail to ANTONY PURVIS at 2:251/22, or leave a message in the
Satellite TV echo.
Internet: bignoise@cix.compulink.co.uk
magazines/SKYGUIDE/skyguide.07
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-------------------------------- SKYGUIDE UK ---------------------------------
| |
| Issue 7 - In your four full value pages this week... - Issue 7 |
| |
------------------------ Week Ending Sat 24th April 1993 ---------------------
Page 1 Page 2
* RED HOT IN COURT * WACO DRAMA ON SKY?
* EQUITY STRIKE GOLD * NEW FACES ON SKY NEWS
* POTTY ADVERTS * THE BIG FIGHT - ONLY ON SATELLITE
* THREE NEW BBC CHANNELS FOR ASTRA
Page 3
* YET MORE AMERICAN NETWORKS ON ASTRA 1C ?
* SKY SHAREHOLDER BUYS THAMES
* WHEN IS DEEP SPACE NINE ON? The Back Page
* A DATE FOR YOUR DIARY
* ISSUE TWO FOR A NEW MAGAZINE
* RASPBERRY OF THE WEEK
Skyguide Issue 007 Page 1
-------------------------------- SKYGUIDE UK ---------------------------------
| |
| Your digest of the latest news in the world of Satellite & Cable TV |
| |
---------------------- Week Ending Sat 24th April 1993 -----------------------
* RED HOT IN COURT
Red Hot Television had their day in the High Court today (Friday). Two High
Court judges refused RHTV's request to restrain Heritage Secretary Peter
Brooke from issuing a proscription order against the channel, but they have
referred to the European Court of Justice, who will decide whether the
Government's action was lawful.
The UK judges will not make a final ruling until the European court decide if
the Government action is lawful. The UK Ban on the channel will continue until
the European court hearing.
If RHTV was ruled illegal, it would be illegal to support the channel, list
the programmes, sell use or buy decoding equipment, or to advertise the
service. A spokesman for Continental Television said earlier in the week that
they would carry on selling decoders to the UK from Holland if they were
banned in this country.
The number of RHTV subscribers increased by more than 20 percent following the
Government's announcement of their intention to ban the channel.
* EQUITY STRIKE GOLD
Actor's union Equity has won another battle against UK Gold. Following a
disagreement earlier this year over repeat fees, BBC Enterprises conceded to
Equity's terms, allowing for increased payments to actors whose performances
were repeated on UK Gold.
Thames Television has also now agreed to pay repeat fees along the lines of
that original agreement. This now opens the door for complete access to
programmes in the Thames library, allowing screenings of more Thames
programmes on UK Gold.
* POTTY ADVERTS
The Independent Television Commission received just under thirty complaints
about an advert for Golden Wonder's Pot Snacks. The ads, featuring high-speed
computer graphics, are said to have triggered epileptic fits in three viewers
in the UK.
The commercial was also aired across Europe on MTV, UK Gold and Sky, although
it is not known if any European viewers were similarly affected.
The advertising agency had sought medical advice before beginning the
campaign, and replaced the commercial following the concern.
On a similar theme, the ITC has also received complains about adverts for "The
Guardian" newspaper. Some viewers have complained of dizziness and eye strain
following the commercials, which feature a fast-moving collage of words. After
due consideration, the ITC announced that they did not intend to ban the ad.
--------------------------
Skyguide Issue 007 Page 2
* WACO DRAMA ON SKY?
The Waco siege has been made into a TV movie. "Ambush At Waco" will be
screened in America later next month. Actor Timothy Daly will play the part
of David Koresh, leader of the Branch Dividians cult.
World International Network, the distibutors of the movie, say that the drama
has already been sold to a British Broadcaster, although they are unwilling to
reveal which one. While Sky has purchased a number of real-life dramas from
WIN in the past, ITV also stand a chance of screening the movie, bearing in
mind that Central Television is a member of WIN.
* NEW FACES ON SKY NEWS
Sky has announced the recruitment of two new presenters to the station,
following the departure of Scott Chisholm and Chris Mann.
Presenters Frank Partridge and Laurie Meyer, both from the BBC, have been
chosen to fill the gaps.
* THE BIG FIGHT - ONLY ON SATELLITE
Pace has spectacularly annoyed Amstrad with its current advertising campaign,
which makes comparisons between Pace and Amstrad satellite receivers,
predictably with Amstrad coming out worse off.
Both companies have long disagreed with each other's claims regarding their
respective shares of the UK satellite dish market in the past.
Amstrad has now served a writ on Pace for libel, slander (of its goods) and
malicious falsehood.
* THREE NEW BBC CHANNELS FOR ASTRA
The BBC has announced it intends to launch three new channels next year on the
Astra 1D satellite. [D for Delta, this is not a mistake] The three channels
will comprise a news channel, a documentary channel, and a children's channel.
Director General John Birt has agreed to the move, and the BBC have said that
they feel it is important to get into a "genre" early. The channels are likely
to be supported by advertising in the initial period.
The announcement looks set to create head-on competition with a number of
channels in Sky's subscription package due to launch later this year,
featuring, among others, the news channel Sky News, documentary channel
Discovery and children's channel Nickelodeon.
The BBC sought to downplay the competition, saying that in particular their
documentary channel would complement Discovery, rather than compete with it.
Talks were ongoing some time ago regarding the feasibility of a joint news
channel with Sky, but it is understood that agreement could not be met since
Rupert Murdoch insisted on overall control.
The BBC will also be involved in the Thames "Women's Lifestyle" channel, set
to launch on Astra 1C.
--------------------------
Skyguide Issue 007 Page 3
* YET MORE AMERICAN NETWORKS ON ASTRA 1C ?
Little more than strong rumours at the moment, but it looks likely that
American film and television giants Paramount and MCA will launch two
channels in Europe on Astra 1C.
Both The USA Network and The Sci-Fi Channel are already running in the US,
and the move is in line with many American broadcaster's desires to enter the
European market.
The Sci-Fi Channel is a particular cause of angst in the USA, since many cable
television networks do not carry the channel, despite large demand from
viewers. Many US cable networks have now reached their maximum capacity - as
little as 30 channels in some cases - and no further channels can be added
without dropping an existing channel, or upgrading the network.
Neither options are particularly attractive to US cablenets - upgrading a
network is very expensive, and with so many channels actually paying to be
carried - such as Home Shopping or evangelical channels, there seems to be no
easy solution.
* SKY SHAREHOLDER BUYS THAMES
Pearson, publisher of the Financial Times and BSkyB shareholder to the tune of
17.5%, has purchased Thames Television for 200 pence per share, valuing the
company at some 99 million pounds.
Majority shareholder Thorn EMI, owning just under 59% of the shares, have
agreed to Pearson's bid, so it looks very much like a done deal.
Thames Television lost the London ITV franchise on December 31st last year,
but continues to make a number of programmes for the ITV Network, as well as
being involved in the satellite channel UK Gold.
Thames shares rose sharply to around 195 pence per share following the
announcement this morning, up twenty pence.
* WHEN IS DEEP SPACE NINE ON?
Sky One's May schedules are all over the place, and it now looks as if Star
Trek: Deep Space Nine may have been moved back for screening in the Autumn
after all.
"The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles" now seem almost certain to be taking the
Sunday 7pm slot from May 2nd.
It's all very confusing, with a number of conflicting reports. I'll be
absolutely frank, I don't know what the hell is happening. Your guess is as
good as mine!
* A DATE FOR THE DIARY
Assuming good weather, expect Astra 1C to launch on Wednesday April 28th.
Don't expect to see any transmissions from the satellite for a while though,
it'll take a while to get into position.
--------------------------
Skyguide Issue 007 The Back Page
* ISSUE TWO FOR NEW MAGAZINE
Issue Two of the new magazine "Buying Satellite" is in your newsagents now.
Sadly they couldn't manage to go one month without the word "SEX" appearing
on the cover again.
Among the highlights is details of how to video satellite TV - useful advice
if you do not possess the July 1989 issue of "What Satellite" (from the same
publisher) which carries a feature on "how to video satellite TV".
Buying Satellite is, of course, designed for a non-technical audience. The
cover strap says "Your e-a-s-y guide to buying and using satellite TV",
presumably spacing out the letters in "easy" in order that its readers are not
confused by the long word.
There's definitely room in the market for a "novice" publication like this,
although if Issue 2 is anything to go by, this is not the one. A brief flick
through the magazine revealed a number of excruciating errors, some repeated
as many as three times.
We particularly liked the advice that a centre speaker in a surround sound
system should be placed in front of your television (which may somewhat
obstruct your view of the screen).
Satellite novices will also be interested to hear that "The Adult Channel"
broadcasts for three hours a night (um.. four), on Sky One's transponder,
(no..) that TCC starts at 4.30pm (5pm actually) and that it shows a
home-produced programme named "Saved By The Bell" (which hitherto a small
American network named "NBC" were rather under the impression that they were
responsible for).
But enough of the sub-editing.
.. Which may have been what the publishers said. :-)
* RASPBERRY OF THE WEEK
.. goes to Sky News for completely failing to report the news about Red Hot
Television this afternoon. Admittedly they did seem a little busy covering a
story about an alleged takeover of "The Observer" newspaper, very manfully
staging an OB from "Central London" at the "Observer HQ", which is more
commonly known as "Marcopolo House", home of the defunct BSB.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Skyguide is published weekly and is copyright. Not to be redistributed in any
form without consent. Errors and Omissions expected. (c) 1993 by Ant Purvis
Comments, suggestions, stories and monetary donations are always appreciated!
You can contact Skyguide in the following ways:
CIX : mail to bignoise, or use the Skyguide/comments conference.
Fidonet : Netmail to ANTONY PURVIS at 2:251/22, or leave a message in the
Satellite TV echo.
Internet: bignoise@cix.compulink.co.uk
magazines/SKYGUIDE/skyguide.21
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Newsgroups: alt.satellite.tv.europe
From: bignoise@cix.compulink.co.uk (Antony Purvis)
Subject: Skyguide 21
Reply-To: bignoise@cix.compulink.co.uk
Date: Sun, 22 Aug 1993 17:22:04 +0000
==========================
skyguide/skyguide #60, from bignoise, 2781 chars, Aug 14 20:00 93
--------------------------
Skyguide Issue 021 Page 1
-------------------------------- SKYGUIDE UK ---------------------------------
| |
| Your digest of the latest news in the world of Satellite & Cable TV |
| |
------------------------- Week Ending Sat August 14th ------------------------
* WELCOME TO SKYGUIDE
It's our 21st birthday!
* DOUBLE THE SPORTS
Transponder 47 on Astra has been undergoing tests recently, thought to be in
preparation for a new service. So far, a number of broadcasters have been
rumoured for the channel, including HBO, Cinemax, ARTE, and now.. Sky.
While this report is *unconfirmed*, rumour has it that Sky is planning to
lessen the impact of the increase in Sky Sports subscriptions by launching a
second sports channel, understood to be free to Sports subscribers.
Sky certainly has enough sports material to run a second channel, and with the
prospect of a number of viewers cancelling due to the price increase this
would appear to be a smart move for Sky. The second channel would also provide
a suitable platform for Sky to trial pay-per-view sports events.
Nonetheless, SES remained as enigmatically silent as ever regarding the
ownership of Transponder 47, and Sky weren't saying anything either.
If it goes ahead, an announcement is likely to be made very shortly, with the
channel possibly broadcasting as early as September.
* ALL RIGHT!
Country Music Television has now confirmed that it will launch its service on
Astra transponder 41 on September 1st.
In our report last week, CMT seemed very much the weakest of a number of Sky
Multichannels whose launch seemed under threat - Happily that situation would
appear to have been resolved, and for the present time, CMT is back on track.
Clear test transmissions are expected in the next two weeks.
QVC is also apparently no longer under threat, and has signed a lease for
Transponder 38 with SES.
* SATELLITE SHUFFLES
If you're a viewer of the clear channels on the Intelsat satellite at 27.5
degrees West, your viewing may just be curtailed shortly.
The Intelsat feeds of Discovery and Bravo are destined to be switched off once
the Astra feed is permanently up and running. Bravo is likely to disappear
from the end of September, and Discovery in October.
"The Learning Channel" that currently sits on Discovery's transponder will
move across to the Wire TV transponder, and change broadcasting hours to
9am-midday.
From December, it will also be scrambled using the same SAVE encryption as is
currently used on Bravo. Wire TV itself will also be SAVE encrypted at the
same time.
==========================
skyguide/skyguide #61, from bignoise, 2621 chars, Aug 14 20:00 93
--------------------------
Skyguide Issue 021 Page 2
* EUROCARD
With Videocrypt decoders now becoming more easily available in Europe, it
seems likely that a consortium of British broadcasters may work together to
provide a Sky-style "Multi Channels" smart card for European viewers.
The Adult Channel and TV Asia are both currently selling Videocrypt smartcards
for European viewers, and a number of the Sky Multichannels broadcasters,
particularly MTV and Discovery are keen to maintain their European audience
once they scramble.
It seems that some channels, if not Sky themselves, can appreciate the folly
of broadcasting on a European satellite just for UK viewers.
* WAITING FOR THE COMEBACK
Red Hot Television have issued a statement indicating that they have sorted
out their financial problems and should be back on air on Monday August 16th.
The channel intends to continue broadcasting with SAVE scrambling to ensure
that all its subscribers can continue to see the channel.
* INSTANT HITS
In its first three days on Astra, The Discovery Channel blasted into the UK
satellite ratings with an impressive 200,000 viewers for its Loch Ness update
programme.
Sister channel Bravo did less well, although still pulled a respectable 60,000
viewers for a Frankie Howerd film.
Sky's channels still dominate the highest positions in the charts, with over a
million viewers for the premiere of "Problem Child 2" on the Movie Channel.
Sky One's repeat screenings of The Simpsons still managed to pull in over
880,000, with the Games World "Fight Night Final" gaining a full quarter of a
million viewers.
Meanwhile, BARB is understood to be looking into the possibility that
satellite radio is artifically inflating the viewing figures of some satellite
TV stations. BARB's rating equipment currently registers someone as viewing a
channel even if the audio is tuned to an ancillary radio service.
BARB's latest figures on satellite installations suggest that 24,000 dishes
were installed in the UK last month.
* TCC 2
The Chinese Channel has been granted an ITC licence to uplink programming from
the UK. The channel is thought to be planning to launch a European service in
time for the Chinese New Year next February.
Backed by one of the world's largest producers of chinese programming, it
could broadcast overnight on Astra 1C until a full transponder becomes
available.
Subscriptions for the channel would be around 30 pounds a month. The high
subscription rates, on a par with JSTV's, are partially due to the low
potential audience of under 100,000 across Europe.
==========================
skyguide/skyguide #62, from bignoise, 2203 chars, Aug 14 20:00 93
--------------------------
Skyguide Issue 021 Page 3
* THE SECRET TESTCARD
There's a new testcard on Astra 1C that you might not have seen yet - RTL5 is
now broadcasting on its slightly out-of-band transponder on 10.935 Ghz
Vertical.
If your receiver won't let you tune lower than 10.950, a handy hint is to
adjust your LNB offset (sometimes known as 'Skew') to as low as you can go -
most receivers will go as far as -0.015 Ghz. This should enable you to pick up
RTL5 on 10.950 Ghz.
Remember to reset the skew to normal once you've finished, however, or you may
find lots of Astra channels have suddenly disappeared!
Unfortunately this little trick won't help you when Astra 1D launches next
year - it will broadcast in the 10.700 - 10.950 Ghz band. To receive it,
you'll probably need a new LNB and receiver.
* ANOTHER CHANNEL RETURNING
Music fans across Europe were up in arms when popular French music channel MCM
disappeared from the TDF satellite last month.
The channel is expected to return on Monday August 16th - co-incidentally the
same date as like Red Hot Television.
* BSKYBBC
Sky has sold 13 episodes of NBC's situation comedy "Seinfeld" to BBC2.
The programme was screened both on Sky's defunct Comedy Channel as well as Sky
One, but received poor ratings.
They hope that a screening of the old episodes on terrestrial television may
increase its ratings when Sky begin showing new episodes.
* OLE!
Galavision has started test transmissions on Astra Transponder 44.
MDR3, ZDF, SW3 and ARD should all launch their services on Astra on August
27th.
* MTV IN COURT
MTV Europe went to the High Court this week to issue seven writs against
various record industry bodies in an attempt to save itself some money.
MTV's long-running bun-fight with several record companies, and most notably
Video Performance Limited, centres around the fees that the broadcaster is
asked to pay for screening pop videos.
MTV asserts that the current arrangement, where they must pay VPL a set fee
for each video, is against European law, and anti-competitive.
The writ also seems to imply that MTV feels it should not have to pay at all
for screening videos.
==========================
skyguide/skyguide #63, from bignoise, 1412 chars, Aug 14 20:00 93
--------------------------
Skyguide Issue 021 Page 4
* MEANWHILE ...
MTV's teletext service ("MTV text") appears to have changed hands. The service
has been run by London-based company Intelfax Ltd since its launch, but has
now suddenly been taken over by another London-based company named Teleworld.
* SKYGUIDE DIRECT
If you'd like Skyguide posted direct to your internet mailbox, mail to
bignoise@compulink.co.uk to be added to the Skyguide mailing list - free of
charge!
This offer is now open to anyone in the world!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Skyguide Issue 21
You can find Skyguide every week on London's CIX conferencing system, in the
Skyguide conference, the Fidonet Satellite TV echo, and the Packet Radio
Network.
Skyguide is published weekly and is copyright. Not to be redistributed in any
form without consent. Errors and Omissions expected. (c) 1993 by Ant Purvis
Comments, suggestions, stories and monetary donations are always appreciated!
No-one reads this anyway. You can contact Skyguide in the following ways:
CIX : mail to bignoise, or use the Skyguide/comments conference.
Fidonet : Netmail to ANTONY PURVIS at 2:251/22, or leave a message in the
Satellite TV echo.
Internet: bignoise@cix.compulink.co.uk
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
magazines/SKYGUIDE/skyguide.22
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Newsgroups: alt.satellite.tv.europe
From: bignoise@cix.compulink.co.uk (Antony Purvis)
Subject: Skyguide 22
Cc: nigel@sun-a.computation.umist.ac.uk, hutcheon_a_p@bt-web.bt.co.uk,
i.wraith@sheffield.ac.uk, 70247.3516@compuserve.com, don@dj0hc.in-ulm.de,
ted@tedb.demon.co.uk, jamie@hicom.org, lelli@ganimede.csr.unibo.it,
alt.satellite.tv.europe@demon.co.uk
Reply-To: bignoise@cix.compulink.co.uk
Date: Sun, 22 Aug 1993 17:22:05 +0000
bbcid MORGAA01 @ BBC-BH
Skyguide Issue 022
-------------------------------- SKYGUIDE UK ---------------------------------
| |
| Your digest of the latest news in the world of Satellite & Cable TV |
| |
------------------------- Week Ending Sun August 22nd ------------------------
* WELCOME NEW READERS!
Skyguide is now available on the internet in the alt.satellite.tv.europe
newsgroup - welcome to our new readers!
* UK LIVING READY TO LAUNCH
UK Living has secured Astra 1C transponder 34, ready for its September 1st
launch. There had previously been some doubt that the broadcaster could secure
a transponder in time, if at all, but it has now been announced that Thames
Television, partner in the channel, will take up its option on an Astra
transponder, and will transfer it to the channel.
Regular "Advertisement Features" will be a part of the schedule, although
unlike UK Living's predecessor channel "Lifestyle", the features will be made
by the channel and presented by Polly Perkins, star of axed BBC soap Eldorado.
While the BBC recently announced that it would not be extending its ventures
into satellite television beyond UK Gold, an agreement has been reached with
the BBC for the sale of a number of programmes, both old and new.
Omnibuses of "Good Morning With Anne and Nick" will be aired in the weekends
following their screening as part of BBC1's daytime schedules.
Also lined up are repeat screenings of morning talk show "Kilroy", in some
cases just one week after their original BBC screening.
The channel will make up to two and a half hours a day of its own programming
from the old Thames Television studios in Middlesex.
* STAY TOONED!
TNT and The Cartoon Network will begin their test transmissions on September
10th, one week before their launch.
* MAKING ANOTHER COMEBACK
Red Hot Television have issued a new press statement, claiming that they will
begin "test transmissions" on their old transponder on August 24th, and resume
full broadcasting on August 29th.
This follows last week's statement that they would return on August 14th,
although sightings of Dutch PTT colour bars have been reported on their
transponder in the midnight hours.
The channel will continue broadcasting in SAVE for the moment, with the
mysterious Enigma (Videocrypt) encryption set to arrive at a future date.
* MORE ADULT CHANNELS
Meanwhile, yet more new adult channels are announcing that they will start up
shortly. Some may proceed no further than "MTX", which offered a premium rate
telephone line selling "examples" of what their channel would show.
Some may proceed as far as the late "After 12", masterminded by David Henry
and his company, Phonovision. This channel got as far as test broadcasts,
taking people's money, and sending out Videocrypt cards, but never actually
made it as far as broadcasting any real programming. The channel eventually
disappeared amid claims from programming producers that they had not been
paid.
Strangely enough, After 12 has recently re-surfaced in advertisments in some
UK satellite magazines. "After 12 Europe", using the original logo of the old
"After 12" that disappeared, will "part exchange your old SAVE decoder for a
new phonocrypt decoder".
Quite what the mysterious "phonocrypt" encoding will consist of, other than
sounding very much like the original "phonovision" company behind After 12
originally, is unknown. The channel claims it will broadcast from the Eutelsat
bird at 13 degrees East.
Whether the original "After 12" and the new "After 12 Europe" are in any way
connected is open to question, but the new arrivals may well find themselves
on the receiving end of claims from disgruntled subscribers to the original.
Also claiming to be starting soon is "TV69", a channel said to be backed by
the former managing director of Red Hot Television, and backed by German
erotica producer VTO.
TV69 claim that they will broadcast from the same Eutelsat transponder as Red
Hot Television, which may be a little difficult if RHTV themselves do finally
make it back.
Subscriptions will be handled by Euroswap's Gibraltar branch, subscriptions
said to be 160 pounds a year, although a deposit of 25 pounds is necessary to
secure a smart card. The channel's advertising claims "Absolutely NO
connection with RHD!", and that they will be scrambling with Videocrypt.
Videocrypt cards will, it is reported, be obtained through VTO's connections
with "The Adult Channel".
In general, it all sounds very unlikely - for what it's worth, Skyguide's
advice is to believe it when you see it.
* THROW AWAY YOUR RTL-4 DECODERS!
Well, perhaps not, but for the moment, viewers without RTL-4 decoders will be
able to enjoy all RTL-4's programming on the RTL-5 transponder on Astra 1C.
* MONEY IN THE BANK
Expect to see a whole lot of advertising for the new channels in the Sky
Multichannels package. Not only is UK Living spending a large amount of money
on advertising itself to people, but kids channel Nickelodeon is throwing a
million pounds into advertising its launch in the UK.
The Family Channel will be topping that, with one and a half million pounds
for its launch, and Sky has an upcoming 15 million pounds advertising campaign
in the run-up to Christmas.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Skyguide Issue 22 Edited by Ant Purvis
Skyguide is published every week. You can find it on London's CIX conferencing
system, in the Skyguide conference, the Fidonet Satelite TV echo, the Packet
Radio Network, and on internet in the alt.satellite.tv.europe newsgroup.
Skyguide is not a commercial publication, nor is it a cut-down version of a
printed journal. Nonetheless, it is copyright, and is not to be redistributed
in any form without consent. Errors and Omissions expected.
Back issues can be mailed to internet mailboxes on request.
Comments, suggestions, stories and monetary donations are always appreciated!
You can contact Skyguide in the following ways:
CIX : mail to bignoise, or use the Skyguide/comments conference.
Fidonet : No netmail for the moment please, just leave a message in the
Satellite TV echo.
Internet: bignoise@cix.compulink.co.uk
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Skyguide Issue 023
-------------------------------- SKYGUIDE UK ---------------------------------
| |
| Your digest of the latest news in the world of Satellite & Cable TV |
| |
------------------------- Week Ending Sun August 29th ------------------------
* THE SCRAMBLING GOES ON
Scrambling tests on Sky One are being intensified in the run-up to the launch
of the Multi Channels package on September 1st.
As well as reminding viewers of the urgency to subscribe if they have not
already done so, these tests are also being used to highlight a number of
official Sky viewing cards that do not appear to decode Multichannels
properly.
Sky have recently made some changes to their Videocrypt transmissions to knock
out the flood of pirate cards that are circulating around Europe. Viewers with
pirate cards have found that Sky channels now alternate between clear and
scrambled every three seconds.
While an upgrade has been announced for these pirate cards to circumvent this
effect, there is still doubt as to whether the Multichannels package will be
correctly unscrambled by the unlicensed cards.
Sky One's encryption tests have revealed a small number of official Sky cards
that will not decode Multichannels properly either, although this can be fixed
by a simple over-the-air upgrade which cures the problem instantly.
Subscribers experiencing problems can call Sky for the upgrade to be sent then
and there.
* GOLDIE BITES THE DUST
Sky aren't the only broadcasters planning a new look for their channels in
September. UK Gold will introduce major continuity, presentation and schedule
changes in an effort to reflect a fresher, more modern and welcoming look for
the channel.
Live continuity, almost unheard of on UK satellite channels although quite
common terrestrially, will be introduced, and evening schedules will be
simplified. There will be an hour of soaps at 6pm, drama at 7pm, comedy at
8pm and more drama at 9pm.
UK Gold's on-screen dog, originally named "Goldie" although never referred to
on-air as such, will be replaced by a new station logo.
New programmes planned for the Autumn season include BBC comedies Ever
Decreasing Circles, Brush Strokes and Are You Being Served?, plus the dramas
All Creatures Great And Small, Rockliffe's Babies, Secret Army, and The
Survivors.
* ON AIR
German broadcaster ZDF is now on air on Astra 1C, Transponder 33. It joins
the East German regional channel MDR3 and SWF who are now also broadcasting
on the satellite.
ARD, Germany's first national channel has now taken over the Astra 1B
transponder from Eins Plus.
* CHANNEL HOPPING
Filmnet's out-of-band transponder on Astra 1C is now carrying some encryption
tests. While many viewers have been able to pick up RTL-5's out-of-band
broadcasts, it is unlikely that many domestic viewers will be able to pick up
Filmnet's broadcasts with their existing equipment.
Meanwhile, a set of identical test-cards have been sighted on Astra 1C, on
Transponders 34, 38 and 47.
34 and 38 have been ear-marked for UK Living, due to launch on September 1st,
and QVC, to launch in the clear on October 1st.
Transponder 47's fate is still not officially known, although SES have now
confirmed that the test card is, along with the others, being uplinked by BT
in the UK, on behalf of a British broadcaster.
It is now almost certain that this broadcaster is Sky, who will use it to
launch a second sports channel, as predicted in Skyguide Issue 21.
* YET MORE SPORT
Speaking of which, Sky Sports will begin broadcasting the UK hockey season,
beginning on October 12th.
* AND THEN THERE WERE SUBTITLES (Or 'As we predicted several months ago...')
>From October, Sky's premium movie channels will carry teletext subtitles for
the deaf and heard of hearing on a number of major movies and premieres.
In October, the following ten films will carry subtitles on page 888:
Sky Movies: Cape Fear, The Doctor, Final Analysis, Father Of The Bride.
Movie Channel: Basic Instinct, Prince Of Tides, Memoirs Of An Invisible Man,
Bugsy, The Butcher's Wife, Shining Thorough.
The subtitles will be produced with the assistance of Independent Media
Support Limited. It is possible that the majority of subtitles will be
purchased from outside agencies rather than created in-house. Many of the
films listed above were among the first batch of videos released in the UK
with NCI closed-caption subtitles.
This makes Sky the first satellite broadcaster to carry teletext subtitles on
their channels. Other UK broadcasters may follow, with UK Gold in particular
being a distinct possibility, owing to the large amount of material already
subtitled by Ceefax or Oracle for the original terrestrial screenings.
* A SMALL POINT
Sky Movies Plus becomes no more as of September 1st, when the channel reverts
its original title of just "Sky Movies". The "Plus" was added to the channel
name over two years ago, to reflect the additional special events such as WWF
Wrestling or live pop concerts that were carried on the channel on an
occasional basis.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Skyguide Issue 23 Edited by Ant Purvis
Skyguide is published every week. You can find it on London's CIX conferencing
system in the Skyguide conference, the Fidonet Satelite TV echo, the Packet
Radio Network, and on internet in the alt.satellite.tv.europe newsgroup.
Skyguide is not a commercial publication, nor is it a cut-down version of a
printed journal. Nonetheless, it is copyright, and is not to be redistributed
in any form without consent. Errors and Omissions expected.
Back issues can be mailed to internet mailboxes on request.
Comments, suggestions, stories and monetary donations are always appreciated!
You can contact Skyguide in the following ways:
CIX : mail to bignoise, or use the Skyguide/comments conference.
Fidonet : Netmail to ANTONY PURVIS at 2:251/203, or leave a message in the
Satellite TV echo. Please note the new netmail address!
Internet: bignoise@cix.compulink.co.uk
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Skyguide Issue 024 Page 1
-------------------------------- SKYGUIDE UK ---------------------------------
| |
| Your digest of the latest news in the world of Satellite & Cable TV |
| |
---------------------- Week Ending Sun September 12th ------------------------
* MULTICHANNELS EUROPE
Rupert Murdoch unveiled his "Global Vision" at a lengthy dinner in London
recently. Amongst other things, it now seems likely that he will form an
alliance with "Pro 7", a channel owned by German media magnate Leo Kirch, to
launch a package of subscription satellite channels throughout Europe.
The agreement, made at International Funkaustellung '93, is understood to pave
the way for the marketing of six English language channels, initially in
Germany, and eventually throughout Western Europe.
The European package is likely to be similar to the Sky Multi-Channels package
in the UK. It is almost certain that some channels in Sky's UK package will
also join the European package.
While the actual channels included in the package are not yet known, likely
candidates include MTV, VH-1, Discovery, CMT Europe, and possibly even
Eurosport.
Eurosport, currently free to dish owners, could be a distinct possibility to
join a subscription package that guarantees availability in the UK and Europe.
Eurosport's French service, TV Sport, is already part of a subscription
package on France's Telecom satellites.
Once the package is up and running, there is no reason why other channels (not
necessarily in English) could not join the package, which itself could differ
from county to country.
* THE SPORTING LIFE
As part of his "Global Vision", Mr Murdoch also put an end to speculation by
confirming his intent to launch a second sports channel on Astra.
As previously predicted in Skyguide, the second channel is very likely to
become a testing ground for pay-per-view events, and is likely to be up and
running in time for the next Premier League football season.
All that remains now is what the channel will be called - "Sky Sports 2" and
"Sky Sports UK" have been mentioned, although most likely at the moment is
"Sky: The Sports Channel".
* DIGITAL NEWS
Also announced at the same time is News International's intent to form a
group developing a digitally compressed TV system for satellite viewers.
UK company NTL, already pioneers of digital compression with their "System
2000" system, has been contacted to join the group.
Like News International's previous baby, Videocrypt, the technology will
eventually be mass-produced by licensed manufactuers in the UK and Europe.
* OLD PIRATES NEVER DIE
New company "Active Logic" has been very active in the UK recently, placing
adverts in satellite magazines and conducting extensive bulk-mailing to
satellite dish owners.
Active Logic's press advertising claims that they can offer a pirate Filmnet
smartcard for just 55 pounds, or Filmnet and four other channels (helpfully
labelled TV?, TV?, TV? and TV? in their advertising) for 75 pounds.
Their direct-mailing also offers a "Perfectly Legal" device for Videocrypt
decoders called a UVSD (Universal Videocrypt Signal Detector) Processor. The
unit will, it is claimed, allow you to identify whether a signal is clear,
Videocrypt soft-encoded, or Videocrypt hard-encoded.
The UVSD processor apparently also has an unfortunate side-effect of decoding
any Videocrypt signal - their literature is keen to point out this side
effect, advising that purchasers of this unit should continue to pay their
subscriptions as normal, as not to do so would be illegal.
Despite these devices being "perfectly legal" according to the advertising,
Active Logic is keen to point out that orders for such devices should be
placed through their Munich office in Germany, which is outside the
jurisdiction of the UK Government.
Needless to say, Active Logic's products - of which no examples have yet been
seen - are sailing very close to the wind indeed with respect to UK law.
The Videocrypt processor would fall foul of the Copyrights, Designs and
Patents Act of 1988 which makes it an offence to sell, buy or use a device
designed to receive a scrambled UK-originated satellite service without due
payment.
When the act was originally brought into force in 1988, another of its
targets was devices designed to copy computer programs - these devices came
back on sale, however, when it was discovered that as long as a product had a
"legitimate use", the sale or use of the item could not be proscribed by the
act.
Active Logic is clearly going for the "legitimate use" angle for their UVSD,
although it would seem that the "unexpected" de-scrambling of Videocrypt
channels, of which the majority are uplinked from the UK, is ancillary to the
legitimate use - and is therefore illegal.
The pirate D2-MAC Eurocrypt cards said to descramble the four "TV?" channels
can only refer to the three TV3 channels and TV1000.
Although TV1000's subscriptions are restricted to Scandanavia, it is uplinked
from the UK, and it is therefore covered by the CDP act - thus, any reception
of this channel in the UK by use of a pirate card is, once again, illegal.
The sale of such devices would also be illegal.
Some reports have alleged that Active Logic have already had their credit card
facilities revoked, although we have been unable to confirm this.
Further unconfirmed reports strongly suggest that the people behind Active
Logic are the same people who were behind pirate decoder manufacturer "PR
Technology", who eventually ceased trading after having found themselves in
the unfortuante position of having cashed cheques and debited credit cards of
people ordering their new Filmnet digital audio decoders, but then being
unable to supply the decoders as their computer had been stolen, upon which
were the designs for the decoder, and also details of the customer orders -
which made them unable to give any refunds. An explanation which many did not
believe.
* RHTV IS BACK!
Red Hot Television returned to the satellite airwaves last week, but not
where they were expected.
It is understood that RHTV were unable to secure their previous transponder
on Eutelsat 2F1, (lending weight to the claims of "TV69" that this is where
they will broadcast from - see Skyguide 23) and the channel is now
broadcasting on a completely different satellite - Eutelsat 2F3, at 16
degrees East.
RHTV viewers who have purchased a second LNB to receieve RHTV from Eutelsat
2F1 at 13 degrees east may be less than happy at this news. The new satellite
is much close to Astra, and may prove difficult to receive with a second LNB.
The good news is that Eutelsat 2F3 is a stronger satellite than 2F1, so UK
viewers at least should be able to get away with 60cm dishes for reception.
The channel is alternating between its existing SAVE encryption system, and
new Videocrypt-compatible system "Enigma".
The UK Government's attitude is that RHTV is still illegal, and the
proscription order still stands, even if it is only smartcards as opposed to
actual 'decoders' that are sold. They maintain it is illegal to buy, sell, or
use these smartcards in the UK.
RHTV can be found on Eutelsat 2F3, 16 degrees East, Transponder 20. (10.986 H)
* MTV DIGITAL
MTV Europe can now be found in MAC on Norway's "Thor" satellite. The channel
is currently broadcasting in the clear, with digital sound.
MTV has also appeared on Eutelsat 2F1 at 13 degrees east - programming is
currently identical to the Astra version, although in the future it is
understood that this outlet will be used to offer specific programming (and
advertising) to Germany.
It is thought that MTV's appearance on Eutelsat could also be to counter the
future opposition of German youth channel "Viva", also set for the same
satellite.
* MCM TO SCRAMBLE
Just weeks after MCM returned to TDF1, and viewers across Europe welcomed its
return, comes the news that MCM will scramble its transmissions from October
15th.
Subscriptions will be made available to European viewers, although pricing
details are not known at this time.
* ORBITAL
Superchannel's Teletext satellite news service, "In Orbit", is now available
to Astra viewers via UK Gold's teletext service. While UK Gold is scrambled,
even viewers without a subscription can view the teletext.
Weekly satellite news, updated every Tuesday, is available on page 333, with a
letters section on 334.
The content of the services vary slightly - Superchannel's version is
consistently more critical of Astra and Sky, while the UK Gold version
appears (at the moment) to be much more neutral.
* READY FOR LAUNCH
The Cartoon Channel and TNT are now broadcasting Test Transmissions on Astra
1C, transponder 37, ready for their September 17th launch.
The channels will broadcast in English, French, Norwegian and Swedish, with a
Spanish language service to follow by the end of 1994, possibly in line with a
Spanish audio service for CNN International.
French authorities are apparently unhappy at the prospect of these new
channels broadcasting in the French language, apparently viewing the prospect
as an invasion of French territory.
The authorities and broadcasters have been lobbying to get the channel to
drop the French audio, apparently unsuccessfully so far.
* AND FINALLY
We apologise for the lack of Skyguide last week!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Skyguide Issue 24 Edited by Ant Purvis
Skyguide is published every week. You can find it on London's CIX conferencing
system in the Skyguide conference, the Fidonet Satelite TV echo, the Packet
Radio Network, and on internet in the alt.satellite.tv.europe newsgroup.
Skyguide is not a commercial publication, nor is it a cut-down version of a
printed journal. Nonetheless, it is copyright, and is not to be redistributed
in any form without consent. Errors and Omissions expected.
Back issues can be mailed to internet mailboxes on request.
Comments, suggestions, stories and monetary donations are always appreciated!
You can contact Skyguide in the following ways:
CIX : mail to bignoise, or use the Skyguide/comments conference.
Fidonet : Netmail to ANTONY PURVIS at 2:251/203, or leave a message in the
Satellite TV echo. Please note the new netmail address!
Internet: bignoise@cix.compulink.co.uk
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Skyguide Issue 025
-------------------------------- SKYGUIDE UK ---------------------------------
| |
| Your digest of the latest news in the world of Satellite & Cable TV |
| |
---------------------- Week Ending Sun September 26th ------------------------
* TOONS AVEC UN PEU DE FRONTIERES
TNT and The Cartoon Network have been banned from cable services in France
and Belgium following a rumpus about the content of the services.
French broadcasters and authorities claim that the channels are an invasion
of their territory, and initially attempted to get the broadcaster to cease
providing a French soundtrack.
When this failed, French authorities brought in the EC to attempt to shut the
channel entirely on the grounds that it does not meet EC broadcasting
regulations which require broadcasters to show at least 60% European material.
Joao de Pinheiro, European Culture Minister, claims the channel is not welcome
in Europe. He has written to Peter Brooke, the UK Heritage Secretary,
demanding to know why the channel was granted a license to broadcast from the
UK.
Ted Turner is entitled to lodge an appeal with French Authorities, although
his last tussle with the French legal system was when French cable operators
successfully demanded that they should not have to pay to carry the CNN News
Network since it was free to satellite dish owners.
Skyguide notes that there are many other channels in Europe which do not meet
the EC 60% quota which the French authorities are not trying to close down.
Perhaps TNT's only crime is transmitting in French without being a part of the
Canal Plus subscription network, and perhaps the French authorities'
assistance in the matter is nothing to do with the fact that the French
Government has interests in Canal Plus.
* AN ENTIRELY UNRELATED MATTER
Eurosport has ceased providing a French audio soundtrack on its Astra and
Eutelsat service. Viewers wishing to watch in French will need to subscribe to
the Canal Plus package to receive "TV Sport", the French version of Eurosport.
* CON JOBS
The editor of Satellite Times has warned that thousands of people are being
conned by dubious individuals claiming to sell satellite equipment or
subscriptions.
A common ploy is to advertise a new channel (usually of an adult nature),
urging people to subscribe, or to send off cash for a "preview video" of the
channels.
Tony Fuller says that it's difficult to check up on such companies, although
Skyguide notes that some magazines, even Satellite Times, seem not to mind
printing their adverts anyway.
One company is offering a "Eurocard" for the unusual price of 30 pounds 55
pence. The advertising asks "Do you pay Sky high monthly fees for Films and
Sport? Why when there is a sensible alternative? Join Euroclub now and
receive your free Eurocard."
The Eurocard is in fact a piece of cardboard advising viewers to watch other
clear channels like DSF for free sports.
Most con adverts stand out like a sore thumb, but Skyguide's advice is not to
send money to any company that is unwilling to tell you its registered
company number and trading address. Always pay by credit card if you can, for
added security.
* CAGE RATTLING
British Telecom, the UK telephone operator, recently announced plans for
telephone customers to receieve movies down their telephone lines.
Understandably, the UK Cable Television Association has attacked the plans as
a "pipe-dream".
The CTA said that BT were "once again rattling the cages because cable is
taking 20,000 subscribers from them a month", referring to the growth of
cable operators offering telephone services in the UK.
The CTA may also be less than happy since BT is now selling Astra satellite
dishes from its retail outlets, in preparation for when BT is eventually
allowed to provide full cable TV services.
In the UK, Cable TV is now increasingly offering less channels and costing
more money than equivalent satellite subscriptions. A number of UK Cable
operators are not carrying the new Sky channels available to dish owners,
while in the meantime raising their prices.
* SKY COMPLAINTS
The Independent Television Commission has upheld the majority of complaints
it received about the promotion of Sky's Multi-Channels package.
The main complaints were that some channels were unscrambled (Sky News, QVC,
etc.) but were marketed as part of the package, that some channels were not
available on the September 1st date, and that the claiming of channels "new"
to satellite (Discovery, Bravo, CMT) was untrue since they were already
available on Intelsat.
Sky claimed that they had placed text into the promotions to correct any
wrong impressions, but the ITC maintained that the text often contradicted
what was shown on-screen.
* ASA CHANGES
As if it wasn't enough to have the ITC and the UK Cable Industry on their
back, Sky have walked into a storm following their decision to remove ASA
(Authorised Sky Agent) status from around 1,400 satellite retailers.
There are now around 3,000 ASAs remaining in the UK.
Even the remaining ASAs are unhappy that Sky's marketing for Multi-Channels
invited subscribers to call Sky directly rather than obtaining a subscription
from their local dealer.
ASA subscriptions have also been cut. While there was never any commission for
selling Multichannels alone, selling a one or two premium channel subscription
now results in a 5 pound reward. Dealers selling a subscription to all three
premium channels will receive 17 pounds 50 pence per customer, with bonuses
if more than four of the 19.99 subscriptions are sold.
* MTV - A HAZY, SCRAMBLED SET OF IMAGES
MTV could encrypt its Astra signal as early as February next year. MTV would
retain its Astra 1B transponder (Tp 22) for the scrambled service, and
release the Astra 1A transponder (Tp 15) for the sister music channel VH-1,
which would probably launch at the same time.
The Astra 1A transponder is no longer necessary now that outlying regions of
Europe are covered by MTV's Thor and Eutelsat signals.
European Astra viewers may have the chance to subscribe to MTV, although with
other English language services, as part of a "European Multi-Channels"
Package, which could be up and running as early as January 1994.
* RATINGS NEWS
The encryption of the Sky Multi-Channels led to a drop in satellite viewing
in its first week, to the gain of MTV, which saw a gain in audience.
The new Multichannels are building audiences, although none have yet achieved
similar success to Discovery, which had a firm 200,000 viewers within days of
its launch.
UK Living achieved 90,000 viewers as its top rating, for the game show
Infatuation. Clarissa Explains It All, Nickelodeon's teen show, achieved
93,000, while top of the pile was The Family Channel's first home-produced
game show Trivial Pursuit, scoring a respectable 130,000 viewers.
* NO HIT FOR NICKELODEON
A possible ratings winner for Nickelodeon, if the success in America is
anything to go by, could be the Ren And Stimpy Show. Produced by Nickelodeon
in the USA, the show has overtaken The Simpsons in popularity.
Unfortunately, we won't see Ren and Stimpy on Nickelodeon for at least three
years, because the show has been sold to the BBC. This is the second
Nickelodeon series that the BBC has bought (the first being Rugrats).
Ren and Stimpy will air on BBC 2 from early next year.
* CHINESE ASTRA
China News Europe will launch on Astra in the near future. It currently
broadcasts three hours a night on SuperChannel's Eutelsat transponder.
The channel will continue the same broadcast hours and times, and will share
an Astra transponder with a UK Astra channel - possibly The Family Channel or
UK Living.
The channel will will also change its name to "Chinese News and
Entertainment" at the same time as the launch.
* OUT!
Sky is currently negotiating for the rights to live coverage of Wimbledon
from 1995, when the BBC's contract ends.
While Sky would be able to have exclusive rights to the preliminary matches,
the semi-finals and finals are designated as protected events under the
Broadcasting Act 1990, which stipulates that a number of major sporting events
must be available to terrestrial viewers.
* AUTO SPORT
Sky is making good use of their whizzy new telephone management system. The
400 line monster, newly installed at the Sky Subscribers centre in Scotland,
will be increasingly be used to allow subscribers to change their subscription
details (and possibly future pay-per-view events) automatically, without ever
needing to speak to a human operator.
The system is currently being used to allow existing Sky subscribers to add
Sky Sports to their viewing card instantly - the caller simply dials their
viewing card number and the computer will authorise the smartcard then and
there.
* AND FINALLY
Oops! There was no Skyguide again last week.. While the intention is to
publish every week, occasionally the odd week does get missed out.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Skyguide Issue 25 Edited by Ant Purvis
Skyguide is published every week. You can find it on London's CIX conferencing
system in the Skyguide conference, the Fidonet Satelite TV echo, the Packet
Radio Network, and on internet in the alt.satellite.tv.europe newsgroup.
Skyguide is not a commercial publication, nor is it a cut-down version of a
printed journal. Nonetheless, it is copyright, and is not to be redistributed
in any form without consent. (Just ask!) Errors and Omissions expected.
Back issues can be mailed to internet mailboxes on request.
Comments, suggestions, stories and monetary donations are always appreciated!
You can contact Skyguide in the following ways:
CIX : mail to bignoise, or use the Skyguide/comments conference.
Fidonet : Netmail to ANTONY PURVIS at 2:251/203, or leave a message in the
Satellite TV echo. Please note the new netmail address!
Internet: bignoise@cix.compulink.co.uk
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Skyguide Issue 026
-------------------------------- SKYGUIDE UK ---------------------------------
| |
| Your digest of the latest news in the world of Satellite & Cable TV |
| |
---------------------- Week Ending Sun October 10th --------------------------
* DISH SALES UP
BARB's latest figures show that 70,000 Astra satellite systems were sold in
August this year, up 27,000 from the 43,000 figure that were sold at the same
time last year.
There are now 2.5 million dish owners in the UK, with around 680,000 viewers
on cable, and approximately 300,000 viewers connected to a communal satellite
system.
* TWO SPORT
Sky Sports 2 is planned to launch in February next year. The channel is
understood to be intending to broadcast 24 hours a day, at no extra cost to
Sky Sports subscribers.
The channel is likely to be devoted to providing live coverage of long-running
sporting events such as cricket, golfing tournaments, and snooker matches, as
well as providing a handy outlet for the much-rumoured possibility of
Pay-Per-View sporting events.
The Astra transponder ear-marked for the service may be pressed into use in
the next month or so to screen promotional material for the Sky Satellite
Network, although this has not yet been confirmed.
* BSKYBBC
A potential agreement between the BBC and Sky to screen original film
productions is apparently now unlikely following a breakdown of negotiations.
The deal would have allowed Sky to premiere original BBC films from the
"Screen One" and "Screen Two" series before they aired terrestrially, in
return for Sky contributing to co-production funds.
A Sky spokesman said that a deal was very close to being signed, but in the
final event the BBC considered Sky's terms unacceptable.
* NBC EUROPE
American broadcaster NBC has purchased the majority 75% shareholding in
Super Channel from the Italian Marcucci family.
Marialina Marcucci will remain on the board of directors, but NBC now has
overall control of the channel. NBC plans a radical change of schedules,
bringing in a number of NBC's news and current affairs shows, including NBC
Today, The Tonight Show, NBC Nightly News, and NBC Now.
There will be more emphasis on News and business programming, but general
entertainment will also remain a part of the new Super Channel schedules, with
NBC promising to bring original productions to the channel.
* CABLE INDUSTRY CRIES "NO FAIR!" AND WANTS ITS BALL BACK
The Independent Television Commission has allowed British Telecom to provide
a full video-on-demand service via its existing telephone network.
BT's proposals centre initially around a service where viewers could select a
video movie and have it downloaded to their home via their existing telephone
line. Pricing has not yet been announced for the service.
The Cable Television Association has reacted with horror to these proposals,
and has written to the Department of Trade and Industry, seeking a block on
the ITC decision.
BT is currently prohibited from offering full cable-tv services over its
network until at least 1998, and the CTA claims that the ITC's decision
allows BT to go against the spirit of this legislation.
A spokesman commented that "If BT can offer video-on-demand it changes the
whole risk profile of the industry".
* QVC ON AIR
The new home shopping service QVC launched on October 1st. The service is
scrambled as part of the Sky Multi-Channels package, and is not currently
broadcasting Europe-wide, as had been predicted.
Calls to the channel are averaging 5,000 a day, and some items have
completely sold out within three minutes.
* GETTING TOUGH ON PIRATES
Satellite broadcasters in USA and Europe have joined with Hollywood film
studios to fight the growing threat of piracy to pay-movie channels.
The group, called the Motion Pictures Export Assocation of America, wants the
European Commission to adopt new directives to outlaw piracy in Europe.
* AND FINALLY...
The latest BBC News presenter to defect to Sky News is award-winning
journalist Michael McMillan.
McMillan, 38, spent four years as the BBC's Middle Eastern correspondent, and
was awarded a prize from the Royal Television Society for his coverage of the
Palestinian uprising.
It is understood he will present lunchtime and afternoon bulletins.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Skyguide Issue 26 Edited by Ant Purvis
Skyguide is (usually) published every week. You can find it on London's CIX
system in the Skyguide conference, Fidonet's Satelite TV echo, the Packet
Radio Network, and on internet in the alt.satellite.tv.europe newsgroup.
Skyguide is not a commercial publication, nor is it a cut-down version of a
printed journal. Nonetheless, it is copyright, and is not to be redistributed
in any form without consent. (Just ask!) Errors and Omissions expected.
Back issues can be mailed to internet mailboxes on request.
Comments, suggestions, stories and monetary donations are always appreciated!
You can contact Skyguide in the following ways:
CIX : mail to bignoise, or use the Skyguide/comments conference.
Fidonet : Netmail to ANTONY PURVIS at 2:251/203, or leave a message in the
Satellite TV echo. Please note the new netmail address!
Internet: bignoise@cix.compulink.co.uk
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Skyguide Issue 029
-------------------------------- SKYGUIDE UK ---------------------------------
| |
| Your digest of the latest news in the world of Satellite & Cable TV |
| |
---------------------- Week Ending Sun November 28th -------------------------
* NOT QUITE THE EUROPEAN
Following the National Heritage Department's warning to TNT and the Cartoon
Network about not carrying the required 51% minimum quota of European
programming, the department has conducted an investigation into which other
satellite channels do not meet the requirement.
From all the channels broadcast from the UK, only three - Sky News, Sky
Sports, and The Children's Channel (thanks to its large quantity of home-made
programming and European cartoons) meet the minimum quota.
All other channels, the report says, fall below the quota. Sky's three movie
channels only broadcast 16% European programming, although Sky themselves
claim that the requirement only applies "where practicable" - and since 92% of
the films released in the UK are made outside Europe, it is not practical to
have a film channel devoting 50% of its output to the 8% of European films.
Notable omissions include Super Channel, once broadcasting a large quantity of
European programming, although not now that it has been taken over by NBC.
Also strangely absent from the list is Astra channel UK Gold - while the
channel has been known to show the occasional few shows from the USA and
Australia, the majority of its programming comes from Britain. Whether the
omission was an error on the part of the National Heritage Department has not
been made clear.
The report made no mention of whether any action would be taken against the
remaining broadcasters, although technically they are all violating European
broadcasting rules.
Another channel potentially breaking EC rules is QVC. Broadcasting directives
state that teleshopping output may not exceed one hour per day, unless the
broadcast is restricted to just one member state. QVC technically broadcasts
to two states - the UK and Eire.
The ITC has decided that the rules do not apply to QVC, but the possibility of
EC officials making representations to the Government has not been ruled out.
* ASTRA BACKUP
Some Astra 1A channels may have to move to backup transponders on Astra 1C,
owing to the Astra 1A satellite "overheating".
First to move is the film channel Teleclub, and other channels may also make
the voyage if this does not solve the problem.
Viewers should notice no difference, although there may be a slight
improvement in signal strength in some regions. While the channels concerned
will be broadcasting on Astra 1C, the original Astra 1A frequency will be
used, therefore no re-tuning will be necessary.
The Astra 1C satellite has an extra group of backup transponders (in addition
to the standard 18) which can be brought into service to replace any Astra 1A
or 1B channel.
* GALAVISION COMPLAINTS
The Independent Television Commission is currently investigating one of the
new Astra 1C channels, Galavision.
A number of complaints have been received about the channel, largely centred
around the channel's regular screening of live bullfighting. Complaints have
also been received that the channel shows cigarette advertising, which (on TV)
is illegal in Europe.
Galavision was removed from UK Cable networks in the past for the
bullfighting, but now that anyone with an Astra dish can see the channel, it
has caused fresh concern.
While Galavision originates in Mexico, the channel is uplinked onto the Astra
satellite by SES in Betzdorf, Luxembourg, and must therefore meet European
broadcasting requirements.
* TOLD YOU SO
As predicted in an earlier Skyguide, Chinese News Europe has launched on Astra
on The Family Channel's Astra transponder.
The service, previously broadcast overnight on Superchannel, has changed its
name to Chinese News and Entertainment, and will broadcast from 1am to 3am
daily, with an 8 to 10 hour service planned for next year.
* STILL NO BT
Latest figures from the ITC show that cable television operators across the UK
installed 55,000 telephone lines in the last three months of 1992.
The total number of cable telephone lines now in use across the UK is just
under a quarter of a million.
* TCC IN TROUBLE
A recent advertisment for The Children's Channel has been rapped by the
Advertising Standards Authority. The advertisment, which urged children who
couldn't receive TCC to complain to their parents, fell foul of the UK's
advertising rules. Children's advertising is not permitted to urge children to
ask their parents to buy or obtain any product or service.
The Children's Channel claimed that the commercial was tongue in cheek, but
the ASA rejected this.
* THE DEAL IS SIGNED (AT LAST)
UK Gold has finally signed a deal with Equity, the actors union, allowing it
to broadcast programmes from Thames' film subsidiary, Euston Films.
Capital City, The Sweeney and Minder will begin screening early in 1994.
* TV BRIEFLY
Sky claim that the launch of Multi-Channels has set off a surge in satellite
dish sales. Sales of over 160,000 for November and December are forecast.
Thames Television has sold animation company Cosgrove Hall, producers of
Dangermouse and Count Duckula, amongst others. The new company will be 25%
owned by Cosgrove-Hall, with the remaining 75% shared between Anglia
Television in the UK, and US broadcaster Home Box Office.
The Family Channel begins a three-month run of a new series, Family
Catchphrase, in January. It is likely that this show may also be sold to the
ITV Network for later screening.
Also starting in January on the Family Channel are two TVS productions,
Perfect Scoundrels and C.A.T.S. Eyes.
Sky Television has taken the unusual step of announcing that the next change
to the Videocrypt scrambling to invalidate pirate cards will be at 13:30 UK
Time on December 6th.
A survey by UK Living reveals that up to 30% of satellite homes have not tuned
their receivers to the channel.
Sky has sold the second Marco Polo statellite for an undisclosed sum to an
undisclosed buyer.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Skyguide Issue 29 Edited by Ant Purvis
Skyguide is usually published fortnightly, but may occasionally publish weekly
depending on news availability. You can find it on London's CIX system in the
Skyguide conference, Fidonet's Satelite TV echo, the Packet Radio Network, and
on internet in the alt.satellite.tv.europe newsgroup.
Skyguide is not a commercial publication, nor is it a cut-down version of a
printed journal. Nonetheless, it is copyright, and is not to be redistributed
in any form without consent. (Just ask!)
Errors and Omissions expected. If we get something wrong, let us know and
we'll put it right!
Back issues can be mailed to internet mailboxes on request.
Comments, suggestions, stories and monetary donations are always appreciated!
You can contact Skyguide in the following ways:
CIX : mail to bignoise, or use the Skyguide/comments conference.
Fidonet : Leave a message in the Satellite TV echo
Internet: bignoise@cix.compulink.co.uk
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Skyguide Issue 031
-------------------------------- SKYGUIDE UK ---------------------------------
| |
| Your digest of the latest news in the world of Satellite & Cable TV |
| |
---------------------- Week Ending Sun January 9th 1994 ----------------------
* WELCOME BACK
Happy New Year to all Skyguide readers!
* VH-NONE
Music channel VH-1 will now not launch until May, rather than February as had
been previously expected.
The revised launch date is likely to coincide with the scrambling of its
sister channel MTV as part of the Sky Multi-Channels package. The possiblity
of MTV also joining Filmnet's Multichoice Kaleidoscope package, along with
Discovery, CMT Europe, The Children's Channel and now The Family Channel, has
not been ruled out.
VH-1 is likely to use Astra transponder 15, leaving MTV with transponder 22.
* FURTHER DELAYS
Sky Sports 2 has now been officially put back until September 1994.
* IT'S BETTER TO TRAVEL
The Travel Channel is set to launch on February 1st on the Intelsat 601
(27.5'W) satellite. The service will initially be for cable operators only,
and will broadcast from noon to midnight. The service will broadcast in the
clear.
The channel has expressed a desire to broadcast on Astra 1D when it is
launched in September, and it now seems unlikely that it will attempt to buy
space on the existing Astra satellites. Currently the only time available is
the 6am to 7pm time on Transponder 24, vacated in September by The Children's
Channel.
* CONFUCIUS PROBABLY SAID SOMETHING ABOUT KEEPING ONE'S BIG MOUTH SHUT...
Gary Davey (deputy MD at Sky) has stepped in as Chairman of the now
Murdoch-owned Star TV following the mystery departure of existing chairman Jim
Griffiths.
Part of the problem may have been due to Mr Murdoch saying that Star TV could
encourage political change in the region. The Chinese Authorities were having
none of that, and promptly banned satellite dishes and foreign broadcasters,
thus denying Star the opportunity to cause any change at all in what was a
potentially lucrative market.
Star TV is now likely to concentrate its broadcasting towards India. In other
news, Rupert Murdoch has just bought a stake in the Indian satellite
broadcaster Zee TV.
* UPLINKS FOR ALL
Broadcasting to Europe could be cheaper than you think. The following message
was broadcast on Intelsat 601 recently:
(The # symbol denotes a UK Pound sign)
Special New Year Satellite Rates From BT
Intelsat West Spot Capacity
24 hr a day European Coverage #5 per minute.
ADHOC EUTELSAT RATES
24:00-08:00 #5/Minute
08:00-10:00 & 22:00-24:00 #10/Minute
10:00-22:00 #15/Minute
Minimum Transmission 15 minutes
(Excluding 5 minutes Link Up Time)
Call Us Now on +44 71 728 5522
* SORTED
Chinese News and Entertainment is now back on Astra Transponder 35 having
been off the air for a few days in December.
The problem was due to a disagreement between SES and The Family Channel, now
sorted out. A dispute is thought to have emerged over TFC sub-leasing the
airtime without SES's involvement. A similar problem occured last year when
Sky sub-leased evening downtime on Nickelodeon to TV Asia.
* HA HA HA HA HA!
The Family Channel has purchased 11 episodes of "Jeux Sans Frontieres", a
popular European game show that has not been seen on British Television for
twelve years. The BBC stopped screening the show in 1982.
The show went on, however, with Welsh broadcaster S4C taking the BBC's place.
Jeux Sans Frontieres, titled "It's a Knockout" for British Viewers, was
presented by Stuart Hall, who will re-narrate the episodes for The Family
Channel. The show will screen at 5pm UK Time on Sunday evenings.
* NOT ON SKY
Sky News presenter Stephen Cole has defected to CNN, to present "World News".
He will join Sonya Ruseler and Riz Khan on screen from February.
* EAGLES CIRCLING OVERHEAD...
German Broadcaster VOX may close shortly unless ratings improve. The channel,
originally intended to be Germany's third national channel has soaked up 300
million pounds of investment capital, but has achieved consistently poor
ratings.
The channel is now in a desperate struggle for survival, attemping to get
viewers at any cost. Over the months Vox has been screening sports events and
even adult movies in a last-ditch attempt to stay on air.
If (although according to some reports it is more a case of when) the channel
closes, it now seems certain that NBC Super Channel (apparently absolutely
desperate to get on Astra, in marked contrast to its previous management)
will take over the transponder. VOX itself took over the transponder when UK
Women's channel "Lifestyle" closed down, one year ago this month.
* AND SPEAKING OF WOMEN'S CHANNELS...
Latest ratings show that UK Living is currently reaching around one third of
the number of viewers that Lifestyle used to get. While some reports have
suggested that the channel is in trouble, this is unlikely while it is
receiving slightly under half a million pounds a month in subscription
revenue (as part of the Multi-Channels package) irrespective of whether
anyone is watching it or not.
* ARD PLUS!
ARD is currently transmitting PAL Plus testcards throughout the night, and on
Wednesday (January 12) will broadcast a black and white PAL Plus test film at
midnight CET. (11pm UK Time)
* THE CLOSING HEADLINES
Bravo has purchased all 136 episodes of cult series "The Avengers". Episodes
will screen at 8pm on Mondays from February.
Sky One has purchased all 255 episodes of "M*A*S*H". Episodes will screen
daily at 7.30pm from January 14th.
Deutsche Bundespost Telekom and SES have announced that they are to form a
partnership to develop digital equipment for television reception.
Trainer manufacturuer "Fila" will sponsor MTV Unplugged during 1994.
Charles Andrew, Senior product manager at Warner Home Video has been
appointed Marketing Manager of UK Gold.
"Ren and Stimpy" begins its UK transmissions on BBC2 on Monday, in the DEF II
6.25pm slot. Episodes will air weekly, and will also be repeated on Friday
nights.
Skyguide received no messages at all about a Faxed version of Skyguide, so we
can safely conclude there is no interest at all. :-)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Skyguide Issue 31 Edited by Ant Purvis
Skyguide is usually published fortnightly, but may occasionally publish weekly
depending on news availability. You can find it on London's CIX system in the
Skyguide conference, Fidonet's Satelite TV echo, the Packet Radio Network, and
on internet in the alt.satellite.tv.europe newsgroup.
Skyguide is not a commercial publication, nor is it a cut-down version of a
printed journal. Nonetheless, it is copyright, and is not to be redistributed
in any form without consent. (Just ask!)
Errors and Omissions expected. If we get something wrong, let us know and
we'll put it right!
Back issues can be mailed to internet mailboxes on request.
Comments, suggestions, stories and monetary donations are always appreciated!
You can contact Skyguide in the following ways:
CIX : mail to bignoise, or use the Skyguide/comments conference.
Fidonet : Leave a message in the Satellite TV echo
Internet: bignoise@cix.compulink.co.uk
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Skyguide Issue 032
-------------------------------- SKYGUIDE UK ---------------------------------
| |
| Your digest of the latest news in the world of Satellite & Cable TV |
| |
--------------------- Week Ending Sun January 16th 1994 ----------------------
* AS IT WAS MEANT TO BE SEEN
Sky Television has announced that it will begin screening selected showings
of films in Widescreen, across its movie channels.
Films being broadcast in Widescreen in the next month are:
Once Upon A Crime (January 24th, Sky Movies)
JFK (February 1st, Sky Movies)
Final Analysis (February 8th, Sky Movies)
Far And Away (February 14th, Sky Movies)
The Prince Of Tides (February 22nd, The Movie Channel)
Terminator 2 - Judgement Day (February 24th, Sky Movies)
* SKY SPORTS 2 LAUNCHING IN FEBRUARY
After a change of heart at Sky, Sky Sports 2 will launch, in a fashion, in
February. It had previously been postponed until September.
The channel will accomodate the West Indies cricket coverage when there are
other major events screening on Sky Sports. The matches will provide
prime-time evening viewing, starting from 4pm, but Sky did not want to
displace other major sporting events which it carried as part of its evening
line-up on Sky Sports.
* SATELLITE SHUFFLES
Marcopolo 1, the ex-BSB satellite recently purchased by the Swedish Space
Corporation, has been named "Sirius", and is to be located next to Tele-X at
5 degrees East by the end of February.
SSC purchased the satellite from UK company NTL, who themselves inherited a
right from the former IBA to purchase the satellite from Sky.
Some concern has been raised that the satellite could cause interference to
Thor (which was, ironically, Marcopolo 2 before it was sold, moved and
renamed), positioned at 8 degrees east - just three degrees away. Since the
two Marcopolo satellites both broadcast on the same set of frequencies, the
close proximity of the satellites when broadcasting different signals could
be cause for concern.
Meanwhile, TV-Sat 2, owned by Deutche Bundespost Telekom, is to be moved
alongside the three Astra satellites in March.
SES and DBP recently announced their intentions to co-operate in research for
a digital television system, and the shift of the German satellite is in
pursuit of this. A package of DSR radio channels will be offered on one of
the four TV-Sat 2 transponders, with the other three set for digital test
transmissions.
* SUPER IN TURKEY
NBC Super Channel is understood to have put plans for an Astra service on the
back burner while they set their sights on a transponder on the new Turksat
satellite, set to be launched in a few weeks time. A transponder would give
Super a strong presence in western Asia, as well as Europe.
* AY! NO ES BUENO!
Spanish satellite viewers are being offered legitimate Sky subscriber
agreement forms and viewing cards by rogue satellite dealers.
The cards and agreements are not for use outside the UK, and Sky believes
that a batch of stolen Sky forms and Quickstart cards are being used.
How the dealers have the cards authorised is not known, although Sky will
doubtless be very keen to find out in order to plug the loophole.
Sky can doubtless draw some comfort from the statistic that sales of their
legitimate viewing cards are now rivalling sales of pirate cards in Spain.
* THERE WAS A YOUNG MAN FROM DEVIZES..
Irish radio station Radio Limerick is now available on Astra. The service is
being carried on an audio subcarrier on Transponder 22 (MTV), and forms part
of a Europe-wide service for Irish listeners.
* MONEY
UBS Phillips and Drew, a London Stockbroker, has forecast an operating profit
of 518 million pounds in 1997.
It also predicts profits of 170 million pounds in the financial year ending
June 1994, and that the next three years will see dish ownership rise to six
million.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Skyguide Issue 32 Edited by Ant Purvis
Skyguide is usually published fortnightly, but may occasionally publish weekly
depending on news availability. You can find it on London's CIX system in the
Skyguide conference, Fidonet's Satelite TV echo, the Packet Radio Network, and
on internet in the alt.satellite.tv.europe newsgroup.
Skyguide is not a commercial publication, nor is it a cut-down version of a
printed journal. Nonetheless, it is copyright, and is not to be redistributed
in any form without consent. (Just ask!)
Errors and Omissions expected. If we get something wrong, let us know and
we'll put it right!
Back issues can be mailed to internet mailboxes on request.
Comments, suggestions, stories and monetary donations are always appreciated!
You can contact Skyguide in the following ways:
CIX : mail to bignoise, or use the Skyguide/comments conference.
Fidonet : Leave a message in the Satellite TV echo
Internet: bignoise@cix.compulink.co.uk
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
magazines/SKYGUIDE/skyguide.32b
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Skyguide Issue 032 and a half
-------------------------------- SKYGUIDE UK ---------------------------------
| |
| Your digest of the latest news in the world of Satellite & Cable TV |
| |
---------------------------- Special "ARGH! Edition --------------------------
* EVERYONE MAKES MISTAKES!
A quick note to correct two glaring errors in the most recent Skyguide:
1) In the "MONEY" Item, the company expected to make a profit is BSkyB.
2) Thor is not at 8 degrees east, it is at ZERO point eight degrees west.
Consequently there is no danger at all of any interference from
Sirius!
Apologies for mistake 1) which was the result of bad editing, and for mistake
2) which was a result of me lifting someone else's material without checking
it. :-)
Thanks to everyone who pointed the mistakes out. (Both of you!)
Ant Purvis
Editor, Skyguide UK
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Skyguide Issue 033
---------------------------------- SKYGUIDE ----------------------------------
| |
| Your digest of the latest news in the world of Satellite & Cable TV |
| |
--------------------- Week Ending Sun February 6th 1994 ----------------------
* WELCOME!
Welcome to our new readers joining us on the Minitel service.
Skyguide is now translated into the French language and made available on
Minitel in 3615 SURPIN thanks to the efforts of Joel Wirsztel. Our thanks
to him.
* MORE WIDESCREEN
Broadcasters covering the Winter Olympics this year will have access to
widescreen pictures if they want them.
Widescreen and digital broadcasts from the Winter Olympics will be co-ordinated
by HD Thames, a facilities house owned by Thames Television in London.
A number of channels have expressed interest in the broadcasts, inclding
the German broadcaster ARD, Dutch MAC channel TV Plus, and France
Supervision.
* MORE GOLD
UK Gold, currently receiving impressive ratings with its repeats of 1970s
editions of "Top Of The Pops" has purchased another 30 shows from the BBC.
* SKY SHUFFLE
Kelvin MacKenzie, editor of the UK's downmarket tabloid newspaper "The Sun"
has left the paper after 12 years to become Managing Director of Sky
Television.
David Chance has been made Deputy Manging Director, and was previously head
of marketing.
David Hill, Sky's head of Sport, moves to America to oversee News
Corporation's Sports coverage via the American Fox Network.
* MUCH MORE MUSIC
Thorn EMI is currently in negotiation with Sony and other music companies
with a view to setting up another music television channel on satellite.
This follows the successful launch of "Viva", a music service which is
currently taking on MTV in Germany, its most profitable area of Europe.
Viva can be found on the Eutelsat 2F1 satellite at 13 degrees East on
11.006H, where MTV Europe also recently took a transponder (11.658V) in
what appeared to be an attempt to minimise the potential threat of the
channel.
* THE SEARCH CONTINUES
The search goes on for an owner for the 6am - 7pm (GMT) downtime on Astra
Transponder 24, home of JSTV in the evening hours.
One possible occupant for the time has been rumoured as Chinese News and
Entertainment, currently broadcasting in the small hours of the morning on
Astra Transponder 35 when The Family Channel closes down for the night.
A spokesman for the channel denied the rumours, and said that they were
"second in line" for the space.
Still a strong possibility for being first in line would appear to be The
Travel Channel, which has successfully launched on Intelsat 601 at 27.5W,
11.175 H.
Meanwhile, reports of another Chinese channel have reached us. Named "The
Chinese Channel", it intends to launch on February 13th - Chinese New Year.
In the reports, the channel claim it will launch on "one of Sky's
transponders" and broadcast from midnight until 6am in the clear. Details
of which transponder would be used were not available, although the only
potential candidate would be Sky Movies Gold.
While TV Asia currently occupies the time in question, during that time the
channel is also broadcast on the Nickelodeon Transponder, leaving the door
open for TV Asia to relinquish the space without loss of transmission hours.
* FREE MOVIES DELAYED
Sky's three movie channels were to have a free weekend this weekend in a
bid to encourage people to subscribe to the movie channels.
The free weekend, touted as a "clear" weekend in some reports, was likely
to be broadcast to existing Sky Multichannel subscribers only - some
400,000 homes.
The weekend was, however, postponed. It is thought that several major movie
companies objected to their blockbuster movies being screened in such a
fashion. This is not the first time that movie company objections have
caused trouble for Sky's free weekends - several major movies had to be
dropped from the schedules during the last free weekend due to similar
disputes.
It is understood that Sky will attempt another free weekend in April.
* NICK DELAYED
Nick At Nite, the companion channel to Nickelodeon, has been delayed until
later this year. It is understood that the problem centres around the
availability of programming, since a number of series it intended to show
have been sold to other Multi-channel broadcasters and UK terrestrial
channels.
Sky have not officially confirmed the delay.
* SPLASHDOWN
Eutelsat 2F5 and Turksat 1 were destroyed on January 24th when the Ariane
rocket launching them crashed into the sea.
The problem could cause delays for subsequent satellite launches. Turksat
2 was scheduled for a June launch, and there is concern that the August
launch of Astra 1D could be delayed for as much as six months.
* SCI-FI IS BACK
The Sci-Fi Channel is currently talking to Sky, Eutelsat, and a number of
UK cable operators with an intention of launching in Britain later this
year.
The channel, which was set to join the Multi-Channel package last September
until it could not secure a suitable transponder rental agreement, could
now launch on Eutelsat for UK Cable viewers until suitable space becomes
available on Astra.
* RADIO RADIO
All six of the BBC's national radio networks are now available to Astra
listeners in Europe.
Radio 1, the pop and rock station, previously broadcast in Mono on UK Gold
(Tp23), has moved to UK Living (Tp34) on the higher-powered Astra 1C
satellite, and now broadcasts in stereo on the 7.38 and 7.56 Mhz
subcarriers.
Radio 3, the BBC's classical music station has commenced broadcasts, also
on the UK Living transponder on the 7.74 and 7.92 Mhz subcarriers.
Radio 2, a soft easy listening music channel for older people, will shortly
take up the mono subcarrier on UK Gold where Radio 1 had been. (7.74 Mhz)
Radio 4, 5, and BBC World Service are also available in Mono on the
existing UK Gold audio subcarriers. (7.56, 7.92 and 7.38 Mhz respectively)
* HOT PINK
Reports have been circulating which suggest that Red Hot Television,
currently broadcasting on the comparatively new Eutelsat 2F6 satellite at
16 degrees East (10.987 H) have shelved plans to launch a Gay service.
Expected to broadcast three days a week (probably on the days which RHTV
itself does not broacast), the channel is reported to have been dropped
because RHTV were concerned about "sadomasochistic and violent aspects of
gay culture".
The authenticity of these reports, however, cannot be confirmed. The
channel, if it had ever intended to launch at all, is unlikely to have
shelved such a potentially lucrative idea for such a bogus reason.
* NEW VIEWERS FOR NBC SUPER
Some lucky Astra viewers in the UK found themselves deprived of their normal
selection of channels as high winds blew their Astra dishes out of
alignment this week.
In some cases, the movement of the dish has been enough to enable affected
viewers to pick up the Eutelsat 2F3 satellite at 13 degrees East, enabling
them to at least be consoled by NBC Super Channel, Viva, and the occasional
feed for ITV Sport.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Skyguide Issue 33 Edited by Ant Purvis
Skyguide is usually published fortnightly, but can be erratic at times,
depending on news availability. You can find it on London's CIX system in
the Skyguide conference, Fidonet's Satelite TV echo, the Packet Radio
Network, on internet in the alt.satellite.tv.europe newsgroup, and now in
the French language on Minitel in the 3615 SURPIN area.
Skyguide is not a commercial publication, nor is it a cut-down version of a
printed journal. It may not be distributed for profit and is copyright.
Nevertheless, free distribution (via BBSs, FTP sites, etc.) is encouraged,
provided that permission is asked first.
Errors and Omissions expected. If we get something wrong, let us know and
we'll put it right!
Back issues can be mailed to internet mailboxes on request.
Comments, suggestions, and stories are always appreciated! You can contact
Skyguide in the following ways:
CIX : mail to bignoise, or use the Skyguide/comments conference.
Fidonet : Leave a message in the Satellite TV echo
Internet: bignoise@cix.compulink.co.uk
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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bbcid MORGAA01 @ BBC-BH
Skyguide Issue 034
---------------------------------- SKYGUIDE ----------------------------------
| |
| Your digest of the latest news in the world of Satellite & Cable TV |
| |
--------------------- Week Ending Sun March 6th 1994 -------------------------
* HELLO, HELLO, IT'S GOOD TO BE BACK..
A new issue of Skyguide at last! Apologies for the long delay, but hopefully
it was worth waiting for!
* QVC SETS SIGHTS ON EUROPE
Home shopping channel QVC, currently broadcasting to the UK and Ireland as
part of the Sky Multi-Channels package, is said to be planning to expand into
European markets.
Clarification of the legal situation would, however, be required from the
European Community. The current position is that teleshopping channels are
prohibited unless they broadcast to one member state only.
Meanwhile, German catalogue company Quelle has plans to launch its own home
shopping channel on Astra, with a view to capturing the East European market.
* SPORTS ON ONE, NOT TWO
Sky has temporarily shelved plans for Sky Sports Two (again) by transferring
football matches which clash with the current West Indies cricket coverage to
Sky One.
The move is partially for technical reasons, namely the difficulty in getting
viewers to re-tune their receivers, but primarily for marketing reasons. The
football matches on Sky One are achieving very respectable ratings, and is
likely to bring an increased number of new subscribers to Sky Sports.
While the football is screened on Sky One, all the Sky Multi-channels
broadcast in soft videocrypt mode, so a viewing card is not required. Again,
this is partially for technical reasons (there are some Sky Sports
subscribers who do not take multichannels), but also with the marketing
intention of capturing the die-hard viewers who have not taken up a
subscription to multichannels.
The first clear match, Wimbledon v Man United pulled in just under 1.5
million viewers - the second highest number of viewers ever achieved on Sky
One.
* NO NICK
Unconfirmed reports suggest that Sky and Viacom have dropped plans to launch
Nick At Nite, advertised as part of the Sky Multi-channels package.
Earlier reports suggested that the channel had been delayed due to problems
with programme rights and acquisitions.
In the event that the channel is dropped, at least for 1994, it is likely
that the Travel Channel, already broadcasting on Intelsat 601 (27.5'W) will
be offered time on Astra and will join the multi-channels package to replace
Nick at Nite.
In this event, the only apparent spare time is the 6am-7pm time on Transponder
24, or the currently vacant (and Sky-owned) Transponder 47, which could be a
more likely option.
The Travel Channel currently broadcasts midday to midnight on Intelsat, so
while there is enough time available on Transponder 24 to carry the channel
in its entirety, the time-shift could be a problem for the channel.
* AH, I SEE THE PROBLEM..
The failure of the Ariane 63 launch, carrying the Turksat 1 and Eutelsat 2F5
satellites, was due to cooling problems and a faulty bearing.
Alterations to equipment are now underway to prevent the re-occurence of such
a problem, but this will mean that this year's launch schedule will not
resume until the beginning of June.
This means that, much more importantly..
* ASTRA 1D DELAYED
Astra 1D will not launch until December this year as a result of the Airane
problems.
The satellite was originally set for a September launch, but this will now
not happen, putting a spanner in the works of a number of broadcasters who
were counting on a successful launch on-time.
It is reported that all available transponders on Astra 1D have already been
booked, although further details are yet to emerge.
* THE 'LE' EFFECT
NBC Superchannel viewers will already be used to the nightly screenings of
editions of the "Tonight with Jay Leno" show, under 24 hours after they are
broadcast in the USA.
Sky viewers will soon be able to enjoy the CBS equivalent "Late Night with
David Letterman", which will broadcast five nights a week on Sky One, again
less than 24 hours after their USA screening.
The deal between CBS and Sky is understood to be worth some 650,000 pounds.
Meanwhile, the German channel Premiere, which has been screening the series
for the past few months, has decided to end its broadcasts of the programme.
* AWAY WITH THE FROST
Sky News does not intend to continue broadcasting repeats of "Frost On
Sunday", it has been revealed. The channel currently has an option to
broadcast the programme shortly after its screening on the BBC, under an
agreement which allows Sir David Frost to sell the programme to another
channel and keep the money from the repeats.
The director of Sky news, Ian Frykberg, said that there was a conflict with
the transmission of the same programme on BBC World Service Television.
* THAT WORLD SERVICE TV CONFLICT IN FULL
Rupert Murdoch said at a recent press conference in Delhi that he may drop BBC
World Service TV on the Asian Star TV satellite service, and replace it with
an international version of Sky News.
Murdoch was speaking about allegations of bias that had been made against
WSTV by China and India.
WSTV recently caused controversy in India when it screened footage of a local
race-related incident that the state networks did not consider suitable for
broadcast. It is claimed that rioting broke out in the country as a result.
China recently banned the sale of satellite dishes, since it does not relish
the possibility of its residents having access to any version of the truth
other than that which is written by the state and broadcast on state-owned
television.
Sadly it seems that Rupert Murdoch, keen to forge links into the lucrative
markets that India and China have to offer, intends to take sides against the
BBC, and unless they address the allegations of bias (i.e. truth), that WSTV
will be replaced.
A BBC spokesman said that allegations of bias were "unsubstantiated and
nebulous", and added that the corporation had not recorded any complaints
from the Chinese or Indian governments.
* KISS AND MAKE UP
The BBC and Sky are, however, expected to join forces next year to bid for the
rights to cover the Five Nations Rugby Tournament next year.
Commercial broadcaster ITV is also said to be very interested obtaining
exclusive coverage of the event, viewing it as a high priority for
acquisition.
* THE CLARY EXPERIENCE
UK performer Julian Clary is to join TNT from April to host its new Sunday
evening "Movie Experience" slot.
* MORE CABLE
Cable had its best rate of installations ever in the last quarter of 1993,
with 91,000 new people hooked up to the service.
In the same period, some 220,000 satellite dishes were sold.
It brings the total number of cabled homes to just over 610,000, and the
total number of dished homes to still well over three million.
* MORE MURDOCH
The offices of American television stations KSBW and KSBY in California had a
visit from Rupert Murdoch recently. Apparently he is considering buying the
stations for his daughter, Elizabeth.
* MORE VIEWERS
Satellite viewing jumped dramatically in February, up some 5% on the previous
month.
Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and The Children's Channel all saw a healthy
increase, largely due to the half-term break. Sky Sports also saw a large
rise, picking up over 5% of the audience compared to under 3% previously.
* LESS TO SEE
United Artists, provider of a number of television channels for the cable
television industry in the UK, has announced that it will cease its
conventional PAL broadcasts of Wire TV and The Parliamentary Channel in May,
in favour of a digitally compressed service.
The channels will share just one transponder on Intelsat 601, thus saving UA
some 1.2 million pounds a year in transponder and uplink rental. While cable
operators will have no trouble obtaining suitable digital decompression
equipment, (UA would be able to afford to give it away since it is saving so
much money on transponder rental) home viewers are likely to be very much
left out in the cold.
* AN AMAZING DISCOVERY
Viewers in Singapore are to get their first taste of "Commercial
Presentation" features soon.
The Singapore Broadcasting Corporation has signed a deal with Quantum
Marketing International to broadcast selected Quantum informercials daily on
Channel 5.
* AND SPEAKING OF CHANNEL 5... (I don't just throw this together, you know!)
A consortium hoping to run a new terrestrial network in the UK, Channel 5,
have revealed that they have had informal talks with Sky Television. Sky is
apparently interested in making inroads into terrestrial broadcasting, and
would be interested in taking a stake in the new consortium.
The consortium is backed by Pearson [itself part-owners of Sky], Time Warner,
and Media Acquisitions International (MAI), owner of the current terrestrial
ITV contractors Meridian and Anglia.
* LIVE SKY
Viewers who don't have access to the current cricket coverage on Sky Sports
could console themselves by getting down to Cromwell Road in London, where
Sky has converted an advertising hoarding into an electronic scoreboard to
continually read out the latest score.
The board is operated by a cricket enthusiast, recently recruited by Sky, who
will watch the matches on Sky Sports and update the scores when they change.
While he said that he would have done the job for free just to watch the
cricket, he is being paid an impressive 500 pounds per week for his duties.
* T C C
The Chinese Channel has announced that it will launch its European service on
Astra on March 18, although it helpfully refuses to tell anyone which
transponder it will launch on.
* THE ASTRA DEMO IS BACK!
Astra viewers will doubtless remember with fond memories the entertaining
promotional video that used to air continuously on the spare transponders of
Astra 1A, and later Astra 1B. The promo was displaced a while ago when
broadcasters began queuing up for space on the satellites.
Now the video has returned, revised and updated, and airing from 6am to 7pm
on the vacant time on Transponder 24.
* SKY FOR FREE
Sky's promised preview weekend for non-movie subscribers, delayed from its
original date in February, has now been announced for the weekend of April 9
and 10.
The previous attempt had to be cancelled due to the objections of several
major movie distributors. Presumably these difficulties have been ironed out,
since Sky intends to "give away" a number of major movies in the April
weekend, including Wayne's World, Cape Fear, Lethal Weapon 3, Alien 3, Edward
Scissorhands and Star Trek 6.
Sky Movies Gold will apparently not be included in the promotion.
* PIRATE WATCH
Canal Plus recently altered its coding system to knock out the recent batch
of pirate cards circulating around Europe for its service. Sky also
implemented a similar measure recently to again invalidate the pirate cards
for its service.
An interesting case of double standards arose recently on the pages of NBC
Superchannel's teletext service, and specifically the satellite news pages
'In Orbit', provided by the European Satellite User Group.
In response to a viewers letter, it made a statement completely denouncing
pirate cards, making the point that if everyone had such cards no
broadcasters would be able to stay in business. For this reason, it said, it
would not supply information on such pirate cards.
The statement was particularly interesting in view of the fact that just four
days ago it published an article giving some vital publicity to pirate card
manufacturers 'Keycard' in Ireland.
The statement is especially astonishing in view of the fact that for several
months the only advertising pages that 'In Orbit' carried were for a company
selling pirate cards and decoders for a large number of satellite channels.
Curiously, the advertisment disappeared on the day that the anti-pirate
rantings were broadcast.
TESUG has never been particularly in favour of scrambling, citing it as a
reason why everyone should turn their Astra dishes to point at the much more
interesting Eutelsat birds, but this recent turnaround in opinion does seem
to have occured with lightning speed. There may be two reasons, primarily
that now that the 'In Orbit' pages are also carried on UK Gold's teletext
service, that it would be seen as "incompatible" to promote pirate activity
on a channel which is, itself, scrambled.
It is also likely that NBC Superchannel would rather not have anything on
their teletext service which could cause a potential problem with Sky, whose
co-operation it is likely to need in the future now that it is desperate for
an Astra transponder.
* HARD TARGET
Filmnet has recently announced that it has made an agreement with a number of
major movie distributors to screen movies at the same time as they are
released in the cinema.
If this proves to be the case, it will make the channel an even hotter target
for pirates than it is already.
* AND SPEAKING OF MOVIES
Cinevision, a new Swiss Channel, has announced that it will launch on one of
the Eutelsat satellites, possibly the craft at 13 degrees East.
The channel plans to show movies 24 hours a day, in English, French, Italian,
Spanish and German. It is understood that the channel will be scrambled with
Videocrypt 2.
* TELE-ON
British Telecom is testing its proposed Video On Demand system in the homes
of 70 of its employees.
The service, as reported in previous editions of Skyguide, would transmit TV
programmes and films down the customer's existing telephone line. A key
feature of the service is the interactivity it can offer.
The UK cable industry is unhappy about the idea, viewing BT's plans as quite
comprehensively treading on their toes.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Skyguide Issue 34 Edited by Ant Purvis
Skyguide is usually published fortnightly, but can be erratic at times,
depending on news availability. You can find it on London's CIX system in
the Skyguide conference, Fidonet's Satelite TV echo, the Packet Radio
Network, on internet in the alt.satellite.tv.europe newsgroup, and now in
the French language on Minitel in the 3615 SURPIN area.
Skyguide is not a commercial publication, nor is it a cut-down version of a
printed journal. It may not be distributed for profit and is copyright.
Nevertheless, free distribution (via BBSs, FTP sites, etc.) is encouraged,
provided that permission is asked first.
Errors and Omissions expected. If we get something wrong, let us know and
we'll put it right!
Back issues can be mailed to internet mailboxes on request.
Comments, suggestions, and stories are always appreciated! You can contact
Skyguide in the following ways:
CIX : mail to bignoise, or use the Skyguide/comments conference.
Fidonet : Leave a message in the Satellite TV echo
Internet: bignoise@cix.compulink.co.uk
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Skyguide Issue 035
--------------------------------- SKYGUIDE ---------------------------------
| |
| Your digest of the latest news in the world of Satellite & Cable TV |
| |
--------------------- Week Ending Fri April 8th 1994 -----------------------
* NEW FOR NICK
Nickelodeon is making deals with a number of independent producers for
original programming for the station, including a music series and a drama
series about ghost stories.
Amongst the parties concerned are Ardent Productions, (owned by Prince Edward)
and Initial Films and Television, a large independent producer that has
contributed much work to Channel 4.
Rumours also suggest that some UK involvement with the game show 'Guts' is
soon to occur. While there is a slim possibility that Nickelodeon may produce
its own UK version of the show, it is more likely to take a number of British
children across to the show's American home in Florida.
Ren and Stimpy, a 'Nicktoon' not yet seen on Nickelodeon, although broadcast
in the UK by BBC2, will also come to the station. The previous agreement had
been that the BBC would have rights to the show for two years, but rights to
screen the series after the BBC showings end have been secured.
* OLD RUMOURS DIE HARD
A fresh round of speculation has begun involving Sky's subscriber centre at
Livingston, Scotland. There have been a number of rumours that the centre is,
or will be, equipped with CLI - 'Caller Line Identification', or Caller ID as
it is known.
This will enable Sky to pinpoint exactly where in the country a caller is
dialling from, which will make card fraud more difficult, and prevent
international callers from upgrading legal cards which have found their way
abroad.
Such rumours have had currency for a long time, although they have been
primarily centred on Sky's ability to detect international calls - something
which is possible without CLI just by listening to the quality of the line.
* MULTICHANNELS 2
It has been reported that Sky may be intending to launch a second
Multichannels package on the Astra 1D satellite.
It is understood that Sky is currently negotiating with SES to purchase all
available transponders on Astra 1D, in some cases in partnership with other
broadcasters in Europe.
Such a package would be likely to encourage existing viewers to upgrade their
equipment to receive Astra 1D. Currently, the large majority of satellite
systems in use in the UK are not equipped to receive Astra 1C without
extensive modification, if at all.
Potential names for the new package could include some channels rumoured for
the first package, namely The Sci-Fi Channel and The Family Channel, existing
members of Multichannels seeking a full transponder (CMT Europe), as well as
other channels yet to be announced. There is also a distinct possibility that
Eurosport may join the package.
The pricing of the package, if it is launched, is not yet known, although the
possibility of it being made available to existing subscribers for a small
charge, or even no charge, cannot be ruled out.
* ONE BILLION!
Sky's three movie channels and Sky Sports will be softscrambled this weekend.
The weekend is called "The Billion Dollar Preview Weekend", and will be hosted
by Gaby Roslin, co-host of Channel 4's "The Big Breakfast"
Films that will be seen include Alien 3, Lethal Weapon 3, Star Trek 6, Wayne's
World, The Addams Family, Hook, and Basic Instinct.
* FACING THE MUSIC
Ice skaters Torvill and Dean have been signed up by Sky in a long-term
commitment to feature in advertising and promotions for the satellite
broadcaster. The skaters will receive 150,000 pounds each.
Torvill and Dean are spearheading the new Sky 30 day home trial campaign,
understood to have been christened "Project Y" by Sky insiders.
'Project X' was launched shortly after Sky began broadcasting, and allowed
viewers to rent a Sky satellite dish and the movie channel for under five
pounds a week. The campaign then was a success for Sky, fuelling the then
almost non-existent dish market.
The new home trial offer is a no-obligation installation of a Sky dish,
decoder, and all Sky premium channels, including Multichannels, for 30 days.
At the end of the home trial, viewers then have the option of purchasing the
satellite system from their local retailer [Project X infuriated satellite
dealers by completely bypassing them], or to have the dish removed at no cost.
The campaign is likely to boost dish ownership, and hopefully compensate for
the large number of satellite viewers who are completely giving up their
dishes. It is estimated that some 200,000 viewers de-installed their dishes
last year - thought to be as a result of the Sky Multi-channel package.
* NEW ARRIVALS
Game show 'Blockbusters' begins screening on Sky One from April 18th.
David Letterman's top-rated American chat show also come to Sky One on the
same day. The show will air daily at 11pm UK Time, less than 24 hours after
the show's transmission in the USA.
Viewers who missed the Season 4 screenings of Star Trek: The Next Generation,
or who want to see the series without commercial breaks, will be able to see
re-runs of the show on BBC2 from Wednesday April 13th.
* SCRAMBLE!
Sky viewers can expect new viewing cards over the next few months. Sky is
slowly introducing Series 9 smartcards in an effort to beat the flood of
pirate cards that are now becoming widely available. A number of pirate card
manufacturers are attempting to dump their existing stocks onto the market at
discount prices, in some cases reported to be as low as 35 pounds.
The cards, like their Series 7 counterparts, will contain pay-per-view
programming.
* SKY DISCOVERS DOCUMENTARIES
Sky has commissioned three documentary programmes for Sky One, in a ground-
breaking move for the channel.
The subjects are somewhat tabloidish, namely a documentary about Jack the
Ripper, Stephen Waldorf (a man who was shot by policemen in 1984 when he was
mistaken for a terrorist), and a feature on Terry Venables, which will be
produced by Chrysalis Television.
* EC ATTACKS BRITISH BROADCASTING
The European Commission has announced that it is going to take legal action
against the British Government.
Central to the dispute is that many channels broadcast via satellite from the
UK do not meet the required 51% quota of European-sourced programming which
is required under EC Broadcasting rules.
While this rule had been effectively ignored by many broadcasters across
Europe for several years, the point has been brought to the fore again largely
due to the French Government, lobbied by French broadcasters such as Canal
Plus.
As reported in previous editions of Skyguide, the problem revolves around TNT
and The Cartoon Network. The French authorities are furious that the channel
is allowed to broadcast in the French language without governmental controls.
When the authorities approached TNT and asked it to cease broadcasting in
French, it refused. The current situation is largely as a result of this
dispute, in an attempt to prevent the channel broadcasting in French, by way
of it being forced to stop broadcasting entirely.
Satellite broadcasters in France, such as the Canal Plus empire, have been
keen to keep French programming on French satellites. By way of an example,
the French language soundtrack for Eurosport was removed some time ago, and
now if you want to watch Eurosport in French, you can only do so on the
Telecom satellites inhabited by other French channels.
* BROADCASTING ON BORROWED TIME
German channel 'Vox' is now likely to close within weeks, if not days, after
its major shareholders all pulled out of the channel.
230 of Vox's 290 staff have now left the station, and the remaining staff of
60 intend to keep the channel running for as long as they can.
When Vox does cease, the transponder will revert to its original owners,
European Television Networks (ETN), owners of the defunct Lifestyle and
Screensport channels. It is thought that they will have no trouble selling the
transponder space, and a prime favourite is NBC Superchannel, now "desperate"
for space on Astra.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Skyguide Issue 35 Edited by Ant Purvis
Skyguide is usually published fortnightly, but can be erratic at times,
depending on news availability. You can find it on London's CIX system in
the Skyguide conference, Fidonet's Satellite TV echo, the Packet Radio
Network, on internet in the alt.satellite.tv.europe newsgroup, and now in
the French language on Minitel in the 3615 SURPIN area.
Skyguide is not a commercial publication, nor is it a cut-down version of a
printed journal. It may not be distributed for profit and is copyright.
Nevertheless, free distribution (via BBSs, FTP sites, etc.) is encouraged,
provided that permission is asked first.
Errors and Omissions expected. If we get something wrong, let us know and
we'll put it right!
Back issues can be mailed to internet mailboxes on request.
Comments, suggestions, and stories are always appreciated! You can contact
Skyguide in the following ways:
CIX : mail to bignoise, or use the Skyguide/comments conference.
Fidonet : Leave a message in the Satellite TV echo
Internet: bignoise@cix.compulink.co.uk
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
magazines/SKYGUIDE/skyguide.36
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Skyguide Issue 036
--------------------------------- SKYGUIDE ---------------------------------
| |
| Your digest of the latest news in the world of Satellite & Cable TV |
| |
---------------------- Week Ending Sat May 28th 1994 -----------------------
* APOLOGIES
Huge apologies for the enormous delay in getting this issue out - such a long
delay between issues isn't normal, and hopefully it won't happen again!
* SKY GUIDE
Sky is set to spectacularly annoy UK programme listings magazines publishers
with its latest announcement that it intends to enter the market itself.
Sky will put together a monthly 150 page magazine listing all the Sky Premium
and Multi channels, which will be distributed FREE to all 2.7 million Sky
satellite subscribers.
The magazine will be called "Sky TV Guide". Readers with long memories may
remember "TV Guide" as one of the first satellite listings magazines in the
UK market. At the time it featured full satellite listings (since the magazine
was owned by Rupert Murdoch), and not-very-complete listings of terrestrial
channels, since at the time the "Radio Times" and "TV Times" still had a
monopoly on the printing of terrestrial programme schedules.
TV Guide failed miserably, and the name was eventually sold to Satellite TV
Europe, just one party who is liable to be less than happy with the new
magazine.
* SCRAMBLED SOUND
A UK online service reports that Sky have commissioned GEC to build an audio
decoder for use with existing Videocrypt transmissions.
The Videocrypt scrambling system currently does not affect the audio
soundtrack of a programme, although if the device were to become commonly
available (Sky giving one away to each subscriber was mentioned), this could
change.
What motives Sky could have for introducing such a step is unclear. Videocrypt
already has a sound scrambling facility built in, although in many receivers
it is not connected.
More reports if we get them.
* STILL BROADCASTING
Troubled German satellite station VOX is still broadcasting, despite constant
rumours of impending closing dates.
The latest reports indicate that the station may be saved by the RTL group.
If this is so, the station may be renamed - currently touted names for the
channel are "RTL Classic" and "RTL 3".
* SKY EURO SPORTS 2
Eurosport is understood to be in discussions with Sky with a view to joining
the Sky network, either as part of Sky Multi-channels or as a bonus channel
for Sky Sports subscribers.
Should the deal go ahead, it still leaves the way open for European viewers
to receive Eurosport via the MultiChoice package.
Eurosport is thought to be keen to start drinking from the fountain of
subscription revenue, and even the 15p/month per subscriber income from the
Multichannels package could put the channel on a firm financial footing.
The possibility cannot be ruled out that Sky may be tempted to take a
controlling interest in the channel, in which case it is more likely to be
packaged with Sky Sports as a second channel, which not only has a good supply
of sports material but would provide a good outlet for clashing sporting
events. In such a case, expect to see substantial presentation cases.
In other news, Sky has appointed Mark Sharman of London News Network as
programme controller of Sky Sports.
Meanwhile, Eurosport will follow Teleclub's lead, moving from Astra 1A to
Astra 1C in the next few months.
Existing viewers will not be affected - while the channel will be broadcasting
from a back-up transponder on 1C, it will remain on the same frequency. It
will, however, affect viewers in Spain, who will find themselves with a much
stronger signal for the channel than is at present provided by Astra 1A.
* CON NEWS
A Manchester man has been arrested following bogus mailshots offering decoders
for the proposed adult channel TV69. A number of Red Hot Television viewers
have received the offer of a decoder for 99 pounds.
Dt. Sgt. Townsley of Manchester Fraud Squad would like to hear from anyone who
has sent money in response to such a mailshot. Telephone 061 856 4251 or 4252.
* SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
Red Hot Television claim they will relaunch on Eutelsat 2F3 on May 27th. The
Videocrypt-compatible 'Enigma' scrambling system has been dropped, it is
claimed due to piracy levels.
The channel now intends to broadcast using the SAVE encryption system (which
is even easier to pirate), although it will only charge 40 pounds for a
decoder. Mark Garner, RHTV supremo, claims that they will broadcast 70% in the
clear, showing soft porn, and the other 30% will be encrypted hardcore.
* WIRE TV SPORTS 2
United Artists cable channel Wire TV is understood to be planning to launch
a 24-hour cable-only sports channel next year.
Next month, Wire TV will begin screening two hour blocks of highlights from
Wimbledon, under an agreement with the BBC. Live games may be shown as long
as they are not being covered at the same time by the BBC.
The new channel will broadcast alongside the digitally compressed UA feed of
Wire TV, The Learning Channel and The Parliamentary Channel, thus incurring
no extra transponder leasing costs.
* BBC NEWS
Two European satellite channels are to be launched in Europe by the BBC.
There will be a news and current affairs channel, as well as a general
entertainment channel. Both channels will contain advertising, be scrambled,
and will be strictly unavailable to UK residents.
* SKY NEWS
Ian Frykberg, Sky's head of News and Sports programming has left the company,
following a bitter dispute with recently-appointed managing director, Kelvin
MacKenzie, ex-editor of "The Sun" newspaper.
Frykberg was understood to be violently opposed to MacKenzie's attempts to
introduce more domestic tabloid stories to Sky News. Insiders are worried that
with the loss of Frykberg, a keen European, Sky News is more than ever set to
concentrate on domestic news, leaving it behind in International affairs.
Meanwhile, Rupert Murdoch is understood to be on the verge of launching a
joint venture between CBS and Sky. CBS could acquire 50% of Sky News (UK), and
the two parties would launch a second International News Channel.
Sky is keen to complete some kind of deal, since Sky News is still losing
around 10 million pounds a year. Sky and CBS are already close partners in
news coverage, right down to identical sets and presentation.
The launch of an International channel would make it more likely that Sky News
UK would then scramble as part of the Sky Multi-channels package, securing it
over 5 million pounds a year in subscription revenue alone.
* QVC NEWS
Sky has sold 30% of its stake in the home shopping channel QVC, reducing its
stake from 50% to 20%.
The channel has now joined the Multichoice Videocrypt 2 package, and is now
available in Europe. QVC will accept orders from Europe, at no additional
cost, although delivery may take up to 2 working days longer than to the
mainland UK.
While QVC has been part of MultiChoice for a short time, it has been running
adverts telling European viewers how to purchase from them for some time,
doubtless for the benefit of European pirate card viewers.
* PIRATES OFF
Speaking of which, Sky has now changed its broadcasts to the new Issue 9
videocrypt smartcard. This has rendered all pirate cards, both in the UK and
abroad, useless.
The change to Issue 9, which has been known about for some time, caused large
quantities of pirate cards, which are based on the Issue 7 Sky card, to be
dumped onto the market at ridiculously low prices. In some instances cards
have been retailing at car boot sales for as low as #30.
Pirates claim that the Issue 9 card will be hacked shortly - if this is true,
it could be a potential disaster for Sky. The spread of pirate Issue 7
smartcards across Europe was beginning to make substantial inroads into the
UK and Ireland.
Local and National newspapers (such as the "Daily Sport", a tabloid which is
often mistaken for a newspaper in the UK) who have accepted advertisements for
pirate Sky smartcards have found themselves on the receiving end of irate
phone calls from disgruntled purchasers, angry that their cards no longer work
and angrier still that the advertisers no longer seem keen to answer their
phones..
In related news, the hot topic of discussion in hacking circles recently has
been the "OMIGOD" hack - a PC based piece of software which, when connected
to a Videocrypt decoder via suitable hardware (costing under 5 pounds
sterling), successfully emulated an Issue 7 smartcard.
For obvious reasons, this program was much in demand, and spread across the
Internet and other computer networks very quickly indeed. A version of the
program for Amiga owners also appeared.
Unfortunately, along with the pirate Issue 7 cards, this program now no longer
works. In the event of the code tables for the Issue 9 smartcards becoming
available (this will have to happen before any pirate issue 9 cards can be
made), there is a distinct possibility that the program could be upgraded.
Needless to say, this could also be another disaster for Sky, with the program
running on machines as low as 286 and above, and updates for scrambling code
changes just a modem call away.
Skyguide sends its congratulations to the author of Omigod, for an elegant,
ingenious, and perhaps best of all, non-profit-making hack.
* JUST IN - QVC AIDS SKY IN WAR ON PIRATES
Home Shopping Channel QVC has participated with Sky on research into the
penetration of pirate Sky smartcards in the UK.
QVC has compared the addresses of people who have bought items from it against
Sky's master database of subscribers. It has revealed that approximately 15%
of all QVC customers did not live in a home with a Sky subscription.
From this, Sky has estimated that there must be around 300,000 pirate
smartcards in the UK - a potential "loss" of some 55 million pounds a year in
subscription revenue.
Skyguide notes, however, that Sky and QVC in their urge to compare notes did
not take into account viewers who might have cable television. (Who of course
do not appear on Sky's subscriber database...)
As cable accounts for some 20% of Sky's audience, the revelation that 15% of
QVC's customers do not have Sky subscriptions is not at all surprising.
* FAMILY DEAL
The Family Channel has signed a deal with UK actors union Equity to allow it
to screen UK-made programmes.
Cast members of programmes will receive around 10-15% of their original
appearance fee, with a further bonus payment according to programme ratings.
Paul Newton, Family Channel MD, was enthusiastic about the deal, indicating
that the channel wanted to begin screening programmes made by ITV companies
such as Granada, Yorkshire, Central and LWT.
Whether Granada, Yorkshire, Central and LWT will even consider dealing with
a satellite broadcaster remains to be seen.
* MISCELLANEOUS BITS OF THE SKY
Proctor and Gamble is to put 6.5 million pounds towards the costs of 'The
Wanderer', a television adventure series produced for Sky by Yorkshire
Television. The money will underwrite the series, in exchange for advertising
slots on Sky.
Philip Ley, ex marketing director of Sega, has joined Sky as marketing
director. He brings with him Sega colleagues Jim Hytner and Simon Morris, who
will work in Sky's marketing department.
Sky Sports is increasing its evening horse racing coverage to five nights a
week, with up to two hours of racing each night.
Sky have extended their free 30 day home trial offer to the end of May,
claiming that over 150,000 homes have already subscribed during April,
although UK Retailers Dixons claim that there has been only small interest
amongst its customers.
Sky has appointed John Florsheim of Dixons as marketing director of direct-to-
home marketing.
Star Trek finds itself displaced from the 10pm slot on Sky One in June, to be
replaced by a re-run of Sci-Fi series 'Alien Nation'. Star Trek will continue
screening at 5pm daily.
* AND IN OTHER NEWS
Turner Broadcasting System has commissioned 48 original cartoons from European
producers, possibly its first concession in its current wrangle with the EC
over European broadcasting quotas.
March was UK Living's most successful month, with almost three quarters of a
million viewers tuning in in one week. Since their launch, they claim over 2.3
million women have tuned in, although current weekly audiences now average
around 650,000.
Still unlaunched music channel VH-1 is reported to be interested in acquiring
repeats of The Old Grey Whistle Test from the BBC. It will join repackaged
editions of 80's music series "The Tube", acquired from Channel 4.
Irish state broadcaster RTE is planning its own satellite station, and it is
intending to secure nine hours a day of time on the Astra satellite.
The Sci-Fi Channel launches in Europe this autumn, and is expected to
broadcast initially in the clear on Transponder 34 of Eutelsat 2F1. Encryption
after a few months is likely.
The ITC has warned MTV for showing 'adult' pop videos when children could be
watching. In one incidence MTV mistakenly played a video containing explicit
lyrics during an evening request show.
The Adult Channel was also warned by the ITC for broadcasting unsuitable
material in the clear. The Adult Channel claim it was a technical mistake, and
that they have nothing to gain by broadcasting in the clear, being a
subscription service.
German media watchdogs have warned SAT-1 not to show explicit material before
10pm. It follows the channel's screening of a documentary on sado-masochism
at 6pm last November.
Blake's 7 begins showing on UK Gold on Saturday, June 4. All 52 episodes of
the series will be broadcast weekly at 6pm.
Channel One, a cable channel for London viewers, (See Skyguide Issue 28) will
launch in November.
Astra 1D should launch in September or October this year, Arianespace has
announced.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Skyguide Issue 36 Edited by Ant Purvis
You can find Skyguide on London's CIX system in the Skyguide conference,
Fidonet's Satellite TV echo, the Packet Radio Network, on internet in the
alt.satellite.tv.europe newsgroup, and now in the French language on Minitel
in the 3615 SURPIN area.
Skyguide is not a commercial publication, nor is it a cut-down version of a
printed journal. It may not be distributed for profit and is copyright.
Nevertheless, free distribution (via BBSs, FTP sites, etc.) is encouraged,
provided that permission is asked first.
Errors and Omissions expected. If we get something wrong, let us know and
we'll put it right! Back issues can be mailed to internet mailboxes on
request.
Comments, suggestions, and stories are always appreciated! You can contact
Skyguide in the following ways:
CIX : mail to bignoise, or use the Skyguide/comments conference.
Fidonet : Leave a message in the Satellite TV echo
Internet: bignoise@cix.compulink.co.uk
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Skyguide Issue 038
--------------------------------- SKYGUIDE ---------------------------------
| |
| Your digest of the latest news in the world of Satellite & Cable TV |
| |
--------------------- Week Ending Sat July 23rd 1994 -----------------------
* I THINK YOU SHOULD SEE THIS...
Sky Sports 2 will launch on Friday August 19th. The channel will be encrypted
with Videocrypt, and will be free to existing Sky Sports Subscribers.
The channel will broadcast every weekend from Friday evening to early Monday
morning. While Sky Sports 2 is not broadcasting, the existing Sky Preview
Channel will transmit.
New programming, hosted mostly by famous Radio personalities such as Russ
Williams, Neil Fox and Mick Brown, will be a hallmark of the channel, giving
more in-depth coverage and analysis of sporting events.
Schedule outlines for Sky Sports 2 are included later in this edition of
Skyguide.
* I THINK YOU SHOULD SEE THIS, TOO..
In addition to Sky Sports 2, Sky plan on using the spare time on Astra
Transponder 47 for even more sport.. but home viewers will not be permitted
to watch!
Live and exclusive coverage of the Ibrox International Challenge Trophy will
be aired from next month, but only pubs, clubs, and other establishments with
a Public Viewing Agreement for Sky will be eligible to receive the broadcasts.
The clubs which pay the one-off fee of 75 pounds for the coverage will have
their existing videocrypt smartcards upgraded over-the-air via Transponder 47.
Sky estimate that there will be a potential audience of five million viewers
for the event, and that it will benefit licencees by bringing large numbers
of people into their establishments to watch the games.
* EVEN MORE NEW CHANNELS
The latest edition of Sky Plus magazine states that Sky will introduce "even
more new channels" in September - an unexpected announcement that has provoked
much speculation.
VH-1 is already slated for a September 30th launch, and the possibility of The
Sci-Fi Channel and The Travel Channel making a move to Astra as part of
Multichannels cannot be discounted.
* PIRATES FOILED
Following warnings from the Motion Picture Association of America that it
would have to take action against Sky if it failed to properly protect the
interests of film companies by ensuring that the encryption system in use on
the movie channels was secure, Sky has foiled the recent batch of experimental
pirate Issue 9 cards.
Details are scarce, but it is understood that lynchpin pirate card
manufacturers paid 120,000 pounds for the codetables of the series 9
smartcards at a London Hotel.
Shortly after the sale of the codes, they were rendered inactive by Sky. It
is said that Sky actively participated in the sale of the codes, with the
intent of changing them, purely to frustrate the pirates, hopefully to put
them out of business.
Meanwhile, news is circulating of a new Issue 9 hack known as "Phoenix", a PC-
based program which (with some appropriate hardware) can activate all channels
on any Issue 9 smartcard. No further details are known.
* IRISH CABLE PIRATES SCORE OWN GOAL
In a classic anti-piracy sting, Irish cable operator Cork Communications took
advantage of World Cup fever to catch the viewers who were watching its cable
service through pirate cable decoders.
Pirate viewers saw a commercial inviting them to call a freephone 1-800 number
to receive a free World Cup T-Shirt, just by leaving their names and addresses
on an answerphone.
The sting, tried and tested by cable operators across the United States,
involved using a scrambling code that legal decoders would not receive - since
the pirate decoders would unscramble any signal, the commercial would only be
seen by pirate viewers.
Cork Communications said that the illegal use of cable decoders was costing
them around half a million pounds a year.
A police spokesman, doubtless delighted at having hundreds of lawbreakers
offering their names and addresses on a plate, said "We've never seen so many
own goals scored at the same time."
* MISSING IN ACTION
Four Astra channels went off the air last Wednesday morning as a contractor
accidentally cut through cables linking the BT Tower in London to the
Winchester-based NTL Astra uplink station.
Bravo, The Children's Channel, CMT and The Cartoon Network were affected by
the problem, although pictures were swiftly restored by temporarily rerouting
the signals.
* DELAY FOR CHISHOLM
Ex-Sky Newsreader Scott Chisholm will have to wait until September for his
High Court case against Sky to be heard.
The hearing was delayed last week when it was revealed that two key witnesses
would not be available.
Chisholm is claiming 300,000 for unfair dismissal after an alleged bout of
fisticuffs with fellow newsreader Chris Mann, who was also dismissed. Chisholm
claims that the dismissal ended his career as a broadcaster.
* MORE NEWS NEWS
Following the departure of Ian Frykberg after a reported difference of ideals
between himself and recently installed Sky News MD Kelvin MacKenzie, MacKenzie
has slashed Sky News's budget by 2 million pounds in a move that many Sky
insiders have seen as a bad sign for the future of the service.
As a result, from September 1st, freelance presenters such as Lisa Aziz will
make less regular appearances on the channel.
The budget cut is also a sign that the proposed International service of Sky
News may now not proceed.
Following the announcement, one Sky insider told Skyguide that there was a
possibility that the cut may have been over-ruled by previous Sky Managing
Director Sam Chisholm, apparently unhappy at MacKenzie's handling of Sky's
flagship news service.
* SUBS UP?
Rumours of a possible rise in the cost of Sky Subscriptions are unlikely to
disappear following a statement by Sky MD David Chance. He said that Sky were
"still looking at the Multi Channels fee" and that there had been no firm
agreement on cost.
Some industry sources have speculated that the cost for Multichannels could
rise by as much as five pounds a month, although this seems highly unlikely.
Apart from the introduction of Multichannels, the last increase in
subscriptions was in October 1991, when the subscriptions for the movie
channels rose from 9.99 and 14.99 to 11.99 and 16.99 respectively.
Any subscription increases are likely to be modest, and it seems very unlikely
that the current all-channels fee of 19.99 a month will raise.
If any increases do occur, Skyguide predicts the following price structure:
Multichannels 7.99
One Premium Channel + Multichannels 12.99
Two Premium Channels + Multichannels 17.99
Three Premium Channels + Multichannels 19.99
* BAKER ON VH-1
Danny Baker will be seen presenting repackaged editions of The Old Grey
Whistle Test on the satellite channel VH-1 following its launch.
The BBC is currently compiling ten half-hour shows, which will initially be
screened on BBC2 before being made available to VH-1.
* SKY OPRAH
Sky One could soon be playing host to top US talk show "The Oprah Winfrey
Show", following negotiations with distributor King World.
The show is currently screened by Channel 4 in the UK, but King World has
recently demanded more money for the show, and that Channel 4 give the show
a full five days a week slot, rather than the current cherry-picking of shows
which C4 believes will be relevant to UK audiences.
Channel 4 said they did not want to lose the show, but that they did not have
an unlimited budget.
* INTERACTIVE
The US-based Interactive Network is making inroads into the UK, initially with
a test service for terrestrial viewers in the Central Television region. Up
to 30 hours of programming a week will benefit from the new system, overlaying
supplementary colour graphics and text geared towards allowing viewers to
interact with the programme.
An additional set-top box will be required, which is likely to be rented to
subscribers at around 6 pounds per month.
* TERRESTRIAL TV GOES DIGITAL
Plans for the launch of a fifth analogue TV channels are back on today
following a Government decision that the channel should go ahead. The channel
will reach only around 60% of the population, a figure which will not increase
until digital transmission becomes available.
The Independent Television Commission is now to decide whether to advertise
the licence again following its abortive attempts last year. Since Channel 5
is still planned to broadcast in the channel 35-37 area currently occupied by
thousands of satellite receivers and video recorders, extensive retuning will
be required - the cost of which will be paid for by the successful applicant.
The Department of National Heritage also gave the go-ahead for the use of
digital technology to treble the number of channels available terrestrially.
Twelve digital channels will be made available - the existing four (or five)
terrestrial channels, and another seven new services which will be franchised
and licenced by the ITC.
* IN BRIEF
Gerry Anderson's puppet series Thunderbirds will appear on UK Gold from August
1st. Strangely, the series will air every weekday at 11:10pm.
Also coming to UK Gold in August is The Chinese Detective, starring David Yip.
Eurosport are to launch a spanish soundtrack during peak time events following
its move to Astra 1C, which has brought it improved coverage in the region.
The ITC has announced two new cable franchises in South East Anglia and
Derbyshire. The franchises will cover around 250,000 and 160,000 homes
respectively.
London Radio Station Jazz FM, recently renamed "JFM", has been warned by the
Radio Authority that it is not playing enough Jazz.
Sky is reported to be launching a travel agency for its subscribers.
Apparently Karen Gee of Airtours has been recruited as manager for the
service, which is set to be available 24 hours a day, possibly through Sky's
existing Livingston subscriber centre.
The Family Channel has bought the rights to all 20 of Ruth Rendell's Inspector
Wexford Murder Mysteries, previously made by TVS for the ITV Network. TFC has
also commissioned a second series of Trivial Pursuit and a new gameshow hosted
by Andrew O'Connor named Second Guessing. Programme Director J. Nigel Pickard
said that he was also seeking to commission a live children's show along the
lines of a typical Saturday Morning Children's Show.
The BBC has said it is exploring the possibility of acquiring programming from
ITV and Channel 4 to set up a series of domestic and international satellite
television channels.
Terrestrial ITV viewers were treated to two minutes of a dodgy movie from RTL
Plus instead of a weekend talk show recently owing to a "switching error".
* SKY SPORTS 2 : SCHEDULES
Times are UK Time.
Friday August 19 - Launch Day
18.00 THIS IS SKY SPORTS TOO
18.30 TENNIS SPECIAL - NICK BOLLETTIERIE
Documentary
19.30 US PGA GOLF - LIVE
22.00 EUROPEAN PGA GOLF
01.00 CLOSE
Saturday August 20
07.00 SOCCER AM
Russ Williams hosts football chat and phone-ins
11.00 TENNIS SPECIAL - NICK BOLLETIERI
Dcoumentary
12.00 EUROPEAN PGA GOLF
16.30 MOTORSPORT SPECIAL
18.30 GOLF NIGHT
Murphy's English Open from Warwickshire
21.00 US PGA GOLF
23.00 MOTORSPORT SPECIAL
01.00 CLOSE
Sunday August 21
07.00 THE SPORTS EXTRA
Mick Brown hosts competitions, highlights and action from
the world of sports.
11.00 MOTORSPORT
12.00 EUROPEAN PGA GOLF - LIVE
16.30 WORLD SUPERBIKES CHAMPIONSHIP
18.30 GOLF NIGHT
20.00 US PGA GOLF
23.00 NASCAR 400
01.00 CLOSE
Then the following week...
Friday August 26
18.00 GILLETTE WORLD SPORT SPECIAL
Cheap/free bought-in programming. :-)
18.30 RINGSIDE SPECIAL
A preview to Saturday's Eubank fight
20.00 US PGA GOLF - LIVE
23.00 GET YOUR HANDICAP DOWN
Golfing instruction programme
23.30 RINGSIDE SPECIAL
01.00 CLOSE
Saturday August 27
07.00 SOCCER AM
11.00 US PGA GOLF
14.00 US OPEN TENNIS
17.00 MOTORSPORT SPECIAL
19.00 POWERBOAT WORLD
20.00 US PGA GOLF
23.00 US OPEN TENNIS
02.00 CLOSE
Sunday August 28
07.00 THE SPORTS EXTRA
11.00 US PGA GOLF
14.00 NASCAR 500
17.00 WORLD SUPERBIKES CHAMPIONSHIP
19.00 LADIES GOLF (To Be Confirmed)
20.00 US PGA GOLF - LIVE
23.00 WORLD SUPERBIKES CHAMPIONSHIP
01.00 CLOSE
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Skyguide Issue 38 Edited by Ant Purvis
You can find Skyguide on London's CIX system in the Skyguide conference,
Fidonet's Satellite TV echo, the Packet Radio Network, on internet in the
alt.satellite.tv.europe newsgroup, and in the French language on Minitel in
the 3615 SATPHONE area.
Skyguide is not a commercial publication, nor is it a cut-down version of a
printed journal. It must NOT be distributed for profit and is copyright.
Nevertheless, free distribution (via BBSs, FTP sites, etc.) is encouraged,
provided that permission is asked first.
Errors and Omissions expected. If we get something wrong, let us know and
we'll put it right! Back issues can be mailed to internet mailboxes (including
Compuserve and America Online) on request.
Comments, suggestions, and stories are always appreciated! You can contact
Skyguide in the following ways:
CIX : mail to bignoise, or use the Skyguide/comments conference.
Fidonet : Leave a message in the Satellite TV echo
Internet: bignoise@cix.compulink.co.uk
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Skyguide Issue 039
--------------------------------- SKYGUIDE ---------------------------------
| |
| Your digest of the latest news in the world of Satellite & Cable TV |
| |
--------------------- Week Ending Sat August 20th 94 -----------------------
* GOTCHA!
Kelvin MacKenzie, ex-editor of downmarket UK tabloid "The Sun" has resigned
his position as Managing Director of BSkyB after what has been termed a
"personality clash", understood to have been with Chief Executive Sam
Chisholm. Apparently Sky staff could often witness the two arguing in the
corridors of Sky's headquarters at Osterley.
MacKenzie ruffled most feathers at Sky News, which led to the resignation of
Ian Frykeberg, head of News, after MacKenzie's attempts to drag the news
station downmarket. A point of particular contention was a series of
'features' in the form of a Jack the Ripper documentary and an exclusive
interview with Lady Bienvenida Buck. Frykeberg said that such low-grade
material would air on Sky News "over his dead body", and eventually the shows
appeared on Sky One.
In addition, MacKenzie attempted to install Sun columnist Richard Littlejohn
in a talk show on Sky News, set to air at 6pm nightly - which would have been
the first time since its launch five years ago that Sky News had not had a
news bulletin on the hour.
One Sky source pointed out that "On the hour, every hour, except when Richard
Littlejohn is on" was not an acceptable mission statement for the channel.
MacKenzie subsequently cut Sky News's budget by 2 million pounds, which would
have posed a serious threat to its International coverage.
Reports indicate that there was jubilation at Sky (and Sky News in particular)
upon hearing of MacKenzie's resignation. Robin Corbett, The Labour party's
broadcasting spokesman, said: "This may turn out to be Mr MacKenzie's best
contribution to satellite
television."
Meanwhile, former TV-AM chairman Bruce Gyngell is denying reports that he is
to step into the Managing Director job. Since the closure of TV-AM in 1993,
Gyngell went to Australia, where he is now chief executive of the Nine
network.
It is thought that the MD post will be filled from within Sky's ranks, with
the deputy managing director and head of programming apparently being strong
candidates.
* MORE ON LITTLEJOHN
Kelvin MacKenzie's departure has sparked rumours that Richard Littlejohn's
show (claimed by London's Evening Standard newspaper to have been 'the last
straw' which caused MacKenzie's resignation) will never see the light of day.
Littlejohn wrote, in a letter to the Standard, that his show will begin as
scheduled on September 19th, and that there was no possibility of it being
cancelled, although Sky News staff are reported to be secretly hoping that the
show will now not appear, at least not on their channel, and definitely not
in place of a news bulletin.
* AS IT WAS MEANT TO BE SEEN
Terrestrial broadcaster Channel 4 will begin screening Widescreen programme
material in PALPlus from October, with an estimated 500 hours to be broadcast
over the following three months.
Nokia will begin selling PALPlus widescreen sets in the UK from the same date,
although they estimate that the majority of their market will be to rental
customers - possibly not surprising since their 28-inch widescreen model will
retail for #1,300.
ITV regional broadcaster Granada Television will also begin making and
broadcasting PALPlus material soon.
* SKY FI
Rumours are circulating that the launch of The Sci-Fi Channel in Europe is
back on. A nighttime service is currently planned in the 7pm-7am downtime on
Nickelodeon's transponder [currently occupied by TV Asia], with a full 24 hour
service for cable operators on Eutelsat 2F1, specifically at 11.678 Ghz.
In the event of the launch, the channel is almost certain to be part of Sky
Multichannels.
News also suggests that Sky is planning on launching its own SciFi channel.
Sky already has a good supply of US Science Fiction material (including the
flagship Star Trek shows), and recent acquisitions suggest that it intends on
buying more.
In what may be an unconnected move, Sky has purchased the rights to "Quantum
Leap", which it intends to begin screening in January next year, probably in
the 10pm slot on Sky One once the current run of Star Trek:The Next Generation
has finished.
* A BRAND NEW SKY
Sky is apparently set to launch other new channels soon, around one year since
the launch of its original Multichannels package brought nine new channels to
Astra.
Rumours of a second general entertainment channel, 'Sky Two' are gaining
currency, and following job advertisements seeking staff to work exclusively
on travel programming, it seems likely that Sky is planning to launch its own
Travel channel, independently of the existing "Travel channel" currently on
Intelsat 601.
The travel channel is likely to have strong links with Sky's new travel
agency, "Sky Travel Services", as reported in the last edition of Skyguide.
It is understood that a Sky Travel service is likely to share the voluminous
downtime on Astra Tp47 (Sky Sports 2).
* ELVIS MANIA! [STANDING ROOM ONLY]
QVC's national search for Elvis lookalikes on the anniversary of the King's
death (August 16th) promised to see thousands of Elvis fans on the doorstep
of QVC's plush Marcopolo House Headquarters in Battersea.
The channel had clearly severely underestimated the extent of Elvis mania,
since on the day the amazing quantity of five people turned up.
* RADIO RADIO
Two Astra radio services are moving transponders in order to free up space for
the new digital music services planned by Digital Music Express.
Chiltern Supergold and Asda FM have moved from their existing transponders on
Sky News and Sky Movies to occupy the 7.38 and 7.56 Mhz subcarriers of
Transponder 47 (Sky Sports 2).
The move leaves the 7.74 and 7.92 subcarriers (Stereo C) vacant, and it is
understood that these frequencies will be used to carry part of the digitally-
compressed near-CD quality service planned by Digital Music Express.
Meanwhile, Country Music Radio, which went permanently off-air as a result of
what management euphemistically termed "a technical problem" is rumoured to
be making a comeback, possibly in stereo on the 7.38 and 7.56 subcarriers of
Nickelodeon.
Two more religious stations are also set to appear on Astra, in the form of
Evangelic Radio and Trans World Radio. The stations will broadcast from the
7.38 and 7.56 Mhz subcarriers on Astra Tp 38 (QVC). Apparently the stations
had hoped for the 7.74 and 7.92 carriers on Sky Sports, which would have
placed them alongside United Christian Broadcasting, but these subcarriers
were also reserved for Digital Music Express.
* HOSPITAL HIJINKS
St Charles's Hospital in London is currently in a battle with The Adult
Channel over a soft porn film made in the hospital's empty wards.
HVC Limited, parent company of The Adult Channel, paid 200 pounds to hire the
ward for filming, allegedly telling Hospital management that it was for a
comedy sketch. The Hospital's director of Communications claimed that HVC
Limited had breached the agreement with the hospital, adding that they would
not permit filming which could bring the NHS into disrepute.
* HOT AIR, NOT ON AIR
The launch of 'Erotic TV 69' has once again been announced and postponed. Gorm
Oldorf, owner of the channel, blamed "technical problems" between Phillips and
Danish Telecom.
The launch was scheduled for midnight on August 5th. Oldorf gave many
interviews to the press stressing that they were absolutely uninterested in
the UK market, and that (in a very self-regulatory vein) they regarded
themselves as banned in the UK. He did, however, take the time to point out
that he would be powerless to stop UK residents buying cards from abroad.
Regrettably, the PR was all that could be seen from TV69 that night - the
scheduled transmissions did not take place. On August 8th he said that they
would try again that evening, and again no transmissions took place. Further
attempts on August 9th saw nothing. The launch was then promised for August
15th, and yet again there was nothing.
At one point it had been claimed that TV69 would launch on Astra, a claim
which SES dismissed as "rubbish".
TV69 also claim to be considering launching two more adult channels,
specialising in Gay and Sadomasochistic material.
* NOT THE EUROPEAN
German media conglomerate Bertelsmann went to the EC earlier this year when
MTV Europe refused to play any music videos from BMG artists.
The two companies were in dispute over the South American service 'MTV
Latino'. Once this issue was resolved MTV began playing BMG's videos again.
* CMT SHIFTS TIMES AND CHANNELS
Country Music Television, currently broadcasting between midnight and 4pm on
Discovery's Astra 1C transponder has announced that it is moving home on
October 1st.
>From that date, CMT will transmit from 6am to 7pm using the spare capacity on
JSTV's Astra Transponder (24) which is currently occupied by an Astra
promotional video.
No announcements have been made for what, if anything, will fill the 00:00-
16:00 time on Discovery's channel, although there is a possibility that
Discovery's cable-exclusive sister service "The Learning Channel" may take
four hours every day from midday. In such an event, the channel is likely to
be part of Sky Multichannels, and possibly the European Multichoice package
too.
* TURN OVER
MTV is now urging viewers watching its broadcasts on Astra Transponder 22 to
re-tune to Transponder 15.
VH-1 launches on the Tp22 on September 30, and MTV is keen to give viewers as
much notice as possible.
* PIRATES IN THE SKY
Sky's solicitors have been busy recently sending letters to companies and
individuals who it suspects are involved in Videocrypt piracy. The letters ask
for an undertaking that the people involved will not participate in pirate
activities.
Uncooperative pirates look likely to be landed with Anton Pillar orders,
allowing Sky to seize pirate cards, paperwork, customer lists, and bank
accounts.
While the switch to Issue 9 smartcards has decimated the clone card market,
the current 'cause for concern' to Sky is the 'Phoenix' device.
The Phoenix consists of PC-based software and a card interface which mimics
the authorisation codes that a smartcard would receive were it in a videocrypt
decoder. This allows any real Issue 9 smartcard, be it an unused Quickstart
card, a blocked subscriber card, or even a legal card with just multichannels
activated to be authorised for all Sky channels.
To then avoid the resurrected card being turned off, an additional item of
hardware is then placed between the card and the decoder. This hardware
watches for a switch-off signal, and in the event that an attempt is made to
turn the card off (or to reassert a valid channel line-up for the card), the
signal is prevented from reaching the card.
As readers of John McCormac's "Hack Watch News" will be aware, the recent
pirate activity against Sky cards has compromised Videocrypt in two ways. The
original Issue 7 clone cards compromised the signal decoding, whereas the
Phoenix hack compromises the access control.
Since the hack requires authentic Sky smartcards to work, much attention has
now been focused on Sky's free 'Quickstart' cards, which are given away to
retailers and customers in order that new satellite viewers do not need to
wait for a fully authorised card to arrive in the post. In what may be a
significant move, Sky appear to have redesigned their Quickstart cards
recently.
Needless to say, widespread growth of the Phoenix device could cause a problem
for Sky, although for the moment actual devices are closely-guarded secrets.
Unfortunately that hasn't stopped hundreds of people descending on satellite
message bases on BBS systems and the Internet, all posting messages wanting
to know if anyone knows anything about it. :-(
* RATINGS TOO LOW TO PRINT
Shareholders of The Family Channel are thought to be in serious conflict over
the poor performance of the station.
Even the channels top-rated shows barely achieve an audience of 30,000
viewers, a figure that is easily out-performed by even Nickelodeon and The
Children's Channel. Only CMT Europe gets fewer viewers.
New programming acquisitions, however, hope to reverse the fortunes of the
channel. Heading the bill are repeats of ITV's top-rated surprise hit 'The
Darling Buds Of May', although Skyguide is less excited at the prospect of
seeing repeats of all 78 editions of "Through The Keyhole", with David Frost
and Lloyd Grossman.
The programming has been purchased from Yorkshire & Tyne Tees television, a
regional ITV contractor which has in the past sold some old and mouldy 70s
drama series to Bravo.
* WELCOME TO A BRAND NEW BRAVO
Bravo, of course, is one channel that is now dusting off its image as a
purveyor of ancient black and white American TV and films, and is slowly
moving more into the mould of showing recent productions.
The US Bravo, for example, screens old-but-popular shows such as 'Max
Headroom'. The UK Bravo is beginning with some repeats of 'It's Garry
Shandlings Show' and 'Thirtysomething', not to mention the existing screenings
of popular UK shows like 'The Avengers'.
* ASTRA 1D
Astra 1D now seems unlikely to launch before the middle of November.
Broadcasters currently interested in space on the satellite include TV Asia,
Arte, RTL 4 and RTL Club, music channels Viva, COM-TV and CMT Europe, German
cable channel Kabelkanal, the Spanish Canal Plus, NBC SuperChannel and The
Sega Channel.
Sky is also apparently still interested in securing large quantities of
transponders, possibly for a bunch of new channels and a 'Video Nearly On
Demand' service.
Interestingly, Astra is urging consumers NOT to upgrade to 1D compatible
equipment until programming begins - fuelling speculation that Sky have
purchased almost all the channels and that European viewers will find nothing
to see on the new satellite.
* NEW PROGRAMMES
Further to our report in Skyguide 38, Sky has now secured the UK rights to the
Oprah Winfrey show. It will air daily on Sky One from January 1995. Sky
offered Channel 4 the chance to screen repeats of the show after Sky's
transmission, but Channel 4's Chief Executive Michael Grade refused the offer.
Terrestrial viewers in the UK will be used to the continuity phrase "and
that's except for viewers in Scotland who have their own programmes". Sky has
now purchased just one of those programmes, a Scottish Television programme
named 'Funny Farm', a stand-up comedy show from the Edinburgh fringe. Sky has
commissioned 20 half-hour shows.
Sky has also commissioned twenty new half-hour shows from Thames Television
starring hypnotist Andrew Newton. The show, 'The Andrew Newton Hypnotic
Experience' will premiere on Sky One in October, and promises to be nothing
like 'The Hypnotic World of Paul McKenna', a similar ITV show.
ITV broadcaster HTV is to produce fifty new editions of popular game show "Mr
and Mrs" for UK Living. Regrettably the new shows will not feature original
compere Derek Batey, but the producer will be the same.
UK Gold will begin repeating 1980s editions of 'Top Of The Pops' from
September 12th. From September 11th it will begin re-runs of the infamous BBC
soap opera 'Triangle', set on a North Sea ferry. Comedian Dave Allen will also
come to the channel every Friday night from September 16th.
UK living will begin screening US Sitcom 'Kate and Allie' daily from
September.
* MISCELLANEOUS
The number of cabled German households rose by 1.4 million last year, bringing
the total to an impressive 14.2 million.
This compares with a reach of 0.6 million in the UK.
Boxing champion Lennox Lewis has signed a deal with cable-exclusive channel
Wire TV, giving them exclusive coverage of his fights and thus ensuring that
almost no-one will be able to watch them live on TV. That should increase live
ticket sales somewhat. :-)
Wire TV has also gained exclusive rights to the 1996 cricket World cup, much
to the annoyance of Sky.
London's Westminster Cable is launching 'The Racing Channel', basically more
or less the same service that SIS currently supply to bookmakers.
Subscriptions will be a very reasonable 100 pounds a month.
Skytext has applied for the commercial teletext broadcast licence on Channel
4, giving it the opportunity to transmit commercial data terrestrially. The
ITC is considering Skytext's bid of #355,000, against the only other bid of
around #70,000.
German travel channel Reise TV now seems unlikely to launch in the small hours
on UK Gold's transponder following their inability to reach an agreement on
rental costs.
* SCARE STORY OF THE WEEK [DON'T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU READ]
Sky is apparently talking to the Premier League about the possibility of
making some games pay-per-view. Horrific figures of up to ten pounds for a
game have been quoted.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Skyguide Issue 39 Edited by Ant Purvis
You can find Skyguide on London's CIX system in the Skyguide conference,
Fidonet's Satellite TV echo, the Packet Radio Network, on internet in the
alt.satellite.tv.europe newsgroup, and in the French language on Minitel in
the 3615 SATPHONE area.
Skyguide is not a commercial publication, nor is it a cut-down version of a
printed journal. It must NOT be distributed for profit and is copyright.
Nevertheless, free (as in NO COST) distribution (via BBSs, FTP sites, etc.)
is encouraged, provided that permission is asked first.
Errors and Omissions expected. If we get something wrong, let us know and
we'll put it right! Back issues can be mailed to internet mailboxes (including
Compuserve and America Online) on request.
Comments, suggestions, and stories are always appreciated! You can contact
Skyguide in the following ways:
CIX : mail to bignoise, or use the Skyguide/comments conference.
Fidonet : Leave a message in the Satellite TV echo
Internet: bignoise@cix.compulink.co.uk
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Skyguide Issue 40
--------------------------------- SKYGUIDE ---------------------------------
| |
| Your digest of the latest news in the world of Satellite & Cable TV |
| |
--------------------- Week Ending Sun October 30th 94 ----------------------
* RETURN OF THE SPACE COWBOY
After an extended absence, Skyguide is back. Apologies for the delay, and
thanks for your patience! To get back up to date, here's two and half thousand
words covering what we've missed, and what's happening shortly.
* THE HEADLINES
Nickelodeon is to launch a children's teletext service in November. Instead
of subcontracting the service to an outside company, Nickelodeon has employed
experienced teletext editors and writers for the in-house service.
Astra 1D will launch on October 31st from Kourou, South America.
The launch will be televised, as is traditional, on RTL-4. All transponders
have been booked, and current information is that six transponders have been
allocated to Sky.
Hughes Communications, operator of the DirecTV DBS satellites in America is
understood to be planning to launch a number of DBS satellites in Europe. In
America, many movie companies sell film rights directly to Hughes rather than
individual broadcasters, which could cause concern for European broadcasters
such as Filmnet, Sky and Canal Plus.
TNT & Cartoon Network are claiming a weekly viewership of 26 million across
Europe. 50% of children in cable and satellite households watch Cartoon
Network every day.
The Independent Television Commission received a number of complaints in
October about Sky's advertising of its free home trial offer. The complaints
centred around Sky's use of images of Stalin in its "Join The October
Revolution" campaign.
David Mellor, former National Heritage Secretary responsible for Broadcasting,
said in a recent speech at the Edinburgh Television Festival that he regretted
giving the go-ahead for Sky Television to merge with British Satellite
Broadcasting. He said that, with hindsight, it was "an unfortunate development
for Britain".
Also at the Edinburgh Television Festival, Sky's head of programming David
Elstein said that Sky is not interested in buying exclusive rights to listed
sporting events such as Wimbledon. Paul Fox, ex-managing director of Granada
Television, said Elstein's speech was "ridiculous".
CNN is to add Swedish and Finnish subtitles to Larry King Live and Earth
matters to cater for its Nordic viewers on the Tele-TV satellite.
It's on, it's off, it's on again. BSkyB and USA Networks are deep in
negotiation regarding launching The Sci Fi Channel on Astra as part of
Multichannels, but Sky is apparently more interested in the idea of launching
its own Sci-Fi channel and eliminating the middle man. A similar situation
occurred when the currently cable-exclusive Travel Channel expressed interest
on Astra - talks with Sky were held and in the end Sky launched their own
Travel channel.
Derek Batey, original host of Mr and Mrs may take UK Living to court over its
remake of the show. He claims that the show's creator Roy Dickinson named him
as the only person allowed to perform the show or allow its performance in
Europe.
Nino Ferretto, host of "The New Mr and Mrs Show" recently gave an on-air
interview to The Childrens Channel, where he confidently asserted the show
would air on "Lifestyle", a satellite channel which closed down over two years
ago.
The Chinese Channel is unhappy that SES, owners of Astra, have told it that
it must use Videocrypt if it intends to scramble its signal.
Sky is to build a second subscriber management centre in Fife, Scotland. The
current centre at Livingston is apparently operating at maximum capacity.
Scott Chisholm has withdrawn his High Court action against Sky, in which he
was claiming unfair dismissal after alleged fisticuffs with fellow presenter
Chris Mann.
Sky is to float itself on the stock market, with a possibility of discount
shares being offered to Sky subscribers.
Sky announced in September that it intended to launch Nick at Nite as part of
Sky Multichannels, but since the announcement no further information has been
heard.
Another Sky idea on which little further has been heard is the possibility of
Sky projecting its circular logo onto the moon, from a special satellite. A
similar idea four years ago when a French company planned to use the technique
to celebrate the 100th Birthday of the Eiffel Tower was greeted with horror
by astronomers.
The Childrens Channel is to brand itself "TCC" while it considers a change of
name in an attempt to attract more teenagers to the channel.
TCC has secured the rights to American children's show Sesame Street. It will
air daily at 9am from the new year.
Sky will launch its first Telethon on Valentine's day next year. Sky One will
unscramble its broadcasts between 6pm and midnight in aid of the Variety Club,
which raises money for sick, disabled and disadvantaged children. Donations
will be handled by Sky's subscriber centre.
Intelfax has issued a writ against NBC Superchannel for approximately one
million dollars. The teletext company claims that NBC broke its ten-year
agreement with Super Channel to provide the channel's teletext service until
1997. NBC has brought in another company to provide the text service.
Family Channel has increased its broadcasting hours. It will now broadcast
until 5am instead of 1am as previously. The 1am-5am time was previously
occupied by Chinese News and Entertainment, which has moved across to
Transponder 47, now home of four different television channels.
The Broadcasting Standards council has censured UK Living for screening an
adult film at 3pm in the afternoon last June.
Hack News: Paul and Ron Goodman, the duo behind companies "PR Technology" and
"Active Logic", which disappeared owing thousands of pounds to customers who
had ordered pirate decoders from them, as well as "MTX", a company which
claimed to be launching a European adult channel which disappeared owing
almost 3/4s of a million pounds, have set up in business again. They are now
called "The Card Company", and are selling - pirate smartcards....
In an unconnected development, former "Hi Tech" supremo Chris Carey has
announced an "entirely legal" Sky clone card named Cardmate. The card is
claimed to copy a subscribers real Sky card, allowing them to use two
receivers and only pay one subscription.
A group of Florida-based businessmen is planning to launch a European adult
channel named "TV Erotica". They claim they will broadcast in Videocrypt 2,
so as not to cause offence to the British Government. It expects subscriptions
to be about 150 pounds sterling a year, although it has not yet applied for,
or received a broadcasting licence.
Six of Sky News's senior journalists have resigned, apparently demoralised at
the planned expansion of the service having been cancelled.
Home shopping channel QVC will go clear on Astra from January 1st. They claim
that they cannot generate enough revenue while they are scrambled, and hope
that being clear across Europe will give it an increased audience.
Sky has invited David Letterman to host his Late Show from the UK next year,
and he has accepted. For one week next May, 'David Letterman In London' will
broadcast live from LWT's studios on the South Bank.
Following successful counter-measures against pirate series 9 cards,
resurrected "phoenix" cards and other cards using "blocker" devices, Sky has
announced that they will not be issuing a new set of cards (variously named
"10" or "0A" by the satellite press) in the forseeable future.
Sky viewers with real cards who have used the illegal phoenix/genesis upgrade
to enable their cards for all channels now find that they can receive no
channels at all. Such subscribers reporting invalid cards to Sky's management
centre are asked to return the cards before replacements will be issued. Sky
insist on this procedure so that they can ascertain why subscribers cards have
mysteriously become invalid, and it is certain that some very good
explanations will be required from the owners of illegally upgraded cards.
BBC World Service Television will launch on Eutelsat 2F1, transponder 38
(11.617 Ghz) next month.
The Family Channel has commissioned its first children's gameshow. The show,
"The Full Dish", is described as a children's version of "Don't Forget Your
Toothbrush". Recording of the 13 episodes starts in December, and the show
will be presented by John Ecclestone, presenter of Nickelodeon's "Get The
Picture".
Viacom intends to launch a German language version of Nickelodeon next year,
probably on the Hot Bird satellite.
* THE DISNEY CHANNEL - FIVE YEARS ON
Disney has begun negotiations with BSkyB and media company Flextech, owners
of The Children's Channel, about the possibility of launching a UK version of
The Disney Channel onto Astra. This follows the announcement that a German
language Disney Channel in collaboration with RTL will begin next year.
Five years ago Sky and Disney and Sky had secured what at least Sky had
assumed was a concrete agreement for the launch of The Disney Channel as one
of the first pay-TV channels in the UK, alongside Sky Movies.
Embarrassingly, Disney pulled out of the deal just as the wave of advertising
material and point-of-sale displays were hitting the streets. Facing legal
action from Sky, Disney eventually came to an agreement with Sky for the
release of films from its Touchstone movie house for broadcast.
* HOT BIRD
The Eutelsat Hot Bird 1 satellite will launch on December 12. The satellite
will be co-located with Eutelsat IIF1 at 13 degrees east, in the same way that
Astras 1A, B, C and D are co-located in the same orbital position.
The satellite will provide 16 70 watt transponders, providing even higher
power than Astra. UK viewers should be able to pull in good pictures with a
60cm dish. Viewers with a "Little Extra" second LNB attachment are already set
up to receive the satellite and will need no external adjustments.
The following channels will broadcast from the satellite, many moving from the
lower-powered Eutelsat IIF1.
TpPolFrq Channel
1 H 11.221 TVE Internacional
2 V 11.242 MTV Europe
3 H 11.262 EBN
4 V 11.283 Sci-Fi Channel
5 H 11.304 MCM Euromusique
6 V 11.325 TV5 Europe
7 H 11.345 Primiera TV
8 V 11.366 CLT (Super RTL/RTL Disney)
9 H 11.387 Eurosport
10 V 11.408 NBC Super
11 H 11.428 TV Polonia
12 V 11.442 Rai Uno
13 H 11.471 NPT (Polish)
14 V 11.492 Rai Due
15 H 11.513 Dubai TV
16 V 11.534 CLT (Super RTL/RTL Disney)
* ARE THEY MAD?
All Sky viewers are now paying increased subscriptions - some three pounds a
month more. The increase came into effect from October. Multichannels
subscribers, previously paying #6.99 a month will now pay #9.99 a month - an
increase of some 43%.
Nigel Griffiths, Labour's consumer affairs spokesman, called for an Office of
Fair Trading inquiry into the rise. "This is a slap in the face for
subscribers.", he said. "People signed up thinking they were getting a
reasonable deal but now they are having to pay through the nose. Now that
BSkyB has brought exclusive sports coverage they are holding their subscribers
to ransom."
A Sky spokesman said that the rise was very good value, including a free
monthly listings magazine and the promise of more channels.
The ITC, Advertising Standards Authority and Trading Standards Office are all
launching investigations into the rise. The ITC in particular is concerned
that channels which Sky promised as part of Multichannels when it launched one
year ago are now being paraded are still not on air, and in particular that
VH-1, which Sky used in the original Multichannels advertising, has now been
classed as one of the "new" channels that the subscription
increase is paying for.
The Trading Standards Office's angle of investigation centres on Sky's
explanation of the increase. The Livingstone subscriber centre is telling
subscribers that the increase is to pay for the new multichannels. At the
time of the Multichannels launch, however, Sky claimed the Multichannels
package was "absolutely free to those subscribing to at least one premium
channel" - since even premium channel subscribers are paying the increase, the
statements disprove each other.
A small legal point emerged in Sky's tactics in notifying its subscribers of
the increase - the letter in which the increases are announced was enclosed
with the first issue of Sky TV Guide, a monthly listings magazine provided
"free" to all Sky subscribers. The letter in question was not individually
addressed, containing the greeting "Dear Sky Viewer". While no precedent has
been set, under the terms of Direct Debit agreements (allowing Sky to deduct
subscriptions from viewers bank accounts), subscribers must be *individually*
notified of the change. Sky said that it had no intention of sending any
further letters, claiming their letter was all that was required.
Sky announced that an extra 1.1 million subscribers lifted its operating
profits by over #108m to #170m in the year ending June 1994. Subscription
revenue from the Sky Multichannels package currently stands at #450 million
pounds a year, with a further #80 million coming from advertising revenue.
Sky appears to be concerned at the rate of subscribers who have cancelled
their subscriptions recently. On-air promotions are currently screening on Sky
One, reminding viewers of the increased choice available with Multichannels,
ending with the line "something's wrong with this television - it's only got
four channels and no MTV.".
Individual letters are being sent to lapsed Sky subscribers, with outer
envelopes bearing the words "WE KNOW YOU'RE SEEING SOMEONE ELSE", and a
pseudo-romantic letter inside reminding viewers that "we know you're seeing
those terrestrial channels again", and urging viewers to restart their
relationship with Sky.
* TROUBLE AT ASTRA
Following a tumultuous board meeting which Astra claim did not happen, during
which a news clampdown was announced, after which SES issued writs against
several parts of the media, Dr Pierre Meyrat, director general of SES, was
"released from his duties" immediately on the basis of "differing views on the
management on SES".
Thought to be at the centre of the disagreement was Meyrat's plans to give the
majority of Astra 1D transponders to large broadcasters such as Sky and the
German Kirch Group, to assist the introduction of Digital Television in
Europe. His belief was that a common standard for digital TV could only evolve
if large broadcasters were behind it.
Dr Meyrat set up SES with assistance from the Luxembourg government, and his
influence on the company will be felt for some time to come.
In the end, it appears that the final channel allocation on Astra 1D went
Meyrat's way. Six transponders are earmarked for Sky, another six for the
Kirch Group, and two for CLT, the owners of RTL.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Skyguide Issue 40 Edited by Ant Purvis
You can find Skyguide on London's CIX system in the Skyguide conference,
Fidonet's Satellite TV echo, the Packet Radio Network, on internet in the
alt.satellite.tv.europe newsgroup, and in the French language on Minitel in
the 3615 SATPHONE area.
Skyguide is not a commercial publication, nor is it a cut-down version of a
printed journal. It must NOT be distributed for profit and is copyright.
Nevertheless, free (as in NO COST) distribution (via BBSs, FTP sites, etc.)
is encouraged, provided that permission is asked first.
Errors and Omissions expected. If we get something wrong, let us know and
we'll put it right! Back issues can be mailed to internet mailboxes (including
Compuserve and America Online) on request.
Comments, suggestions, and stories are always appreciated! You can contact
Skyguide in the following ways:
CIX : mail to bignoise, or use the Skyguide/comments conference.
Fidonet : Leave a message in the Satellite TV echo
Internet: bignoise@cix.compulink.co.uk
------------------------------------------------------------------------------