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Reprint of DVB News Itl. V1 No 8
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From: Gary Torrens <71165.2032@CompuServe.COM>
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Date: 04 Aug 96 22:15:14 EDT
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From owner-sat-na@tags1.dn.net Sun Aug 4 22: 18:06 1996
The following is a reprint of DVB News International and is co-sponsored by
Satellite Journal Itl. and TELE-satellit. Sorry about the formatting!
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DVB NEWS INTERNATIONAL
Volume One
Issue Eight
August 1996
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CompuServe:
UKFORUM Section 7 Satellites
CEVIDEO Section 5 DBS/DTH
News by Region:
World News Page 2
North America Page 4
Europe Page 7
Miscellaneous Page 10
Transponder Charts Page 11
International .......
Expansion For BBC World
BBC World will launch 24 hours a day in Latin America from September
1 on Galaxy Latin America. GLA covers 45 countries in Latin America
and the Caribbean. BBC World is currently available in 43 million
homes in 111 countries across Europe, Africa, Asia and Australasia
but not the U.S. yet. Rumours surfaced last month that BBC World is
talking to U.S. DBS suppliers and the service could be available by
this Christmas.
Arianespace Books First Launch For Singapore And Taiwan
Matra Marconi Space, Singapore Telecom and Chunghwa Telecom of
Taiwan have selected Arianespace to launch the two countries first
telecommunications satellite.
Armand Carlier, Chairman and CEO of Matra Marconi Space and Francis
Avanzi, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of
Arianespace signed in Evry, France, the launch contract for the ST-1
telecommunications satellite. The satellite is being built and
launched for Singapore Telecom and Chunghwa Telecom Co. Ltd. of
Taiwan. The launch of ST-1 is scheduled for early 1998 from the
European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
Underscoring the importance of this contract, Francis Avanzi, COO
and Executive Vice President of Arianespace stated, This contract
marks the entry of two new Asian operators, Singapore Telecom and
Chunghwa Telecom, into the world of space communications. Through
Matra Marconi Space and Arianespace, Europe has been able to earn
the trust of these two organisations.
Matra Marconi Space won the prime contracting job for ST-1
in April 1996. The EUROSTAR class satellite and its payload will be
manufactured by the European firm. Weighing over 3,000 kg (6,600
lb.), the satellite will have a total power of greater than 6.5 kW
and a design life in orbit of over 12 years. ST-1 is equipped with
16 high-power Ku-band and 14 C-band transponders. Its coverage zone
extends from the Middle East to the Far East.
CNN International And American Airlines
CNN International will launch a new program sponsored by American
Airlines tailored for international business travellers and CNNIs
global audience interested in American news. The 15-minute show,
called AMERICAN EDITION, will be produced by the CNNI news operation
and will feature United States news, business and weather reports.
American Airlines will be the exclusive airline sponsor of the
program. AMERICAN EDITION will premiere on September 2 and be seen
world-wide across all of CNNIs regional program feeds. It will run
Monday through Friday three times each day to ensure prime day-part
exposure in each region.
Apstar 1A now operational
Apstar 1A started service August 1. China has rented eight
satellite transponders from Hong Kong Asia-Pacific Telecommunication
Company, the owners of the satellite. The eight transponders will
replace the ChinaSat-5 by providing television broadcast services
for CCTV, and television stations in Shandong, Zhejiang, Sichuan
provinces and Xinjiang and Tibet autonomous regions.
Gilat Satellite to use Amos
Following Gilats demonstration of Internet access via satellite in
Singapore, the company intends to launch a country-wide trial in
Israel starting in September. GCE and MOST, the national
multi-media consortium headed by Gilat, will provide up to 100
participants with 2-ft. antennas which will allow users to access
the Internet at speeds of 128 kilobits per second, using the
countrys recently launched Amos satellite. The pilot, which is
planned to run for at least a few months, will demonstrate the
ability of a medium-sized VSAT network to provide sustained Internet
access, and will help gauge customer satisfaction.
Chinese company to buy eight satellites
The Land Economic Group plans to buy up to eight satellites before
1999 in part with money raised through a planned share issue on the
Hong Kong stock exchange. The group owns four Russian-made GALS
communications satellites, two of which were launched from
Kazakhstan. GALS-III and GALS-IV are due to be launched also from
the Kazakhstan space centre, probably in 1998. GAL-II is leased for
$9 million a year to Global DBS Co., whose shareholders include
Loral Corp., General Instruments Co. and TCFI Cable TV Co. of the
United States and General Telecommunications Ltd/Asian TV network of
Britain.
North America .......
WRAL-HD using Andrew antenna and transmission line
WRAL-TV, the U.S. first experimental commercial high definition
digital television (HDTV) station is using a customised version of
the Andrew ALP Series UHF-TV transmit antenna and HELIAX
transmission line.
The new station's effective radiated power is 100 kilowatts with the
antenna at 1,750 feet. Full operation will follow a period of
testing the Grand Alliance HDTV system recommended to the FCC by the
Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Service and as documented
by the Advanced Television Systems Committee.
Channel 32 will continue to make technical measurements of
digital signal propagation and test coverage of the
Raleigh-Durham-Fayetteville area. Signal testing will continue
until spring of 1997 when actual broadcasts of regularly scheduled
programming will begin. High definition television sets are
expected to be available to consumers in 1997.
The Chelsea Flower Show On HGTV
Home & Garden Television will present The Chelsea
Flower Show on HGTV Sunday, August 11, 1996 at 9:00 p.m. (ET). The
Royal Horticultural Society's Spring Show, known as the Chelsea
Flower Show, took place in London in late May and was an attraction
for 170,000 people.
The Chelsea Flower Show, independently produced by Catalyst
Television, takes viewers behind the scenes with RHS Director
General Gordon Rae to follow the build-up of the final three weeks
when hoards of contractors and designers transform the grounds of
the Royal Hospital at Chelsea.
This is the first time the BBC has licensed this program to a
U.S. cable network, and HGTV will have exclusive U.S. cable rights
to the program. In addition to the August 11 premiere, The Chelsea
Flower Show may be seen in encore presentations on HGTV on Friday,
August 16 at 10:00 p.m. (ET) and Saturday, August 31 at 5:00 p.m.
(ET).
Boxing on USSB
The Seldon vs. Tyson WBA heavyweight championship match will be on
USSB pay per view on September 7, and there will be insiders view
of what goes on before and after a championship boxing match.
The coverage includes a 26-hour preview program from Las Vegas and a
pre-fight press conference, along with an exclusive,
behind-the-scenes look at the making of a Mike Tyson event, produced
for DSS owners by U.S. Satellite Broadcasting. U.S.S.B. coverage
starts at 8 p.m. EDT September 5 with the pre-fight press
conference. The preview program begins at 7 p.m. EDT September 6,
and the fight is at 9 p.m. EDT on Saturday, September 7. Only U.S.
Satellite Broadcasting customers who order the event on pay per view
will see the live post-fight press conference, which immediately
follows the event . It will not be carried live on any other
service.
U.S. Satellite Broadcasting is offering the Seldon vs. Tyson
heavyweight championship on channel 900 for $39.95 to customers who
order using the DSS remote control and for $49.95 for customers who
order via phone.
Dish Network Introduces $199 DBS System Nation-Wide
EchoStar beginning this month will offer its DISH Network's
18-inch digital satellite system nationally for a retail price of
$199 when the customer purchases an annual programming package.
The new pricing will be available with a one-year, $300
subscription to America's Top 40 programming package, with over 40
of the most popular television channels, including The Disney
Channel, and DISH CD with 30 channels of CD-quality music.
Along with the $199 price for the infrared Standard system,
EchoStar is offering the UHF Premium system for a retail price of
$299 with the purchase of the same annual programming subscription.
The UHF system has a dual output LNBF available for viewing
different satellite channels on two TVs and a remote that allows
operation of the satellite receiver through walls and other objects.
EchoStar recently introduced a lower cost, more fully featured
second generation DISH Network set-top digital receiver, using the
same state-of-the-art, fully MPEG-2/DVB compliant technology as
provided in the first generation boxes.
" We test marketed our $199 promotion in areas that were
strongly affected by rising cable rates," said Carl Vogel,
president, EchoStar Satellite Corporation. "The retailer and
consumer response to this was so overwhelming, we decided to offer
the promotion nationally for the remainder of 1996."
EchoStar Demonstrates New Applications Software
EchoStar and Intel have completed a successful demonstration of new
connected PC applications. This is a new category of software that
matches client-based enriched media content with real-time
information from connected sources.
A symposium showcased Intel's ideas for efficient bulk delivery of
content via CD/DVD, time shifted delivery via the telecommunications
network, broadcast over satellites such as EchoStar I as well as TV
networks. These capabilities in conjunction with Internet updates,
represent a new paradigm for content design and delivery.
EchoStar supported the demonstration at Intel's symposium by
downloading a 23 Mb multimedia magazine application over the
EchoStar I satellite using the world standard MPEG-2/DVB
transmission formats. This file was received by a PC card currently
in development by ComStream and installed in a multimedia PC. This
end-to-end system represents a simple but effective illustration of
the benefits of broadcasting multi-use files over the high bandwidth
of satellite distribution.
LSI Logic Delivers MPEG-2 Consumer Quality Video
LSI Logic Corporation announced the reference design for a PC add-on
module based on its highly successful MPEG-2 decoder chip (L64002)
already widely used in popular digital TV set-top boxes. The module
can decode satellite, DVD, and other encoded streams of compressed
MPEG-2 digital data for display on the PC monitor. A reference
design kit is offered to PC OEMs, graphic add-on card manufacturers,
and other companies interested in adding MPEG-2 capabilities to the
PC platform.
Leading PC OEMs and graphics add-on card companies are adopting the
MPEG-2 multimedia standard to add DVD and other digital
entertainment resources for the personal computer. LSI Logic is
already working with PC graphics leaders like Cirrus Logic to enable
consumer quality video and audio for the PC. LSI Logics MPEG-2
reference design module, which incorporates the Cirrus Logic
CL-GD-5446 Visual Media Accelerator, allows our customers to rapidly
develop a complete high-quality audio and video playback solution
for a new class of consumer video applications, said Jim Fontaine,
vice president of Product Marketing for Cirrus Logics Graphics
Company. In addition to implementing the advanced video
technologies of both companies, this design is based on an open
architecture, using VMI and VPM standards, for easy, cost-effective
integration into any desktop PC.
Dubbed Scenario, the LSI Logic Reference Design Kit and Module
allows companies to introduce MPEG-2 products at the Fall Comdex 96
show in November. The VM102 is the first in the Scenario Reference
Design family, providing high quality digital MPEG-2 video and
MUSICAM audio capabilities that can be added economically to the PC.
The Scenario reference design is based on an open architecture, the
Video Module Interconnect (VMI) industry standard is promoted by
VESA (Video Electronics Standard Association) and a number of
leading PC graphics chip vendors.
The VMI module interfaces directly to the PC graphics system via a
daughter-card. The MPEG-2 digital video stream is fed directly into
the PCs graphics accelerator, eliminating the need for a separate
expansion slot on the PC bus. LSI Logics MPEG-2 VMI module
reference design kit that allows the PC to display MPEG-2 video
while playing MUSICAM or AC-3 surround sound audio from a DVD-ROM,
satellite, or other sources.
DISH Network passes 100,000 subscriber milestone
The DISH Network has reached 100,000 customers in a record seven
months since the launch of EchoStar I, from Xichang, China, on Dec.
28, 1995. EchoStar, on this record-setting pace, is the fastest
growing Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) provider.
EchoStar is growing fast, and we look forward to an escalating
growth curve with the launch of EchoStar II on Sept. 10, 1996,
said Charlie Ergen, chairman and chief executive officer, EchoStar
Communications.
CBS Telenoticias Launches Via GLA
CBS TeleNoticias will enter the DTH satellite television market with
the launch of the 24-hour Spanish language news network on the
DIRECTV service provided by Galaxy Latin America.
The DIRECTV service, which launched in Venezuela on July 18, and is
scheduled to begin service in Brazil and Mexico in early August, is
the first service to offer DTH satellite television entertainment to
Latin America and the Caribbean. CBS TeleNoticias became available
to DTH subscribers since the first day of DIRECTVs service.
Currently, CBS TeleNoticias reaches more than 20 million homes in
22 countries via cable and broadcast, said Mr. Soule. It is our
goal to bring our quality news service, which was recently named
the most viewed and most preferred pan-regional news network in
Latin America, to every Spanish-speaking home in the region. CBS
TeleNoticias distribution via DIRECTV is another step in reaching
that goal.
CBS TeleNoticias, is owned by Westinghouse/CBS. The networks two
lead anchors, Raul Peimbert and Denisse Oller, present three nightly
live half-hour news programs that focus on breaking news relevant to
Hispanics around the world. Galaxy Latin America (GLA) is
partnership between DIRECTV International, Inc., a Hughes
Electronics company; Venezuelas Cisneros Group of Companies;
Brazils Televisao Abril and Mexicos MVS Multivision.
Europe .......
Kirch's launches DF1
The German media giant, Kirch Group, launched DF1 on July 28
with the transmission of the Formula 1 Grand Prix races held in
Mochenhum, Germany and with an initial offering of 17 additional
television and radio channels.
The new digital technology allowed Grand Prix viewers to follow
the races from five different camera angles on five separate
channels, using the new electronic program guide, T.O.N.I. (Tele
Online Navigation Instrument).
BetaDigital, a newly founded Kirch Group company, provides the
digital technical service for DF1, by employing TV/COM's Compression
NetWORKS, the world's first DVB-compliant MPEG-2 system digital
video compression system. Unlike proprietary systems, Compression
NetWORKS provides an open standards based platform that ensures that
current equipment will be fully interoperable with future source,
editing, storage, broadcast and consumer equipment.
Miscellaneous .......
News IN Brief
The People's Insurance Property Co. (China) signed US$ 220
million worth of contracts on Dongfanghong 3 and ChinaSat 7
communications satellites to be launched later this year.
Dongfanghong 3 is insured for US$ 100 million and ChinaSat 7 for US$
128 million.
TDH (Televison Directa al Hogar), which operates a direct to
home television service in Argentina, has contracted the services of
the satellite communications company Nahuelsat to cover Argentina
and other areas in South America. Nahuelsat has taken a stake on
TDH teaming with La Nacion, G3, and Paracom Satelites.
Radiomensaje, the pagers subsidiary of BGH group (Argentina) has
started to offer a nation-wide satellite coverage for its
subscribers. The service is provided through Radiollamada which
receives and transmits satellite signals in the main cities.
Daimler Benz Aerospace has decided to keep the partnership
in the consortium teaming Itamarati and Splice to compete for
cellular telephone services in Brazil. However, it will also seek
partners to bid for the supply of satellite services. The Brazilian
government will offer 12 orbit positions, and plans are to develop a
project for one of them. There are several alternatives for
Daimler, including to partner with Embratel (Brazil) or Nahuelsat
(Argentina).
Orion Network Systems, Inc. announced revenues from video
communications services and transponder capacity leasing increased
more than 80% to $6.1 million for the second quarter of 1996 from
$3.4 million for the same period in 1995. Orion 1 showed its first
full quarter of positive EBITDA in the second quarter.
Within two months Abril will launch in Rio de Janeiro its direct
to home satellite television system Direct TV. Direct TV is
operating on an experimental basis 45 video channels, but its 30
audio channels were not allowed by the Ministry of Communications so
far.
Nostalgia Television (U.S.) announced the initiation of an
original series of free political broadcast opportunities for
presidential candidates: Nostalgia Television's Presidential
Candidate Forum. The series of six original half-hour shows,
debuting in September after the national conventions, will focus on
one issue per program, with free broadcast time equally divided
between candidates, rotating their order of appearance from program
to program. Each candidate will have complete control over the time
allotted, with the only content provision being that each candidate
must use the time to address the specific issue to which that
program is dedicated.
The Golf Channel announced an agreement with Fox Television on the
sale of 33% of TGC's total stock outstanding. Also, in October TGC
will begin transmission of a digitally compressed signal to its
overseas partner in Japan from the Orlando-based studios. The Japan
launch has prompted current expansion of the network's 44,000 square
foot facility and will bring an increased employee-base for
translating, dubbing voice-overs and editing.
DTH Transponder Charts.......
Galaxy Latin America (Galaxy 3R)
Channel Service
Language
AS General
Spanish
CineLatino Spanish Films Spanish
KID Children
Spanish
MultiCinema Intl. Films Sp. / Port.
ZAZ Family
Spanish
Zeta Entertainment Spanish
Venevision International Superstation Spanish
Televen International Superstation Spanish
Bravo Brazil Arts Portuguese
ESPN Brazil Sports
Portuguese
MTV Brazil Music
Portuguese
RBN News News
Portuguese
DirecTv/USSB (Direct 1-3)
Channel Service Channel Service Channel Service
100-199 Pay Per View Movies 271 Encore 331
Prime Spts West
202 CNN 272 Encore
Love 332 Spts Ch Pacific
203 Court TV 273 Encore Western
401 Spice
204 Headline News 274 Encore Mystery 402
Playboy
206 ESPN 275 Encore Action
500-529 Format Music (DMX)
208 ESPN 2 276 Encore True
960 TV Land
212 TNT 277 Encore
WAM 963 All NewsChannel
213 Home Shopping Net 282 CBS East 965
VH-1
214 HGTV 283 CBS West
967 Lifetime
215 E! 284 NBC East
968 Nickelodeon
216 MuchMusic 285 NBC West
970 Flix
217 BET 286 PBS
973 Cinemax
220 Turner Classic Movies 287 ABC East 974 Cinemax 2
222 History Channel 288 ABC West 975
Cinemax West
223 Disney 289 FOX Net
977 The Movie Channel
224 Disney 2 298 TV Asia
978 Movie Channel West
225 Discovery 303 NewSport
980 HBO
226 TLC 304 Golf
Channel 981 HBO 2
227 Cartoon Channel 305 Classic Sports 982
HBO 3
229 USA Network 306 Speedvision
983 HBO West
230 TRIO 307 Outdoor Channel
984 HBO 2 West
232 Family Channel 309 Spts Ch New Eng.
985 Showtime
233 WTBS 310 MSG
986 Showtime 2
235 Nashville 311 NESN
987 Showtime West
236 CMTV 312 Spts Ch NY
989 MTV
240 SCI-FI 313 Empire Sports
990 Comedy Channel
242 CSPAN-1 314 Spts Ch Philly
995 Sundance Channel
243 CSPAN-2 315 KBL
999 USSB Preview
245 Bloomberg Direct 316 HTS
246 CNBC 317 SportsSouth
247 America's Talking 318 Sunshine Network
248 Weather Channel 320 PASS
250 Newsworld Itl. 321 Spts Ch Ohio
252 CNNI / CNNfn 322 Spts Ch Cinci
254 Travel Channel 323 Spts Ch Chicago
258 Bravo 324 Mid West Spts
266 Independent Film Ch 325 Prime Spts SW
269 STARZ-E 326 Prime Spts I-M W
270 STARZ-W 330 Prime Spts NW
Hotbird (Eutelsat)
Channel Frequency Polarity Audio
EBM 11.262 H 7.02
PAL
VH 1 Germany 11.242 V PAL
Rai Uno 11.363 V
PAL
Rai Due 11.446 V
PAL
Canal Horizons 11.408 V PAL
Eurosport 11.387 H Various PAL
Dubai TV 11.513 H
PAL
TV5 Europe 11.323 V 6.60 PAL
MCM 11.304 H
PAL
TV Polonia 11.471 H
PAL
Polsat 11.428 H
PAL
Sci Fi 11.283 V
PAL
TVE Int. 11.222 H 6.60 PAL
TM3 11.345 H
PAL
CLT 11.492 V
PAL
ART 5 11.534 V 6.60 PAL
Echostar (EchoStar 1)
100
102 USA Network 401 Golf Channel
104 Comedy Central 500 PPV 1 (events)
106 TV Land 501 PPV 2
108 Lifetime 502 PPV 3
110 TV Food Network 503 PPV 4
112 Home and Garden Network 504 PPV 5
114 E! Entertainment Television 600 RAI (Italy)
118 Arts and Entertainment 602 ART
120 History Channel 604 ANT-1 Greece
122 Sci-Fi Channel 700 Preview Channel
132 Turner Classic Movies 900 Business TV
138 Turner Network Television 901 Business TV
140 ESPN 950 Young Country
141 ESPN Alt 951 Country
Gold
142 ESPN2 952 Country
Currents
143 ESPN Alt 953 Jukebox
Gold
160 M-TV 954 70's
Song Book
162 VH-1 955
Foreground Music
166 Country Music Television 956 Adult Contemporary
168 The Nashville Network 957 Album Adult Alternative
170 Nickelodeon 958 HitLine
172 The Disney Channel 959 Classic Rock
176 The Cartoon Network 960 Modern Rock
178 The Learning Channel 961 Hard rock
180 The Family Channel 962 Hip Hop
182 The Discovery Channel 963 Urban Beat
200 Cable News Network 964 Latin Styles
202 Headline News 965 Fiesta Mexicana
204 Court TV 966 Eurostyle
206 CNN International / CNNfn 967 Mainstream Jazz
208 CNBC 968 Contemporary Jazz
Flavors
210 CSpan 969 Expressions
214 The Weather Channel 970 Contemporary
Instrumentals
220 The Travel Channel 971 Symphonic Classical
226 QVC Shopping Network 972 Light Classical
230 TBS 973 Beautiful Music
232 KTLA, Los Angeles 974 Mature Vocals
234 WPIX, New York 975 Contemporary Christian
240 WGN, Chicago 976 Children's
241 WNBC-TV, New York (NBC)
242 KNBC-TV, Los Angeles
243 WRAL-TV, Raleigh (CBS)
244
245 WJLA-TV, Washington (ABC)
246 KOMO-TV
247 FOXNet
249 PBS
260 Trinity Broadcasting Net
261 Eternal Word TV Network
300 HBO East
301 HBO 2 East
302 HBO 3 East
303 HBO West
304 HBO 2 West
310 Showtime 1
311 Showtime 2
312 Showtime 3
320 Cinemax 1
321 Cinemax 2
322 Cinemax 3
330 The Movie Channel East
331 The Movie Channel West
AlphaStar (Telstar 402)
Channel Service Channel Service Channel Service
Alpha Preview Channel HBO Showtime
Arts & Entertainment HBO 2 Showtime 2
Cartoon Network HBO 3 Showtime West
Comedy Central HBO West The Movie Channel
Country Music TV HBO 2 West Movie Channel
West
Disney (E) Cinemax
Disney (W) Cinemax 2 Sundance
E! Entertainment Cinemax West Golf
Family Channel Encore
Lifetime Encore +
MTV C-SPAN
CNBC ESPN
Nickelodeon CNN
ESPN2
Sci-Fi CNNfn Liberty
Sports
The Nashville Network Court TV Classic Sports
Turner Classic Movies Discovery Ch Regional Sport Ch
TNT Headline News
TV Land History Channel
USA Network Learning Channel
VH-1 NewsTalk
DVB News
International
Volume 1 Issue 8
DVB News International is a monthly news journal for satellite
enthusiasts and is produced in Burleson, Texas and Brantford,
Ontario Canada.
Comments or news items may be sent to:
Internet E-mail: 71165.2032@Compuserve.com
or
Compuserve: 71165,2032
or
Satellite Journal International / DVB News International
PO Box 2065 Burleson Texas 76097- 2065 USA
or
Merriam & Torrens Advertising Inc.
PO Box 23058 Brantford Ontario Canada N3T-6K4
519-751-1487 9am-5pm eastern time.
The electronic deadline for inclusion of news items is 20 days
before the issue date.
Copyright 1996
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