29/04/02

Jcsat 8 has arrived at 154E so start looking for signals the Cband should be available on dishes as small as 1.8M Perhaps someone can locate a beacon on it?

Andrew Rajcher reports the Dubai Mux has had a power increase on Asiasat 2, 4020 V and they have told him , " .....it is Dubai TV policy for their channels to remain FREE-TO-AIR" !!!!! that is good to hear.

I installed Adobe Golive version 6 the latest version of the software I use to create the site. No problems with it so far.

From my Emails & ICQ

From ME 28/04/02

2.40pm, Syd

B3, 12336V The NSL final was on Mediasat

5.pm Syd..

B1, 12420 Sr 6110 Fec 3/4 "greyhound races" mediasat DSNG 1 Vpid 4096 Apid 4097 signal quite weak

From the Dish

PAS 2 169E 3901 H New SID and PIDs for ABC Asia Pacific and Radio Australia 1, 1160/1120 and 1122.

Jcsat 8 154E "Jcsat 8 has arrived here" (start looking for beacons and other signals, see you can be the first to find it!)

Agila 2 146E 4072 H "RPN 9" has started, PowerVu, Sr 3000, Fec 3/4, SID 9, PIDs 1160/1120.

Apstar 1 134E 3677 H "China Stock Channel" has started Fta, Sr 4340, Fec 3/4,PIDs 4130/4131.

Thaicom 3 78.5E 3574 H "Travel Thailand TV" has left .

LMI 1 75E 3863 V "Super TV test card has started" Analog , PAL, beam A.(Try this in Australia for a good test of your dish)

PAS 10 68.5E 3836 V "CRI" has started , Irdeto 2, APID 667.
PAS 10 68.5E 4064 H "A test card has started" Fta, SID 6, PIDs 1660/1620.

NEWS

Fels offers 'feedback' on pay-TV

From AFR.com

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will hold talks with Foxtel and Optus this week on the competition implications of their proposed pay-TV alliance.

The meeting follows the ACCC's industry inquiries, which are understood to have encountered a record number of objections to the proposed alliance.

"We are meeting the parties this week to give them feedback on the market enquiries," ACCC chairman Allan Fels told Channel 9 yesterday.

The ACCC has been investigating whether the proposed content swap between Foxtel and Optus is necessary to set the pay-TV industry on a path to profitability.

Professor Fels said Telstra's proposed use of Optus cabling under the deal was serious as it could allow it to "bid up the price, very high".

"We are certainly taking it up as a very serious point with them," he said.

Kerry Stokes's Seven Network and Network Ten have claimed the deal gives Telstra and its Foxtel partners, Publishing and Broadcasting and News Corporation, monopoly control over access to Telstra's cable network, the gateway into homes for digital and interactive services.

Network Ten executive chairman Nick Falloon kept up his opposition to the deal yesterday, saying there was nothing in the Foxtel-Optus deal for consumers.

"The only logical reason that I can see for doing it is that long-term, they're trying to entrench their monopoly," he said.

Optus director of corporate and regulatory affairs Paul Fletcher said Mr Falloon's comments represented "more of the same from the three free-to-air dinosaurs".

"They see the prospect of pay-TV establishing a sustainable future and are fighting tooth and nail to stop it," he said.

Publishing group John Fairfax has also said that Foxtel's proposal to share movie and sports channels with Optus - allowing both to offer subscribers improved pay-TV, telephony and internet services - threatens to give Foxtel a monopoly position over pay-TV programming in Australia.

Foxtel and Optus say their historic alliance would give them greater leverage in renegotiating their contracts with the Hollywood movie studios.

It is believed the regulator hopes to make a decision on whether to approve the deal by the end of next month.

Meanwhile, Professor Fels defended last week's raid on oil companies after anonymous accusations of price collusion.

"Could we possibly ignore this material that was put to us, which has documents and other very specific information?" he asked.

Pay TV talks to begin with ACCC this week

From http://www.theage.com.au/breaking/2002/04/28/FFXVCLLSZZC.html

The first round of talks on the transformation of the pay TV industry begin this week amid concerns the planned changes will entrench Telstra's dominant position in the telco market.

The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) will hold talks with Foxtel, in which Telstra holds a 50 per cent stake, and Optus to discuss feedback the watchdog has received about the planned revamp.

The plans will essentially see Optus showing Foxtel content, reducing costs and increasing telephony-pay TV bundling opportunities for Optus and Telstra.

ACCC chairman Allan Fels today said serious concerns about several aspects of the proposed changes had been raised, including Telstra being able to bundle pay TV, internet and telephone services for one price.

"All I can say is that's one of the issues that has to be looked at," he told the Nine Network.

"Certainly this is a proposal that is more than just about pay television."

Professor Fels said there were also competition concerns about plans to allow Telstra to have the first and last right of refusal over Optus cables.

However, he refused to say whether the ACCC saw this as a potential area where Telstra could make concessions to allow the planned revamp for the industry to proceed.

Professor Fels added that it would be "months" before a decision was made on the proposed changes and could take even longer if the watchdog decided to impose certain conditions.

The plans have already sparked opposition from several companies, including Ten Network Holdings Ltd, Seven Network Ltd, Hutchison Telecommunications (Australia) Ltd and Telecom Corp of New Zealand.

The Ten Network's chief executive Nick Falloon today stepped up his criticism of the proposals, saying they were all about "strengthening and enshrining Telstra's monopoly into the future through pay television".

Mr Falloon said he could not understand why Foxtel had agreed to take on $600 million in debt from Optus as part of the deal, given claims by Foxtel's other shareholders - News Ltd and PBL Ltd - that the pay TV venture was already losing them money.

"There is absolutely nothing in the transaction on the table for consumers," Mr Falloon told the Nine Network.

"The way in which it's being sold is of benefit to consumers is that it will be of benefit to telephone customers, not pay television.

"So structurally, pay television in this country has just been not about pay television."

However, Foxtel accused the Ten Network of "trying to hold subscription TV's head under the water" by using a "born-again interest" in telephone policy as a diversion.

"The Foxtel-Optus content agreement we believe will create more competitive choices for consumers in both telephony and television," the pay TV player said.

"Foxtel is a TV company, not a phone company, and our aim is to ensure subscription TV has a long and sustainable future. This is what really troubles the Ten Network and the issue they want to avoid."

Foxtel added Mr Falloon's claims that Foxtel's shareholders were making money out of pay TV was a "furphy".

Later, Optus corporate and regulatory affairs director Paul Fletcher attacked Mr Falloon's comments as rhetoric and accused free-to-air broadcasters opposed to the deal of being "dinosaurs".

"If Mr Falloon is really concerned about preventing a monopoly in pay TV, he should be calling on the ACCC to approve this deal to ensure Optus has a sustainable future in providing competition to Telstra and Foxtel in the local loop," he said.

Maori Television boss sacked

From http://onenews.nzoom.com/news_detail/0,1227,97191-1-7,00.html

The newly appointed chief executive of the Maori Television Service has been sacked. Controversy had surrounded the appointment of the Canadian John Davy, with questions raised over his qualifications.

The chairman of the Maori Television Board, Derek Fox, has confirmed that Davy has been sacked for what he says is serious misconduct. Fox says the board found out Davy had provided false information about his background.
Fox says Davy did not give a satisfactory response about his contract, so it has been terminated.

He says the board is now carrying out an independent audit of business carried out by Davy to ensure its affairs are in order.

Fox says Davy's appointment was disappointing and regrettable.

Davy dismissed from Maori TV

From http://www.stuff.co.nz/inl/index/0,1008,1183794a10,FF.html

Maori Television Service chief executive John Davy was today dismissed by the board for providing false information about his background.

Board chairman Derek Fox said the board had received information at the weekend that indicated Mr Davy had provided false information about his background and he had been dismissed for serious misconduct.

Mr Davy was suspended immediately on Saturday pending further board investigations, Mr Fox said.

Mr Davy was given until 5.00pm today to respond to questions put to him by the board, but a satisfactory response was not received and his contract was formally terminated. The MTS board was carrying out an independent audit of business done by Mr Davy during his tenure as chief executive to ensure it was in order, Mr Fox said.

"In the meantime the board is confident that the current management systems in place are sufficient to ensure the service can continue and operate business as usual.

"A report on this will be provided as soon as possible for the Maori Electoral College and government ministers," Mr Fox said.

Finance Minister Michael Cullen last week ordered a full report into the issue, saying he was concerned at media reports about Mr Davy's background and qualifications.

On Friday last week Mr Fox said the MTS board appointed Mr Davy, a Canadian, unanimously after rigorous background checks.

"We did checks all the way through, our checks were satisfactory which is why we proceeded with the appointment and are attempting to establish the station," he told NZPA then.

Mr Fox also said checks had been made with Mr Davy's three most recent employers and his recent clients and they had all provided satisfactory responses.

"The board is offering support ... here's a couple of people who are strangers in New Zealand, they don't have a lot of friends and family here and they've been besieged by a feeding frenzy of journalists," Mr Fox said.

He said it was "another round of Maori bashing that we're going through which is pretty much normal in this country".

( Craigs comment, for those that don't know the NZ government is spending huge amount of money to start up a Maori Television channel that expects to be broadcasting later in the year, quite possibly FTA on Optus B1 NZ beam actually if they were smart they would use a dual Aus/NZ beam and also target the large Maori population in Australia. Maori Channel on Tarbs maybe?)

ShinSat Claims 3 New iPSTAR Users

From satnewsasia.com

Thailand’s Shin Satellite pcl, Asia's second leading satellite operator, said it expects to sign new contracts with companies in Japan, New Zealand and the Philippines this year for its soon-to-be-launched iPSTAR-1 broadband communications satellite. ShinSat, however, did not identify the probable partners.

ShinSat has so far signed contracts to sell 30 percent of the capacity of iPSTAR in China, Malaysia and India before the satellite’s launch in 2003. Yongsit Rojsrivichaikul, vice president of marketing and sales, said ShinSat was negotiating new contracts and expect to have two more this year, but didn’t know the size yet. The company said it also signed business cooperation agreements with five new partners in China, India and Thailand.

Shin Sat now has three satellites covering Asia, Australia, Africa, the Middle East and most of Europe. On the other hand, iPSTAR-1 will have a capacity of 40 gigabytes per second to 14 gateways in the Asia-Pacific covering China, Japan, India and Australia. It will provide telecommunications and multimedia services to households, business and public organizations. Individual households will have access to a wide variety of pay TV and VOD services, IP voice telephony and high-speed Internet connections.

ShinSat expects that iPSTAR to become its flagship satellite with 13 million users by 2008, of which 600,000 customers will be in Thailand. Its biggest market, however, is expected to be China. The new satellite is seen as the main driver of the company's future earnings. ShinSat has already sold 30 percent of iPSTAR's capacity to companies in China, Malaysia and India.

Executive chairman Dumrong Kasemset said that about 45 percent of the satellite's total capacity would be filled after deals are completed with India and Australia. Kasemset also said that company revenues for 2002 were expected to rise at least 22 percent from US$120 million last year because of strong demand for high-speed data communications. Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra founded ShinSat and his family still owns 51 percent of the company.

ShinSat’s three satellites are Thaicom 1A, 2 and 3. Thaicom 1A and Thaicom 2 are two Hughes HS-376 spacecraft. Thaicom 1A carries 12 C-Band transponders and 3 Ku-Band transponders while Thaicom 2 has 10 C-Band transponders and 3 Ku-Band transponders. The C-Band footprints of Thaicom 1A and Thaicom 2 cover Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Korea, Japan and the east coast of China. Thaicom 1A and Thaicom 2 provide a high Ku-Band spot beam over Thailand and Indochina.

Thaicom 3 is ShinSat's second-generation satellite and is one of the most powerful and technologically advanced satellites ever built. Thaicom 3 has 25 C-Band transponders and 14 Ku-Band transponders and is a three-axis stabilized spacecraft. Seven C-Band transponders cover Asia, Europe, Australia, and Africa, or more than 120 countries and three billion people.

(Craigs comment, A Company in New Zealand??)

Japan, S. Korea Plan Joint Satellite Ownership

From satnewsasia.com

Japanese and South Korean companies for the first time will share ownership of a broadcast satellite in an unprecedented move that enhances aerospace cooperation between both countries.

Japan’s Mobile Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) and a soon to be established South Korean company will share ownership of a broadcast satellite to be launched in October 2003. In 2001, MBC and Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) announced a contract for the construction of the MBSAT communications satellite.

MBSAT will deliver digital multimedia information services such as CD-quality audio, MPEG-4 video and data to mobile users throughout Japan. On-orbit delivery of the spacecraft is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2003 with service expected to begin in early 2004. MBC's services will be the first in the world to deliver high-quality music, video and data to mobile users through various kinds of mobile receiver terminals, including those in cars, ships, trains, handheld terminals, personal digital assistants (PDAs), mobile phones and home portables. A very small antenna will allow reception of MBC broadcasting signals even inside office buildings and in vehicles moving at high speed.

MBC was established to provide cars and mobile terminals with digital satellite broadcasting for audio, video and data services throughout Japan. MBC's new broadcasting system was authorized by the Japanese government and registered with the ITU. System capabilities and performance quality have been successfully verified in dense urban locations by various field demonstrations in the Shinbashi and Ginza area of Tokyo. Because MBC and the South Korean company will use a shared format for receivers in Japan and South Korea, it will be possible to broadcast the same content in both countries. Both firms can also offer service at lower prices by sharing the cost of launching the satellite.

MBSAT will provide 2400 watts RF power over 25 MHz of S-band spectrum to run more than 50 channels of audio and video from 16 S-band transmitters operating at 120W. It will also provide a 25 MHz Ku-band service link to transmit the broadcast signal to terrestrial repeaters. The satellite will generate more than 7,400 watts of DC power continuously throughout its 12-year life. MBSAT's S-band payload will deliver data using code division multiplexing (CDM) MPEG-4 for video, and advanced audio coding (AAC) for audio. The system will be able to broadcast more than 50 programs simultaneously.

The new spacecraft will be a version of SS/L's three-axis, body-stabilized 1300 bus, tailored to meet the specific requirements of MBC which include a 12-meter antenna reflector deployed in orbit to transmit the MBC programming. A system of high-efficiency solar arrays and lightweight batteries provide uninterrupted electrical power.

Toshiba Corportion, Toyota Motor Corporation, Fujitsu Ltd, Nippon Television Network Corporation and other partners established MBC in 1998. In November 2001, SK Telecom, South Korea's largest cellular phone company, took a stake in MBC, becoming the second largest shareholder after Toshiba. Only recently, Hitachi Ltd. took a stake in MBC thereby shelving plans for its own service.

Toshiba and Hitachi said their combined resources will be required to cope with tens of billions of yen in capital investment needed to get MBC up and running financially. Hitachi has provided only 0.3 percent of MBC’s capital investment and is expected to increase its contribution.

SK Telecom, South Korea's largest mobile carrier, is also considering an alliance with satellite TV content providers such as MBC to offer more diverse video content through mobile phones, according to analysts. The company said it expected an increase in its first quarter net profit despite higher marketing costs. SK Telecom expects to meet its 2002 revenue target of KRW8.8 trillion and sees a 10 percent hike in its net profit increasing despite reduced service and interconnection charges.

BBC World buys broadcast company in Japan; increases translation hours

From Indiantelevision.com

BBC World has announced the purchase of its broadcast company Satellite News Corporation in Japan and an increase of its Japanese translation service from 60.5 to almost 90 hours a week.

BBC World has been a shareholder, together with ITX (formerly Nissho Iwai), of the Satellite News Corporation (SNC) since 1994. SNC is responsible for the marketing and distribution of BBC World throughout Japan and in March 2002 it became the first company fully registered and licensed to operate under the new Japanese Broadcast Utilization Act.

The announcement that BBC World, under the umbrella of its parent company, BBC Worldwide, has become the sole shareholder of the company makes the channel the first foreign company registered to broadcast in Japan, a company release says.

Commenting on the announcement, Patrick Cross, managing director, BBC World, said: "This is by far the most significant commitment that we have made to the Japanese market to date. We know from audience research in the region that viewers value BBC World and the unique translation service we provide on breaking news so it is a great opportunity to be first in the market with our own company as well."

BBC World has also announced a considerable increase in its Japanese translation service to nearly 90 hours a week. BBC World news in Japanese is translated live and uses more than one voice, unlike many other bilingual transmissions in Japan which are delayed by several hours and use a single voice for all interventions. The total number of translated hours comprises both live news and pre-recorded Japanese versions of BBC World's current affairs, lifestyle and documentary programming. Translation is carried out by a London-based team of 16 regular translators, backed by some 15 others working on a part time basis and produced by a seven-strong production team.

"This is a great endorsement of the work we do here in the Japanese translation unit. Everyone has worked very hard to provide an excellent service on breaking news stories and given the pace of gobal news events in the past year. I think we have proved we can provide the highest quality output which is now being reflected in the increased hours," said Shigeru Tabata, Editor Japanese Translation Unit, BBC World.

T S I C H A N N E L N E W S - Number 17/2002 ­ 28 April 2002 -

A weekly roundup of global TV news sponsored by TELE-satellite
International

Editor: Branislav Pekic
Edited Apsattv.com Edition

A S I A

CHUM SIGNS ASIAN DEALS

Chum Television has concluded a series of Asian programming deals. China
Entertainment Television has picked up FT-FashionTelevision for broadcast
on its satellite channel AsiaSat 3, which means the channel will now be
available in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Micronesia/Guam,
Papua New Guinea, People's Republic of China, Philippines, Singapore, South
Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. V Entertainment China has acquired
Chum Television Music Programming and CCTV network of channels has closed a
deal for several programmes which will be broadcast in mainland China
(excluding Hong Kong and Taiwan) via cable, satellite and terrestrial
television. FT-FashionTelevision and MediaTelevision have been renewed with
Thailand's UBC. FT will be broadcast on UBC Series, and MediaTelevision on
UBC XZYTE. Both programmes will be aired in both English and Thai.

AUSTRALIA

FOXTEL DENIES ANTI-COMPETITIVE BEHAVIOUR

There is "no anti-competitive" behaviour involved in the much-disputed
pay-TV alliance between Optus and Foxtel, according to Foxtel and its
half-owner Telstra. Foxtel said any suggestion that it had made approaches
to the competition watchdog regarding a breach of the Trade Practices Act
was a "fiction". The pay-TV restructure is a separate deal to the one where
Telstra wants to bundle Foxtel with telephone and Internet services on a
single Telstra bill, as Optus already does with its own pay-TV. Telstra
Corp and Foxtel were reported to have told the Australian Competition and
Consumer Commission that elements of the planned restructure would
contravene the Trade Practices Act. "Foxtel has made no approached to the
ACCC as described in a report in the Fairfax publication The Australian
Financial Review," Foxtel corporate affairs director director Mark Furness
told AAP.

ABC DENIES RELAXING DIGITAL TV RULES

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has said it does not want an "open
slather" approach to multiple digital channels for television stations,
according to a report in The Canberra Times. The comment was made after a
"Sydney Morning Herald" report that the Australian Government was
considering relaxing digital television regulations to allow for
multi-channelling and less stringent requirements for Australian and
children's content. The Government has not yet confirmed the report. The
Department of Communications is conducting a data-casting review and has
said it will make announcements on changes once that process is complete.

CHINA ­ HONG KONG

ATV AND TVB WANT CHANGES

Hong Kong commercial terrestrial channels ATV and TVB are pushing for
changes in the license restrictions pertaining to their English channels.
Both ATV and TVB have an English language and a Cantonese channel, with the
latter more popular among viewers. Current rules force them to air all
prime time shows in English on the English channels. Non-English shows
outside the peak viewing period are limited to 20% of airtime.

TVB AND PCCW HOLD PAY-TV TALKS

Television Broadcasts confirmed on April 26 it has held talks with Pacific
Century CyberWorks about possible cooperation on its pay-TV project.
However, the Hong Kong telecommunications giant is one of many potential
partners TVB has talked with, according to Ronald Jones, senior manager of
TVB's business development department. Earlier this month there was
widespread talk, fuelled by a local news report, that TVB was abandoning
its pay-TV project Galaxy Satellite Broadcasting because it failed to find
a partner. Jones reiterated that TVB hasn't abandoned the project and is
still actively talking to investors about the plan. But he said PCCW is one
of several investors the company has talked with over the past several
months as various potential partners offer different contributions to the
project, including financing and technology. Jones said the company had
expected to broadcast its pay-TV channels via satellite, whereas any tie-up
with PCCW would mean running the service via broadband Internet or
telephone lines, which may not be appropriate.

INDIA

TAJ TV TO AIR WORLD CUP

KirchSport has succeeded in selling the upcoming World Cups into two of the
world's biggest markets: China and India. The two deals see China's
national public network CCTV and India's Taj Television taking matches from
the Fifa tournaments. The deal with CCTV, covering both the 2002 and 2006
tournaments, was described by a Kirch Sport exec as "the network's largest
ever sports deal." The deal will certainly draw huge audiences to CCTV,
after China's first-ever qualification for the finals. The deal with
India's Taj Television covers only the 2002 matches, with all 64 live games
airing exclusively on Taj's cabsat network Ten Sports. The deal is
something of a coup for the channel, which launched only three weeks ago.
Under the Indian deal, Taj gets cabsat and terrestrial rights, with some
matches to be sub-licensed to other Indian networks on a delayed basis.

JAPAN

PLAT ONE SIGNS UP 4,000 SUBSCRIBERS

Plat-One Corp, a new communications satellite digital broadcaster, said on
April 23 it has attracted 4,000 subscribers in the three weeks since it
shifted its free trial service to fee-based operations April 1. Hisami
Kataoka, president of Plat-One, told a news conference the number of people
who viewed the new broadcasts, including those who watched free broadcasts
during the one-month trial period, came to 6,000. One-third of the 4,000
subscribers have signed contracts giving them access to all the TV programs
beamed via the new satellite. Its main rival, Sky Perfect Communications
Inc., has attracted 64,000 subscribers in the first month after it launched
its own communications satellite broadcast service in October 1996.
Plat-One's service includes a so-called "platform business," which involves
the transmission of TV programs via satellite and management of customer
information to collect subscription fees. The service also allows viewers
to access information and to shop via their TV sets. Plat-One provides 46
different channels for seven satellite broadcasters, including Japan
MediArk Co., which operates data broadcast services featuring news from
Kyodo News. Plat-One was set up in November 2000 by a group of investors
including Mitsubishi Corp., Nippon Television Network Corp. and
satellite-broadcasting operator WoWoW Inc. Nippon Television Network has
also recently invested capital in Sky Perfect Communications, the
Tokyo-based operator of the Sky PerfecTV satellite digital broadcasting
service,

BBC WORLD BUYS SNC

BBC World has bought Japanese broadcast company Satellite News Corp. as
part of a move to increase its presence there. BBC World has held a stake
in SNC since 1994, which is responsible for the marketing and distribution
of 24-hour news channel World in Japan.

MALAYSIA

SCRIPPS NETWORKS SIGNS DISTRIBUTION DEAL

Scripps Networks has signed an agreement for the distribution of six Home &
Garden Television (HGTV) series in Malaysia and Brunei on MEASAT
Broadcast's Astro RIA channel. Astro RIA is one of 13 channels in Measat
Broadcast's Astro Favorites bouquet. More than 100 hours of HGTV
programming will debut this month on the service. The series will be
distributed to 3.5 million outlets in the two territories, including homes,
hotels, commercial properties, and schools. One of the fastest growing
networks in cable television history, HGTV is distributed to nearly 80
million U.S. households and to 1,000 outlets on U.S. bases and U.S.
embassies around the world through the American Forces Radio and Television
Network. MEASAT Broadcast Network Systems Sdn Bhd (MBNS) is the operator of
ASTRO, a Malaysia-based multimedia group with established DTH satellite
pay-TV and radio broadcasting operations. The ASTRO Direct-to-U (DtU)
service is subscription-based and presently offers 26 television and 16
radio channels in digital format.

NEW ZEALAND

BROADCASTERS COUNCIL WANTS BIGGER SUBSIDIES

The New Zealand Television Broadcasters' Council wants the government to
increase taxpayer subsidies for locally made programs. The council's
executive director Bruce Wallace said on April 23 that New Zealand has the
lowest funding on a population basis of the five English speaking countries
it surveyed. Government funding for local television is NZ$19 dollar a
person a year compared with NZ$128 in the U.K., while Ireland, which has a
similar population to New Zealand, contributes NZ$40 a person. The local TV
industry's low level of profitability means it can't produce more local
content on its own, Wallace said. The council's members are the main
free-to-air broadcasters and pay-TV operator Sky Network Television.

28/04/02

No updates on Sunday

27/04/02

Things seem very quiet, not much to report

Interesting link www.legal-rights.org

I am still in discussion with Christian Lyngmark over Palapa C2, "Global tv" / "MTV Asia" he is insisting it's should be called MTV Asia. While I am in disagreement. The transponder lists it as "GLOBAL TV" the MTV site http://www.mtvasia.com/id.html says tune into MTV Indonesia on Global TV. Global TV themselves emailed me and said they wish the channel be known as "Global TV" and that MTV is just the content. This page even says how to tune into "GLOBAL TV" on Palapa C2. They even have their own Global tv logo on the screen. Anyway who cares :-) as long as it stays FTA

http://www.mtvasia.com/Partner/MTVIndonesia/techinfo.html

From my Emails & ICQ

From Ahmad Mobasheri (Auckland NZ)

In Auckland, New Zealand, 3m mesh dish, dual lnbf, Phoenix 333 digital
receiver, reception and reading of the Dubai mux, on the receiver are as
following:

4020V, (Dubai Sport, Dubai drama, etc... ) 25% to 30%
3660V, (IRIB, Saudi, Kuwait,etc..... ) 48% to 56%

Cheers

From J

Wanted : Unwanted Foxtel/Galaxy/Austar dish with LNBF. Will self-remove from your roof or dis-assemble as required. Canberra or surrounding regions only.

Contact : clazclay@hotmail.com.

From ME

B1, 12420 v Sr 6110 Fec 3/4 "Globecast LF8" NRL feed 2.30pm Syd time

Another one on at 5.30pm Syd as I type this

From the Dish

Nothing came in today

NEWS

Unlicensed grey-market satellite providers breaking the law, says top court

From http://www.canada.com/ottawa/story.asp?id={86AF170B-D223-4B62-88D8-C5BFAAFD01D0}

OTTAWA (CP) - Police will be asked to crack down on unlicensed dealers who sell satellite TV decoders without authorization, says Industry Minister Allan Rock.

Searches and seizures are expected to focus on those turning a profit - not viewers whose rec room systems have now been deemed illegal. Rock made the comment Friday after the Supreme Court of Canada overturned lower court rulings and said federal broadcast law bans unauthorized satellite interceptions. "We can now ask the enforcement agencies to proceed aggressively to make sure that the purpose of the legislation is achieved," Rock said in an interview from Toronto.

"We're not going to have a strong broadcasting industry if people can steal. And swiping the signal from the sky is not much different from shoplifting or any other form of theft."

The high court ruled 7-0 that unlicensed satellite signal providers breach the Radiocommunication Act that outlaws the unauthorized decoding of encrypted signals.

Individuals can be fined up to $5,000 or receive a maximum one year in jail, while companies can be fined as much as $25,000.

The statute "prohibits the decoding in Canada of any encrypted subscription programming signal, regardless of the signal's origin" unless permitted by "the person holding the necessary lawful rights under Canadian law," said the top court.

Bell ExpressVu and Star Choice, owned by Shaw Communications, are the only licensed direct-to-home satellite providers in Canada.

But thousands of TV viewers, perhaps more than a million by some estimates, prefer programs offered from the United States or other countries. Many have bought mini satellite kits in the U.S. and use the Internet to pirate program codes which are frequently changed to thwart those who don't pay. This is the black market.

So-called grey market satellite businesses feed subscribers signals directly from the U.S. and other foreign sources. In turn, customers pay in American dollars and are issued a fake U.S. address for billing.

Friday's judgment is a victory for Bell ExpressVu which is suing a small British Columbia satellite company.

However, the top court left it open to grey market satellite businesses to make a case in court that the federal law violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

That's what will happen next, said Richard Rex of Can-Am Satellites based in Maple Ridge, B.C.

Being sued by ExpressVu has sapped revenues from the business he started in 1995, he said in an interview. "We had 12 employees and now I have one."

The high court ruling shocked him.

"I don't even feel so bad for myself as I do for all the people who subscribe."

Many are immigrants and refugees who want more foreign language programs than ExpressVu or Star Choice offer, Rex said.

"It tells me that the government sides heavily with the media players in this country and has very little concern for Canadian individual rights."

Rex's defence against ExpressVu will now centre on whether the Radiocommunication Act violates freedom of expression and communication guarantees under the Charter, he said. ExpressVu lawyers say Can-Am is luring business away by enticing consumers who might otherwise obtain a similar service from ExpressVu, a licensed company that must pay to maintain Canadian content in the national broadcasting system.

Can-Am and other companies divert money out of Canadian programming and give nothing back, ExpressVu argues.

Lower courts weren't convinced.

The B.C. Court of Appeal ruled in September 2000 that the Radiocommunication Act does not clearly bar Can-Am from offering Canadians access to foreign signals. It refused to grant ExpressVu an injunction against Can-Am.

Canada's highest court saw the federal act differently.

Federal policy sets out that "Canadian ownership and control of the broadcasting system should be a base premise," wrote Justice Frank Iacobucci for the top court.

It would make no sense for Parliament to have provided for Canadian ownership, production and content but then "leave the door open for unregulated, foreign broadcasting to come in and sweep all of that aside," he said, quoting the arguments of government lawyers.

Now that the high court has ruled, viewers need to understand that having an unauthorized dish is illegal, said Ian Gavaghan, vice-president of ExpressVu.

"If I were them, I would take the dish back to their dealer and get their money back."

26/04/02

I have just registered the apsattv.com Domain name for another 2 years so we should be around for a while yet. Lets hope FTA hasn't all disappeared by then!

Those lucky enough to be able to see Pas 10 at the moment the very popular NASA TV channel is fta in the Multichoice mux at the moment.

From my Emails & ICQ

From Bill Richards

Thaicom3

2135 UTC

3600H Sr 26662 Fec 3/4 Vpid 525 Apid 761 SID 11 PMT 266 "Sky Channel" Added to the Bouquet
No Video or Audio transmitted at present.

Regards
Bill

From Jamal

Hi there,

I received an email from asiast relating to the reception of Dubai
Mux, could you please every one report your reading, signal level,
quality, etc.. for the both frequency 3660 and 4020 to help them
comparing the signals, to Micheal Chu, (mchu@asiasat.com) they are
working to improve the quality.

Best regards
Jamal

(Craigs comment, be sure to include your location as well otherwise the infos not much use)

From the Dish

PAS 2 169E 3708 H The occasional feeds have left .
PAS 2 169E 4054 H "Occasional feeds", Sr 6620, Fec2/3.

Jcsat 3 128E 3960 V This mux Fta at the moment.

PAS 10 68.5E 3716 V "NASA TV" has started on , Fta, PIDs 518/646. (This one will probably encrypt)
PAS 10 68.5E 3836 H "SIS Digital" has started on , Fta, SID 106, PIDs 2660/2620.

NEWS

Satellite Services to Asian-Pacific Region to Be Expanded

From http://www.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200204/200204241001.html

The Ministry of Information and Communication announced, Wednesday, plans are in the works to expand Korea's satellite services to the Asia-Pacific region. Officials said a new communications broadcasting satellite called Eastsat scheduled to be launched in 2004 and the Mugunghwa Five, which will be launched a year later, will broadcast various television programs and deliver high-speed Internet access and multimedia services to viewers in the Asia-Pacific region who can pick up the signals. They added talks are underway with neighboring governments in Asia including Japan and China for official approval.

(Craigs comment, "Mugunghwa 5" would appear to be Koresat 5)

Pay-TV subscription revenues grow by 33% in Asia/Pacific

From http://www.adageglobal.com/cgi-bin/daily.pl?daily_id=7429

LONDON - The Asia/Pacific region has seen pay-TV subscription revenues growing by an average of 33% a year in real terms in the last decade, according to Zenith Optimedia's latest edition of 'Television in Asia Pacific'.

However, advertising which has grown by an average of 3.5% a year since 1990, is set to remain the dominant source of income for TV, at least until 2010, according to the report which comprises the region's leading 14 TV markets.

The report also shows that basic, analogue cable is the dominant form of pay-TV in Asia Pacific. Digital television is rare, and digital terrestrial (DTT) is an irrelevant distraction in most markets.

TV ad expenditure reached $30.1 billion in 2000, up from $20.6 billion in 1990, says the report. The global economic downturn caused television ad spend to shrink 0.2% in real terms in 2001 although adspend is expected to return to growth in 2002 and estimated to reach $42.3 billion in 2010.

Subscription revenues are catching up fast, though, as subscription numbers and average revenue per subscriber continue to rise. Asia Pacific households paid an estimated $12.5 billion for pay-TV in 2000, up from just $0.7 billion in 1990. By 2010, subscription revenue could reach $41.1 billion.

Pay-TV penetration is growing rapidly, driven by basic, analogue cable. Between 1990 and 2000, 143 million households in Asia/Pacific signed up for multichannel TV; 125 million of these signed up for analogue cable.

As cable allows governments to exercise more control over what their citizens watch, the medium has proven popular in authoritarian and protectionist countries like China, Singapore and South Korea. And as cable also allows local entrepreneurs to set up small, low-cost systems that supply services even poor households can afford, it has proven popular in India, the Philippines and Taiwan.

Digital technology has so far only taken off in a few markets -- Australia, Japan, Malaysia and New Zealand. In most markets the proportion of households able to afford premium services is still too small to build a business around. Although many governments have shown interest in DTT (digital terrestrial television), few have clear strategies on how to develop the medium. The report forecasts 11.4% of home to be digital by the end of 2010, up from only 1% of homes at the end of 2001.

Who's afraid of Kiwi TV?

From http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,4186821%5E7582,00.html

BY some accounts 1998 should have been a disastrous year for the Australian television industry when the floodgates were opened for cheap New Zealand shows to replace local programs that Australians knew and loved.

Project Blue Sky a group of New Zealand TV producers and government free-trade advocates had successfully argued in the Australian High Court that NZ-made programs should be counted in the Australian content quota imposed on the commercial networks by the Australian Broadcasting Authority. Roughly, the ABA requires that 55 per cent of programs broadcast on commercial networks in prime time 6pm to midnight be of Australian origin.

The High Court agreed that not counting NZ programs in the local content quota breached the 1983 Closer Economic Relations agreement that guaranteed free trade across the Tasman.

The Australian TV industry reacted swiftly, with producers, actors and unions predicting the virtual demise of Australian-made drama amid fears the networks would buy cheap Kiwi programs to fulfil quotas rather than commission Australian shows.

"The impact of this decision [is] potentially disastrous," said Sonia Todd, star of the now finished series Police Rescue (and currently in McLeod's Daughters), after the decision. "Why make a new program when you can buy cheap repeats which will fill the same quota?"

A group called Project True Blue was formed to fight the decision and unsuccessfully lobbied Communications Minister Richard Alston to renegotiate the free-trade deal to have the decision reversed.

But four years later the decision appears to have had little effect.

Out of the 12,000 hours of locally made programming shown on Australian commercial TV in the year 2000, fewer than nine hours were made in NZ, according to the ABA, which oversees the quotas.

NZ-made programming shown in that year comprised two films – Once Were Warriors and Broken English – documentaries about Chile, Tibet and Papua New Guinea, and half an hour of America's Cup yachting.

New Zealanders, on the other hand, see a lot of Australian content on their screens and very little local programming. In 2001, the three main free-to-air channels devoted just 23.6 per cent of their screen time to local content, with much of the rest being made up of Australian shows such as Home and Away, Neighbours, Big Brother, McLeod's Daughters and Blue Heelers.

The situation has been exacerbated by the Nine Network's partnership with NZ's Prime network, negotiated late last year. Kiwis can now choose from such Nine fare as Water Rats, the Today show, A Current Affair, National Nine News, Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?, Burke's Backyard and The Footy Show.

The NZ Labour Government has promised to introduce a local content quota, but broadcasting minister Marion Hobbs says she is still consulting with stakeholders.

In Australia, there is still concern about free TV trade with NZ, despite the fact that local drama production has grown since 1998. Anne Britton, who as then federal secretary of the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance, led the campaign against the High Court decision, says the battle has not been won despite the paucity of NZ content on Australian screens.

As the ABA continues its review of the Australian content standard – due for completion in the middle of this year Britton concedes the predictions have not so far come to fruition. "We were indulging in a bit of crystal ball gazing," she says but adds she is still concerned about the impact the decision might have in the future.

She says she is concerned that now that NZ programs are counted as Australian content it may open the door for other countries' programs to get the same treatment particularly the US and Britain. "In the end it would end up being a Clayton's quota," she says.

The MEAA is urging the ABA in its submission to the inquiry to continue monitoring the impact of NZ programs. "The high risk in series and serial production is the cost of developing new programs that have reached the term of their natural life," says the union, inferring it is still concerned networks might replace current programs with Kiwi imports.

The networks, however, reiterate that the quota change has had no effect whatsoever. "Not a single New Zealand drama program has counted towards the drama sub-quota under the standard. Not a single commercial broadcaster has shown any interest in acquiring any first-release New Zealand drama," say the Nine and Ten networks in their joint submission to the inquiry.

The Federation of Australian Commercial Television Stations argues for the repeal of another concession given to the Australian TV production industry the doubling of the local documentary quota from 10 to 20 hours because of perceived NZ expertise in documentary making.

"Of the 114 documentary programs broadcast in 1999 and 2000 there were only two first-release New Zealand documentary programs broadcast, neither of which displaced an Australian documentary as their broadcast was in excess of the quota levels," FACTS says in its submission.

NEW Zealand TV producer John Barnett was a backer of the High Court case. The action was mounted because of the belief that NZ shows would be more saleable if they counted as quota.

"Although the New Zealand film and TV industry had sold quite substantial volume of product all around the world, the one place they kept on getting rejected wholeheartedly was Australia," he says. "We thought if we can be part of quota then there is no argument as to why they couldn't buy it."

Barnett who like many New Zealand TV producers has had some sales to pay-TV channels but not to free-to-air networks – says he does not regret taking the action and is not disappointed by the results. "We would like to think that it will get better," he says. "[But] I don't think you can get away from the fact that Blue Heelers is going to be more reflective of Australia than its New Zealand equivalent is going to be."

Australian TV networks say the answer is as simple as that: Australians want to see Australian shows, not NZ ones. The manager of regulatory and corporate affairs at the Nine Network, Creina Chapman, says, "The effect has really been exactly what we thought it would be very little."

None of the nine hours of Kiwi programs that were shown on Australian commercial TV in 2000 were used to meet quota, she points out, saying they were chosen on merit alone.

There is no point screening programs in prime time that no one will watch. "We're better off putting more money into something that works," says Chapman. "New Zealand programming is different."

And when NZ programs are not needed to fill the quota they are competing with higher budget shows from the US and Britain shows that NZ makes cannot match these in terms of production values.

No one in the Australian TV industry is prepared to publicly criticise NZ programs, but as one producer said of the country's most popular and longest running soap: "Look at Shortland Street. It looks terrible."

The leader of Project Blue Sky in 1998, Jo Tyndall, agrees that New Zealand may not yet have made the right sort of product to crack the Australian market at least not up until recently.

She believes the hope for the NZ TV industry and Australia's might be in co-productions.

There are programs Tyndall says could sell in Australia in their own right: Mercy Peak, a hospital drama; The Strip, about a group of women running a male strip club; and Street Legal, a police drama.

But whether Australians will be watching any of these in prime time over the next couple of seasons is another matter.

(Craigs comment, there is high quality NZ programming out there and available. Excuses like "The viewers can't stand the NZ accent" are pathetic. Its the viewers that are missing out on some worldclass Documentry and drama. As for "Shortland Street looking terrible" this is coming from the country that gave us "Neighbours" "Survivor Australia" etc. Perhaps "Project Blue Sky" should look at setting up a global FTA satellite channel to screen the programming and have it supported by advertising.)

DD World To Revert Back To DD India

From http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=7555

New Delhi: With the floating global tenders and a move to revamp the channel not yielding results, DD World’s name is being changed back to DD-India to attract viewers. According to a Prasar Bharati news release, Doordarshan’s international channel DD-World is being renamed DD-India from May 1. The reason: Prasar Bharati has taken this decision to make the channel reflect its true character, that is capturing the essence of India. Interestingly, the channel was launched in 1995 as DD-India, but was re-christened two years ago as DD-World.

In a move to change its image and capture more viewers, the national broadcaster had recently replaced the DD News channel with DD Bharati and instead made the DD National channel more newsy.

It was felt that the DD logo with ‘World’ did not immediately convey the place of origin of the channel. But if ‘World’ was replaced with ‘India’, the channel would be identified as an Indian entity in the satellite markets of the West, said Prasar Bharati decision-makers. “The decision to change the name is part of the channel branding exercise undertaken by DD,” they added.

DD-World carries five news bulletins, features on topical events, entertainment programmes and films, among other programmes. Besides English and Hindi, the channel also airs programmes in Urdu, Punjabi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Gujarati, and Marathi. The channel was launched with the objective of “building bridges of communication with Indians living abroad and showcase the real India, its culture and its values, to the entire world”.

Although global tenders had been floated earlier for selecting distributors and marketing agents for this channel in the US, UK and Canada earlier, and had not received any bids, another attempt is being made in that direction.

“We have no plans of investing in RITV”: STAR India

From http://www.agencyfaqs.com/www1/news/stories/2002/04/24/4253.html

STAR denied a report carried yesterday by a leading English business daily and by several net sites saying that STAR India has decided to pick up 30 per cent stake in Reminiscent India Television (RITV). Speaking exclusively to agencyfaqs!, Yash Khanna, STAR’s official spokesperson in India, said, “I would like to put it on record that there is no truth in the report. We have not done any such thing, and neither are we in talks for any such deal.”

STAR, said the report, was picking up the 30 per cent stake in RITV as part of its strategy to expand into the fast-growing regional language network. For the record, the regional network of RITV operates the Punjabi language entertainment channel Lashkara and the Gujarati Gurjari channel. RITV also has the Anjuman channel in Urdu, the Bangla channel in Bengali, and CCITV, a Tamil language channel catering to the Tamil speaking population in India and abroad. The network also has the Asia One channel, based in the UK, and a music channel, Raag. Entrepreneurs M Suneel and Subhash Menon, supported by Bakul Bhagde and Virajita Suneel started the company in April 1999.

RITV, according to the reports, is valued at around Rs 54 crore, and, therefore, the 30 per cent equity that STAR supposedly is to pick up will work out to a funds infusion in the region of Rs 20 crore.

Giving his views on how the report could have originated, a senior media professional said two disparate pieces of information were put together to arrive at this ‘conclusion’. One, RITV had appointed Ernst & Young (E&Y) last year to value its television software, brands, distribution and business proposition for three years. The idea then was to offload 20 per cent equity stake through private placement. The E&Y report, it seems, was submitted last week, post which the regional channel network gave E&Y the mandate of finding itself ‘a suitable buyer’.

Two, says the media professional, STAR honcho Peter Mukerjea has made it amply clear during various meetings with media folk that STAR would prefer to buy a popular but weak regional channel to gain a foothold in a particular regional language market rather than launching a full-fledged channel on its own. “The buyout of Vijay TV was one step in this direction,” he said. “And RITV, with its current state of financial health, seems to fit the bill of the next potential take-over target,” said a Delhi-based media observer. A STAR insider added it is popular knowledge that STAR gets “regular feelers from such candidates looking to stay afloat by hook or by crook”.

Interestingly, in January this year, in conversation with a leading English daily based in Delhi, RITV promoter M Suneel has said that he was planning to offload about 30 per cent equity to a financial investor in a bid to fund further expansion. He had indicated then that besides launching a new channel in India, the company was also planning to launch a pay service in the Middle East and North African markets by March-end. RITV managing director Subhash Menon had said, “We are interested in an investor who understands the media business.” He however, had not mentioned having initiated talks with any interested buyer.

According to industry sources, speculation that STAR was looking at RITV for a possible alliance emerged after rival Zee Network picked up a stake in etc in February this year. Analysts say that the alliance of a major channel with one of the regional channels allows it to make “readymade” inroads into viewership, a process that otherwise takes years, and means enormous time and investment. Indeed, Zee Telefilms’ buying into etc Networks gave Zee direct access to the Punjabi Diaspora and market leadership in the Hindi music segment.

While a similar tie-up makes ample sense for STAR, it is pretty certain RITV is not going to be its official partner – at least not in the foreseeable future.

Satellite industry frets over broadband

From http://www.canadacomputes.com/v3/story/1,1017,8429,00.html?tag=81&sb=121

Thinking about getting broadband Internet access by satellite? Well, consider carefully, because the people who supply the service aren't sure it's financially sound.

This was the message that pervaded Satellite 2002, the annual Satfest held this year in Washington, D.C., in early March. In session after session, panellists bemoaned the problems facing satellite broadband, and wondered if a standalone service was such a good idea after all.

"When it comes to broadband over satellite, it is rocket science," explained Allen McCabe, assistant vice-president of U.S. field sales, at Hughes Network Systems' (HNS') consumer division. HNS owns DirecWay, the satellite system that downloads data at 400Kbps, and uploads from home users at 128Kbps. To date, DirecWay has about 100,000 users.

It's not just the equipment that is complex, added Jim Grandahl, StarBand's vice-president of sales; there's also the finesse required to install it properly. (StarBand is a U.S.-only satellite broadband provider, with 40,000 subscribers.) After all, there's a big difference between factory-trained technicians installing a corporate satellite site, Grandahl noted, "and John in a pickup truck hooking up to God knows what kind of computer."

To make matters worse, many satellite broadband companies are subsidizing the cost of their consumer equipment, in an effort to compete with DSL and cable modems. Worse yet, the money they're spending on customer support often "costs more than the entire revenue stream you get from the customer," said John Hanes, senior vice-president of Pegasus Communications.

Grandahl echoed this, saying, "If customers are calling you for help once or twice a month it's difficult to make money."

It certainly is. In fact, StarBand is currently losing US$70 per subscriber per month, said Steve Blum, president of Tellus Venture Associates.

So why is satellite broadband in such a fix? Beyond the problems listed above, the concept itself is fundamentally flawed.

The reason: satellites are relatively cheap to use for broadcasting simultaneously to millions of people. Known in the business as "point-to-multipoint," this approach works out to a minimal cost per user, which is why Bell ExpressVu and Star Choice are succeeding in the DBS (direct broadcast satellite) TV market.

However, the Internet access business is what's known as "point-to-point." In plain language, it's one channel serving one user, and that's it. Here, there are no economies of scale for satellite broadband carriers, as there are with DBS.

As for ground-based networks? Well, they have an edge when it comes to point-to-point traffic. First, it's cheaper to install fiber optic cables than it is to launch a satellite. Second, upgrading is also cheaper and easier. Need more capacity? Just add another cable!

In contrast, a satellite is made up of a limited number of "transponders"--combined receiver/transmitters that pick up and then beam signals back to earth--each with a limited 36 MHz of available bandwidth. As for increasing capacity by sending up another satellite, in round numbers, this will cost you about half-a-billion, in Canadian dollars. Not cheap.

Then there's the business case: to make money, each transponder has to serve between 15,000 and 20,000 users, said Blum. This is tough enough with current consumer demand, he said. However, add in video streaming--with each channel demanding 200Kbps--and "it kills the model."

So what happens next? Well, the satellite industry believes satellite broadband will thrive where there's no alternative, like rural and remote areas. Meanwhile, for the rest of the market, the key will be to team up with terrestrial network providers, to offer a so-called "hybrid solution."

As for consumers? Well, it's not likely that DirecWay will leave you out in the cold anytime soon. However, DSL and cable modems are undeniably operating in an easier business climate. As a result, they have a better chance of being there in the years ahead.

We are very pleased in NZ that a large number of services are appearing on 4080H as many such as SCTV and Anteve needed 5M or larger dishes to receive before as they are on the bad beams for us!

Can you tell me what the plans are for this transponder? if we can look
forward to also receiving Indosair and TPI also in this mux and if it will
stay FTA. So Indonesians in New Zealand and Australia can also enjoy these
services!

One thing that has been mention the picture quality of SCTV looks very bad like its using an analog source?

Do you have any contact details for Global Vision on 3760H?? as many are
interested in what will be happening there.

Please send me any info you can all the readers at my site
www.apsattv.com really appreciate the FTA services that are available on Palapa C2!

Dear Madam,

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for supplying free to air culture inspiring broadcasts from Dubai to Australia via asiasat 2's vast signal coverage.

Thank you for suppling these signals free. You must have a long term vision for your company and especialy for your country to be able to reach such a large number of Arabic speaking peoples.

We have many customers located in this area, who are requesting our services to re-program there units so that they can enjoy and ultimately in return, advertise and promote your country in a way that no newspaper could.

You have made our Arabic customers very happy by not letting your channels be controlled by pay tv companies who have no interest in culture, enjoyment, or economics, - just money.

kind regards, good luck and thanks,
Tony Drexel.
Manager, Free To Air Satellite Services, Australia