30/12/00
A few pictures today and reader emails its always good to get some feedback. Site update is late because a big tree in my yard split in half crushing the dish (NO WAY just kidding) it was nowhere near the dish but it took a long time to clean up the mess and wait for someone with a chainsaw to finish it off.
From my Emails & ICQ
This from "SIAM GLOBAL" the man with the stuck Caps lock key
CAN YOU PLSE INFORM YOUR INQUIRER AND ALL OTHERS INTERESTED IN THE YURI BRAND OF SAT RECEIVERS THAT IT IS MANUFACTURERED BY A MR JK CHEW AND HIS COMPANY IS CALLED ADITRON . HE IS IN SINGAPORE AND HIS EMAIL ADDRESS IS aditron@singnet.com.sg
HE IS A VERY FRIENDLY AND HELPFUL MAN WITH A VAST KNOWLEDGE OF SATELLITE TECHNOLOGY
regards
SIAMGLOBAL BANGKOK.
John Kahler reported via apsattv mailing list, Saturday
"All channels in the Boomerang TV package on PAS 8 were FTA for a while Saturday".
Encrypted again later with CNN remaining FTA
Wally Howse reports via the Apsattv Mailing list
Optus B1 Pal Signals seen from Perth,
11870 MHz H vertical colour bars with word OPTUS across them (at 1400 UTC
28 Dec) and at about 0730 UTC today Friday program material for GWN news
possibly originating from Kalgoorlie WA)
12180 MHz V Test pattern marked OPTUS SYDNEY
Bill Richards reports,
2010 UTC 30/12/00
Asiasat 2 100.5E 3864 V "BTV Beijing TV Station Test Card" Sr 4418 Fec 3/4 Vpid 32 Apid 34
(Click for Fullsize)
From the Dish
Express 6A 80E 3640 R "Testcard" FTA Sr 5966 Fec 1/2 Vpid 4194 Apid 4195
Intelsat 704 66E "Occasional GlobeCast Espana" feeds on 4055 R Dig, Vpid 771 Apid 781
Asiasat 2 100.5E 3864 V "BTV Testcard" FTA Sr 4418 Fec 3/4 Vpid 32 Apid 34
Asiasat 3 105.5E 3900 V "NOW/PCMTSG" Sr 27890 Fec 7/8
Telkom 1 108E 4014 H "TVRI" reported back here Sr 6000 Fec 3/4
NEWS
Zee takes fresh guard for the New Year, still eyeing sports
From indiantelevision.com
Zee Telefilms Ltd has lined up a new set of programmes for the Year 2001 and is planning to review its strategy and investment in the sports business. The programmes Zee has scheduled spans all its related channels and is in line with the recommendations made by consulting firm AT Kearney that the company restructure its various businesses while building some new core competencies. Towards that end, Zee's Alpha brand of regional languages will also feature a wide range of new programmes.
On the sports front Zee is working out new strategies after the huge setback it received in June in the bidding for telecast rights of all ICC-organised cricket matches. Despite posting the highest bid, it was arch rival Rupert Murdoch who walked away with the booty. That effectively killed off any hope Zee had of launching a channel in the near term.
Zee, meanwhile, plans to create newer streams of content in soccer and cricket. The company's board of directors was to meet on Friday to review the plans. Zee Chairman Subhash Chandra, in the company's annual report for 1999-2000, had said: "We are giving a new impetus to sports, especially cricket and soccer.
The company is also creating newer and newer streams of content in sports, particularly in soccer and cricket." It is learnt that Zee Sports is the frontrunner to obtain the three-year exclusive broadcast rights from WSG Nimbus Pvt Ltd of Singapore, for international cricket played in Sri Lanka, according to the Business Standard.
Zee is believed to have offered to cross-promote the event through its various channels including Zee TV and Zee News across the network. How Zee approaches its sporting ambitions this time round will make for interesting watching.
29/12/00
From my Emails & ICQ
This in responce to a readers request for info on a Yuri receiver yesterday
Hi Craig,
I believe this is a standard Analog receiver similar
to the model I've installed here in Malaysia.
He can contact me at 019-3690922, West Malaysia
for details on the installations.
Regards,
Shahjees
Kuala Lumpur
MALAYSIA
Bill Richards supplies, Some shots of the Taiwanese Channels from the Dish section,
TTV and FTV
CTV and CTS
From the Dish
St 1 88E 3550 V "TTV Taiwan" FTA, Sr 26667 Fec 3/4, Vpid 58 Apid 59
St 1 88E 3550 V "CTV Taiwan" FTA, Sr 26667 Fec 3/4, Vpid 60 Apid 61
St 1 88E 3550 V "CTS Taiwan" FTA, Sr 26667 Fec 3/4, Vpid 62 Apid 63
St 1 88E 3550 V "FTV Taiwan" FTA, Sr 26667 Fec 3/4, Vpid 64 Apid 65
Programming link
TTV (http://www.ttv.com.tw/ServiceWeb/weekly_pro.htm)
Asiasat 3 105.5E 4135 V "Zee News" has left Vpid 35 Apid 36
Palapa C2 113E 4071 H "Testcard" FTA Sr 14060 Fec 3/4 Vpid 1057 Apid 1058
Palapa C2 113E 4071 H "Testcard" FTA Sr 14060 Fec 3/4 Vpid 2081 Apid 2082
Palapa C2 113E 4071 H "Testcard" FTA Sr 14060 Fec 3/4 Vpid 3105 Apid 3106
Optus B3 156E All Zee and Alpha TV channels have moved from 12532 V to 12658 V
NEWS
Plenty of digital but no TV due to delay
From http://www.theage.com.au/business/2000/12/29/FFX1B2TA9HC.html
TV watchers will be unable to view digital TV when it launches in three days. The supplier of set-top boxes confirmed yesterday they would not be for sale until mid-January.
This will be a blow to the free-to-air TV networks, which underwrote the first shipment of boxes to ensure their delivery before January 1.
French company Thomson-Multimedia won the contract offered by the free-to-air networks to supply the boxes, but managing director Lawrie Ruddock said yesterday that only demonstration boxes would be available by New Year.
He would not reveal the reason for the delay, but said the boxes would be on sale by mid-January.
The TV networks had said in a statement announcing the contract in October that they were "keen to ensure the availability of affordable consumer equipment for digital TV on that date (January 1)".
The general manager of the Federation of Australian Commercial Television Stations (FACTS), Tony Branigan, said last night it had become clear in the past few weeks the boxes would not be available for sale on January 1.
"They have been moving heaven and earth to get 500 here (for in-store demonstrations), but the others won't be here until some time in January," he said.
Mr Ruddock said the underwritten shipment of 10,000 boxes had been fully pre-sold and another shipment was planned for between March and May.
He said the greatest demand had come from Victoria and New South Wales.
While the Federal Government will meet its deadline for the start of digital, the fact that no one will be able to see the new services for some weeks does not concern it.
A spokesman for federal Communications Minister Richard Alston doubted whether consumers would be "too perturbed" by a lack of boxes.
"If we miss it for a week or two I don't think it's of huge consequence," he said.
The spokesman also confirmed that the Federal Government, on behalf of the ABC and SBS, would contribute to the cost of retuning VCRs and pay TV set-top boxes that were affected by the start of digital transmissions.
The government will share with the commercial TV networks the cost of sending TV technicians to households unable to meet the cost.
"It (the total cost) is difficult to tell because you don't really know until you do it (turn on the signals) what will be the amount of interference," he said.
FACTS has contracted Hills Industries to do the retuning.
28/12/00
Not much happening today a few news items and a few pictures.
For those of you that thought I was useing to much concrete take a look at these pics.
From my Emails & ICQ
This from "Chua" in Malaysia
Need detail information on Yuri YRPS - 1000 LT
Satelitte Receiver System
Detail on installation and tuning.
(I am sorry but i don't have any information on that receiver. Perhaps another reader can help?)
From the Dish
Apstar 2R 76.5E 3780 V "DD North-East" has replaced TV Malagasy PAL,Analog ! 5.50 MHz.Audio
This channel formally known as" DD 13 - Assam"
ST 1 88E 3632 V "Savoir Knowledge" Channel is now encrypted.
Palapa C2 113E "Savoir Knowledge" Channel on 4000 H and 11130 V is now encrypted.
NEWS
Launch of DD channel for the northeast put off to Dec 27 (Today see from the Dish section)
From indiantelevision.com
Doordarshan has deferred to December 27 the launch of its channel catering to India's northeastern states.
The channel was earlier to be launched on Saturday but in view of Christmas celebrations this was postponed, Information & Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj, said on Friday in New Delhi. She will be inaugurating the channel at Guwahati in Assam, reports Press Trust of India.
Chief ministers of all the seven states and Sikkim have been invited for the launch, she said. The channel will initially run for nine-and-a-half hours and will ultimately beam for a full 24 hours she added .
Swaraj said emphasis will be laid on local and regional items on the channel which is aimed at giving people of the remote areas better access to DD.
Dialogue: Sky's not the limit for set-top boxes
From http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=166544&thesection=technology&thesubsection=general
Television New Zealand's latest digital initiative will establish a system of open access that benefits all viewers, writes JAMES MUNRO*.
Tom Frewen, in a Dialogue article, observed that a broadcast transmission system was a piece of infrastructure, like a railway but with 1.3 million branch lines. They all had to be the same gauge to allow competing firms free access to all consumers and vice versa.
It is this principle that Television New Zealand argued before the ministerial inquiry into telecommunications and which was accepted in that inquiry's report in October. The principle is that there should be open access to all digital set-top boxes on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory commercial terms. Sky resisted this intensely.
Mr Frewen also stated that if a signal could not be translated into pictures on a screen then it was not, by definition, free-to-air. This statement draws a line in the sand around existing technology and systems, ignoring how those systems came to be in the first place.
A viewer cannot interpret the analogue VHF or UHF signals into video and audio without the appropriate receiving equipment - a television set and an aerial. The signals cannot be accessed otherwise. Reception is, and always has been, a cost to the viewer in buying the appropriate equipment.
In a digital environment the appropriate equipment includes a digital decoder, or set-top box, irrespective of whether a signal is encrypted.
TVNZ will encrypt its digital signal. This has nothing whatsoever to do with the signals being free-to-air, but it has everything to do with protecting the integrity of the broadcast system itself and preventing the misappropriation of TVNZ's signals by commercial organisations that do not support open access to the set-top box.
Open access is not about carriage of free-to-air signals. It is about allowing organisations such as TVNZ to introduce other services without first requesting permission from competing organisations such as Sky.
Open access is also a two-way street. It offers Sky, or any other network provider, the same open access to our networks as we require from them.
In effect, Mr Frewen was arguing that the Sky digital set-top box, installed in about 15 per cent of homes, should become the default standard for digital broadcast receiving equipment. This is a set-top box provided and owned by Sky, not the viewer.
To follow Mr Frewen's logic and using his railway analogy, that is the equivalent of not only ensuring we all run on the same tracks but that we are able to use only the coaches that Sky provides, unless we have open access.
The TVNZ-Telstra Saturn deal promises more than the emergence of Telstra Saturn as a national competitor to Sky in pay television.
It offers the establishment of a free-to-air platform in digital broadcast that will serve those viewers who wish to move into the digital environment but who do not wish to become a subscribers to a pay-television business.
TVNZ will ensure that free-to-air set-top boxes are available to viewers who wish to buy them. This box will provide the viewer with crystal-clear reception of TV One and TV2, plus any other free-to-air channels that decide to take up carriage on the system. The free-to-air box will be capable of e-mail and will later be able to be used for internet browsing. Internet browse access will require an ISP subscription, as does a personal computer.
TVNZ and Telstra Saturn are taking all care to ensure that we use compatible broadcast standards to Sky. This has little to do with encryption systems and rather a lot to do with more arcane and tedious detail regarding megasymbol rates, forward error correction and so on.
Sky's encryption system provider and the short-listed TVNZ-Telstra Saturn system providers are signatories to what is known as the DVB simulcrypt protocol. This means that it is possible to broadcast two streams in simultaneous encryption under different systems to be received freely by enabled set-top boxes.
It is the absence of a commercial agreement between Sky and other broadcasters for open access to the set-top box that will perpetuate a two-box system. The technology is not an issue. In isolation of such an agreement between Sky and TVNZ, Sky pay-subscribers can, in the foreseeable future, continue to enjoy TV One and TV2 on our analogue VHF transmission, which reaches 99.98 per cent of people.
In the past decade TVNZ has not cost the taxpayers of this country a cent and has returned hundreds of millions of dollars to the Government and it seems apparent that the Government will require TVNZ to remain at least self-funding in the future.
As a commercially funded broadcaster, like others all around the world, TVNZ faces the fragmentation of its revenue streams through the increase in channels, changing lifestyles and alternative sources of entertainment.
This is why moving to future digital opportunities is a survival strategy. TVNZ's launch of its nzoom.com portal represents one small way in which it is attempting to mitigate the risks of the fragmenting media world.
Mr Frewen's claim that the TVNZ-Telstra Saturn deal is a partial privatisation of TVNZ is laughable. TVNZ was a founding shareholder in Sky, Clear Communications, CNBC Asia and Fiji Television. None of these ventures led in any way to a partial privatisation of the core of TVNZ. They all helped to establish successful businesses.
The TVNZ-Telstra Saturn deal allows TVNZ to leverage its strengths to provide for new revenue lines, thereby contributing to the maintenance of our self-funding status over the long term. The deal also establishes a system of open access in the digital environment which, in our small market, must be a good thing for all New Zealanders.
*James Munro is Television New Zealand's general manager of strategy.
MPEG: The Next Generation :Enabling Technologies for the Digital Reformation
From http://www.tvbroadcast.com/issues/2000/1222/1222.10.htm
Many studies suggest that the rate at which new information is created is accelerating. Not only are we being deluged with information, it can now be shared with anyone, anywhere in a heartbeat. Digital networking, computers and the global phenomenon called the Internet are major contributing factors behind today's digital information epidemic.
Soon after the invention of Johann Gutenberg's printing press, the political and religious institutions that had controlled the flow of information for centuries saw their power diminished, as the reformation spread across Europe. But the free flow of information was short lived. First, enabled by the printing press, we experienced the growth of the publishing industry; newspaper barons gathered wealth and power by creating a choke-point between the information and the masses who wished to consume it. Then in the 20th Century we experienced the growth of the film industry and electronic mass media; their feudal realm is supported by an economic engine that thrives on the choke-points of the "few-to-many" electronic publishing paradigm.
The Feudal System
"Hollywood is not high tech. Hollywood is not even industrial. Hollywood is feudal."
So says Robert X. Cringely, of PBS fame. Cringley is the pseudonym for an investigative reporter who specializes in the technologies of the computer revolution. He recently wrote a commentary about digital technology and the impact that it may have on the feudal kingdoms of the mass media moguls [Entitled: "How MPEG-7 Might Change Hollywood Forever," Cringley's comments can be accessed at http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20001214.html].
Speaking about the power behind the mass media, Cringley writes: "Power in the film and television businesses has always lain in the ability to control people, in building a web of allegiances so strong and deep that a king (a movie studio head or TV network programming boss), can order his lords (producers) to field an army of skilled warriors (directors, writers, and actors). "Superagents like Michael Ovitz (the Black Knight) put together packages of mercenaries for hire by the highest bidder. Motion Picture Association of America President Jack Valenti plays the Pope. There is even a guild system (the Directors Guild, Writers Guild, and Screen Actors Guild, for example). Everyone else, including the audience, is just a peasant."
Apparently Cringley shares my interests in MPEG technologies and the belief that the digital reformation is about to engulf the mass media. Although he does not have a firm grasp on the technology inside the MPEG-7 standard, his commentary is nonetheless right on the mark concerning the threat that the feudal lords of Hollywood and the television networks face as they are engulfed by the digital reformation.
The "high tech" image that Hollywood and the television industry have thrived upon is fading. Like the printing press was the enabling technology to bring literacy to the "peasants," ones, zeros and the computer technologies that use them are the enabling technology for the digital reformation we are experiencing today.
MPEG-7: Searching For An Image Of A Needle In An Image Of A Haystack
As we have stated previously in this series on the State of MPEG, MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 deal only with the coding of natural imagery and sound; while MPEG-4 adds support for the encoding of individual elements of a scene (both natural and synthetic) and for the local composition of these elements. (see: URL for the MPEG page where all of these stories will reside permanently).
MPEG-7, however, ventures into an entirely new, but critically important realm that's crucial if we are ever to gain control over the process of creating, distributing and managing digital media content. The following is a brief description of the work related to the MPEG-7 standard, written by the conveyor of MPEG, Leonardo Chiariglione:
"MPEG-7 is an audio-visual information representation that is different from the previous MPEG standards in the sense that what is represented is not the information itself but the information about the information. The technical content of the standard is as follows:
1. Systems provides the architectural framework of the standard, the carriage of MPEG-7 content and the binarisation of MPEG-7 content
2. Description Definition Language allows to create descriptors and description schemes
3. Visual provides standard descriptors and description schemes that are purely visual
4. Audio provides standard descriptors and description schemes that are purely audio
5. Multimedia Description Schemes provides standard descriptors and description schemes that are neither visual nor audio."
Like other MPEG standards, MPEG-7 will provide a toolkit for searching digital media content. This may be as simple as searching text tags on audio and image files for keyword matches. Or it may be as complex as searching vast content libraries for sounds or images with similar attributes; e.g. find "women in red dresses" or "sunsets."
Virage is one of many companies developing media asset management solutions that bridge the worlds of broadcast television and streaming media. This image is from their showcase page which can be viewed at the URL above.
The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) is working closely with MPEG to develop metadata standards and a registry for the metadata. These standards will soon allow for the capture of metadata along with audio and video information on both tape based and server-based digital media storage systems. Meanwhile, companies such as Virage are bringing digital media asset management tools to market to deal with the task of managing assets in a networked environment.
Ultimately, each object contained in a visual composition will carry with it metadata that will allow us to trace that object back to its source. The implications are profound. When we have the ability to identify and trace the origins of digital media content, we have the enabling technology to replace the current mass media feudal system with content factories. All that we need is rules, and the trust that the new system will produce at least as much wealth as the one being replaced.
MPEG-21: Users, Actions, Digital Items, and Transactions
MPEG-7 is a key enabling technology for searching and identifying content, but it only scratches the surface of what is required to manage our digital media assets in a networked digital world. It would be fair to say that the keys of the kingdom will belong to those who figure out how to create a content management infrastructure that will allow anyone to access any content, anywhere at anytime.
Chiariglione provides the following overview of the latest work within MPEG. "MPEG-21 seeks to describe a multimedia framework and set out a vision for the future of an environment that is capable of supporting the delivery and use of all content types by different categories of users in multiple application domains. MPEG-21 assumes that there are Users (anybody in the value network) and Digital Items on which Users execute Actions that generate other Digital Items that can become object of Transactions. In order to make this possible, a number of technologies are needed that fall under the following categories:
1. Digital Item Declaration
2. Digital Item Representation
3. Digital Item Identification and Description
4. Digital Item Management and Usage
5. Intellectual Property Management and Protection
6. Terminals and Networks
7. Event Reporting."
Can MPEG provide a suitable environment to create consensus on such critical issues? Only time will tell, but the odds are stacked against them. The digital media landscape bears great similarity to the kingdoms of medieval Europe. Hollywood, the Networks, terrestrial broadcasters, cable, and DBS are all doing battle in hopes of gaining territory, or simply preserving their feudal kingdoms. Meanwhile, terms like broadband, DSL, streaming media and Internet send shudders of fear throughout the kingdoms.
But the biggest barrier to success for MPEG may be that it has the same Achilles' Heel as the kingdoms that are using its standards and working to extend them. First and foremost, MPEG is about the management of intellectual property (IP) rights. Not just the rights to the content that is encoded, but the rights to the technology behind those encodings. Under ISO rules, each company that participates is required to make its patents available to anyone who wants to use the standard at fair and nondiscriminatory terms. The net result is that a patent pool is usually created which is shared by all companies with IP in the standard. In the case of "toolbox" standard like MPEG-4 where only a subset of the tools may be used by a specific application, things can get very messy.
In order to create an infrastructure for collecting royalties for the IP in MPEG, a group called MPEG-LA (licensing authority) was formed. Unfortunately, this group is not currently able to provide a clear license to all of the technology required to implement standards such as MPEG-2, and the terms that the organization is seeking are not acceptable to many potential licensees. Compliance is relatively good among members of the patent pool, but there has been significant resistance from other industries.
A case in point is the computer industry. Clearly video has become an important part of the computing experience; many computers shipped today are capable of playing DVD movies, which use the MPEG-2 standard for video compression. And the computer industry worked closely with the DVD consortium to create the DVD-ROM standard that allows a DVD to store massive amounts of data. Yet MPEG-2 has not been implemented to its full potential in personal computers. There are two key reasons:
1. MPEG-LA would like a significant royalty (about $5) for every computer that ships with MPEG-2 decoding capabilities;
2. Hollywood does not want the "peasants" to be able to copy digital masters in whole or in part.
The net result is that MPEG-2 implementations on personal computers are a kluge. Typically the video is keyed into the VGA output just before it is output to the display; you cannot capture even a single frame for use in a presentation or your own creations. The licensing issue has been averted, either by refusing to pay or depending on third parties to pay the royalties on components that are used for MPEG-2 decoding.
Now that there are millions of DVD enabled computers in the hands of the peasants, MPEG-LA has assumed its role as the Sheriff of Nottingham. What follows are excerpts from an MPEG-LA press release issued November 20, 2000: "MPEG LA today announced that six leading global electronics companies and a major research university have filed suit against Compaq Computer Corporation for willfully infringing 26 patents that are essential to the MPEG-2 digital video compression standard. The lawsuit, which seeks damages that could amount to hundreds of millions of dollars, has been filed in U. S. District Court in Delaware. A related suit has been filed in Dusseldorf, Germany." "According to the complaint, Compaq manufactures and markets PCs that use patent-protected MPEG-2 methods and devices without having entered into licenses with the individual patent holders or the portfolio license offered by MPEG LA."
It is rumored that MPEG-LA is planning to extend the reach of its suit to include other computer and software manufacturers including Apple and Microsoft. Apple had intended to include full support for MPEG-2 in version 5.0 of QuickTime, but when this version was announced at the QuickTime Live Conference last October October, Apple indicated that there would be no MPEG-2 support because the company was unable to reach licensing terms with MPEG-LA.
27/12/00
Hope you're all having a nice holiday and your receivers are keeping nice and cool and not melting any cards. Its been just perfect here 30c each day not to hot or cool. Thanks to Keith and Ces (Local guys) I went for a walk about 2 minutes away today and came home with a 60cm Sky Dish for $25 NZ NEW condition with a Sharp branded LNBF and cable attached just need to get a F-Connector for it. Only thing missing was a mounting wall bracket which Keith said he saw some of at the local junk yard so will check there tommorow. I will pick up a F-Connector at the shop opposite as well.
A new site promiseing Optus B3 reference Data added to the links page,
http://www.geocities.com/optusb3satellite/
From my emails & ICQ
From Bill Richards, 2200UTC 27/12/00
Palapa C2 113E 4071 H "Channel News Asia (CNA)" Sr 14060 Fec 3/4 Vpid 33 Apid 34 SID 1
Palapa C2 113E 4071 H "Test Card (Test Channel)" Sr 14060 Fec 3/4 Vpid 1057 Apid 1058 SID2
Palapa C2 113E 4071 H "Test Card (Channel 2)" Sr 14060 Fec 3/4 Vpid 2081 Apid 2082 SID3
Palapa C2 113E 4071 H "Test Card (Channel 3)" Sr 14060 Fec 3/4 Vpid 3105 Apid 3106 SID4
Regards
Bill
I was wondering if you knew of any publications or websites, besides
this, that may help determine if there are any satellites I can receive
on Guam at 14.5N 145E.
Appreciate any help
Rick Bailey
Hi Yes surprisingly Guam is covered by quite a few satellites! here are a FEW
you SHOULD be able to get
Panamsat 2 & 8
Agila 2 (might need large dish)
Apstar 1&1A
Palapa C2
Asiasat 2 and 3
Thaicom 3 Global Beam and possibly the Asia beam depending on dish size
Thats just a few that SHOULD cover you according to the footprint maps at
http://www.lyngsat.com/asia.shtml
You may be out of footprint for a few beams so you will need the largest you can get your hands on. I would recomend you phone your local tv station and ask the engineers they will know what satellites can be received in Guam. There may be some pay tv signals floating in your direction.
My recommendation would be a 3.7M SOLID dish as minimum preferably a 5M solid thats KU-Rated as you should get the KU band from Pas8 or Pas 2. A dual feed with KU and Cband and a analog+digital receiver with positioner and card slots (important if theres any pay tv signal aimed your way)
Its difficult to know where some of the asian satellite beams end up as they are not always as published in the official footprint maps
Heres a few beams you should able to get
http://www.apstar.com/apstar1_d.html
http://www.mabuhaysat.com/cband.htm
http://www.thaicom.net/eng-thaicomsatellite/footprint-thaicom3.html
http://www.asiasat.com/asy3map.htm
Please let me know how you get on because I had another request from someone heading to the Marshall Islands (who will probably be worse off as to sat reception)
Perhaps some of my readers can help out on this one?
From the Dish
Nothing to report.
NEWS
Australian HDTV hits snooze button
From http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/2000/12/27/FFX18OXF6HC.html
The revolution will be televised? Digital television has failed to excite consumer interest.
When I was a mere youngster and color television sets started appearing in shop windows, I was transfixed. On school holidays, I hovered around the local electrical appliance store for days on end, pretending that I was there for the benefit of my four-year-old brother.
For hours we saw nothing much except the test pattern, but at least it wasn't in boring old black and white. My parents, blithely indifferent to the advent of color, ultimately had no choice but to submit to my antics. They paid what was then a small fortune for a robust, if unattractive, set that immediately and irrevocably became the family centrepiece.
The arrival of digital television next week is being heralded in some quarters as being as big a watershed as color. But, somehow, I don't think we'll find too many kids loitering outside shop windows hoping to catch a glimpse of one of those set-top units that will convert analog signals into digital, or even of the high definition sets that have been talked about in the press.
That's partly because tracking down the requisite equipment is, in itself, no mean feat. Indeed, when digital television arrives, it's doubtful that even the most ardent of enthusiasts will have an easy time getting hooked up to the new delivery system. We won't need to buy a new telly to be part of the revolution, but there's still no sign of those set-top units that consumers will need to convert the digital signals.
An unseemly wrangle between the commercial TV networks has exacerbated what was already a prolonged delay in resolving issues of standardisation for these new devices. The networks are trying to put that behind them; earlier this month Nine, Ten and Seven said they will jointly underwrite the cost of providing 10,000 digital set-top units to coincide with the launch of digital television broadcasting. Some will be available from this week.
But in the run-up to Christmas, even larger stores such as Harvey Norman and Myer didn't know when they would be getting display models of either set-top units or digital-ready HD sets on to the shop floor.
More critically, consumer excitement about television's big sea change is negligible. "There are 46 days to go until digital television launches here in Australia and boy am I excited but I'm the only one," said Nick Murray, president of the Screen Producers Association of Australia in his opening address at a conference in Sydney last month.
"The government has ensured that Australia will have the best digital terrestrial delivery system in the world, the only problem being that nobody wants it."
Perhaps the oddest thing about the digital television revolution is how little is expected to change in the short term, even for those early adopters who fork out more than $800 (the projected cost of the digital decoder set-top unit) for their entry-level experience.
The government says that it wants digital television to provide an array of benefits. These include new and improved services on television; different picture display formats (HD TV and Standard Definition TV); new information services (known as datacasting); enhanced programming (eg multiple views of the same event); improved services to regional Australia; and improved captioning services for the deaf and hard of hearing.
There's no doubt, for instance, that those who currently experience 'ghosting'; may notice a real change in picture quality after converting to digital, even if they don't upgrade their TV sets. Meanwhile, if you're keen to be one of the first to get an HD TV set (for which you'll need more than $7000), you will probably notice a much clearer resolution on your screen.
But the extent to which these are viable selling points is debatable. As Murray points out: "My parents have the same TV set as when I was living home. It's just a shocking thing and they're probably missing two or three inches (five centimetres to 7.6cm) of picture on the edge and they're happy as Larry. Why would they pay $800 for a box that they don't really care about?"
Digital also offers the prospect of receiving signals in the widescreen format, but most commentators agree that this is hardly likely to be a driving force for most television watchers. As a new delivery system, digital television offers some advances for some of us, but won't seem revolutionary to most in the short term.
Where digital has real potential to change the way we watch TV is in the areas of interactive or enhanced content. Unlike analog, the digital spectrum can transmit a mix of images and text.
Not surprisingly, the opportunities for various media players to take advantage of these new possibilities has seen the government caught in the middle of some tricky territory.
Its response has been to allow existing free-to-air players to position themselves in the driver's seat through the protracted transition period to digital.
Consequently, commercial networks will be allowed to extend the current broadcasting format by providing limited enhanced services, such as multiple camera angles for sports telecasts, and audience participation features on games shows.
And the ABC is mandated to go even further with the capacity to multichannel, which means that on occasions the national broadcaster will bring you more than one station at a time.
But those on the lookout for new kinds of programming content might be disappointed in the short-to-medium term. "Just because it's digital doesn't mean it's interactive," cautions Nick Murray, who argues that digital TV is going to be the stereo AM of the new millennium.
And the new kinds of services are so restricted by the legislative framework that it's hard to see how their commercial viability might be realised.
The most conspicuous example of this is the highly contentious area known as datacasting, where images are combined with text to combine a hybrid multimedia format.
While players such as News Limited and Fairfax will be allowed to compete for datacasting licenses when that part of the spectrum is sold off (at this stage, later next year), there are numerous restrictions on what kinds of material can be broadcast in the new format.
DRAMA, current affairs programs, sports programs, documentaries and quiz shows are all on the no-go list. That leaves short news headline bulletins and interactive home shopping. Still interested?
"The limitations on datacasting are unduly restrictive," says Jock Given, a senior researcher at the Swinburne Institute for Social Research. "The danger is there isn't going to be enough in the new services to make it worthwhile for consumers to sign up. Indeed, there is so much uncertainty about the nature of the services that are going to be provided that there is no consumer interest. I think that there are too many constraints on what broadcasters can and cannot do."
Choice magazine said in its assessment of the current state of play: "The government's decision to make television networks broadcast a standard-definition signal together with cinema-quality high-definition picture and sound gives consumers a more affordable entry point to digital TV than had been originally mooted." But a restricted definition of data-casting now stands in the way of the innovative and diverse content this new medium could provide.
So digital television will arrive with a whimper and not a bang, and Play Station 2 has one less rival to deal with on this year's wish lists. But what of the future? Will consumers eventually embrace a change that has already cost the networks hundreds of million of dollars to implement? Or, will they be dragged, screaming, at the last minute, when the analogue signal is switched off in 2008?
"We shouldn't get carried away with a delivery technology. If interactivity was to be developed, it could be good," says Murray. "But program-makers need to be able to take risks and experiment. Otherwise you'll get nothing except game shows. An interactive Who Wants To Be A Millionaire now there's a great way to tie up billions of dollars in spectrum.
"I don't know of any producers who have had realistic discussions with TV networks about digital content. They're saying that this is like the arrival of color TV and it's not at all."
Even when interactive services are developed, the extent to which these would excite the consumer remains uncertain. "I think the idea that a lot of relatively passive TV viewing is going to be replaced by active TV viewing is ridiculous," Murray says. "It fails to understand how TV is used by a lot of people a lot of the time. It's background. You've made a choice to have it on, but it's not the centre of what you're doing all the time."
But there are signs that people will change the way they use their televisions if given the chance. In Britain, where the digital adventure is far more advanced, the TV has replaced the PC as the preferred medium for sending and receiving e-mails.
It's only a matter of time before the worldwide Web migrates to the lounge room as well. And while the configuration of the digital system is very different from our own, it's clear that a market for enhancements can be forged by new services.
"Digital TV is as revolutionary as color," says Tony Branigan, who manages the Federation of Australian Commercial TV stations. "But what we are introducing is much more like the Americans introducing color TV in the '50s, rather than 1975 here. It took perhaps 12 or 13 years in the United States for color to get to 40 per cent to 50 per cent of homes. In other words, its going to be a slow uphill battle.
"I think it's clear that on day one there won't be many receivers out there at all. You'll see set top boxes in stores, but it will be close to mid-year before the major manufacturers have units in the big retailers before there's a good range of makes and models on the market."
Others go even further. "It's going to be a much bigger change than color. It's the tip of the iceberg for the new era," says ABC's director of technology and distribution, Colin Knowles. "This is the very first step of a 30-year program. But asking what will happen now is a bit like asking the Wright brothers how long it will take a jumbo jet to fly you across the world."
So, yes, this is one revolution that will be televised. But it may pay to wait before adjusting your set
Digital TV chaos fears
From http://www.heraldsun.com.au/common/story_page/0,4511,1552401%5E2862,00.html
THOUSANDS of schools and churches could find their public address systems rendered useless by digital TV interference.
Those affected will have to pay thousands of dollars to replace or fix their audio systems.
Digital television signals beginning on January 1 will occupy the same frequencies used by the wireless microphones in most PA systems.
Unlike televisions, most of the microphone systems cannot be cheaply retuned to fix interference.
Industry experts predict up to 70 per cent of all wireless mikes will be vulnerable to audio interference.
Pupils and parishioners could find their sermons and lessons reduced to little more than white noise.
Universities, conference centres, bingo venues, theatre restaurants and concert halls are among the other main users of wireless mikes.
Already one Queensland school has been forced to replace its $4000 system after a digital signal on channel six made it worthless.
Peter Holland, the head of specialist PA retailer National System Corporation of Australia, predicted widespread problems.
"Churches and schools everywhere have got wireless mikes," Mr Holland said.
"Sixty to 70 per cent of the wireless mikes that have been sold would be affected by this.
"If you have got one in this (frequency) area, it is going to have to be replaced."
Mr Holland said Shure, Electrovoice, Redford and AKJ all produced some models that used the affected frequencies.
Retuning them would be "like changing a diesel engine to a petrol engine", he said.
Professional concert and sporting promoters are likely to escape problems because most are aware of the problem and are using newer equipment.
The December 31 switch-on will mostly affect capital cities as country areas will get digital TV gradually over the next three years.
The risk of interference depends on the user's proximity to a digital TV transmission tower and how strong the signal is.
A spokesman for Communications Minister Richard Alston played down fears of problems with PAs.
"The ABA are the ones who give the technical advice and the only significant disruption they have informed us of is in the Brisbane market," he said.
"There's a large element of Y2K about this."
The Australian Broadcasting Authority said St Dympna's was the only complaint during test transmissions at part strength.
But the full-strength transmissions will provide the true test.
The ABA's website warns users to consider saving for a replacement system as there is no obligation on the government or TV networks to pay compensation.
Susceptible mikes operated between 174 to 230 MHz and 520 to 820 MHz.
Digital TV signals are also expected to cause interference to some existing TV receptions, but authorities say this will not be severe in Victoria.
T S I C H A N N E L N E W S - Number 52/2000 - December 24 2000 -
A weekly roundup of global TV news sponsored by Tele Satellite International
Editor: Branislav Pekic
(Apsattv.com Edited Edition)
* A very Merry Christmas to all subscribers *
tape-delay highlights.
NEWS CORP GETS AFL RIGHTS
In one of the largest broadcasting-rights deals made in Australia, Rupert
Murdoch’s News Ltd., the Australian operating arm of News Corp., has snatched
rights to the Australian Football League away from the Seven Network in a deal
worth about AUS$500 million. The five-year deal, which starts with the AFL’s
2002 season, ends a 40-year relationship between the AFL and Seven and
jeopardises the future of Seven’s pay-TV service, C7, which was underpinned by
rights to the country’s most popular sport.
MTV PREPARES FOR JAPANESE LAUNCH
MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom Inc. and @JapanMedia announced on December 19
that MTV: Music Television will launch a new 24-hour, Japanese language music
television network and Web site, http://www.mtvjapan.com, on January 1, 2001 at
Midnight (Tokyo time). The advertiser-supported MTV Japan will feature original
Japanese language content on-air and online targeting the 16-34 year-old
demographic based on feedback from local audiences as well as other market
research. The network will launch with distribution in 2.8 million households
via cable and satellite, and with the launch of MTV Japan, MTV will now have 29
localised channels globally seen in more than 330.7 million households in 140
countries and 15 MTV-branded Web sites.
STAR CHANNEL AND SKY MOVIES TO MERGE
Satellite movie channels Star Channel and Sky Movies have agreed to integrate
their businesses possibly in April 2001, according to Nihon Keizai Shimbun. The
movie broadcasting rights granted by Sony and News to Sky Movies will be
transferred to Star Channel, which is also owned by 4 major U.S. film companies
- Warner Brothers, Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios and MGM (19.9 per cent
stake). Since Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. and News Corp.’s Twentieth
Century Fox will also participate in Star Channel’s operations after
integration, the new channel will be able to provide all major U.S. films,
except Walt Disney Co. productions. Star Channel currently runs 3 commercial
satellite-based channels, through Sky PerfecTV, and 1 broadcast satellite-based
channel, distributing programs to 380 cable TV operators in Japan. Itochu,
Tohokushinsha, Sony and News set up an equally owned joint venture in autumn
this year to prepare for next-generation digital broadcasting via communication
satellites.
JSAT CONSIDERS SATELLITE DISTRIBUTION OF PROGRAMMING
JSAT Corp., one of two satellite operators in Japan, joined six other Japanese
companies to form a joint venture to send digital television programs to cable
TV stations, the companies said December 21. Along with JSAT, Liberty Media
Group’s Jupiter Telecommunications Co., a Japanese leading cable TV operator,
and Sky Perfect Communications Inc., Japan’s only digital satellite TV service
provider, also hold a 25 per cent stake each in the venture. Sony Corp. and
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. each have 10 per cent, while two units of
Nippon Telegraph Telephone Corp. hold 2.5 per cent each. Japan’s digital
satellite TV services expanded this month when seven more companies joined Sky
Perfect to provide the services. That put pressure on local cable TV operators
to catch up with them in supplying programming that appeals to television
viewers. The Japanese venture will conduct a six-month study of the feasibility
of the project and will start supplying digitalized movies and sports programs
to cable TV operators in the latter half of 2001.
PCCW WINS JAPANESE LICENSE
Pacific Century CyberWorks Japan has announced that CS NOW Corporation has been
awarded a CS110 digital broadcasting license by the Japanese Ministry of Posts
and Telecommunications. CS110 is satellite broadcasting designed to provide
fully interactive television services, and will be used by PCCW Japan to
transmit content from the company’s NOW (Network of the World) Japan TV- Web
service. CS NOW Corporation is a joint venture company that will be formed by
PCCW Japan and Techno-Ventures, for the purpose of transmitting on the CS110
broadcasting service via the recently launched NSAT 110 satellite. PCCW Japan
holds an 80 per cent stake in the venture. The CS110 service will share the
same satellite orbits (East 110) as the BS Digital service launched in December
2000, allowing viewers to receive both broadcasting services using one common
receiver. BS Digital services are expected to attract large audiences as BS
analogue users, currently 10 million viewers, upgrade to the new digital
service. The application package submitted by CS NOW includes plans to provide
interactive services such as video-on-demand, e-commerce, games and electronic
programming guides.
MACAO
FIVE STAR SATELLITE TV LAUNCHES
(Craigs note this will be via Apstar 1 and only available to Northern Australia)
Macao-based Five Star Satellite TV launched its new Chinese language TV service
on December 22. The newly formed TV station will broadcast entertainment,
finance and economy, leisure, science and technology programs both within and
outside Macao. The station is expected to source its programming from Macao,
Hong Kong and China. Five Star’s target audience will be youths throughout the
Pacific Rim.
PAKISTAN
GOVERNMENT SUSPENDS STAR TV LICENSE
The Pakistan government has suspended the licence it recently granted to Rupert
Murdoch’s Asian satellite platform Star TV, claiming that the company had fixed
tariffs without its approval.
The licence enabled Star to distribute decoders and market its network to cable
operators across Pakistan. Star has been ordered to stop selling decoders until
its tariff receives official clearance under the PTA’s cable TV legislation.
SOUTH KOREA
KDB WINS BROADCASTING LICENSE
South Korea’s Korea Broadcasting Commission (KBC) on December 19 awarded a
satellite broadcasting business license to a consortium led by state-run Korea
Telecom. The consortium, Korea Digital Broadcasting (KDB), will invest nearly
$2 billion into the business over five years.
The KDB consortium competed with the Korea Satellite Broadcasting (KSB)
consortium, comprising Dacom, SK Telecom, the Tongyang Group and Rupert
Murdoch’s News Corp. The KDB consortium will have nearly exclusive control over
the potentially lucrative market for satellite TV channels, content and
networks. Korea Telecom (KT), the country’s largest fixed-line service
provider, is the largest stake holder of the KDB consortium with 18 per cent,
followed by major Korean broadcasters KBS 10 per cent, MBC 7 per cent and SBS
3.2 per cent. KT said it would establish the consortium early next year with
Won300 billion in initial capital. KDB will begin commercial service from
October next year with 74 channels, and expand the number of channels to 114 in
2005.
THAILAND
ITV2 TURNS A PROFIT
NATIONAL broadcaster iTV has forecast Bt2 billion in revenue next year along
with a profit of Bt50 million. According to managing director, Sanchai
Thiewprasertkul, “iTV’s first major step to improve revenue will be to list on
the Stock Exchange of Thailand by the end of this year as planned.” Following
Shin Corp’s entry into iTV two months ago, Shin Corp has tried to improve the
television operator’s performance. iTV has posted a loss over the last four
consecutive years, including a Bt552 million loss last year. This year it was
expected to record a loss of Bt900 million, but Shin Corp has forced a review
of the amount by injecting iTV with fresh funds. Today iTV has Bt4.5 billion in
capital, up from Bt3 billion last year. Shin Corp holds 39 per cent in iTV.
?Profits will come after we boost entertainment programming to 30 per cent next
year (up from almost zero previously), while news and current affairs will
represent 70 per cent of programming,” he said. iTV will invest Bt400 million
next year to expand its network and programming. Its digital television system
will begin in 2003.
26/12/00
UPDATES will continue Wednesday (not that there is much happening)
24/12/00
Just something I noticed today, since the CMM Hindi music channel on Thaicom 3 came back Zee music and MTV Asia have become fta as well. Might be just a coincedence. Studio 23, on Pas 8 which is becoming known for its U.S sitcoms and MTV programming has a new website. You can check it out on Pas 8 page which has been updated (some channels removed, some added some links fixxed to programming). Abs-CBN 2 has been added to it as well with programming."A Bugs life" movie gone from Pas 2. Is there anyone who has got there hands on a Digital TV box in Australia? Photos needed..
Updated pages
Pas 8
Palapa C2
Pas 2
Thaicom 3
From my emails & ICQ
This noted Friday Night by Bill Richards,
Panamsat 8 166E 3740 H Sr 27500 Fec 2/3 Vpid 385 Apid 386 "MTV8" FTA 24hr music clips.
Regards
Bill
Hi Craig:
Merry Christmas.
I have a 2.4m solid dish, is it possible to receive digital signals in Asiasat 3S.
I live in Christchurch.
paul
(Hi Paul, Merry Christmas, YES Asiasat 3S should be good in Christchurch on a 2.4M solid! providing you can see it clearly as its quite low to the horizon there, I did hear of one person useing a 1.8M solid in Christchurch to watch Star Sports analog with just a few sparklys, For C band reception 1.8M is about the minimum)
From the Dish
Panamsat 8 166E 3740 H "MTV Asia" Sr 27500 Fec 2/3 Vpid 385 Apid386
MRTV TV Thaicom 3 Digital signal screenshot
Zee Music currently FTA on Asiasat 3
NEWS
The television revolution that almost nobody will see
From http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/2000/12/24/FFX6FSM52HC.html
Digital television will be officially launched in Australia on New Year's Day with an audience close to zero.
All television networks will broadcasting digital versions of their programs, but they will be received only by the broadcasters and a handful of others. Nobody else has a suitable receiver or set-top box converter for their TV. Nor will they be able to buy one.
Under present rules framed by the Federal Government, networks must not only begin digital broadcasting but must keep transmitting the present analog signal until 2008. Then, assuming almost all Australians have moved over to digital technology and the country is adequately covered by broadcasters, the analog system will be shut down.
Digital broadcasting, in what a spokesman for Channel Seven called "the beginning of the developmental stage", will begin in mainland capital cities with standard-definition TV (SDTV) digital signals. Towards the end of next year, possibly later, a high-definition TV (HDTV) signal will be added, which will bring cinema-quality pictures, interactivity options and full surround sound.
Critics of the government's policy say HDTV has "laid an egg" everywhere it has been tried overseas because the sets cost too much (about $10,000 for the cheapest) and broadcasting costs are high for a very small audience.
Some industry experts say the government's plan to require both standard-definition and high-definition broadcasts imposes an unacceptable and unnecessary burden on the industry and public.
"Overseas experience has been that after two years only about 1 per cent of the TV-viewing public moved to integrated digital sets," says TV importer and retailer Alex Encel. "Those who moved to digital bought set-top boxes to plug into their existing TV sets. And almost nobody, even in the US, has bought high-definition TV."
Mr Encel believes that will be the pattern in Australia and cites the reluctance of set-top box manufacturers to supply the Australian market at their own risk.
No manufacturer in Europe or Japan could be persuaded to build boxes for our market until the broadcasters agreed to underwrite the exercise. If they do not sell, the networks will have to pay for them.
A first shipment of 20,000 boxes, likely to retail for about $600 each, will not begin arriving until mid-January. Only a few demonstration boxes will be available for the beginning of digital broadcasting.
Colin Knowles, head of the ABC's digital roll-out, said he had managed to obtain only five boxes for the whole of Australia, and would use them to show the signal quality.
Despite the dearth of viewers, broadcasting will start on schedule in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.
"Some areas in those cities will not be able to receive signals and so, about mid-year, we will roll out translators to cover them," he said.
About the same time, services will start in other cities such as Newcastle, Canberra, Hobart and Darwin. Soon after that, coverage will extend to Ballarat, Bendigo and similar regional centres.
Mr Knowles is optimistic about the long-term future of digital broadcasting: "I think that if we get 5 per cent audience reach by 2003 we will have done exceptionally well, because two years after that we are likely to have up to 80 per cent. That was the trend line that applied to the Internet, to CDs, VCRs and color TV."
Mr Encel and the advertising industry remain sceptical. Will there be enough people to make a viable market in digital TV sets and set-top boxes?
Will the audience be large enough to justify the extra cost of producing and sponsoring digital television programming?
In the beginning everyone is going to simply transmit digital versions of their analog programs. And, says Mr Encel, those viewers who buy into the medium will do so mainly through cheaper set-top boxes.
Digital picture quality is superior to the analog system and not subject to ghosting in difficult reception areas. But the real future is in other services that can be delivered.
"The objective is to have a multimedia platform using the European open standard that will be compatible with PCs, set-top boxes or anywhere else," Mr Knowles said.
Under present plans, the ABC and SBS will produce multi-channel digital programming while the commercial networks will broadcast a single program stream.
Some, such as Channel Ten, intend to offer multi-view through which viewers, using a controller on their set-top box, can select one of several concurrently broadcast views of an event.
Channel Ten did this experimentally at the most recent Melbourne Cup, and the Bathurst motor races.
News Corp forced to buy cable stake
From http://www.theage.com.au/business/2000/12/23/FFXLFK6Q0HC.html
News Corp will be forced to buy partner Haim Saban's 49.5 per cent stake in the Fox Family Worldwide Inc cable network, after Mr Saban exercised an option to sell the stake.
News Corp would pay a price "based on the fair market value of the company as of January 31, 2001", Mr Saban said in a statement. News Corp also owns a 49.5 per cent stake in Fox Family, while the investment bank Allen Co owns 1 per cent.
The purchase could cost News Corp at least $US2 billion ($A3.6billion), The Wall Street Journal and Broadcasting Cable have reported. That could drain News Corp's financial resources, adding to its problems as the slowing world economy is hurting advertising sales on News Corp's broadcast networks.
"Just when the fundamentals are decelerating, they get slapped with this big cash (purchase) to pay," said Ajay Mehra, a portfolio manager at Columbia Management Co.
The Fox Family purchase is being forced as News Corp is trying to raise cash to buy Hughes Electronics Corp, owner the DirecTV satellite TV service. Buying Mr Saban's stake might leave News Corp without enough cash to buy DirecTV.
News Corp also has committed to buying US TV station group Chris-Craft Industries Inc for about $US5.35billion in cash and stock.
News Corp spokesman Andrew Butcher said the company expected negotiations with Mr Saban to be cordial. He declined to comment on how Mr Saban's action could affect News Corp's effort to buy Hughes Electronics.
Fox Family Worldwide includes the Fox Family Channel, a cable network that reaches 78.6 million US homes; the children's TV programming production company Saban Entertainment Inc; Fox Kids Network, broadcast in the US; and overseas operations including a 76per cent interest in Dutch-based Fox Kids Europe NV. Mr Saban, the producer of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and other top-rating children's shows, formed Fox Family five years ago as a joint venture with News Corp. In 1997, the venture bought International Family Entertainment Inc, then controlled by evangelist Pat Robertson, for about $US1.9billion, gaining its cable network, then called the Family Channel.
The Fox Family Channel lags in the audience ratings behind Walt Disney Co's Disney Channel, Viacom Inc's Nickelodeon and Time Warner Inc's Cartoon Network. Considering its ratings, Fox Family might not be worth the $US2 billion that the Journal reported that Mr Saban wants.
"If they pay $US2 billion for half of that asset, it's saying the market has lots of confidence in that asset," said Angela Auchey, an analyst at Federated Investment Management Co.
The fair market value of Fox Family will be determined by investment bankers hired by News Corp and Mr Saban, according to sources.
Kermit Channel goes off the air in India
From indiantelevision.com
Hallmark, Modi Entertainment may launch family channel, Kermit Channel has ceased transmission in India, the only market where the children's channel was still distributed in Asia.
Crown Media Holdings, the Los Angeles-based company which transmits Kermit, had been in discussions with Modi Entertainment Network (MEN) for pay TV signals throughout India, about a possible joint venture to leverage Kermit's subscriber base for additional distribution and advertising revenue.
Both companies have now taken a mutual decision not to proceed further.
Following this development, MEN is in active talks with Hallmark Entertainment Network for the possible launch of a new channel targeting family audiences.
If that doesn't work out, some sort of an alliance is definitely on the cards, according to sources.
Crown ceased broadcasting Kermit in all other Asian markets in November. Instead, six hours of dedicated programming for kids was added daily to the Hallmark feed. Three hours midmorning and three in the afternoon. The company now will take the same approach in India.
The decision to pull out Kermit from India was apparently taken by EM TV of Germany. EM holds the controlling stake in the channel after it bought out Kermit creator Jim Henson's 50% holding.