22/07/03

Livechat tonight 9pm NZ and 8.30pm Syd time onwards in the chatroom.

Sorry not much going on today, Lyngsats quiet and so is the news section. The Vetrun FTA forum is running nicely if you havn't checked it out (see link on left messsage forums") its worth a look. Some experienced people in there that are prepared to help.

Abc Northern is up in strength on B1

From my Emails & ICQ

From Steve Hume

B1 12367v, 6666 "ITV news feed"

NEWS 24x7
Steve Hume

(Craigs comment, I think Globecast may now be using this for their feeds service. Maybe permanent to replace the "adhoc" channel they had on B3?)

From the Dish

Insat 3A 93.5E 3890 V "Lashkara" has replaced Channel Guide India , SR 3500, FEC 3/4,PIDs 318/256.

NEWS

Report: STT deal faces powerful opposition

From http://www.arnnet.com.au/index.php?id=1087713911&fp=2&fpid=1

Singapore Technologies Telemedia's (STT) attempt to take over Global Crossing faces powerful opposition from some officials inside the US administration, who think the deal may pose a threat to US national security, the Asian Wall Street Journal has reported.

Quoting unnamed sources familiar with the deal, the Journal said that the US Defense Department opposes a deal that would see Global Crossing's 160,000-kilometer worldwide fiber-optic network - which carries some US military and government traffic - fall into the hands of an overseas company, which might gain unwanted knowledge into US intelligence activities through its control of the network.

But the US Commerce Department is in favour of the deal, which will finally be judged by the multi-agency Committee for Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS). CFIUS will investigate the implications of the deal over the next 45 days after which President George Bush has a further 15 days to decide the fate of the deal, the Journal said.

STT is part of the Singapore Technologies Group, which is in turn owned by Temasek Holdings, the investment arm of the Singapore government.

Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (SingTel), also majority-owned by the Singapore government, faced a similar hurdle when it acquired Australian carrier Optus in 2001. Optus owned a satellite which was to carry a lot of military traffic, causing some in Australia to oppose the deal on security grounds. SingTel was eventually allowed to go ahead with the acquisition.

Several media sources have reported that Singapore Prime Minister, Goh Chok Tong, has written to U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney urging acceptance of the STT deal.

Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecommunications Ltd. was originally to have been a partner with STT in the deal but withdrew when it became clear that the company's links with China would rule out any chance of its involvement being accepted by US officials.

21/07/03

A Taiwanese Cskynet mux was seen testing on Jcsat2a over the weekend with very good signal levels.

A Tarbs mux has appeared on NSS6 at 95E a clone of one of their Thaicom 3 transponders. BVN and Jame Jame is Fta in the mux. This has a very low look angle for offsett dishes.

UEFA Football, In our region VTV and RCTI channels have signed contracts to cover these matches.

Satfacts page updated

From my Emails & ICQ

From Mitch

Jcsat2a 154E 3880v Sr 30000 fec 3/4, loads 56% on 1.8 mesh west nsw on emtech
12 tv channels load, ubn, jet, ptv, set test card fta, disney audio fta,ustv1, ptv3, hatv fta, null, null, ptv2, sun, 8 radio 6 fta all same exept
one, prob testing

From Bassett

Tarbs on nss at 95E

NSS 6

Both 12.729, and 12.727 load and play three channels. NTD TV, Satlink Israel, Fashion TV
12.647 loads 13 channels,, 490 ESS Cont, ECS 1, ESC 2, NDM, NVL, NITV,NNNF,TLNC, MTV, FUTV, STV, AITV, IRB 3. all show encripted,
But STV [bvn-tv] and IRB 3, are playing.

I also loaded 11543 V 27500 7/8, with universial LNB [XTV] on the China beam ,,using 1.5 prime focus dish . No signal.. worth a try..

From Mathew Chung

re Nss6

Dear Sir,

Nss 6 freex tv, by using a joker cam with software 7.8 we can see free x tv uncrypted.

Regards,
mat

From the Dish

Intelsat 804 176E "RFO Tele Polynesie" has moved from 4027 L to 4027 R, Fta, SR 4566,FEC 3/4, PIDs 110/120, East hemi beam.

Optus B1 160E 12610 H "The ABC Kids & Fly TV info" card has left .

Agila 2 146E 3836 H New SR for Stellar on 3836 H: 2610.
Agila 2 146E 3986 H New SR and FEC for Kabayan TV: 2000 and 3/4.

AsiaSat 3 105.5E 3760 H "MTA International" has started , Fta, PIDs 1080/1081.

NSS 6 95E 12647 V A TARBS World TV mux has started, SR 28066, FEC 3/4.It's a copy of Thaicom 3: 3640 H.

Insat 3A 93.5E 3899 V New PIDs for Gurjari on : 4194/4195.
Insat 3A 93.5E 4025 V "BBC World India" is now encrypted.

Yamal 102 90E 3595 L "Kultura Telekanal (+2h)" has left .

ST 1 88E 3500 H "Nation Channel" is encrypted again.
ST 1 88E 3632 V "RAI International 4" has started , enc., PIDs 49/33, 00-07 HKT.
Thaicom 3 78.5E 3683 H "Indiavision" has started regular transmissions , SR 3333, FEC 3/4,PIDs 1160/1120.

Apstar 2R 76.5E 3643 H "TV Lanka" has moved here from 3652 H, clear, SR 6500, FEC 3/4,PIDs 1160/1122.

Intelsat 602 at 50.5E Intelsat 602 has arrived at 50.5 East.

NEWS

ABC Optus Satellite Changeover Info

From http://www.abc.net.au/reception/news/optus_sat_chg.htm

This information is for viewers and listeners who receive their ABC radio and television services through a satellite dish and decoder directly from Optus satellite. Listeners and viewers of other ABC services are not affected.

Optus is replacing the current satellite (B3) that delivers ABC TV & Radio services with a new satellite (C1). The new Optus satellite has been designed to provide a comparable or slightly improved signal to most of regional Australia.

Services are planned to be transferred from B3 to C1 over the period from 16 July to 3 August 2003.

No changes to your satellite decoder should be required during these transfers.

ABC services are planned to be transferred from B3 to C1 on 28 July 2003, with services for New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia scheduled to change at 3:30am AEST, while services for Western Australia and the Northern Territory are scheduled to change at 5:00am AEST (3:00am AWST).

In the unlikely event your satellite decoder "locks up" during transition, this should be easily corrected with a decoder power off at the wall mains power socket and on again after about 15 seconds.

Reception problems caused by dishes with alignment problems may occur when services transfer to C1 from 16 July. Optus has provided details of the satellite change to satellite system installers around Australia and the ABC recommends that you contact your local satellite system installer if you experience reception problems after 16 July.

(Craigs comment, this is for the Aurora transponder changeover)

Galaxy to launch in November as planned

From http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/Weekly2003/07.15.2003/HongKong20.htm

Galaxy Satellite Broadcasting, the pay-television arm of Television Broadcasts (TVB), said it would launch its pay-TV services as scheduled in November despite being granted approval to extend the deadline to February.

"Our launching schedule remains unchanged. We had said we would launch our services in the fourth quarter of this year when we announced the deal with [Intelsat], there is nothing that has changed in our plan," said Galaxy chief operating officer Stanley Tang.

On Thursday, the Broadcasting Authority approved Galaxy's application to defer the deadlines of three relevant milestones required for its licence by six months to February 23. Mr Tang said: "An extension of the deadline doesn't mean we will launch the pay-TV services on the deadline."

The original milestones required Galaxy to invest at least $122 million of capital expenditure, and offer at least 24 channels to 150,000 households by August 23.

Mr Tang said the application for an extension was natural after a six-month delay in TVB's divestment of the Galaxy stake.

Galaxy had sought the authority's approval to delay the launch deadlines because of troubles in securing an investor to take up a 51 per cent stake in the operator.

Panamsat claims increased earnings, reduced debt in 2Q 2003

From http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k3/july/july144.htm

CONNECTICUT: Panamsat, which claims to be one of the world’s top three satellite operators managing a global fleet of 30 satellites, has reported its financial results for the second quarter and six months ended 30 June 2003.

In the second quarter, the company generated revenues of $203.6 million compared to $209.2 million in the second quarter of 2002; and increased earnings per share (EPS) to $0.20 versus $0.13 in the same period last year.

For the first six months of the year, total revenues were $403.3 million compared to $416.4 million in 2002 and EPS was $0.41 per share compared to $0.27 per share for the same period in 2002.

Business highlights of the second quarter of 2003 included:

- Solid financial results for the eighth consecutive quarter with growth in EPS of 54 per cent for the second quarter and 52 per cent for the first half of 2003 versus the same periods in 2002.

- The continued strong free cash flow enabled the pre-payment from cash on-hand of $350 million of the company's long-term debt on 14 July. This brought the total debt reduction in 2003 to $550 million with remaining cash and short-term investments of over $500 million and an unused credit line of an additional $250 million.

The company continued modernisation of the fleet with the launch of Galaxy XII. This is the first of a smaller, more versatile and robust set of C-band satellites that claims to provide excellent in-orbit protection; as well as support emerging technologies and video services - such as HDTV and expanded Homeland Security applications. The company claims that its fleet had one of the industry's top reliability records in 2002 with a rating of 99.99 per cent.

Speaking on the performance Panamsat president and CEO Joe Wright said: "We continue to reduce our cost base and, as a result, are able to record a meaningful increase in earnings and make a substantial pre-payment on our debt. All these actions position the company for continued future profitability today and even more so when the markets improve."

"Panamsat is performing well and continues to be as strong as it has ever been. In a weak market, we have had earnings increases every quarter. While our competitors keep adding more satellite capacity, we are taking the next step by combining the best aspects of satellite and fibre networks. While others are increasing debt, we are reducing ours. In addition, we are able to successfully manage challenges with our fleet resulting in no customer impact and minimal financial offset," Wright adds.

Chandra’s alternate cable distribution system HITS gets nod

From http://www.business-standard.com/today/story.asp?Menu=2&story=18942

The government has cleared the headend in the sky (HITS) project of Subhash Chandra’s Siti Cable as an alternate cable television distribution system.

According to senior information and broadcasting ministry officials, “We have cleared the proposal by Siti Cable to set up HITS as a platform to distribute cable television.”

Under this system, Siti would collate the satellite signals of all the broadcasters and then use a satellite to transmit them to the cable operators. The cable operators would use his network to distribute it to homes.

“This is one step ahead of the present system. Siti would uplink the channels from India to its satellite and them downlink them to the cable operators,” said the official.

The cable operators would work just as the last mile connectivity provider while the content would be provided by Siti Cable.

Significantly, it would not be possible to tamper with the feed received from the HITS system.

According to a blueprint of the headend in the sky proposal prepared by Siti Cable, the subscriber would use a set-top box to access the channel depending on whether it is a pay channel of a free-to-air channel.

The company is working on the logistics of the roll out of the system and it is expecting to roll out the services on August 15.

“We are working on the prices as well as how to roll out the system among the various cable operators in the country. We are at present undertaking the trial runs,” said a Siti Cable executive adding that the company would announce the prices for the channels and the services it would offer soon.

Conax to set up operations centre in Delhi

From http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k3/july/july157.htm

NEW DELHI: Norway-based Conax A S, a leading supplier of conditional access technology for digital TV, IP streaming and security systems for interactive gaming and e-payment applications, plans to set up an operations centre in New Delhi.

Confirming its plans, Conax marketing manager Camilla H.H. Gulsett, said: "After the decision of the Indian parliament to make CAS mandatory, suppliers of conditional access have strengthened their focus on the growing Indian market. Setting up of operations centre in New Delhi will allow us to serve both the Indian and the Asian region with local technical support in an improved manner."

Gulsett added, "The operations centre will allow us to offer conditional access as a service in India. This implies that we undertake to establish and run the conditional access part of a DVB operation on revenue sharing basis, and more become a partner than a vendor."

In Asia, Conax has sales offices in New Delhi and Singapore, and it continues to supply state-of-the-art, highly innovative solutions for smart card-based conditional access, security and payment solutions, including 24/7 operation and support services.

Conax had earlier tied up with the Essel Group, which is gearing up for the HITS and DTH platform. "Winning this deal with a leading and important player, Essel, Conax has clearly established itself as a key CA supplier in this region. Conax will operate the CA platform for Essel form our operation center in New Delhi," said Gulsett.

Conax is part of Telenor, the leading Norwegian telecommunications company.

(Craigs comment, Looks like the HITS mux on Insat 3A at 93.5E will be Conax)

T S I C H A N N E L N E W S - Number 29/2003 20 July 2003 -

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

Editor: Branislav Pekic

Edited Apsattv.com Edition

A S I A

BANGLADESH

MORE SATELLITE TV CHANNELS TO BE ALLOWED

Information Minister Tariqul Islam told the House on July 15 that the government would grant permission for setting up more satellite television channels in the country. The minister said that the licence of Ekushey Television was cancelled by the highest court of the country because of corruption. He added that Bangladesh Television did not telecast any programme to victimise the opposition like the Awami League or its government. He said BTV was now telecasting 98 per cent own programmes and eight per cent imported ones.

CHINA - HONG KONG

PAY-TV CHANNEL TO DEBUT IN SEPTEMBER

China's first pay-TV channel will start to air movie programs this September on a trial basis in the digital TV accessible areas of 33 cities nationwide, according to a report in Beijing Star Daily. The service will charge free during the trial operation, and after that, it may charge a household some 20 yuan (US$2.4) each month, the report said, citing officials with the State Administration of Film, Radio and Television. The channel will serve 24 hours, airing 12 movies, each day during the trial operation. One of the 12 programs will be a new product everyday and there will be no advertisements between the movies. Since there are no ads on the channel, the fees collected from its viewers will be the only revenue source to cover all the costs. However, the high cost for a set-top box (more than 1,000 yuan) required by an analogue TV set to receive digital TV services may deter some TV viewers.

NDS TO PROVIDE EQUIPMENT FOR GALAXY PAY-TV SERVICE

NDS Group on July 14 announced that Galaxy Satellite Broadcasting has selected NDS end-to-end digital broadcasting systems to launch the operator's pay-TV services in Hong Kong. Galaxy Satellite Broadcasting Limited is a joint venture between Intelsat, a leading global communications provider, and TVB, Hong Kong's dominant free-to-air broadcaster. The pay-TV service will launch by year-end 2003. Galaxy Satellite Broadcasting Limited is 51% owned by Intelsat, and 49% owned by TVB. The Galaxy Satellite Broadcasting service will be an all-digital, multi-channel service featuring a range of premium Cantonese- and Mandarin-language programming. The satellite broadcasting service will launch by year-end 2003 with 24 channels initially.

HK CABLE SIGNS UP ASIA PLUS BROADCASTING

The 24-hour Asia Plus Broadcasting channel is expanding into Hong Kong thanks to a carriage deal with cable operator Hong Kong Cable Television. The channel, which airs drama, entertainment news, music videos and lifestyle and fashion programming, will launch on Cable TV on August 1.

GALAXY TO OFFER INTERACTIVE GAMBLING

Hong Kong pay-TV platform Galaxy aims to offer the territory's first interactive TV gambling service. The DTH platform, due to launch late this year, hopes that the gambling service will help it take on dominant pay-TV platforms i-Cable. Galaxy aims to sign up one million subscribers in its first year, and plans to reach 1.8 million customers after three years. Hong Kong residents are enthusiastic gamblers and Galaxy expects iTV betting to be a killer application for its service.

INDIA

CABLE OPERATORS OBJECT TO CAS FEE

The introduction Indian CAS regime faces further problems with some cable operators objecting to the Rs72 per month fee the government wants levied for all channels until the end of 2003. The all-inclusive fee is supposed to smooth the introduction of addressable set-top boxes ahead of the pay channels charging separately from 2004 onwards. Indian Cable industry bodies are understood to be unhappy at the proposed zonal system of introducing CAS in the four metropolitan areas earmarked for rollout. The cablers want a simultaneous implementation across the metros, as set out under the original plan.

DD SPORTS TO BECOME FTA SERVICE

Indian state-owned broadcasting division Prasar Bharati's sports channel, Doordarshan (DD) Sports, is set to become a free-to-air service after the Delhi High Court dismissed a petition filed by Modi Entertainment Network (MEN), the distribution company which had opposed the channel's decision to go free-to-air. DD Sports is the first sports channel, which will be freely available. DD Sports was launched in 1999 before it became a pay-TV service in September 2000, but the channel has now decided to revert to becoming a free service, as the pay-TV option had not yielded the desired results.

IRAN

SATELLITE DISH OWNERSHIP ILLEGAL

Iranian security forces have carried out a series of raids targetting private owners of banned satellite dishes in areas of Tehran that were the scene of recent anti-regime protests, according to witnesses and press reports. The protests swelled after many residents of Tehran were urged to take to the streets by foreign-based opposition satellite television broadcasts. The ownership of satellite equipment is illegal in the country, and the paper said offending households received court summons and fines ranging between one and five million rials ($120-600). Meanwhile, the Iranian minister of post, telegraph and telephone, Ahmad Mo'tamedi, has criticized the practice of jamming satellite pictures. In his view, the current practice of jamming satellite signals had not been done through legal channels, it had created problems for satellite channel users and had harmed telecommunications systems.

MALAYSIA

MORE LOCAL TV CONTENT

Malaysia’s Deputy Information Minister Donald Lim says the ministry might gradually reduce the airing of imported movies and drama series during peak hours over state-run TV channel, Radio Television Malaysia (RTM), and replace them with locally produced shows, the Straits Times newspaper has reported. He said the ministry was expected to change the programmes of RTM beginning next month in order to cut the number of foreign movies and drama series aired between 19:00 and 22:00. About 80 per cent of all movies aired over state-run TV channels are imported. The ministry hopes the proportion of locally produced shows will be raised to between 50 and 60 per cent by year-end. The ministry also said that Chinese TV programmes should mostly be in Mandarin from next month.

NEW ZEALAND

TV NETWORKS AGREE ON MORE LOCAL CONTENT

New Zealand's biggest free-to-air broadcasters have agreed on voluntary local content quotas - but at levels below what they aired last year. The Television Local Content Group announced on July 15 that TV One would devote 53% of its 06:00-24:00 schedule to New Zealand content, TV2, 17%, and TV3, 20%. TV One and TV2 are owned by pubcaster Television New Zealand, and TV3 by CanWest NZ. Since December they have been negotiating voluntary content targets with public funding agency NZ On Air and the Screen Production and Development Assn.

SPICE 2 LAUNCHES ON SKY TV

Playboy TV International and SKY Network Television., New Zealand's DTH platform, have signed an exclusive agreement to launch Spice 2, a new premium adult entertainment offering in New Zealand. Spice 2 will make its debut on August 1, joining the established 24-hour Playboy TV and Spice networks. The service will be digitally encrypted with Parental PIN protection and available in 6-hour blocks on a PPV basis. The new Spice 2 channel line-up will mix the best erotic thematic films with episodes of a call-in clip show aptly named Spice Clips. The channel will offer non-stop programming blocks featuring high-quality adult films with edgier themes and alternative genres combined with erotically charged scenes from its extensive digitized library of classic and new adult films.

TELECOM NZ AND SKY TV SIGN RESALE AGREEMENT

Telecom Corp., New Zealand's biggest telephone company, and Sky Network Television on July 16 said they have signed two five year agreements for the resale and retransmission of Sky's pay-TV services to Telecom customers. Under the resale agreement, Telecom said it will launch new consumer communications packages comprising Sky's satellite pay-TV service and various Telecom products. Under the retransmission and content acquisition arrangements, Telecom will be able to transmit Sky's programming over Telecom's network should it decide to do that in the future. Simon Moutter, Telecom's chief operating officer in New Zealand, said the two companies will work together to develop a package of Sky content for retransmission via Telecom's cable or wireless networks. Telecom owns 12% of Sky.

PAKISTAN

NEW TV CHANNELS TO PROMOTE EDUCATION

Four new TV channels are being established for the promotion of education in the country, said Dr. Atta-ur-Rehman, Minister Incharge, Science and Technology. Addressing the seminar on World-class Machining and Evaluation, on July 16, he said these channels would help promote education that is imperative for progress and development of the nation. He said two TV channels would start functioning in November this year, while two would be made functional next year.

SINGAPORE

STARHUB TO LAUNCH DIGITAL TV SERVICE

Singapore's StarHub announced last week that it will launch its digital TV services by end 2003. StarHub, presently the only cable TV operator in Singapore, has awarded contracts to four key technology partners to put in place a system for its digital cable services. StarHub has appointed Thomson Broadcast & Media Solutions as the system integrator of its digital cable services. Besides being the prime contractor of the overall system integration, Thomson will also provide the backend systems support. StarHub's other technology partners for its digital cable services are Nagravision, Advanced Digital Broadcast Ltd and OpenTV.

A F R I C A

SOUTH AFRICA

NEW LAW AGAINST SATELLITE TV PIRATES

South Africa's broadcasting laws might not have been able to catch pirate viewers but a new law can. Information technology and Internet law expert Reinhardt Buys said the prosecution of pirate viewers was impossible but the new Electronic Communications and Transactions Act would catch pirate viewers and people tampering with decoder smart cards. Buys was commenting on a Cape High Court ruling last week that allowed a pirate viewer to go free because outdated broadcasting law did not include in its provisions the pirate watching of a satellite broadcaster such as MultiChoice. The court also found that MultiChoice could be considered, up to May, to have been unlicensed as there were no transitional measures in the law to make provision for the period that the Independent Communications Authority considered MultiChoice's application for a licence. MultiChoice 'licensed' while application considered. This has now been remedied with Icasa issuing a letter to MultiChoice stating that the broadcaster would be "deemed to have a licence" while its application was under consideration.

HEALTHCARE AND EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMING VIA SATELLITE

PanAmSat Corporation announced on July 17 that it has teamed up with the Liberty Foundation, a South Africa-based company that supports education and skills training, to deliver healthcare and educational programming via satellite across all regions of the country. Hosted on PanAmSat's PAS-7 Indian Ocean Region satellite, the Liberty Foundation is initially supporting two channels with programming produced by Mindset Network. Set to launch in late 2003, the Mindset Network's healthcare channel will focus primarily on the AIDS epidemic. The goal is to educate patients and workers throughout the country's healthcare system on the AIDS virus, as well as other diseases and possible treatments. Individuals will be able to view the channel in thousands of the government's primary healthcare clinics. Activate, which debuted in February 2003, focuses on educating students in the country's senior high school system. The initial curriculum includes instructional lessons and tutorials in Math, Science and English. Initially, it is being broadcast through Mindset's subscriber network, with plans to eventually make it available to South African schools free of charge. Currently, a pilot program is being tested in over 300 schools in South Africa. Expected to be fully deployed in over 1,000 schools by the end of 2004, the network will air seven days a week and 12 hours a day. In addition to these two channels, future offerings will include a business channel that will focus on entrepreneurship and creating future business leaders.

20/07/03

Sunday no update

19/07/03

No update today, back Monday, in the meantime have a look at jcsat2a 3880 V sr 30000 fec 3/4

18/07/03

Sorry about the late site update as usual on Friday I have other things to do that delay the update.

Is Tarbs falling to bits? I have heard rumour of an increase in subs to $80!! thats not right surely! meanwhile this interesting post was seen on a U.S sat message forum.

Someone wrote.

The lattest news on TARBS is that they are planning to scrap there north America DTH satellite platform on G10R ,when i do not know some of the channels will go to Dish network

Another satellite serves bites the dust,,,,,,,

DJK

16x9 video seen testing on Fv1 on Optus B1, TVNZ 12456V mux.

From my Emails & ICQ

A few C1 reports.

From Brett Martin, Christchurch, NZ

Christchurch NZ - 60cm

C1 Globecast signal 86% quality - no change

Brett.

From John Jajjo, Auckland , NZ

I live in Auckland & i have 90cm dish with strong receiver 98% signal for
12367v30000!!! same as before!

From John Harrison

Optus B1

12524H 6110 3/4 16:9

SNGAu Darwin "Cricket"

From the Dish

Optus C1 156E 12398 H "ABC TV National" is now Fta.

Asiasat 4 122E 12274V Sr 10000 Fec 3/4 "Rai Italy" (On the Asian beam, any reports?)

Palapa C2 113E 10990 V and 10994 V The test cards have left .

Insat 3A 93.5E 3985 V "DD Sports" has started, Fta, PIDs 169/110.
Insat 3A 93.5E 4025 V An ETC mosaic has replaced the Zee mosaic, Fta, PIDs 706/707.
Insat 3A 93.5E 4065 V "Zee MGM" is now encrypted.

(Signals above reported UP in power levels, those in W.A might like to try?)

PAS 10 68.5E 4034 V "DD Sports" is now Fta.

NEWS

Playboy TV adds Spice 2 New Zealand

From http://www.advanced-television.com/pages/pagesb/newsdaily.html

Playboy TV International (PTVI) and New Zealand DTH platform SKY Network Television have signed an exclusive agreement to launch Spice 2, a new premium adult entertainment offering for New Zealand viewers.

Spice 2 will debut on August 1, joining the established 24-hour Playboy TV and Spice networks. The service will be digitally encrypted with Parental PIN protection and available in six-hour blocks on a PPV basis. “Playboy TV International intends to uphold its commitment to providing the widest variety of adult product to our New Zealand viewers. We are pleased to continue our already successful partnership with SKY by expanding our full-spectrum of networks with the addition of Spice 2,” commented Mark Rudolph, Managing Director, PTVI.

(Craigs comment, all 3 are PPV, $6.95 for each block looks like Skys still in an all out effort to become profitable. Come on SKY where are the real new channels? History, Comedy etc etc..)

INSAT 3E all set for August launch

From http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holnus/01171813.htm

Bangalore, July 17. (UNI): The third generation Indian National Communication Satellite, INSAT 3E, is all set for an August end launch onboard an Ariane V launch vehicle, from Kourou in French Guyana to enhance the much-wanted transponder capacity for communication and broadcast requirement in the country.

The 2,750-kg satellite was transshipped by an AN124 Russian cargo aircraft on July 15 and reached the Rochambeau International Airport in Cayenne yesterday afternoon.

Thereafter, it was moved to the European Spaceport of Kourou by road.

The satellite, which has 24 C band transponders and 12 extended C band transponders, would be one of the three satellites to be launched by the 162nd flight of Arianespace scheduled for August end.

When commissioned, the satellite would subtantially enhance the INSAT system capacity, which now provided 120 transponders in C band, Extended C band, Ku band and S band, meeting the requirement of various users, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said in a release here today.

The satellite would undergo various ground trials during the next 40 days before it was moved to the launch pad, ISRO sources said.

In the coming weeks, the appendages such as antennae and solar panels would be integrated with the satellite and the total spacecraft would be tested in detail.

After propellant filling operations are completed, it would be mated with the Ariane V vehicle for its launch, the sources said.

Indian government takes shine off Murdoch's Star

From http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,7493,999967,00.html

Rupert Murdoch's Star TV could see its Indian news channel taken off air in a dispute with the Indian government over the service's ownership structure.

The Indian government has asked Star TV, a subsidiary of Mr Murdoch's News Corporation, to clarify what it claims is the "fuzzy equity structuring" of Star News.

If it is not happy with the answer, the government could shut down Star News' satellite uplink, preventing the service being broadcast in India.

Hong Kong-based Star TV has asked a Mumbai court to pre-emptively block any attempt to shut down Star News, arguing it has already dealt with the government's questions about the service's ownership structure.

Direct foreign investment in Indian TV news channels is limited to 26% but Star TV's holding in Star News exceeded this limit.

In April the Indian government gave Star TV three months to reduce its stake in Star News from 49% to 26%.

Star TV did this by distributing the relevant equity stakes among seven individuals.

But some of these people are thought to have now sold their shares and the Indian government wants to know where they have ended up.

Star TV is the only foreign media firm to have the same access to satellite uplink technology as domestic Indian broadcasters.

17/07/03

Where are all the Optus C1 signal reports?? please keep on reporting what you can see.

From my Emails & ICQ

From Jeff

DD Sports is now Free to air on Pas 10

The specs 4033 Mhz vertical ,symbol rate19565 FEC 3/4

Jeff in Perth...

From Mr Humax

12397 H 7200 3/4

Service is labeled "ATN SNG 1" only bars at present

From the Dish

Optus B3/C1 at 156E

The Austar/Foxtel mux has switched from Optus B3: 12438 H to Optus C1:12438 H.
The Austar/Foxtel mux has switched from Optus B3: 12689 H to Optus C1:12689 H.
The Austar/Foxtel mux has switched from Optus B3: 12376 H to Optus C1:12398 H.
The Optus Aurora mux has switched from Optus B3: 12407 V to Optus C1:12407 V.
The GlobeCast Australia mux has switched from Optus B3: 12336 V to Optus C1: 12367 V.

(M Williams)
ST 1 88E 3500 H "Nation Channel" is now Fta

Insat 3A 93.5E 3985 V "Nickelodeon" (Conax), CCTV 9 and a Tech TV test card have started, Fta, PIDs 161/81, 162/88 and 169/110.(Satcodx reports Videoguard..Conax can't be right...Think its been hacked already

Thaicom 3 78.5E 3687 H The Indiavision tests have left again.

PAS 10 68.5E 4154 V "DD Bharati" has left (PAL).

NEWS

Telecom NZ, Sky TV sign deal


From http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,6765992%5E15306%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html

TELECOM New Zealand will soon launch new Telecom and Sky TV bundled packages after the two signed a new five-year resale deal.

No date for the commercial launch has been set.

Chief operating officer Simon Moutter said Telecom was considering the possibility of delivering Sky content over Telecom's networks, development of pay-per-view and video on demand services and interactive television.

He said Telecom in October would announce a new range of Sky and telephone packages, including Internet services, under the resale agreement.

"That will start to make the benefits of the deal tangible to customers," he said.

About 30 percent of Telecom customers now subscribe to packages of various services.

Telecom customers currently on Sky packages would have the option of upgrading to the new offering.

Sky chief executive John Fellet said the deal fitted with Sky's philosophy of packaging Sky products services with other complementary services and having them delivered on a variety of different platforms.

Telecom owns 12 per cent of Sky and also owns 10 per cent of Sky's two thirds owner Independent Newspapers.

Because Telecom has two Sky directors, the deal had to get permission for the deal from the stock exchange's market surveillance panel. Telecom said the deal was conducted at "arm's length" and the waiver was granted.

Streaming video by year-end

From http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2568119a1896,00.html

Counties residents and businesses will soon be receiving television and video via cable if Pukekohe-based broadband provider Wired Country has its way.

Wired Country, a division of lines company Counties Power, is spending $21 million to implement a hybrid fibre optic and wireless network, similar to Wellington's CityLink offering.

Wired Country general manager Mike Lancaster says he'd like to have some sort of video streaming or broadcast TV service available over the network before Christmas.

"Even video-on-demand would be pretty cool. Being able to book a movie without going out in the middle of winter and braving the elements. Just log on and go to your virtual video store," he says.

Wired Country's fibre network in the centre of Pukekohe is already live while the first of the wireless network points, covering Pukekohe, went live last week, with Papakura following late this week.

Between them, the two wireless sites will cover 15,000 homes and businesses.

Within three months the company expects to have five wireless sites connecting 24,000 homes and businesses throughout Drury, Tuakau and Waiuku as well as Papakura and Pukekohe.

Wired Country has an open access model, based on power industry models, which means Internet service providers can bundle their own services with the network access and sell to the end customer.

Five Internet service providers – Iconz, ihug, The Packing Shed, Wave Internet and WatchDog – are retailing the service. TelstraClear is also testing the network.

Auckland telco WorldXchange is trialling the network for voice communications, and Mr Lancaster says the telco is keen to wholesale a voice offering for the other ISP retailers.

Mr Lancaster says some of Wired Country's current partners already have relationships with the likes of Sky TV and could potentially resell TV content on the network. However, Wired Country hasn't ruled out the possibility of directly dealing with companies that could provide video and television feeds.

Mr Lancaster says Wired Country has run fibre into some new subdivisions.

"The opportunity is to get all services down that connection, so you don't have a Sky dish on the roof and a standard TV aerial and another dish for your satellite TV from other countries.

"There's lots of opportunity to get services integrated and brought together on the one connection."

Wired Country has been approached by community groups interested in having feeds from international satellite channels.

The company is in discussions with several security firms about using the network for remote monitoring of premises.

Mr Lancaster says Wired Country wants to have 1000 to 2000 customers using its network by the end of the financial year in March.

Wired Country is working with South Waikato power company The Lines Company which is interested in rolling out a similar network throughout its region. It's likely they will build the network together, Mr Lancaster says.

A number of other provincial towns have also expressed interest in similar models, he says.

(Craigs comment, very interesting perhaps Impactv can supply them with channels when they get started???)

GMA Network to begin int'l TV service early next year

From http://www.inq7.net/ent/2003/jul/17/ent_3-1.htm

GMA Network, Inc. has finally decided to go international, with a planned direct-to-home television subscription service to overseas Filipinos starting early next year.

"We are preparing for this (international service) but the details have not yet been ironed out," GMA Network corporate communications head Butch Raquel told INQ7.net.

Raquel said there was still no business entity that would handle the service but added GMA Network would establish it soon. In addition, GMA has still not decided on what region it would pilot its service and the international partnerships the network will enter into.

But Raquel assured the still unnamed GMA international channel would be available to overseas Filipinos by first quarter of 2004.

GMA Network's international group will provide GMA-7 shows "real time" to international subscribers on a 24/7 basis. Overseas Filipino audiences would view GMA-7's popular entertainment shows - such as GMA-7's variety shows, sitcoms, drama specials, and soap operas - and news and public affairs programs as they are viewed in the Philippines and would be replayed to cater region-specific timezones.

According to Sheila Pascual-Paras, GMA Network production unit manager for news, fresh segments in GMA's newscasts and new public affairs programs are being planned to cater to an international audience. "We are very much excited," Paras told INQ7.net. "We are looking forward to expanding our reach to serving more Filipinos around the world."

News anchor Mike Enriquez reveals the eventuality of international exposure as a "challenge" but rewarding in the network's expanded thrust of "Serbisyong Totoo." "This (international service) satisfies our overseas Filipinos hunger for news and entertainment from home," Enriquez said in an INQ7.net interview. "We are now able to serve Filipinos wherever they are in the world."

As a rival to ABS-CBN's The Filipino Channel, the unnamed GMA international channel would provide overseas Filipinos another choice in the delivery of television programs from the Philippines. "Filipinos overseas would not be tied to a single provider," Raquel said. "They now have an option."

(Craigs comment, Who will snap this one up in our region? Tarb's?....)

Corporates commit R225m to Mindset Network

From http://www.bday.co.za/bday/content/direct/1,3523,1390444-6078-0,00.html

Mindset Network, a multimedia satellite TV network, has been launched in Johannesburg with corporate support valued at R225 million. Mindset Network is a non-profit organisation which will address the education challenges which face South Africa, including schooling, health and entrepreneurship.

Ann Lamont, chief executive of Mindset Network, said: "The key partners committed to Mindset Network have put aside their different commercial objectives for the greater good of the country and all its people.The government departments of education, communications and health are also involved."

The impetus was the Learning Channel which was begun by William Smith and funded by Hylton Appelbaum, executive director of the Liberty Foundation 13 years ago. Appelbaum has long believed that South Africa needed to create a dedicated, multimedia, educational service that all South Africans could access.

The Liberty and Standard Bank Foundations, which conceptualised the network, have provided R74 million to start the project. In addition, they have been instrumental in securing additional partner support.

Derek Cooper, Standard Bank Group chairman, said: "We strongly believe that good education is critical if South Africa is to achieve sustainable growth and development".

Founding partners include the Nelson Mandela Foundation, PanAmSat, Multichoice Africa, Sentech and the Sunday Times. SABC is a key supporter of the project.

John Samuel, chief executive of The Nelson Mandela Foundation, explained that the foundation has provided additional seed funding to the Mindset Network to assist with the health and education channels.

"We are committed to raising substantial funds for Mindset Network and will be integrating the project into our 120 rural schools and clinic initiatives."

PanAmSat, one of the world's largest satellite services company which is based in the United States, has provided access to a transponder which allows Mindset Network the bandwidth for up to ten channels.

Steve Rich, vice-president of PanAmSat for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, explained that the bandwidth it was offering enabled content distribution and has the ability to reach every school, home and clinic in Southern Africa.

The Sunday Times will be carrying print supplements to support the broadcast as well as giving exposure to the founding partners. South Africa's largest weekly newspaper is running a campaign to call South Africans to action to support the Mindset Network initiative.

16/07/03

Chatroom will be open for Optus C1 signal reports from 8.30pm NZ, 6.30pm Syd onwards. I welcome any service providers on Optus C1 to come in and hopefully get feedback on signal levels around Australia and NZ.

Dday for C1,

Change over Seems to have gone well with no major problems reported. The main loss over here in NZ was to those viewing SBS on 12407V this beams now changed to Aus only. Globecast on 12367v seems about the same level at my place that it has been at for the past week. One thing I noticed last night BBC radio has appeared on B3 12595V.

Keep those Optus C1 reports coming in!

Meanwhile over on B1 TVNZ on 12456V is now also listing Fv1 Fv2 Fv3 Fv4 3 of them are just teletext at the moment but it will be great if some new free to air starts there!

From my Emails & ICQ

From <SSS@optus.com.au>

Termination of radio services on Aurora

Dear all,

Please note that from Wednesday July 16th, the 7 Satellite Music Australia
radio services will no longer be available on the Aurora platform.

This is due to conclusion of our arrangement with SMA to broadcast these services.

Regards,
Satellite Support Services.
"Yes" Optus

C1 Reception Reports from W.A

From Zapara

12407v and 12367 vert 100% on a Humax compared with 80 and 70% respectively.

90cm Jonsa dish and dual output Jonsa LNBF

Perth WA
All other services same as before

From Jason W.A

Reception on the new Optus C1 satellite in Perth on a 90cm dish is excellent today.

Globecast had a 40% increase in power from 55% to 79%

Aurora 12407V is now at 97% from 68%.

Jason

From Jeff, Perth W.A

Here in Perth 12407 Vertical for me used to be at 66 percent signal
quality,Now at 11:40am Perth time its at 98 percent .Good work Optus except
for New Zealand it seems.

Reciever Humax 5410z 90cm offset dish.

Jeff in Perth

C1 Reception Reports from Northern Aus

From Kuz

These are the test results from southern Arhnem Land this morning with an 85cm offset dish and a 1.2m offset.

Tp3: 1107V CNR 20dB up 5 on B3
Tp2: 1069V 18dB
Tp14:1133(?) H 20dB
Tp13:1098 H 17.5dB
Tp20:1389 H 19dB

Add 2dB extra for each one with a 1.2m.
It looks if they need some fine tuning later they are not consistent plus Tp 14 is not at the scheduled frequency centre so far.

I will keep you posted on this daily.

Kuz

C1 Reception Reports from Central Aus

From Rc256

Success with the transponder transfer.

I'm getting 92% signal strength and 82% signal quality on 12438 MHz
Horizontal where there had never been a signal before. The others are
similar, but I note that 12367 MHz Vertical, which I could get before on B3
at 12336 MHz Vertical now has a 20% improvement in it's signal quality.

C1 Reception Reports from NSW

Dear Craig and All.

12367 V is coming very strong here in the south cost of NSW CBermagui.)

Using 65 cm dish a Humax 5400z and universal Lnbf.

As Globecast was little bit weaker on B3, on C1 quality and Signal are 100%
on my box, never had a such signal before with a small dish.

Regards.
Bernie

C1 Reception Reports from NZ

From Dave De