12/10/07
D2 currently at 175.5E or near enough! Going to 177E? testing this weekend perhaps?
The FTA Maori TV channel inside Sky's transponder on D1 12608 H is no longer active.
CHCH DVBT MPG4 tests are on UHF channels 47 49 50 testing, sorry I don't have the parameters.
From my Email & ICQ
From TOM
CNBC on Sky NZ
CNBC goes across the ditch
On 15 October 2007, CNBC will be distributed to 670,000 homes in New
Zealand, on Sky Television, New Zealand.
"CNBC is the pre eminent global investor network, providing fast, accurate,
actionable and unbiased business news," said Matt Christie, Regional
Manager, Australia and New Zealand. "We have expanded significantly in the
Australasia region this year, and we are delighted to partner with Sky
Television who is the prominent platform in New Zealand. CNBC is a dedicated
business news channel committed to providing business news coverage that is
pertinent to our viewers in New Zealand."
"We are delighted that CNBC has joined the Sky Television platform in New
Zealand," said John Fellet, CEO SKY Television, New Zealand. "CNBC is a
powerful, global brand and delivers unparalleled global and local business
news, which our New Zealand viewers will value. The strong support received
from New Zealand's leading financial institutions was also influential in
the distribution of CNBC in this country."
CNBC will be aired on Channel 95 on Sky NZ.
CNBC will be commemorating this expansion by broadcasting its signature show
Squawk Box, live from Auckland and Wellington for the week of October
15,2007. Squawk on the Road - New Zealand is sponsored by the New Zealand
Trade and Enterprise.
(Craig's comment, more "filler" from Sky.)
From Herb G
Copeland, you pr**k!
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/3/story.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10469391&pnum=0
So, Copeland "..is proposing a supplementary order paper to Parliament
that would allow Sky TV to access and transmit Freeview channels
without infringing copyright as a supplement to their pay TV programmes."
What a pr**k! At least show some balance Gordon, and require the same
of Sky to Freeview, unencrypted, of course. This completely undermines
all that Freeeview & the govt are trying to achieve - a play into
Murdoch's greedy little hands. For TVNZ to open up their Freeview
programming to Sky, and you might as well close the platform down, as
there would be then no alternative to Sky.
Herb.
(Craig's comment, see news section)
From Salrom
Dear Craig and All.
On Intelsat 701 180 East freq : 11174 H Sr 23150 3/4
Tele Nouvelle Caledonie, Tele Wallis and Futuna and Tempo Caledonie are now Scrambled using Seca format, but radios are still FTA
Regards.
Salah.
From Steve (NZ)
RE: SKY NZ CNBC
Well they refreshed their channel table over night. CNBC is on 12420H
with SID 1095.
Just noticed that their transmission of MaoriTV on 12608 H has been
renamed to "Res 25" and its SID changed to 1205. They had already
loaded the freeview version into their channel table, so it looks like
they have now cut over.
I've done a check of the SDT/BAT tables and they are now pulling the
following services from the freeview transponders
* 1922 - Stratos
* 1923 - Parliament TV
* 1025 - Maori TV
Steve
(Craig's comment, those of you who tuned to 12608 H for your Maori TV will have lost it, so retune to the official Freeview transmission. Nice of Sky to put in the word "encrypyed" in the E.P.G)
From the Dish
Optus D1 160E "Southern Cross Central" has moved from 12637 H to 12637 V, Fta, SR 5100.
(Craig's comment, I actually make this one 12636)
Optus B3 152E 12564 H "Apostolic Oneness Network and Supreme Master TV" have started on , Fta. Aghapy TV is now encrypted.(All 1 week ago)
Optus B3 152E 12706 V "A GlobeCast TV" mux has started on , SR 22500, FEC 3/4, same line-up as on 12564 H.
(Craig's comment, services shifting from 12564H to 12706V ready for Globecast to use 12525,12658 12706 V dual beam on D2)
NSS 6 95E 11635 H "Nic Channel, Thai Cable Channels and Air Force Channel" have started on ,Fta.
Thaicom 5 78.5E 3450 V "Sumruajloke" is Fta.
Eutelsat W5 70.5E 11305 V "Tristit TV" has started on , Fta.
Intelsat 10 68.5E 12722 H "Teletoon has replaced Fashion TV" on , Conax.
NEWS
TVNZ to sell advertising on Bebo
From http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4235566a28.html
State broadcaster Television NZ says it has been signed up by the nation's top social networking website, Bebo, to sell display and video advertising in New Zealand.
The two companies today announced a partnership which will also give Bebo users access to TVNZ programmes, and provide advertisers with access to a combined audience of more than 1.5 million New Zealanders.
The deal is TVNZ's first such agreement with a social networking site, and TVNZ chief executive Rick Ellis it showed the broadcaster's commercial flexibility.
"This collaboration brings together the country's largest broadcaster and largest website," he said.
"We can offer a one-stop shop making it easier to run (advertising) campaigns and reach consumers."
A spokeswoman for TVNZ said it had not been decided whether the advertising would be pitched to political parties wanting to target young voters in next year's general election.
Any TVNZ content or advertising added to the site in New Zealand would comply with local laws on election advertising.
San Francisco-based Bebo has the largest number of page views of any website in New Zealand and has more than doubled its online audience in the past year. It also holds the top position in the New Zealand social networking market.
Bebo's general manager for Australia and NZ, Francisco Cordero, said the deal enabled advertisers to target consumers in a place where they interact with friends and "consume" media and entertainment.
Bebo is a global social networking website with a total membership of more than 38 million users worldwide, and plans to launch a Microsoft-powered instant-messaging programme shortly.
The company said its New Zealand users spent an average of 43.6 minutes a day on the site – more than any other website including rival sites MySpace (owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp), Facebook, and Zorpia, and the search engine Google. Facebook has 40 million members and MySpace 200 million members.
New Zealand police last month expressed concern that some numbers of young girls were offering sex for drugs on Bebo and using the site to find drug dealers.
Big-screen TVs may be outlawed
From http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=39&objectid=10469468&pnum=0
New Zealand may ban some of the largest plasma televisions from being imported into the country if they fail to meet energy performance standards.
The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority is investigating the energy performance of televisions, particularly those using plasma or LCD technology.
The Crown entity implements Government strategies for energy efficiency, conservation and renewable energy in the private and public sectors.
Products manager Terry Collins said the authority was continually looking into products that used electricity or gas to assess their energy consumption and in cases decide whether they should be allowed into the country.
It had already introduced minimum energy performance standards for a range of products including fridges, washing machines, dishwashers and air-conditioning units.
Mr Collins said the authority was now turning its attention to TVs, which were in some cases using more power than a domestic fridge or as much as 15 lightbulbs.
Old technology had limited the size of cathode ray televisions to about 26inch (66cm) screens but new technology had allowed for much bigger televisions that used more power.
LCD screens ranged from 56cm to 106cm and plasma televisions could be up to a metre wide, which significantly increased energy consumption.
Mr Collins said the authority was working with the Australian Government in a joint programme looking into performance standards around television energy efficiency as part of its Trans Tasman Mutual Recognition Arrangement.
A discussion paper was released a month ago and a consulting firm hired to provide advice had recommended introducing a star rating system to indicate television energy efficiency and mandatory minimum energy performance standards by 2009.
Mr Collins said the standards could place upper limits on power usage, including for when a television was on standby.
Some of the largest TVs could as a result be banned from being imported, but new rules would not apply to stock already in the country.
Mr Collins said regulators worldwide were realising televisions and home entertainment systems were using a lot more power than before.
By 2020 it was estimated home entertainment systems and appliances would account for 45 per cent of household power use. Mr Collins said there was a "double whammy effect" as, by making people's lives easier, electrical appliances had created more spare time for people to enjoy home entertainment powered by electricity.
He said about 20 other products were being assessed by the authority, including incandescent lightbulbs, which could be banned.
The banning of products could draw criticism from consumers about a perceived lack of choice but despite restrictions there were, for example, still 518 models of fridges to choose from in New Zealand.
Since the Government introduced its programme to develop minimum energy standards it was estimated to have saved $60 million in energy use and that was forecast to increase to around $2.7 billion by 2025.
Richard Griffin: TV3 watched and learned
From http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/3/story.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10469391&pnum=0
The Herald's Fran O'Sullivan was perhaps the first to suggest the fortunes of TV3 would be adversely affected by the All Blacks' World Cup demise in Cardiff.
Most TV3 rugby viewers slumped into a trough of silent despondency immediately following Sunday's broadcast of the match.
Unhindered by misery, O'Sullivan observed on TV One's Agenda that the outcome was also a body blow to TV3's expectations of a financial fillip as host broadcaster of the Rugby World Cup.
It is also true that some in the TVNZ/Sky camp later attempted to glean some consolation from the debacle in the belief that TV3's aspirations had also been ankle-tapped by the collapse of the All Blacks' campaign. In fact the damage may be more perceived than real.
The architect of the TV3 success story, CEO Brent Impey, seems to have approached the exercise more strategically than was the case previously. Apparently buoyed by the success of what, in the broadcasting game, is inevitably a gamble, Impey is convinced the investment in the hosting rights was money well spent.
"We hoped there would be a further spin-off as the team progressed to the final in Paris but, c'est la vie, we're very pleased with what we have achieved."
In this case TV3 appears to have learned from the financial experience of others while adding an audience cross-over dynamic that has proved its worth.
Impey is adamant that TV3 has gained a "huge advertising advantage" but perhaps more importantly, attracted a catchment of new viewers that previously have not been inclined to switch to TV3.
He is confident most of these converts will stay with the channel as the Cup continues and emerge as a new and perhaps more mature factor in the rating demographics once rugby has faded from our bruised consciousness.
Certainly the ratings from the Cup games have been a significant gain for TV3. It is an open question now whether that audience will continue to watch the remaining games.
But, from a commercial perspective, Impey points out that sponsorship and advertising package sales more than covered the cost of the bid for the host broadcaster rights.
He says "unlike others in the past" (read TVNZ) TV3 is not faced with the necessity to make multimillion-dollar writeoffs as a consequence of the company's involvement with the Cup.
This is a valid point. In a fit of what must be regarded as a reflection of what the Prime Minister once referred to as "the climate of excess" at TVNZ, negotiators bid US$10 million apiece to secure the hosting rights for the 1999 and 2003 RWCs.
The consequences of what subsequent CEO Ian Fraser described as "a completely dopey deal" was a write-down of some $5 million in 2004 and an erosion of the return to the shareholder.
TVNZ was burned and, as a consequence, a great deal more cautious when it came to bidding for the host broadcast rights for 2007.
A short-term alliance with Sky TV saw the "pay" and "free to air" broadcasters putting $7 million on the negotiating table as their joint bottom line. Caution was not rewarded and TV3 gazumped the competition with a bid that was probably between $8 and $9 million, but also took account of not just the TV rights but the needs of the substantial CanWest radio holdings.
A gamble nevertheless when it is generally acknowledged that there is only a slim bonus margin in advertising rates around the World Cup, but one that gives a resonance to the Impey contention that the rugby broadcasts attracted a significant slice of new viewers.
The wild card in the equation was New Zealand's Sunday TV advertising regime and there seems to be some confusion over whether that was factored into the TV3 thinking at the time.
As far as the ever-vigilant eye of the Ministry of Culture and Heritage is concerned it should have been. Within half an hour of the final whistle CEO Martin Matthews, perhaps mindful that his minister, Helen Clark, was gamely attempting to hide her chagrin in the face of an ebullient and jubilant French Prime Minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, was demanding by email a "please explain".
The ministry had made it clear they wanted consultation on this issue and without it they regard the inclusion of advertising in the morning broadcast as a breach of the existing legislation.
Out of place in a secular society these regulations may be, but few politicians are likely to challenge them without being pushed. A breach can earn a fine of up to $100,000. The relevant argument pivots on the act's determination that exemption may be granted if the signal originates outside New Zealand and is directed to a wider audience than the New Zealand catchment.
TV3 had taken account of the requirement and configured the TV3 signal directly out of Paris, while ensuring the signal also reached a potential audience of millions of viewers across the wider Pacific region.
There is perhaps a certain irony in the fact that it was Sky that originally negotiated amendments to the act that allows for the exemption.
The amendment at the time took account of sporting fixtures, such as the US Open golf Tournament, beaming live into homes on a Sunday morning complete with overseas devised advertising. It is also true that TVNZ also received exemptions during the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games broadcasts. But the act has been rewritten since then. It may be it was a matter of "it's easier to apologise later than ask for permission first". Apologies from Impey seem unlikely.
The smart money would be on TV3 challenging the "please explain" and advising the ministry they will be taking the issue to the courts, possibly on the back of the Bill of Rights and "freedom of speech".
Throw a prominent QC into a mix where the so-called new media seems free of any stricture, and the legal and political implications could be explosive.
This premise may also be a source of contention on another media front. Newly independent MP, Gordon Copeland, is proposing a supplementary order paper to Parliament that would allow Sky TV to access and transmit Freeview channels without infringing copyright as a supplement to their pay TV programmes.
The free-to-air broadcasters are incensed and the politically hapless Copeland is in danger of being labelled a solitary running dog for the Sky network.
However, the cavalry may be coming to his rescue in the shape of the chair of Parliament's commerce select committee and front bench National MP, Gerry Brownlee.
His committee has been hearing submissions on the Copyright Technology Bill, now in its second reading.
In that context Brownlee has expressed reservations about the opposition to the Sky proposals from free-to-air broadcasters who developed and are broadcasting the Freeview channels.
The issue pivots around the repeal or otherwise of section 88 of the act, but the niceties of legislation will go out the window if it develops into a battle between political parties, the advertising industry and the broadcasters.
Always grist to a media mill.
Boeing Advanced Military Satellite Begins On-Orbit Checkout
From http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Boeing_Advanced_Military_Satellite_Begins_On_Orbit_Checkout_999.html
The first Boeing-built Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) satellite was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., on Oct. 10, 2007. The WGS constellation will provide a 10-fold increase in telecommunications capacity over the satellites it will replace. In the below photo, the Boeing 702 model spacecraft is loaded into a fairing at Cape Canaveral. The fairing assembly sits on top of the Atlas V launch vehicle and protects the satellite while the rocket travels through the Earth's atmosphere on its way
Boeing has acquired signals from the first Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) satellite, a new military spacecraft that will help meet the growing demand for military satellite communications by providing a 10-fold increase in telecommunications capacity over the satellite it will replace.
The satellite -- the first of five that Boeing is building for the U.S. Air Force -- was successfully launched at 8:22 p.m. Eastern on Oct. 10 by a United Launch Alliance Atlas V vehicle from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base, Fla. Following a nominal 45-minute flight, the launch vehicle's upper stage deployed the spacecraft, and a ground station in Dongara, Australia received the satellite's first signals 47 minutes later at 9:09 p.m. Eastern. Boeing controllers in El Segundo, Calif., confirmed that the satellite is healthy.
"This successful launch and spacecraft acquisition represents the culmination of tremendous teamwork by our U.S. Air Force customer, The Aerospace Corporation and The Boeing Company," said Howard Chambers, vice president and general manager, Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems. "The military's demand for communications capabilities is increasing exponentially, and this WGS satellite, along with the others in the series, will provide critical communications services to the warfighters who will depend on its services."
Following a series of orbital maneuvers and in-orbit testing, the satellite is expected to begin Air Force service during the first quarter of 2008
The WGS series of satellites will augment and eventually replace the Defense Satellite Communication System constellation as well as the Global Broadcast Service function currently provided by the U.S. Navy's Ultra High Frequency Follow-On satellites, which were built by Boeing. It also will reduce the U.S. government's reliance on commercial satellite communications services.
WGS is a Boeing 702 spacecraft that operates at both X-band and Ka-band frequencies, and provides many important operational features that are not available from any other MILSATCOM system. For example, WGS has 18 reconfigurable coverage areas and the ability to broadcast or multicast transmissions into the various coverage areas and connect users between any and all coverage areas even when operating on different frequency bands.
USAF Launches First Of Next Gen Communications Satellites
From http://www.spacewar.com/reports/USAF_Launches_First_Of_Next_Gen_Communications_Satellites_999.html
The U.S. Air Force launched the first of a next generation of military communications satellites from here Oct. 10 at 8:22 p.m. (EDT), when a United Launch Alliance Atlas V booster carried a Wideband Global SATCOM satellite into space.
WGS is the nation's next-generation wideband satellite communications system. The Oct. 10 launch begins the process of augmenting and eventually replacing the aging Defense Satellite Communications System which has been the Department of Defense's backbone for satellite communications for the last two decades.
"I'm extremely pleased with (the) successful launch and the superb performance of the entire team that made it happen," said Col. Donald Robbins, commander of the Wideband SATCOM Group, MILSATCOM Systems Wing. "This launch campaign presented unique challenges that were overcome with a lot of hard work, attention to detail and a tremendous team effort between our WGS customer, the Boeing Company, the 45th Space Wing, the Aerospace Corporation, and the Launch and Range Systems Wing. I am very proud of the team and its achievement."
Once the satellite becomes operational, it will be the DoD's highest capacity communications satellite and provide critical effects for U.S. and allied warfighters.
"This mission proves that control of the battlefield really does begin here," said Brig. Gen. Susan Helms, 45th Space Wing commander. "Congratulations to the entire government/industry launch team."
This mission also marked the 11th flight of an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral AFS, and extends the string of consecutive successful operational launches to 52 for Air Force Space Command.
KBS World Expands Malaysian Reach
From http://www.worldscreen.com/newscurrent.php?filename=kbs101107.htm
MALAYSIA/BRUNEI, October 11: KBS World, the international channel operated by Korean pubcaster KBS, will be available to nearly 2 million households in Malaysia and Brunei via Astro, beginning this Saturday, October 13.
KBS World will be available to all Astro subscribers as a basic channel. With the additions of Malaysia and Brunei, KBS World is now available in 51 countries around the world, reaching 40 million households.
KBS World is a general-entertainment channel targeted at families and fans of Korean pop culture. It carries dramas, entertainment, documentaries, news and current affairs and kids’ programming.
Murdoch's global multimedia empire
From http://business.iafrica.com/features/631486.htm
News Corp, planning to launch its Fox Business Network on Monday, is a giant global media and entertainment empire built through a series of acquisitions engineered by its founder, Rupert Murdoch.
An Australian who became a US citizen in the 1980s to better realise his dream, Murdoch (76) started in the newspaper business in the early 1950s through an inheritance from his father.
By the 1960s, the hard-charging businessman was taking on the British press.
In his biggest coup, Murdoch earlier this year won a hard-fought proxy battle for Dow Jones & Co and its prized The Wall Street Journal, a $5.6-billion deal that redraws the US media landscape. That deal is expected to be finalised later this year.
His conquests in Britain include The Sun, the most popular British tabloid; The Times; The Sunday Times; and the News of the World.
Beat CNN
On other continents, Murdoch launched The Australian in his native country, and the New York Post, constructing a press fortress that today is some 175 titles strong.
In the United States, his 24-hour Fox News Channel, which during the Iraq war beat prime rival CNN in audience ratings, is seen as supportive of the Republican administration of President George W. Bush.
Elsewhere in the television sector, News Corp is a major player in satellite-broadcasting in Europe — BSkyB in Britain, Sky Italia in Italy — and in Asia with its Star network.
Murdoch also owns book publisher HarperCollins and, through its Fox division, owns Hollywood film studio 20th Century Fox, producer of such global blockbusters as the 'Star Wars' series and 'Titanic'.
In July 2005, Murdoch ventured into cyberspace, buying the internet social-networking site MySpace for $580-million.
CNBC's opposition
A year later, faced with MySpace's skyrocketing popularity, search-engine giant Google agreed to pay MySpace $900-million for an exclusive deal to provide search and advertising.
Fox Business Network, set to launch 15 October, is a direct challenge to General Electric Co's industry leader CNBC.
News Corp, which reincorporated in New York in 2004, reported at the close of its 2005-2006 business year sales of $25.33-billion, a gain of 6.1 percent from the previous year.
At the end of 31 March, 2007, its third quarter and the most recent reported, News Corp had assets of approximately $62-billion and total annual revenues of some $28-billion.
The company reported net profit of $871-million, up six percent from the third quarter a year ago.
'Tin whiskers' imperil electronics
From http://www.modbee.com/business/story/87539.html
They've ruined missiles, silenced communications satellites and forced nuclear power plants to shut down. Pacemakers, consumer gadgets and even a critical part of a space shuttle have fallen victim.
The culprits? Tiny splinters - whiskers, they're called - that sprout without warning from tin solder and finishes deep inside electronics. By some estimates, the resulting short-circuits have leveled as much as $10 billion in damage since they were first noticed in the 1940s.
Now some electronics makers worry the destruction will be more widespread, and the dollar amounts more draining, as the European Union and governments around the world enact laws to eliminate the best-known defense - lead - from electronic devices.
"The EU's decision was irresponsible and not based on sound science," said Joe Smetana, a principal engineer and tin whisker expert with French telecommunications equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent SA. "We're solving a problem that isn't and creating a bunch of new ones."
Typically measuring under a millimeter long, tin whiskers look like errant strands of static-charged hair, erupting in every direction from tin-based materials like solder. Their cause is hotly debated. Other metals also grow whiskers, but not like tin.
Trouble arises when the whiskers bridge separate parts of increasingly miniaturized circuit boards. They also can flake off and interfere with sensitive optics.
While scientists debate their cause, they agree on one thing: Small amounts of lead mixed with the tin have been remarkably effective at preventing whisker eruptions for decades.
Lead, however, is a serious health concern. In children, it can cause learning or behavioral problems and has been associated with anemia and kidney problems. In adults, exposure has been linked to high blood pressure and reproductive organ damage.
Last year, Europeans barred the toxic metal from most electronics to prevent its being incinerated or accumulating in dumps after computers and other gadgets are tossed out. Similar measures are being considered or are already in place in other countries, including Japan, China, South Korea, Argentina, Australia and the United States.
Some companies say the EU rules threaten the reliability of their products, exposing them to unknown risks and possibly threatening people's safety.
But EU officials say the regulations banning lead, cadmium, mercury and three other hazardous substances are needed to protect people and the environment.
They also note that many types of electronics are exempt from the law, including military and other national security equipment, medical devices, and servers, data storage computers and telecommunications gear that use leaded solders.
Exemptions are also granted when alternatives to the hazardous materials don't exist yet, or because the substances can't be replaced without jeopardizing safety.
Still, even some companies with exemptions say it's getting harder to buy the leaded parts. They worry about the increased risk of pure-tin parts, the culprit behind the most devastating tin-whisker-related failures.
"Over time (the failures) are just going to get worse and worse and worse," said Jim McElroy, executive director of International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative, or iNEMI, a group of big electronics makers, government agencies and other parties active in tin whisker research.
"Even if the military is exempt forever, they will be forced to convert because they can't get the components they want," he said. "And that will eventually happen across the board."
Tin whiskers have left a trail of destruction in a string of important machinery, chronicled in an extensive database of publicly disclosed failures kept by researchers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
Last year, for example, NASA engineers testing parts for the space shuttle Endeavour discovered that millions of tin whiskers were causing an electronic box to inaccurately point the shuttle's engine, knocking the rocket's trajectory off-kilter, according to Henning Leidecker, chief engineer of the electronic parts office of NASA's Goddard and a tin whisker expert.
It turns out NASA had approved the pure-tin-coated clamps used for holding circuit boards in place back when the electronics were made in the 1980s, before NASA adopted its current rule requiring a small amount of lead in its tin coatings.
"These whiskers have the potential to destroy missions," Leidecker said.
Failures blamed on tin whiskers have run the gamut of devices and manufacturers.
In the 1980s, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recalled some pacemakers because of a high failure rate caused by tin whiskers.
In 1998, PanAmSat Corp.'s $250 million Galaxy IV communications satellite, which provided service to tens of millions of pagers across North America and thousands of pay-at-the-pump gas station machines, was deemed a total loss after two processors failed. The main spacecraft control processor, which governs the satellite's positioning and other functions, failed for an unknown reason, and the backup couldn't be used because tin whiskers had shorted it out a year before.
At least 10 other satellite failures have been blamed on tin whiskers, according to the NASA database.
Over the past two decades, also according to the NASA database, nuclear power plants have been temporarily shut down at least seven times after tin whiskers in the alarm system circuit boards triggered false alarms, alerting managers to threats that didn't exist. There have been no reported injuries.
"There's a real loss of money because the plant is shut down and stays down, and it also presents a situation where workers are taught not to believe the alarms," Leidecker said. "Are you comfortable with that? I am not."
The military also isn't immune. Whisker-related malfunctions have been reported in the radar used aboard fighter jets, in the target-detection system of certain missiles, along with various unspecified problems in other parts of the U.S. military's missile programs.
Little is known about those failures, other than the part that failed and the cause. Most involve military secrets and are only known because they're revealed in technical forums by defense contractors, who incur heavy repair expenses for malfunctioning tin-whisker-infested equipment and are active in scientific circles looking for a fix that doesn't involve lead.
Tin whisker experts said the industry is working fast to come up with a lead-free solution. So far, other materials have shown to be effective in preventing tin whiskers, but not as powerfully as lead.
One promising remedy is tin-silver-copper solders, said George Galyon, a senior technical staff member at IBM Corp. However, Galyon noted that lead-free solders often require much higher temperatures, which can warp circuit boards and cause materials to degrade.
Despite the setbacks, he said the major players realize anti-lead laws give them no choice.
"It's whistling in the wind if you think we're turning this back," he said. "China's full-bent on it, the major markets are into it. The world flipped over in one fell swoop."
Al Jazeera English: The Brave New Channel They Don’t Want You to See
From http://www.wrmea.com/archives/Sept_Oct_2007/0709024.html
THE NEW Al Jazeera English-language news channel, launched in November 2006, can be seen in 85 million households around the world, in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. In Israel alone, half a million viewers tune in to watch the station. That makes it one of the three biggest global English-language, 24-hour news channels—and the only one headquartered in the Middle East. This makes its reporting on Iraq and the Arab-Israeli conflict more relevant and more immediate to Israeli viewers than that of its closest rivals, BBC World and CNN International.
Even though the Washington Report’s office is just a little over a mile from Al Jazeera English’s downtown Washington, DC studio, we’d have to move to Toledo, OH or Burlington, VT to actually watch it on our television set. So far those two cities are the only ones in North America whose cable TV stations offer viewers Al Jazeera English.
Our magazine’s publisher, Andrew Killgore, executive editor Richard Curtiss, managing editor Janet McMahon and this writer spent a fascinating afternoon sneaking a look at what everyone else in the world can watch whenever they want—unless they happen to live in “the land of the free and home of the brave.”
According to Al Jazeera English’s U.N. and New York correspondent, Mark Seddon, who has reported for BBC from Iraq, North Korea and China and forSky News from Yemen, and its regional news editor for the Americas, Kieran Baker, a former CNN editor and producer, the plucky news station has attracted veteran journalists from around the world. Using a forthright style and a willingness to tackle taboo subjects, the new channel hopes to revolutionize English-language news the same way Al Jazeera revolutionized Arab-language TV a decade ago.
British journalist David Frost, formerly with BBC; former CNN producer James Wright; Riz Khan and Veronica Pedrosa, former anchors at CNN International; and Dave Marash, a former correspondent for ABC News’ “Nightline,” are just a few of the 800 employees from 55 countries who have gathered to build this globally minded television news station.
Marash, who now co-anchors the network’s Washington, DC studio, described Al Jazeera English’s lofty goals: “We want to give the most sophisticated, most nuanced and most global view of the day’s events.”
“Washington Report readers know there is a critical need for serious impartial television news,” Seddon told us. U.S. news has become “infotainment,” he said, and networks often dumb down the news. In hopes of attracting wider audiences, mainstream news focuses on a “hero of the week” or troubled stars. “Economic interests drive programming and, naturally, advertisers have their favorite issues,” Seddon pointed out. “Look at the amount of medical news and health information we see on the nightly news, which is mainly sponsored by pharmaceutical advertisers.”
Because Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa al-Thani, has given both Al Jazeeras a royal charter—much like the BBC’s with the British government—Al Jazeera English is free from the economic pressures that drive U.S. media. “This station may be the last bastion of public broadcasting,” Baker noted.
“These days, most networks are closing international bureaus because they are too expensive,” he added, “but Al Jazeera has correspondents around the world who really know their region.” As a result, during Israel’s invasion of Lebanon last summer, Al Jazeera English broadcast gripping scenes from both countries, unlike the other news networks, which reported mostly from Jordan and Israel.
Seddon described Al Jazeera English as “the most ambitious TV project of this century.” Instead of being run out of a central station, he explained, its news day “follows the sun”—with programming beginning in Doha, Qatar, then shifting to London, on to Washington, DC, and ending in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In addition to its four broadcast centers, Seddon said, Al Jazeera English has 21 supporting bureaus—in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, the Americas, Asia and Australia—which gather and produce news reports.
“The station seeks out interesting stories neglected by the Western-oriented media,” Baker told us. “Al Jazeera English’s stories come from underreported regions—in Latin America, Southeast Asia and Africa—as well as the Middle East and G-8 countries [Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, United Kingdom, and the United States].”
As former Sky News personality Barbara Serra put it, “If it’s newsworthy, it gets on the air, whether it’s [George] Bush or [Osama] bin Laden.” Of the two, in fact—and contrary to what Americans have been led to believe—President Bush has been featured 400 times more frequently.
Another phrase which has become an Al Jazeera English favorite is: “Every angle, every side.” Like its Arabic-language parent station, Al Jazeera English tries, with remarkable success, to provide “one side and then the other side,” and “an opinion and the other opinion.”
Like many other Americans who’ve turned to the Internet—or better yet, the Washington Report—for reliable international news, our staff had looked forward to watching Al Jazeera English on our local cable service. We positively yearned for that opportunity as we sat in on Riz Khan’s interview with Harpers Magazine Washington, DC editor Ken Silverstein, who went undercover to write an exposé called “Their men in Washington: Undercover with DC’s Lobbyists for Hire.” In his daily show Khan allows viewers from around the world to question newsmakers like Silverstein directly—via phone, e-mail, SMS, video-mail and fax. We wished Americans could discuss these topics, even if it makes government officials go ballistic.
Al Jazeera’s Arabic service has been demonized by the U.S. government due to its disconcerting on-the-ground reports from battlefields in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and Lebanon. As a result, a minuscule number of U.S. government officials or cable subscribers have vehemently objected to Al Jazeera English, effectively keeping it off U.S. cable and satellite systems. Allan Block, owner of Ohio’s Buckeye Cable systems, is an exception. He is happy to carry Al Jazeera English, and dismisses criticism of Al-Jazeera as “lunatic ranting.”
Some lucky U.S. officials can watch Al Jazeera English on the Pentagon’s closed-circuit television system. But most English-speaking policymakers and pundits in the nation’s capital—where it would do the greatest good—have no access to Al Jazeera’s news and views.
Getting on the air in North America involves carriage and distribution deals that won’t happen without input from consumers. Only popular demand will force U.S. and Canadian cable providers to eventually include Al Jazeera English in their service plans. Would-be viewers should call or write the large U.S. cable providers, such as Time Warner and Comcast, as well as their local cable companies.
Dish satellite network, which reaches more than 12 million subscribers in the U.S., carries the Arabic-language channel but not Al Jazeera English. They need to hear from you as well.
Until then, the only way to watch Al Jazeera English on TV is to buy a satellite dish from Globecast, a division of France Telecom. Call 1-888-988-5288 to order a World TV Home Satellite System for about $179, or order from the Web site: <http://www.globecastworldtv.com/>. Once the system is installed, viewers can watch Al Jazeera English on the “Free-to-Air channel.”
More than 20,000 U.S. viewers are sidestepping these obstacles by paying $6 a month for the full channel to be streamed to their computers. Others are accessing individual broadcasts via the video-sharing site YouTube. But for those of us who want to watch Al Jazeera English on our TV, it’s time to start making those calls.
“I think the line about the ‘brave little channel they wouldn’t let you see’ appeals to something in the American spirit,” Marash told the Financial Times. “I am optimistic that we will succeed in America.
Palador's world film library to be available on Tata Sky
From http://www.indiantelevision.com/aac/y2k7/aac11.php
MUMBAI: Palador Pictures has announced a tie up with Tata Sky under which they can show nearly 1000 World Cinema titles on the direct-to-home (DTH) service provider's pay-per-view service Showtime.
Starting 12 October, Tata Sky has lined up eight movies from Palador's library for the coming five weeks which subscribers can order once and watch it multiple times till midnight.
Some of these films are Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai and Throne of Blood, Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man and Coffee and Cigarettes, Wong-Kar Wai's In The Mood For Love. Titles also include American, European and Asian films.
Every week, Tata Sky will replace the films with a new set from the Palador library.
Palador Pictures founder and MD Gautam Sikhnis said, "We have worked hard to create a collection of the best-of-the-best movies from across the world and are currently nurturing around 1000 titles in our ever-growing library. And now, the task of taking them to the discerning Indian viewers is made easy with Tata Sky satellite television service. We promise a future of the best of World Cinema to every Tata Sky subscriber."
According to an official statement, Palador Pictures invested over $4 million (Rs 160 million) to acquire legal rights to nearly 1,000 English and foreign language film titles in the World Cinema category.
Tata Sky Ltd CEO and MD Vikram Kaushik said, "Our tie-up with Palador enables us to introduce our subscribers to classics in the World Cinema category made by legendary film makers. These films will be available in DVD quality picture and will have only one ad-break thereby enhancing the viewing experience for our subscribers."
The Palador catalogue also boasts of classics directed by the masters of yesteryears and the current crop of mavericks: Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Akira Kurosawa, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Jean-Luc Godard, Francois Truffaut, Abbas Kiarostami, David Lynch and many more.
Earlier, Palador had UTV announced their divorce for a world cinema movie channel project.
11/10/07
More help for those having trouble with D1 Australian channels.
Read through this old vetrun.com thread
http://www.vetrun.net/forums/showthread.php?t=5074&highlight=emetabox+pid
From my Email & ICQ
Nothing to report
From the Dish
Optus D1 160E 12456 H "Parliament TV (New Zealand)" has started on , Fta.
Optus D1 160E "Imparja TV and National Indigenous TV" have moved from 12643 H to 12643 V, Fta, SR 6874, FEC 3/4.
Insat 4B 93.5E 11150 V "PTC News" has again replaced Justin on , Fta.
Intelsat 10 68.5E 12682 H "Islam Channel" has left .
NEWS
Regional Australia switches on to ADSL, WiMax
From http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;995818607;fp;4194304;fpid;1
Telstra activates 211 new ADSL DSLAMs
ADSL broadband will be switched on in 211 regional exchanges under a fund allocation from the government's $163 million Australian Broadband Guarantee.
In exchange for $98 million from the government's $162.5 million Australian Broadband Guarantee, Telstra will activate 62 DSLAMs in Victoria, 58 in Queensland, 32 in South Australia, 21 in New South Wales, 19 in Tasmania, 13 in Western Australia and three in the Northern Territory.
Regional Australia is now set be covered by the $1 billion OPEL WiMAX network, covering some 9.5 million households, and 426 new ADSL2+ exchanges, enabled by Optus and funded through the Australia Connected Initiative.
According to National ICT Minister Helen Coonan, the OPEL joint venture will initially offer broadband speeds of up to 6 Mbps, increasing to 12Mbps by June 30 next year, and will install some 15,000 kilometres of fibre optic backhaul to link rural and city networks and broaden links across the Bass Strait.
Fourteen ISPs, including Telstra, Optus and Cirrus Communications, have been approved from a growing list of ISPs eager to receive incentive payments from the ABG for supplying higher bandwidth services to regional and remote Australia at prices comparable to metropolitan areas.
National ICT minister Helen Coonan said she welcomes Telstra's move to open the exchanges ahead of the elections.
"I welcome Telstra's participation in the ABG, along with the other 13 applicants that have been approved to supply broadband under the program," Coonan said.
The ABG will fill holes in the OPEL project by providing satellite broadband to regions excluded from coverage areas.
MEASAT ANNOUNCES ENTRY INTO SOUTH ASIA VIDEO DISTRIBUTION MARKET WITH SIGNING OF NEW AGREEMENTS
From Press Release
Kuala Lumpur, 10 October 2007 - MEASAT Satellite Systems Sdn. Bhd. ("MEASAT") announced today that Pacific Century Matrix (“PCM”), a leading provider of satellite-based television broadcast solutions, has signed agreements to use the MEASAT-3 satellite for the distribution of Filmazia and Filmax. The two television channels represent the first South Asian channels to be hosted on MEASAT-3.
“The expansive coverage offered by MEASAT-3 has opened up new markets for our customers across Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe,” said Terry Bleakley, MEASAT’s Vice President – Sales & Marketing. “We are delighted to serve increasingly culturally-diverse channels on the MEASAT video neighbourhood at 91.5°E.”
“South Asian broadcasters have selected the MEASAT-3 satellite for distribution because of its excellent coverage and exponentially growing presence in the region’s cable neighbourhood. Our Pakistani bouquet customers, comprising premier channels such as FILMAX, FILMAZIA, INDUS VISION and MTV PAKISTAN, have all migrated their channels to our full transponder MCPC broadcast platform on MEASAT-3,” said Johnny Ng, PCM’s Director of Broadcast Sales, responsible for the South Asian market.
Muhammad Abid, Filmazia’s CEO said, “In line with the strategic expansion of our broadcast services for Filmazia and Filmax, we are very pleased to have signed this important agreement with PCM to use the MEASAT-3 Platform. MEASAT has taken the initiative to seed antennas in Pakistan which positions them as the satellite of choice in the country. MEASAT-3’s vast coverage and globally strong footprint will benefit Pakistani broadcasters who want to extend their reach from Australia to South Africa.”
About MEASAT
MEASAT is a premium supplier of satellite communication services to Asia’s leading broadcasters, DTH operators and telecom operators. The MEASAT satellite fleet, comprising MEASAT-1, MEASAT-2 and the MEASAT-3 satellites, provides services to over 100 countries, representing more than 70% of the world’s population. The fleet will be further enhanced in 2008 with the launch of the MEASAT-1R satellite. Leveraging facilities at the MEASAT Teleport and Broadcast Centre, and working with a select group of world-class media partners including Astro, Pacific Century Matrix and STT, MEASAT provides a complete range of broadcast services including video playout, up-linking, and video turnaround to and from the key European and North American markets.
For more information, please visit www.measat.com MEASAT Satellite Systems Sdn. Bhd.
MEASAT Teleport & Broadcast Centre, 63000 Cyberjaya, Malaysia
Tel: +60 (3) 8213 2188 Fax: +60 (3) 8213 2120
www.measat.com
MEASAT Satellite Systems Sdn. Bhd.
MEASAT Teleport & Broadcast Centre, 63000 Cyberjaya, Malaysia Tel: +60 (3) 8213 2188 Fax: +60 (3) 8213 2120
www.measat.com
About Pacific Century Matrix
Pacific Century Matrix (HK) Ltd. is a leading provider of satellite-based television broadcast and broadband network solutions providing unsurpassed reach to the world's fastest growing and largest markets. With its
Broadcast Center in Hong Kong, PCM offers high quality SD and HD broadcast services on premium MCPC satellite platforms, and a wide range of added value services including global CVideolink C™ contribution, playout and channel distribution to Asian cable networks..
For more information, please visit HTUwww.pc-matrix.com
About FilmAzia
Filmazia Pakistan is South Asia’s leading broadcast brand showcasing the best of Pakistani television. Being the most popular TV channel, FilmAzia enjoys the highest viewer ratings in Pakistan. FilmAzia prides itself on producing high quality digital picture and sound for local and international audiences. Filmazia is the
brand name of LEO Communications (Pvt.) Ltd, which enjoys deep loyalty among the cable operators in Pakistan and provides seamless coordination between TV channels and cable operators.,. For more information, please visit HUwww.filmazia.com
About Filmax
To be launched in November 2007, FILMAX is going to be Pakistan’s premier English movie channel
delivering the best of Hollywood television content from 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros, Miramax,
Touchstone Pictures, DreamWorks, MGM / United Artists, Sony Pictures, Universal, Paramount,. and over
100 independent distributors.
FILMAX shall provide premium entertainment using dynamic technology and a digital satellite platform which
will be accessed by 700 cable operators across Pakistan. FILMAX is going to be the first ever channel to provide its millions of viewers with English-language programs dubbed in the Urdu language.
For more information, please visit www.filmax.com.pk
Malaysia Gets China Satellite Data Receiving System
From http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news.php?id=289474
BEIJING, Oct 10 (Bernama) -- Malaysia has received a one-stop satellite data collection and delivery system from China which will further boost capability to monitor changes to the Earth including hotspots from forest fires and climate change.
It is among a second batch of 11 countries to receive the Feng Yun Satellite Data Broadcasting System (FENGYUNCast) at a ceremonial handover held Wednesday at the Central Meteorological Administration (CMA) headquarters in the Chinese capital.
FENGYUNCast which covers the whole of the Asia Pacific was developed by CMA since 2003. It distributes data from Chinese and international satellites of similar application to user countries in the Asia Pacific via a telecommunication satellite.
Lim Juay Jin, deputy chief of the Malaysian mission in Beijing, received the system on the country's behalf.
Alui Bahari, deputy director-general for application of Malaysia's Meteorological Department, said FENGYUNCast will help cut down costs of receiving and processing data from separate satellites.
"Malaysia gets satellite data from five different units now, two each from China and the United States and one from Japan. We had to purchase different systems for the different satellites.
"With FENGYUNCast, we'll be able to receive data from all five with one system only. It'll strengthen our satellite ground receiving stations in receiving data and information on a real-time basis," said Alui who is attending a seminar here in conjunction with the handover to learn more about the use of FengyunCast.
FENGYUNCast is a component of the worldwide intergovernmental GEONETCast which is leading efforts to build a global Earth observation system to enhance data delivery aimed at reducing and preventing disasters, improving human health, management of energy, water, agriculture and biodiversity, weather forecast and assessing climate change.
Malaysia's National Space Agency is a member of Group on Earth Observations (GEO).
The other countries which received the system were Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. Last year, it was donated to Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran, Mongolia, Pakistan and Thailand.
SINGAPORE: StarHub ups the ante with 'a la carte' pay-TV service
From http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article-southeastasia.asp?parentid=79656
Cable service provider allows frequently traveling or busy working customers to pay for seven channels on a daily-use basis
Starhub fired the latest salvo in the pay-TV war yesterday by launching an 'a la carte' cable service that lets people pay only when they tune in to a channel.
Previously, viewers had to subscribe to a basic package of about 15 channels costing $24 a month.
The telco is now offering seven 'a la carte' channels, each costing $3 to $5 a day to tune in, on its Hubstation FlexiWatch service.
This allows the occasional couch potato to avoid paying a monthly fee and pay only for what he watches.
In the line-up of 'flexi-channels' are the Cantonese TVBJ and the Tamil Vijay channels. Viewers also get to select several other Basic Group channels, such as the National Geographic, for free.
StarHub's move appears to be aimed at the heartland audience that SingTel has been targeting of late. The challenger broke StarHub's 12-year stranglehold on the pay-TV market when it launched its mio TV service in July. Though lacking key content such as live football matches, SingTel has catered to a changing audience, letting them pay only for channels they watch.
As for StarHub's new service, its vice-president for cable TV services, Mr Patrick Lim, said FlexiWatch will fit frequent travellers and busy working adults.
But there is a catch: Users have to buy a StarHub Hubstation set-top box for $560.
Besides tuning in to cable channels, this all-in-one device lets users record TV programmes and connect up a PC to surf the Net for free.
To pay, they can either call 1633 or enter their credit card details on their TV remote control.
Arroyo defends Cyber-Ed project
From http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/man/2007/10/11/news/arroyo.defends.cyber.ed.project.html
PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said the Cyber Education (Cyber-Ed) project would help reduce the drop-out problems as it aims to provide a better quality of education even in the far-flung and remotest of the barangays in the country.
Arroyo, during the launching of the 2007 Global Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Report and the Philippines Mid-Term Progress Report at the Manila Hotel, said Cyber-Ed would also boost efforts of the Philippines to realize one of the eight MDGs, the aspect of achieving universal primary education by 2015.
Join forum on Sandiganbayan's guilty verdict on Estrada plunder case. Post comments here.
The President said the Cyber-Ed program that the government would undertake with China’s Tsing Hua University would benefit million of Filipino students particularly those who are in the remotest areas where the number of teachers and learning materials are usually limited.
She said by ensuring that students would get an education that is similar or at par with the teachings in other schools, and would help the children when they grow old, both the parents and students would be enticed to stay in school.
She added that this is why she ordered China Projects Oversight Panel headed by Trade Secretary Peter Favila to ensure that the Cyber-Ed program would push through unimpeded.
Arroyo said the CPOP would consult and coordinate with the Education Task Force under Father Bienvenido Nebres of the Ateneo de Manila University, the Procurement Transparency Group and Civil Society Organization for Procurement to ensure that the project would be undertaken according to the existing procedures and everything would be done openly and transparently to avoid creating an occasion for corruption.
Congress wants to investigate the Cyber-Ed project after it reportedly run to P26 billion over the next five years as well as to determine if China’s technology is suitable for local conditions.
Using satellite technology, Cyber-Ed will link all schools throughout the country to a nationwide network that will provide 12 video channels, wireless wide area networking, local area networking and wireless Internet connectivity. Schools will receive live broadcast featuring lectures and presentation from master teachers.
The project would be undertaken in three phases starting with the first phase next year that is estimated to cost P5 billion. A total of 37,794 schools or 90 percent of all public schools nationwide will be connected in the next three years.
Former planning secretary Solita Monsod said the Cyber-Ed project should be “rethought” as funds for this project could better be used to improve the training and quality of teachers as well as provide textbooks and under learning materials for students.
Monsod added that while the Filipino students need information technology, there is already an existing distance learning program that could be harnessed and improved instead of undertaking another project.
Arroyo said another way of encouraging students to stay in school is by sustaining the Food for School Program which has now reached the daycare and pre-school level with the help of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
She said under a government study, they found out that those who are covered by the Food for School Program for early education students are eventually able to complete at least their elementary education.
Under the Food for School Program, the student gets a kilo of rice per day which Arroyo said benefits not just the student but the whole family as well.
“In other words, they go to daycare and pre-school, they get bag of rice that they can bring home to their families and the whole family can eat -- improving hunger situation but also enticing parents to send children to school because they bring home not the bacon but the rice,” the President said.
She said through the Cyber-Ed and Food for School programs, the administration is able to realize the MDGs aspect of provide a universal primary education and at the same time help solve poverty.
“Poverty alleviation is our over arching goal. It is the goal that we will continue to focus on in the remaining of our term,” she said adding that after raising revenues to fund anti-poverty projects, they are now investing it in the necessary infrastructures and other programs.
The President said among these are the physical infrastructures like highways, bridges and ports to create an environment that would enable an investor to expand and employ more people “because more jobs means less poverty and more children to go to school, and more mothers to have health, maternal care.”
She said another area where these revenues are invested are on the improvement of social services like health insurance subsidies for indigent patients which now covers maternity, and the upgrading of public hospitals. (JMR/Sunnex
Rocket Carrying Satellite Launched
From http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iF-6npNsKa0n_7aLm8tJvuHWt4JgD8S6RSE00
CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, Fla. (AP) — A rocket carrying a satellite used for communication by the United States Air Force lifted off Wednesday night.
The Atlas V launched at 8:22 p.m. EDT. It is carrying a Wideband Global SATCOM satellite and is the first of at least five satellites scheduled to be placed in orbit by the end of 2008.
The satellite system will replace the current Defense Satellite Communications System that has been used for military communications for the last two decades.
This first satellite will cover the Pacific Zone, which includes Hawaii, Japan and Southeast Asia. Each spacecraft will cost $350 million.
The old system will be used in conjunction with the new Wideband Glogal SATCOM system until it is phased out in the next few years.
Col. David Urich, the Military Satellite Communications Systems Wing vice commander, said the first launch alone "will provide more capacity than all the current DSCS satellites currently in use."
The launch was scheduled for Tuesday but was delayed a day as engineers checked data that might have indicated the Atlas V rocket would have fallen short of its intended orbit.
BBC Arabic, Farsi service boosted
From http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117973770.html?categoryId=19&cs=1
U.K. gives news channels extra $142 mil
The BBC World Service has received £70 million ($142 million) over three years in extra coin from the U.K. government to boost its start-up Arabic and Farsi news channels.
The announcement, made by chancellor of the exchequer Alistair Darling during his spending review Tuesday, comes as the pubcaster is preparing to ax up to 2,800 jobs -- around 12% of the workforce -- as part of cuts following a lower than expected increase in the annual license fee levied on homes with a TV.
The Treasury’s announcement confirms the $30 million-a-year funding for the Farsi-language channel that then-chancellor and current Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced in October 2006. The channel, targeted at satellite and cable viewers in Iran, will launch next year.
The Arabic-language news channel will also receive an extra $12 million a year to broadcast 24 hours a day. The newscaster will broadcast for 12 hours a day, at a cost of $38 million a year, once it launches by the end of the year. It is expected that the extra coin, and enhanced transmission, will kick in after April.
A further $2 million a year will enhance the BBC World Service’s multi-media operations in languages relevant to ethnic communities living in the U.K.
“It specifically means that audiences in the Middle East and Iran will have multi-media access -- through television, radio and online -- to trusted journalism of the highest standing and increased opportunity for dialogue and debate,” said BBC World Service director Nigel Chapman.
The BBC already has a high profile in the Middle East thanks to its long-standing and respected Arabic service radio broadcasts. The service is the BBC’s oldest language service after English and will mark its 70th anniversary in January.
The BBC’s Persian web service is also known to be popular with Iranian auds and has been blocked and filtered by its government.
With so much political instability in the Middle East, Western governments have increasingly increased their use of soft power tools such as the media to get their message directly to Iranian and Arab audiences.
In 2006, U.S. secretary of state Condoleezza Rice introduced an appropriations bill before the Senate foreign relations committee asking for $75 million in funding to ramp up the government’s soft diplomacy capabilities, with the intention that half of that sum would support the U.S.-operated Farsi-language satcaster Voice of America and Radio Farda.
The BBC’s free-to-air Farsi news channel will broadcast for eight hours a day and be broadcast at primetime in Iran.
“We believe this will be a popular and valuable asset for audiences in this troubled region,” Chapman said.
Mysterious 'snow' disrupts Israeli TV
From http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/11/wrobot211.xml
Israel is awash with speculation over the mysterious disappearance of satellite television signals, with everyone from the Russians to the United Nations accused of jamming the population's nightly entertainment.The television network is said to be "near collapse" after a month of electronic snowstorms and interference, rumoured to be variously caused by the radar of UN patrols, Russian spy ships or even Israel's military. The interference began on Sept 6, the day Israeli warplanes slipped past Syria's Russian-made air defence systems, and attacked a military target deep inside the country.
The Israeli government has maintained an almost total silence over the strike, which some foreign media reported as an attack on a possible nuclear installation.
Since then, desperate viewers of Desperate Housewives, frustrated followers of The Bold and the Beautiful, and other TV lovers have been bombarding the switchboard of the Israeli satellite broadcaster Yes, and have launched a 122 million shekel (£15 million) class action suit against the company for failing to deliver the goods.
In a nation surrounded by hostile neighbours and often fearful of attack, a number of theories have already been floated.
A senior Israeli defence official said that Israel believed that the source was a Dutch vessel serving with Unifil, a UN peacekeeping force deployed after the Hizbollah war in Lebanon last year.
A security official meanwhile told the Yediot Ahronot newspaper that Moscow was suspected of beaming signals to try to probe Israel's military electronic capability and as an expression of its anger at Israel for making Syria's Russian radar appear impotent.
The Russian defence ministry refused to comment.
The interruptions have led to cancelled subscriptions and forced Yes to seek to pacify its 500,000 subscribers with free films.
While the Netherlands had not accepted responsibility for the interference, Mark Regev, an Israeli foreign ministry spokesman, said technical experts were in contact with Unifil.
But in another Yediot Ahronot story, the paper's diplomatic correspondent quoted an unnamed government official as saying that the answer to the riddle could lie in Israel itself, with the emissions coming from military radar.
Mysterious transmissions assaulting Israeli satellite TV broadcasts
From http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/10/africa/ME-GEN-Whos-Jamming-Israel.php
JERUSALEM: Israeli satellite TV viewers have for the past month had their favorite programs disrupted by electronic snowstorms, variously said to be caused by the radar of U.N. patrol boats, Russian spy ships or Israel's military. On Wednesday the satellite TV company was said to be near collapse.
The interference began on Sept. 6, the day Israeli warplanes slipped past Syria's Russian-made air defense systems, attacked a military target deep inside the country and escaped unchallenged. Israeli has maintained an almost total official silence over the strike, which Syria said hit an unused military installation.
Since then, desperate viewers of "Desperate Housewives," frustrated followers of "The Bold and the Beautiful" and other TV lovers have been bombarding the switchboard of Israeli satellite broadcaster "Yes" and have launched a 122 million shekel ($30 million, €21.37 million) class action suit against the company, for failing to deliver the goods.
The interruptions have led to canceled subscriptions and forced Yes to seek to pacify its half-million subscribers with free movies. The competing commercial TV distributor, "Hot," uses cables and has not been affected.
The Haaretz newspaper on Wednesday quoted an unnamed Yes executive as saying the Yes company would collapse if the interference continues another month. The paper said Yes has enlisted the Israeli military to trace the source of the problem. The army had no immediate comment, and the Yes spokeswoman could not be reached.
The prime suspect at the moment appears to be the United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, which has ships at sea, just north of Israel.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said technical experts from the ministry and the U.N. were in contact over the possibility that UNIFIL was the source of the transmissions, and the United Nations was ready to cooperate if it was proven responsible.
In Lebanon, senior UNIFIL official Milos Strugar said both Lebanese and Israeli authorities had told the force of electronic problems and the reports were being investigated.
"At the moment it is not clear what is causing the interference," he said.
The Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot on Tuesday pointed to Moscow as another possible culprit, quoting an unnamed Israeli security official as saying Moscow was suspected of beaming signals at Israel to try to probe its military electronic capability in the wake of the Sept. 6 raid on Syria and as an expression of its anger at Israel for making Syria's Russian radar appear impotent.
"I believe that they sent ships to the region equipped with electronic warfare systems...to try and examine Israel's capabilities in electronic warfare and also to give trouble to those who gave them trouble," the official said, according to the paper. "The Russians have an entire fleet of electronic warfare ships that are disguised as merchant ships."
The Russian defense ministry refused to comment on the allegations.
Another Yediot Ahronot story, by the paper's diplomatic correspondent, quoted an unnamed government official as saying that the answer to the riddle could lie in Israel itself, with the emissions coming from military radar.
PCB hoping for bigger TV rights deal
From http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1126681
LAHORE: The PCB has started getting queries from interested bidders for the international and domestic television rights of Pakistan cricket which will be up for sale next year.
The Pakistan Cricket Board's contract with Dubai-based Ten Sports expires with the Australian tour next year in March-April.
"Although the preliminary bidding process for the television rights was to start in September, since there is no bilateral international cricket series scheduled in Pakistan until December 2008, the Board has decided to defer the bidding process until after the Australian series," a source said.
After hosting the Australians, Pakistan will hosts the Asia Cup from end of April to mid-May and the ICC Champions Trophy in September-October.
"Both events are owned by the Asian Cricket Council and the International Cricket Council respectively and Pakistan are just the event managers for them. But the first bilateral cricket series after the CT takes place in December when India tours Pakistan," the source said.
He said the board was expecting to earn much more than the USD 43.2 million deal they have with Ten Sports for the last four years.
"We have started getting initial queries from some broadcasters about the television rights. We are expecting to sell the rights for not less than USD 90 to 100 million this time," the source said.
Reminded that the Bangladesh Cricket Board had sold its television rights for around USD 60 million to ESPN Star, the source said the BCB had not given the factual figures as the 60 million included around USD 25 million in production costs.
"But for Pakistan cricket rights, the figures we are expecting now is minus production costs," he said.
Ten Sports, the company owned by Abdul Rehman Bukhatir, hit a goldmine in 2004 when India toured Pakistan for the first time in 14 years and the series was a big sell-out.
India also toured Pakistan in 2006.
The PCB has already sold its marketing and other rights to Nimbus Sports.
India to launch a Third World satellite
From http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/India_to_launch_a_Third_World_satellite/articleshow/2447919.cms
HYDERABAD: Indian Space Research Organisation in January plans to launch a 'Third World' remote sensing satellite, images from which can be received free by universities and research organisations of developing countries.
"All they would need to spend is on a 3.7-metre dish antenna that will not cost much," D V A Raghavamurthy, Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO's) director of small satellite projects, said here recently. The imageries can be used for research, mapping, and disaster management, he said.
The Third World Satellite (TWSAT) that will circle the globe at a height of about 630 km will weigh only 100 kg - thanks to advanced technologies used to miniaturize payloads. The satellite will have a life of three years and will be controlled from Bangalore, Raghavamurthy said.
The TWSAT is the first of several micro and mini satellites in the 100-kg and 450-kg class that ISRO is planning to launch in the next five years, R M Samudraiah of the ISRO Space Application Centre in Ahmedabad told media.
According to Samudraiah, ISRO will set up a constellation of three micro-satellites for agriculture resource monitoring and another constellation of three mini-satellites to generate daily information on oceans.
A micro-satellite to measure aerosol and trace gases and a mission for study of earth's near space environment are being considered with a constellation of two mini-satellites, Samudraiah said.
One more micro-satellite called Youthsat will be built along with Moscow University and launched in 2009, he said.
Also to be launched in 2009 is the Indo-French mission called SARAL that will use ISRO's 450-kg satellite platform equipped with France-supplied instruments to study ocean circulation and sea surface elevation.
Liberty ties up with UTV to enter cable market
From http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Media__Entertainment_/Liberty_ties_up_with_UTV_to_enter_cable_market/articleshow/2447716.cms
Mumbai: Cable TV and satellite giant Liberty Media Corporation is planning to enter cable market in India in partnership with UTV Software.
The North American media conglomerate is in advanced talks for a joint venture where it will hold 26%, people familiar with the negotiations said. A person, privy to the dialogue between UTV and Liberty media, pointed out that JV will look at the cable and home shopping business in India. The total investment is estimated at about $100 million.
Liberty Media has been trying to break into the Indian market for a while. Last year, the John Malone firm had begun talks with the Hinduja-owned IndusInd Media and Communications but did not achieve any success. Sources say that UTV and Liberty are currently sorting out valuation and management control issues.
‘DTH is a low-revenue, high- volumes, long-payback business’
From http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/catalyst/2007/10/11/stories/2007101150140300.htm
Vikram Kaushik on the challenges of developing a new category
The DTH industry has close to five million subscribers which is good by itself — but you need to recognise that if cable is at 67-71 million subscribers then it is not even 10 per cent — so it’s a long way to go.
The government agenda should be to provide a level playing field to all addressable TV systems, whether it is CAS or DTH, says Vikram Kaushik, Tata Sky’s Managing Director & CEO Vinay Kamath
Vikram Kaushik, direct-to-home TV provider Tata Sky’s Managing Director & CEO, is gung-ho that the DTH player will soon see robust growth in the South, devoid as it was, till recently, of a full complement of regional language programming.
Now with the full bouquet of Sun channels on its platform, Kaushik, who is quite aware of the impending competition from the likes of Reliance, the Bharti group and Sun, is confident that viewers in southern India will take to DTH television with gusto.
In Chennai recently to push the initiative, with hoardings all over the city to advertise the Sun channels on TataSky, Kaushik, who has had a long career in FMCG marketing with Hindustan Unilever, Britannia and Colgate-Palmolive, spoke to Brand Line on TataSky’s rapid growth and offers a perspective on the industry’s growth. Excerpts:
You expected to hit one million subscribers by this year end – are you on target for that?
When we launched on August 8 last year, when I was asked what are our targets, I had said if we do less than a million I would be very disappointed.
Actually, it was one of those brave comments you make when you launch a new business but we crossed one million connections on July 15, which is three weeks before we finished one year. And it’s been the fastest ever million in the history of the DTH industry anywhere in the world and that’s been very encouraging.
Equally, while we have done the numbers, we have done well in customer satisfaction, given the feedback, and that augurs well for the future.
We measured it through AC Nielsen with a national consumer satisfaction survey and we did so well on it that the guy actually called me back and said do you mind if I postpone the presentation by a week as we want to review the numbers. Then they came back and said Tata Sky has beaten all global benchmarks for customer satisfaction for the durables and DTH sector!
So, what parameters were you rated high on?
It’s on overall customer satisfaction; the installation process, the call centre, technology, picture and sound, suitability for the family, it’s an aggregate of all that. It’s vindicated our strategy that we will invest for the future and we won’t treat India as a lot of Indian entrepreneurs do – that is give the consumers a minimum and hope for the best – if they whine give them some more. You know that’s how a lot of companies have done their business in the past.
But, we decided between News Corp and the Tatas – the approach to be taken was to create a structural change in the pay TV market; I would go so far as to say that some of our technical equipment and software is the best there is in the world, even superior to BSkyB, DirectTV, Foxtel…
Now that you’ve hit the one million mark are you going ahead at this scorching pace?
What’s made this difficult for us, hitting the one million mark in the first year, is that we can’t do less than a million in the second! A lot of it will depend on how the market moves in this category and that too a new one such as DTH.
And the onus is on us, we’ve always looked it as category development, so a lot will depend on how the market grows. A lot of competitive activity will see the market grow. So, I see less than a million a year is not what we should satisfied with.
The industry has grown well. The broad brush picture is that the industry, including DD, which has been around for three years, and Dish TV, have between the three of us close to five million subscribers which is good by itself — but you need to recognise that if cable is at 67-71 million subscribers then it is not even 10 per cent — so it’s a long way to go. I think if it continues to go the way it is going and if the consumer realises that DTH is a superior way of receiving pay TV, I think 30 per cent of the pay TV market would going the DTH way is quite possible. The total TV households are estimated to be 115-120 million, which means 60 per cent of the total TV market is already cable and of that if we are 5 million it is 5 per cent of the market.
What’s been your experience in the CAS cities – is there a rapid shift to DTH from cable and set-top boxes?
We’ve seen a massive explosion when CAS came in those three cities (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata).
We prepared well for it – in sheer numbers the cable industry did get a bit worried and started giving away boxes and secondly the regulations indicated that consumers could pay for a single channel, a la carte and take a set-top box – the funny thing is that, and it’s a serious issue – CAS is meant to be the beginning of addressable television so there must be transparency and accountability, must be declared and that’s what DTH is – but the government has failed to create a level playing field between the addressable CAS regime and DTH.
Therefore that is something unnecessary; government agenda should be to provide a level playing field to all addressable TV systems , whether it is CAS or DTH or tomorrow there is IPTV or something.
Which regions of the country have contributed to your growth?
The largest contributor has been the North, followed by the West, then the South and then East. Interestingly, 45 per cent of the cable TV market lies in the South, and the absence of local content was not contributing 45 per cent of our growth. But, I anticipate this should change.
What about your investment plan, is it going as envisaged? Will you seek public funds at some point of time with an IPO?
It is going as per plan and the shareholders have indicated to me that if required they will back it further. It’s a 70:20:10, Temasek of Singapore has also invested 10 per cent _ 70 per cent is from Tata Sons while Temasek came in four months ago. There is no time frame for seeking public funds, the growth has been good and it’s a matter of timing and for the shareholders to decide.
Investment in the DTH business is on subscriber acquisition, which means all the costs incurred on marketing, distribution and also on promotions that you keep seeing. What we pay the content provider would be the largest, followed by subscriber acquisition costs, including subsidies on hardware.
How much do you intend investing this year considering you have a Rs 2,000-crore investment plan?
A bit difficult to say depends on what we do and how quickly we do it. This is the kind of business where the ARPUs (average revenue per user) are so low that breakeven is quite long and the payback is even longer – the ARPU of a platform like BSKyB is £40 a month, Direct TV Australian $60-70, in the region of Australian $ 80-90 and the ARPU in India is between £5-7, therefore B SkyB after 12 years is 8 million subscribers, Direct TV after close to 15-18 years is 14 million subscribers and when they heard that we did one million under one year it is evident that it is a volume game. So, therefore it is low ARPU, high volumes and therefore long payback and long gestation.
But low ARPUs here are also a function of the subsidies that you’re giving, isn’t it?
We subsidise the boxes, we subsidise some of the software, which is not easy but you have to do it. We are competing with cable here, so price is an important consideration.
Equally, we have to promote it in a way that works both for the consumer and the distributor.
What about the Sun TV offer of a DTH service for a monthly subscription of Rs 75 with a free set-top box and dish thrown in …would that affect you in any manner?
I think it’s a promotional tactic, it’s the early bird thing that everybody tries to offer. In this case before they have the service on the ground they have tried to lock in customers.
This is part of a marketing game and we are comfortable with playing that. Dish TV launched two-and-a-half years before we did and we’ve given it a run for its money all over the country.
Secondly, we are not selling boxes, we are selling a service, so it’s not enough to say that you can buy a box at a low price.
We think in any category giving products completely free is not a good idea because every business has to stand up and be viable.
Thirdly, if you look at the way Dish TV has performed even though it has consistently sold below our price by almost a third, it is very clear that the consumer in India has started to expect more and more of value rather than just price. It’s been shown across categories.
10/10/07
Trouble loading hidden pids? see Vetrun.com plenty of answers there. For those of you using STRONG branded recievers a piece of software called SKY NDF for loading and editing channels can help greatly.
Cricket Sri Lanka vs Pakistan Feed
Is 10 3940H sr 5630 (Thanks Jsat.tv)
From my Email & ICQ
From Keith (NZ)
Imparja and MAXplus ?
I've got a Maxplus 2700s
Loading procedure
First of all I deleted the 12.643V TP from my list of transponders (yes V,
you'll see why in a sec)
Don't know about you, but I've got all the sky channels in memory even
though I can't view them. (You need to have the sky channels on the 12.643H
TP in the memory so you have something to edit later)
I then went into Channel EDIT IN MENU and found 2 channels that were on Sky
Mux 12.643H - eg ESPN Sky box office etc.
I edited the PIDs in these 2 channels with the imparja and nitv pids.
I then went into the Installation/Manual scan menu again.
I edited (not added) TP 12.643H 22500SR to 12.643V 6870SR and saved etc.
Then went to the Sky channels I had previously edited and there was Imparja
and NITV.
I had to rename them manually too.
Hope this helps, remember Skew is important here too.
Keith
(Craig's comment, SKEW is critical here as SKY NZ is on 12644 H)
From the Dish
Intelsat 8 166E 3740 H "MTV Australia" has left
Intelsat 8 166E 3780 H "CNN Headline News East" has started on , PowerVu.
JCSAT 3A 128E 12598 V "Power Plat's 104" has left .
JCSAT 4A 124E 12673 H "Weather News" has left .
JCSAT 4A 124E 12688 V "Channel Sakura" has left .
Koreasat 3 116E BBC World has started on 12730 H, Videoguard.Cheongju MBC has replaced China TV on 12730 H, Videoguard.KBS Prime on 11862 L is now encrypted.
Koreasat 5 113E 12290 H "ETN-TV 2 and C3TV" have left .
Koreasat 5 113E 12370 H "Shopping Channel, ID Movie, Car TV, CRTV, HWTV, CTN, EDU TV, China TV andBrain TV" have left .
Telstar 10 76.5E 3680 H "BBC World India, BBC Lifestyle, BBC Knowledge and Cbeebies Asia" have started on , PowerVu.
NEWS
Nearly 70% of PMEBs put Channel NewsAsia as top news channel
From http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/304623/1/.html
SINGAPORE: Channel NewsAsia is the top news channel for local and expatriate business decision makers. And the group includes those with monthly personal incomes of more than S$10,000.
This group is known as "masstige" - a new buzz term which combines the words "mass" and "prestige" - to reflect their status as higher net-worth individuals.
This is one of the findings from a survey carried out by a global market research company, Synovate.
When a plane went down in the Thai resort of Phuket last month, Channel NewsAsia saw a spike in ratings as viewers tuned in to find out more.
But the Synovate survey found that even on normal news days, nearly 70 percent of business decision-makers in Singapore, including those who earn more than S$10,000 per month, make Channel NewsAsia part of their daily viewing diet.
In fact, the channel reaches out to more owners of financial products and stocks than any other news channel.
Woon Chuk Chan, Channel NewsAsia's vice-president for network programming, distribution and promotion, said: "Over the past year and a half, our ratings, our viewership, have been increasing steadily. I guess that's because of a good mix of new lifestyle programmes which we have incorporated during the weekends....
"As consumers of news spread just beyond a certain niche group, it's gone to this group, what we called the "mass prestige". In other words, people who need news and information to get through the day, not just those in stock market trading, but those who need the news to get ahead in their lives. That means news has an influence on what they are doing.
"Most companies nowadays are quite connected, not only through Asia but across the world. So you need the information to help you in your work and even with your family.
"For example, the most recent... third quake in Indonesia and the protest in Myanmar, you could have a family member or your company could be doing business over there, so you need such information to tell you how you should react, what you should do."
The survey also found that the channel's viewer base of almost 220,000 business decision makers is much higher than all other news channels.
Viewers also have a positive impression of the brand and appreciate the channel most for its informative programmes and coverage of current issues and events.
67% of Singaporean professionals, managers, executives and businessmen - the so-called PMEBs - found the channel attractive. And 71% of expatriate PMEBs surveyed gave the channel the thumbs up.
Mr Woon said: "We are continuously challenged by people who are better informed, people who travel more, people who know, who make real business decisions or key life decisions on what they need to do.
"That's why we continuously tweak our programming to match up and even sometimes surpass the aspirations and expectations of this group of viewers."
So programmes such as "Luxury India", "Asian Expats" and "Asians of the Year" have been produced to appeal to this growing band of executive viewers. And all these come on top of news and current affairs programmes such as "Conversation With", "360" and "Insight".
Viewership of Channel NewsAsia has increased steadily since the channel was started in 1999, not just in Singapore but also internationally.
Channel NewsAsia is now available in 22 territories, from the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East to China and as far south as Australia. - CNA/ch/ir
Korea/Japan Week: The problem with DMB mobile digital TV...
From http://techdigest.tv/2007/10/koreajapan_week_9.html
Us Westerners know that South Korea is ahead of us in terms of mobile technology, but we often assume that everything that's launched there is successful, simply because it's innovative. It appears that's not always the case though, with DMB a prime example.
It's digital mobile TV, comparable to having a Freeview or Sky receiver in your mobile phone in the UK, rather than watching streaming TV over your 3G connection. S-DMB (satellite) and T-DMB (terrestrial) have been available in Korea since 2005, but both have encountered problems which are less to do with the technology, and more to do with how they actually make money.
Three broadcasters offer T-DMB channels: KBS, NBC and CBS. There’s seven TV channels and 13 audio channels, and it’s completely free - apparently a decision taken by the South Korean government. By January this year, there were 3.14 million T-DMB users, although the largest proportion is vehicle-mounted systems (1.32 million) compared to 1.13 million mobile phones.
Meanwhile, S-DMB services are provided to the mobile operators by a company called tu media, and launched in May 2005. By January this year, 1.11 million subscribers had signed up, paying a 20,000 Won signup fee, and then 11,000 Won monthly subscriptions (about £10.69 and £5.88 respectively).
There’s 15 TV channels and 19 audio channels available, but they’re not from the big broadcasters. It’s a mixture of entertainment, sports, news, education, with an interactive shopping channel and movies on demand channel where you pay 1,000 Won to watch a film.
“The problem with S-DMB is there’s no killer content,” says C H Kim, Qualcomm's director of business development in Korea. “The subscriber numbers haven’t been growing since February. Meanwhile, T-DMB is losing money, so they can’t deploy nationwide. The mobile operators say they should charge $4 for it, but the broadcasters have a different mindset, thinking of things like public service. So the problem with DMB is not the technology, it’s the business model.”
There are other issues too. Rights wrangles mean that for some of the biggest potential DMB shows - a big football match for example - it won’t be shown on DMB even when one of the T-DMB broadcasters is showing it live on their terrestrial channel. That's probably why the most popular T-DMB shows are soap operas, which air simultaneously on normal TV and DMB.
Despite his downbeat assessment of DMB's problems in Korea, Kim is nevertheless confident of its growth in the future. "By the end of this year, we expect total DMB users to pass ten million, and next year probably 25 million," he says. "Two years from now, 75% of all mobile users here will have it."
That's based on predicted DMB-capable handset sales, mind. But given the current usage rates (around 50% of people with DMB handsets actually use the DMB function), it's still a healthy potential audience. Now, if only someone can figure out how to make a profit from it.
Irdeto launches complete, integrated Digital TV Solution
From http://www.moneycontrol.com/india/news/pressnews/irdeto-launches-complete-integrated-digital-tv-solution/23/22/307175
Irdeto; the proven expert in content security for digital TV, IPTV and mobile; announced the Irdeto Digital TV SmartStart, a complete solution designed to ease the launch of new digital TV operations. SmartStart incorporates the Irdeto Digital TV conditional access (CA) solution with a modular customer care and billing system and STB middleware from Irdeto group companies IBS Interprit and IDway respectively.
Irdeto created the SmartStart package to provide an end-to-end solution for any size of cable, satellite or terrestrial operator. This allows new pay-TV operators and networks within emerging markets to get up and running quickly and easily. SmartStart's pre-integration eliminates system responsibility issues by supplying a single solution. Post-integration support is also centralized, providing a single point of contact for all technical support and service issues.
The SmartStart solution is scalable from thousands to many millions of customers, and can be expanded to support a wide range of business models. Additional modules from partners Brand-ID and TeleIDEA allow for functionalities like pre-paid vouchers and an advanced EPG to be easily added and customized according to customer requirements.
"The recent acquisition of IDway and the transfer of the IBS Interprit business to Irdeto allow us to offer an attractive integrated pay TV solution to the market," said Graham Kill, Irdeto CEO "SmartStart allows operators to establish a digital TV platform quickly and easily, with security, billing and interactive capabilities that will serve them long into the future."
Irdeto takes overall responsibility for ensuring the CA, subscriber management and middleware all interoperate seamlessly on the selected STB. The Irdeto Digital TV CA system is compatible with a wide range of DVB Simulcrypt-compliant head ends.
The core of the system is the Irdeto Digital TV conditional access system, which has provided nearly 300 customers with more piracy-free years and fewer smart card swaps than any other vendor. The system offers Irdeto's unique FlexiFlash functionality, which allows for new functionalities and even major security upgrades to be downloaded over the air to smart cards already in the field.
SmartStart is also customizable with full interactive capabilities. IDway-J middleware, is easily integrated into a wide variety of STBs and provides flexible and easy-to-use tools for customizing the viewing experience. Operators can customize service interaction quickly and cost-efficiently. IDway middleware and the optional TeleIDEA EPG assist pay-TV subscribers in navigating a multi-channel bouquet provided by the operator.
The IBS Interprit customer care and billing system delivers a complete, modular solution for managing all aspects of a pay-TV operation. Optionally, the Brand-ID pre-paid payment system enables operators cost-effectively to manage pre-paid subscribers with little-to-no infrastructure.
Toshiba presents GaN power FET with record Ku-band output power
From http://www.semiconductor-today.com/news_items/NEWS_2007/OCT_07/TOSH_091007.htm
At this week’s European Microwave Conference 2007 in Munich, Germany, Tokyo-based Toshiba Corp is presenting a new gallium nitride power field-effect transistor (FET) with record output power in the Ku-band (12-18GHz) frequency range of 65.4W at 14.5GHz. Key characteristics include linear gain of 8.2dB, a drain voltage of 30V, a chip size of 3.4mm x 0.53mm, and a package size of 21.0mm x 12.9mm.
The main application will be in base-stations for radar and satellite microwave communications, which carry high-capacity signals (including high-definition broadcasts). Ever-increasing communications flows are driving demand for higher output power in signal amplifying devices, as is the development of more powerful radar systems.
Advances in Ku-band microwave amplifiers focus on replacing electron tubes (conventionally used at this bandwidth) with semiconductors. In particular, both for the replacement of electron tubes and for new equipment, Toshiba says that demand is growing steadily for GaN power FETs, which offer advantages over established gallium arsenide devices in heat dissipation and high-power performance characteristics at high microwave frequencies.
Toshiba directed its initial efforts in GaN power FETs for microwave frequency applications to developing and marketing devices for the 6GHz band (in 2005) and the 9.5GHz band (in 2006), achieving record output power at those frequencies. The firm has now extended its line-up to 14.5GHz.
The record performance of the new power FET was achieved by optimizing the composition and thickness of the AlGaN and GaN layers in its high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) structure (formed on a highly heat-conductive silicon carbide substrate). To ensure high performance at Ku-band frequencies, Toshiba applied a shorter gate length of below 0.3 microns, and optimized the shape of each electrode and element configuration to enhance heat dissipation.
However, as gate lengths shorten, suppression of current leakage at the gate electrode is essential for achieving high performance. Toshiba therefore applied a unique overcoat process around each gate electrode, contributing to the suppression of gate leakage to just a thirtieth of the firm´s conventional approaches. To ensure stable processing of gate lengths below 0.3 microns, electron-beam exposure is used.
Also, to reduce parasitic inductance and hence improve high-frequency performance, Toshiba replaced source wire bonding by developing a unique technology for via holes, which form a connection through the chip from the front-side surface source electrode to the back-side ground electrode. Success in forming via holes in SiC substrate, recognized as a highly demanding process, is a breakthrough in development of the new FET, Toshiba claims. The firm also improved the overall design of the matching circuit for practical application at Ku-band frequencies.
Due to the demand for GaN power FETs for radar and satellite microwave communication base-stations , Toshiba is targeting early commercialization of the new Ku-band device. The firm plans to start sample shipment by the end of 2007 and to enter mass production by the end of March 2008.
Meanwhile, Toshiba says it will continue development of GaN power FETs for the 18-30GHz frequencies (Ka-band) and beyond.
Africans To Deploy Microsats
From http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=space&id=news/africa100907.xml&headline=Africans%20To%20Deploy%20Microsats
HYDERABAD, India - The growing availability of inexpensive, high-performance satellite-based imaging systems is allowing an increasing number of small nations to acquire and leverage an independent remote sensing capability, and may even allow some to envision accessing more sensitive technologies that for now remain largely the purview of the U.S. and Israel.
A case in point was an announcement at the International Astronautical Congress here late last month that four African nations plan to deploy a constellation of microsatellites to monitor water/land use, agriculture, forestry and other sustainable development parameters. Sponsored by the African Union, the constellation, the African Resource Management (ARM) network, will be set up by Algeria, Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya. Each nation will contribute its own space and ground segment and agree to share data with the others.
Sias Mostert, an expert at South Africa's University of Stellenbosch, which has pioneered imaging know-how in that country, says the primary motivation is to enable the continent to obtain the kind of data it needs when it wants it, and to build up local engineering and operations expertise. The sponsors also want to create an African component for the Global Earth-Observation System of Systems (Geoss). The network will be open to other nations, including African countries like Egypt and Morocco that have or plan to acquire a domestic space-based imaging capability. But Canada and Germany have also expressed an interest in contributing, Mostert says.
ARM is to include a three-tiered imaging capability - 20-30-meter (66-98-ft.) wide-swath, 3-5-meter multispectral and 0.5-0.75-meter panchromatic imaging. The first would require four spacecraft to ensure one revisit every two days, necessary for land and agricultural management. Two such units are already in service in Nigeria and Algeria, supplied by affordable smallsat imagery pioneer Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) of the U.K.
A pair of second-generation spacecraft on order - an SSTL model for Nigeria and an EADS Astrium spacecraft for Algeria - could help meet the requirement for 3-5-meter resolution satellites, intended to ensure daily revisits. A submetric capability, still lacking, would make it possible to obtain a high-resolution map of the entire continent once a year.
Mostert says a political framework should be in place by November to permit timelines and budgets to be established. But with prices coming down, high/medium-resolution satellites are expected to cost no more than $12-25 million and ground equipment $1-4 million per country, he estimates. South Africa has written the project into its space strategy, which includes setting up a space agency.
Demand for low-cost smallsat imaging spacecraft is so high that it is drawing new players into the business. SSTL considers its most dangerous competitor to be Astrium, which has developed an industrial-scale microsatellite bus derived from Franceýýýs Myriade - the basis for Algeria's Alsat-2. Thales Alenia Space unveiled here a standardized micro-mini and one-ton satellite line, dubbed Spacebus-L, that draws on experience from Myriade, France's Proteus and Italy's Prima platforms (AW&ST July 23, p. 58).
Satrec Initiative, a Korean startup formed in 2000, has sold 10-meter-resolution imagers for Turkey's Rasat and Singapore's Xsat, set for launch in late 2008-09. More recently, the company landed 2.5-meter-resolution awards for the United Arab Emirates' DubaiSat mission, to be orbited by a Dnepr booster in August 2008, and Malaysia's Razaksat, to be launched by SpaceX in late 2008. More competition is likely as more buyers - Turkey, Nigeria, Dubai, Algeria and Malaysia among them - demand access to the technology and the products.
To remain competitive, SSTL continues to beef up its product line. It hopes to land U.K. funding to stimulate demand for its 2.5-meter/22-meter-resolution, second-generation, disaster-monitoring constellation (DMC), derived from technology developed for China's Beijing-1. The company is also working on a third-generation multisensor package of optical, SWIR and radar sensors with a resolution down to 1-3 meters. A key element of the package is a small synthetic aperture radar revealed here. Business Development Manager Adam Baker says the radar, dubbed DMCSAR, could provide 30-meter resolution wide-swath imagery for as little as $50 million.
Even more sophisticated projects are in the pipeline as well. Both SSTL and Satrec are working on low-cost hyperspectral sensors. Another near-term goal, says Mike Cutter, optical system manager at SSTL, is to offer affordable metric or even submetric imaging.
High-end suppliers Ball Aerospace, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Elop are also getting into the game (AW&ST Sept. 17, p. 28). Ball International Marketing Manager Liam Weston says the company has detected a strong interest in integrating some of its instruments on Indian Earth-observation spacecraft.
The spread of higher-end capabilities could be helped by the development of dual-use metric and submetric optical/radar systems in Germany, France, Italy and Korea, and a growing tendency - under pressure from exporters - to relax export rules for such imaging intelligence (imint) hardware.
Thales Alenia Space, which is supplying 0.7-meter, dual-use optical and radar systems to France and Italy, was authorized last year to provide a similar radar for Korea's Kompsat-5. Thales Alenia and Raytheon/Ball are bidding for a submetric optical/radar system known as Hud-Hud for the Gulf Cooperation Council, following a decision by Italy and the U.S. to clear the systems for export (AW&ST Nov. 13, 2006, p. 37). IAI, OHB System, Astrium and Thales Alenia sister company Telespazio were recently downselected to tender a 70-cm. (28-in.) imint sat, GokTurk, for Turkey.
For the moment, such technologies are expensive - $250 million or so for GokTurk and several times that for Hud-Hud. But SSTL hopes that a metric SAR demonstrator it is looking to sell to the U.K., in partnership with Astrium, could serve as a basis for a more affordable system. STTL says such a capability might be available for $160 million.
Intelsat to Deliver NHL in HD to North America
From http://www.broadcastnewsroom.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=193281
(Multichannel News) _ Intelsat, the world's largest provider of commercial satellite services, signed a deal with the National Hockey League Network to distribute its new HDTV channel, officials said Tuesday.
The NHL Network transmission agreement is for full-time Intelsat capacity throughout the continental United States.
The NHL Network, the League's 24-hour HD sports network, will transmit via Intelsat's Galaxy 15 satellite, located at 133 W. Intelsat's Galaxy 15 satellite resides within Intelsat's Galaxy neighborhood, and reaches thousands of cable headends, making it ideal for this channel launch.
"Key cable distribution access is paramount for us as we begin the launch campaign for our HD channel," Patti Fallick, NHL group vice president of media operations and planning, said in a prepared statement. "Intelsat's flexible network, market access and in-orbit redundancy helps ensure near- and long-term business growth for our new channel."
The NHL Network joins a list of anchor tenants, such as Fox, ESPN and HBO, who rely on Intelsat's Galaxy neighborhood for transmission of their HD programming. Globally, Intelsat currently supports more than 26 HD channels.
Celebrity chef all set to dish out 24/7 channel
From http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1126593
Television viewers in the United States, the United Kingdom and several other European nations are spoilt for choice with the number of food channels on
the small screen. Though some are paid channels, they are well appreciated and frequently viewed.
Though no such channel exists in India, the time is not far when we too will benefit from a round-the-clock, dedicated food channel. Though presently being kept under wraps, it has been learnt from highly reliable sources that celebrity master chef Sanjeev Kapoor has finished the groundwork for the channel. Pilot episodes of shows have already been shot and are being given Kapoor’s perfectionist touch.
Kapoor was noncommittal about his project and said, “I can’t reveal anything at this point of time.” However, a prominent producer revealed that if everything goes according to plan, shows will go on air by November-end. Another source said all the formalities to start the channel had been fulfilled.
A source said,“Top chefs were trained for the past year at Sanjeev Kapoor’s studio kitchen as well as various national and international locations. As news of the food channel’s launch spread, several prominent producers and corporates came forward to sponsor shows.” The source said that with Indian cuisine gaining popularity across countries, talks were on to have the channel beamed globally.
The channel will answer viewers' queries and offer tips to viewers to try out at home. Talking about the various shows lined up, a source said housewives will be pleased as the channel would have a daily show devoted to planning healthy tiffins or dabbas.
Another show will assist those hosting parties to design exclusive party themes and menus. Health conscious viewers will be treated to nutritional facts about various foods and be instructed on how to prepare healthy dishes.
There would also be a travel show that will highlight different national and international cuisine. Viewers will also be informed about the prices of vegetables and groceries at various market places across the country. This will assist people decide on the day’s menu.
ADAG plans two movie channels
From http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=300813
Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Entertainment is likely to launch its direct-to-home transmission service around December, according to a senior company executive today.
The DTH launch would be supplemented with the launch of two movie channels, one in Hindi and the other in English, the executive said.
The company has already begun hiring people to run the channels.
“We have hired Ashutosh, who used to head Sahara One’s Filmy channel,” the official said.
Reliance Entertainment also plans to launch two news channels around mid-2008. Sandeep Bamzai, who was heading Hindustan Times’ business bureau in Delhi, has moved in and is likely to lead the news business.
In a heavily crowded market for news channels, Reliance’s news channels will slug it out with existing players such as CNN-IBN, NDTV, TV Today, Sahara and a host of newcomers such as INX Media and BAG Films.
All the television channels of Reliance Entertainment would have the name Big, a label it uses for its FM radio channel launched through Adlabs Films, the official said. Reliance ADAG holds a controlling stake in Adlabs.
The official declined to comment whether the channels and the DTH business would also come under Adlabs.
Early this year, the group raised its stake in TV Today to over 15 per cent, following it up with a mandatory open offer to shareholders to acquire 20 per cent more in the company.
9/10/07
Live satellite chat 9.p.m NZ and 8.30p.m Syd time onwards in the chatroom.
Imparja / Nitv mux on D1 changed Freq / Beam new details
12643 V sr 6870 Fec 3/4 (yes the beam covers NZ)
If you can't load anything off this transponder you will need to read the pids off Lyngsat and manually enter them
Specific receiver details can be found on Vetrun.com or in the Chatroom, use the search feature
From my Email & ICQ
From Jsat.tv (Thailand)
WWE feed up on IS 2
FREQ: 4035
POL: H
SR: 6110
WWE Live feed this week
From the Dish
Insat 4B 93.5E 11150 V "Justin has replaced PTC News" on , Fta.
ST 1 88E 12673 H "Da-Ai TV" has started on , Fta. MAC TV has left.
Insat 2E 83E 3754 V "NE Bangla" has started on , Fta, SR 3225, FEC 3/4.
NEWS
Thieves nab broadcaster's satellite dishes
From http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/4230288a6016.html
An Indian broadcasting company based in Manukau has lost more than $200,000 worth of satellite equipment in a burglary.
Dozens of satellite dishes and decoders were stolen from One Broadcast in Wiri Station Rd overnight on September 19. None of the items have been recovered.
A storeroom door was forced and a forklift was used to unload dozens of items on to a truck.
A roller door was opened from inside the storeroom and the company's truck was stolen along with the equipment.
Police believe the thieves also lifted a padlocked gate off its hinges as they left the property.
The truck was later found burnt out in Mangere.
Technical director Gumeal Singh says the compan'?s staff were devastated to discover the break in.
One Broadcast connects New Zealanders with international TV channels Star One, Zee TV and Star News.
Mr Singh says the satellite dishes can be used by anyone wanting to tune into the three stations and possibly other networks as well.
He believes the dishes were stolen to order.
"I think the offenders knew what their buyers wanted otherwise it's a lot of stock to get rid of in the pub."
Everything needed to connect to the television network was stolen, including 360 rolls of cable.
"Anyone being offered an unbelievably cheap deal should think twice about where the satellite dish and decoder has come from," Mr Singh says.
The decoders are quite distintive and have a bright red front cover.
Police are investigating the burglary but no arrests have been made.
Alcatel-Lucent: Kordia selects Alcatel-Lucent's IP routing solution to broadcast digital television throughout New Zealand
From http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock News/679712/
Broadband World Forum, Berlin, Oct 08, 2007 (M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) -- ALU | charts | news | PowerRating -- Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU)today announced that Kordia(TM), a leading provider of customized broadcast and telecommunications network services in Asia-Pacific, has selected Alcatel-Lucent to provide additional IP routing products in its network. The Alcatel-Lucent solution will enable Kordia to support a new age of digital television in New Zealand called Freeview.
Government-sponsored Freeview is a new free-to-air digital platform that allows New Zealanders to enjoy their favorite programs in crystal clear, high resolution, digital quality.
Freeview will enable New Zealanders to access interactive content, automatically scan for new channels and access a free, eight-day electronic guide.
Kordia(TM) already provides the backbone of New Zealand's television and radio broadcast system through its digital microwave and fiber optic networks. In March 2008 it will launch a unique hybrid service, which will deliver Freeview simultaneously over both satellite and terrestrial networks.
The hybrid solution will be the first of its kind in New Zealand.
Alcatel-Lucent will supply Kordia(TM) with its 7710 Service Router, specifically designed to enable service providers to extend IP transformation to the furthest edges of their networks, to support the upgrade of Kordia's terrestrial broadcast network.
"With New Zealand's diverse geography and dispersed population, unique solutions are needed to provide all New Zealanders with quality digital services," says Geoff Hunt, CEO, Kordia. "Continuing to provide leading solutions for our customers requires us to partner with world-leading companies such as Alcatel-Lucent who have a proven track record in technology innovation and reliability."
"The agreement presents a great opportunity to take our proven expertise in delivering telecommunications network infrastructure solutions, and apply it to the broadcast industry," said Frederic Rose, President of Alcatel-Lucent's Asia Pacific activities.
This latest deal with Kordia(TM), comes on the back of an agreement earlier this year to supply Alcatel-Lucent's leading IP router technology to enhance Kordia(TM)'s New Zealand-wide IP network. Alcatel-Lucent IP solutions have been selected by over 180 service providers in more than 70 countries. During the second quarter of 2007, Alcatel-Lucent reinforced its #2 position in IP/MPLS edge garnering 21% of the market according to Ovum RHK.
About Kordia(TM)
Kordia(TM) is an experienced trans-Tasman business with a new name, and is one of the region's leading providers of customized broadcast and telecommunications networks, network services and converged solutions. Kordia(TM) owns one of the largest telecommunications networks in New Zealand and is the major provider of television and radio broadcast facilities.
In Australia, Kordia(TM) provides design, build and maintenance services to the broadcast and mobile telecommunications sectors as well as engineering services throughout the region. Kordia(TM)'s business is built on creating harmonization - the ability to meld customers' ideas into an operating reality, managing convergence in technology in today's fast moving world. The name Kordia(TM) comes from the Latin 'accordia' meaning harmony - bringing people and technology together as one. For more information, visit Kordia(TM) on the Internet: external link http://www.kordiasolutions.com About Alcatel-Lucent Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) provides solutions that enable service providers, enterprises and governments worldwide, to deliver voice, data and video communication services to end-users. As a leader in fixed, mobile and converged broadband networking, IP technologies, applications, and services, Alcatel-Lucent offers the end-to-end solutions that enable compelling communications services for people at home, at work and on the move. With operations in more than 130 countries, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with global reach. The company has the most experienced global services team in the industry, and one of the largest research, technology and innovation organizations in the telecommunications industry. Alcatel-Lucent achieved adjusted proforma revenues of Euro 18.3 billion in 2006 and is incorporated in France, with executive offices located in Paris. [All figures exclude impact of activities transferred to Thales].
CONTACT: Press Office, Alcatel-Lucent e-mail: [email protected] WWW: http://www.alcatel-lucent.com
Astro ‘unaware’ of privatisation
From http://www.rapidtvnews.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=1&twindow=&mad=&sdetail=2077&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1966&hn=rapidtvnews&he=.com
Astro All Asia Networks says it is not aware of any plan to de-list the company from the stock exchange by its largest shareholder, T. Ananda Krishnan.
Talk has been flying around the market that Krishnan plans to take Astro private to pursue an expensive expansion strategy, as he did with sister company Maxis Communications in June. A loss-making Indonesian venture has also been dragging the share price down, with Krishnan reportedly believing the share price to be significantly undervalued.
But Astro said in a statement to the Malaysian stock exchange: “The board considers these reports to be speculative and is unaware of any information that would provide a basis for the speculation.”
Analysts at CIMB Investment Bank further dampened the speculation, saying that Astro had insufficient cash flow to support a leveraged buyout. And a note from DBS Vickers Research concurred, saying that Astro’s uncertain investment in Indonesia was a major obstacle to taking the company private as it could stand in the way of a premium price for the shares.
Last week, Astro’s chief executive Rohana Rozhan said the company expected to add 250,000 subscribers after adding some 30 channels over the past year. Its domestic pay-TV operations remain strong, with profits at RM139 million (US$41 million) for the three months to the end of July, up from RM119 million in the same period 2006. The platform unveiled eight new channels last week, with space still available on the Measat 3 satellite for another 23.
Kazakhstan Wants Russia To Pay 60 Million Dollars In Damages For Proton Crash
From http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Kazakhstan_Wants_Russia_To_Pay_60_Million_Dollars_In_Damages_For_Proton_Crash_999.html
The Kazakh emergency situations ministry said last week that the ban on Proton launches from Baikonur, suspended after the crash, should be lifted when Russia takes further environmental protection measures and makes payments for the "excessive damage to the environment."
Kazakhstan is seeking 1.5 billion rubles ($60 million) from Russia in compensation for a rocket crash on its territory, a Kazakh regional governor said Monday. On September 6, a Proton-M rocket was launched from the Baikonur space center, which Russia leases in Kazakhstan. However, engine malfunction and second-stage separation failure led to its crash 40 kilometers (25 miles) southeast of the town of Zhezkazgan in the Karaganda Region with almost 219 metric tons of toxic fuel on board.
"By our estimates, the damage is worth 7.327 billion tenges, or 1.5 billion rubles," Karaganda Region Governor Nurlan Nigmatulin said. "Of this sum, 3 billion tenges is intended for health monitoring among the local population over a period of three years."
He said there are serious concerns that people exposed could develop health problems. The Proton is a heavy rocket which uses highly toxic heptyl as fuel.
The governor said part of the funds would be used to decommission affected land plots.
"The endangered zone covers 32,000 hectares of agricultural land," Nigmatulin said, adding that 19 farms would not be able to continue their activities due to a pasture ban.
The Kazakh side also insists that residents of the risk zone receive compensation. "This will require 2.13 billion tenges. Such a practice exists in the Russian Federation, and we are ready to submit our calculations," Nigmatulin said.
Russia meanwhile announced the completion of decontamination work on the crash site. "All the main work has been completed with positive results," Anatoly Perminov, the head of the Federal Space Agency, said at a meeting of an intergovernmental commission.
Search teams have surveyed a total of 1,743 square kilometers (1,083 sq miles) of territory around the crash site and have found 119 rocket fragments. Russian experts cleared the area where the rocket's booster came down four times, after post-decontamination laboratory tests revealed that toxic fuel concentration in more than a half of 20 soil samples taken from the site exceeded permitted levels.
The Kazakh emergency situations ministry said last week that the ban on Proton launches from Baikonur, suspended after the crash, should be lifted when Russia takes further environmental protection measures and makes payments for the "excessive damage to the environment."
Perminov said the commission would work throughout the night to draft a mutually acceptable decision by morning.
The incident was the sixth Russian rocket crash after takeoff from Baikonur. Preliminary estimates say the crash was caused by a thrust steering mechanism failure.
Last year, a Russian Dnepr rocket crashed on lift off from Baikonur, after which a special commission was formed to assess the resulting environmental damage. On the basis of its findings, Russia paid Kazakhstan $1.1 million in compensation.
Out-of-this-world sales for Sputnik coin
From http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/dominionpost/4230442a6479.html
TRAIL BLAZER: The New Zealand mint is facing astronomical demand for a coin commemorating the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik. Russian ambassador Mikhail Lysenko displays one of the coins.
Fifty years after the Russian satellite Sputnik launched the international space race, the New Zealand Mint is facing astronomical demand for its commemorative coin to mark the anniversary.
Russian ambassador Mikhail Lysenko, who checked out the coin yesterday, said of Sputnik's venture into space on October 4, 1957: "It was not just the launch of a piece of metal, but the launch of a new era of space technology."
The anniversary was celebrated throughout Russia, Mr Lysenko said.
New Zealand Mint general manager Mark Sutton said sales of the coins had been successful, with buyers from as far afield as the Ukraine, Germany, the United States and Australia.
More than 5100 of the 6000 coins had sold in a week - with more than 3000 coins sold in Russia, one of the company's largest markets.
The coin sells for NZ$100 and comes in a small globe which, when opened, plays an original recording of Sputnik's signature sound as it transmitted radio beeps indicating temperature and pressure.
Sputnik, which weighed 87 kilograms, was the first satellite fired into orbit.
Scottish pub banned from using foreign satellite
From http://www.thepublican.com/story.asp?sectioncode=7&storycode=57213&c=1
Top judge makes ruling against Perth pub
The FA Premier League (FAPL) has hailed a ruling in which a Scottish judge ordered a pub to stop showing English Premier League matches through a foreign decoder box.
At the Court of Session in Edinburgh Lord Glenie issued an interim interdict that will prevent the Mallard, in Perth, from showing any further matches.
The Premier League's lawyers raised the matter in Scotland's highest court after learning that pubs were showing matches through subscriptions with foreign broadcasters.
Dan Johnson, the FAPL's chief spokesman, said: “We are pleased that Lord Glenie has taken this decision.
“The owners of the Mallard, as well as any other pubs that are illegally showing football matches, are in violation of the law and are damaging the League itself.
“This order further reveals that these pubs are abusing the law by purchasing foreign decoder boxes and subscribing to foreign satellite services that allow them to show matches not intended for broadcast in the UK or during the 'closed period' on Saturday afternoons.
“It is our intention to seek costs and an account of profits following this decision.”
Pub fightback on TV football
From http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/news_detail.aspx?articleid=51638
Over 80 Bolton licensees have formed an action group against authorities trying to halt the screening of Premier League football using foreign satellite systems.
At a two-hour meeting with foreign satellite suppliers, hosts formed the group Landlords Against Media Protection Services (LAMPS).
Media Protection Services investigates the foreign satellite screenings of Premier League matches.
What a sad country we are becoming if we can’t show a football match on TV – its not like we are robbing houses or beating women up
Ken Lord, Masons Arms
Licensees decided to take action after three pubs were raided and had equipment seized in September as part of criminal investigations into alleged copyright breaches.
Ken Lord, Scottish & Newcastle lessee at the Masons Arms in Egerton, is leading the group. “My pub was raided and police seized my gear. It made me so angry – I had to do something,” he told the morningadvertiser.co.uk.
“I have been around Bolton delivering letters and the group has grown from 12 to 80 at our last meeting. Everybody is fed up with the issue.
“There are so many grey areas. We are launching a website and are pooling together a fighting fund to take this to court. We want a definitive judgement.”
Lord has both Sky and Setanta at his pub but wants to show all Bolton Wanderers games. “In our eyes its not illegal. We are paying for a card and a box.
“What a sad country we are becoming if we can’t show a football match on TV – its not like we are robbing houses or beating women up. What has happened to our freedom of choice – are we living in a dictatorship or democracy.”
Bolton South East MP Brian Iddon has written to Culture Secretary James Purnell asking clarification of the law.
Iddon told the MA that he believes Greater Manchester Police are targeting pubs in Bolton more rigorously than elsewhere.
"I pointed out to James Purnell that the application of the law doesn't seem to be consistent, which seems unfair," said the Labour MP.
"The pressure seems to come from Bolton Wanderers."
LAMPS will meet again on 25 October and have invited police, licensing officers and MPs to attend.
Premier League spokesman Dan Johnson stressed: ”The law is clear – every court has ruled the use of foreign satellite systems illegal. We don’t want to prosecute licensees week in and week out but where they ignore the warnings and the courts we have no choice.”
India can become largest pay TV market in the world: Chandra
From http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k7/oct/oct129.php
CANNES: During his keynote at Mipcom today, Zee Group CMD Subhash Chandra asserted that India had the potential to become the largest pay television market in the world.
However, Chandra remained steadfast that while newer distribution avenues would eat into the dominant share that cable enjoyed in Indian television households, that was not to imply that platforms like direct-to-home (DTH) would take over.
Chandra made the point during his interaction with Chris Forrester, Rapid TV News Editorial Director, who asked: "Do you see this threat (to television viewing) that today's youngsters will remain on a gaming, animation, or maybe mobile path?"
Chandra dismissed the notion as being higher on hyperbole than fact. "I don't see that day. When we started television everybody in the film industry said this is going to kill the industry. It didn't. It actually enhanced the film experience.
"Today in India, more than 70 films are screened per day and available to 70 million homes but still people watch cinema. Similar things will happen. All these newer avenues (for content to flow) will consume more and more media as they are made avilable at cheaper prices. As the newer applications come, they will all complement each other. Today we are showing gaming on the DTH platform."
Queried over whether going forward, he saw DTH becoming the primary feed into TV homes, Chandra responded: "It will not become the primary feed because regulation will not allow it, which is a good thing. But I do agree that other delivery platforms will take 40-50 per cent of the distribution market over next five-seven years."
On the issue of there being only one dominant or at the most two competing DTH platforms in other television markets, Chandra said: "India is a country of surprises. We will still be able to see two or three DTH platforms operating. Not five or six as is the case now though. So in that sense we will see consolidation."
On regulation, Chandra was quite clear that India needed it if the industry was to be able to grow in an orderly fashion. Said Chandra, "There should be regulation. Actually there is no regulation in India today. Only some guidelines on FDI caps and this kind of thing, nothing else."
Nimbus bags T20 rights for 60% of ODI fees
From http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Media__Entertainment_/Nimbus_bags_T20_rights_for_60_of_ODI_fees/articleshow/2440969.cms
MUMBAI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Nimbus have struck an agreement under which the latter will have the broadcast rights for all international Twenty20 matches to be played in India. “We have struck a separate deal with Nimbus to broadcast the international Twenty20 matches hosted by BCCI. Considering the T20 matches are very limited, it interested no other broadcaster,” BCCI vice-president Lalit Modi told ET.
BCCI sources said that while there was no rights fee per se for these matches, two parties agreed upon the financial terms and conditions after several rounds of discussions.
They also agreed to amend Nimbus’ contract. It must be noted that the original tender for the BCCI rights, which Nimbus bagged in 2005 for $612 million, did not include the T20 format. The $612-million deal only included international Test and ODI matches apart from domestic cricket. A top BCCI source said that Nimbus would pay BCCI about 50-60% of an ODI fee per match. While ODI fees differ from series to series, a ballpark of what Nimbus pays the Board of Control for Cricket in India per match falls in the range of about Rs 25 -30 crore.
A Nimbus spokesperson confirmed that all T20 international matches staged by the BCCI were part of the rights granted to Nimbus but declined to furnish any details. BCCI is still in the process of scheduling Twenty20 matches. However, the number of international T20 games that can be played at home are very limited. International Cricket Council also wants to safeguard the 50-over game, which after T20, seems to have lost its flavour amongst audiences.
Meanwhile, the government of India issued a notification declaring all official One-Day and Twenty20 matches played by Team India as of “high public interest” for which the private broadcasters would have to share the feed with Prasar Bharti.
Meanwhile, Nimbus has objected to the BCCI going in for a bid for its home league — Indian Premier League (IPL) — rights, and has told the cricket board that this in turn would materially affect its contract with BCCI. Nimbus has asked for a 20% reduction in the licence fee, which accounts for the domestic component of the entire $612-million deal. Nimbus has asked for a $120-million reduction.
$ 200 million outlay for new Zee's wellness channel Veria
From http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k7/oct/oct109.php
CANNES: Zee Group CMD Subhash Chandra's keynote at Mipcom today was also an occasion for him to talk about a pet project of his - Veria, the alternative lifestyle channel he has just launched in the US.
Chandra revealed in his interaction with Chris Forrester, Rapid TV News Editorial Director, that a total investment of $ 200+ million had been earmarked for the channel. Veria is a wholly owned subsidiary of Essel Group.
Available in the US in 15 million homes currently in the free preview period, Veria will in due course be encrypted as a pay channel. Queried by Forrester as to why he chose lifestyle as a genre for his first direct entry effort in the US, Chandra pointed out that while the channel fell into the lifestyle segment, there was nothing like Veria anywhere in the world created specifically around alternative lifestyle. Chandra terms Veria as a 360 experience that connects the TV screen, the web as well as direct consumer interface through a network of 'wellness centres' that would be set up acrss the US.
"We would like this product to be global in next five years. That is what is planned. The next step is to dub this content into Spanish to serve the Hispanic population of America, Latin America, and then go to Europe and Canada. And slowly perhaps, come to India as well," Chandra concluded on a wry note.
New channels to cough up higher carriage fee
From http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=300694
With over 100 new channels waiting to hit the tube and woo consumers, multi-system operators (MSOs) are hiking carriage fee for the new entrants by over 25 per cent if they want to be on their prime band. Currently, television broadcasters pay in the range of Rs 15-25 crore per channel each year to be on the prime band.
“Demand for prime band is always high because of the reach it provides. Certainly, the carriage fee that new channels will have to pay will be higher,” confirmed an executive from a leading MSO.
Prime band reaches even non-colour television set households which means that they cover the entire universe of television viewing.
The hike is also due to limited availability of frequencies on the prime band. There are around 15 channels that can be distributed via prime band, of which three frequencies have to be given to DD channels, while the remaining carry leading general entertainment channels and a mix of other leading genres.
“MSOs have limited frequencies for each prime band and as of now there are no frequencies that are vacant,” a top executive from a leading MSO said.
However, new channels being launched by existing television networks like Zee Next and NDTV Imagine and TV 18 Group’s general entertainment channel may have an edge over others like INX Media and BAG because of their existing bouquet, say industry sources.
In order to attract advertisers the proposed channels are going in for aggressive tariffs. Media experts estimate that these channels are looking at tariffs in the range of Rs 25,000 to Rs 40,000 for a ten-second slot.
From the start of this year Star has brought down its ad rates by almost 20-25 per cent while Zee TV has hiked its ad rates by 30-40 per cent. At present Star Plus’ ten-second ad slots cost Rs 1.2 lakh-Rs 1.5 lakh while Zee TV commands over Rs 1 lakh (higher for prime time and special shows).
Sources in the media buying houses informed that most of the upcoming channels have made their presentations to media buying agencies.
“The initial presentations have been on the new channels’ programming line-up and positioning,” said a top executive from a media buying company. “Advertisers who book ad slots on new channels now will have the first movers advantage since proven performance is always expensive,” said Sam Balsara, chairman and managing director, Madison Communications.
Marketers have spent Rs 3,960 crore on TV in the first half of this year of which just three channel, Star Plus, Zee TV and Sony Entertainment Television, have raked in Rs 950 crore.
The three leading channels are gearing up to lock horns with the newbies in a bid to hold advertisers’ interest by relying on celebrity and realty shows. Star Plus has recently started its third season of reality dance show Nach Baliye.
The channel is in the process of finalising a few more programmes. Sony plans to introduce two soaps in November and will start second season of reality show Big Boss early next year.
8/10/07
Bonjour , zis is Mr Sutton, I would like to congratulate all the French people on zee successful weekend mission that caused great happiness to the people of Australia...
I'm talking about the Launch of Optus D2!............ not anything else....!
156E Optus B3 12552V sr 6670 "A league soccer" seen Sunday
166E Intelsat 8 3880H 28700 5/6 Cinema Global is fta..
134E Apstar 6 3774H sr 5632 Yunan sports??? feed??
From my Email & ICQ
From Chrisglobe
Bathurst race feeds were seen on
Asiasat 2, 4142H, sr 6111, 2 audio tracks. FTA
D1, 12652V, sr 6670, 4:2:2, and
D1, 12661V, sr 6670, Big Pond in car feed, FTA
Chris
From the dish
Agila 2 146E 12501 H "Much TV" is Fta.
Agila 2 146E 12541 V "SET News" has left .
Apstar 6 134E "Dragon TV and ToonMax TV" have left 3808 V, moved to Chinasat 6B.
Apstar 6 134E "Shandong Eduction TV Station" has left 3836 V, moved to Chinasat 6B.
Palapa C2 113E 4080 H "RCTI" has left .
BSAT 1A 110E "NHK Hi-Vision" has left 11881 R (MUSE).
AsiaSat 3S 105.5E 3732 V "Zee Classic" is encrypted again.
Insat 2E 83E 3922 V "Manorama News International has started on , Fta, SR 3000, FEC 3/4.
Express AM2 80E 3562 R "TRV Muji" is encrypted again.
Telstar 10 76.5E "PBO, NBN Pinoy News and GMA Pinoy TV Europe" on 3714 V are encrypted again.
Telstar 10 76.5E 3780 V "Aghapy TV has replaced Lig TV" Fta.
Intelsat 10 68.5E 3782 V "CGN TV" has started on , Fta, SR 2965, FEC 3/4.
Intelsat 10 68.5E 3782 V "Bethel TV" has left .
Intelsat 10 68.5E "Geo Middle East" has left 4114 H, moved to 4124 V.
Intelsat 7 68.5E 3661 V "Islam Channel" has left .
Paksat 1 38E 3797 H "Geo Super" has started on , Fta, SR 3000, FEC 3/4.
NEWS
Optus D2 satellite launched
From http://www.itwire.com/content/view/14763/127/
Optus has launched the second of three planned D series satellites, built by Orbital Sciences. Hopefully it has not repeated the mistake which, reportedly, compromised the performance of the first.
Optus gave little indication in its announcement, of what services the new satellite would provided, saying, unhelpfully, that it "further expands Optus' existing satellite fleet, providing unique communications capabilities unmatched by any other telecommunications company in Australia." However it will replace the existing B3 satellite which has been in operation since 1994. The launch comes almost a year later than originally scheduled.
Optus also announced, in June 2006, that it would invest $35 million over two years to develop a new technical facility in Canberra housing a satellite earth station, data centre and an exchange to support mobile, local and international telephony, Internet, subscription television, and satellite services. The facility was scheduled to come into operation in 2007 and to be the primary earth station for the Optus D2 satellite
The launch comes almost a year to the day since the launch of Optus D1. Both satellites are based on Orbital's Star platform and will each carry 24 Ku band transponders, with eight back-up channels. However shortly after the launch of D1 there were reports that an error had been made in configuring the antennas that would compromise the delivery of broadcast TV services to New Zealand subscribers. The severity of the problem was never revealed, but iTWire was reliably informed that Optus would lodge a partial loss claim with the insurers.
Earlier this year, Optus announced plans to launch a third D series satellite, saying the decision was the result of continued demand especially for television broadcast services. It is scheduled to be delivered in 2009.
Ariane tests space truck sequence
From http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7030728.stm
The Ariane rocket has used a commercial satellite launch to test the engine sequence needed to loft Europe's forthcoming space truck, the ATV.
The rocket flew as normal on Friday to orbit two communications satellites, but it then re-ignited its upperstage to check its performance.
A re-ignition sequence will be required on the launch that hurls the ATV on a path to the space station in January.
From 2008, the truck will become one of the station's main resupply vessels.
It will deliver air, water, fuel, scientific equipment, food, and clothing to the orbiting outpost's residents.
At almost 20 tonnes, the ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle) will be the biggest spacecraft Europe has ever flown; and the European Space Agency (Esa) wants to be sure Ariane is up to the task.
A key feature of the flight will be a re-ignition of the upperstage some 50 minutes after the first burn, turning an initial elliptical orbit into a circular one from which the ATV can then travel under its own guidance systems to the International Space Station (ISS).
But this re-boost procedure is a novel one for Ariane and engineers wanted to use Friday's mission as a dress rehearsal.
SPACE STATION CARGO TRUCKS
ATV (L) will re-supply the ISS with up to 7,500kg of cargo
Capacity is three times that of the Russian Progress craft (R)
Deliveries will include science equipment, food and clothing
Large tanks can transport vital air, water and fuel supplies
ATV project's estimated cost is about 1.3bn euros (£0.9bn)
At least four craft will follow the maiden ATV - Jules Verne
"We've tested this on the ground for the last two years and that's worked perfectly," explained John Ellwood, Esa's ATV project manager, "but we want to demonstrate that this all works in orbit.
"As you go around the Earth, the temperatures evolve and we know that combustion processes are very dependent on temperature. We also have a lot of pipework which has fuel and gases that feed the engine from the tanks. We want to see how all this behaves," he told BBC News.
It would be at least a week before engineers could confirm all the systems worked as predicted during the re-ignition, said a spokesman for Arianespace, the company which operates the Ariane launcher.
The data would have to be examined in detail, he added.
Friday's mission, the fourth of the year for Ariane, orbited two spacecraft built by the US company Orbital Sciences Corporation.
The Intelsat 11 satellite will deliver TV pictures to the Americas, while the Optus D2 spacecraft will handle TV, data and telephone traffic for Australia and New Zealand.
The rocket left the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana at 1902 local time (2202 GMT).
The next Ariane flight is scheduled for 9 November. The mission will orbit the second of Britain's next-generation Skynet military satellites.
Optus boss ready for next challenge
From http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22548421-15306,00.html
THREE years ago, Paul O'Sullivan was far and away the Australian telco sector's best-regarded executive. So favoured, that more than one Telstra director was keen to draft him to replace Ziggy Switkowski in 2004.
For two years since it issued a profit warning, Optus has had the shutters down on growth. Can Paul O'Sullivan breathe fresh life into the telco?
O'Sullivan has been in the sector more than a decade and he is a consummate marketer, both of himself and his company.
He recently sweet-talked the federal Government into handing Optus and its partner Elders almost $1 billion in taxpayer funds to build a new regional network.
Give him half a chance and he will smother you with Irish charm and make you start believing black might just be white.
But can he breathe fresh life into Optus?
For two years since it issued a profit warning, Optus has had the shutters down on growth as it tried to weather Sol Trujillo's big spending aggressive push at Telstra to win back customers.
O'Sullivan believes that Telstra has "an illusion in its bunker that Sol's arrival signalled the beginning of a return to Telstra being the aggressor".
"But people forget that Telstra has been a giant in the market anyway, where they threw their weight around."
It's now three years since O'Sullivan slid his feet under the desk at the chief executive's office at Australia's second-largest telecommunications company.
In many ways the next 12 months will be his biggest test. While O'Sullivan has set himself the relatively easy financial target of holding steady the company's earnings, there remain real questions about whether he can improve his market share in the key markets of mobiles and fixed-line broadband.
"I would not change any decision that we have made over the past few years," he tells The Australian.
"Now you are seeing us re-assert ourselves both in marketing and strategically."
Market analysts agree that there has been a change at Optus over the past few months.
"We have seen a return of the 'Optus challenger' of old," Citigroup analyst Tim Smeallie says.
"The past two years saw Optus relinquish the challenger mantle with the business essentially being run for cash flow.
"Since May, we have seen a resurgence in competitive behaviour from Optus targeting Telstra mobile customers, and through the Fusion product combining fixed-line voice services and broadband at a discounted price."
O'Sullivan successfully held Optus's profit margins to 26 per cent until March this year, scaling back its customer acquisition activities in the face of an unprecedented spending spree from Telstra. In doing so, Optus lost ground and momentum.
Now he has turned the spending taps back on. The test now is whether he can regain some market share without stripping too many profits from the company.
O'Sullivan made his name pulling Optus' ailing mobile division from the mire, creating arguably the only sizeable communications business in this country that has truly tested Telstra.
He solidified his reputation as operations chief then deputy to Chris Anderson, running the nuts and bolts of the business while his boss ran the big picture: deals like getting out of the pay-TV business. It was like a field marshall and his general. And it worked.
Anderson, with the impeccable timing that has been the hallmark of his career, at least so far, stepped away in August 2004.
Since then, it's been a tough time both for the sector and for Optus: the inexorable decline of fixed-line telephony, a big-spending, resurgent Telstra under Sol Trujillo, an exodus of the best senior staff - many following Anderson to PBL - and re-invigorated Vodafone and in particular Hutchison chipping away at its core mobile business.
According to O'Sullivan, there are no problems at Optus with the company's struggle in the market for the past few years a deliberate strategy.
"You are now seeing us reasserting our strengths - a rejuvenated Optus," he says.
"You can see it in terms of our marketing ... more aggressive marketing, more about driving more value.
"Fusion is a really disruptive product that Telstra will struggle to even match without severely damaging its profitability."
But despite O'Sullivan's protestations, the market believes Optus' core mobile business has suffered and it remains unclear whether O'Sullivan can turn this around.
"Optus lost 2 per cent service revenues share and 1 per cent subscriber market share in FY07 as a result of its continued focus on margin protection, and a 50 per cent reduction in mobile termination rate over the past two years," JPMorgan analyst Laurent Horrut says.
"There is no sign that the ongoing market share fragmentation is easing and we continue to believe that the excess capital at play in the Australian mobile market will continue to put pressure on the mobile carriers' returns."
Many observers believe Singapore Telecommunications has been sweating an asset it paid top dollar - $14 billion - for in 2001.
But O'Sullivan insists that the company remains a big investor, pointing to capital spending of over $1 billion each year.
At the weekend, Optus launched a new $350 million satellite adding 30 per cent more capacity and has another planned for next year.
"That's quite a gutsy move," he says. "We have taken the view that the development of TV and particularly high-definition TV will underpin the development of any other services."
Perhaps the most concrete symbol of the new Optus, if you like, is the company's brand-spanking new digs in Sydney's Macquarie Park, an industrial area crammed with high-tech companies and office parks 15km north of the city where O'Sullivan sips his skinny latte looking fit from a regular swimming regime.
The move is not just about costs but about bringing staff at the telco back together again after fast growth saw the business at least physically start to fracture with staff at a raft of different locations.
O'Sullivan also believes that the company has outflanked Telstra on the government front where the Optus/Elders consortium OPEL was the runaway winner of $960 million Broadband Connect funds.
But perhaps that is the least of his accomplishments when faced with an adversary whose idea of government relations is to abuse any and everyone that could do them any favours regarding the regulations which so inform the entire sector.
O'Sullivan remains upbeat about the company's future and his ability to create faster growth.
"When Telstra is allowed to operate in the market without competition, it doesn't put the customer first; it puts its profit and loss statement first.
"In (telephone) exchanges where no competitors have been providing ADSL2+ (the latest copper based broadband technology), they won't turn it in until we arrive and in mobile 3G data because there isn't anyone to effectively give them a run for their money they have been charging high prices."
But Citigroup's Smeallie takes another view.
"Growth in the telco industry doesn't come cheap any more which is why we have seen Optus outline flat earning performance for FY08," he says.
"Our concern remains that it could all be too little too late with Telstra securing the lion's share of broadband customers, and investing more than ever in securing mobile customers."
O'Sullivan's job is to prove him wrong.
Sky opts to fight another day
From http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4230044a28.html
Sky Television will not try to offer digital free-to-air channel TVNZ6 to its subscribers for the time being, sidestepping a battle with the state-owned broadcaster.
But Sky spokesman Tony O'Brien appeared to reserve the right of the pay TV operator to give its subscribers access to Freeview free-to-air channels without the approval of channel-owners in future.
"TVNZ6 is not available through Sky as TVNZ have indicated they do not see any value in this. Though there is no legal reason preventing a tune in, for the time being Sky has decided not to tune its decoders to channels that do not recognise the value of extra viewership," he says.
TVNZ chief executive Rick Ellis announced in August that TVNZ had no plans to make its new advertising-free digital channels, TVNZ6 and TVNZ7, available to Sky subscribers, and said he expected Sky to respect that decision.
Freeview channels are broadcast unencrypted from the same satellite used by Sky, but the state- owned broadcaster is understood to be keen to prevent Sky from using the taxpayer-funded channels to increase its subscriber numbers.
Freeview general manager Steve Browning has said that it would be hard to compete with Sky's purchaser power in the market for programming, if the proportion of Kiwi households with Sky grew to exceed 70 per cent.
Sky chief executive John Fellet later suggested that Sky TV might turn its decoders into devices that could toggle between operating as Freeview free-to-air boxes and Sky boxes. This might avoid doubts over whether it could legally load TVNZ schedules into its electronic programming guide, without the permission of the state-owned broadcaster. Sky subscribers have been able to pick up Triangle TV's Stratos channel since last week and Sky will add Parliament TV to its line-up tomorrow, with the blessing of both new Freeview channels.
"They obviously realise the value in having 650,000 Sky subscribers," Mr O'Brien says.
Parliament TV Screens On Freeview And Sky TV
From Press Release: Office of the Clerk
Monday 8 October 2007
Parliament TV Screens On Freeview And Sky TV
From tomorrow, television viewers will be able to view live, the full, unedited proceedings of Parliament on Freeview 22 and SKY Channel 94.
Parliament TV will broadcast all debates from the Chamber in full from 9 October 2007 via both television companies.
Parliament’s Speaker Hon Margaret Wilson says access for members of the public to the full proceedings of Parliament is greatly improved thanks to Freeview and SKY.
Debates from the Chamber are a new Freeview service.
SKY has previously broadcast Parliament’s Question Time. Now its viewers will be able to tune in to the full proceedings of Parliament.
The proceedings of Parliament can also be viewed at www.parliament.nz and heard on Radio New Zealand’s AM network and at www.radionz.co.nz/parliament.
ENDS
Gisborne TV programmes now go out on a Freeview channel
From http://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/article.asp?aid=11147&iid=846&sud=27
GISBORNE-made programmes are now being broadcast to New Zealand audiences with the launch of the new regional channel Triangle Stratos on the Freeview platform.
A regular Thursday night slot from 8 to 8:30pm on the channel will feature four shows made here — All About Us (a documentary on local people), Game Time (local sports), Short Movies (set in Gisborne and featuring local people) and Community Notices (local events and happenings).
East Coast Television manager Tena Baker said she hoped to increase this time slot in the near future.
CEO of Triangle Stratos Jim Blackman said he was thrilled with the quality of work coming from this region and hoped to see more great work in the future.
The new channel will be a regional voice for New Zealand, with contributions from other regional networks and international feeds.
East Coast Television, which can be found after the Maori channel and is free to air, has been broadcasting here for years but now, with the launch of the new channel, anyone who has a Freeview platform in New Zealand will also be able to watch them.
Anyone in Gisborne can join the Freeview network by buying a ‘Freeview platform’ box to sit on top of their TV, much like the Sky box many homes have already.
The benefits of buying a Freeview platform are better reception, a one-off fee with no monthly charges and access to 11 channels.
Freeview boxes start from $249 each and can be purchased from electrical appliance stores in Gisborne.
If you have an existing satellite dish, installation is more straightforward and would cost around $50, said a Dewar Electronics spokeswoman.
If you did not have a satellite dish, installation could be around $400 — depending on how much work was involved.
The Freeview box gives television watchers a clear, crisp picture because the signal is digital.
It is estimated hundreds of homes in Gisborne already have the Freeview platform. More than 60,000 New Zealand homes are now plugged into the network.
Kordia Walks The Talk With Solid Year One Results
From Press Release: Kordia
Kordia Walks The Talk With Solid Year One Results
In the first year of its fresh-faced incarnation as Kordia, the company has today released its results for the last financial year, with group revenue up by 31 per cent over FY06 and net surplus (net profit after interest and tax) up 21 per cent.
Kordia Chairman Wayne Brown says that FY07 was a year of solid achievement in the company's move towards much faster growth in revenues and earnings.
"We have streamlined internal processes to support growth across our broadcast, telecommunications and converged solutions businesses, and are integrating the different parts of the company across Australia and New Zealand into a more unified group," says Brown.
"Kordia in Australia has diversified its customer base, and has developed some pleasing new initiatives in coverage solutions and other areas which are showing promise.
"In New Zealand, we are building on our existing infrastructure to deliver digital television (both satellite and terrestrial), as well as launching services like Metro Wi-Fi, and trials including Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) and mobile TV.
"We have expanded the business into Thailand with a Joint Venture, and have contracts in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, the UK and elsewhere through our specialist consultancy services," he says. "The acquisition of Orcon has expanded Kordia into the retail space in New Zealand and provides much greater certainty for ongoing investment in the core network," says Brown.
Kordia CEO Geoff Hunt says that harmonising the business and simplifying the offering has meant Kordia is better placed for growth and transition into new markets.
"We have spent a year setting the stage for further change, speeding up the business and working more closely with customers to deliver the customised solutions they want in broadcast, telecommunications and convergence.
"Our year-end figures show we are on the right track. We are walking the talk - bringing people and technology together," says Hunt.
ENDS
EXPLANATORY NOTE: The significant increase in the profitable projects delivered by Kordia Solutions in Australia in the year has directly driven the increase in the number of employees earning over $100K (see details on page 34 of the report). The increase covers, primarily, project management and field technicians.
About Kordia
Kordia is an experienced trans-Tasman business, and is fast-becoming one of the region's leading providers of customised broadcast andtelecommunications networks, network services and converged solutions.
Kordia owns one of the largest telecommunications networks in New Zealand and is the major provider of television and radio broadcast facilities. In Australia, Kordia provides design, build and maintenance services to the broadcast and mobile telecommunications sectors as well as engineering services throughout the region.
Kordia's business is built on creating harmonisation - the ability to meld customers' ideas into an operating reality, managing convergence in technology in today's fast moving world.
The name Kordia comes from the Latin 'accordia' meaning harmony - bringing people and technology together as one.
To Advent, Rugby Rules On TVNZ
From http://www.satnews.com/cgi-bin/display_story.cgi?number=1761429095
New Zealand's National broadcaster, Television New Zealand (TVNZ), has completed factory acceptance tests on a new 1.2-meter motorized FlyDrive satellite antenna from Advent Communications, which they have selected to use in covering the final stages of the Rugby World Cup. TVNZ mounted the FlyDrive on a hired vehicle to drive it to France to cover the Rugby World Cup.
Advent's FlyDrive is designed to be carried by air or mounted on a vehicle. The Rugby World Cup is a typical case where a single dish will be used in both modes to cover one news story. Once back in Wellington, New Zealand, the FlyDrive antenna is to be used on the back of a Mitsubishi utility vehicle for daily news assignments. Advent's FlyDrive is motorized with GPS-based satellite acquisition and tracking and is remote controllable with three axis control, including 360 degrees azimuth range
Hong Kong Launch for BBC Channels
From http://www.worldscreen.com/newscurrent.php?filename=bbc2100507.htm
SINGAPORE, October 5: BBC Global Channels has reached a deal to roll out BBC Knowledge, BBC Lifestyle and CBeebies in Hong Kong on IPTV platform now TV, beginning October 17.
The Hong Kong launch marks the first time CBeebies will be available to audiences in North Asia, and the second time that BBC Knowledge and BBC Lifestyle have appeared anywhere in the world. The two channels had their global launch in Singapore in July, and CBeebies rolled out for the first time with BBC Entertainment in India in May.
Commenting on the launch, Christine Leo-McKerrow, the senior VP of BBC Global Channels Asia-Pacific, said: "We have a long-established relationship with now TV, with BBC Entertainment already a popular channel on the platform. Launching three high-quality channels from one of the world's most trusted broadcasters on now TV was a natural fit. The launch of BBC Knowledge, CBeebies and BBC Lifestyle in Hong Kong not only reinforces our long-term commitment to Asia but also sets a benchmark for other broadcasters to provide quality content to the region."
Now TV will offer subscribers a package of “The BBC 5,” with BBC Knowledge, BBC Lifestyle, CBeebies, BBC Entertainment and BBC World. Customers can also opt for a la carte pricing.
Now TV has a subscriber base of more than 850,000, making it the world’s largest commercial deployment of IPTV, with more than 150 channels.
IPTV gains respect across Asia
From http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117973501.html?categoryId=2715&cs=1
Subscriptions poised to skyrocket
HONG KONG -- It is not uncommon in wealthy Asian countries such as Japan and Hong Kong to see perfectly functional TV sets left out in the street for the garbage collectors to pick up -- their faddy, tech-savvy owners having dumped them for this year's model.
The same could happen with conventional TV delivery, if IPTV is allowed to fulfill its potential.
As a technology, Internet Protocol Television has existed for several years but is only really taking off now. The reason it has weathered a number of shaky starts is because the arguments in favor of delivering TV signals to television sets via the Internet are so strong.
IPTV is more efficient than cable in its use of bandwidth. That means it can be carried over smaller connections than cable and have more options along with video-on-demand. And IPTV beats satellite on interactivity grounds. It has allowed telecom giants to enter the media space, something many have sought for years.
AT&T boss Randall Stephenson has said: "IPTV is a transformative type of architecture and infrastructure that will change what this company looks like five years from now." He only needs to look at Hong Kong to see how.
The world's top exponent is Hong Kong's PCCW group, with its Now Broadband TV service. Boasting some 770,000 subscribers at the end of July, Now is on course to overtake cable company I-Cable and become the leading pay-TV platform in the territory.
With a large, installed base of landlines and a growing number of homes lining up for its broadband Internet service, PCCW (formerly Cable & Wireless) applied a phone company approach to issues such as ubiquity, reliability and picture quality.
PCCW started to win attention from studios and channel owners when it demonstrated that its system was secure and less inclined to piracy than its rivals -- despite coming over the unregulated public Internet. Unlike cable or satellite, which multicast all the available channels and use sophisticated set-top boxes as gatekeepers, PCCW was able to show it was safer even with its rudimentary STBs (based on video disc technology), by drawing down one encrypted channel at a time.
Having initially offered generous incentives to attract subscribers, PCCW has gotten customers to sign up for its a la carte program menu and the bundle that makes it an easy add-on to PCCW's Netvigator Broadband and email services.
More than half the countries in Southeast Asia have some sort of IPTV service in operation. Total subscriptions are to climb from 1.47 million at the end of 2006 to 27 million by 2013, according to technology research house Frost & Sullivan.
Most recent entrant is mioTV, started in August by Singapore Telecom. Service is a direct competitor to cable TV incumbent StarHub and comes with such gadgetry as remote access by mobile phone and a 30-day electronic program guide.
But like Now, mioTV appears to have learned that when it comes to TV services, unlike personal hardware, consumers are relatively agnostic. What counts is the content. As an example, both Singtel and PCCW paid top prices to outbid ESPN Star Sports for English Premier League soccer in their respective territories.
What gives IPTV a chance of success in Hong Kong, Singapore and the larger Japan market, where ABI Research expects there will be at least 4.2 million IPTV subscribers by 2012, is that all three territories are wealthy and densely populated, and regulators have not prevented development. This may not be typical elsewhere in Asia: South Korea, China and India present significantly greater regulatory hurdles.
China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) issued four IPTV licenses in 2006, and the country's audio and video coding standard (AVS) was confirmed the same year. However, even with powerful Shanghai Media Group in the vanguard, commercial rollout of IPTV platforms has been modest. Biggest issue appears to be unwillingness of state to unleash a new competitor to the cable networks it has invested in.
Though South Korea is by some measures the most wired country in the world and could roll out IPTV quickly, incumbent cablers have put up strong resistance, and government departments are at loggerheads as to who should regulate.
India's case is different again. New companies joining the fragmented cable market could provide the infrastructure for IPTV platforms, but the conventional broadcast market is growing faster. Researcher e2e forecasts that India will see 100 channels launch this year, bringing the total to approximately 700 by the end of 2009.
In that context, a place for IPTV looks small.
"IPTV technology works, but it will need the right content for product differentiation," says Bharti Airtel exec Puneet Garg. "IPTV looks (like) a good opportunity for niches."
Astro rainfade problems
From http://www.brunei-online.com/weekend/news/oct6h36.htm
Local Kristal-Astro subscribers may not have to call technicians to re-adjust the position of their dishes or replace cables if they wish to watch the programmes from the private television provider uninterrupted this coming festive season, especially when it rains.
Responding to an enquiry by the Weekend, Astro said that even the most reliable communications technology can sometimes be overwhelmed by the forces of nature, such as heavy rainfall.
However, efforts are continually carried out to minimise disruptions due to a condition known as "rain fade", a weakening of the satellite signal as it passes through raindrops.
According to Astro, any satellite communication system network operator using a Ku-Band system (12/14 Gigahertz or higher frequencies) will face the effects of "rain fade" caused by absorption or scattering.
Absorption occurs when a radio wave strikes a rain droplet and is converted into heat energy, which the droplet absorbs.
Scattering is when a non-uniform transmission medium, such as raindrops in the atmosphere, causes energy to be scattered from its initial travel direction, by refracting the wave.
"These reactions ultimately have the same effect, causing any satellite system to lose some of its normal signal level. Rain fade occurs in the transmissions from the Astro broadcast centre to the satellite and from the satellite to your home. So very occasionally, you will get a service outage even when it is not raining," said Astro.
Subscribers should not expect to lose satellite signal every time it rains, as rain fade will only occur during the heaviest rainstorms, resulting in a temporary loss of signal until the rain subsides.
The company advised subscribers to have their dish alignment and the performance of the receiver-amplifier in the centre of the dish be checked by an installer once every two or three years, as dishes can move away from optimum pointing after a few years of usage and the receiver amplifier degrades over time.
"Make sure that the cable from the dish to the Astro multimedia terminal is of a correct and good-quality brand, as standard VHF or UHF antenna coaxial cables are not suitable. Try to keep the cable as short as possible and make sure the connection is still tightly in place and the cable securely clamped," said Astro.
Many subscribers in Brunei have complained that they suffered service outage whenever it rains.
"I used to have service outage very frequently even when it did not rain. So I asked a technician to check it and found that the cable was not suitable. After I changed it, I rarely have service outage, even during the heaviest of downpours," said a local subscriber.
Astro soars as talk of privatisation deepens
From http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/10/6/business/19097433&sec=business
PETALING JAYA: Shares in Astro All Asia Networks plc yesterday surged to a month's high of RM4.16, up 54 sen, as market talk intensified that the company would be taken private and some analysts said a deal could be expected at the end of the month.
“Talk of a privatisation exercise has been going around for some time, but it (has) finally caught fire,” an analyst said.
Industry observers said it was difficult, at this juncture, to predict what the deal would be.
Citing volatile earnings at Astro's overseas operations and its undervalued share price for a privatisation exercise, they said these reasons had prompted T. Ananda Krishnan to privatise Maxis Communications Bhd in May.
However, unlike the Maxis experience, any takeover bid for Astro would not be followed by a stake sale to other parties, they said.
Astro has said it does not expect its Indonesian and Indian operations to report good earnings in the near term owing to one-off costs such as added spending on content.
Its shares tumbled due to selling pressure over the past few months on concerns over the performance of its overseas associates.
During the period, its tranche of foreign shares also experienced all-time lows.
Astro reported a net loss of RM54.2mil for its second quarter ended July 31 compared with a net profit of RM73mil a year earlier.
Majority shareholder T. Ananda Krishnan has an indicative interest of 43.2% in Astro
The losses were due mainly to a RM92.4mil write-off on its Indonesian pay-TV joint venture, PT Direct Vision.
“A privatisation is the best option as investors don’t want to have to wait for the company’s overseas operations to start bearing fruit – they can’t accept that,” an analyst said.
The analyst, who has a “trading buy” on the stock, anticipated a minimum 20% takeover premium, which is consistent with the average offer on 17 privatisation deals done since the beginning of the year.
Based on Astro majority shareholder Ananda's indicative interest of 43.2%, the analyst estimated a general offer would cost at least RM5bil.
A key substantial shareholder that would determine the outcome of the privatisation deal was Khazanah Nasional Bhd, which held a 21.4% stake in the company, he said.
When contacted, a Khazanah Nasional spokesman said: “We do not comment on market speculation.”
Astro grapples with loss-making Indonesian venture
From http://www.theedgedaily.com/cms/content.jsp?id=com.tms.cms.article.Article_707cda5a-cb73c03a-6798eb00-d3b91dc9#
KUALA LUMPUR: ASTRO All Asia Networks Plc, which is the subject of intense speculation over a possible privatisation exercise by its owner Tan Sri Ananda Krishnan, is in talks with its Indonesian partners to work out a solution to continue with their loss-making operations there.
“The company is continuing to work towards a resolution of the issues pertaining to our Indonesian venture. As reported in our latest announcements to Bursa Malaysia, the group may incur additional costs as restructuring options and a mutually acceptable solution to effectively continue operations are being pursued.
“At present, we are not at liberty to give any further statements given confidentiality issues in our discussions with our partners. Full disclosure will be made to Bursa Malaysia and to the media as appropriate,” it said in an e-mail response to The Edge Financial Daily.
Apart from the speculation of a privatisation exercise, market talk also has it that Astro may pull out of Indonesia due to the difficult challenges it was facing in that country.
Astro's share price saw its biggest jump in four years last Friday on speculation of the privatisation exercise, rising 54 sen to RM4.16. It was traded at between RM3.66 and RM4.20, with a total of 6.42 million shares done.
Astro slipped into the red in its second quarter ended July 31, 2007, posting a net loss of RM54.2 million compared to a net profit of RM73 million a year earlier due to the writing off of assets and balances arising from its investment in its PT Direct Vision (PTDV), its pay-TV joint venture in Indonesia.
An OSK Research report said Astro's share price "has been negatively impacted by protracted concerns over its Indonesia operations (via PDTV)."
"Recall that PDTV has been inundated by a series of challenges over the past two years, ranging from shareholding-regulatory upheavals to the award of formal broadcasting rights.”
OSK Research said Astro’s Indonesia operations was projected to be loss making over the next four to five years.
OSK Research pointed out that Astro's management had recently provided a further RM92.4 million in Q2FY08 on top of the RM241 million losses recorded in 1QFY08, bringing the total amount of losses to RM330 million to date.
“Astro does not discount the possibility of exiting Indonesia in the event that no amicable solution is reached with its partner and the Indonesian authorities to effectively continue operations,” said the research house.
On speculation of an impending privatisation of Astro by Ananda and in reply to The Edge Financial Daily's query, Astro said: “Kindly be advised that we do not speculate about or comment on rumours propagated in the market.”
OSK Research's report also addressed the said rumours, citing the Indonesian venture as one of the possible reasons for this exercise.
If true, it said, the exercise could be premised “on similar grounds that drove Usaha Tegas to privatise Maxis, notably anticipated earnings volatility from investments in new markets and its shares being undervalued.”
The research house, which maintains a buy on Astro at a target price of RM4.65, said: “Ascribing the same takeover premium for Maxis in May 2007, Astro is worth some RM8.4 billion (versus RM7 billion currently). However, the premium could be higher as the current share price is trading well below the IPO price.
“The 20% premium is consistent with the average offer on 17 privatisation deals implemented since the beginning of 2007. Based on Tan Sri Ananda Krishnan’s indicative interest of 43.2%, we estimate a general offer of at least RM5 billion,” it added.
Other analysts held slightly different perspectives. “[Astro] stocks have had a fairly rough ride lately; there is appetite for this sort of speculation,” said one analyst.
“It’s possible, however the fact of the matter is whether they can raise the money for this (the privatisation exercise). Maxis was easy to finance, its cash flows were strong. Having said that, Astro is much smaller,” he said.
Another analyst said such a move was more likely to happen if Astro already had a strategic investor coming in to raise funds for such an exercise.
MULTICHOICE AFRICA UNVEILS THREE NEW CHANNELS FOR DStv!
From http://www.modernghana.com/GhanaHome/music/music_details.asp?menu_id=3&sub_menu_id=501&menu_id2=83&id=VGxSVk1FNUJQVDA9
Leading digital satellite operator MultiChoice Africa further enhanced its position at the forefront of the pay-TV market in sub-Saharan Africa today when it unveiled plans to add three new channels to its DStv offering.
Launching in the first five days of November, the three channels set to make their debut on DStv are the newly created movie channel M-NET STARS launching on November 1, the spiritual family channel ONE GOSPEL on November 4 and the lifestyle and fashion channel THE STYLE NETWORK on November 5.
All three channels will be available to all DStv Premium subscribers in West Africa. In addition, ONE GOSPEL and THE STYLE NETWORK will be available to DStv Compact subscribers. ONE GOSPEL will also be available to subscribers of DStv’s Family package.
MultiChoice Africa CEO Eben Greyling said the new channels formed part of the service provider’s commitment to bring subscribers the best premium content available. “The three new channels expand our already unrivalled choice of family entertainment. The new channels launching in November continue our tradition of providing top quality programming across a range of genres,” Greyling said.
The announcement of the new channels comes just days before MultiChoice Africa performs an extensive channel re-shuffle across its products, in a move specifically aimed at creating additional channel space. With all channels on DStv moving from 2 digit to 3 digit channel numbers, the three new channels can now be effectively accommodated on DStv, with the additional benefit of channels fitting easily into their relevant genres.
Providing convenient, logical channel surfing for subscribers, the channel re-shuffle in the first week of October translates into a direct subscriber benefit, with the new channels launching just four weeks later. “With the expansion of the DStv offering over the past few years, the upcoming channel re-shuffle was a natural next step in the evolution of our business,” Greyling said.
“It’s always been our intention to introduce new channels and the channel re-shuffle gives us the ability to do this successfully. We now look forward to bringing audiences more of the best international and local programming that they’ve come to expect and enjoy with us. And there’s more to come so stay tuned.”
First to air from the three new channels is M-NET STARS on November 1. Encompassing movies that are firm favorites and contemporary classics, M-NET STARS is aimed at anyone who loves ‘feel-good’ films!
On November 4, it’s the turn of ONE GOSPEL to debut on DStv. A dedicated 24/7 TV channel showcasing gospel music from all over the African continent and the world, ONE GOSPEL includes studio-generated and live performances from both world renowned and up-and-coming artists. Complementing its extensive music line-up, the channel will also include spiritually themed talk-shows, magazine programs and game-shows, making ONE Gospel more than just a music channel. Rounding off the new channel line-up is THE STYLE NETWORK on November 5. Elegant and fashionable, THE STYLE NETWORK showcases original series and specials featuring beauty, leisure, home, weddings and fashion.disasters, one makeover at a time. You can also tune in for Modern Girl’s Guide to Life, a series dedicated to useful tips for today's busy woman. From selecting the perfect gift to assembling a well-stocked toolbox, finally there's a show that tackles your daily challenges with a take-charge attitude. And revealing reality show Whose Wedding Is It Anyway? digs deep into the hectic lives of party pros as they scout locations, juggle seating charts and dole out tissues to moms on the big day.
370 Free to Air Sat TV channels in the Arab World
From http://www.albawaba.com/en/countries/UAE/217454
The Arab World's FTA Sat TV channels have grown by a massive 270% between August 2007 and January 2004. By mid August 2007, the total number of FTA satellite channels reached 370 on Arabsat, Nilesat and new entrant Noorsat.
Arab Advisors Group research revealed that the highest number of channel types were the Private sector general channels at 56, followed by Music channels which totaled 54 and government-owned general channels which totaled 38.
A new report, "Satellite TV in the Arab World 2007" was released to the Arab Advisors Group's Media Strategic Research Service subscribers on September 26, 2006. The 64-pages report, which has 20 detailed exhibits, provides a detailed analysis of the FTA satellite channels targeting the Arab region as of Mid August 2006. The channels are analyzed according to their type and content, broadcasting language, main offices, ownership (state owned or private) and satellite carriers. In addition, the satellite systems included in the analysis are Arabsat, Nilesat and Noorsat. This is because the trend is for any FTA satellite channel targeting the Arab World is to broadcast on Nilesat and/or Arabsat. Recently, Noorsat joined the fray based on leased capacity from Euelsat's satellites.
VSNL teleport uplink may save costs for Raj TV
From http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/10/08/stories/2007100851850300.htm
Raj Television Network Ltd expects “substantial reduction” in operational costs this fiscal on account of its move to uplink content through a VSNL teleport in Chennai. Until July, the news and entertainment programmes broadcaster was uplinking its content to the satellite ThaiCom 3 through Shin Satellite Public Company Ltd.
This satellite beamed content to India, South East Asia and the Gulf countries. The company spent about Rs 1.44 crore in transponder hiring charges last year.
The present arrangement allows Raj Television to uplink content including live programmes like news from its premises at Chennai. The company had made investments in a teleport facility as early as 2001 and obtained permission from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to uplink content via the same. However upon “violation of certain conditions,” the permit was revoked in 2004. The company has also entered into an agreement with VSNL to provide movie content on the ‘Video-on-demand’ format. Film satellite rights for the company’s nearly 1,400 strong movie database are valued at about Rs 375 crore.
A similar agreement with Dot Com Infoway will ensure that Raj Television’s content will be distributed internationally over broadband. Revenues accruing from this operation would be split equally between the two companies. Earlier this year, the company signed a two year agreement with the Singapore government owned TV 12 for exporting content to Vasantham Central, a free to air channel airing programmes for the Indian community there. The company is targeting similar tie-ups with broadcasters in Malaysia, Thailand, Fiji, UK and USA.
Domestically, the company plans to launch 12 new channels over the next two years, including 24X7 news, business, music and cartoons in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.
The company reported revenues of Rs 15.12 crore and gross profit of about Rs 8.54 crore for the quarter ending June 2007. The corresponding figures last year were Rs 9.22 crore and Rs 1.34 crore respectively. Raj Television’s share price closed at Rs 230.89 a share on October 5.
Pragya Channel to launch this month; hopes to gain foothold with inspirational content
From http://www.exchange4media.com/e4m/news/newfullstory.asp?section_id=6&news_id=28066&tag=22972&pict=12
Pragya Channel, a venture of Pragya Vision Pvt. Ltd, would focus on its unique content to gain foothold in the mushrooming satellite channels space. Stressing on inspirational and value-based content, the channel is expected to be launched this month. Pragya Vision Pvt. Ltd is an independent media company owned and headed by Meena Tiwary as its Managing Director.
“We have state-of-the-art equipment, the finest technical professionals and experienced editorial hands to make the channel stand out in the crowd. Most of the content would be developed in-house and would be capable to cater to interest groups across India,” said Tiwary.
“We are a very different channel, with regards to our content. We are far from the religious channels that are available today and have nothing to do with religion. If you think spirituality and entertainment are components of lifestyle, then we are into it. The content has tremendous ability to inspire. We are similar to what Travel & Living does and certain programmes of Discovery Channel,” said Pragyan Bhattacharya, Programming Head, Pragya Channel.
Bhattacharya has an experience of 19 years in media and has worked with leading channels and print media, which include Zee Business, Zee TV, STAR India, Economic Times and Associated Press.
Programmes on individuals who do well despite facing odd situations, as well as those who do well for their community, would find centre-stage. The channel would also highlight health-related issues. “The programmes would abstain from preaching and would leave options open for people to choose from. For example, we would definitely say smoking is injurious and how to quit it, but to quit or not would be in the hands of viewers,” Bhattacharya said.
The target audience of the channel would primarily be the college-going youth, people at the threshold of their career and women. “Though our focus is youth and women, viewers in all age groups would find programmes of their interest. All our shows, like ‘Be Positive’, which is a reality show, would show the positive aspects of life. The mantra of the channel is ‘Live Life Positive’,” added Bhattacharya.
The channel would have five-six hours of live programmes daily. Fiction, animation and talent search programmes would gain space in the channel, besides panel discussions and two programmes that would involve social celebrities as guests. ‘Khadi Baat’, a one-hour show five days a week, is another programme that would help in stress and anger management. The content would be integrated with SMS and VAS service in a way that viewers do not miss any information they want. “These additional services will help interactivity between us and the viewers. So far, there is no competition in our domain in India,” added Bhattacharya.
The company has plans to go primarily for print campaigns to promote its unique content, both in English dailies as well as vernacular press to make the channel visible across India. The use of outdoors would be limited to the metros.
RCI launches satellite TV channel 'Nav Shikhar'
From http://www.indiaedunews.net/Career/RCI_launches_satellite_TV_channel_'Nav_Shikhar'_2187/
New Delhi: Here is good news for over two crores of people with disability in India. The Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) in collaboration with Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and Media Labs, on Friday launched a satellite channel especially for disability rehabilitation and education in the country.
The aim of this project is to link 300 study centres which are committed to disability rehabilitation education in the country. The EDUSAT up-linking station and studio will be located at the RCI building in New Delhi.
The channel 'Nav Shikhar' will not only become a medium by which persons with disability can be audience to pertinent discussions on the issue, but it will also transform the system of rehabilitation education in the country. The channel will broadcast information to people who desire to be trained in the field of disability rehabilitation and special education.
"The channel will telecast lectures, teleconferences and classes by having one way video or two way audio interactions. Most of the programmes will be interactive in nature. "It will connect around 100 RCI study centres in the first phase and 237 in the second," said Major General (Retd.) Ian Cardozo, Chairman, RCI.
7/10/07
No update Sunday
6/10/07
A small Saturday update, more news Monday
Optus D2 has succesfully launched!!
You can watch the replay / video highlights here.
http://www.videocorner.tv/index.php?langue=en
or download a copy (Sorry no Audio on this copy, requires DivX codec)
Optus D2 launch 2.30 min launch video
NEWS
Arianespace boosts Intelsat 11 and Optus D2 into orbit
From Press RELEASE
Date Released: Friday, October 5, 2007
On Friday evening, October 5, Arianespace successfully orbited two communications satellites: Intelsat 11 for the international operator Intelsat, and Optus D2 for the Australian operator Optus. Both satellites were built by Orbital Sciences Corporation.
34th Ariane 5 launch, 20th success in a row
The latest successful launch of an Ariane 5, the fourth in 2007, confirms that Arianespace offers the launch Service & Solutions best matched to operator requirements.
Ariane 5 is the only commercial launcher in service today capable of simultaneously launching two payloads. The Ariane 5 launcher gives Arianespace customers unrivaled performance, flexibility and competitiveness, and continues to set the global standard for launch services.
Two more Ariane 5 launches are scheduled by the end of the year.
Launches for leading operators
Arianespace's selection by today's leading satcom manufacturers and operators is clear international recognition of the company's high-quality launch services.
Arianespace is particularly proud of its partnership with Intelsat. Since 1983, Arianespace has launched 47 satellites for this leading international operator. This is the second successful launch for Intelsat following last May's launch of its Galaxy 17 satellite.
Optus D2 will be the fourth satellite launched by Arianespace for the Australian operator. It launched Optus D1 in October 2006, following Optus & Defence C1 in June 2003 and Aussat K3 in 1987. SingTel, the parent company of Optus, had already chosen Arianespace to launch its ST-1 satellite in 1998.
Record order book
Arianespace has signed 12 new Service & Solutions contracts for launches into geostationary transfer orbit this year, along with four contracts for low Earth orbit (LEO) launches, giving it, following this launch, a record backlog of orders:
- 27 satellites to be launched into geostationary transfer orbit, using Ariane 5 and possibly Soyuz for the smaller spacecraft.
- 11 government launches by Ariane 5, including nine for the ATV cargo vessel that will bring supplies to the International Space Station.
- 10 Soyuz launches (four from Baikonur, six from the Guiana Space Center).
Intelsat 11/Optus D2 mission at a glance
The mission was carried out by an Ariane 5 GS launcher from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Liftoff was on Friday, October 5, at 7:02 pm local time in Kourou (6:02 pm in Washington, DC, 22:02 UT, and on Saturday, October 6 at 00:02 am in Paris, and at 8:02 am in Sydney).
Provisional parameters at injection of the storable-propellant upper stage (EPS) were:
Perigee: 584.7 km for a target of 584.8 km (+/-4)
Apogee: 35,913 km for a target of 35,918 km (+/-240)
Inclination: 4.01 degrees for a target of 4.00 degrees (+/-0.06*)
The Intelsat 11 satellite was built by Orbital Sciences Corporation at its plant in Dulles, Virginia, using a Star 2 platform. Weighing about 2,500 kg at launch, the satellite is fitted with a hybrid payload comprising 34 high-power transponders, including 16 C-band and 18 Ku-band units. It offers 3.5 kW of electrical power. Positioned at 43 degrees West, Intelsat 11 will host Latin America's premiere video programmers and the region's largest DTH platform.
Optus D2 was also integrated by Orbital Sciences Corporation in Dulles using a Star 2 platform. Weighing about 2,350 kg at launch, it is fitted with 24 Ku-band transponders. Optus D2 will be positioned at 152 degrees East and has a design life of 15 years. It will provide direct TV broadcast, Internet, telephone and data transmission services for Australia and New Zealand.
Ariane 5 rocket lofts satellite pair for Americas, Australia
From http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ariane/v178/
An Ariane 5 rocket blasted away from its jungle launch pad in South America on Friday night, overcoming a technical glitch that stopped an initial countdown with just 10 seconds left on the clock.
The giant booster was aiming for an on-time launch at 2128 GMT (5:28 p.m. EDT) to haul a pair of communications satellites into orbit. But the computer-controlled countdown sequence was halted after a problem was detected at the ELA-3 launch pad.
Engineers scrambled to resolve the problem and reset the countdown. The quick work paid off and a fresh seven-minute count commenced at the Guiana Space Center. The remote launch base is located on the northeastern coast of South America in Kourou, French Guiana.
The hydrogen-fueled main engine rumbled to ignition at 2202 GMT (6:02 p.m. EDT), followed seven seconds later with the blinding flash of the twin solid-fuel rocket motors firing to life for liftoff.
Roaring through a few low clouds, the launcher pitched eastward for its half-hour flight to reach geosynchronous transfer orbit with the Intelsat 11 and Optus D2 satellite payloads stacked aboard.
The solid motors burned out and fell away two-and-half-minutes into the ascent, leaving the cryogenic main stage to continue propelling the vehicle for another seven minutes. A storable propellant upper stage then took over to power the two Orbital Science-built satellites to their intended altitude.
Arianespace reported the elliptical injection orbit had a high point of 22,316 miles, a low point of 363 miles and inclination of four degrees to the equator.
The Intelsat 11 spacecraft was deployed first, separating nearly 28 minutes after liftoff. A dual-payload launch structure was jettisoned soon thereafter, enabling Optus D2 to be released 32 minutes into the ascent.
It was the 20th consecutive successful launch for the heavy-duty Ariane 5 rocket fleet.
Intelsat 11 is designed to relay direct-to-home TV broadcasting and data networking services to Latin America when it enters service later this year. The craft is equipped with 16 C- and 18 Ku-band transponders.
Controllers will maneuver the satellite into a circular geostationary orbit 22,300 miles above Earth where it can match the planet's rotation and remain parked at 43 degrees West longitude over the equator.
Intelsat says the new craft, with its 16-year life span, will replace the firm's aging Intelsat 6B and 3R satellites.
In Friday night's post-launch jubilations, Kenneth Lee, the Intelsat vice president of space systems management and planning, thanked Arianespace for the smooth ride given to the Intelsat 11 spacecraft. Ariane rockets have launched 47 satellites for Intelsat since 1983.
"This is reason that we keep coming back for more," Lee said. "Once again, you have demonstrated flexibility, while meeting all of the things that we need - delivering 100 percent."
The Optus D2 satellite will be used for television and communications services to Australia and New Zealand. It features two dozen Ku-band transponders and a design life exceeding 15 years.
Just like its launch partner, the Optus D2 is destined for geostationary orbit. The satellite is headed for 152 degrees East longitude over the equator to replace the Optus B3 craft launched in 1994.
Orbital Sciences has developed a growing niche for small geostationary communications satellites. Friday's liftoff marked the first time that two such spacecraft had been paired together to launch aboard a single rocket.
"Both Intelsat and Optus are very important and valued customers of Orbital and we are committed to extending our history of carrying out successful missions for them," said Senior Vice President Christopher Richmond, head of Orbital's GEO communications satellite programs.
The Ariane 5 rocket has flown four times this year and Arianespace is planning two more. Next on the schedule is a liftoff November 9 carrying the British Skynet 5B military communications satellite and the Brazilian STAR ONE C1 telecommunications spacecraft.
Arianespace says its healthy order book for upcoming launches includes:
- 27 satellites to be launched into geostationary transfer orbit, using Ariane 5 and possibly Russian Soyuz boosters for the smaller spacecraft
- 11 governmental launches by Ariane 5, including nine for the European Space Agency's Automated Transfer Vehicles to the International Space Station
- 10 Soyuz launches (six from the new pad being built in Kourou and four from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan)
The next commercial Soyuz is scheduled for launch from Baikonur on October 21 carrying replacement satellites for the Globalstar mobile telephone network
Rocket launched
From http://www2.skynews.com.au/news/article.aspx?id=193369
A rocket carrying a new communications satellite to service Australia and New Zealand has been successfully launched from French Guyana.
After a delay due to computer problems, the European Arianespace rocket is now on schedule to deploy the Optus D-2 satellite, which should begin to come online within the next two weeks.
The satellite will provide direct television, internet, telephone and data services for Australia and New Zealand.
With just seven minutes to go during countdown, computer problems struck, leaving the engineers to make emergency repairs.
The rocket will firstly deploy another satellite to service the United States Intel network's Latin American footprint.
The Optus satellite will deploy above Australia's east coast.
Intelsat 11 Launch Successful; Offers Fresh Capacity for Key Video Customers
From Press Release
Pembroke, Bermuda, 5 October 2007
Intelsat, Ltd., the world’s leading provider of commercial satellite services, announced today that at 18:02 EDT its Intelsat 11 satellite was successfully launched aboard Arianespace’s Ariane 5 rocket. The satellite, built by Orbital Sciences Corporation, will operate from 317º E and host Latin America’s premiere video programmers and the region’s largest DTH platform.
Its payload is comprised of 25 C- and 18 Ku-band transponder units offering robust coverage for broadcasting content in the Americas and Europe.
Once Intelsat 11 is operational, it will eventually replace Intelsat’s 6B and 3R spacecraft. Intelsat 11 will begin transitioning its customers over once in-orbit testing is complete, providing them capacity with a useful life slated to last the next 16 years.
Intelsat, Ltd. CEO David McGlade stated, “Intelsat 11 is an extremely important satellite for us and for our video customers. The increase of regional DTH services is a major catalyst for industry growth, and this orbital location is one of the largest of the 27 DTH platforms we host worldwide.”
Intelsat 11 is slated to enter service in the fourth quarter of 2007.
About Intelsat
Intelsat is the leading provider of fixed satellite services (FSS) worldwide and is the leading provider of these services to each of the media, network services and government customer sectors, enabling people and businesses everywhere constant access to information and entertainment. Intelsat offers customers a greater business potential by providing them access to unrivaled resources with ease of business and peace of mind. An extensive customer base, including some of the world’s leading media and communications companies, multinational corporations, Internet service providers and government/military organizations, utilizes our services. Real-time, constant communication with people anywhere in the world is closer, by far.
Contact
Nick Mitsis
[email protected]
+1 202 944 7044
5/10/07
Things are all set for the Optus D2 Launch on Saturday Morning.
SYDNEY: Between 07:28am and 08:13am on October 6, 2007.
NZ : Between 10.28am and 11:13am on October 6, 2007.
GMT: Between 09:28pm and 10:13pm on October 5, 2007.
PARIS: Between 11:28pm and 00:13am on October 5-6, 2007.
WASHINGTON: Between 05:28pm and 06:13pm on October 5, 2007.
KOUROU: Between 06:28pm and 07:13pm on October 5, 2007.
Coverage
Asiasat2 Cband feed channel "UP4" 3706 Horizontal 4167 5/6 these DETAILS may change.
Optus B3 (BTV3)
Webstream
http://www.videocorner.tv/index.php?langue=en
Bathurst this weekend so check D1 for feeds in the usual places.
Bathurst update
D1 12654/v/6670 "world feed" 4:2:2
D1 12661/v/6670 "bigpond"
(Craig's comment, 12661V was active as I write this 9.10p.m NZ)
From my Email & ICQ
From jsat.tv (Thailand)
Satellite : Asiasat 2
FREQ: 3705
POL: V
SR: 6610
VDO: free to view
Tennis: AIG OPEN
Feed provider: NHK SPORT
From the Dish
Insat 4B 93.5E 11150 V "Music India has replaced Zee Muzic Asia" on , Fta
Insat 2E 83E 3774 V "Raj Digital Plus, Raj TV, Vissa" are encrypted again.
Insat 2E 83E 4042 V "Tristit TV" has left .
Thaicom 5 78.5E 3440 V "Sumruajloke" has started on , Fta.
Thaicom 5 78.5E 3489 V "Channel Nepal" has left .
Thaicom 5 78.5E 3521 V "Lao Star Channel" is back on , Fta, SR 2917, FEC 3/4.
Thaicom 5 78.5E 4124 V "TVK" has left .
Telstar 10 76.5E 3714 V "PBO, NBN Pinoy News and GMA Pinoy TV Europe" are Fta.
ABS 1 75E 3491 V "One World Channel" is now encrypted.
Yamal 201 49E 3944 L "Style" has started on , Fta.
NEWS
Ariane Mission Update October 4, 2007
From http://www.arianespace.com/site/news/mission_up_426.html
Arianespace is ready for its fourth Ariane 5 mission of 2007
Ariane 5 arrives at the ELA-3 launch zone, where it will lift off tomorrow evening with Intelsat 11 and Optus D2.
The 178th Ariane launcher rolled out to its pad this morning, clearing the way for tomorrow evening's liftoff from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana with a dual-satellite payload.
Emerging from the Final Assembly Building at 10:30 a.m. under sunny skies, the Ariane 5 GS completed the 2.8-kilometer transfer in one hour.
For this fourth Arianespace mission of 2007, both passengers carried by the launcher are built by the same U.S. manufacturer – Orbital Sciences Corporation.
The upper Ariane 5 payload for this mission is Intelsat 11, which will host Latin America's premiere video programmers and the region's largest DTH (direct-to-home) platform.
With a liftoff weight of approximately 2,500 kg., Intelsat 11 carries a hybrid payload composed of 16 C-band and 18 Ku-band transponders. The satellite will be deployed at approximately 28 minutes into the Ariane 5's flight, and subsequently is to be located at an orbital position of 43 deg. West.
Ariane 5 will release Optus D2 at 32 minutes after liftoff, and the spacecraft ultimately will be positioned at 152 deg. East. This 2,350-kg. platform will be operated by Australian-based Optus to enable the development of new business opportunities for the direct-to-home market, new data services as well as services bundling.
Arianespace is planning a total of six Ariane 5 missions for 2007. It is in the process of accelerating the Ariane 5 launch rate to meet customer demand, building to a stabilized pace of eight Ariane 5 missions per year by 2009.
Nimbus signs up Setanta Sports Australia for BCCI, BCB cricket
From http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k7/oct/oct76.php
MUMBAI: Nimbus Sport International has entered into an exclusive agreement with Australia's newest sports channel – Setanta Sports – to provide exclusive live coverage in Australia of a range of Indian and Bangladeshi international cricket events from 2007 to 2009.
Setanta will telecast Pakistan’s tour of India in November-December as well as South Africa’s visit to the sub-Continent in 2008. The channel will also show all Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) international cricket during 2008 and 2009, including tours to Bangladesh by India, South Africa and Sri Lanka. In total Setanta will be showing 13 test matches and 19 ODIs.
Nimbus Sport CEO Digvijay Singh said, "We are delighted to be partnering with Setanta Sports in bringing the excitement of Indian and Bangladeshi cricket to its fans down under. "Together with Setanta we will give the large South Asian community in Australia the chance to follow their favourite sport live on TV."
Setanta Sports Australia GM Conor Woods said, "This is an exciting time for Setanta Sports as we launch our new residential channel on Foxtel and Austar in Australia. Setanta Sports is committed to offering the best international sports, and the Indian and Bangladeshi cricket will be a key part of our programming."
Nimbus Sport has already acquired the global media rights to India’s home matches from the BCCI for the four year period until March 2010, and to Bangladesh’s home matches from the BCB for the six year period from 2006 to 2012.
Freeview catching on in SC
From http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/timaruherald/4226061a6571.html
FREEVIEW FEVER: Timaru TV and Video junior technician Jamie Dransfield has been busy installing Freeview units.
The people of South Canterbury are starting to tune in to Freeview.
Timaru TV and Video store owner Gordon Ireland said the digital service seemed to be popular with local people.
The store had sold over 100 Freeview sets since it was introduced in May.
"People seem to be very pleased with the results and pleased with better reception."
Freeview has all the usual channels but relies on satellite rather than an aerial. With the introduction of more channels, it will offer more viewing options and possibly better reception.
Freeview benefited a number of people around South Canterbury who previously had bad TV reception.
"We have sold a few around Twizel."
The Government's push into digital television had an initial cost but once it was set up there were no monthly payments.
Freeview requires a set top box or satellite receiver, sold at appliance retailers for about $200 and a satellite dish which can be installed for about $350.
Mr Ireland said satellite dishes were becoming more affordable than installing large aerials which could be knocked over in high winds.
People with freeview access would be able to tune in channels as they were introduced.
TVNZ launched its commercial free TV6 this week with more channels coming to Freeview next year.
Mr Ireland said the technology was constantly developing and he had a new box in store which would automatically tune in new stations rather than people having to do it manually.
He believed the next thing would be a TV that came with freeview equipment already installed.
Defining high costs
From http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/3/story.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10467919&pnum=0
Both TVNZ and TV3 will be broadcasting a good deal of prime-time American TV drama in high definition on the freeview platform by the middle of next year.
But what about New Zealand programming in high definition?
TVNZ chief Rick Ellis says local producers will move to HD production "over time", but there's no firm plan beyond the release of international HD content that can now be bought for the same price as the same thing in standard definition.
Some local producers, particularly those who want to get their shows on the Discovery Channel and other United States networks, are already set up for high-definition shooting and post-production. But most of the industry, which is focused on production for local TV broadcast, hasn't yet made the change.
In the early phase then, high-definition TV for both consumers and TV production companies is going to be most notable for the set-up costs.
It's that type of cost impact that contributed to Deutsche Bank slashing the rating of Australia's Ten Network to "sell" last month.
Ten plans to launch a digital channel in December, but Deutsche Bank said the network would face higher staff and programming costs in the move to HD, which Channel 9 and Seven are also moving to in the same timeframe.
Al-Kass Sports Channel Broadcasts to Asia via AsiaSat 2
From Press Release
Hong Kong, 4th October, 2007….Asia's leading satellite operator, Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company Limited (AsiaSat) and Al-Dawri & Al-Kass Sports Channel (Al-Kass) of Qatar announced the signing of a lease agreement for C-band capacity on AsiaSat 2 to broadcast an Arabic language sports channel to Asia and Australasia.
Al-Kass, operated under Qatar's public broadcast network, Qatar Radio and Television Corporation, is the official channel for the country’s football league. The channel covers regional as well as international sports events with focus on football and is positioning itself among the leading sports channels in the Middle East. It joins AsiaSat 2 for free to air distribution to promote the Middle Eastern sports events in Asian countries under the satellite’s region wide C-band footprint.
Besides this thematic channel, Qatar's main local television and radio channels Qatar TV and Qatar Radio are also broadcasting along with 16 other Middle Eastern television channels on AsiaSat 2, serving millions of Arabic speaking community across Asia and Australasia.
“Our main local television and radio services have been on AsiaSat 2 since 2006. AsiaSat 2’s superior coverage and wide exposure make it a necessity for Al-Kass’ expansion strategy. The sports channel will provide Asian audience an insight into the football culture in the Middle East in addition to a unique variety of sports programmes," said Essa Al-Hitmi, General Manager, Al-Dawri & Al-Kass Sports Channel.
“We are very pleased to welcome Al-Kass, the new Arabic language sports channel onboard AsiaSat 2. There is no doubt of AsiaSat 2’s leading position in Middle Eastern programming as we continue to increase our offering in Arabic to take advantage of the booming television market in the region,” said Peter Jackson, Chief Executive Officer of AsiaSat.
Al-Kass is available on AsiaSat 2 in C-band with the following reception parameters:
Transponder: 1A
Frequency: 3660 MHz
Polarisation: Vertical
Modulation: QPSK
Symbol Rate: 27.5 Msym/sec
FEC: 3/4
- End -
About AsiaSat 2
AsiaSat 2 operates at an orbital location of 100.5 degrees East. The satellite is a Lockheed Martin Series 7000 model and carries twenty 36 MHz and four 72 MHz C-band, as well as nine 54 MHz Ku-band linearised transponders. Its C-band footprint covers 53 countries spanning from Russia to New Zealand and from Japan to the Middle East and parts of Africa. It also has a high-power Ku beam serving the Greater China region, Korea and Japan. AsiaSat 2 currently serves many regional and international broadcasters, wholesale news agencies, video service providers, teleport service providers for video and news distribution and contribution services, as well as governments and corporations for VSAT network services.
About AsiaSat
AsiaSat, the leading regional satellite operator in Asia, serves over two-thirds of the world's population with its three satellites, AsiaSat 2 at 100.5ºE, AsiaSat 3S at 105.5ºE and AsiaSat 4 at 122.2ºE. The AsiaSat satellite system provides services to both the broadcast and telecommunications industries. Over 220 television channels are now delivered by the Company's satellites, reaching over 96 million households, with more than 360 million viewers across the Asia Pacific region. Many telecommunications customers use AsiaSat for services such as public telephone networks, private VSAT networks and high speed Internet and multimedia services. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Asia Satellite Telecommunications Holdings Limited, listed on both the Hong Kong (SEHK: 1135HK) and New York (NYSE: SAT) stock exchanges. In April and June of this year, AsiaSat was selected the ‘Best Asian Satellite Carrier’ and the 'Satellite Communications Service Provider of the Year in Asia Pacific’ respectively by Telecom Asia magazine and Frost & Sullivan.
For more information, please visit www.asiasat.com
Media inquiries:
Al-Dawri & Al-Kass Sports Channel
Hisham Faour, Head of Marketing & Advertising
Tel: (974) 4894819
Fax: (974) 4894814
Mob: (974) 5133548
Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company Limited
Sabrina Cubbon, General Manager Marketing Winnie Pang, Manager, Corporate Affairs
Tel: (852) 2500 0899 Tel: (852) 2500 0880
Mobile: (852) 9097 1210 Fax: (852) 2500 0895
Fax: (852) 2500 0895 Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
Astro unveils eight new channels
From http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/10/5/business/19086535&sec=business
KUALA LUMPUR: Astro All Asia Networks plc has launched eight new channels, bringing its total channels to 107 in a bid to boost customers’ experience and enhance earnings.
Astro TV chief executive officer Rohana Rozhan said the introduction of the new channels was expected to have a “positive impact” on the Astro’s financial earnings although she declined to reveal figures.
Asked whether more channels were in the pipeline, Rohana said the new transmission capacity available to Astro following the launch of Measat 3 allowed the company to have up to 130 channels.
“We still have 23 more channels to go based on current capacity,” she said at the launch of the latest channels yesterday. Additionally, she said a replacement to its Measat-1 satellite , targeted to be launched by the fourth quarter of next year would allow the company to offer more than 130 channels.
In its second quarter ended July 31, Astro reported a net loss of RM54.2mil compared with a net profit of RM73mil for the previous corresponding period.
The losses were due mainly to a RM92.4mil write-off on the company’s investment in Indonesia pay-TV joint venture, PT Direct Vision.
The company’s Malaysian multi-channel television operation however, grew during the period, recording a pre-tax profit of RM138.6mil for the period compared with RM118.7mil a year ago.
Average revenue per user was also higher at RM82, compared with RM77 in its first quarter.
Among the new channels introduced yesterday are Astro AWANI, an international news and information channel “with a local perspective”, Astro Oasis, a 24-hour family channel featuring progressive Islamic lifestyles, Mandarin channel Astro Xiao Tai Yang, Hokkien channel Astro HUE HEE DAI, Tamil kids’ channel Chutti TV and The Asian Food Channel, which promises to showcase some of the best local and international culinary programmes.
She said Astro expected as many as 250,000 new subscribers after having added 30 channels over the one past year.
Content costs to account for 33% of Astro's revenues
From http://www.theedgedaily.com/cms/content.jsp?id=com.tms.cms.article.Article_6ecc88f4-cb73c03a-6798eb00-e60770c6#
Pay per TV operator Astro All Asia Networks Plc is expecting content costs to be as much as 33% of its revenues in its current financial year, a top official said here yesterday.
"From the last quarter results, content costs were 32% of revenues and this year we expect content costs to be 33% of revenues," said Astro TV chief executive officer Rohana Rozhan.
Rohana, who was speaking to reporters following the launch of eight new channels by the operator, said Astro would continue to grow subscribers and add new channels.
"Reflecting our commitment to local content, we have increased our in-house production to over 1700 hours of entertainment, information and news programmes," she said.
She added that Astro hoped for increased average revenue per user (ARPU) as a result of the new channels. "We hope this will have an impact on ARPU going forward." However, she declined to reveal projections. Last quarter, she said, ARPU was at RM82.
With the eight new channels, Astro has now a total of 107 channels, with room to expand. It has yet to maximise the capacity of Measat 3 satellite, which can support a maximum of 130 channels. "We still have 23 channels to go," she said, adding that the company was building further capacity with its Measat 1-R satellite, due to be launched in the first quarter of 2008.
The operator launched 11 new channels last year and another nine earlier this year prior to the eight new channels launched yesterday. The new channels, in addition to the existing 22, will be available to Astro subscribers at no additional costs until Nov 15.
Malaysia's Astro still a 'trading buy' on privatisation hopes - OSK
From http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock News/673904/
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 05, 2007 (Thomson Financial via COMTEX) -- AAWKF | charts | news | PowerRating -- OSK Investment Bank said Friday it is keeping its 'trading buy' call on Astro All Asia Networks on hopes that Malaysia's largest pay-TV operator may soon be taken private.
Speculation is rife that Astro's key shareholder may resolve to privatise Astro amid possible further earnings volatility arising from the company's investments in new markets like Indonesia and India, OSK analyst Jeffrey Tan said in a note to clients.
Malaysian billionaire Ananda Krishnan controls Astro via the unlisted Usaha Tegas Sdn Bhd.
In June, Ananda took Astro's sister company Maxis Communications Bhd private in a 39 billion ringgit deal, a move aimed at allowing Maxis to focus on an overseas expansion expected to incur sizeable start-up losses.
"We will not be surprised if the speculation turns out to be true, as Astro's share price performance has been negatively impacted by protracted concerns over its Indonesia operation," Tan said.
He expects the Indonesian operations to be loss-making over the next four to five years.
Based on the purchase price Ananda offered for Maxis, Tan said Astro could be worth some 8.4 billion ringgit, 20 percent higher than its current market value.
OSK has a target price of 4.65 ringgit on Astro, which is based solely on its profit-making Malaysian operations.
At the close of the morning session, Astro was up 6 sen or 1.7 percent at 3.68 ringgit.
(1 US dollar = 3.40 ringgit)
Japanese satellite reaches lunar orbit
From http://edition.cnn.com/2007/TECH/space/10/04/japan.moon.probe/
TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- A Japanese satellite was injected into lunar orbit, a first for the nation and for Asia, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) confirmed Friday.
The satellite, known as SELENE (Selenological and Engineering Explorer ) and nicknamed "KAGUYA," was launched from Tanegashima Space Center on September 14. It was injected into orbit on Thursday, JAXA said on its Web site. The mission consists of a main orbiting satellite at about 100 kilometers (62 miles) altitude and two smaller satellites, the site said.
Researchers will use data gathered by the probes to study the moon's origin and evolution. The main orbiter will stay in position for about a year, The Associated Press reported.
Messages and signs were collected from more than 412,000 people to be aboard the satellite, JAXA said.
Japan launched a moon probe in 1990, but that was a flyby mission. It canceled another moon shot, LUNAR-A, that was to have been launched in 2004 but had been repeatedly postponed because of mechanical and fiscal problems, AP reported.
The SELENE satellite mission -- four years behind JAXA's original schedule -- comes as China is planning to launch its own lunar probe. That country's minister of defense and technology told China Central Television in July all was ready for a launch "by the end of the year," AP reported.
China's Chang'e 1 orbiter will use stereo cameras and X-ray spectrometers to map three-dimensional images of the lunar surface and study its dust, AP reported
Biak people protest Russian satellite plan
From http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20071005.H06&irec=5
JAYAPURA, Papua: At least 300 members of the Biak Traditional Council (DAB) protested Thursday outside the Biak Numfor regency legislative council, demanding the government review its decision to permit the launch of a Russian satellite from the area in 2010.
"The agreement on the Russian satellite launch, which was signed in Jakarta last month, was unlawful because it failed to involve the Biak traditional community in the talks that led to the agreement," protest coordinator and DAB chairman Piter Yarangga said.
He said a DAB plenary meeting held earlier in the day recommended the central government review the agreement, which it said would have an impact on the local community's customary rights.-- JP
Boeing Ships Third Thuraya Communications Satellite to Sea Launch Home Port
From http://pressmediawire.com/article.cfm?articleID=2598
(PressMediaWire) ST. LOUIS, Oct. 04, 2007 -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] has shipped the third Thuraya communications satellite from its satellite manufacturing facility in El Segundo, Calif., to the Sea Launch Home Port in Long Beach, Calif., where it will be prepared for a November launch. Based on the flight-proven 702 satellite model, Thuraya 3 is the third Boeing GEO-Mobile spacecraft manufactured for Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Company.
"Over the past decade, Boeing has shared a successful exclusive partnership with Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Company," said Howard Chambers, vice president of Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems. "Thuraya 3 is the latest advanced spacecraft we have built for our customer, and we look forward to this successful launch."
Thuraya 1 and 2 began commercial operations in 2001 and 2003, respectively. Together, these satellites provide mobile communications services to more than 2.3 billion people.
Planned to serve such key markets as China, Australia, Japan and Korea, Thuraya 3 gives access to advanced telecommunications services by providing a lifeline for first responders reaching those in need, businesses that depend on unequivocal data access and users who rely on mobile phones everyday. Boeing also has incorporated on-board digital signal processing that can redirect coverage to help meet market demands in more than 110 countries.
Nimbus claims right to T20 league
From http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Media__Entertainment_/Media/Nimbus_claims_right_to_T20_league/articleshow/2430409.cms
MUMBAI: The new blockbuster cricket format Twenty20 coupled with BCCI’s home league, Indian Premier league (IPL), may cause a friction between the sport broadcast community and the cricket board. For BCCI, the agenda is clearly to maximise revenue from both the properties. But the more contentious issue is who will own the broadcast rights.
Sports management firm Nimbus, which bagged the rights from BCCI for $612 million in 2005 until 2010, is now claiming that it has the rights to the T20 matches as well as the IPL. Nimbus has the rights to all international matches played on home ground. However, when the deal was inked with BCCI in 2005, Twenty20 as a format was not included.
BCCI sources told ET that Nimbus has objected to BCCI going in for a bid for the IPL rights, and has told the cricket board that this would materially affect its contract with BCCI. In fact, Nimbus has asked for a 20% (or $120 million) reduction in the license fee, which accounts for the domestic component of the $612-million deal.
“Nimbus has asked BCCI to refund the entire domestic component as the formation of IPL would impact the domestic cricket package that Nimbus has bagged. The other option is to award the IPL rights to Nimbus,” said a BCCI source. However, when contacted, BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah said, “The board has decided to go in for a bid. So, there is no doubt about that. Regarding Nimbus asking for a reduction in its contract, I have not received anything officially.”
According to a Nimbus spokesperson, “Since contractual details between any two parties are governed by confidentiality stipulations, we cannot comment on the specifics of the Nimbus contract with the BCCI. With regard to the proposed domestic T20, it is premature for us to comment on the modalities. These are under discussion with the BCCI.”
BCCI, meanwhile, is looking at scheduling six T20 matches in the next three years, until Match 2009. The first is being played on October 20 between India and Australia. The rights for this particular match seem to have been given to Nimbus. However, there seems to be no clarity on whether all T20 matches played will be on Nimbus-owned Neo sports. BCCI sources said that the six matches that have been planned till March 2009 include India playing Pakistan, South Africa and Australia.
Nimbus not to share feed for Indo-Pak Test matches with DD
From http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1125537
NEW DELHI: The upcoming Indo-Pak cricket series could become an yet another flare-up point up between sports channel Nimbus and public broadcaster Prasar Bharati with the former saying it will share feeds with the latter only for the One-Day matches and not the Tests.
"We have shared feeds for the ongoing India-Australia One-Day matches and will do the same for the Indo-Pak series but we will not be sharing the same for Test matches," Nimbus Managing Director Harish Thawani said.
He said the feed for the Test matches are never shared with Doordarshan.
Nimbus had won a four-year deal to telecast all the cricket matches to played till 2010 in the country.
"Even in recent series against England and before that against Bangladesh, the Tests were not shown on Doordarshan," Thawani said.
When contacted, Prasar Bharati official declined to comment but sources said the public broadcaster has invited Nimbus for discussion over the issue next week.
Industry observers, however, point out that with Wednesday's notification by the government making it mandatory to share feeds with DD of 'such Test matches as are considered to be of high public interest by the central Government' another showdown could be in the offing.
Soon, classes on TV as Amity plans 24x7 education channel
From http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Soon-classes-on-TV-as-Amity-plans-24x7-education-channel/224618/
New Delhi, October 04 Infotainment is passé; edutainment is in. Taking it a step further is an upcoming 24-hour channel, Youth TV, which will allow students to blog, chat, and even make their videos, besides regular dose of tutoring.
The channel is an initiative of the privately owned Amity University, Noida, and is the first foray by a university in the entertainment media segment.
Slated for launch in the next six to eight months with an investment of Rs 100 crore over the next three to five years, Youth TV, its promoters say, will not only air education programmes but also help students select the right courses. Alongside, a dedicated portal would serve as a platform for students to post videos for sharing, blog on issues close to their hearts, and even chat.
“Youths today are very media-savvy (so) this would be the convergence of television, Internet and mobile technology,” channel CEO Aseem Chauhan said. “While television has constraints of being one way, the combination of different forms of media will make education much more interactive.”
The channel will compete with Gyan Darshan and Vyas, both part of the Doordarshan network. While both are 24-hour education networks, they continue to suffer from low viewership — Vyas is broadcast for undergraduate students; Gyan Darshan has been allotted fixed slots on DD and airs programmes for school and college students.
Youth TV comes seven years after Zee TV's education network Zed TV was shut down. But what makes Chauhan optimistic about the sustainability of the initiative is that the Youth TV will involve the 45,000-strong community of university students as educators in the project. “We will initially begin with a core group of professionals who can guide the students,” Chauhan said. “But the large part of our team would constitute of students.”
“Since we are in education sector, we know the pulse of the youth. Our content will find resonance in the young generation.”
The university’s Noida campus already has part of the infrastructure, set up for its various courses in journalism, mass communication and cinematography.
Chauhan said while advertisements would be one of the major means of revenue generation, online courses and distance-learning programmes would also sustain the channel.
4/10/07
OPTUS D2 new launch time date!
SYDNEY: Between 07:28am and 08:13am on October 6, 2007.
NZ : Between 10.28am and 11:13am on October 6, 2007. (Remember NZ is on daylight savings time already)
GMT: Between 09:28pm and 10:13pm on October 5, 2007.
PARIS: Between 11:28pm and 00:13am on October 5-6, 2007.
WASHINGTON: Between 05:28pm and 06:13pm on October 5, 2007.
KOUROU: Between 06:28pm and 07:13pm on October 5, 2007.
Follow the launch live on the internet:
http://www.videocorner.tv/index.php?langue=en
Live webcasting start 15 minutes before lift-off.
Video streaming will be available in RealMedia and WindowsMedia formats.
Bathhurst 1000 Feeds
Practice season.
SVN PATH 3 D1 12678 H 7200 VPID 33 APID 34 & 35
SVN PATH 3 D1 12681 H 7200 VPID 33 APID 34 & 35
(Craig's comment, not sure about those 2? might be receiver picking up the same feed twice)
From my Email & ICQ
From Jsat.tv (Thailand)
Palapa C2 Ku active again
The Ku band scope scanning is still going on here, looking for
Bathurst feeds here in Asia, and much to our surprise we see Palapa C2
Ku band is active again.
So those of you in northern Australia and here in South East Asia you
should see seven channels load on,
Satellite: Palapa C2
FREQ: 10991
POL: H
SR: 28120
Mux name: 120e Satalindo (hmm someone is a few degrees off in the name)
The 7 channel name are NOT what is really playing on each channel,
seems they are still working on this.
From the Dish
Optus D1 160E 12456 H "Stratos" officially has started , FTA.
Chinasat 6B 115.5E 3980 V "CCTV 4 and CCTV 9" have left .
Palapa C2 113E 3727 H "TBN Asia-South Pacific" has left .
NSS 6 95E 11635 H "Dhamma Media Channel" has started on , Fta.
ST 1 88E 3632 V "Buddha Compassion TV Station has replaced Da-Ai TV" on , Fta
ChinaStar 1 87.5E "Flash TV, China Food Network and Win TV" have left 3833 H, moved to Chinasat 6B.
ChinaStar 1 87.5E "XinJiang TV 8" has left 3846 H, moved to Sinosat 3.
Insat 2E 83E 3774 V "Raj Digital Plus, Raj TV and Vissa" are Fta.
Intelsat 10 68.5E 3768 H "Zee Sports USA" is now encrypted.
Intelsat 10 68.5E 4166 H "Royal TV" has started on , Fta, SR 3255, FEC 2/3.
NEWS
Ariane Mission Update October 3, 2007
From http://www.arianespace.com/site/news/mission_up_425.html
Ariane 5's liftoff with Intelsat 11 and Optus D2 is confirmed for October 5
Arianespace's fourth mission of 2007 is set for Friday, October 5, with the green light given today after the launch readiness review at Europe's Spaceport.
This review, which is held before every Ariane flight, verifies the readiness of the Ariane 5 vehicle, its two payloads, the launch infrastructure at the Spaceport in French Guiana, and the downrange network of tracking stations.
The upcoming mission will orbit two medium-sized satellites built by the same U.S. manufacturer, Virginia-based Orbital Sciences Corporation, for Intelsat and Optus.
The Intelsat 11 spacecraft is riding in Ariane 5's upper payload position, and is to be released first in the mission sequence. To be operated by Washington, D.C.-headquartered Intelsat, the satellite will host Latin America's premiere video programmers and the region's largest DTH (direct-to-home) platform. Intelsat 11 is based on the Orbital Sciences STAR 2 spacecraft bus, and carries a hybrid payload composed of 16 C-band and 18 Ku-band transponders. The satellite weighs approximately 2,500 kg. at launch.
Optus D2 also uses an Orbital Sciences STAR 2 bus, and is to be operated by Australian-based Optus to enable the development of new business opportunities for the direct-to-home market, new data services and services bundling. Positioned at an orbital slot of 152 deg. East, the 2,350-kg. Optus D2 will have an operational life of 15-plus years.
Australia Joins US In Defence Satellite Capability
From Press Release: Australian Defence Force
The Hon. Dr Brendan Nelson,
Minister for Defence
Australia To Join With United States In Defence Global Satellite Communications Capability
I am pleased to announce that the Australian Government will enter into a $927 million partnership with the United States to access a world-leading communications capability provided by the new Wideband Global Satellite Communications (WGS) constellation.
Under our partnership arrangement, Australia will fund one satellite plus associated ground infrastructure to extend the constellation to six satellites and the US will fund the remaining five.
This new partnership will further strengthen the Australia-US alliance. It will enhance the close ties and high level of cooperation that already exists between Australian and US defence force personnel.
Access to the WGS constellation will build on the ADF’s ability to conduct multiple and simultaneous military operations independently or as part of a coalition force.
Secure and reliable satellite communications will be available to deployed forces, operational command and Australian headquarters.
WGS also will allow the ADF to realise the full potential of Network Centric Warfare within the next decade. WGS will enable the next generation of military capabilities, such as Air Warfare Destroyers, Amphibious Ships, Multi-mission Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Land platforms to achieve their full potency.
The WGS constellation of six satellites will provide a world-class capability in terms of global coverage, operational flexibility and bandwidth. It will support multiple simultaneous high-tempo operations and provide a high level of redundancy.
The first WGS satellite is being prepared for launch and will be operational by early 2008. The complete constellation of six satellites will be fully functional by 2013 and will comfortably handle the increase in ADF communications requirements over this time and out to at least 2024.
Achieving full operational WGS capability by 2013 also will coincide with the predicted capability drawdown of the SingTel/Optus C1 satellite. The SingTel/Optus C1 satellite will be an important element of Defence’s satellite capability until its end of life and will be maintained in parallel with WGS.
I expect to finalise the arrangement through the signing of a government-to-government Memorandum of Understanding shortly after the 30 day US Congressional Notification Period.
ENDS
Advert ban may put TV3 in court
From http://www.stuff.co.nz/4224771a10.html
TV3 could be prosecuted by the Government over its plans to broadcast advertisements around its Rugby World Cup coverage on Sunday mornings.
TV3 revealed a deal with Fiji TV yesterday to broadcast games for the next three Sundays to 18 Pacific countries and territories as it tries to sidestep a Government-imposed Sunday-morning television advertising ban.
TV3's chief operating officer, Rick Friesen, said that because these countries, which included Fiji, Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Nauru and Niue, had a combined population exceeding New Zealand's, they potentially provided a bigger audience. This made them, rather than New Zealand, the primary audience for the broadcasts from France.
Sunday-morning advertising is banned unless the signal originates outside New Zealand, is simultaneously transmitted to New Zealand and non-New Zealand audiences and primarily targets audiences outside New Zealand.
Spokeswoman Shona Geary said the Culture and Heritage Ministry would watch TV3's coverage, including the All Blacks' quarterfinal against France. After the matches it would seek the crown solicitor's advice to determine if TV3 had broken the law and whether or not it should be prosecuted.
The ministry invited TV3 to seek a declaratory court judgment several weeks ago but the offer was declined. Based on information supplied to date by TV3, the network's plans "may well" breach the law, Ms Geary said. "TV3 is aware of this view."
TV3 outbid a combined offer from Sky and TVNZ to secure exclusive World Cup rights. TV3 will not disclose its bid, but it is understood it paid the International Rugby Board $12 million.
Justin Graham, senior solicitor at Chapman Tripp, said TV3 might have decided that even if it were successfully prosecuted, it might not face the maximum $100,000 fine and its advertising revenue would more than cover costs.
Advertising executives say it is not unreasonable to expect a 50 per cent premium on normal ad rates for an event like the World Cup.
TV3 makes 98 per cent of its revenue from advertising.
Mr Friesen said TV3 had unsuccessfully sought an exemption from the Sunday morning ban. He noted both Sky and TVNZ had received exemptions in the past, notably TVNZ for the 1984 Olympic Games. New Zealand was the only country in the world with a Sunday morning ban.
Mr Friesen acknowledged TV3 and its advertisers were primarily focused on the New Zealand market. However, he said there was a huge amount of World Cup interest in the Pacific.
"The requirement is for the signal to be targeted primarily at audiences. Not necessarily the commercials or the programming," Mr Friesen said.
China's Lunar Satellite Launch Open To Tourists
From http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/China_Lunar_Satellite_Launch_Open_To_Tourists_999.html
The lunar probe, previously scheduled to blast into space on Tuesday to coincide with this year's traditional Mid-Autumn Festival, is expected to be launched late October.
Tourists are being invited to pay 800 yuan (105 U.S. dollars) to witness the launch of China's first lunar satellite in Xichang, southwest Sichuan province. A travel agency in Xichang, where one of China's major satellite launch sites is located, has designed special travel packages for tourists wishing to view the historic launch.
"Tourists will have to pay 800 yuan to witness the launch from two observation platforms 2.5 km from the site," Wang Cheng'an, a manager at Xichang Jinying Travel Agency, told Shanghai Morning Post.
Wang said the two new observation platforms, which will be completed ahead of the launch on two opposite hillsides near the site, are capable of holding 2,000 and 500 people respectively.
More than 300 people have already applied for the 2,500 places but the successful applicants will have to pass security checks, according to the agency.
The lunar probe, previously scheduled to blast into space on Tuesday to coincide with this year's traditional Mid-Autumn Festival, is expected to be launched late October.
The satellite project was approved by the Chinese central authorities in 2004 as part of the three-stage "Chang'e Program," named after the legendary Chinese goddess who flew to the moon, which aims to place an unmanned vehicle on the moon by 2010.
Built in 1970, 28 satellites have been sent into space from Xichang, the second satellite launch center in China. Jiuquan in northwestern Gansu province hosted China's first rocket launch in 1958 and another facility is in Taiyuan, northern Shanxi province.
China is to build a fourth rocket launch pad on the southern tropical resort island of Hainan.
The base, in Wenchang, 60 km (40 miles) south of the provincial capital of Haikou, is expected to include a theme park. A spectators' platform will also be built on the sea, enabling 3,000 viewers to watch the rocket launches.
(Craig's comment, this might be like buying a ticket to your own funeral..)
How Sputnik changed the world
From http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/10/04/2050629.htm?section=world
When Sputnik was lifted into space on October 4, 1957, it was humankind's first step into the final frontier.
The small aluminium sphere emitted a shrill signal and orbited the Earth for three months.
It was trumpeted by then Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev as a conquest that made the capitalist world look at the Soviet Union in a different way.
He was right.
Shortly after, his American counterpart, John F Kennedy, upped the ante.
"I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth," Mr Kennedy said.
Sputnik ignited panic in the West.
Washington-based space historian Roger Launius says it was the starter gun for the space race.
"People in the United States and other parts of the world were surprised, some people would even say shocked - I wouldn't go quite that far - but they were definitely surprised," he said.
"What surprised them was a sense that, a belief that existed that the Soviets were somehow not quite capable of doing this.
"And so, in that sense their demonstration of this meant that they were on a par with the US."
In the Soviet Union, the engineers behind Sputnik were lauded as heroes - and still are today.
Ninety-five-year-old Boris Chertok has watched the Sputnik launch drive 50 years of developments in space technology.
"Those who did all this began to realise that our civilisation was split into two parts of its history - 'before' and 'after'," he said.
New ambitions
Fifty years after Sputnik, Russian space scientists are quietly optimistic.
Next year the state budget for space research will reach nearly $2 billion - that is 10 times what it was a decade ago.
Soviet space ambitions were largely abandoned when the Soviet Union collapsed, and it is only in the past few years of high oil prices that Russia has been able to even afford to think about a revival.
It now has plans to send a probe to Mars in 2009, and then people by 2025.
But Russian experts like Valery Korzun from Moscow's Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre believe such large-scale projects will only succeed with international cooperation.
"No country will be able to go to Mars on its own," he said.
"If there will be projects relating to Mars, it should be the business of all humanity."
Whatever the future holds for Russians, their country's past achievement is still a source of great pride.
Russia celebrates Sputnik's 50th anniversary
From http://en.rian.ru/world/20071004/82333715.html
MOSCOW, October 4 (RIA Novosti) - Russia marks on Thursday the 50th anniversary of the launch of the world's first-ever satellite, an event which changed the world forever.
Fifty years ago, on October 4, 1957, the world entered the space age when the U.S.S.R. won the race to put the first satellite into orbit. The satellite - Sputnik 1 -was launched aboard a Soviet R-7 rocket from what is now the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan.
The satellite circled the globe for 3 months, traveling around 60 million km (37 million miles), and sending back signals to Earth for 22 days until its transmitter's batteries gave up. The satellite burned up upon reentering the atmosphere on January 4, 1958.
The launch, which came on the 102nd anniversary of the Wright brothers' first powered, controlled flight, sent shockwaves around the world. The resulting investment in space programs by the U.S and the U.S.S.R. led to the space race and, subsequently, Yuri Gagarin's first manned space flight in 1961, followed by Neil Armstrong's journey into immortality eight years later.
Orbit Satellite signs major hotel brands in Jordan
From http://www.etravelblackboardasia.com/article.asp?id=49001&nav=1
The Holiday Inn and Intercontinental hotels (Al Aqaba) have both recently signed with Orbit Satellite, taking the company’s audience numbers to greater heights. Orbit’s quality programming offers channels such as; Super Comedy, Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, America Plus and Super Movies. The Farah Hospital in Jordan has also signed contracts alongside both hotel brands.
'We are always thrilled when new clients join Orbit, but with this contract, our viewer base will expand significantly. People visiting Jordan from all over the world will gain exposure to Orbit Satellite and Ratio Network,' said Wae'l A. Kanaa'n, Orbit Country Manager.
'It is fantastic that this contract was implemented just in time for Ramadan. Now the rush of guests visiting the hotels in Jordan for Ramadan will be able to enjoy the exclusive, quality Orbit programming!' continued Kanaa'n.
DTH likely to be a costly affair for new entrants
From http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=300244
Superior technology & expensive set-top boxes to increase the cost.
The cost of acquiring direct-to-home (DTH) subscribers could be 70-80 per cent higher for new players like Sun Direct, Bharti and Reliance Bluemagic than the existing players like Dish TV and Tata Sky. Industry experts attribute this to the superior technology and expensive set-top boxes they plan to use.
At the moment, the Zee group’s Dish TV gives a subsidy of about 25 per cent on the total package to each subscriber, while Tata Sky provides a subsidy of 34 per cent. Dish TV has 2.3 million subscribers, while Tata Sky has acquired over one million subscribers within one year of its launch in August last year.
Experts say this is because Dish TV and Tata Sky use the MPEG-2 technology which have set-top boxes 30 per cent cheaper than those which will be used by Sun Direct, Bharti and Reliance Bluemagic.
All the three players entering the DTH business operate their DTH service through the MPEG-4 technology, the set top boxes of which come at $54-57 (Rs 2,160-2,280) a piece. This is significantly costlier than the set top boxes offered by the existing companies like Dish TV ($34) and Tata Sky ($40).
According to a senior executive of Sun Direct, the main reason for using the MPEG-4 technology is the enhanced picture and sound quality for the existing channels: “Using MPEG-4 will help us acquire more subscribers due to the superior viewing experience for consumers, even though it may be costlier than the existing DTH technologies.”
The main difference between the two technologies is the higher number of channels carried per transponder under MPEG-4 in comparison to MPEG-2.
Currently, the cost of a Dish TV connection comes to Rs 3,500 (with a subsidy of Rs 600-900), while it is Rs 4,000 for Tata Sky customers (with Rs 1,200-1,400 subsidy). The main element of subsidy comes on the hardware, including the set-top box, the antennae, wires etc.
Sun Direct is offering its boxes for free, thereby straight away bearing a subsidy burden of over Rs 2,200 per subscriber which is 120 per cent more than Tata Sky, an expert said.
Sun Direct was launched on September 21 at a low price of Rs 75 per month per subscriber. The offer promises a free set-top box and dish antenna with two months’ free subscription, exclusive of installation charges and taxes of about Rs 1,100.
The service was launched all over Tamil Nadu with 75 free-to-air TV channels and 15 radio channels.
The DTH service from Bharti and Reliance are expected to be launched by the year-end.
3/10/07
Problems with the Euro mux Asiasat2? they are aware of the complaints and will be adjusting the uplink power today. Send me a report if it improves!
Zee Cinema Classic IS/WAS FTA on Asiasat3S
76.5E 3680 H sr 27500 Fec 3/4
BBC LIFESTYLE
BBC KNOWLEDGE
CBeeBies
all started
From my Email & ICQ
From Jim Blackman
Stratos TV
Hi there – check Sky Ch 89
Cheers
Jim Blackman
Stratos TV
From Jsat.tv (Thailand)
We have been playing around with GE 23 (172.0e) in the 10-12ghz range
with our scopes and much our delight we finally see signals on the Ku
band.
This is the first time we have seen them since they were testing when
they launched the bird, the C Band signals here are perfect but I have
never seen any non-test signals before today on the Ku band.
I can see a pile of carriers on 11423 - 11950 vertical. So my question
is; do any of you with scopes see the same thing in OZ?
Cheers
Jon
From the Dish
No Lyngsat
NEWS
First regional TV station to join Freeview
From Press Release
First regional TV station to join Freeview
Broadcasting Minister Steve Maharey today launched Triangle Stratos, the first regional television channel to become a national digital free-to-air channel on Freeview.
“This marks the second new digital TV channel to be officially launched on Freeview, and it’s also the second to start this week after TVNZ 6 was launched last Sunday.
“More than 41,000 households will be able to watch Stratos, after buying set-top boxes to watch free to air digital TV on Freeview. Freeview is a group of free-to-air broadcasters leading the move to digital, including Television New Zealand, CanWest, Maori TV, Radio New Zealand, and now Stratos.
“Stratos will have a range of programming, ranging from community and regional programmes from New Zealand, to coverage from international news sources, including Al Jazeera and Deutsche Welle.
"The Labour-led government has committed $25 million over the next five years to support the development of free-to-air digital television by Freeview. Broadcasters will also have access to free digital frequencies.
"The digital shift gives public and free-to-air broadcasting a secure future, making sure New Zealanders will always see their own stories and other local content on our screens. Building national identity through digital television is one of this government’s key priorities.”
ends
TV3 Cup quarter-final ads 'may breach Act'
From http://www.nzherald.co.nz/event/story.cfm?c_id=522&objectid=10467579&pnum=0
TV3's plans to show advertisements during Sunday's Rugby World Cup quarter final could still be in breach of the Broadcasting Act, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage has said.
TV3 earlier announced that a loophole in the law would allow it to show commercials during the game between the All Blacks and France on Sunday.
The network had previously confirmed it would play commercials at this time, but had not revealed how it would achieve this within the restrictions in the Act, which prohibit ads before midday on Sundays.
Ministry for Culture and Heritage spokesperson Shona Geary said although TV3 thought it was working within the Broadcasting Act, the Ministry believed the channel could still be in breach.
But she confirmed that any decision to prosecute TV3 for running advertisements on Sunday morning would only be made after the fact and after legal advice had been sought.
"Several weeks ago the Ministry invited the network to seek a declaratory judgement by the courts on the issue but the offer was declined.
"The Ministry has had discussions with TV3 and made its views clear that the Ministry has an obligation to uphold the law," Ms Geary said.
Ms Geary said no comment would be made on whether a prosecution was likely until the Ministry had spoken to Crown Solicitor after any showing of the advertisements.
This morning TV3 said that in an arrangement with Fiji TV it would be transmitting its entire signal for the event to 18 countries and territories in the Pacific.
The Broadcasting Act allows for Sunday morning advertising, TV3 said, if the signal for the programme comes from outside New Zealand, is transmitted to domestic and overseas audiences at the same time, and is targeted primarily at audiences outside NZ.
"Based on these criteria, we are well within the legal requirements in regard to Sunday morning advertising," said Rick Friesen, Chief Operating Officer of TVWorks, which owns TV3.
"The signal will originate from France, and will simultaneously transmit to New Zealand and the Pacific. Our signal outside of New Zealand will reach a combined population of more than nine million people, which is more than double New Zealand's population, making the Pacific audience the primary audience for the signal.
"One country alone in the Pacific group, Papua New Guinea, has a substantially larger population than New Zealand, with 6.2 million people," said Mr Friesen.
Papua New Guinea Rugby Football Union president Graham Osborne said the rugby would be well watched in the country.
Papua New Guinea has a world ranking of 52 and lost to Portugal earlier this year 26 - 19.
Mr Osborne said the game had been on the rise since Fiji TV bought a television station in the country and started broadcasting live games.
He said the coverage would be available on free-to-air television and some local night clubs had promoted the screenings.
Mr Osborne said the country had just had its domestic Super 4 competition where a crowd of between 8 and 9000 turned up to see the game.
The other countries or territories the TV signal reaches are: Tahiti, Cook Islands, Tonga, American Samoa, Samoa, Tokelau, Tuvalu, Niue, Kiribati, Nauru, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Guam, The Marshall Islands, Northern Marianas.
Fiji TV head of corporate affairs Tamarisi Digitaki said Fiji TV reached 85 per cent of the population with their terrestrial platform and the remainder 15 per cent through satellite.
Eighty per cent of the population had access to a television, Ms Digitaki said.
"In some cases there might be one television set in the village but everyone comes around to watch," she said.
Fiji TV had agents in other countries who passed on the rugby coverage but Ms Digitaki said she could not confirm if the broadcast would be free to air in all the countries.
Mr Friesen assured viewers the game itself would not be interrupted. Adverts will screen before and after the game and during half-time as usual.
He added: "As a commercial network, we need to recover the substantial investment we have made to bring the Rugby World Cup free-to-air to our viewers, and we have made careful arrangements to do this within the requirements of the Broadcasting Act," said Mr Friesen.
Paul Norris from the Christchurch School of Broadcasting said TV3 seemed to have done their homework.
"This is a one off though. I don't see it leading to a boom in advertising on Sunday morning," Mr Norris said.
Mr Norris said TV3 had found a way through the ban on advertisements but that it remained to be seen if they would get away with it.
(Craig's comment, Tv3 news showed they will use a link from Europe to Sydney, the signal is then uplinked from there for Fiji TV. It might pay to check the "Fiji1" channel tag on IS2????)
Chinese programming ondemand
From http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/536641/1388415
TVNZ has signed an agreement with World TV to screen Chinese language programmes on TVNZ ondemand .
The agreement will see TVNZ ondemand screen up to four hours a day of programmes in the Mandarin dialect from CTV 8, a free-to-air channel which currently broadcasts in the greater Auckland region.
TVNZ Chief Executive Rick Ellis says it is a great initiative as it provides programmes online for New Zealand's increasingly diverse population.
The programmes are streamed and are free of charge. They begin on Monday October 8.
"The Asian population is growing, and it's critical that New Zealand has a public broadcaster that gives access to a diversity of programmes to reflect the rapidly changing nature of New Zealand," says Ellis.
World TV's Samson Yau says the Chinese broadcaster is very happy to offer CTV8 programming to a wider audience.
"CTV8 understands and appreciates the concept of people viewing their programmes 'anywhere and at anytime', and we believe this initiative will be very much welcomed by the Chinese community," he says.
The programmes will be streamed and are free of charge. They begin on Monday October 8.
Australia to join US military network
From http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22523884-15306,00.html
AUSTRALIA is to join the United States in a partnership to share the latest generation military communications satellites.
Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said Australia would fund one satellite plus associated ground infrastructure at a cost of $927 million, while the US would fund the remaining five.
Dr Nelson said that would give the Australian Defence Force access to the world-leading communications capability provided by the new Wideband Global Satellite Communications (WGS) constellation.
"Access to the WGS constellation will build on the ADF's ability to conduct multiple and simultaneous military operations independently, or as part of a coalition force," he said in a statement.
"Secure and reliable satellite communications will be available to deployed forces, operational command and Australian headquarters."
"The WGS constellation of six satellites will provide a world-class capability in terms of global coverage, operational flexibility and bandwidth. It will support multiple simultaneous high-tempo operations and provide a high level of redundancy."
Dr Nelson said WGS also would allow the ADF to realise the full potential of Network Centric Warfare within the next decade.
It would enable the next generation of Australian military capabilities, such as air warfare destroyers, amphibious ships, multi-mission unmanned aerial vehicles and land platforms to achieve their full potential, he said.
Dr Nelson said the first WGS satellite was now being prepared for launch, and would be operational by early 2008.
The complete constellation of six satellites will be fully functional by 2013, and will comfortably handle the increase in ADF communications requirements over this time and out to at least 2024.
Each WGS satellite will provide more communications capacity than the entire US satellite communication system constellation currently in orbit, according to the WGS prime contractor, defence company Boeing.
Dr Nelson said achieving full operational WGS capability by 2013 would coincide with the predicted capability drawdown of the ADF's SingTel/Optus C1 satellite.
He said the SingTel/Optus C1 satellite would continue to be an important element of ADF communications capability until its end of life, and it would be maintained in parallel with WGS.
"I expect to finalise the arrangement through the signing of a government-to-government Memorandum of Understanding shortly after the 30 day US Congressional Notification Period," he said.
"This new partnership will further strengthen the Australia-US alliance. It will enhance the close ties and high level of cooperation that already exists between Australian and US defence force personnel."
Australia to share defence satellite
From http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/australia-to-share-defence-satellite/2007/10/02/1191091115313.html
THE Australian Defence Force will buy into a high-tech US satellite system to enhance the communications capability of the military and its ability to deploy with US forces.
In opting to participate in the US Air Force wideband global satcom (WGS) program, the Minister for Defence, Brendan Nelson, has eschewed an alternative - and more expensive - proposal to develop a locally produced satellite dedicated to the ADF.
The decision will be announced this morning by Dr Nelson aboard HMAS Melbourne and is expected to cost less than the $1 billion price of an Australian-built satellite.
As warfare becomes more high-tech, Australian forces are relying more and more on satellite-based communications to give deployed forces a real-time picture of the "battle space". But a lack of bandwidth is proving a problem, particularly for troops deployed in the Middle East alongside the US.
"It makes sense to leverage off allied capabilities," said Andrew Davies, a defence expert with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. "It also means we will have greater scope to participate in future coalition operations with the US."
The US defence manufacturer Boeing is building five satellites for the WGS network and Australia's involvement is expected to see that number expanded to six, with the new satellite to be positioned over Australia and have a reach that extends comfortably to the Middle East.
While Australia is expected to have full access to the capability of the satellite network, defence expert Tom Muir said the US air force would retain ultimate operational control, potentially undermining the independence of the ADF.
Dr Nelson's office did not return calls yesterday.
As well as giving Australian forces more bandwidth for their communications, the new satellite will wean the ADF off the Optus C1 satellite, a platform that has generated controversy since the Singapore Government-owned Singtel communications company bought into Optus.
Singapore may be a close regional ally but there have been security concerns about its part-ownership of a vital defence asset.
The first of the WGS satellites is expected to be launched into orbit shortly and the US Air Force is likely to be extremely grateful that Australia has come on board.
It was facing congressional resistance to funding a sixth WGS satellite at an additional cost of about $US300 million ($340 million). Australia's participation should solve that headache.
Australia will also need to persuade Congress and the Pentagon bureaucracy that it should get access to the WGS system under the US rules for foreign military sales.
Optus seen as rival to Seven to take over Austar
From http://www.smh.com.au/news/xchange/optus-seen-as-rival-to-seven-to-take-over-austar/2007/10/02/1191091114459.html
SPECULATION that Optus may compete with the Seven Network to get its hands on Austar's regional wireless broadband spectrum is intensifying.
Citigroup has upgraded Austar to "hold" because it believes the stock will "continue to price in some optimism around potential mergers and acquisitions". Seven has already bid $167 million for Unwired, which owns the wireless WiMAX spectrum in the cities.
In a 21-page report, Citigroup analysts laid out three options for Austar: one of which could involve it selling its WiMAX spectrum to Seven or to Opel. The Opel joint venture between Optus and Elders has won almost $1 billion in government funding for a regional broadband network.
The sale of Austar's spectrum could raise $60 million.
But Citigroup reckons Austar will probably decide against selling the spectrum to avoid creating competition for its own dial-up internet business.
The second option would be to lease the spectrum to Opel, but Opel could be unwilling to invest in a network it wouldn't fully own.
The likeliest option was a joint-venture with Opel, where Austar would pay a third of the consortium's costs to set up regional broadband in return for getting a 33 per cent share of the earnings, the broker says.
Then again, the decision may not be in Austar's hands: Seven executive chairman Kerry Stokes, with $2.6 billion cash in hand, may try to buy the entire company outright to build a national wireless broadband network and get back into pay television.
He could either go alone, or with his private equity partner, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, to make a $2-a-share offer. "It's now or never" for Seven, Citigroup says. "In our view, if Seven does not acquire Austar, Foxtel will."
Irish eyes smile on Foxtel as it wins access to European sports channel
From http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22521795-7582,00.html
FOXTEL has secured its first deal for a new channel under a special access undertaking for its pay-TV platform, which was agreed to with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission earlier this year.
Foxtel has signed a deal with Irish-based international sports broadcaster Setanta to offer the channel in Australia.
It comes ahead of a move by Kerry Stokes' Seven Network to continue its six-year battle with Foxtel in the Federal Court later this month over the pay-TV operator's special-access undertaking. Seven is appealing to the court to overturn the Foxtel special-access undertaking, which sets out the terms under which third parties can access the pay-TV network.
The Foxtel special-access undertaking was accepted by the ACCC in March, but Seven is set to argue in the Federal Court that the terms offered by the pay-TV operator do not offer enough protections for access-seekers.
Seven had appealed an earlier version of the pay-TV operator's access undertaking to the Australian Competition Tribunal, forcing Foxtel - 25 per cent owned by News Limited, publisher of The Australian - to amend it.
But the Setanta deal has seen agreement reached under Foxtel's latest access regime, with the sports channel to be available on the pay-TV platform from next week. It will see events, including rugby union's Six Nations tournament, South American soccer and major European boxing events beamed live into Australian homes for the first time. Setanta has previously only been available to public venues such as pubs and clubs.
Foxtel chief executive Kim Williams has been quick to talk up the benefits: "The access agreement with Setanta shows that our special access undertaking works," he said, claiming the agreement showed that the company provided "open access on terms that are fair to both Foxtel and access seekers".
Under the terms of the access agreement, subscribers to the Foxtel platform who wish to obtain Setanta call the sports channel direct, allowing them to buy it as an "a la carte" channel.
The exact terms of what Setanta has paid to appear on the Foxtel platform are "commercial in-confidence", Foxtel's head of corporate affairs Rebecca Melkman said last night.
Under the terms of a separate agreement between Austar and Setanta, the sports channel also will be shown on the regional pay-TV operator's platform from a month later, on November 9.
The Austar agreement deems that the channel can be purchased by subscribers direct from the regional pay-TV operator, but it must be purchased as an add-on to the platform's "sports tier".
In court documents lodged ahead of this month's case, Seven has said it is aggrieved by the latest Foxtel access agreement, because it means Foxtel is not obliged to supply the set-top unit service in locations where it does not have subscribers.
Seven has also claimed that the ACCC's approval of the special access undertaking was an improper use of the competition regulator's powers.
Vietnam's first satellite scheduled for launch in March 2008
From http://science.monstersandcritics.com/news/article_1361759.php/Vietnams_first_satellite_scheduled_for_launch_in_March_2008
Hanoi - Vietnam plans to launch its first orbit satellite March 29, 2008, reducing the country's reliance on leased foreign satellites for its communication traffic, an official said Tuesday.
The satellite, dubbed Vinasat, is being built by US's Lockheed Martin and is scheduled to be launched from France, using an Arianspace rocket, according to Hoang Minh Thong, head of the Vinasat project management board under the Vietnam Post and Telecoms Group (VNPT).
'If launched as scheduled, the satellite will be transferred to VNPT on April 27, 2008 for commercial operations,' Thong said.
The 250-million-dollar satellite, including construction and launching cost, will have 20 transmitters and will stay in orbit for between 15 and 20 years, according to Thong.
Vinasat will provide data transmission, internet, television and radio coverage to the whole of Vietnam and other parts of South-East Asia and Eastern Australia.
Vietnam now rents satellite transmission services from Thailand, Indonesia and Russia to transmit state television and radio, but will save some 10 million dollars a year once Vinasat is in orbit.
A Friendly Exchange of Capacity By ABS and VTI
From http://www.satnews.com/cgi-bin/display_story.cgi?number=1604351589
Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) and Vietnam Telecom International (VTI) have announced a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) has been signed by the firms to exchange capacity on the two satellites ABS-1 and VINASAT-1. The MOU serves a start for a joint cooperation for telecommunications and satellite services between the two companies.
The ABS-1 satellite is located in the Indian Ocean Region at 75°E and connects 4 continents covering 4/5th of the world’s population. ABS offers a wide range of services including Direct to Home, Cable TV distribution, Internet Backbone, Cellular Backhaul, Maritime and VSAT services—Hong Kong, China
E! Entertainment Joins AsiaSat 2 MCPC Platform
From Press Release
Hong Kong, 2nd October, 2007….Asia's leading satellite operator, Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company Limited (AsiaSat) and US entertainment network E! Entertainment Television Inc. today announced the signing of a contract to distribute the E! International Network to Asian cable and satellite networks, terrestrial stations and pay TV platforms through AsiaSat 2’s wide C-band coverage beam and full transponder C-band MCPC platform operated by AsiaSat’s Tai Po Earth Station in Hong Kong.
The E! International Network is a 24-hour English language global entertainment channel offering programming dedicated to celebrities and the world of entertainment. Broadcast officially commenced on AsiaSat 2 from the 1st of July.
Under the agreement, AsiaSat provides E! Entertainment with a total transmission solution including C-band capacity, the MCPC platform and uplink services from AsiaSat’s Tai Po Earth Station. The channel’s signal is directly transported by optical fibre to AsiaSat for distribution to Asia and Australasia via AsiaSat 2’s full transponder MCPC platform.
“We selected AsiaSat 2 because its excellent penetration supports our strategy to further expand our distribution growth and audience access in Asia. In addition, the AsiaSat 2 MCPC platform gives us the flexibility for future expansion when we are looking at launching additional channels to Asia in the near future,” said Kevin MacLellan, President, Comcast International Media Group.
“We are very pleased that AsiaSat 2 was selected by E! Entertainment as its key satellite platform in the Asia Pacific region. With this world famous entertainment channel on board, Asian viewers are getting a fantastic array of content delivered by AsiaSat 2. We look forward to further supporting the transmission needs of Comcast in Asia,” said Peter Jackson, Chief Executive Officer of AsiaSat.
About Comcast Entertainment Group
Based in Los Angeles, recently formed Comcast Entertainment Group operates E! Entertainment Television, the 24-hour network with programming dedicated to the world of entertainment, and E! Online; The Style Network, the destination for women 18-49 with a passion for the best in relatable and inspiring lifestyle programming; and G4 offering the last word on gaming, technology, animation, interactivity, and “Internet culture” for the male 18-34 demo. E! is currently available to nearly 91 million cable and direct broadcast satellite subscribers in the United States. In 2006, E! launched the E! Everywhere initiative underscoring the company’s dedication to making E! content available on all new media platforms any time and anywhere – from online to broadband at the Vine @E!Online to wireless to satellite radio to VOD. The Style Network currently counts 57 million cable and satellite subscribers and G4, the #1 podcasted cable network in America, is available in more than 53 million cable and satellite homes nationwide.
About AsiaSat 2
AsiaSat 2 operates at an orbital location of 100.5 degrees East. The satellite is a Lockheed Martin Series 7000 model and carries twenty 36 MHz and four 72 MHz C-band, as well as nine 54 MHz Ku-band linearised transponders. Its C-band footprint covers 53 countries spanning from Russia to New Zealand and from Japan to the Middle East and parts of Africa. It also has a high-power Ku beam serving the Greater China region, Korea and Japan. AsiaSat 2 currently serves many regional and international broadcasters, wholesale news agencies, video service providers, teleport service providers for video and news distribution and contribution services, as well as governments and corporations for VSAT network services.
About AsiaSat
AsiaSat, the leading regional satellite operator in Asia, serves over two-thirds of the world's population with its three satellites, AsiaSat 2 at 100.5ºE, AsiaSat 3S at 105.5ºE and AsiaSat 4 at 122.2ºE. The AsiaSat satellite system provides services to both the broadcast and telecommunications industries. Over 220 television channels are now delivered by the Company's satellites, reaching over 96 million households, with more than 360 million viewers across the Asia Pacific region. Many telecommunications customers use AsiaSat for services such as public telephone networks, private VSAT networks and high speed Internet and multimedia services. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Asia Satellite Telecommunications Holdings Limited, listed on both the Hong Kong (SEHK: 1135HK) and New York (NYSE: SAT) stock exchanges. In April and June of this year, AsiaSat was selected the ‘Best Asian Satellite Carrier’ and the 'Satellite Communications Service Provider of the Year in Asia Pacific’ respectively by Telecom Asia magazine and Frost & Sullivan.
For more information, please visit www.asiasat.com
Media inquiries:
E! Entertainment
Nicole Goesseringer
Tel: (1 310) 8224775
Email: [email protected]
Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company Limited
Sabrina Cubbon, General Manager Marketing Winnie Pang, Corporate Affairs Manager
Tel: (852) 2500 0899 Tel: (852) 2500 0880
Mobile: (852) 9097 1210 Fax: (852) 2500 0895
Fax: (852) 2500 0895 Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
PLDT builds new cable landing station
From http://www.telecomasia.net/article.php?type=article&id_article=5913
(Manila Standard via NewsEdge) The Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. is constructing a cable landing station in La Union province, as part of the $553.63-million Asia-America Gateway cable system.
It said the new cable landing station would provide diversity to the existing Batangas cable station, which was already crowded by many international and domestic cables installed in the area.
La Union is ideal for diversity, landing multiple cables, and more importantly for positioning the Philippines as a major hub between Asia and the Pacific, the telcom said.
In the Asia-American Gateway project, the La Union station will connect the trans-Pacific segment to the US and the Asian segment that comes all the way from Thailand, said PLDT carrier marketing management center head Genaro Sanchez.
PLDT has joined other telecom giants in the region to build the 20,000-kilometer-long fiber optic cable network that will connect Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Philippines, Guam, Hawaii and the US West Coast.
Sanchez said the project would also help support the country's future economic growth as telecommunication requirements increase.
“PLDT's participation and acquisition of capacity in the Asia-American Gateway cable network ensures that the Philippines will have adequate bandwidth to the US and North America, as well as Southeast Asia, to sustain growth,” Sanchez said.
ForeTV Makes Indian Debut At Neo Sports
From http://www.broadcastbuyer.tv/publish/New_Contracts_24/ForeTV_Makes_Indian_Debut_At_Neo_Sports_13550.shtml
Neo Sports, the world’s first cricket only television channel, is set to go live with pioneering broadcast management system, ForeTV from MSA Focus following the solution’s recent implementation at the broadcaster’s Mumbai headquarters. The deal, believed to be the first for ForeTV on the Indian Subcontinent, was signed following a competitive pitch process.
Neo Sports’ decision to install ForeTV was prompted by its recent success in winning a major deal to televise Indian cricket. This gives Neo Sports exclusive rights to transmit all India’s home-based cricket internationals in India
ForeTV gives Neo Sports the ability to efficiently manage the proliferation of new revenue streams that these rights will inevitably generate. Unlike traditional systems which treat each stream separately, ForeTV offers a consolidated solution for total revenue management, encompassing income from Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), advertising, sponsorship, pay-per-view (PPV), interactive (iTV) and video on demand (VOD).
As part of the core system, MSA Focus is developing a new live events scheduling module for Neo Sports and is also developing a further module to enable Neo Sports to carry out secondary events selling and capitalise on advertising opportunities in the region.
According to Rajasekharan H. Vice President of Technology and Operations at Neo Sports Broadcast Pvt Ltd. and Wojtek Rutkowski Consultant, “ForeTV will allow us to efficiently and effectively manage all our current revenue streams while also acting as an automatic content scheduler. What really attracted us, however, was the future-proofing built into the system. We are confident that ForeTV will enable us to manage the proliferation of new services and rapid rises in data growth rates which we are likely to face over the coming years.”
The Neo Sports deal is the latest in string of new contract wins for MSA Focus since it launched ForeTV last year. Global broadcasters including US-owned networks in Latin America, a playout centre in Singapore and an IPTV station in Northern Europe have already invested in the technology.
Neo Sports & Neo Sports Plus are owned by Neo Sports Broadcast Pvt. Ltd. Neo Sports is India’s 1st Cricket – Only TV channel and will telecast matches being played under the aegis of BCCI live. This will also include domestic cricket. The channel will also showcase various cricket related programming, interviews with top cricketers, analysis and other shows around cricket.
Neo Sports Plus is a 24-hour sports entertainment television channel launched by Neo Sports Broadcast Pvt Ltd. The channel will bring to life, action from sporting disciplines from all over the world.
On the soccer front, Neo Sports Plus has acquired properties linked to India’s favourite footballing nations: Germany & Italy, via premier leagues like Bundesliga & Serie A. It also has one of the best motor sports action in the form of V8 Supercars. Additionally Neo Sports Plus brings about a renewed focus to Badminton through properties like Sudirman Cup, The Thomas Cup, The Uber Cup & The World Badminton Championship. The channel broadcasts on PAS 10 satellite. Neo Sports Broadcast is a broadcasting & media company promoted by Nimbus Communications Limited.
Weblinks: http://www.msafocus.com http://www.neosports.tv
2/10/07
Live satellite chat 9p.m NZ and 8.30p.m Syd time onwards in the chatroom
Australia vs India Cricket
83E 4070 V sr 5000 Fec 3/4 "DD National"
Eutelsat W5 70.5E TP 11305 V 27500 "TERISTIT CHINA" new channel
From my Email & ICQ
Nothing to report
From the Dish
Insat 2E 83E 3845 V "Maa TV" is encrypted again.
Express AM2 80E 3562 R "TRV Muji" is Fta.
Thaicom 5 78.5E 3521 V "Lao Star Channel" has left .
NEWS
What you need to get Freeview
From http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4223136a11275.html
A set-top box
It converts the digital signal sent by the satellite or UHF aerial to a form that is understood by TVs. Freeview currently certifies two boxes: one from Hills and another from Zinwell/DSE.
Both boxes are sold by major and minor electrical retailers in Christchurch, and retail for between $250 and $300 (although Dick Smith Electronics had the Zinwell/DSE unit on sale last week for $200). More boxes will be certified in coming months.
Non-certified set-top boxes also work for Freeview. Christchurch installer SatMax, for instance, sells its own branded box for $280.
And fancier boxers are also on the market. Some let you watch one channel while recording another and so forth. Alternatively, you need a digital TV fitted with a satellite tuner.
A satellite dish (or a UHF aerial after March or April 2008).
A used Sky satellite dish will do the trick. They change hands on Trade Me for less than $50. A basic new dish sells in Christchurch for $66 and better models cost less than $100.
But before you buy a dish – and this is worth repeating – understand that about 75 per cent of New Zealanders will be able to get Freeview with an aerial from about March or April 2008.
A standard TV aerial won't pick up Freeview; you need a UHF aerial.
And, in Canterbury, you need to be able to see the TV broadcasting tower on Sugarloaf in the Port Hills from your aerial (even with binoculars). Put another way, your UHF aerial needs reasonable line of sight with Sugarloaf – and only Sugarloaf for now.
Freeview puts the matter this way: "As a guideline, if you have poor or no UHF reception (you cannot get some or all UHF free-to-air channels – ie, Trackside, Maori TV or Prime), you are unlikely to get Freeview aerial reception" and you'll need a satellite dish.
UHF aerials cost about $145 installed.
Meanwhile, existing Sky customers can use their existing satellite dish to receive Freeview.
However, you will need a Freeview-compatible box. A Sky box won't pick it up.
A couple more things: you'll need a set-top box for each TV in the home in order to watch different channels on different TVs.
And a satellite set-top box won't work with a UHF antenna.
You'll need a terrestrial box for terrestrial service.
Lastly, the "terrestrial" service that's coming to UHF aerials will be capable of high-definition TV, whereas the satellite service available now will be standard definition for the foreseeable future.
High def will be better.
Installation
Confident home handymen will be able to install a satellite dish or UHF aerial, and set-up the set-top box themselves.
Self-install kits are available in Christchurch for $250.
Professional installers in Canterbury charge about $400.
People who live in multi-unit dwellings may have a special TV reception system that feeds their flats and may need to ask their building manager or landlord about installing Freeview.
What's on TV6, and the Prime workaround
From http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4223138a11275.html
Officially, it's branded TVNZ6, but even company executives call it TV6 in conversation. It is the new channel launched on Sunday and only available on Freeview.
TV6 does some "public-service television", which cynics will label as earnest and dull. "A lot of these shows nobody else will do.
"They're not commercially viable," says Eric Kearley, TVNZ's general manager of digital services.
But it will also import quality TV from overseas.
TV6 breaks the day into zones. Kidzone – children's programming mostly for pre-schoolers – runs from 6.30am to 4pm; Family – wholesome TV content suitable for all ages – runs from 4pm to 8.30pm; and Showcase – Kiwi and overseas shows for grown-ups – runs from 8.30pm to midnight.
The Prime Workaround.
Sky and Freeview don't get along. TV6, the new taxpayer-funded channel from TVNZ isn't available on Sky, and Sky subsidiary Prime isn't available on Freeview.
There's not much Sky viewers can do about TV6, but Freeview users can still get Prime– with some effort.
The easiest thing is to leave in place your existing UHF aerial and its cabling to your TV or DVD.
You can't channel surf Prime while Freeview is running, but at least you get the channel. That's what I did and it is satisfactory.
There's good TV on Prime (Flight of Conchords, Top Gear, rugby rebroadcasts and so forth), so it's worthwhile leaving a UHF aerial in place.
Fiji TV Group's profits slide
THE Fiji Television Group recorded a net profit after tax of $856,903 for the 12 months ended June 30, 2007, says group chief executive officer, Mesake Nawari.
The result was a decrease compared with the previous financial years' figure of $3.6million, which included a tax credit of $1.4 million.
The group includes Fiji Television Ltd, Communications Pacific Ltd (Compac) and Media Niugini Ltd in Papua New Guinea.
Mr Nawari said Fiji TV's financial results were impacted by the overall reduction in revenue for its Fiji operations, Fiji TV and Compac, plus an increase in programming and satellite delivery costs across the group.
"While our revenue sources in Fiji were affected by the downturn in the Fiji economy, we also could not reduce our programming and satellite delivery costs as we had already committed to bringing in major sports events live prior to the political events in Fiji in December 2006," he said.
Lockheed Martin-Built BSAT-3a Satellite Begins Service for B-SAT Customers
From http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/AQM137A01102007-1.htm
NEWTOWN, Pa., Oct. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- The BSAT-3a broadcasting satellite, designed and built by Lockheed Martin , is now operational for the Broadcasting Satellite System Corporation (B-SAT) following successful on- orbit deployment and checkout of all spacecraft systems.
The BSAT-3a communications payload contains 12 130-W Ku-band channels (eight operating at one time). With a design life of more than 13 years, BSAT-3a is based on the A2100A platform manufactured by Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems (LMCSS), Newtown, Pa. BSAT-3a marks the 12th Lockheed Martin satellite contract awarded in the 1- to 4-kW class satellite range.
"I am very pleased that LMCSS has delivered the perfect satellite to B-SAT," said B-SAT President and CEO Kenji Nagai. "In the open-bidding phase, B-SAT decided to select LMCSS from among several offers, judging that LMCSS would be able to deliver a reliable satellite. I think that our decision has proven to be completely correct."
"The outstanding dedication and teamwork of B-SAT and Lockheed Martin the last two years contributed greatly to the success of this program," said LMCSS Vice-President and General Manager Marshall Byrd. "We're extremely pleased to deliver a high-quality, robust spacecraft on schedule to our valued B-SAT customer."
BSAT-3a is located at orbital location 110 degrees East longitude. The successful handover of BSAT-3a represents the 33rd delivery of an A2100 spacecraft for customers worldwide and all 33 currently are operational. Throughout its nearly 50-year history, LMCSS has launched 91 communications geostationary earth orbit satellites.
BSAT-3a is the sixth Direct Broadcasting Satellite in the 12GHz BSS band procured by B-SAT. Satellite broadcasting in Japan has a long history, beginning in 1984 and today penetrating in excess of 23 million households.
The A2100 spacecraft's design accommodates a large range of communication payloads as demonstrated by the 33 spacecraft successfully flown to date. This design modularity also enables the A2100 spacecraft to be configured for missions other than communication.
The A2100 design is currently being adapted for geostationary earth orbit (GEO)-based earth observing missions and is currently the baselined platform for Lockheed Martin's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite Series-R (GOES-R) proposal. The A2100 also serves as the platform for critical government communications programs including Advanced Extremely High Frequency and Mobile User Objective System and is the foundation for Lockheed Martin's Transformational Satellite Communications System (TSAT) offering.
About B-SAT
B-SAT is a unique operator of broadcasting satellites in 12GHz BSS band in Japan. The company was established in April 1993 and is located in Tokyo, Japan. Since then, B-SAT has worked toward providing stable satellite operations and continuity of broadcast services. B-SAT currently owns and manages four satellites, BSAT-1a and-1b for analogue services, BSAT-2a and -2c for digital services.
About Lockheed Martin
Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2006 sales of $39.6 billion.
Media Contacts
Dee Valleras, Lockheed Martin, + 1 215 497 4185;
e-mail, [email protected]
Russia to Launch 24-Hour Spanish TV Satellite Channel in Addition to Existing English and Arabic
From http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/10-01-2007/0004673243&EDATE=
NEW YORK, Oct. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Russia is launching the new foreign- language TV Channel - RUSIA HOY. The Spanish channel will complement its flagship English Channel RUSSIA TODAY and Arabic RUSIYA AL-YAUM. "We are proud to bring Russia Today to America and to the greater English, Arabic and soon, the Spanish-speaking worlds," said Sergey Frolov, Director General of the parent company TV-Novosti. "We will not only bring them the truth about our fast moving country, we will bring them underreported stories, especially news from Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia." The announcement was made at the presentation of RUSSIA TODAY and RUSIYA AL-YAUM, the 24-hour news, business, sports and entertainment channels at a gala reception in New York. According to Mr. Frolov, the third channel would be added to Novosti's newscast lineup in 2008. Like the already operating channels RUSIA HOY will broadcast from Moscow headquarters via satellites and will operate 24/7. RUSIA HOY will provide the same variety of content as its sister channels. Further details, said Mr. Frolov, will be announced to the public later this year. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russia Today Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan were among the dignitaries toasting the channels at the event, held at the UN Plaza Millennium Hotel. Governor George Pataki, leader of the Palestinian Autonomy Mahmoud Abbas, along with a dozen ministers of foreign affairs, more than 30 foreign ambassadors to the UN, business and media leaders, journalists from more than 90 media outlets. Mr. Lavrov's presence is notable in particular, as never before in Russian or Soviet history has a government official of this level presented any Russian media organization abroad. According to Russian foreign minister, the channels, which are the work of 'young dedicated team of professionals', will find the way to viewers abroad. Sergey Frolov noted that both existing channels are accessible by almost 400 million people in Europe, Greater Middle East and North America and announced that since early September Russia Today has been made available to millions of Time Warner Cable customers in the New York-Tri-state area on Channel 135. Speaking about the editorial policy of RUSSIA TODAY its Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan stressed that her team makes sure 'every important story from Russia - be it corruption, a murder of a well-known journalist or successes like winning the Olympic bid or Chechnya's gradual return to normal life' is covered. "We welcome your advice, hope you start - or continue -- watching Russia Today and believe you'll appreciate the opportunity to get a look at the world from a different perspective'- she concluded, promising 'not to fail the viewers' expectations'. About Russia Today and Rusiya al-Yaum: Russia Today is the first 24/7 English-language news channel to present the Russian point of view on events happening in Russia and around the globe. The channel was established in April 2005 by the Autonomous Nonprofit Organization TV-Novosti. Rusiya al-Yaum - a sister channel in Arabic joined in May 2007. Around the clock, RT and Rusiya al-Yaum provide viewers with breaking news, stories on politics, business, and public affairs. Millions of viewers switch on to both channels to learn what other media are not likely to have. Best news reports, documentaries, feature stories and other programs can be viewed at YouTube.com. More than 1500 Russian and foreign TV professionals - correspondents, anchors, presenters, producers, translators, cameramen, editors, directors - form the team that keep the channels moving. Russia Today and Rusiya al-Yaum correspondents report from Russia's regions, the countries of the former Soviet Union, Europe, the US and the Middle East. The channels have bureaus in Kiev, Tbilisi, London, Paris, Washington, New York, Jerusalem, Cairo, Gaza, West Bank, Beirut, and Baghdad. Expanding the number of bureaus in other regions of the world is the work in progress. For more information visit http://www.rttv.ru/
Sky Picnic for Freeview
From http://www.advanced-television.coct5.htm#t1
Sky has announced details of its plans to offer broadband, telephone and digital terrestrial television services under a new brand to customers across the UK. It says the new business will operate under the Picnic brand and will offer customers a variety of flexible options to combine the services that they want.
Sky claims key features of Picnic will include: TV, broadband and telephony, with customers able to choose 1, 2 or 3 services in any combination. There will be instant access to some Sky channels through an aerial including Sky Sports 1, Sky Movies, Sky One, a children's channel and a factual channel.
The decision to proceed with the launch of Picnic is subject to the outcome of Ofcom's review of the proposed increased choice of TV programming. Ofcom has said that it plans to launch a consultation on the initial licence changes later this autumn.
Sky wants the Picnic TV service to be in MPEG4. It says: "The new (STBs required) will help to lead future innovations on the digital terrestrial television (DTT) platform such as the adoption of MPEG-4 compression standards, which allow viewers to benefit from an increased choice of channels. The Picnic TV service will initially consist of 3 MPEG-2 video streams but, subject to approval by Ofcom, Picnic aims to move to MPEG-4 and add a fourth channel dedicated to Sky News."
Continuing with the existing "horizontal market" model for DTT equipment, the Picnic compatible boxes will be produced by multiple manufacturers and sold by a variety of retailers. Manufacturers will be responsible for the specification of their boxes and will decide which additional features to include, such as PVR functionality or the ability to receive pay-TV services from other providers. The initial manufacturer will be Sagem, but Sky is not subsidising manufacture and says it is expected that others will follow shortly after launch. In addition, Picnic aims to make its TV service available on future generations of PCs.
James Murdoch, Sky's Chief Executive, said: "The launch of Picnic will be a big step forward for customers who are hungry for value and simplicity. We are looking forward to the conclusion of the regulatory approval process so we can get going delivering a great service and real savings to customers."
Pragya Channel to hit "life positive" niche programming
From http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k7/oct/oct13.php
NEW DELHI: The brand new Pragya channel, an offering of Pragya Vision Pvt Ltd has disclosed its content package for the first time, with managing director Meena Tiwari telling indiantelevision.com that it will be a fresh now approach to lifestyle and spiritualism, with both categories different from the normal sense in which they are understood.
"The mantra of the channel is "Live Life Positive"," and hastening to add: "But most people confuse between spiritualism and religion, mixing them, whereas we talk of spiritualism in terms of positive living, a heady combine of body mind and soul that has never been approached so far by any channel."
She said that the content will be aggressive, with five of the 24 / 7 channel hours being live, and an emphasis of cleansing cultural garbage that goes in the name of lifestyle and spiritualism.
The TG is youth. And there will be interactive youth-based programming at late evening hours, as research shows that the younger generation finds some quality time at around 10 pm, especially with the soaps being over by then.
"There was a great open space for clean living and spiritual content, which no one seemed to be interested in reaching out to, for everyone seems to be chasing TRPs, but we decided to go there and address the hunger for positive living that is seeing a surge among the youth across the world."
In other words, says Pragyan Bhattacharya, Programming Head of the channel, "Lifestyle will not mean all that jazz, and neither will spiritualism mean Hare Rama Hare Krishna and darhiwallah babas (scraggy, bearded Godmen).
But what would be the differentiator?
Bhattacharya says, "We cannot disclose the entire content package, but I can give the names of two specific programmes, one being "Youth Dot Com", sometime around 10 in the night, which will be live interactive programming where young people can ask anything from their educational needs to sex lives, to be answered by specialists."
So far as lifestyle is concerned, he says that viewers find hardly anything on men, and this is one area where the channel will give a solid programming, cutting out a different space that is neglected.
But there will be issues of women's empowerment too, as that is a major area of concern and there is a specific TG for that, Bhattacharya said.
Bhattacharya, with 19 years behind him as a journalist in print, agency as well TV formats, says that this timing is of the essence, as it is late hours, which the research shows is when young people are getting to wind up the day and have a larger attention span for something positive.
Yes, there will be yoga, but within the context of the sort of positive life that is indicated in Ayurveda: "The western concept is medicine, which is a science of cure, whereas our approach is Ayur-Veda, or Life Science.
He explains the difference in attitude: "While they believe in a curative science called medicine, we are trying to project a lifestyle that is holistic and positive living which would avoid falling ill - things that Susrut, Charak and other ancient seers showed the path to.
"This means if we do a food programme it will not be about cooking Hyderabadi byriyani but about the value of, say fresh sprouts," he explains.
There would be programmes on quitting smoking or cutting down alcohol intake, he says, but would such a tutoring approach not bounce?
Bhattacharya smiles: "That is where we are going to create our space, because we know the moment one starts naseehat (lecturing), people switch off, so though I am unable to disclose all, the same things would be told in a manner that people will find entertaining.
Bhattacharya says that at 42, he is the oldest member in the entire team barring the MD, which means that the team is completely clued on to what the youth wants, and the cohesiveness of the team stems from some management practices like everyone sharing common lunch at common tables, from the boss downwards.
The channel with a difference, as they claim to become, will have astrology, but not predictive astrology.
"It will be a scientific approach with a level of science that no astrology programming has attempted so far," Bhattacharya claimed.
But people want predictions all the time, so why should they not switch over the Sandeep Kochar's programme?
Bhattacharya clarifies that of course, if viewers ask for specific predictions, their query would have to be satisfied, but on its own, the channel is against predictive astrology, rather telling the persons what are the positives and the impediments at a given point of time in achieving their goals and how to reach that goal, not when they'd be able to do so.
The company has tied up with some top quality global figures as experts on management, health, positive living and so forth, but those disclosures would come closer to the formal launch, sometime in October.
The affiliate sales people have gone on a gear-five drive already for a strong distribution network, and almost all the big MSOs have been signed on, company officials said.
Marketing would be a rather tricky issue, with many kinds of products perhaps being reluctant to come to a platform that nurture older and more sane values, but tie-ups have started.
"We want to make a clear statement, however, that there will be certain kind of products for which even disguised ads will not be acceptable," they held, adding that there is a huge kitty of alternative lifestyle-related products and services that have shown clear interest in the channel already.
1/10/07
Sorry there isn't a lot of news in the news section today
TVNZ 6 launched on Freeview on Sunday. Some reports of Audio problems on the various Freeview satellite channels early Monday evening. Callers were told that their unofficial STB were not supported and to contact their dealer!
TVNZ 7 will launch on Sunday March 30th, 2008.
"Vibe" has started on SKY NZ channel 7 (with a lineup of content %90 of which screened on Sky 1, 2 years ago)
Waiatarua tv transmission site took a lightening hit today at 2.30pm and Orcus transmissions were off until 5pm
CCTV E&F has now been split off into 2 individual channels.
From my Email & ICQ
From "MAX"
Saturday
Ku Feeds
Intelsat 8 12374 H 12800 loads 2 ch
Intelsat 8 12355 H 13333 scrambled ITV
Intelsat 8 12481 H 2084 TCT FM radio now has video card indicating a NSS5 freq of 12622 H 2084
From Steve D
Parliament TV
There is a card up for Parliament TV on 'Reserved 4K'.
Steve D
From Chris Pickstock
Saturday feeds
Some F1 pre qualifying feeds are here on Intelsat 2, 3812 V, sr 6620
10 Pin Bowling
Telstar 18, 3859V, sr 6428
Thailand v Malaysia
Chris
From the Dish
Launches: http://www.lyngsat.com/launches/
134E KU DTH Chinasat 9 with Long March is delayed from September-October to 9 November.
Intelsat 8 166E 4020 V "ESPN 2 Carribean" has started on , PowerVu.
Intelsat 8 166E 3740 H "MTV Australia" has started on , Cryptoworks.
Optus D1 160E 12483 H "TVNZ 6" has started on , Fta.
Telkom 1 108E A TelkomVision mux has started on 3620 H, enc., SR 28000, FEC 3/4.
AsiaSat 3S 105.5E 3792 H "Wik kid plus" has started on , Fta, SR 3000.
AsiaSat 2 100.5E 3760 H "E! Emea" has started on , PowerVu.
ChinaStar 1 87.5E 3780 V "CHC Action, Flash TV, China Movie and CHC HD" have left , moved to Chinatar 6B.
Insat 2E 83E 3845 V "Maa TV" is Fta.
Insat 2E 83E 4042 V "Bhaarath TV" is back on , Fta.
Telstar 10 76.5E 4165 H "Desh TV" is back on , Fta, SR 4285, FEC 3/4.
Intelsat 4 72E 3729 V "Raga TV" has started on , Fta.
Intelsat 10 68.5E 4087 H "CCTV E" has started on , Fta.
Intelsat 10 68.5E 4124 V "Geo Middle East" is now encrypted.
Intelsat 7 68.5E 3661 V "Emmanuel TV" has started on , Fta.
NEWS
TVNZ launches Freeview channel
From http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/425828/1385276
TVNZ 6, New Zealand's first advertising-free public service television channel, started broadcasting at 10am on Freeview on Sunday.
TVNZ 6 will feature between 50% and 70% local content, with no advertising.
Chief executive Rick Ellis says that having a channel free from advertising-driven ratings pressures makes it possible to give the channel a more distinctive Kiwi flavour than any channel before it.
"We'll be screening far more quality local programmes in primetime. Around 70% of all programming after 4:30 will be local content. That's more than New Zealanders have seen before and it makes a very distinctive viewing experience.
It really is TV with a kiwi accent," Ellis says.
Programming on TVNZ 6 is divided between three services: Kidzone between 6:00am and 4:30pm; Family from 4:30pm to 8:30pm and Showcase from 8:30pm until midnight.
TVNZ has commissioned new local content for each of the three services and Ellis says forming partnerships with other organisations has been a distinctive feature of the new channel's approach.
"We've been looking for partner organisations that share the same public service values as TVNZ 6. We've made a fantastic series with the Department of Conservation called Meet the Locals about New Zealand's wild things, wild places and the people that protect them. Plus, we're planning for other series with Plunket."
TVNZ will launch a second channel carrying documentary, news and factual programmes called TVNZ 7 on Freeview in March 2008.
Advertising-free TV channel launched
From http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=111&objectid=10466837
New Zealand's first advertising-free public service television channel, TVNZ 6, started broadcasting today on Freeview.
Freeview offers free-to-air digital versions of TV One, TV2, TV3, C4, Maori Television, and Radio New Zealand and TVNZ 6 will feature between 50 per cent and 70 per cent local content, with no advertising.
TVNZ CEO Rick Ellis said today that having a channel free from advertising-driven ratings pressures makes it possible to give the channel a more distinctive Kiwi flavour than any channel before it.
"We'll be screening far more quality local programmes in primetime.
"Around 70 per cent of all programming after 4.30 will be local content. That's more than New Zealanders have seen before and it makes a very distinctive viewing experience. It really is TV with a kiwi accent."
New era in broadcasting begins
From http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/536641/1384695
A new era in New Zealand broadcasting will begin on Sunday with the launch of the country's first fully-public broadcasting channel.
"I certainly think New Zealand history is being made this weekend, because New Zealand has never had pure public service non-commercial TV channels before," says Eric Kearney, TVNZ Digital Services.
"It has certainly never had three channels sharing the one frequency," he adds.
From 6am to 4pm, there is a pre-school childrens channel. Then from 4pm to 8:30pm there is a block called TVNZ Family. It includes programmes such as Location, Location, Location and Country Calendar.
Then there is TVNZ showcase, which will feature arts, drama, documentary and NZ film.
To watch them you need a set-top box. The official model will set you back $249. But that hasn't stopped more than 21,000 households who have so far invested in one.
Add the 20,000 who already had one and the government should be pleased, after all, they have made a $79 million investment in the new channels.
But with public spending comes criticism, most specifically over how to get people to watch a channel based on repeats.
"I think people who have money for technology have probably got big flatscreen TVs and Sky TV, and lots of channels. Why are they going to go and spend a couple of hundred dollars to sample one new channel?" says Wilson Owen, media analyst.
There is also the question of whether Sky should be allowed to show the channels.
"It's really just taxpayers money going to subsidising increased profits to Mr [Rupert] Murdoch and I can't see why that would happen. There's no gain for NZ," says Kearney.
And it is not stopping TVNZ. Next month sees the launch of Parliament TV and next year, the news channel.
But for now it is Channel 6 that the future of freeview is resting on.
Back to the future with digital channels
From http://www.stuff.co.nz/4218795a28.html
GOING RETRO: TVNZ's newest channel will have old favourites, like Wonder Dogs and the Goodnight Kiwi.
After 13 years asleep, the Goodnight Kiwi has awakened to a new digital era, and it goes by the name of Freeview.
As part of the trumpeted "free" digital service, the cat and kiwi duo will feature again – provided you have the right box – when TVNZ6 launches on Monday.
The trip down memory lane does not stop there, with It's in the Bag episodes from 1975, and Wonder Dogs set for revival on the channel.
TVNZ denies it is looking back and insists digital is the future.
More than 21,000 set-top boxes have been bought to access the digital platform since the launch of Freeview three months ago.
Freeview general manager Steve Browning said sales were above expectations. The target is 40,000 households accessing the satellite service within a year.
It would be easy for people to sit back and settle for the analogue service that has been faithful to New Zealand screens for 47 years but with that system due to be "switched off" some time in the next six to 10 years, viewers are beginning to switch on to digital.
It comes at a price. To watch Freeview, a satellite dish identical to the one used to receive Sky and a set-top box are required, costing $700 to $800 including installation.
For those who already have a Sky dish, they can purchase a set-top box for between $200 and $300, plug it in, and Freeview is theirs.
This will give viewers access to TV1, TV2, TV3, C4, Maori Television, Sport Extra, Triangle Stratos, RNZ National, RNZ Concert and TVNZ6. Parliament TV will be available from next week and TVNZ7 from 2008.
The problem for Freeview, the clear underdog in the digital market, is in Sky Television's dominance. Sky has 711,000 subscribers and is in 44.5 per cent of homes with about 85 channels, whereas Freeview has about 2.7 per cent of the market.
The main issue facing the duelling companies is that neither's set-top boxes can take the other's services, despite their sharing a dish.
It is the battle of the boxes.
This may eventually change but neither company has made moves to do so.
The advertisement-free channels offered on Freeview are courtesy of $79 million in taxpayer money over the next five years, reportedly an encouragement for people to jump on board.
But do Kiwis want to relive rehashed programmes from years gone by?
Eric Kearley, head of TVNZ's digital channel launch team, said the two new channels would offer almost 70 per cent New Zealand content, including items that have not been seen before.
TVNZ7, set for launch in late March next year, has been reported as a 24-hour news channel but Kearley said that was incorrect.
"The channel will have news bulletins on the hour, every hour, but it really is a broad-based factual channel. It is definitely not a Sky News-style rolling news channel," he said.
From October 9, Parliament TV will also launch as a Freeview channel, dedicated solely to broadcasting all sessions from the House of Representatives, including question time, legislative debates and sittings outside regular hours.
Parliament already broadcasts live via its website with moderate success.
Since its launch on July 17, the site has had more than 20,000 visits – about 300 visits per day – believed to be mostly from people in Government departments checking in for question time.
How digital TV will take us back to the future
From http://www.nbr.co.nz/home/column_article.asp?id=19140&cid=3&cname=Technology
In one of two references to New Zealand in his new book* about the worldwide transition to digital television, Michael Starks warns against simply copying the UK model.
Too late. We have Freeview, a dinky version of the British free-to-air digital television platform and the child of a politically incestuous union between Helen Clark's ministers and their state-owned broadcasters.
Although the politicians now deny parentage, always careful to describe the transition from analogue to digital transmission as being "industry-led," they have been nevertheless quick to claim credit for delivering Freeview as a free-to-air competitor for Sky's subscriber version.
Starks, who led the BBC's initial feasibility study of digital television and managed the British government's Digital TV Project, is an authority on the subject.
He points to a couple of fundamental truths found in all markets. The first is that the decision to make the transition is political; the second is that its ultimate success rides on persuading consumers to pay for a set-top box to receive channels they have been getting for free.
Among 11 features of the transition found in varying measure in all markets, Starks lists market size, the strength of satellite and/or cable pay TV, and the role of public service or state television and of public funding.
Market size is the most obvious and yet most frequently overlooked difference when New Zealand's media financing, distribution and consumption patterns are compared with their counterparts in the UK, which has 60.6 million people.
With niche markets many times larger than our entire population of four million, Britain's media-rich culture is underwritten by a broadcasting licence fee of $370 per household that this year for the first time lifted the BBC's annual revenue over $8 billion.
As well as giving the BBC the ability to dedicate $4.2 billion to digital conversion over the next five years, the fee pays for the sort of commercial-free broadcasting found only on radio in New Zealand.
A commercial-free television channel in this country would have provided precisely the incentive that consumers needed to make the switch. Faced with the loss of a non-commercial channel with locally made programmes and news unavailable anywhere else, consumers would gladly pay to update their aerials and receivers.
TVNZ's addition of two largely government-funded channels to the Freeview platform is a belated acceptance of demand for non-commercial broadcasting as an alternative in modern media markets.
But it is also an acknowledgment of a market reality in which digital channels mean more fragmentation, eroding the mass audiences on which free-to-air commercial channels depend for advertising revenue. That is why TV3's owners show no enthusiasm for putting new channels on Freeview.
But the transition to digital television will eventually return non-commercial television to the mainstream prime time position it last occupied 20 years ago. Within a year or two, New Zealand will have developed an indigenous public television channel, like SBS in Australia and PBS in the US.
Public TV will develop as the technology and the market combine to copy not the British but the Italian model. Italy has about 60 regional channels, which digital satellite transmission makes possible in New Zealand.
Digital satellite television was introduced here by Sky in 1998, a fact TVNZ refused to acknowledge for at least six years. From the early 1990s, when TVNZ first began thinking about digital television, its strategy was to make the transition in competition with Sky.
TVNZ's first attempts to go digital were based on a pay-TV business case, and although they were scotched by the first of Helen Clark's Labour administrations, the desire to compete against Sky persisted and flowed into the development of Freeview as a separate platform requiring its own set-top box receiver.
Technically, though, there is nothing to prevent Freeview's digital channels from coming through Sky's decoder. Providing the two electronic programme guides are compatible, Freeview could soon be getting a free ride into the 660,000 homes of Sky subscribers.
Although that would deliver TVNZ's ambition of "inspiring on every screen," it ruins Freeview's strategy of broadcasting from a separate and competing platform.
Effectively a return to the earlier and much more sensible "open box" approach, the availability of Freeview's channels on Sky would bring regional channels within the touch of a button in 44% of the nation's homes.
Southland's regional channel, rebranded as Cue, is already on Sky. It would be joined by Triangle Stratos representing Auckland and Wellington if Freeview went on Sky.
Add a few more local channels and some public funding for regional newsrooms and, hey presto, you're back to the future where it all began.
* Switching to Digital Television: UK Public Policy and the Market, by Michael Starks, Intellect Books, $90 (through Addenda Publishing, Auckland)
CCTV to launch French, Spanish channels
From http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-09/27/content_6803368.htm
BEIJING, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- China Central Television (CCTV), the country's state television station, is to formally launch new international French and Spanish channels on Oct. 1.
The two channels would broadcast around the clock -- CCTV-E in Spanish and CCTV-F in French -- programs on news, economy, history, culture, tourism, sports, entertainment, films and drama, as well as Chinese language teaching, said a CCTV spokesman.
The new channels will end the trial broadcast of entertainment and news channel CCTV-E&F, which began on Oct. 1, 2004. The channel has been broadcast in both Spanish and French.
Four million households in 36 countries and regions have access to CCTV-E&F.
Pakistan shuts private news channels
From http://mathaba.net/news/?x=565759
Authorities in Pakistan on Saturday temporarily suspended transmission of independent news TV channels to stop coverage of opposition rallies against President's bid for re-elections, private TV channels and subscribers said.
Police fired tear gas shells and beat protesting lawyers and political activists who staged demonstrations in Islamabad to protest against President Musharraf.
Protest rallies were planned outside the office of the Chief Election Commissioner, who held scrutiny of the nomination papers of President Musharraf and his rival candidates.
Major private TV channels were showing live pictures of injured lawyers with blood on their heads and faces.
Police severely beating and arresting senior lawyers and opposition activists and firing tear gas shells were also aired live on TV channels.
Only those people could watch TV channels who had facility of satellite dish receiver.
Three major TV channels Geo, ARY and Aaj TV said their transmissions went off the air in Islamabad, Rawalpindi and most parts of the country.
The state-run Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMA) had warned all TV channels not to air programs, talk shows and interviews in which comments are offered on courts matters.
I am not receiving cable since 11 a.m., Muhammad Wasim-ul-Haq, a resident of G-7-1 sector said.
A cable operator in G-8 sector said that the major cable provider Webcom disconnected the three major news channels.
It is not the first time the government has forced the cable TV providers to shut the news channels.
Such closures take place whenever any major developments happen in the country.
It is very unfortunate that the government, whenever it wants, deprive the public of information, Umair, a student in sector I-9 said.
I was off today from my college and was watching what was happening in Islamabad but I stopped receiving major news channels, he said.
The government has never been happy with the coverage of independent news channels and has always tried to block free access of information on very important occasions, a cable subscriber Waqas Banori in F-10 Markaz said.
Banori, a law college student, said the world has become a global village and getting information is not a problem but the government is worried of freedom of expression in today's world. --IRNA