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Satellite news 04.09.04
News
UK
NEW MOTHER AND BABY SERVICE ON S*y DIGITAL
BS*yB has launched what it describes as the UK's first
mother and baby information service on digital TV. New
and expectant parents will be able to access a range
of information about pregnancy and maternal care
through their TV via the Family Active service. The
service includes an instant messaging feature that
allows parents to contact each other and share
experiences by sending and receiving messages
on-screen, and allows users to search through an
information service. It also allows viewers to contact
a midwife direct with questions. Other features
include a searchable baby names directory and an
astrology guide.
TWI TO DISTRIBUTE PREMIER LEAGUE MATCHES GLOBALLY
TWI has been re-appointed by England's Football
Association Premier League to be its production
partner, producing and distributing all its matches of
the season for the overseas TV market. The
three-year-deal sees the creation of new venture FA
Premier League Productions, based in IMG division
TWI's UK production base in Chiswick, London. The new
venture will offer international licensees of the
Premier League all 380 matches of the season live via
satellite. It also covers annual production of 41
weekly preview shows and 33 highlight shows.
WILLIAM HILL TO LAUNCH DIGITAL TV CHANNEL
William Hill has appointed marketing communications
agency the Poulter Group to launch its digital betting
TV channel. The business is worth £250,000 for the
first year and is ongoing. The William Hill television
channel is scheduled to go live on S*y in October. It
will cover a range of sporting events and feature
betting opportunities, random numbers games and
virtual racing.
ITV GAMES SERVICE TO LAUNCH IN SEPTEMBER
GTV, the upcoming pay-per-play interactive games
service that the ITV network is launching on the UK's
S*y Digital, will go live next month, run by iTV
pioneer, PlayJam. OpenTV-owned PlayJam will manage the
service for ITV, has developed all games and is
managing all aspects of the service's broadcast.
Claiming to be the first UK terrestrial broadcaster to
offer its audience a tailor-made games service, ITV's
service will comprise of games based on various
programme brands, as well as non-ITV branded games.
GTV will offer S*y users quizzes, puzzles, pub- and
arcade-style games and payment goes through the user's
phone bill.
Europe
FRANCE
AL-MANAR TO APPLY FOR BROADCASTING RIGHTS
France's highest administrative body on August 20
ordered a Lebanese TV network linked to the
anti-Israel group Hezbollah to adhere to broadcast
regulations by October 1 or face being banned from
French airwaves. The Council of State said a decision
rests with France's media watchdog, the CSA, about
whether to give Al-Manar network a license it needs to
beam programs through a Paris-based satellite
broadcaster. The CSA had taken legal action to try to
force Al-Manar to halt broadcasts through the
satellite operator Eutelsat after Jewish groups
complained the network had aired an anti-Semitic
series. The Lebanese television station said it would
apply for broadcasting rights in France to avoid a
threatened ban.
E! TO LAUNCH ON CANAL SATELLITE
Entertainment news and lifestyle channel E! Networks
has signed a long-term distribution deal for the E!
International Network with Canalsatellite France,
which means the 24-hour entertainment network will now
be available in Europe's three largest television
markets, including Germany and Italy. "We look forward
to rolling out the next phase of the channel's
evolution in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe beginning
2005," said Kevin MacLellan, senior vp international
at E! Networks. Scheduled to launch in September, the
French language version of the E! International
Network will be carried on Channel 23 in the
Thematique DTH package, reaching France, Monaco and
Andorra. In addition E! will be available via Canal
Satelllite's new DSL service currently available in
Paris and Marseille.
BBC PRIME JOINS CANAL SATELLITE
BBC Prime, carrying drama, film and documentaries from
the UK public broadcaster, will launch on the French
pay-TV platform CanalSatellite from September 1.
CanalSatellite's 2.8 million subscribers will add to
the 19 million subscribers across Europe, the Middle
East and Africa. Programming includes Top of the Pops,
EastEnders and Weakest Link.
NEW PROGRAMS FOR CANAL PLUS
Pay-TV group Canal Plus on August 26 unveiled a slate
of ambitious new programming for its premium channel,
with the spotlight on premium movies, sports and news
programming. New programs include "La Semaine Du
Cinema" (The Week in Cinema), a half-hour
Sunday-afternoon slot devoted to French, American and
international cinema, with celebrity guests, trends,
events and the news of the week. Another film-related
slot that will air in December is "L'Evenementielle
Cinema" (Factual Cinema), during which a film
personality will discuss a film-related subject in
depth. "Avant Premiere" will feature films not yet
released in France, kicking off with Vadim Perelman's
"House of Sand and Fog" in October, while a "Making
of" slot starts September 12, with a behind-the-scenes
look at Steven Spielberg's latest work, "The
Terminal." The channel announced 14 new shows as well
as the return of U.S. programs "24" and "The Shield"
and two new offerings, "The L Word" and "Angels in
America." By the end of July, the channel's
subscribers stood at 4.88 million.
FRENCH GLOBAL ALL-NEWS CHANNEL BACK ON TRACK
France's plans for a global news channel, nicknamed
"CNN a la francaise," are back on track. Foreign
Minister Michel Barnier said on August 26 that plans
were on course for the TV network, personally backed
by President Jacques Chirac. International pubcasters
are concerned that their budgets will be slashed in
favour of the TF1-France Televisions joint project.
GERMANY
TV CHANNELS SHARE OLYMPIC COSTS
To help cut the cost of broadcasting rights for future
Olympic games, German public broadcasters ARD and ZDF
offered to share future coverage with commercial
broadcasting rivals. ZDF director Markus Schaechter
said he will begin negotiations in the coming weeks
with broadcasters interested in coverage of the 2006
winter games in Turin, Italy. Leading commercial
broadcaster RTL is the most likely candidate,
according to observers. ARD and ZDF already have
signed a similar cooperation agreement with RTL for
joint coverage of the 2006 soccer World Cup finals.
KDG GETS SUPPORT FOR CABLE DEAL
German cable giant Kabel Deutschland (KDG) won much-
needed industry support on August 26 as executives
from Universal Studios Networks Deutschland, MTV and
the state regulator from North Rhine-Westphalia backed
the group's expansion plans. Antitrust watchdogs are
concerned that KDG's $3.3 billion bid for three
regional cablers gives the group a cable monopoly.
Germany's main commercial broadcasters have lobbied
hard against the takeover, which would spur broadband
development nationwide and provide a platform for new
digital channels. Publicly, they have criticised KDG's
plans to encrypt transmission of terrestrial TV
channels, forcing households to get special access
cards for decoders to receive the outlets. For smaller
channels, such as USN's Sci Fi and 13th Street as well
as MTV, the cable expansion would provide greater
reach and more subscribers. KDG stands to grow from 10
million to more than 17 million homes if the deal is
approved.
BBC WORLD INCREASES GERMAN PRESENCE
The BBC's international news and current affairs
channel, BBC World is to double its penetration in
Germany, as Kabel Deutschland (KDG) goes nationwide.
BBC World will be included in KDG's main 24-channel
package, to be available from September, lifting the
platform's reach from 11 million cable homes to some
23 million. KDG's free digital cable offering, which
also includes public broadcasters ZDF and ARD, is
intended to drive Germany's digital uptake, in
anticipation of analogue switch-off in 2010. BBC World
also has a digital terrestrial frequency in the
Berlin/Brandenburg area, as well as in Italy, Sweden
and The Netherlands.
GREEN LIGHT FOR VIACOM-VIVA DEAL
Viacom said August 26 that it has finalized its
takeover of German music television group Viva Media,
taking a 75.8% stake in the Cologne, Germany-based TV
company for ?234 million. The deal, which has been
approved by German antitrust authorities, transfers
Time Warner's 30.6% Viva stake, Universal Music's
15.3% share and various smaller minority stakes to the
MTV parent. In a separate deal, Viacom acquired Time
Warner's 49% stake in Viva-TW joint venture Viva Plus,
an alternative-music cable channel.
IRELAND
COMMERCIAL BROADCASTERS COULD GET SLICE OF LICENSE FEE
Commercial broadcasters will be able to bid for an
?12.9 million slice of the licence fee from August 23
to produce culture and adult literacy programmes. The
Broadcasting Funding Scheme was launched to encourage
more commercial and state broadcasters to record
aspects of the state's heritage which are
disappearing. The three-year scheme will be financed
through the allocation of 5% of the annual television
licence fee, which amounted to ?8.3 million in 2003.
The commission will be hearing submissions from
interested parties, including independent broadcasters
and the public, over the next five-weeks on how the
annual scheme should be run. The initial consultation
document contains a draft outline of the structures,
programme themes and the eligibility for the scheme.
AT THE RACES SIGNS RIGHTS DEAL
Horse Racing Ireland and the Association of Irish
Racecourses have concluded a media rights contract
with At The Races. The agreement, which started on
June 11, is a four-and-a-half-year deal and gives At
The Races exclusive non-terrestrial picture and
interactive betting rights in the United Kingdom and
Ireland. The arrangements will also allow ATR to
include Irish racing content, on an exclusive basis,
in any product delivered into international pool
betting outlets as well as in channel form to
international pay television platforms.
RUSSIA
NTV SEEKS TO BOOST RATINGS
NTV television is to become federal not only in status
but in broadcasting area, accessible to viewers in any
part of the country. To achieve this goal, the
channel's signal needs to cover approximately 15 per
cent of the territory of Russia or approximately 30
million people. According to Izvestiya, NTV programmes
may be seen today by the inhabitants of 85 per cent of
the country's territory (117 million people), whereas
the area of coverage of other federal broadcasters
Channel One and Rossiya amounts to 98 per cent.
SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO
NATIONAL FREQUENCIES FOR 6 TV NETWORKS
Six TV broadcasters in Serbia are to be licensed as
national networks. Serbia's minister for culture and
the media, Dragan Kojadinovic, said that there had
also been a proposal that another two Serbian and two
federal frequencies be reserved for coverage of the
entire territory of Serbia and Montenegro. The six
companies to be licensed for national networks are the
three channels of state media company Radio Television
Serbia, BK TV, TV Pink and B92. The decision is based
on the economic power and program quality of the six
stations, said the minister. Another two national
Serbian frequencies would be available for television
stations in the regions to buy time and thus present
programs to a national audience. Kojadinovic quoted
research claiming that the total annual expenditure on
advertising in Serbia is about ?65 million, most of it
divided among that strongest and most popular
television networks.
Spain
SOGECABLE IN MIDST OF MOVIE RIGHTS ROW
The Ministry of Economy has accused pay-TV company
Sogecable of hindering competition as a result of its
exclusive agreements with six US majors, Twentieth
Century Fox, Buena Vista, Universal Studios, Paramount
Pictures, Columbia Tristar and Warner Bros. According
to the Ministry, each of these contracts, because of
their duration and reach, represent "a restriction of
competition" and "hinder the access from other pay-TV
operators to the same contents which are regarded as
being essential for the service." The report is the
result of a claim filed on December 2002 by cable
operator ONO that accused Sogecable and US Majors of
breaking competition law as a result of their
exclusive agreements. Sogecable has already appealed
and now the case will be studied by the Court of
Competition Defence.
Regards Satdude.
News
UK
NEW MOTHER AND BABY SERVICE ON S*y DIGITAL
BS*yB has launched what it describes as the UK's first
mother and baby information service on digital TV. New
and expectant parents will be able to access a range
of information about pregnancy and maternal care
through their TV via the Family Active service. The
service includes an instant messaging feature that
allows parents to contact each other and share
experiences by sending and receiving messages
on-screen, and allows users to search through an
information service. It also allows viewers to contact
a midwife direct with questions. Other features
include a searchable baby names directory and an
astrology guide.
TWI TO DISTRIBUTE PREMIER LEAGUE MATCHES GLOBALLY
TWI has been re-appointed by England's Football
Association Premier League to be its production
partner, producing and distributing all its matches of
the season for the overseas TV market. The
three-year-deal sees the creation of new venture FA
Premier League Productions, based in IMG division
TWI's UK production base in Chiswick, London. The new
venture will offer international licensees of the
Premier League all 380 matches of the season live via
satellite. It also covers annual production of 41
weekly preview shows and 33 highlight shows.
WILLIAM HILL TO LAUNCH DIGITAL TV CHANNEL
William Hill has appointed marketing communications
agency the Poulter Group to launch its digital betting
TV channel. The business is worth £250,000 for the
first year and is ongoing. The William Hill television
channel is scheduled to go live on S*y in October. It
will cover a range of sporting events and feature
betting opportunities, random numbers games and
virtual racing.
ITV GAMES SERVICE TO LAUNCH IN SEPTEMBER
GTV, the upcoming pay-per-play interactive games
service that the ITV network is launching on the UK's
S*y Digital, will go live next month, run by iTV
pioneer, PlayJam. OpenTV-owned PlayJam will manage the
service for ITV, has developed all games and is
managing all aspects of the service's broadcast.
Claiming to be the first UK terrestrial broadcaster to
offer its audience a tailor-made games service, ITV's
service will comprise of games based on various
programme brands, as well as non-ITV branded games.
GTV will offer S*y users quizzes, puzzles, pub- and
arcade-style games and payment goes through the user's
phone bill.
Europe
FRANCE
AL-MANAR TO APPLY FOR BROADCASTING RIGHTS
France's highest administrative body on August 20
ordered a Lebanese TV network linked to the
anti-Israel group Hezbollah to adhere to broadcast
regulations by October 1 or face being banned from
French airwaves. The Council of State said a decision
rests with France's media watchdog, the CSA, about
whether to give Al-Manar network a license it needs to
beam programs through a Paris-based satellite
broadcaster. The CSA had taken legal action to try to
force Al-Manar to halt broadcasts through the
satellite operator Eutelsat after Jewish groups
complained the network had aired an anti-Semitic
series. The Lebanese television station said it would
apply for broadcasting rights in France to avoid a
threatened ban.
E! TO LAUNCH ON CANAL SATELLITE
Entertainment news and lifestyle channel E! Networks
has signed a long-term distribution deal for the E!
International Network with Canalsatellite France,
which means the 24-hour entertainment network will now
be available in Europe's three largest television
markets, including Germany and Italy. "We look forward
to rolling out the next phase of the channel's
evolution in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe beginning
2005," said Kevin MacLellan, senior vp international
at E! Networks. Scheduled to launch in September, the
French language version of the E! International
Network will be carried on Channel 23 in the
Thematique DTH package, reaching France, Monaco and
Andorra. In addition E! will be available via Canal
Satelllite's new DSL service currently available in
Paris and Marseille.
BBC PRIME JOINS CANAL SATELLITE
BBC Prime, carrying drama, film and documentaries from
the UK public broadcaster, will launch on the French
pay-TV platform CanalSatellite from September 1.
CanalSatellite's 2.8 million subscribers will add to
the 19 million subscribers across Europe, the Middle
East and Africa. Programming includes Top of the Pops,
EastEnders and Weakest Link.
NEW PROGRAMS FOR CANAL PLUS
Pay-TV group Canal Plus on August 26 unveiled a slate
of ambitious new programming for its premium channel,
with the spotlight on premium movies, sports and news
programming. New programs include "La Semaine Du
Cinema" (The Week in Cinema), a half-hour
Sunday-afternoon slot devoted to French, American and
international cinema, with celebrity guests, trends,
events and the news of the week. Another film-related
slot that will air in December is "L'Evenementielle
Cinema" (Factual Cinema), during which a film
personality will discuss a film-related subject in
depth. "Avant Premiere" will feature films not yet
released in France, kicking off with Vadim Perelman's
"House of Sand and Fog" in October, while a "Making
of" slot starts September 12, with a behind-the-scenes
look at Steven Spielberg's latest work, "The
Terminal." The channel announced 14 new shows as well
as the return of U.S. programs "24" and "The Shield"
and two new offerings, "The L Word" and "Angels in
America." By the end of July, the channel's
subscribers stood at 4.88 million.
FRENCH GLOBAL ALL-NEWS CHANNEL BACK ON TRACK
France's plans for a global news channel, nicknamed
"CNN a la francaise," are back on track. Foreign
Minister Michel Barnier said on August 26 that plans
were on course for the TV network, personally backed
by President Jacques Chirac. International pubcasters
are concerned that their budgets will be slashed in
favour of the TF1-France Televisions joint project.
GERMANY
TV CHANNELS SHARE OLYMPIC COSTS
To help cut the cost of broadcasting rights for future
Olympic games, German public broadcasters ARD and ZDF
offered to share future coverage with commercial
broadcasting rivals. ZDF director Markus Schaechter
said he will begin negotiations in the coming weeks
with broadcasters interested in coverage of the 2006
winter games in Turin, Italy. Leading commercial
broadcaster RTL is the most likely candidate,
according to observers. ARD and ZDF already have
signed a similar cooperation agreement with RTL for
joint coverage of the 2006 soccer World Cup finals.
KDG GETS SUPPORT FOR CABLE DEAL
German cable giant Kabel Deutschland (KDG) won much-
needed industry support on August 26 as executives
from Universal Studios Networks Deutschland, MTV and
the state regulator from North Rhine-Westphalia backed
the group's expansion plans. Antitrust watchdogs are
concerned that KDG's $3.3 billion bid for three
regional cablers gives the group a cable monopoly.
Germany's main commercial broadcasters have lobbied
hard against the takeover, which would spur broadband
development nationwide and provide a platform for new
digital channels. Publicly, they have criticised KDG's
plans to encrypt transmission of terrestrial TV
channels, forcing households to get special access
cards for decoders to receive the outlets. For smaller
channels, such as USN's Sci Fi and 13th Street as well
as MTV, the cable expansion would provide greater
reach and more subscribers. KDG stands to grow from 10
million to more than 17 million homes if the deal is
approved.
BBC WORLD INCREASES GERMAN PRESENCE
The BBC's international news and current affairs
channel, BBC World is to double its penetration in
Germany, as Kabel Deutschland (KDG) goes nationwide.
BBC World will be included in KDG's main 24-channel
package, to be available from September, lifting the
platform's reach from 11 million cable homes to some
23 million. KDG's free digital cable offering, which
also includes public broadcasters ZDF and ARD, is
intended to drive Germany's digital uptake, in
anticipation of analogue switch-off in 2010. BBC World
also has a digital terrestrial frequency in the
Berlin/Brandenburg area, as well as in Italy, Sweden
and The Netherlands.
GREEN LIGHT FOR VIACOM-VIVA DEAL
Viacom said August 26 that it has finalized its
takeover of German music television group Viva Media,
taking a 75.8% stake in the Cologne, Germany-based TV
company for ?234 million. The deal, which has been
approved by German antitrust authorities, transfers
Time Warner's 30.6% Viva stake, Universal Music's
15.3% share and various smaller minority stakes to the
MTV parent. In a separate deal, Viacom acquired Time
Warner's 49% stake in Viva-TW joint venture Viva Plus,
an alternative-music cable channel.
IRELAND
COMMERCIAL BROADCASTERS COULD GET SLICE OF LICENSE FEE
Commercial broadcasters will be able to bid for an
?12.9 million slice of the licence fee from August 23
to produce culture and adult literacy programmes. The
Broadcasting Funding Scheme was launched to encourage
more commercial and state broadcasters to record
aspects of the state's heritage which are
disappearing. The three-year scheme will be financed
through the allocation of 5% of the annual television
licence fee, which amounted to ?8.3 million in 2003.
The commission will be hearing submissions from
interested parties, including independent broadcasters
and the public, over the next five-weeks on how the
annual scheme should be run. The initial consultation
document contains a draft outline of the structures,
programme themes and the eligibility for the scheme.
AT THE RACES SIGNS RIGHTS DEAL
Horse Racing Ireland and the Association of Irish
Racecourses have concluded a media rights contract
with At The Races. The agreement, which started on
June 11, is a four-and-a-half-year deal and gives At
The Races exclusive non-terrestrial picture and
interactive betting rights in the United Kingdom and
Ireland. The arrangements will also allow ATR to
include Irish racing content, on an exclusive basis,
in any product delivered into international pool
betting outlets as well as in channel form to
international pay television platforms.
RUSSIA
NTV SEEKS TO BOOST RATINGS
NTV television is to become federal not only in status
but in broadcasting area, accessible to viewers in any
part of the country. To achieve this goal, the
channel's signal needs to cover approximately 15 per
cent of the territory of Russia or approximately 30
million people. According to Izvestiya, NTV programmes
may be seen today by the inhabitants of 85 per cent of
the country's territory (117 million people), whereas
the area of coverage of other federal broadcasters
Channel One and Rossiya amounts to 98 per cent.
SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO
NATIONAL FREQUENCIES FOR 6 TV NETWORKS
Six TV broadcasters in Serbia are to be licensed as
national networks. Serbia's minister for culture and
the media, Dragan Kojadinovic, said that there had
also been a proposal that another two Serbian and two
federal frequencies be reserved for coverage of the
entire territory of Serbia and Montenegro. The six
companies to be licensed for national networks are the
three channels of state media company Radio Television
Serbia, BK TV, TV Pink and B92. The decision is based
on the economic power and program quality of the six
stations, said the minister. Another two national
Serbian frequencies would be available for television
stations in the regions to buy time and thus present
programs to a national audience. Kojadinovic quoted
research claiming that the total annual expenditure on
advertising in Serbia is about ?65 million, most of it
divided among that strongest and most popular
television networks.
Spain
SOGECABLE IN MIDST OF MOVIE RIGHTS ROW
The Ministry of Economy has accused pay-TV company
Sogecable of hindering competition as a result of its
exclusive agreements with six US majors, Twentieth
Century Fox, Buena Vista, Universal Studios, Paramount
Pictures, Columbia Tristar and Warner Bros. According
to the Ministry, each of these contracts, because of
their duration and reach, represent "a restriction of
competition" and "hinder the access from other pay-TV
operators to the same contents which are regarded as
being essential for the service." The report is the
result of a claim filed on December 2002 by cable
operator ONO that accused Sogecable and US Majors of
breaking competition law as a result of their
exclusive agreements. Sogecable has already appealed
and now the case will be studied by the Court of
Competition Defence.
Regards Satdude.