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Satellite news 30.03.05
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<blockquote data-quote="Satdude" data-source="post: 63103" data-attributes="member: 175600"><p>Satellite news 27.09.04</p><p></p><p>News</p><p></p><p>United Kingdom</p><p></p><p>BORDER TV TO BECOME ALL DIGITAL</p><p>Sparsely populated Border TV region has emerged as</p><p>favourite to be the digital television guinea pig for</p><p>the UK, but large parts of the area, including much of</p><p>West Cumbria, still cannot receive the digital</p><p>terrestrial signal. Thousands of TV sets and videos</p><p>would be rendered useless without digital Freeview</p><p>boxes when the analogue signal is turned off. And</p><p>research shows only 43 per cent of Cumbrian households</p><p>have satellite TV, which will continue work after the</p><p>switchover. Freeview boxes currently retail at</p><p>Ł50 upwards and one digital box will be needed</p><p>for each TV set in the home. This week it emerged that</p><p>the regular over-the-air analogue services will be</p><p>phased out nationwide by 2012. The Government has</p><p>always vowed not to switch off the analogue network</p><p>until the majority of homes have upgraded to digital.</p><p>But some believe the Border region will be used to</p><p>find out what level of uptake is politically</p><p>acceptable. </p><p></p><p>ITV SELLS THOMSON STAKE</p><p>ITV has sold its stake in Thomson, the French media</p><p>and information group. According to the Financial</p><p>Times, ITV has agreed to sell 5.5 per cent of Thomson,</p><p>with a book value of £162 million, to the investment</p><p>banks Citigroup and UBS. ITV said it will use the</p><p>proceeds to pay down its debt. This is ITV's second</p><p>sale of non-core businesses. The first was Carlton</p><p>Books in August. </p><p></p><p>CEEFAX CELEBRATES 30TH BIRTHDAY</p><p>The BBC's teletext service - Ceefax - celebrated its</p><p>30th anniversary this week. Launched on September 23,</p><p>1974, Ceefax was developed by BBC broadcast engineers</p><p>who were working on ways of providing subtitles for</p><p>the deaf. They found that a normal television picture</p><p>of 625 lines has "spare" lines at the top of the</p><p>picture that could be used to transmit words or</p><p>numbers. The first time the public heard the name</p><p>Ceefax - which stands for See-Facts - was late in</p><p>1972, in advance of the first experimental</p><p>transmissions. It went live in 1974 but one of the</p><p>early problems was it cost more than £300 to buy a</p><p>decoder and £700 for a new set. But as prices dropped,</p><p>demand grew and by 1985, the number of TV sets with</p><p>access to Ceefax was more than two million. The</p><p>service now has more than 20 million viewers a week.</p><p></p><p>FOOTBALL LEAGUE TO SUE OVER ITV DIGITAL DEAL</p><p>The Football League is launching legal action against</p><p>the solicitors who advised them on the ITV Digital</p><p>deal that fell apart in 2002. Many clubs outside the</p><p>top flight were left in financial limbo after ITV</p><p>Digital went into administration in March of that year</p><p>owing £178.5 million for the remaining two seasons of</p><p>its contract with the League. Some clubs ended up in</p><p>administration as a result and the League are now</p><p>suing law firm Hammonds Solicitors for alleged</p><p>negligence or breach of contract. Sir Brian Mawhinney,</p><p>the Football League chairman, has confirmed that High</p><p>Court proceedings have been issued against Hammonds,</p><p>previously known as Edge Ellison, the legal advisors</p><p>to the League during contract negotiations with ITV</p><p>Digital in 2000. The last legal action by the League</p><p>over the ITV Digital contract ended in defeat two</p><p>years ago when they failed in their efforts to make</p><p>ITV parent companies Carlton and Granada pay up</p><p>instead. The deal struck in June 2000 gave ONDigital</p><p>the right to broadcast Football League matches for</p><p>three seasons from 2001/2 but in the already-inflated</p><p>TV market it proved prohibitively costly. Television</p><p>audiences for matches were often outnumbered by crowds</p><p>at the games and the TV channel collapsed after less</p><p>than a season.</p><p></p><p>BT TAKES ON BS*yB</p><p>BT is to go head-to-head with BS*yB in the pay-TV</p><p>markets by launching its own digital set-top box in</p><p>conjunction with Freeview. The telecoms giant will</p><p>this week begin trials of the box, initally dubbed "BT</p><p>Freeview Plus", which will provide customers with</p><p>digital TV through a conventional TV aerial and</p><p>video-on-demand through a broadband internet</p><p>connection. It will become the central element in BT's</p><p>"new wave" strategy, which seeks to replace declining</p><p>revenues from traditional services, such as fixed-line</p><p>phonecalls, with new services such as broadband</p><p>Internet. The hybrid TV/internet device will cost</p><p>marginally more than existing Freeview boxes, which</p><p>retail at around £50. But customers will be able to</p><p>pay to download films and thousands of programmes</p><p>using their BT broadband internet connection. BT has</p><p>already secured the support of the BBC and a number of</p><p>other broadcasters for the service. TV stations that</p><p>already broadcast on Freeview include Channel 4, Five,</p><p>Ideal World, FTN, QVC, and the Community Channel.</p><p>Unlike the S*y Plus box, BT Freeview Plus will not</p><p>have a hard disk, so it will be able to record and</p><p>store downloaded programmes. Trials of BT Freeview</p><p>Plus will begin this week with just a few hundred</p><p>pre-selected customers. Subcribers will be slowly</p><p>built up over the next few months with a full</p><p>commercial launch planned for next summer. </p><p></p><p>INMEDIA LAUNCHES ADVERT CHANNEL</p><p>The Advert Channel has signed a three-year contract</p><p>with independent global communications company,</p><p>Inmedia, that will see Britain get its first 24 hour</p><p>TV station dedicated solely to airing adverts.</p><p>Broadcasting on the S*y digital satellite channel 694,</p><p>the Advert Channel is dedicated to bringing viewers</p><p>the best (and worst) TV adverts from around the world,</p><p>with a focus on adverts as a form of entertainment,</p><p>culture and from an artistic and creative aspect.</p><p>Programmes on the station will include Ad Chat, where</p><p>presenters will chat live about the top TV adverts;</p><p>Advert Focus, looking at ads making the news; Adverts</p><p>for You, featuring the adverts that make you laugh,</p><p>cry and those that are controversial; and Adverts</p><p>Today, a behind-the-scenes look at how top adverts are</p><p>made. Themed shows will focus on commercials of a</p><p>certain era and segments, such as ads from the 60's,</p><p>70's, 80's and 90's, late night adverts, sports and</p><p>celebrity adverts. The deal will ensure the smooth</p><p>delivery of the new channel's 24 hour programming to</p><p>S*y's 7.3 million subscribers using Inmedia's</p><p>fully-managed playout and satellite uplinking via its</p><p>Eurobird transponder.</p><p></p><p>E U R O P E</p><p></p><p></p><p>FRANCE</p><p></p><p>FOOTBALL TV RIGHTS PROCESS INITIATES</p><p>France's football league, the Ligue de Football</p><p>Professionnel, said potential bidders for rights to</p><p>broadcast top-flight French football matches over the</p><p>next three years have until the end of this month to</p><p>declare their interest in taking part in an upcoming</p><p>auction of the rights. In a legal notice posted on the</p><p>league's web site, the LFP said it will launch the</p><p>auction "in the next few weeks". The main contenders</p><p>for the rights are expected to be Canal Plus, Vivendi</p><p>Universal's pay-TV unit, and TPS, a digital TV</p><p>platform jointly-owned by TF1 and M6. Analysts say</p><p>fierce competition between the two main bidders could</p><p>push the price of the rights to over ?500 million.</p><p>Under the current deal, Canal Plus holds most of the</p><p>rights in a package worth around ?365 million.</p><p></p><p>FRENCH INTERESTED IN BRITISH DTT MODEL</p><p>A French government delegation met on September 22</p><p>British ministerial counterparts and broadcasters to</p><p>discuss applying UK's model for digital TV services in</p><p>France. Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, the French culture</p><p>minister, is also due for talks at Ofcom, the media</p><p>regulator, over the timetable for switching off</p><p>analogue signals in favour of multi-channel digital TV</p><p>transmissions. The French government has set a target</p><p>to achieve 35 per cent digital TV penetration by March</p><p>2005, rising to 85 per cent by 2007. </p><p></p><p>GERMANY</p><p></p><p>KABEL DEUTSCHLAND DROPS TAKEOVER ATTEMPT</p><p>German cable giant Kabel Deutschland (KDG) said on</p><p>September 22 that it has dropped its $3.3 billion</p><p>takeover attempt of three regional cable companies</p><p>after failing to receive regulatory approval for the</p><p>deal. KDG had planned to buy out regional operators</p><p>Ish Iesy and Kabel Baden-Wuerttemberg in a deal that</p><p>would have given the company a virtual monopoly on the</p><p>German market and up KDG's subscriber base from 7</p><p>million to 17 million customers. The deal appeared to</p><p>be dead after Germany's antitrust watchdog expressed</p><p>reservations in August. The authorities said they were</p><p>worried that KDG was not willing to invest enough to</p><p>develop high-speed Internet and cable telephony</p><p>services -- one of the main reasons the federal</p><p>watchdog rejected John Malone's bid for six German</p><p>cable networks two years ago. KDG had offered to</p><p>invest more than $2 billion over the next 10 years in</p><p>Internet and telephone services. </p><p></p><p>SABAN TO TAKE MAJORITY STAKE IN PROSIEBENSAT.1</p><p>Haim Saban will gain a majority stake in broadcaster</p><p>ProSiebenSat.1 following an agreement with media</p><p>company KirchMedia. The group of Saban and five</p><p>private equity firms will raise its stake to 50.5 per</p><p>cent from 37.6 per cent, as KirchMedia's unit Taurus</p><p>TV sells a 12.9 per cent stake to finance payments to</p><p>creditors Axel Springer and Universal Studios. Saban,</p><p>took control of ProSiebenSat.1 in August 2003 by</p><p>buying a 36 per cent stake, with 72 per cent of the</p><p>voting rights, from bankrupt KirchMedia. Meanwhile,</p><p>the administrator of KirchMedia announced that the</p><p>company's unit Taurus TV has ended insolvency</p><p>proceedings after reaching an agreement with</p><p>creditors. Universal Studios, owned by General</p><p>Electric, will receive a 'confidential payment,'</p><p>KirchMedia said. Europe's largest newspaper publisher</p><p>Axel Springer, will get 1.8 per cent of ProSiebenSat.1</p><p>shares from Kirch, increasing its stake in TV</p><p>broadcaster from 10.2 per cent to 12 per cent, as part</p><p>of a settlement and will also get ?60.3 million from</p><p>Kirch. </p><p></p><p>HISTORY AND NEW DISNEY CHANNELS PLANNED</p><p>After a general meeting of regional media regulators,</p><p>the AETN German subsidiary The History Channel has</p><p>obtained a licence to broadcast in the country. The</p><p>channel, which will be part of cable operator KDG's</p><p>digital bouquet, is launching September 27. KDG</p><p>reaches over 10 million homes of which currently</p><p>100,000 have subscribed to digital offers. In</p><p>addition, Disney's German unit has been licensed to</p><p>provide new thematic channels. Buena Vista Germany</p><p>intends to launch its classic animation channel 'Toon</p><p>Disney' and its pre-school offer 'Playhouse Disney',</p><p>after securing long term agreements with pay-TV</p><p>platforms. </p><p></p><p>ITALY</p><p></p><p>NEWS CORP TO BECOME SOLE OWNER OF S*y ITALIA</p><p>News Corp. Ltd should reach a deal on September 28 to</p><p>buy the remaining 20% of pay-TV broadcaster S*y Italia</p><p>it doesn't already own from Telecom Italia, a person</p><p>familiar with the situation told Dow Jones Newswires.</p><p>"The two companies are working to close the deal on</p><p>September 28 for the agreed price of ?88 million," the</p><p>person said.</p><p></p><p>RUSSIA</p><p></p><p>CTC PREPARES SECOND NETWORK</p><p>The country's leading private commercial television</p><p>network, CTC, is set to spend $100 million on building</p><p>a new second-tier entertainment network. The</p><p>as-yet-unnamed network will target women viewers and a</p><p>broader age range than its current core youth</p><p>audience, CTC president and CEO Alexander RodnyanS*y</p><p>said on September 22. The new network -- which will</p><p>launch in the spring -- will be based around a core of</p><p>four stations recently purchased in Moscow, St.</p><p>Petersburg, Perm and Kazan, and comes as part of a</p><p>strategic market restructuring that includes a change</p><p>of name for the network's parent company from</p><p>StoryFirst Communications to CTC Media. </p><p></p><p>DIGITAL TV IN MOSCOW IN TWO YEARS</p><p>Digital television will come to Moscow in two years,</p><p>Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Network</p><p>Director Gennady Sklyar said. He pointed out that</p><p>there was just one digital transmitter for channel 32</p><p>on the Ostankino television tower. However, Pavel</p><p>Komarov, the Deputy General Director of the Ostankino</p><p>television tower, noted that some 4 to 5 new digital</p><p>channels would be launched by the end of 2004. A $1</p><p>million transmitter for Channel One, which is capable</p><p>of broadcasting programs in digital format, was</p><p>launched on November 1, 2003. However, this</p><p>transmitter is not used in a digital mode since there</p><p>are no legal procedures on transferring from analogue</p><p>to digital television broadcast.</p><p></p><p>SPAIN</p><p></p><p>SOGECABLE TO INVEST IN SPANISH MOVIES</p><p>Pay-TV operator Sogecable said on September 21 that it</p><p>has reached landmark deals with some of the country's</p><p>independent distributors for specific titles to</p><p>complete its programming lineup. The deals end a</p><p>drought for acquisitions by the Spanish giant for</p><p>content from Spanish distributors brought on by the</p><p>backlog of titles after the merger of Sogecable and</p><p>rival platform Via Digital last year. The deals --</p><p>signed with Golem, Vertigo, Wanda, Musidora and Alta</p><p>Films -- are for as many as a dozen specific, already</p><p>released titles with distributors that Sogecable felt</p><p>are key to completing its quality programming slate. </p><p></p><p>PRISA TO INCREASE SOGECABLE STAKE</p><p>Media group Prisa confirmed it is going to raise its</p><p>shares in pay-TV group Sogecable up to 24 per cent</p><p>over the next months. Announcing the news, CEO Juan</p><p>Luis Cebrian, said that the move is aimed at "making</p><p>our presence in Sogecable the same as Telefonica", so</p><p>keeping the balance of power within the company.</p><p>Currently, Prisa holds 22 per cent in the pay-TV</p><p>group. Since the merger between the two digital DTH</p><p>platforms, Canal Satelite and Via Digital to create</p><p>Digital Plus, in June 2003, Prisa has increased its</p><p>shares several times, from the initial 16 per cent up</p><p>to the present 22 per cent.</p><p></p><p>SWEDEN</p><p></p><p>VIASAT SUCCESSFUL IN COURT AGAINST CANAL DIGITAL</p><p>Modern Times Group on September 23 announced that its</p><p>application to the Swedish Market Court for a court</p><p>injunction to prohibit Canal Digital from mentioning</p><p>Viasat's TV3, ZTV and TV8 entertainment channels in</p><p>its marketing material has had the desired result.</p><p>Canal Digital has notified the Market Court that it</p><p>has changed its marketing accordingly and has assured</p><p>the Court that the Viasat Channels will not be used in</p><p>future marketing campaigns or materials. No injunction</p><p>is therefore required at this time. The Viasat</p><p>channels therefore continue to be available only to</p><p>subscribers on the Viasat DTH satellite platform, the</p><p>Boxer digital terrestrial network in Sweden and cable</p><p>networks with which Viasat has agreements.</p><p></p><p>TURKEY</p><p></p><p>TRT MOST POPULAR TV CHANNEL</p><p>According to a public poll conducted by the</p><p>state-owned Turkish Radio and Television Corporation</p><p>(TRT), they are the most watched television channel in</p><p>the country. The results of the face to face survey</p><p>conducted on 2,140 people in 15 cities in May and June</p><p>show that 97.3 per cent of people watch TV, and TRT</p><p>was the most watched channel with 17 per cent. Show TV</p><p>followed with 14.1 per cent, ATV with 13.9 per cent,</p><p>Kanal D with 13.1 and Star TV with 8.4 per cent. TRT</p><p>shows between 6 and 9 p.m. were the ones most watched,</p><p>with culture and magazine programs being the most</p><p>popular, noted the poll. Of those polled, 72.87 per</p><p>cent listed the travel documentary "Gezelim Gorelim"</p><p>as their favorite program on the channel, while the</p><p>local music show "Yorelerimiz Turkulerimiz" came</p><p>second with 64.49 per cent. The dramas on TRT were</p><p>also very popular among those polled. When asked what</p><p>type of programs they wanted to watch on TV, 18.6 per</p><p>cent said foreign movies and documentaries. More local</p><p>dramas came second with 18.1 per cent. When asked</p><p>about which news programs they watched, TRT was also</p><p>the most popular. TRT news programs were watched by 33</p><p>per cent, while ATV received 15, Kanal D 13.4 and Show</p><p>TV 11.6 per cent. Among channels that exclusively</p><p>broadcast news, NTV was the most popular with 48.3 per</p><p>cent, followed by CNN-Turk with 28.9 and TRT-2 with</p><p>15.8 per cent. When asked how trustworthy they found</p><p>the TV channels, participants' answer showed that the</p><p>TRT-1 was the most trusted, with 32.8 per cent,</p><p>followed by NTV (14 per cent), CNN-Turk (8.8 per</p><p>cent), ATV (7.7 per cent), Kanal 7 (7.1 per cent) and</p><p>TRT-2 (5.9 per cent). </p><p></p><p>Regards Satdude. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite8" alt=":D" title="Big Grin :D" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":D" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Satdude, post: 63103, member: 175600"] Satellite news 27.09.04 News United Kingdom BORDER TV TO BECOME ALL DIGITAL Sparsely populated Border TV region has emerged as favourite to be the digital television guinea pig for the UK, but large parts of the area, including much of West Cumbria, still cannot receive the digital terrestrial signal. Thousands of TV sets and videos would be rendered useless without digital Freeview boxes when the analogue signal is turned off. And research shows only 43 per cent of Cumbrian households have satellite TV, which will continue work after the switchover. Freeview boxes currently retail at Ł50 upwards and one digital box will be needed for each TV set in the home. This week it emerged that the regular over-the-air analogue services will be phased out nationwide by 2012. The Government has always vowed not to switch off the analogue network until the majority of homes have upgraded to digital. But some believe the Border region will be used to find out what level of uptake is politically acceptable. ITV SELLS THOMSON STAKE ITV has sold its stake in Thomson, the French media and information group. According to the Financial Times, ITV has agreed to sell 5.5 per cent of Thomson, with a book value of £162 million, to the investment banks Citigroup and UBS. ITV said it will use the proceeds to pay down its debt. This is ITV's second sale of non-core businesses. The first was Carlton Books in August. CEEFAX CELEBRATES 30TH BIRTHDAY The BBC's teletext service - Ceefax - celebrated its 30th anniversary this week. Launched on September 23, 1974, Ceefax was developed by BBC broadcast engineers who were working on ways of providing subtitles for the deaf. They found that a normal television picture of 625 lines has "spare" lines at the top of the picture that could be used to transmit words or numbers. The first time the public heard the name Ceefax - which stands for See-Facts - was late in 1972, in advance of the first experimental transmissions. It went live in 1974 but one of the early problems was it cost more than £300 to buy a decoder and £700 for a new set. But as prices dropped, demand grew and by 1985, the number of TV sets with access to Ceefax was more than two million. The service now has more than 20 million viewers a week. FOOTBALL LEAGUE TO SUE OVER ITV DIGITAL DEAL The Football League is launching legal action against the solicitors who advised them on the ITV Digital deal that fell apart in 2002. Many clubs outside the top flight were left in financial limbo after ITV Digital went into administration in March of that year owing £178.5 million for the remaining two seasons of its contract with the League. Some clubs ended up in administration as a result and the League are now suing law firm Hammonds Solicitors for alleged negligence or breach of contract. Sir Brian Mawhinney, the Football League chairman, has confirmed that High Court proceedings have been issued against Hammonds, previously known as Edge Ellison, the legal advisors to the League during contract negotiations with ITV Digital in 2000. The last legal action by the League over the ITV Digital contract ended in defeat two years ago when they failed in their efforts to make ITV parent companies Carlton and Granada pay up instead. The deal struck in June 2000 gave ONDigital the right to broadcast Football League matches for three seasons from 2001/2 but in the already-inflated TV market it proved prohibitively costly. Television audiences for matches were often outnumbered by crowds at the games and the TV channel collapsed after less than a season. BT TAKES ON BS*yB BT is to go head-to-head with BS*yB in the pay-TV markets by launching its own digital set-top box in conjunction with Freeview. The telecoms giant will this week begin trials of the box, initally dubbed "BT Freeview Plus", which will provide customers with digital TV through a conventional TV aerial and video-on-demand through a broadband internet connection. It will become the central element in BT's "new wave" strategy, which seeks to replace declining revenues from traditional services, such as fixed-line phonecalls, with new services such as broadband Internet. The hybrid TV/internet device will cost marginally more than existing Freeview boxes, which retail at around £50. But customers will be able to pay to download films and thousands of programmes using their BT broadband internet connection. BT has already secured the support of the BBC and a number of other broadcasters for the service. TV stations that already broadcast on Freeview include Channel 4, Five, Ideal World, FTN, QVC, and the Community Channel. Unlike the S*y Plus box, BT Freeview Plus will not have a hard disk, so it will be able to record and store downloaded programmes. Trials of BT Freeview Plus will begin this week with just a few hundred pre-selected customers. Subcribers will be slowly built up over the next few months with a full commercial launch planned for next summer. INMEDIA LAUNCHES ADVERT CHANNEL The Advert Channel has signed a three-year contract with independent global communications company, Inmedia, that will see Britain get its first 24 hour TV station dedicated solely to airing adverts. Broadcasting on the S*y digital satellite channel 694, the Advert Channel is dedicated to bringing viewers the best (and worst) TV adverts from around the world, with a focus on adverts as a form of entertainment, culture and from an artistic and creative aspect. Programmes on the station will include Ad Chat, where presenters will chat live about the top TV adverts; Advert Focus, looking at ads making the news; Adverts for You, featuring the adverts that make you laugh, cry and those that are controversial; and Adverts Today, a behind-the-scenes look at how top adverts are made. Themed shows will focus on commercials of a certain era and segments, such as ads from the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's, late night adverts, sports and celebrity adverts. The deal will ensure the smooth delivery of the new channel's 24 hour programming to S*y's 7.3 million subscribers using Inmedia's fully-managed playout and satellite uplinking via its Eurobird transponder. E U R O P E FRANCE FOOTBALL TV RIGHTS PROCESS INITIATES France's football league, the Ligue de Football Professionnel, said potential bidders for rights to broadcast top-flight French football matches over the next three years have until the end of this month to declare their interest in taking part in an upcoming auction of the rights. In a legal notice posted on the league's web site, the LFP said it will launch the auction "in the next few weeks". The main contenders for the rights are expected to be Canal Plus, Vivendi Universal's pay-TV unit, and TPS, a digital TV platform jointly-owned by TF1 and M6. Analysts say fierce competition between the two main bidders could push the price of the rights to over ?500 million. Under the current deal, Canal Plus holds most of the rights in a package worth around ?365 million. FRENCH INTERESTED IN BRITISH DTT MODEL A French government delegation met on September 22 British ministerial counterparts and broadcasters to discuss applying UK's model for digital TV services in France. Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, the French culture minister, is also due for talks at Ofcom, the media regulator, over the timetable for switching off analogue signals in favour of multi-channel digital TV transmissions. The French government has set a target to achieve 35 per cent digital TV penetration by March 2005, rising to 85 per cent by 2007. GERMANY KABEL DEUTSCHLAND DROPS TAKEOVER ATTEMPT German cable giant Kabel Deutschland (KDG) said on September 22 that it has dropped its $3.3 billion takeover attempt of three regional cable companies after failing to receive regulatory approval for the deal. KDG had planned to buy out regional operators Ish Iesy and Kabel Baden-Wuerttemberg in a deal that would have given the company a virtual monopoly on the German market and up KDG's subscriber base from 7 million to 17 million customers. The deal appeared to be dead after Germany's antitrust watchdog expressed reservations in August. The authorities said they were worried that KDG was not willing to invest enough to develop high-speed Internet and cable telephony services -- one of the main reasons the federal watchdog rejected John Malone's bid for six German cable networks two years ago. KDG had offered to invest more than $2 billion over the next 10 years in Internet and telephone services. SABAN TO TAKE MAJORITY STAKE IN PROSIEBENSAT.1 Haim Saban will gain a majority stake in broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 following an agreement with media company KirchMedia. The group of Saban and five private equity firms will raise its stake to 50.5 per cent from 37.6 per cent, as KirchMedia's unit Taurus TV sells a 12.9 per cent stake to finance payments to creditors Axel Springer and Universal Studios. Saban, took control of ProSiebenSat.1 in August 2003 by buying a 36 per cent stake, with 72 per cent of the voting rights, from bankrupt KirchMedia. Meanwhile, the administrator of KirchMedia announced that the company's unit Taurus TV has ended insolvency proceedings after reaching an agreement with creditors. Universal Studios, owned by General Electric, will receive a 'confidential payment,' KirchMedia said. Europe's largest newspaper publisher Axel Springer, will get 1.8 per cent of ProSiebenSat.1 shares from Kirch, increasing its stake in TV broadcaster from 10.2 per cent to 12 per cent, as part of a settlement and will also get ?60.3 million from Kirch. HISTORY AND NEW DISNEY CHANNELS PLANNED After a general meeting of regional media regulators, the AETN German subsidiary The History Channel has obtained a licence to broadcast in the country. The channel, which will be part of cable operator KDG's digital bouquet, is launching September 27. KDG reaches over 10 million homes of which currently 100,000 have subscribed to digital offers. In addition, Disney's German unit has been licensed to provide new thematic channels. Buena Vista Germany intends to launch its classic animation channel 'Toon Disney' and its pre-school offer 'Playhouse Disney', after securing long term agreements with pay-TV platforms. ITALY NEWS CORP TO BECOME SOLE OWNER OF S*y ITALIA News Corp. Ltd should reach a deal on September 28 to buy the remaining 20% of pay-TV broadcaster S*y Italia it doesn't already own from Telecom Italia, a person familiar with the situation told Dow Jones Newswires. "The two companies are working to close the deal on September 28 for the agreed price of ?88 million," the person said. RUSSIA CTC PREPARES SECOND NETWORK The country's leading private commercial television network, CTC, is set to spend $100 million on building a new second-tier entertainment network. The as-yet-unnamed network will target women viewers and a broader age range than its current core youth audience, CTC president and CEO Alexander RodnyanS*y said on September 22. The new network -- which will launch in the spring -- will be based around a core of four stations recently purchased in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Perm and Kazan, and comes as part of a strategic market restructuring that includes a change of name for the network's parent company from StoryFirst Communications to CTC Media. DIGITAL TV IN MOSCOW IN TWO YEARS Digital television will come to Moscow in two years, Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Network Director Gennady Sklyar said. He pointed out that there was just one digital transmitter for channel 32 on the Ostankino television tower. However, Pavel Komarov, the Deputy General Director of the Ostankino television tower, noted that some 4 to 5 new digital channels would be launched by the end of 2004. A $1 million transmitter for Channel One, which is capable of broadcasting programs in digital format, was launched on November 1, 2003. However, this transmitter is not used in a digital mode since there are no legal procedures on transferring from analogue to digital television broadcast. SPAIN SOGECABLE TO INVEST IN SPANISH MOVIES Pay-TV operator Sogecable said on September 21 that it has reached landmark deals with some of the country's independent distributors for specific titles to complete its programming lineup. The deals end a drought for acquisitions by the Spanish giant for content from Spanish distributors brought on by the backlog of titles after the merger of Sogecable and rival platform Via Digital last year. The deals -- signed with Golem, Vertigo, Wanda, Musidora and Alta Films -- are for as many as a dozen specific, already released titles with distributors that Sogecable felt are key to completing its quality programming slate. PRISA TO INCREASE SOGECABLE STAKE Media group Prisa confirmed it is going to raise its shares in pay-TV group Sogecable up to 24 per cent over the next months. Announcing the news, CEO Juan Luis Cebrian, said that the move is aimed at "making our presence in Sogecable the same as Telefonica", so keeping the balance of power within the company. Currently, Prisa holds 22 per cent in the pay-TV group. Since the merger between the two digital DTH platforms, Canal Satelite and Via Digital to create Digital Plus, in June 2003, Prisa has increased its shares several times, from the initial 16 per cent up to the present 22 per cent. SWEDEN VIASAT SUCCESSFUL IN COURT AGAINST CANAL DIGITAL Modern Times Group on September 23 announced that its application to the Swedish Market Court for a court injunction to prohibit Canal Digital from mentioning Viasat's TV3, ZTV and TV8 entertainment channels in its marketing material has had the desired result. Canal Digital has notified the Market Court that it has changed its marketing accordingly and has assured the Court that the Viasat Channels will not be used in future marketing campaigns or materials. No injunction is therefore required at this time. The Viasat channels therefore continue to be available only to subscribers on the Viasat DTH satellite platform, the Boxer digital terrestrial network in Sweden and cable networks with which Viasat has agreements. TURKEY TRT MOST POPULAR TV CHANNEL According to a public poll conducted by the state-owned Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT), they are the most watched television channel in the country. The results of the face to face survey conducted on 2,140 people in 15 cities in May and June show that 97.3 per cent of people watch TV, and TRT was the most watched channel with 17 per cent. Show TV followed with 14.1 per cent, ATV with 13.9 per cent, Kanal D with 13.1 and Star TV with 8.4 per cent. TRT shows between 6 and 9 p.m. were the ones most watched, with culture and magazine programs being the most popular, noted the poll. Of those polled, 72.87 per cent listed the travel documentary "Gezelim Gorelim" as their favorite program on the channel, while the local music show "Yorelerimiz Turkulerimiz" came second with 64.49 per cent. The dramas on TRT were also very popular among those polled. When asked what type of programs they wanted to watch on TV, 18.6 per cent said foreign movies and documentaries. More local dramas came second with 18.1 per cent. When asked about which news programs they watched, TRT was also the most popular. TRT news programs were watched by 33 per cent, while ATV received 15, Kanal D 13.4 and Show TV 11.6 per cent. Among channels that exclusively broadcast news, NTV was the most popular with 48.3 per cent, followed by CNN-Turk with 28.9 and TRT-2 with 15.8 per cent. When asked how trustworthy they found the TV channels, participants' answer showed that the TRT-1 was the most trusted, with 32.8 per cent, followed by NTV (14 per cent), CNN-Turk (8.8 per cent), ATV (7.7 per cent), Kanal 7 (7.1 per cent) and TRT-2 (5.9 per cent). Regards Satdude. :D [/QUOTE]
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Satellite news 30.03.05
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