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Satellite news 30.03.05
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<blockquote data-quote="Satdude" data-source="post: 64082" data-attributes="member: 175600"><p>Satellite news 04.10.04</p><p></p><p>News</p><p></p><p>UK</p><p></p><p>OFCOM PROPOSES NEW PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTER</p><p>Media regulator Ofcom is proposing the introduction of</p><p>a new TV channel to broadcast public service</p><p>programmes in the UK. The new network could cost</p><p>around £300 million a year to run, the watchdog said.</p><p>Ofcom's ideas are set out in its second interim report</p><p>on public service broadcasting (PS<img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite6" alt=":cool:" title="Cool :cool:" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":cool:" />, with a final</p><p>review to be published at the end of the year. Channel</p><p>4 will be a "critical second provider" of public</p><p>service broadcasting alongside the BBC, Ofcom says.</p><p>Meanwhile ITV1 will be allowed to phase out its</p><p>regional non-news programmes, with some of those</p><p>responsibilities passing to the BBC. The BBC should</p><p>continue to be paid for through the licence fee "as</p><p>long as it retains broad public support" and</p><p>contributes to society. Ofcom says advertising and</p><p>direct government funding should be ruled out for the</p><p>BBC but says the nature of the TV licence fee could</p><p>change in the future. It suggests three "realistic"</p><p>ways to fund the new public service channel, as public</p><p>service broadcasting in general. Licence fee payers</p><p>could be charged an "enhanced" fee, taxpayers could</p><p>pay through a government grant or UK broadcasters</p><p>could be taxed on their turnover. </p><p></p><p>EEEZEE TV PLANS HOME SHOPPING VENTURE</p><p>Kleeneze, the home shopping specialist, has announced</p><p>an investment of some £4 million over two years in a</p><p>joint venture TV shopping channel carried on S*y</p><p>Digital channel 664. The channel, which the group has</p><p>branded eezee TV, will broadcast as a pre-recorded</p><p>channel until March 2005. In March 2005 eezee TV will</p><p>be re-launched as a live channel with 16 hours live</p><p>programming and 8 hours pre-recorded programming</p><p>daily, giving a 24-hour a day service. Kleeneze said</p><p>that the expansion into television shopping presents</p><p>significant cross-promotional and cross-selling</p><p>opportunities for the group. The joint venture</p><p>partner, JML, is a well-established retail distributor</p><p>and producer of promotional videos and has broadcast</p><p>the pre-recorded shopping channel under the name JML</p><p>Direct since 2002. </p><p></p><p>ITV SIGNS WARNER BROS OUTPUT DEAL</p><p>ITV has inked a volume deal with Warner Bros</p><p>International Television Distribution. ITV has</p><p>acquired feature films from Warner Bros' 2003, 2004</p><p>and 2005 theatrical slates including titles like Harry</p><p>Potter sequels The Chamber of Secrets & The Prisoner</p><p>of Azkaban, plus Matrix spin-offs Reloaded and</p><p>Revolutions. Also in the mixed bag are Scooby Doo and</p><p>Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, The Last Samurai,</p><p>Troy, Ocean's 11 and the upcoming Ocean's 12, The</p><p>Polar Express and Alexander. The deal includes library</p><p>titles like Unforgiven, The Fugitive, The Matrix,</p><p>Maverick, Lethal Weapon and Wild, Wild West. ITV3,</p><p>aimed at the over-35s, is due to start transmission on</p><p>November 1, airing UK reruns like Prime Suspect and</p><p>Cold Feet and US crime drama and feature films. US</p><p>drama imports already acquired for the network include</p><p>Crossing Jordan, LA Dragnet, Quincy and Karen Sisco.</p><p></p><p>BS*yB SEES DVR FUTURE</p><p>BS*yB is hoping digital video recorder technology</p><p>might help resolve the problem of the subscriber</p><p>growth stall. Figures out on September 28 suggest that</p><p>1 million U.K. households will be plugged into DVR</p><p>technology within the next year. Some 400,000 of</p><p>BS*yB's 7.4 million subscribers have S*y Plus boxes,</p><p>and S*y hopes to increase this number to 2.5 million</p><p>by 2010. Despite S*y's marketing push, however,</p><p>consumers are confused about the benefits of DVRs,</p><p>which allow viewers to record programs onto a hard</p><p>disc. According to Continental Research, less than</p><p>four in 10 people understand what DVRs are, with</p><p>awareness highest among young men in S*y Digital</p><p>homes. Meanwhile, S*y launched a new service enabling</p><p>S*y Plus boxes to record interactive programs.</p><p></p><p>BS*yB LAUNCHES BIGGEST ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN IN YEARS</p><p>BS*yB unveiled its biggest advertising campaign in six</p><p>years on September 30 as it seeks to reverse slowing</p><p>subscriber growth and wrest back the initiative from</p><p>Freeview. John Florsheim, managing director of sales</p><p>and marketing at BS*yB, admitted previous advertising</p><p>campaigns had not won over the 11 million terrestrial</p><p>viewers in Britain. Freeview watchers and families</p><p>with nursery-age children - a prime BS*yB customer -</p><p>will be among the groups targeted by a three-month</p><p>push. The advertising blitz follows a strategic shift</p><p>ordered by James Murdoch, the chief executive, which</p><p>included raising the annual marketing budget by 50% to</p><p>£75 million. BS*yB is chasing subscriber targets of 8</p><p>million by next year and 10 million by 2010 amid a</p><p>marked slowdown in the growth of customer numbers.</p><p>BS*yB dominates the pay-TV market with 7.4 million</p><p>subscribers, with 90% of new customers buying top-tier</p><p>deals costing £39 to £41 per month. The group is now</p><p>targeting potential customers with cheaper packages,</p><p>previously a low priority. BS*yB added 66,000</p><p>customers in the first three months of 2004, but</p><p>disappointed the market when it gained 81,000</p><p>subscribers in the second quarter against expectations</p><p>of 100,000 to 130,000. </p><p></p><p>BBC COMPLETES SALE OF TECHNOLOGY UNIT TO SIEMENS</p><p>The BBC has completed the procurement for a 10-year</p><p>Technology Framework Contract (TFC) with Siemens</p><p>Business Services worth almost £2 billion. As part of</p><p>the landmark deal, Siemens Business Services has</p><p>acquired BBC Technology, a commercial subsidiary of</p><p>the BBC. BBC Technology will be renamed Siemens</p><p>Business Services Media Holdings. The BBC has received</p><p>approval for the sale from the Secretary of State for</p><p>Culture, Media and Sport and approval from the BBC</p><p>Governors for both the procurement and the sale. The</p><p>two-part deal covering both contract and acquisition -</p><p>the first of its kind in the media industry - means</p><p>Siemens Business Services will work closely with BBC</p><p>Technology Direction, the department responsible for</p><p>the BBC's technology strategy and development, to</p><p>deliver the BBC's technology services across the whole</p><p>corporation for the next 10 years. The BBC expects to</p><p>save around £30 million per annum over the life of the</p><p>contract. </p><p></p><p>BDA LAUNCHES PROPERTY CHANNEL</p><p>Production company BDA (Bruce Dunlop & Associates)</p><p>announced the launch of an entertainment-led property</p><p>channel on the S*y Platform. Real Estate TV will be</p><p>launched in October 2004 in the UK. Former Flextech</p><p>management board member Mark Dodd will be heading up</p><p>Real Estate TV in partnership with BDA. "In addition</p><p>to providing developers and agents with a new way to</p><p>market property not only in the UK, but across the</p><p>world, Real Estate TV differs from other dedicated</p><p>teleshopping channels by offering viewers a wide</p><p>selection of the latest editorial content, including</p><p>the channel's very own commissioned programmes, " the</p><p>company commented. Real Estate TV has also acquired</p><p>the programming rights for Property Rescue and the</p><p>exclusive rights to Location Location. Complementary</p><p>to the editorial content, Real Estate TV will also be</p><p>presenting a blend of teleshopping windows and spot</p><p>advertising. The interactive aspect of the channel</p><p>will be supported by Broadband and mobile telephone</p><p>services. The channel will air on S*y 18 hours a day,</p><p>from 6am to midnight, and negotiations to transmit the</p><p>channel over cable are underway with both NTL and</p><p>Telewest.</p><p></p><p>E U R O P E</p><p></p><p>ESPN SEEKS TO EXPAND IN EUROPE</p><p>The Walt Disney Company's ESPN sports television</p><p>network is in discussions with European broadcasters</p><p>to launch its first live channel in the region after</p><p>securing a beachhead with the introduction of its</p><p>Classic Sports platform Russell Wolff, managing</p><p>director of ESPN International, told The Times that</p><p>"we have had discussions, and are in discussions, with</p><p>a variety of people" to launch a live 24-hour ESPN</p><p>channel in Europe. The talks come as ESPN launches</p><p>ESPN Classic Sports on Germany's Kabel Deutschland,</p><p>taking its total audience across the region to more</p><p>than 14 million households in 37 countries. ESPN is</p><p>also in talks with BS*yB to broadcast the channel,</p><p>which replays footage from past sporting events. The</p><p>global expansion of ESPN is part of a broader strategy</p><p>at Disney to leverage the strength of its television</p><p>assets outside the US. Since 1995 Disney has launched</p><p>25 TV channels in 68 countries. Wolff said that Europe</p><p>was the last major market around the world where ESPN</p><p>did not have a live channel. </p><p></p><p>DENMARK</p><p></p><p>TV2 CHARLIE ON AIR</p><p>Commercial broadcaster TV2's new channel Charlie</p><p>launched on October 1 with a slew of drama titles</p><p>acquired from BBC Worldwide. Aimed at the 40+ crowd,</p><p>the channel will be carrying a mix of recent and</p><p>classic BBC series, from Pride & Prejudice and</p><p>Ballykissangel to Cambridge Spies and all seasons of</p><p>Monarch of the Glen and Judge John Deed. Other titles</p><p>included in the deal are: The Cazelets, Daniel</p><p>Deronda, The Way We Live Now, When the Boat Comes,</p><p>Take a Girl Like You, Wives and Daughters and Madame</p><p>Bovary. The volume deal with BBCWW follows TV2</p><p>Charlie's earlier deal with Granada International for</p><p>titles including Hornblower, Kavanagh QC, The Vice,</p><p>Jeeves & Wooster, The Brief, Moll Flanders, Catherine</p><p>Cookson titles, Peak Practice, The Hunt and Brideshead</p><p>Revisited. The new channel sits alongside the recently</p><p>launched TV2 Zulu, which is targeted towards the youth</p><p>market.</p><p></p><p>FRANCE</p><p></p><p>FIRST mature content TV STATION PREPARES FOR LAUNCH</p><p>Calling it "a giant leap for television, a small step</p><p>in high heels," organisers on September 27 launched</p><p>France's first TV channel aimed at mature content, mature content and</p><p>transgender audiences. PinkTV was unveiled in Paris,</p><p>where organisers believe most of the channel's</p><p>audience will be located. France estimates its mature content</p><p>population to be about 3.5 million people. Accessible</p><p>by subscription and available in France via cable and</p><p>satellite starting October 25, PinkTV follows in the</p><p>footsteps of Canada's PrideVision, and mature content channels in</p><p>the U.K. and Italy. Offering a mix of currant affairs</p><p>shows, films, documentaries, music programming and TV</p><p>series like the Canadian-produced Queer as Folk, the</p><p>channel has no plans to be militant, organisers said.</p><p>Pink TV will offer a slew of shows imported from</p><p>Britain and the United States, where mature content programming</p><p>has become firmly established in the past few years.</p><p>Programmes will include "Metrosexuality", "Queer as</p><p>Folk" and "French and Saunders" -- all in English with</p><p>French subtitles. mature content opera and ballet and</p><p>documentaries will also be screened, as will interview</p><p>shows, notably one hosted by one of France's leading</p><p>news presenters, Claire Chazal.</p><p></p><p>GERMANY</p><p></p><p>DISNEY TO LAUNCH TWO CHANNELS ON CABLE PLATFORM</p><p>Playhouse Disney Channel and Toon Disney Channel are</p><p>set to launch in Germany on Kabel Deutschland's new</p><p>digital program platform Kabel Digital Home on</p><p>November 10. Playhouse Disney will be the first</p><p>dedicated preschool channel for Germany, featuring</p><p>shows like New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Stanley</p><p>and Bear in the Big Blue House. It will broadcast</p><p>daily from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Toon Disney will operate</p><p>for 24 hours a day with a slate of animated titles</p><p>such Disney's Recess and Disney's Kim Possible. The</p><p>German launches follow the two channels' previous</p><p>debuts in the UK, France and Spain. Alongside the</p><p>Disney offerings, KDG's new rival to Premiere will</p><p>also carry E! Entertainment, BBC Prime, Fashion TV,</p><p>13th Street, AXN, Sci-Fi, Kinowelt, History Channel,</p><p>Nat Geo, Planet, Extreme Sports, ESPN Classic Sports,</p><p>Sailing Channel, NASN, Motors TV, MTV Hits, MTV Dance,</p><p>VH1 Classic, Trace TV and Playboy TV. </p><p></p><p>FIRST PERSIAN TV CHANNEL STARTS BROADCASTING</p><p>Germany's first Farsi-language television station</p><p>"Mohajer International TV" has begun broadcasting a</p><p>24-hour test programme of music, dance, movies and</p><p>news. A spokesman said the digital station is</p><p>currently free to air on the Hotbird 6 satellite</p><p>system in Germany and hopes to broadcast to other</p><p>countries in Europe and the Middle East and eventually</p><p>Iran itself. He added that the station, in which a 50</p><p>per cent stake is held by Iranian businessman Hassan</p><p>Arpanahi, would like initially to reach the estimated</p><p>6,000 people from the Islamic Republic living in</p><p>Europe. He said the goal is to ultimately finance the</p><p>channel through advertising. Mohajer was given the</p><p>green light by German authorities to begin</p><p>broadcasting in July mainly because of its cultural</p><p>content, including programmes about music, the media,</p><p>film, lifestyle and cooking. It also has a documentary</p><p>show and news bulletins.</p><p></p><p>ESPN CLASSIC SPORT SIGNS CABLE DEAL</p><p>ESPN Classic Sport's English-language channel is now</p><p>available on Kabel Deutschland (KDG) in Germany. ESPN</p><p>Classic Sport, which will be included in KDG's new</p><p>digital home package, will transmit 24-hours a day,</p><p>seven days a week, offering German viewers a sporting</p><p>mix from Europe and around the world. It will also</p><p>feature a nightly two-hour German-language programming</p><p>block from 10pm, featuring some of Germany's greatest</p><p>athletes and most famous sporting moments. ESPN</p><p>Classic Sport already has distribution among</p><p>multi-channel homes in France and Italy (88 per cent</p><p>and 100 per cent, respectively) via affiliates such as</p><p>CanalSatellite, TPS, NOOS, FTC, UPC and S*y Italia.</p><p>ESPN Classic Sport is also available as a three-hour</p><p>branded block to 5.9 million subscribers in an</p><p>additional 11 European countries. In total, ESPN</p><p>Classic Sport programming can be seen in more than 14</p><p>million households in 37 countries. </p><p></p><p>NO-GO FOR KIRCH SUIT AGAINST DEUTSCHE BANK AND LIBERTY</p><p>MEDIA</p><p>A US court has thrown out a suit by former German</p><p>media mogul Leo Kirch against US cable operator</p><p>Liberty Media and German bank Deutsche Bank for</p><p>allegedly conspiring to bring about the downfall of</p><p>Kirch's media empire in 2002, Deutsche Bank revealed.</p><p>Kirch had filed a 39-page complaint with a court in</p><p>New York in January, accusing Deutsche Bank and</p><p>Liberty Media and their chairmen of plotting the</p><p>destruction of the Kirch Group in a bid to rid Liberty</p><p>Media of an unwelcome rival in the German cable</p><p>television market and secure hefty commissions for</p><p>Deutsche Bank. The complaint alleged that Liberty</p><p>Media and its chairman John Malone and Deutsche Bank</p><p>and its former chairman Rolf Breuer "conspired to</p><p>undermine a deal Kirch was negotiating to bring his</p><p>privately-owned group public by 2004". But the court</p><p>found that Kirch had failed to prove his case and</p><p>"dismissed (the suit) for failure to state a claim,"</p><p>according to a copy of the ruling made available by</p><p>Deutsche Bank. The conflict dates back to comments</p><p>made by Deutsche Bank's then chairman Breuer made on</p><p>television in 2002, in which he publicly questioned</p><p>the creditworthiness of the Kirch group. Soon</p><p>afterwards, banks refused to lend Kirch any more money</p><p>and KirchMedia, the main pillar of the Kirch Group,</p><p>filed for insolvency in April 2002. </p><p></p><p>PLAYBOY SIGNS CARRIAGE DEAL</p><p>Playboy TV International has reached a deal to launch</p><p>on KDG's Kabel Digital Home platform. Playboy TV will</p><p>air nightly from 9 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. Initially</p><p>available in English, the channel will add</p><p>German-dubbed programming over the course of its</p><p>rollout. The new platform launched on September 27.</p><p>Germany's Federal Cartel Office last week vetoed KDG's</p><p>plans to merge with three regional cable operators.</p><p>Operating cable services in 13 German states, with a</p><p>reach of more than 10m households, Munich-based KDG is</p><p>already Europe's biggest cable operator.</p><p></p><p>NEW HOME SHOPPING CHANNEL ON ASTRA</p><p>SES ASTRA and 1-2-3.TV have announced the launch of a</p><p>new concept in home shopping. On 1-2-3.TV, it is the</p><p>customers who decide the price of each product by</p><p>making an offer for each item by telephone. If that</p><p>offer is one of the highest received for the items</p><p>being presented, the purchase then takes place. The</p><p>new channel is available throughout Europe via ASTRA</p><p>19.2° East (transponder 47; downlink frequency</p><p>11170.75 MHz; horizontal polarisation) and in digital</p><p>(frequency 12.46050 GHz; horizontal polarisation,</p><p>symbol rate 27.5; FEC 3/4). In addition to managing</p><p>directors Dr. Andreas Büchelhofer and Henning</p><p>Schnepper, the company's shareholders include the</p><p>venture capital companies Wellington Partners, 3i,</p><p>Target Partners and Cuneo AG. 1-2-3.TV GmbH is hoping</p><p>to break even in its third financial year, by which</p><p>time it expects to have achieved approximately half a</p><p>million registered customers.</p><p></p><p>BBC PRIME ADDS GERMAN SUBSCRIBERS</p><p>BBC Prime expands in Germany with KDGBBC Worldwide,</p><p>the commercial consumer arm of the BBC, and Kabel</p><p>Deutschland (KDG), Germany's leading cable network,</p><p>have announced an agreement to provide carriage for</p><p>British entertainment channel, BBC Prime, across</p><p>Germany. BBC Prime has been selected by KDG for </p><p>inclusion in its new Kabel Digital HOME package,</p><p>launched this week in Munich, which heralds a major</p><p>push to drive digital uptake in Germany. BBC Prime is</p><p>broadcast to over 20 million subscribers across</p><p>Europe, the Middle East and Africa on cable and</p><p>satellite. This flagship British cable channel shows</p><p>the best of the BBC's award-winning programmes from</p><p>drama, comedy, children's, documentary, film, music,</p><p>lifestyle series and celebrity talkshows. </p><p></p><p>ITALY</p><p></p><p>NEWS CORP BECOMES SOLE OWNER OF S*y ITALIA</p><p>News Corp. on September 28 said that it agreed to buy</p><p>the 20 per cent of S*y Italia, the</p><p>satellite-television broadcaster that it does not</p><p>already own from Telecom Italia for ?88 million. The</p><p>deal comes as News Corp., the media conglomerate</p><p>controlled by Rupert Murdoch and his family, seeks to</p><p>make S*y Italia break even next year. Telecom Italia</p><p>is selling non-core assets to meet its year-end target</p><p>of cutting its debt to below ?30 billion. News Corp.</p><p>formed S*y Italia, Italy's only satellite TV provider,</p><p>last year after buying rival Tele+ from Vivendi</p><p>Universal and merging it with Stream, as News Corp.'s</p><p>satellite channel was called. S*y Italia has 2.7</p><p>million subscribers. Telecom Italia, which runs two TV</p><p>stations in Italy, was prevented from exercising</p><p>management control over S*y Italia because of</p><p>antitrust rules approving News Corp.'s purchase of</p><p>Tele+. </p><p></p><p>THE NETHERLANDS</p><p></p><p>DE MOL BUYS DUTCH FOOTBALL TEAM TV RIGHTS</p><p>Dutch billionaire and media mogul John de Mol, through</p><p>his investment company Talpa Capital, has bought up</p><p>the rights to broadcast all six away games for the</p><p>Dutch team in the qualification rounds for the World</p><p>Cup in 2006. Talpa outbid Dutch broadcasters RTL</p><p>Netherlands, SBS Broadcasting and the Dutch public</p><p>broadcasters for the rights to the qualification</p><p>matches which all three other contenders said were too</p><p>expensive for them to take on. First broadcast of the</p><p>away games will be seen October 9, well before De</p><p>Mol's new venture is set to kick off. The six away</p><p>games for the Dutch team were said to have cost as</p><p>much as ?900,000 per game. .</p><p></p><p>CASEMA TO OFFER FREE DIGITAL TV CHANNELS</p><p>Cable operator Casema intends to add an additional 40</p><p>to 50 digital TV channels for free with the standard</p><p>analogue TV package as of January 1. With this offer,</p><p>Casema hopes to attract more customers to digital</p><p>television. At the moment, Casema has around 24,000</p><p>digital subscribers. In order to be able to watch the</p><p>free stations, customers will still need to buy a</p><p>digital receiver, which is available for between ?100</p><p>and ?200. Casema is aims for a penetration of digital</p><p>receivers of ten per cent by the end of 2005, and 80</p><p>per cent within five years. Casema is the third cable</p><p>operator in the Netherlands with 1.3 million</p><p>subscribers.</p><p></p><p>POLAND</p><p></p><p>TP PLANS DIGITAL PAY-TV SERVICE</p><p>In a few months TP will offer its customers digital TV</p><p>and thus will enter direct competition with cable</p><p>television operators. According to local press</p><p>reports, the company might offer its services 20-30%</p><p>cheaper than currently offered by the largest cable</p><p>operators. "We might pitch our offer in Q2 2005, with</p><p>a test phase probably beginning early next year," said</p><p>Mariusz Gaca, director of the multimedia division of</p><p>TP. A key advantage the phone company will have is its</p><p>range, as it will be able to enter the homes of</p><p>broadband Internet subscribers. </p><p></p><p>RUSSIA</p><p></p><p>MURDOCH SEEKS TO EXPAND INTO RUSSIA</p><p>Rupert Murdoch, owner of News Corporation, wants to</p><p>expand his operations into Russian television, where</p><p>he plans to create a pay-for-view platform and produce</p><p>TV programs, Britain's Sunday Telegraph quoted Marty</p><p>Pompadur, one of Murdoch's aides, who is currently on</p><p>a fact-finding mission in Russia. "We are looking for</p><p>other investments," Pompadur told the newspaper. "We</p><p>are looking to add to our radio and our outdoor</p><p>[advertising] holdings, and we are interested in</p><p>pay-TV and content." The company is considering</p><p>satellite, cable and broadband Internet as ways of</p><p>creating a pay-TV platform in Russia. As Russian</p><p>Internet news resource Newsru.com reported, in</p><p>November 2003 Murdoch was considering the possibility</p><p>of buying part of the shares in the Russian satellite</p><p>television company NTV Plus but the negotiations</p><p>brought no positive results. </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: 64082, member: 175600"] Satellite news 04.10.04 News UK OFCOM PROPOSES NEW PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTER Media regulator Ofcom is proposing the introduction of a new TV channel to broadcast public service programmes in the UK. The new network could cost around £300 million a year to run, the watchdog said. Ofcom's ideas are set out in its second interim report on public service broadcasting (PSB), with a final review to be published at the end of the year. Channel 4 will be a "critical second provider" of public service broadcasting alongside the BBC, Ofcom says. Meanwhile ITV1 will be allowed to phase out its regional non-news programmes, with some of those responsibilities passing to the BBC. The BBC should continue to be paid for through the licence fee "as long as it retains broad public support" and contributes to society. Ofcom says advertising and direct government funding should be ruled out for the BBC but says the nature of the TV licence fee could change in the future. It suggests three "realistic" ways to fund the new public service channel, as public service broadcasting in general. Licence fee payers could be charged an "enhanced" fee, taxpayers could pay through a government grant or UK broadcasters could be taxed on their turnover. EEEZEE TV PLANS HOME SHOPPING VENTURE Kleeneze, the home shopping specialist, has announced an investment of some £4 million over two years in a joint venture TV shopping channel carried on S*y Digital channel 664. The channel, which the group has branded eezee TV, will broadcast as a pre-recorded channel until March 2005. In March 2005 eezee TV will be re-launched as a live channel with 16 hours live programming and 8 hours pre-recorded programming daily, giving a 24-hour a day service. Kleeneze said that the expansion into television shopping presents significant cross-promotional and cross-selling opportunities for the group. The joint venture partner, JML, is a well-established retail distributor and producer of promotional videos and has broadcast the pre-recorded shopping channel under the name JML Direct since 2002. ITV SIGNS WARNER BROS OUTPUT DEAL ITV has inked a volume deal with Warner Bros International Television Distribution. ITV has acquired feature films from Warner Bros' 2003, 2004 and 2005 theatrical slates including titles like Harry Potter sequels The Chamber of Secrets & The Prisoner of Azkaban, plus Matrix spin-offs Reloaded and Revolutions. Also in the mixed bag are Scooby Doo and Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, The Last Samurai, Troy, Ocean's 11 and the upcoming Ocean's 12, The Polar Express and Alexander. The deal includes library titles like Unforgiven, The Fugitive, The Matrix, Maverick, Lethal Weapon and Wild, Wild West. ITV3, aimed at the over-35s, is due to start transmission on November 1, airing UK reruns like Prime Suspect and Cold Feet and US crime drama and feature films. US drama imports already acquired for the network include Crossing Jordan, LA Dragnet, Quincy and Karen Sisco. BS*yB SEES DVR FUTURE BS*yB is hoping digital video recorder technology might help resolve the problem of the subscriber growth stall. Figures out on September 28 suggest that 1 million U.K. households will be plugged into DVR technology within the next year. Some 400,000 of BS*yB's 7.4 million subscribers have S*y Plus boxes, and S*y hopes to increase this number to 2.5 million by 2010. Despite S*y's marketing push, however, consumers are confused about the benefits of DVRs, which allow viewers to record programs onto a hard disc. According to Continental Research, less than four in 10 people understand what DVRs are, with awareness highest among young men in S*y Digital homes. Meanwhile, S*y launched a new service enabling S*y Plus boxes to record interactive programs. BS*yB LAUNCHES BIGGEST ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN IN YEARS BS*yB unveiled its biggest advertising campaign in six years on September 30 as it seeks to reverse slowing subscriber growth and wrest back the initiative from Freeview. John Florsheim, managing director of sales and marketing at BS*yB, admitted previous advertising campaigns had not won over the 11 million terrestrial viewers in Britain. Freeview watchers and families with nursery-age children - a prime BS*yB customer - will be among the groups targeted by a three-month push. The advertising blitz follows a strategic shift ordered by James Murdoch, the chief executive, which included raising the annual marketing budget by 50% to £75 million. BS*yB is chasing subscriber targets of 8 million by next year and 10 million by 2010 amid a marked slowdown in the growth of customer numbers. BS*yB dominates the pay-TV market with 7.4 million subscribers, with 90% of new customers buying top-tier deals costing £39 to £41 per month. The group is now targeting potential customers with cheaper packages, previously a low priority. BS*yB added 66,000 customers in the first three months of 2004, but disappointed the market when it gained 81,000 subscribers in the second quarter against expectations of 100,000 to 130,000. BBC COMPLETES SALE OF TECHNOLOGY UNIT TO SIEMENS The BBC has completed the procurement for a 10-year Technology Framework Contract (TFC) with Siemens Business Services worth almost £2 billion. As part of the landmark deal, Siemens Business Services has acquired BBC Technology, a commercial subsidiary of the BBC. BBC Technology will be renamed Siemens Business Services Media Holdings. The BBC has received approval for the sale from the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and approval from the BBC Governors for both the procurement and the sale. The two-part deal covering both contract and acquisition - the first of its kind in the media industry - means Siemens Business Services will work closely with BBC Technology Direction, the department responsible for the BBC's technology strategy and development, to deliver the BBC's technology services across the whole corporation for the next 10 years. The BBC expects to save around £30 million per annum over the life of the contract. BDA LAUNCHES PROPERTY CHANNEL Production company BDA (Bruce Dunlop & Associates) announced the launch of an entertainment-led property channel on the S*y Platform. Real Estate TV will be launched in October 2004 in the UK. Former Flextech management board member Mark Dodd will be heading up Real Estate TV in partnership with BDA. "In addition to providing developers and agents with a new way to market property not only in the UK, but across the world, Real Estate TV differs from other dedicated teleshopping channels by offering viewers a wide selection of the latest editorial content, including the channel's very own commissioned programmes, " the company commented. Real Estate TV has also acquired the programming rights for Property Rescue and the exclusive rights to Location Location. Complementary to the editorial content, Real Estate TV will also be presenting a blend of teleshopping windows and spot advertising. The interactive aspect of the channel will be supported by Broadband and mobile telephone services. The channel will air on S*y 18 hours a day, from 6am to midnight, and negotiations to transmit the channel over cable are underway with both NTL and Telewest. E U R O P E ESPN SEEKS TO EXPAND IN EUROPE The Walt Disney Company's ESPN sports television network is in discussions with European broadcasters to launch its first live channel in the region after securing a beachhead with the introduction of its Classic Sports platform Russell Wolff, managing director of ESPN International, told The Times that "we have had discussions, and are in discussions, with a variety of people" to launch a live 24-hour ESPN channel in Europe. The talks come as ESPN launches ESPN Classic Sports on Germany's Kabel Deutschland, taking its total audience across the region to more than 14 million households in 37 countries. ESPN is also in talks with BS*yB to broadcast the channel, which replays footage from past sporting events. The global expansion of ESPN is part of a broader strategy at Disney to leverage the strength of its television assets outside the US. Since 1995 Disney has launched 25 TV channels in 68 countries. Wolff said that Europe was the last major market around the world where ESPN did not have a live channel. DENMARK TV2 CHARLIE ON AIR Commercial broadcaster TV2's new channel Charlie launched on October 1 with a slew of drama titles acquired from BBC Worldwide. Aimed at the 40+ crowd, the channel will be carrying a mix of recent and classic BBC series, from Pride & Prejudice and Ballykissangel to Cambridge Spies and all seasons of Monarch of the Glen and Judge John Deed. Other titles included in the deal are: The Cazelets, Daniel Deronda, The Way We Live Now, When the Boat Comes, Take a Girl Like You, Wives and Daughters and Madame Bovary. The volume deal with BBCWW follows TV2 Charlie's earlier deal with Granada International for titles including Hornblower, Kavanagh QC, The Vice, Jeeves & Wooster, The Brief, Moll Flanders, Catherine Cookson titles, Peak Practice, The Hunt and Brideshead Revisited. The new channel sits alongside the recently launched TV2 Zulu, which is targeted towards the youth market. FRANCE FIRST mature content TV STATION PREPARES FOR LAUNCH Calling it "a giant leap for television, a small step in high heels," organisers on September 27 launched France's first TV channel aimed at mature content, mature content and transgender audiences. PinkTV was unveiled in Paris, where organisers believe most of the channel's audience will be located. France estimates its mature content population to be about 3.5 million people. Accessible by subscription and available in France via cable and satellite starting October 25, PinkTV follows in the footsteps of Canada's PrideVision, and mature content channels in the U.K. and Italy. Offering a mix of currant affairs shows, films, documentaries, music programming and TV series like the Canadian-produced Queer as Folk, the channel has no plans to be militant, organisers said. Pink TV will offer a slew of shows imported from Britain and the United States, where mature content programming has become firmly established in the past few years. Programmes will include "Metrosexuality", "Queer as Folk" and "French and Saunders" -- all in English with French subtitles. mature content opera and ballet and documentaries will also be screened, as will interview shows, notably one hosted by one of France's leading news presenters, Claire Chazal. GERMANY DISNEY TO LAUNCH TWO CHANNELS ON CABLE PLATFORM Playhouse Disney Channel and Toon Disney Channel are set to launch in Germany on Kabel Deutschland's new digital program platform Kabel Digital Home on November 10. Playhouse Disney will be the first dedicated preschool channel for Germany, featuring shows like New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Stanley and Bear in the Big Blue House. It will broadcast daily from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Toon Disney will operate for 24 hours a day with a slate of animated titles such Disney's Recess and Disney's Kim Possible. The German launches follow the two channels' previous debuts in the UK, France and Spain. Alongside the Disney offerings, KDG's new rival to Premiere will also carry E! Entertainment, BBC Prime, Fashion TV, 13th Street, AXN, Sci-Fi, Kinowelt, History Channel, Nat Geo, Planet, Extreme Sports, ESPN Classic Sports, Sailing Channel, NASN, Motors TV, MTV Hits, MTV Dance, VH1 Classic, Trace TV and Playboy TV. FIRST PERSIAN TV CHANNEL STARTS BROADCASTING Germany's first Farsi-language television station "Mohajer International TV" has begun broadcasting a 24-hour test programme of music, dance, movies and news. A spokesman said the digital station is currently free to air on the Hotbird 6 satellite system in Germany and hopes to broadcast to other countries in Europe and the Middle East and eventually Iran itself. He added that the station, in which a 50 per cent stake is held by Iranian businessman Hassan Arpanahi, would like initially to reach the estimated 6,000 people from the Islamic Republic living in Europe. He said the goal is to ultimately finance the channel through advertising. Mohajer was given the green light by German authorities to begin broadcasting in July mainly because of its cultural content, including programmes about music, the media, film, lifestyle and cooking. It also has a documentary show and news bulletins. ESPN CLASSIC SPORT SIGNS CABLE DEAL ESPN Classic Sport's English-language channel is now available on Kabel Deutschland (KDG) in Germany. ESPN Classic Sport, which will be included in KDG's new digital home package, will transmit 24-hours a day, seven days a week, offering German viewers a sporting mix from Europe and around the world. It will also feature a nightly two-hour German-language programming block from 10pm, featuring some of Germany's greatest athletes and most famous sporting moments. ESPN Classic Sport already has distribution among multi-channel homes in France and Italy (88 per cent and 100 per cent, respectively) via affiliates such as CanalSatellite, TPS, NOOS, FTC, UPC and S*y Italia. ESPN Classic Sport is also available as a three-hour branded block to 5.9 million subscribers in an additional 11 European countries. In total, ESPN Classic Sport programming can be seen in more than 14 million households in 37 countries. NO-GO FOR KIRCH SUIT AGAINST DEUTSCHE BANK AND LIBERTY MEDIA A US court has thrown out a suit by former German media mogul Leo Kirch against US cable operator Liberty Media and German bank Deutsche Bank for allegedly conspiring to bring about the downfall of Kirch's media empire in 2002, Deutsche Bank revealed. Kirch had filed a 39-page complaint with a court in New York in January, accusing Deutsche Bank and Liberty Media and their chairmen of plotting the destruction of the Kirch Group in a bid to rid Liberty Media of an unwelcome rival in the German cable television market and secure hefty commissions for Deutsche Bank. The complaint alleged that Liberty Media and its chairman John Malone and Deutsche Bank and its former chairman Rolf Breuer "conspired to undermine a deal Kirch was negotiating to bring his privately-owned group public by 2004". But the court found that Kirch had failed to prove his case and "dismissed (the suit) for failure to state a claim," according to a copy of the ruling made available by Deutsche Bank. The conflict dates back to comments made by Deutsche Bank's then chairman Breuer made on television in 2002, in which he publicly questioned the creditworthiness of the Kirch group. Soon afterwards, banks refused to lend Kirch any more money and KirchMedia, the main pillar of the Kirch Group, filed for insolvency in April 2002. PLAYBOY SIGNS CARRIAGE DEAL Playboy TV International has reached a deal to launch on KDG's Kabel Digital Home platform. Playboy TV will air nightly from 9 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. Initially available in English, the channel will add German-dubbed programming over the course of its rollout. The new platform launched on September 27. Germany's Federal Cartel Office last week vetoed KDG's plans to merge with three regional cable operators. Operating cable services in 13 German states, with a reach of more than 10m households, Munich-based KDG is already Europe's biggest cable operator. NEW HOME SHOPPING CHANNEL ON ASTRA SES ASTRA and 1-2-3.TV have announced the launch of a new concept in home shopping. On 1-2-3.TV, it is the customers who decide the price of each product by making an offer for each item by telephone. If that offer is one of the highest received for the items being presented, the purchase then takes place. The new channel is available throughout Europe via ASTRA 19.2° East (transponder 47; downlink frequency 11170.75 MHz; horizontal polarisation) and in digital (frequency 12.46050 GHz; horizontal polarisation, symbol rate 27.5; FEC 3/4). In addition to managing directors Dr. Andreas Büchelhofer and Henning Schnepper, the company's shareholders include the venture capital companies Wellington Partners, 3i, Target Partners and Cuneo AG. 1-2-3.TV GmbH is hoping to break even in its third financial year, by which time it expects to have achieved approximately half a million registered customers. BBC PRIME ADDS GERMAN SUBSCRIBERS BBC Prime expands in Germany with KDGBBC Worldwide, the commercial consumer arm of the BBC, and Kabel Deutschland (KDG), Germany's leading cable network, have announced an agreement to provide carriage for British entertainment channel, BBC Prime, across Germany. BBC Prime has been selected by KDG for inclusion in its new Kabel Digital HOME package, launched this week in Munich, which heralds a major push to drive digital uptake in Germany. BBC Prime is broadcast to over 20 million subscribers across Europe, the Middle East and Africa on cable and satellite. This flagship British cable channel shows the best of the BBC's award-winning programmes from drama, comedy, children's, documentary, film, music, lifestyle series and celebrity talkshows. ITALY NEWS CORP BECOMES SOLE OWNER OF S*y ITALIA News Corp. on September 28 said that it agreed to buy the 20 per cent of S*y Italia, the satellite-television broadcaster that it does not already own from Telecom Italia for ?88 million. The deal comes as News Corp., the media conglomerate controlled by Rupert Murdoch and his family, seeks to make S*y Italia break even next year. Telecom Italia is selling non-core assets to meet its year-end target of cutting its debt to below ?30 billion. News Corp. formed S*y Italia, Italy's only satellite TV provider, last year after buying rival Tele+ from Vivendi Universal and merging it with Stream, as News Corp.'s satellite channel was called. S*y Italia has 2.7 million subscribers. Telecom Italia, which runs two TV stations in Italy, was prevented from exercising management control over S*y Italia because of antitrust rules approving News Corp.'s purchase of Tele+. THE NETHERLANDS DE MOL BUYS DUTCH FOOTBALL TEAM TV RIGHTS Dutch billionaire and media mogul John de Mol, through his investment company Talpa Capital, has bought up the rights to broadcast all six away games for the Dutch team in the qualification rounds for the World Cup in 2006. Talpa outbid Dutch broadcasters RTL Netherlands, SBS Broadcasting and the Dutch public broadcasters for the rights to the qualification matches which all three other contenders said were too expensive for them to take on. First broadcast of the away games will be seen October 9, well before De Mol's new venture is set to kick off. The six away games for the Dutch team were said to have cost as much as ?900,000 per game. . CASEMA TO OFFER FREE DIGITAL TV CHANNELS Cable operator Casema intends to add an additional 40 to 50 digital TV channels for free with the standard analogue TV package as of January 1. With this offer, Casema hopes to attract more customers to digital television. At the moment, Casema has around 24,000 digital subscribers. In order to be able to watch the free stations, customers will still need to buy a digital receiver, which is available for between ?100 and ?200. Casema is aims for a penetration of digital receivers of ten per cent by the end of 2005, and 80 per cent within five years. Casema is the third cable operator in the Netherlands with 1.3 million subscribers. POLAND TP PLANS DIGITAL PAY-TV SERVICE In a few months TP will offer its customers digital TV and thus will enter direct competition with cable television operators. According to local press reports, the company might offer its services 20-30% cheaper than currently offered by the largest cable operators. "We might pitch our offer in Q2 2005, with a test phase probably beginning early next year," said Mariusz Gaca, director of the multimedia division of TP. A key advantage the phone company will have is its range, as it will be able to enter the homes of broadband Internet subscribers. RUSSIA MURDOCH SEEKS TO EXPAND INTO RUSSIA Rupert Murdoch, owner of News Corporation, wants to expand his operations into Russian television, where he plans to create a pay-for-view platform and produce TV programs, Britain's Sunday Telegraph quoted Marty Pompadur, one of Murdoch's aides, who is currently on a fact-finding mission in Russia. "We are looking for other investments," Pompadur told the newspaper. "We are looking to add to our radio and our outdoor [advertising] holdings, and we are interested in pay-TV and content." The company is considering satellite, cable and broadband Internet as ways of creating a pay-TV platform in Russia. As Russian Internet news resource Newsru.com reported, in November 2003 Murdoch was considering the possibility of buying part of the shares in the Russian satellite television company NTV Plus but the negotiations brought no positive results. Regards Satdude. :D [/QUOTE]
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