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Satellite news 30.03.05
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<blockquote data-quote="Satdude" data-source="post: 65362" data-attributes="member: 175600"><p>Satellite news 12.10.04</p><p></p><p>News</p><p></p><p>UK</p><p></p><p>BBC PROGRAMMES IN THE S*Y</p><p>The BBC is in discussions with Boeing to start</p><p>providing airline passengers with live in-flight</p><p>television. The US aircraft maker plans to start</p><p>offering live TV next spring through its Connexion by</p><p>Boeing system which entered service with the German</p><p>flag carrier Lufthansa in May and has also been</p><p>selected by seven other airlines. Passengers will be</p><p>able to choose from four live channels supplied by</p><p>different broadcasters, by connecting their laptops to</p><p>an on-board internet service. As well as the BBC,</p><p>Boeing is also thought to have approached the US cable</p><p>television network CNN. One of the BBC programmes</p><p>which could be screened is the News 24 channel. The</p><p>Connexion service costs $29.95 for unlimited access on</p><p>long-haul flights of more than six hours. There is</p><p>also a pay-by-the-minute tariff. </p><p></p><p>FLEXTECH PLANS REALITY TV CHANNEL</p><p>Flextech, the programming arm of cable group Telewest,</p><p>is to launch a new channel specialising in reality and</p><p>entertainment TV. The group, which runs the UKTV</p><p>network in partnership with BBC Worldwide, is aiming</p><p>to launch Living TV 2 by the end of the year in a bid</p><p>to turn Living into the UK's "sixth" main TV channel.</p><p>The channel, already home to controversial shows such</p><p>as Extreme Makeover, said it intends to use the</p><p>channel to broadcast the latest reality shows and to</p><p>beef up coverage of its monthly TV events such as Most</p><p>Haunted Live. </p><p></p><p>BBC WORLD BEST EUROPEAN NEWS CHANNEL</p><p>BBC World has beat S*y News, EuroNews and Rai Med to</p><p>win Europe's Best News Channel at the Hot Bird awards,</p><p>which celebrate multichannel broadcasting in Europe.</p><p>The BBC was described as "the most complete and</p><p>exhaustive source of TV news in the year 2004" by an</p><p>independent panel of media journalists. Several</p><p>hundred television channels were eligible to enter the</p><p>Hot Bird TV Awards, organised by the satellite</p><p>operator Eutelsat, which took place at a ceremony in</p><p>Venice, Italy. BBC World was also named Best News</p><p>Channel at the Hot Bird TV awards in 1998 and in 2002,</p><p>specifically in recognition of its coverage of the</p><p>attacks on the US on September 11 2001. No other</p><p>channel has received the award three times. </p><p></p><p>BOOST FOR CHANNEL 4 - FIVE MERGER</p><p>Hopes of a merger between broadcasters Channel 4 and</p><p>Five have been boosted after the owners of Channel</p><p>Five said they were prepared to accept a minority</p><p>share of a combined group, The Times newspaper has</p><p>reported. "We are prepared to go to a minority</p><p>position in a combined company. The idea of 4 and Five</p><p>was not that we would take over Channel 4. Both</p><p>channels need to be bigger," Gerhard Zeiler, CEO of</p><p>European TV broadcaster RTL, which jointly owns Five</p><p>with UK-based United Business Media, was quoted as</p><p>saying in the October 5 edition of the newspaper. "I</p><p>think we will know by the end of the year whether this</p><p>deal can be done. It will only be done if both sides</p><p>are willing to say yes," Zeiler was quoted as saying.</p><p>The Times said Zeiler and the bosses of publicly owned</p><p>Channel 4 met for the first time last month.</p><p></p><p>BBC SECURES CELTIC RUGBY INTERNATIONALS</p><p>BBC has agreed a new five-year deal with the Celtic</p><p>Unions (Irish Rugby Football Union, Scottish Rugby</p><p>Union and Welsh Rugby Union), giving BBC exclusive</p><p>rights to show their Autumn Internationals on network</p><p>television from 2005-2009 inclusive. The deal</p><p>includes: all home rugby Internationals for Wales,</p><p>Scotland and Ireland; all matches against Regional</p><p>sides during the Autumn International period (or Six</p><p>Nations 'A' team Internationals); live Celtic Cup</p><p>rights for BBC Scotland and highlights rights for BBC</p><p>Northern Ireland (BBC Wales already have a separate</p><p>contract for the Celtic League games), with the Cup</p><p>Final to be shown on network television in</p><p>Grandstand*. Coupled with the Six Nations, BBC now has</p><p>all international rugby hosted in the UK until the end</p><p>of the decade, with the exception of the England</p><p>Autumn tests to which BBC currently has highlights</p><p>rights. </p><p></p><p>MEN & MOTORS UP FOR SALE?</p><p>ITV is in talks about the sale of its digital</p><p>channels, Plus and Men & Motors, as part of its</p><p>strategy to sell off its non-core assets to create a</p><p>more streamlined ITV. ITV holds a 50.5% stake in the</p><p>channels, which it co-owns with BS*yB as part of</p><p>Granada S*y Broadcasting. According to industry</p><p>insiders, ITV is hoping to sell its stake to S*y,</p><p>which will enable the satellite broadcaster to</p><p>increase its dominance in the men's market against</p><p>other digital channels including Flextech's Bravo.</p><p>Another option being mooted is a management buyout, if</p><p>staff could raise enough from a private investment</p><p>company. Men & Motors launched in 1997 as part of a</p><p>suite of joint ventures between Granada and BS*yB. It</p><p>has now been disbanded with its responsibility</p><p>absorbed into the main ITV Sales division. </p><p></p><p>DISCOVERY HOME & LEISURE SET FOR MAKEOVER</p><p>As part of a strategy to create a homogenised network</p><p>of international lifestyle channels, the Discovery</p><p>Home & Leisure is set for a name change and a</p><p>redefinition of its demographic focus towards the end</p><p>of 2005. The channel will be rebranded Discovery Real</p><p>Time to bring it in line with its sister networks,</p><p>currently rolling out worldwide. Real Time will be</p><p>aimed at men age 25-45, featuring practical</p><p>programming for men, centring on men's channel</p><p>regulars like motors, workshop activities, gadgets,</p><p>fitness and grooming. The channel is one of three</p><p>lifestyle channels currently being rolled out in</p><p>markets from India to Europe, besides Discovery Travel</p><p>& Living and Discovery Home & Health.</p><p></p><p>TG4 TARGETS ULSTER</p><p>The Irish language TV station TG4 is preparing to</p><p>broadcast officially from Northern Ireland, industry</p><p>sources have told The Belfast Telegraph. The channel,</p><p>known as Teilifis na Gaeilige, is thought to be</p><p>involved in preparatory work on the transmitter on</p><p>Divis Mountain. The plan to broadcast TG4 north of the</p><p>border has its roots in the Good Friday Agreement,</p><p>which called on the British Government to work with</p><p>the broadcasting authorities to explore "the scope for</p><p>achieving more widespread availability of Teilifis na</p><p>Gaeilige in Northern Ireland". Much of the land area</p><p>of the province already receives the channel as a</p><p>result of so-called overspill from southern</p><p>transmitters, but the most populous areas around</p><p>Belfast do not. The final go-ahead for the plans is</p><p>subject to approval from the EU and the holders to the</p><p>rights to some of the programmes broadcast on TG4. </p><p></p><p>E U R O P E</p><p></p><p>SBS PLANS TO EXPAND</p><p>SBS president and CEO Markus Tellenbach on October 4</p><p>outlined major new channel expansion plans and said</p><p>the terrestrial broadcast group is on the lookout for</p><p>acquisition and consolidation opportunities. SBS,</p><p>which operates 10 analogue terrestrial channels in</p><p>Central and Eastern Europe across a footprint of 140</p><p>million homes, said it plans to launch themed digital</p><p>channels in its key markets. Tellenbach said the</p><p>group, which spans 14 countries, also is exploring</p><p>opportunities to grow horizontally through possible</p><p>partnerships with free television partners. </p><p></p><p>GLOBECAST DELIVERS PAKISTAN TV TO EUROPEAN VIEWERS</p><p>GlobeCast has announced a long-term agreement with</p><p>Prime TV to deliver 24-hour Pakistani family channel</p><p>PTV Prime to subscribers in the UK, Ireland and</p><p>Europe. The deal sees GlobeCast providing an</p><p>end-to-end distribution service for the subscription</p><p>channel which will be available on GlobeCast's</p><p>direct-to-home platforms via Eurobird and Hot Bird. In</p><p>the UK and Ireland, PTV Prime will reach 7.5 million</p><p>people on S*y Digital. PTV Prime was the first 24-hour</p><p>Pakistani channel to launch in Europe and has</p><p>exclusive rights to broadcast state-owned Pakistan</p><p>Television (PTV) content outside Asia. Offering a mix</p><p>of family programming in English and Urdu, it features</p><p>programmes created specifically for European-based</p><p>Pakistanis, Urdu and Punjabi families as well as PTV</p><p>content. PTV Prime also airs live news bulletins nine</p><p>times daily from the PTV News Network in Asia. To</p><p>provide the feeds for the European news and</p><p>programming content, GlobeCast downlinks PTV News and</p><p>Pakistan TV from AsiaSat 3S in Singapore and backhauls</p><p>it over its global fibre network to London via</p><p>America. GlobeCast also provides an end-to-end managed</p><p>satellite distribution service which includes an</p><p>uplink from Brookmans Park to Eurobird and Hot Bird,</p><p>enabling the channel to reach a potential 100 million</p><p>viewers across the UK and Europe. </p><p></p><p>BULGARIA</p><p></p><p>CABLE PIRATES COULD GET FIVE YEAR JAIL SENTENCE</p><p>Bulgarians who connect to cable television networks</p><p>without a subscription could face imprisonment of up</p><p>to five years, according to local press reports.</p><p>Pirating the networks was penalized by fresh</p><p>amendments to the Penal Code, according to Magdalena</p><p>Georgieva, consultant at the national cable television</p><p>association "TV Club 2000". At the beginning of</p><p>October, operators in most of Bulgaria introduced</p><p>higher prices for their services. Capital Sofia saw an</p><p>increase of about 28% in monthly subscription prices,</p><p>which jumped from ?7 to ?9. Sofia's leading cable TV</p><p>providers have said the move was prompted partly by</p><p>boosted fees to the Bulgarian Telecommunications</p><p>Company (BTC). The telecom, on the contrary, said that</p><p>it hasn't charged the operators any different since</p><p>2002.</p><p></p><p>DENMARK</p><p></p><p>BBC FOOD SIGNS CABLE CARRIAGE DEAL</p><p>BBC Worldwide has signed a carriage deal with Danish</p><p>cable network TDC Kabel TV for its BBC Food network,</p><p>expanding the channel's reach by 650,000 subscriber</p><p>households. Miriam Igelsø Hvidt, the program director</p><p>at TDC, noted, "We have added BBC Food following its</p><p>huge popularity when it was trialled on our Wish</p><p>Channel. BBC Food is the only channel in Denmark fully</p><p>devoted to food and cooking, which is a very popular</p><p>nowadays. With many programs on BBC Food now subtitled</p><p>in Danish, the channel is even more attractive to our</p><p>customers." BBC Food will broadcast on TDC daily,</p><p>sharing with the newly launched TV2 Charlie channel on</p><p>TDC's Middle Package.</p><p></p><p>FRANCE</p><p></p><p>REVENUES DOWN AT CANAL PLUS</p><p>Canal Plus Group posted half-year revenues on October</p><p>1 of $906 million, slightly down from $919 million in</p><p>2003, while profits increased to $23.5 million from</p><p>$19.8 million the year before. For the first time</p><p>since 2000, Canal Plus saw a rise in subscriptions, to</p><p>4.88 million compared with 4.86 million in the first</p><p>half of 2003. Canal's exceptional income came in at</p><p>$3.7 million, a $32 million hike from the first half</p><p>of 2003 when the group posted an exceptional expense</p><p>of $28.5 million. The pay-TV group also said that</p><p>operating expenses had fallen in the first half of</p><p>2004 vs. the first half of last year, dropping from</p><p>$720.5 million to $709 million. On the downside, the</p><p>Vivendi Universal subsidiary said distribution fees</p><p>had risen from $139 million to $195 million. </p><p></p><p>CANAL+ BATTLES IT OUT FOR TV FOOTBALL RIGHTS</p><p>Canal Plus is ready to pull out all the stops to</p><p>obtain the maximum amount of football TV rights. Canal</p><p>Plus group chairman Bertrand Meheut told reporters on</p><p>October 7 that it had a lot of financial room to</p><p>manoeuvre in next month's auctions for the broadcast</p><p>rights to matches in France. The board of France's</p><p>Professional Football League will soon set the terms</p><p>for its call for bids for three seasons starting with</p><p>2005-06. The auction is expected to take place in</p><p>November, with the results made public by</p><p>mid-December. The most hotly-contested rights will be</p><p>live transmission of the top Ligue 1 matches and</p><p>pay-per-view broadcasting, which will be battled over</p><p>by Canal Plus and the TPS satellite network - owned 66</p><p>per cent by TF1 and 34 per cent by M6. Canal Plus</p><p>currently pays ?310 million per season for rights to</p><p>the first and third choice matches, pay-per-view and</p><p>the 'Jour de foot' programme, while TPS pays ?70</p><p>million for the second match and pay-per-view. </p><p></p><p>TF1 CONTESTS DTT BIDS</p><p>Leading commercial TV network TF1 has cited a</p><p>technicality to contest a decision by French broadcast</p><p>regulator the Conseil Superieur de l'Audiovisuel to</p><p>issue digital terrestrial television broadcast</p><p>licenses to six channels owned by rival commercial</p><p>broadcasters Canal Plus and Lagardere. Acting on a</p><p>complaint filed by TF1, a French public prosecutor has</p><p>appealed to the Conseil d'Etat, the country's highest</p><p>administrative authority, to challenge the CSA's</p><p>decision, taken in June 2003, according to French</p><p>business dailies La Tribune and Les Echos. The</p><p>prosecutor has upheld TF1's claim that the channels --</p><p>Sport Plus, iTelevision, MCM, Canal J, Cine Cinemas</p><p>and Planete -- are jointly owned by Canal Plus' parent</p><p>company Vivendi Universal and the Lagardere Group.</p><p></p><p>GERMANY</p><p></p><p>NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TO LAUNCH NOVEMBER 1</p><p>Аs of 1 November, National Geographic Channel</p><p>will broadcast in German 24 hours a day, an</p><p>informative and entertaining program mix featuring</p><p>science and technology, investigation, wildlife,</p><p>history and adventure travel. Renowned researchers,</p><p>explorers, scientists, conservationists, photographers</p><p>and filmmakers will provide unique access to,</p><p>expeditions, cultures, wildlife, science, natural</p><p>phenomena and much more. National Geographic Channel</p><p>will initially be received in Germany via Kabel</p><p>Deutschland's "Kabel Digital Home" service. National</p><p>Geographic Channels International (NGCI) will also</p><p>offer the program to other cable network providers in</p><p>Germany, Austria and Switzerland, in order to ensure</p><p>the widest possible coverage. Worldwide, NGCI</p><p>programmes have so far been received by 170 million</p><p>households in 148 countries and in 27 languages. </p><p></p><p>PROSIEBEN AND ASTRA TEST HDTV/SDTV SIMULCASTS</p><p>ProSiebenSat1 Produktion and SES ASTRA on October 14</p><p>will, for the very first time, simultaneously</p><p>broadcast a high-resolution HDTV (High Definition</p><p>Television) signal in parallel with the traditional</p><p>digital standard-resolution via Astra 19.2 degrees</p><p>East. The ProSieben/BBC co-production "Pride - The Law</p><p>of the Savannah" (a wildlife program about the</p><p>adventures of a young lion) will be available to</p><p>viewers equipped with appropriate receivers both via</p><p>conventional standard-definition (SD) reception and,</p><p>exclusively via ASTRA, in the new, crystal-clear HDTV</p><p>standard. With the significantly enhanced picture</p><p>quality provided by HDTV, "Pride" can be viewed with</p><p>much greater, true-to-life detail. The visual</p><p>experience will be completed by Dolby Digital 5.1</p><p>sound, providing viewers for the first time ever with</p><p>true cinema quality in the living room. Technically</p><p>speaking, the broadcast will be simulcast in parallel</p><p>to the regular SD signal, the film being played out in</p><p>HDCAM SR (1080i/50 Hz) and delivered to an MPEG-2 HD</p><p>encoder with a data rate of some 1.4 gigabits/s. The</p><p>HD broadcast of Pride will be available via ASTRA</p><p>Transponder No. 103 (12460 Mhz, H-polarisation, SR</p><p>27.500, FEC 3/4.). An HD promo trailor of Pride will</p><p>be available as of October 12. The ASTRA HDTV</p><p>promotion channel is receivable via ASTRA transponder</p><p>Nbr. 102, vertical polarisation, 12,4441 MHz, 27.5</p><p>Msymbols/s, FEC 3/4 using MPEG-2 MP@HL, 1080i, bitrate</p><p>19 Mb/s. </p><p></p><p>REGIONAL TV GOES DIGITAL </p><p>On December 6, TV viewers in the Rhine-Main region</p><p>around Frankfurt will receive only digital TV signals</p><p>from the terrestrial transmitters. The area is</p><p>becoming the fourth region in Germany to switch its</p><p>regular analog television signals to a purely digital</p><p>format. Testing of the system has already began and</p><p>the federal government has made it a priority to</p><p>upgrade all TV transmission to digital signals by</p><p>2010. Viewers will need a digital decoder box, which</p><p>retails for between ?60 and ?90. Meanwhile, in Berlin</p><p>which switched over between 2002 and 2003, the</p><p>Association for Entertainment and Communications</p><p>Electronics says the DVB-T has caught on in the</p><p>nation's capital with nearly 260,000 decoder boxes</p><p>purchased since the transformation. The association</p><p>estimates 1.1 million of the devices will be in homes</p><p>by year's end.</p><p></p><p>HUNGARY</p><p></p><p>VIASAT 3 STATUS UNDER REVIEW</p><p>Hungarian commercial television network Viasat3 may</p><p>have to restructure its ownership and programming if</p><p>the National Television and Radio Board (ORTT) finds</p><p>that it reaches more than 50% of Hungary's population,</p><p>according to a report by Radio Netherlands. Viasat3</p><p>currently operates as a regional channel, being</p><p>available terrestrially in Budapest, and via cable</p><p>networks in the rest of the country. However, the</p><p>expansion of cable networks means that the station may</p><p>now be reaching more than 50% of the population, which</p><p>under Hungarian media law means it will be</p><p>re-classified as a national broadcaster. At least 26%</p><p>of a national broadcaster must be owned by Hungarian</p><p>individuals or legal entities. Currently, 95% of</p><p>Viasat3 is owned by Sweden's MTG Broadcasting, part of</p><p>the Modern Times Group. The media law also states that</p><p>no company can hold a controlling share, publisher's</p><p>or founder's rights in a nationwide daily newspaper</p><p>and a nationwide broadcaster at the same time. The</p><p>Hungarian edition of the free daily Metro is published</p><p>by MTG Metro Gratis, also owned by the Modern Times</p><p>Group. If declared a national station, Viasat3 will</p><p>also be required to air at least 20 minutes of news</p><p>programming at peak time. The ORTT will announce its</p><p>findings by December 1. </p><p></p><p>ICELAND</p><p></p><p>IBC OPTS FOR CONAX</p><p>Conax, a leading supplier of conditional access</p><p>technology for digital TV, signed up its first</p><p>customer of the Conax CAS7 system, launched at IBC</p><p>2004. Icelandic Broadcasting Corporation will use the</p><p>Conax CAS7 system for its Digital Terrestrial</p><p>operation (DTT), starting this November. Conax CAS7</p><p>includes new exciting features such as use of mobile</p><p>phone to order digital TV content and enhanced copy</p><p>protection by extending the broadcast security level</p><p>to the Personal Video Recorder (PVR). Icelandic</p><p>Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) is the TV and Radio</p><p>division of Northern Lights Communication, the largest</p><p>privately operated media company and the most dynamic</p><p>company in the field of entertainment in Iceland. IBC</p><p>has ordered a complete Conax CAS7 system for</p><p>conversion of their analogue subscribers to digital,</p><p>enabling vast expansion of IBC's offering to their</p><p>subscribers. Conax CAS7 also gives Icelandic</p><p>Broadcasting Corporation the possibility to make</p><p>ordering and payment of content very convenient. </p><p></p><p>ITALY</p><p></p><p>GOVERNMENT CONFIRMS FLOAT OF 20% OF RAI</p><p>Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has announced</p><p>that Italy will float at least 20 per cent of state</p><p>broadcaster RAI by next March, The government paved</p><p>the way for the RAI sell-off in a media law approved</p><p>by parliament in April. Under the terms of the law,</p><p>no-one will be able to take more than a one per cent</p><p>stake in the company, which is Italy's largest media</p><p>group. RAI said in a statement it closed the first six</p><p>months of the year with a net profit of ?82 million,</p><p>up 80 per cent compared with the first half of 2003.</p><p>RAI runs three terrestrial TV channels which compete</p><p>head-to-head with three channels owned by Mediaset,</p><p>controlled by Berlusconi and his family. Analysts have</p><p>said the partial privatization of RAI would ease</p><p>concerns over a potential conflict between</p><p>Berlusconi's political power and family business</p><p>interests. </p><p></p><p>BBC PROGRAMS ON RAISAT CHANNELS</p><p>Three of RaiSat's channels are set to launch BBC</p><p>branded blocks some time next year featuring drama,</p><p>cooking and children's shows. RaiSat Premium will</p><p>showcase popular recent drama productions from the BBC</p><p>in a daily two-hour slot from Monday to Thursday.</p><p>RaiSat Gambero Rosso will broadcast a selection of</p><p>cookery programs and the children's channel RaiSat</p><p>Ragazzi will air a BBC branded slot with children's</p><p>output. BBC branded blocks currently air on networks</p><p>throughout Europe, Asia and Africa, as BBC Food, BBC</p><p>Life (lifestyle), BBC Wild (natural history), BBC</p><p>Exclusive (documentary), BBC Select (drama), BBC</p><p>Playtime (children) and BBC Science.</p><p></p><p>ANTITRUST INVESTIGATION INTO MEDIASET AND RAI</p><p>Italian Communication Authority President Enzo Cheli</p><p>said on October 4 that an antitrust investigation had</p><p>been opened into the dominant positions held by state</p><p>broadcaster RAI and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's</p><p>Mediaset in the national advertising market. In July,</p><p>Cheli's office said that in light of the apparent</p><p>duopoly of the Italian television and radio</p><p>marketplace and the allocation of advertising</p><p>resources, they would be providing an advisory to the</p><p>Italian parliament. If the investigation reveals that</p><p>RAI and Mediaset have breached the antitrust limit of</p><p>having a maximum 30% share of the advertising market,</p><p>the Communication Authority could fine both companies</p><p>2%-5% of their revenue. The investigation, which</p><p>opened last month, is expected to last four months. </p><p></p><p>RUSSIA</p><p></p><p>NTV GOES 24 HOURS</p><p>Russia's leading commercial television network, NTV,</p><p>announced 5 it will switch to round-the-clock</p><p>broadcasting on October 12 as part of a fall makeover</p><p>in the ratings hunt behind market leading pubcaster</p><p>First Channel. The station plans to run a mixture of</p><p>quality western dramas -- such as "Emergency Room" --</p><p>Hollywood movies, sports and other entertainment shows</p><p>aimed at an adult, night-time audience, said Maria</p><p>Bezborodova, assistant to NTV head Vladimir</p><p>Kulistikov. </p><p></p><p>CHANNEL RUSSIA SIGNS WARNER BROS OUTPUT DEAL </p><p>Warner Bros. International Television Distribution</p><p>(WBITD) has signed an exclusive multi-year free TV</p><p>deal with TV Channel Russia, formerly RTR, that</p><p>includes films, series, TV movies and animation,</p><p>including the new hit sitcom Joey and the</p><p>Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.</p><p>Also included in the deal are the new dramas Veronica</p><p>Mars and Eyes, plus the feature films Troy, The Last</p><p>Samurai and Ocean's 12, among others. </p><p></p><p>SCANDINAVIA</p><p></p><p>MTG LAUNCHES VIASAT HISTORY</p><p>The Modern Times Group's newest channel, Viasat</p><p>History, will be available in Sweden, Norway, Denmark</p><p>and Finland, beginning in November, to subscribers of</p><p>Viasat DTH's Gold and Silver packages. The latest</p><p>rollout follows the launch in May into eight Central</p><p>and Eastern European markets via third party cable</p><p>networks. The channel, which features factual fare as</p><p>well as period dramas and mini-series based on</p><p>historical events, currently has more than 800,000</p><p>subscribers. Alongside a broad range of cultural,</p><p>political, social, scientific, sporting and</p><p>entertainment history programmes and documentaries,</p><p>Viasat History programming includes period dramas and</p><p>miniseries based on historical events. </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: 65362, member: 175600"] Satellite news 12.10.04 News UK BBC PROGRAMMES IN THE S*Y The BBC is in discussions with Boeing to start providing airline passengers with live in-flight television. The US aircraft maker plans to start offering live TV next spring through its Connexion by Boeing system which entered service with the German flag carrier Lufthansa in May and has also been selected by seven other airlines. Passengers will be able to choose from four live channels supplied by different broadcasters, by connecting their laptops to an on-board internet service. As well as the BBC, Boeing is also thought to have approached the US cable television network CNN. One of the BBC programmes which could be screened is the News 24 channel. The Connexion service costs $29.95 for unlimited access on long-haul flights of more than six hours. There is also a pay-by-the-minute tariff. FLEXTECH PLANS REALITY TV CHANNEL Flextech, the programming arm of cable group Telewest, is to launch a new channel specialising in reality and entertainment TV. The group, which runs the UKTV network in partnership with BBC Worldwide, is aiming to launch Living TV 2 by the end of the year in a bid to turn Living into the UK's "sixth" main TV channel. The channel, already home to controversial shows such as Extreme Makeover, said it intends to use the channel to broadcast the latest reality shows and to beef up coverage of its monthly TV events such as Most Haunted Live. BBC WORLD BEST EUROPEAN NEWS CHANNEL BBC World has beat S*y News, EuroNews and Rai Med to win Europe's Best News Channel at the Hot Bird awards, which celebrate multichannel broadcasting in Europe. The BBC was described as "the most complete and exhaustive source of TV news in the year 2004" by an independent panel of media journalists. Several hundred television channels were eligible to enter the Hot Bird TV Awards, organised by the satellite operator Eutelsat, which took place at a ceremony in Venice, Italy. BBC World was also named Best News Channel at the Hot Bird TV awards in 1998 and in 2002, specifically in recognition of its coverage of the attacks on the US on September 11 2001. No other channel has received the award three times. BOOST FOR CHANNEL 4 - FIVE MERGER Hopes of a merger between broadcasters Channel 4 and Five have been boosted after the owners of Channel Five said they were prepared to accept a minority share of a combined group, The Times newspaper has reported. "We are prepared to go to a minority position in a combined company. The idea of 4 and Five was not that we would take over Channel 4. Both channels need to be bigger," Gerhard Zeiler, CEO of European TV broadcaster RTL, which jointly owns Five with UK-based United Business Media, was quoted as saying in the October 5 edition of the newspaper. "I think we will know by the end of the year whether this deal can be done. It will only be done if both sides are willing to say yes," Zeiler was quoted as saying. The Times said Zeiler and the bosses of publicly owned Channel 4 met for the first time last month. BBC SECURES CELTIC RUGBY INTERNATIONALS BBC has agreed a new five-year deal with the Celtic Unions (Irish Rugby Football Union, Scottish Rugby Union and Welsh Rugby Union), giving BBC exclusive rights to show their Autumn Internationals on network television from 2005-2009 inclusive. The deal includes: all home rugby Internationals for Wales, Scotland and Ireland; all matches against Regional sides during the Autumn International period (or Six Nations 'A' team Internationals); live Celtic Cup rights for BBC Scotland and highlights rights for BBC Northern Ireland (BBC Wales already have a separate contract for the Celtic League games), with the Cup Final to be shown on network television in Grandstand*. Coupled with the Six Nations, BBC now has all international rugby hosted in the UK until the end of the decade, with the exception of the England Autumn tests to which BBC currently has highlights rights. MEN & MOTORS UP FOR SALE? ITV is in talks about the sale of its digital channels, Plus and Men & Motors, as part of its strategy to sell off its non-core assets to create a more streamlined ITV. ITV holds a 50.5% stake in the channels, which it co-owns with BS*yB as part of Granada S*y Broadcasting. According to industry insiders, ITV is hoping to sell its stake to S*y, which will enable the satellite broadcaster to increase its dominance in the men's market against other digital channels including Flextech's Bravo. Another option being mooted is a management buyout, if staff could raise enough from a private investment company. Men & Motors launched in 1997 as part of a suite of joint ventures between Granada and BS*yB. It has now been disbanded with its responsibility absorbed into the main ITV Sales division. DISCOVERY HOME & LEISURE SET FOR MAKEOVER As part of a strategy to create a homogenised network of international lifestyle channels, the Discovery Home & Leisure is set for a name change and a redefinition of its demographic focus towards the end of 2005. The channel will be rebranded Discovery Real Time to bring it in line with its sister networks, currently rolling out worldwide. Real Time will be aimed at men age 25-45, featuring practical programming for men, centring on men's channel regulars like motors, workshop activities, gadgets, fitness and grooming. The channel is one of three lifestyle channels currently being rolled out in markets from India to Europe, besides Discovery Travel & Living and Discovery Home & Health. TG4 TARGETS ULSTER The Irish language TV station TG4 is preparing to broadcast officially from Northern Ireland, industry sources have told The Belfast Telegraph. The channel, known as Teilifis na Gaeilige, is thought to be involved in preparatory work on the transmitter on Divis Mountain. The plan to broadcast TG4 north of the border has its roots in the Good Friday Agreement, which called on the British Government to work with the broadcasting authorities to explore "the scope for achieving more widespread availability of Teilifis na Gaeilige in Northern Ireland". Much of the land area of the province already receives the channel as a result of so-called overspill from southern transmitters, but the most populous areas around Belfast do not. The final go-ahead for the plans is subject to approval from the EU and the holders to the rights to some of the programmes broadcast on TG4. E U R O P E SBS PLANS TO EXPAND SBS president and CEO Markus Tellenbach on October 4 outlined major new channel expansion plans and said the terrestrial broadcast group is on the lookout for acquisition and consolidation opportunities. SBS, which operates 10 analogue terrestrial channels in Central and Eastern Europe across a footprint of 140 million homes, said it plans to launch themed digital channels in its key markets. Tellenbach said the group, which spans 14 countries, also is exploring opportunities to grow horizontally through possible partnerships with free television partners. GLOBECAST DELIVERS PAKISTAN TV TO EUROPEAN VIEWERS GlobeCast has announced a long-term agreement with Prime TV to deliver 24-hour Pakistani family channel PTV Prime to subscribers in the UK, Ireland and Europe. The deal sees GlobeCast providing an end-to-end distribution service for the subscription channel which will be available on GlobeCast's direct-to-home platforms via Eurobird and Hot Bird. In the UK and Ireland, PTV Prime will reach 7.5 million people on S*y Digital. PTV Prime was the first 24-hour Pakistani channel to launch in Europe and has exclusive rights to broadcast state-owned Pakistan Television (PTV) content outside Asia. Offering a mix of family programming in English and Urdu, it features programmes created specifically for European-based Pakistanis, Urdu and Punjabi families as well as PTV content. PTV Prime also airs live news bulletins nine times daily from the PTV News Network in Asia. To provide the feeds for the European news and programming content, GlobeCast downlinks PTV News and Pakistan TV from AsiaSat 3S in Singapore and backhauls it over its global fibre network to London via America. GlobeCast also provides an end-to-end managed satellite distribution service which includes an uplink from Brookmans Park to Eurobird and Hot Bird, enabling the channel to reach a potential 100 million viewers across the UK and Europe. BULGARIA CABLE PIRATES COULD GET FIVE YEAR JAIL SENTENCE Bulgarians who connect to cable television networks without a subscription could face imprisonment of up to five years, according to local press reports. Pirating the networks was penalized by fresh amendments to the Penal Code, according to Magdalena Georgieva, consultant at the national cable television association "TV Club 2000". At the beginning of October, operators in most of Bulgaria introduced higher prices for their services. Capital Sofia saw an increase of about 28% in monthly subscription prices, which jumped from ?7 to ?9. Sofia's leading cable TV providers have said the move was prompted partly by boosted fees to the Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC). The telecom, on the contrary, said that it hasn't charged the operators any different since 2002. DENMARK BBC FOOD SIGNS CABLE CARRIAGE DEAL BBC Worldwide has signed a carriage deal with Danish cable network TDC Kabel TV for its BBC Food network, expanding the channel's reach by 650,000 subscriber households. Miriam Igelsø Hvidt, the program director at TDC, noted, "We have added BBC Food following its huge popularity when it was trialled on our Wish Channel. BBC Food is the only channel in Denmark fully devoted to food and cooking, which is a very popular nowadays. With many programs on BBC Food now subtitled in Danish, the channel is even more attractive to our customers." BBC Food will broadcast on TDC daily, sharing with the newly launched TV2 Charlie channel on TDC's Middle Package. FRANCE REVENUES DOWN AT CANAL PLUS Canal Plus Group posted half-year revenues on October 1 of $906 million, slightly down from $919 million in 2003, while profits increased to $23.5 million from $19.8 million the year before. For the first time since 2000, Canal Plus saw a rise in subscriptions, to 4.88 million compared with 4.86 million in the first half of 2003. Canal's exceptional income came in at $3.7 million, a $32 million hike from the first half of 2003 when the group posted an exceptional expense of $28.5 million. The pay-TV group also said that operating expenses had fallen in the first half of 2004 vs. the first half of last year, dropping from $720.5 million to $709 million. On the downside, the Vivendi Universal subsidiary said distribution fees had risen from $139 million to $195 million. CANAL+ BATTLES IT OUT FOR TV FOOTBALL RIGHTS Canal Plus is ready to pull out all the stops to obtain the maximum amount of football TV rights. Canal Plus group chairman Bertrand Meheut told reporters on October 7 that it had a lot of financial room to manoeuvre in next month's auctions for the broadcast rights to matches in France. The board of France's Professional Football League will soon set the terms for its call for bids for three seasons starting with 2005-06. The auction is expected to take place in November, with the results made public by mid-December. The most hotly-contested rights will be live transmission of the top Ligue 1 matches and pay-per-view broadcasting, which will be battled over by Canal Plus and the TPS satellite network - owned 66 per cent by TF1 and 34 per cent by M6. Canal Plus currently pays ?310 million per season for rights to the first and third choice matches, pay-per-view and the 'Jour de foot' programme, while TPS pays ?70 million for the second match and pay-per-view. TF1 CONTESTS DTT BIDS Leading commercial TV network TF1 has cited a technicality to contest a decision by French broadcast regulator the Conseil Superieur de l'Audiovisuel to issue digital terrestrial television broadcast licenses to six channels owned by rival commercial broadcasters Canal Plus and Lagardere. Acting on a complaint filed by TF1, a French public prosecutor has appealed to the Conseil d'Etat, the country's highest administrative authority, to challenge the CSA's decision, taken in June 2003, according to French business dailies La Tribune and Les Echos. The prosecutor has upheld TF1's claim that the channels -- Sport Plus, iTelevision, MCM, Canal J, Cine Cinemas and Planete -- are jointly owned by Canal Plus' parent company Vivendi Universal and the Lagardere Group. GERMANY NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TO LAUNCH NOVEMBER 1 Аs of 1 November, National Geographic Channel will broadcast in German 24 hours a day, an informative and entertaining program mix featuring science and technology, investigation, wildlife, history and adventure travel. Renowned researchers, explorers, scientists, conservationists, photographers and filmmakers will provide unique access to, expeditions, cultures, wildlife, science, natural phenomena and much more. National Geographic Channel will initially be received in Germany via Kabel Deutschland's "Kabel Digital Home" service. National Geographic Channels International (NGCI) will also offer the program to other cable network providers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, in order to ensure the widest possible coverage. Worldwide, NGCI programmes have so far been received by 170 million households in 148 countries and in 27 languages. PROSIEBEN AND ASTRA TEST HDTV/SDTV SIMULCASTS ProSiebenSat1 Produktion and SES ASTRA on October 14 will, for the very first time, simultaneously broadcast a high-resolution HDTV (High Definition Television) signal in parallel with the traditional digital standard-resolution via Astra 19.2 degrees East. The ProSieben/BBC co-production "Pride - The Law of the Savannah" (a wildlife program about the adventures of a young lion) will be available to viewers equipped with appropriate receivers both via conventional standard-definition (SD) reception and, exclusively via ASTRA, in the new, crystal-clear HDTV standard. With the significantly enhanced picture quality provided by HDTV, "Pride" can be viewed with much greater, true-to-life detail. The visual experience will be completed by Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, providing viewers for the first time ever with true cinema quality in the living room. Technically speaking, the broadcast will be simulcast in parallel to the regular SD signal, the film being played out in HDCAM SR (1080i/50 Hz) and delivered to an MPEG-2 HD encoder with a data rate of some 1.4 gigabits/s. The HD broadcast of Pride will be available via ASTRA Transponder No. 103 (12460 Mhz, H-polarisation, SR 27.500, FEC 3/4.). An HD promo trailor of Pride will be available as of October 12. The ASTRA HDTV promotion channel is receivable via ASTRA transponder Nbr. 102, vertical polarisation, 12,4441 MHz, 27.5 Msymbols/s, FEC 3/4 using MPEG-2 MP@HL, 1080i, bitrate 19 Mb/s. REGIONAL TV GOES DIGITAL On December 6, TV viewers in the Rhine-Main region around Frankfurt will receive only digital TV signals from the terrestrial transmitters. The area is becoming the fourth region in Germany to switch its regular analog television signals to a purely digital format. Testing of the system has already began and the federal government has made it a priority to upgrade all TV transmission to digital signals by 2010. Viewers will need a digital decoder box, which retails for between ?60 and ?90. Meanwhile, in Berlin which switched over between 2002 and 2003, the Association for Entertainment and Communications Electronics says the DVB-T has caught on in the nation's capital with nearly 260,000 decoder boxes purchased since the transformation. The association estimates 1.1 million of the devices will be in homes by year's end. HUNGARY VIASAT 3 STATUS UNDER REVIEW Hungarian commercial television network Viasat3 may have to restructure its ownership and programming if the National Television and Radio Board (ORTT) finds that it reaches more than 50% of Hungary's population, according to a report by Radio Netherlands. Viasat3 currently operates as a regional channel, being available terrestrially in Budapest, and via cable networks in the rest of the country. However, the expansion of cable networks means that the station may now be reaching more than 50% of the population, which under Hungarian media law means it will be re-classified as a national broadcaster. At least 26% of a national broadcaster must be owned by Hungarian individuals or legal entities. Currently, 95% of Viasat3 is owned by Sweden's MTG Broadcasting, part of the Modern Times Group. The media law also states that no company can hold a controlling share, publisher's or founder's rights in a nationwide daily newspaper and a nationwide broadcaster at the same time. The Hungarian edition of the free daily Metro is published by MTG Metro Gratis, also owned by the Modern Times Group. If declared a national station, Viasat3 will also be required to air at least 20 minutes of news programming at peak time. The ORTT will announce its findings by December 1. ICELAND IBC OPTS FOR CONAX Conax, a leading supplier of conditional access technology for digital TV, signed up its first customer of the Conax CAS7 system, launched at IBC 2004. Icelandic Broadcasting Corporation will use the Conax CAS7 system for its Digital Terrestrial operation (DTT), starting this November. Conax CAS7 includes new exciting features such as use of mobile phone to order digital TV content and enhanced copy protection by extending the broadcast security level to the Personal Video Recorder (PVR). Icelandic Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) is the TV and Radio division of Northern Lights Communication, the largest privately operated media company and the most dynamic company in the field of entertainment in Iceland. IBC has ordered a complete Conax CAS7 system for conversion of their analogue subscribers to digital, enabling vast expansion of IBC's offering to their subscribers. Conax CAS7 also gives Icelandic Broadcasting Corporation the possibility to make ordering and payment of content very convenient. ITALY GOVERNMENT CONFIRMS FLOAT OF 20% OF RAI Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has announced that Italy will float at least 20 per cent of state broadcaster RAI by next March, The government paved the way for the RAI sell-off in a media law approved by parliament in April. Under the terms of the law, no-one will be able to take more than a one per cent stake in the company, which is Italy's largest media group. RAI said in a statement it closed the first six months of the year with a net profit of ?82 million, up 80 per cent compared with the first half of 2003. RAI runs three terrestrial TV channels which compete head-to-head with three channels owned by Mediaset, controlled by Berlusconi and his family. Analysts have said the partial privatization of RAI would ease concerns over a potential conflict between Berlusconi's political power and family business interests. BBC PROGRAMS ON RAISAT CHANNELS Three of RaiSat's channels are set to launch BBC branded blocks some time next year featuring drama, cooking and children's shows. RaiSat Premium will showcase popular recent drama productions from the BBC in a daily two-hour slot from Monday to Thursday. RaiSat Gambero Rosso will broadcast a selection of cookery programs and the children's channel RaiSat Ragazzi will air a BBC branded slot with children's output. BBC branded blocks currently air on networks throughout Europe, Asia and Africa, as BBC Food, BBC Life (lifestyle), BBC Wild (natural history), BBC Exclusive (documentary), BBC Select (drama), BBC Playtime (children) and BBC Science. ANTITRUST INVESTIGATION INTO MEDIASET AND RAI Italian Communication Authority President Enzo Cheli said on October 4 that an antitrust investigation had been opened into the dominant positions held by state broadcaster RAI and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's Mediaset in the national advertising market. In July, Cheli's office said that in light of the apparent duopoly of the Italian television and radio marketplace and the allocation of advertising resources, they would be providing an advisory to the Italian parliament. If the investigation reveals that RAI and Mediaset have breached the antitrust limit of having a maximum 30% share of the advertising market, the Communication Authority could fine both companies 2%-5% of their revenue. The investigation, which opened last month, is expected to last four months. RUSSIA NTV GOES 24 HOURS Russia's leading commercial television network, NTV, announced 5 it will switch to round-the-clock broadcasting on October 12 as part of a fall makeover in the ratings hunt behind market leading pubcaster First Channel. The station plans to run a mixture of quality western dramas -- such as "Emergency Room" -- Hollywood movies, sports and other entertainment shows aimed at an adult, night-time audience, said Maria Bezborodova, assistant to NTV head Vladimir Kulistikov. CHANNEL RUSSIA SIGNS WARNER BROS OUTPUT DEAL Warner Bros. International Television Distribution (WBITD) has signed an exclusive multi-year free TV deal with TV Channel Russia, formerly RTR, that includes films, series, TV movies and animation, including the new hit sitcom Joey and the Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. Also included in the deal are the new dramas Veronica Mars and Eyes, plus the feature films Troy, The Last Samurai and Ocean's 12, among others. SCANDINAVIA MTG LAUNCHES VIASAT HISTORY The Modern Times Group's newest channel, Viasat History, will be available in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland, beginning in November, to subscribers of Viasat DTH's Gold and Silver packages. The latest rollout follows the launch in May into eight Central and Eastern European markets via third party cable networks. The channel, which features factual fare as well as period dramas and mini-series based on historical events, currently has more than 800,000 subscribers. Alongside a broad range of cultural, political, social, scientific, sporting and entertainment history programmes and documentaries, Viasat History programming includes period dramas and miniseries based on historical events. Regards Satdude. :D [/QUOTE]
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