TELE-satellite News - Number 28/2004 11 July 2004 - A weekly roundup of global TV news sponsored by TELE-satellite International
Editor: Branislav Pekic
* Issue 06-07/2004 of Tele-satellite International magazine is out now * More details at
http://sadoun.com/Sat/Products/Acces...-Satellite.htm /
E U R O P E
HOLLYWOOD OPPOSES PAN-EUROPEAN SATELLITE TV The Hollywood studios are gearing up for a fierce battle against
European Commission plans to open up satellite broadcasting throughout Europe - a move that some international television executives fear could dramatically change the way they do business with Euro broadcasters. The proposal aims to open up pan-European satellite broadcasting without frontiers of any kind. That, some studio executives have said, could profoundly affect they the way they do business in the region - even changing the way they collect license fees from broadcasters. The commission - the European Union's executive body - has expressed frustration that satellite broadcasters are targeting national markets despite the technological ease with which they could cover the European continent.
EURO 2004 RATINGS UP ON EURO 2000
According to a report in the International Herald Tribune, the average match during this year's Euro
2004 tournament was watched by 14 per cent more people than the matches in 2000. The report, citing data from the Initiative Media Agency, says that 118 million people tuned in to the first-round France/England match, surpassing the 90-million viewership for this year's Super Bowl. This year's tournament is expected to have the highest average ratings for an international football event since the 1998 World Cup.
EU TO FAVOUR NEW MEDIA TV RIGHTS
After leaning on European football's governing body to get some games onto mobile phones and the internet, the European Union's antitrust chief has warned television that he wants to impose regulations to safeguard the development of local New Media markets.
EU Competition Commissioner Mario Monti said his office would open an inquiry this year into the provision of content - music, films and sports - over the Internet for such new services as video on demand.
"Recent developments ... have shown that there is currently a very intense demand in that field, hindered however by strong tendencies by established TV operators to protect their position," he said. He singled out broadcasters and pay-TV operators who "acquire rights for delivery of content over technological platforms different to those on which they are active." Such deals make it difficult for video-on-demand services to acquire rights to popular television movies or series, said Luxembourg-based LuxSat's chief operating officer Claudine Ripert Lander. Video on demand is also squeezed by theaters, video or DVD rentals, pay-per-view and pay-TV, none of which want to give up any of their "window" for exclusive access, she added. E.Biscom chief executive Silvio Scaglia complained that Italian broadcasters force him to pay "dearly" to include their signals on his digitally delivered television package, even though the signals are available free over the air.
Monti warned he would use "all the powerful legal instruments" at his disposal to prevent the "foreclosure of markets" and promote the "rapid and undisturbed development" of new media. A handful of EU countries, led by Italy, are already at the forefront in such services as television and movies on demand via broadband or streaming video on mobile phones.
Dozens more entrants to the market are due in the next few months, Monti said.
ARMENIA
ARMENIAN TV JOINS EBU
Armenia's first TV channel has taken its first step towards integration into Europe. The Armenian State Television and Radio Committee became a member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Seventy one companies from the world's 52 countries are members of the EBU.
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
PUBLIC TV TO LAUNCH SATELLITE SERVICE ON 13 AUGUST The transmission equipment that the EU has donated to the Public Broadcasting Service is worth around 3 million KM, making possible an almost 100 per cent coverage of the country with the signal of BHTV1, which is launching its own channel on August 13. The donated equipment is also important for the establishment of a digital satellite TV channel. As of August 13, BHTV1 will have 142 broadcasting locations, which will enable a coverage of 99.9 per cent of the Bosnia-Hercegovina population. The Bosnia-Herzegovina Federation Television will have 103 broadcasting locations and the Bosnian Serb Republic Television 67, which will be sufficient to cover around 90 per cent of their respective populations. The start-up of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Television will proceed in two
phases: the first phase is the coverage of events from the Summer Olympics in Athens from 13 to 20 August.
After the Olympics, 6-7 hour daily programming will start.
CROATIA
CME PURCHASES NOVA TV
Central European Media Enterprises Ltd. (CME) on July
8 announced the acquisition of Nova TV in Croatia for up to 24 million in cash. With the addition of Nova TV and entry into Croatia, CME expands its position as the largest broadcaster in Central and Eastern Europe with eight television networks in five countries. The acquisition is expected to close before the end of July. Launched in November 2000, under a ten-year license agreement, Nova TV is Croatia's first national private television network. The station reaches approximately 85% of Croatia's 4.5 million citizens and is primarily focused on entertainment programming with a target demographic of 18-49 year-olds. Nova TV's programming includes an increasing proportion of local productions, including news, a successful talent format called Story SuperNova, quiz and game shows, as well as international series and movies. Nova TV's average audience share grew by more than 50% in 2003, achieving an all day average viewing share for the year of approximately 25%. Nova TV reported approximately 21 million in revenues for 2003 and expects to maintain its share of the advertising market in 2004. The Croatian television market is comprised of four national broadcasters including two state owned stations, HTV 1 and HTV 2 and two private stations, RTL and Nova TV.
FRANCE
EC CALLS ON END TO FILM ADVERTISING ON TV The European Commission on July 7 formally called on France to change
rules that ban advertising movies on television and threatened legal action if it fails to comply. The commission -- the executive arm of the 25-member European Union -- said the ban is "in violation of the freedom to provide services." The formal request is the second phase of the Brussels procedure to bring the French into line. If France does not comply within two months, the commission could take the matter before the European Court of Justice.
TF1 TAKES OVER HISTOIRE
Leading private broadcaster TF1 group has purchased 100 per cent of thematic channel Histoire, which had been held by France Televisions (22.5 per cent), Arte France (22.5 per cent), the French audiovisual institute INA (7.5 per cent), Pathi, the Suez Group and Wanadoo. Histoire, which was created in 1997, is distributed via TPS and cable networks. The acquisition is intended to complete TF1's line-up of documentary channels, alongside Odyssie
(documentaries) and the forthcoming Ushaia TV channel (extreme). The owners of Histoire put the channel up for sale earlier this year, following the decision to attribute the free public service DTT channel to Festival.
GLOBECAST DELIVERS TOUR DE FRANCE
GlobeCast will deploy nine SNG (satellite
newsgathering) trucks on location during the 2004 Tour de France to secure live transmissions, including world feed delivery, of the international cycling race for the Tour de France organizer A.S.O. (Amaury Sport Organisation), EBU (the European Broadcasting Union), francetilivisions, and Intelsat on behalf of OLN (Outdoor Life Network). The 2004 Tour de France takes place 3-25 July. GlobeCasts SNG teams will mobilize at each stage of the Tour de France, providing both satellite and microwave trucks to transmit world feed footage from location to mobile studio facilities located at the finish line in Paris. Up to 16 channels will be available from the GlobeCast field SNG units, which will also accommodate broadcasters unilateral feeds. Additionally, GlobeCast will manage 24/7 booking and global satellite distribution to supply rightsholders throughout Asia, America and Australia.
The Tour de France is just one of the world's major sporting events covered by GlobeCast every year.
GERMANY
VIACOM-VIVA DEAL TO RECEIVE GREEN LIGHT SOON A spokesman for Germany's federal cartel office said July 6 that Viacom's planned takeover of German music television group Viva could be given the green light as early as July 24. The spokesman said the office has until late October to make its decision, but that a fast track is likely if no one objects to the merger of Viacom's MTV Germany with its main local competitor. Sources near leading commercial channel RTL said the station has decided not to stand in the way of the Viacom-Viva marriage as the merged group would operate in the niche music TV market and not be a direct competitor to RTL. The same cannot be said for German music labels, many of which have expressed fears that a MTV-Viva conglomerate could exercise too much control over the local music market.
PERSIAN SATELLITE TV PREPARES FOR LAUNCH German authorities on July 6 gave green light for the launching of the first-ever private Persian satellite television network, named 'Mohajer TV', IRNA reported.
The program is to feature documentaries, cultural reports, films and music. The new satellite television station is located in the southwest German town of Hermeskeil. Two teams of the television network are currently preparing the cultural programs in Iran.
HUNGARY
MTV TO BROADCAST OLYMPIC GAMES
Hungarian MTV paid around 10 million to control the broadcasting rights of the next Olympic Games to take place this summer in Greece. This new contract follows the broadcasting rights already granted to MTV for the European Football Championship. An estimated 4 million will also be invested for new technical equipment. Also, MTV is planning to turn its 2nd national channel into M2, a new thematic channel. From September 1, M2 will offer a line-up of documentaries and programs about the European Union, to be delivered in most cases in their original language.
ITALY
TV FRAUD INQUIRY SPREADS TO BERLUSCONI FAMILY A high profile money-laundering probe centred around Italy's Prime Minister has spread to his family.
Silvio Berlusconi's son and daughter, Piersilvio and Marina, are being investigated as part of the three-year-old inquiry. Italian courts are investigating suspected fraudulent television deals between the Berlusconi family's Mediaset broadcaster and a US firm in the mid-1990s. They are looking into whether Mediaset's purchase prices for TV rights to American films were inflated by almost #92 million.
Prosecutors in Milan are probing the Prime Minister for suspected embezzlement, false bookkeeping and tax fraud. The investigation has now spread to his children. Piersilvio Berlusconi is deputy chairman of Mediaset while his sister is deputy chairwoman of Fininvest, the family's holding company in control of the broadcaster.
MACEDONIA
ALSAT TV GETS TERRESTRIAL TV LICENSE
The Macedonian government has licensed three private national TV channels thus bringing the number of private terrestrial broadcasters in the country to five. The council licensed the local TV channels Kanal 5, Televizija Makpetrol, which operates Telma TV, and the local company Vebi Velija, which is to launch a new TV channel. Local TV channel A1 has quoted local experts as saying that the European Union and its Stability Pact for Southeastern Europe have warned the government that the Macedonian market of two million people is too small to accommodate five national TV-broadcasters.
THE NETHERLANDS
DISCOVERY SIGNS CABLE DEAL
Discovery International Networks has added almost half a million households by inking a distribution deal with cable operator UPC. The agreement with UPC will see the Discovery added to the operator's analogue cable network in the greater Amsterdam region. This will add 465,000 new households to Discovery's total
5.7 million subscriber base in the Netherlands.
Discovery Channel itself, Animal Planet, Discovery Civilisation, Discovery Travel & Adventure and Discovery Science will still be available on UPC's digital networks in the area.
UNITED KINGDOM
BBC TV PREPARES LAUNCHE OF INTERACTIVE NEWS BULLETIN As BBC Television News celebrates its 50th anniversary, BBC ONE's Ten O'Clock News looks to the future, announcing the launch of the UK's first interactive television news bulletin in Autumn 2004.
Ten O'Clock News Extra will be available on digital satellite, Freeview and digital cable platforms and will provide an added depth and context to the news.
>From later this year - by pressing the red button on
their handsets - viewers will be able to get behind the day's events, with longer interviews, extra footage and background information on the day's stories. Ten O'Clock News Extra will provide a "tell me more" service, with profiles of the names in the news and instructive graphics in a new form of interactive TV journalism. The content will be provided by the Ten O'Clock News team, and will be available Monday to Friday from 10.00 to 10.45pm.
Viewers will be able to access more information on up to three of the bulletin's stories. The BBC has commissioned interactive TV specialists Two-Way TV to provide the application technology.
LONDON TV TO PROMOTE CAPITAL CITY
London is to become the first city in the world to get its own TV station. London TV will broadcast 24 hours a day and promote the capital's arts and entertainment scene to inspire Londoners to explore their own city.
It will also be shown in hotel rooms, and tourism chiefs hope to strike a deal with British Airways and Virgin Atlantic to feature it on inbound London flights. London TV will broadcast a free-to-air preview on Sky channel 166 from 12 July and be made by a former producer of BBC TV's Changing Rooms. The full
24/7 launch is due this September. It will become a 24-hour station in September. David Campbell, chief executive of Visit London, said it would be accessible to about half the capital's population, as well as 7.3 million homes across the UK and a number of European countries. All London TV's programming will be produced by Enteraction, going behind the scenes to meet those working in London's attractions, with locals and celebrities painting their own personal portraits of the capital, sharing insider tips and secret haunts.
EINSTEIN PREPARES BID FOR HALLMARK CHANNELS Former Channel Five chief executive David Elstein has launched a #500 million bid for Hallmark's business of international family drama channels, according to reports. Elstein, who worked with Hallmark last year on a possible bid for ITV, is reported to have secured the backing of a group of City institutions for his bid. His pitch for Hallmark's international channels business, which operates the Hallmark Channel in 120 countries, including the UK, is believed to be the largest received by Crown Media Holdings, the publicly listed US company that runs the business on behalf of parent company Hallmark Entertainment. Crown Media is expected to ask for final bids for Hallmark's international business by the end of this month, with a decision likely to follow in the autumn. Hallmark Channel in the UK, which is run by Jeff Henry, is the strongest performer among Hallmark's international assets. One of the UK's fastest growing multichannel services in terms of audience share, Hallmark Channel UK launched four years ago and is now the fifth most popular non-terrestrial service. Crown Media is also looking to sell non-US rights to its library of 700 TV movies and drama miniseries, which includes titles such as Alice in Wonderland, Animal Farm, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Gulliver's Travels and Arabian Nights. The firm's international business made losses of #11.4 million last year on revenues of #45.1 million.
SIEMENS TO BUY BBC TECHNOLOGY
Electronics giant Siemens has won the race to buy the BBC's technology arm and provide technology support across the corporation in a deal that will be worth #2 billion over the next 10 years. Siemens is the only remaining bidder from an initial field of nine, beating the challenge of its remaining rival Accenture. As part of the deal - which remains subject to contract - it will provide all of the BBC's IT support and network needs for at least the next decade. It will also take over a number of external contracts held by the division, part of the BBC Ventures commercial spin-off arm, including ESPN and mobile phone operator 3.
BSKYB COULD CLOSE SOME MUSIC CHANNELS
BSkyB is conducting a review that could lead to the closure of at least two of its three music services.
Any BSkyB music channel closure would mark a retreat from the company's attempt to challenge rival broadcasters MTV and Emap for supremacy in the pay-TV music market. The three Sky music channels were only launched in April last year as part of the then chief executive Tony Ball's fightback against Emap - which at one stage had overtaken MTV with its six music channels, including TV versions of Smash Hits and Q magazine. Sky's the Amp is aimed at indie fans, rock service Scuzz targets metal-heads and Flaunt features a mixture of pop and urban music, along with celebrity fashion and lifestyle programming. A BSkyB spokesman said the broadcaster was "reviewing options" for its music channels, but added that it was "business as usual at the moment".
TEACHERS TO GET THEIR OWN TV CHANNEL
A #20 million dedicated television channel for teachers is to be launched next year, the Government announced on July 9. Teachers TV will broadcast education news and programmes featuring training tips
24 hours a day on Skys and Freeviews digital networks. The channel is to be run by Education Digital, a consortium including ITV, London Universitys Institute of Education (IoE) and Brook Lapping Productions. Teachers' TV, which will be available on Sky, cable and Freeview, will broadcast for 24 hours a day.
N O R T H A M E R I C A
UNITED STATES
SEC WANTS INFO ON CABLE SUBSCRIBERS
The Securities and Exchange Commission has sent letters to several U.S. cable operators, including Comcast Corp., Cox Communications, Time Warner Cable and Insight Communications, to ask for information on how they measure their number of subscribers, the companies said Friday. The letters, sent around mid-June, appear to be part of a broader look by the SEC into methods that telecommunications and related firms use to count their customers. But industry observers said the letters do not mean that anyone has or will raise concerns over cable firms' subscriber accounting methods.
HERE! SIGNS VOD DEAL
A programming service targeting gay and lesbian audiences has inked a deal to reach more than 10 million digital cable homes via the iN DEMAND video-on-demand and pay-per-view programming provider.
Beginning August 1, here! TV will provide iN DEMAND with up to 30 hours of VOD content per month. In October, here! TV is planning to become a full 24-hour network. Currently in production for here! TV are original productions like Dante's Cove and Weapons of Mass Destruction.
AMERICA TO GET FIRST MUSLIM TV CHANNEL
Muzzamil S.Hassan, a former banker with an MBA is about to launch the first-ever Islamic channel broadcast in the United States. Bridges TV will broadcast in English 24-hours a day beginning this October, just before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Its slogan: Where American Muslims Come Home. Bridges TV will target the 8 million American and Canadian Muslims in North America, rather than a religious broadcaster, although it will carry programming that reflects American Muslim values. Bridges TV will be available via cable and satellite beginning with 8 hours of programming a day, gradually fanning out to offer 24 hours of programming seven days a week.
L A T I N A M E R I C A
FOX KIDS TO CHANGE NAME IN AUGUST
On August 1, Fox Kids Latin America will relaunch with a new image, logo, shows and nameJetix Latin Americain line with a global rebranding strategy for the kids' network. Jetix Latin America will reach 14 million households in 19 countries in the region.
Among the shows being added to the schedule are Code Lyoko, Fillmore, Ciencia Traviesa, Sonic X, Dave, el Barbaro and Gadget y Gadgetinis, plus the movies Spirit, Los Picapiedras, Estrategias infantiles and Durango Kids.
MEXICO
DIGITAL TV IN 2006
Mexico's Communications and Transport Ministry on July
5 projected that at least three major cities will have high-definition television transmissions up and running by 2006. The ministry said in a statement that broadcasters in leading markets Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey, as well as those in certain cities along the Mexico-U.S. border, will make the jump to digital broadcasting in less than two years and that by 2021 the service will span nationwide.
Mexico's top networks, Televisa and Azteca, have run high-definition tests but have not announced specific plans to make the digital transition.
A S I A & P A C I F I C
MGM CHANNEL LAUNCHES IN SINGAPORE AND MACAU MGM Networks, a unit of Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer Inc., has launched the MGM Channel on Singapore's StarHub Cable Vision, the country's sole pay-TV platform. The channel has been broadcasting a wide selection of MGM films, in English with Mandarin subtitles, 24 hours a day since its May 29 debut. MGM Networks also has signed an agreement with Macau Cable TV, Macau's sole cable operator, to begin carriage of the MGM Channel beginning this month. The StarHub and Macau Cable TV deals are the latest in numerous recent breakthrough agreements for MGM Networks in Asia. Among other activities in Asia, MGM Networks has a strategic alliance in the Greater China and South-East Asian market with CNBC Asia Pacific, which assists MGM in the operation and distribution of a dedicated MGM Channel in that region. The StarHub deal follows this dedicated channel's launch on PCCW's Now Broadband TV platform in Hong Kong and on Indonesia's largest MSO, Kabelvision. Separately, MGM Networks holds interests in two MGM-branded channels in Korea. Earlier this month, MGM announced plans for a localized channel in Spain this summer, the latest addition to the more than 110 countries and territories worldwide already served by MGM channels.
AFGHANISTAN
TURKMEN TV CHANNEL TO LAUNCH
Afghanistan is gearing up to launch a television channel in Turkmen language. The channel would operate from Kabul or Herat, although exact location has not been disclosed as yet. Turkmenistan is cooperating extensively in preparations for the launch of the new channel. Turkmen TV, in recent months, has acquired new technologies and know-how to make better use of graphics capabilities of television software.
AUSTRALIA
TV NETWORKS PREPARE FOR SPORTS TV RIGHTS FIGHT The market for television sports rights is set for an unprecedented multi-billion dollar shake-up in the next 18 months as almost every leading sport renegotiates broadcast deals. Up for grabs first will be News Corporation's 10-year agreement, which expires next year, with the rugby unions of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Also up at the end of 2005 will be Ten Network's three-year deal with Formula One. The end of 2006 will see the deals of the Australian Football League and Cricket Australia, and the pay-TV agreement for National Rugby League and Australian V8 Super Cars, expire. The following year sees the NRL's free-to-air (FTA) deal with the Nine Network run out. In addition, in this already crowded market, the Australian Soccer Association and its chief executive John O'Neill have to sell their new, and unproven product, the Australian Premier League.
RECEIVERS TO SELL TARBS-AUSTRALIA ASSETS Multicultural broadcaster Television and Radio Broadcasting Services Australia Pty Ltd (TARBS) ceased trading after receivers found no alternative but to close the business, the Age newspaper has reported.
PricewaterhouseCoopers, Phil Carter and Martin Brown were appointed as receivers and managers of TARBS and associated companies on July 2. Brown said the receivers had explored numerous options including seeking equity injections from the directors, but lack of available funds necessitated the close of the business on July 7. TARBS is an Australian broadcasting services and infrastructure company using DTH (direct-to-home) satellite infrastructure as its primary delivery platform. Its programming rights presently extend to more than 50 multicultural television channels, 30 multicultural radio channels, nine core English channels and an adult channel.
CHINA HONG KONG
CHINA TV CHANNELS TO POST AD GROWTH
Foreign-owned China TV channels operated by Tom Group and News Corp.'s Star TV are posting triple-digit gains in ad sales this year amid booming demand for air time, company officials said July 7. Star's Xingkong Weishi Chinese channel saw its ad sales leap 180% for its fiscal year ended June 30, said Jamie Davis, president for Star's China operations. He said ad revenues for the two-year-old channel in the just-concluded fiscal year totaled in the tens of millions of dollars, but would not be more specific.
The TOM Group and News Corp.'s STAR Group are both experiencing triple-digit ad sales growth at their networks in China, according to a Reuters report.
STAR's Xing Kong entertainment channel experienced 180 per cent ad sales growth for this fiscal year. At the TOM Group, meanwhile, which operates China Entertainment Television (CETV), ad sales are expected to hit $6 million this year from $1.4 million in 2003.
DTT BROADCASTS TO START BY 2007
Hong Kong viewers will be able to enjoy
high-definition television (HDTV) when digital terrestrial television (DTT) broadcasting begins by
2007 at the latest. Terrestrial broadcasters Asia Television and Television Broadcasts are to begin simulcasting analogue and digital terrestrial television services by 2007, the government announced on July 10. They will extend the coverage of their digital networks to 75 per cent of Hong Kong by 2008.
If a national standard for DTT broadcasting has not been established on the mainland before the end of 2006, the government said it will let the market decide on the selection of the technical standard. ATV and TVB have indicated that they will adopt the European DVB-T technical standard for digital broadcasting by 2006 to encourage the introduction of DTT services in the territory. Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology John Tsang said that the objective of launching DTT broadcasting is to enhance the broadcasting infrastructure in the territory and to make Hong Kong a leading digital city with enhanced quality in communication and broadcasting services.
INDIA
PORN MAKING COMEBACK ON CABLE
Russian channel REN TV, which offers Playboy branded movies on Saturday nights, Bluekiss and Bluekiss Express Promo are becoming a sensation in India where more than half a dozen porn and semi-porn TV channels (Rainbow, Free X-TV and more) are being broadcast across the country. I&B ministry officials are aware of the adult channels dished in many areas across India, but they have not found a way to stop them.
Although the government has banned porn channels for direct to home (DTH) service providers, subscribers can buy smart cards and access adult content.
SONY LAUNCHES ANIMAX TV CHANNEL
Animax, a television channel focused on animation but targeting the youth, was formally launched on July 5.
>From the stable of Sony Pictures Entertainment and
distributed by One Alliance, the joint venture between Sony Entertainment Television India and Discovery Communications India, the channel will be available initially in 24-hour English and 12-hour Hindi feeds.
A 24-hour Hindi feed will be there in nine months time. Launched originally in Japan where it has since become the leading cable & satellite channel, Animax brings Japanese animation to Indian homes. It is a pay channel, adding Rs 3 to the One Alliance bill of Rs 61 (including Nickelodoen and MTV). But initially Animax may have a free to air phase. It is hoped to reach 16 million homes in the next few weeks. The Animax South Asia service is the channel's fifth regional feed, following its debut in Japan and feeds for Hong Kong, Taiwan and South East Asia thereafter.
DISHTV SEEKS TO EXPAND
After touching 100-channel mark for its bouquet offering and signing 150,000 subscribers, India's first DTH platform DishTV is eyeing the overseas market for the expansion of its service. ASC Enterprises, which operates DishTV, is setting up an international broadcast teleport at Noida, near New Delhi, for targeting foreign markets with its bouquet of channels. First in the pipeline are European and North American DTH and cable services. The services will also be extended in phases to include Africa and the Far East in the future. The company has signed a deal with BT Broadcast Services for space segment and teleports services.
DOORDARSHAN TO LAUNCH FTA SERVICE
India's state-owned broadcaster Doordarshan is to launch free-to-air DTH service offering multi- channel TV and radio services to the remote places in India.
The new service, to be called DD Direct, will comprise 30 TV channels and 20 radio channels. Doordarshan will provide 17 out of the 30 TV channels and the remaining
13 channels will be provided by India's private broadcasters. The station plans to offer close to 40 channels in the near future. For demonstration purpose, Doordarshan is providing 10,000 receive dish antenna system free of charge to public institutions in areas without terrestrial coverage and cable network.
ISRAEL
BEZEQ TO INCREASE INVESTMENTS IN YES
It's been 10 months since Israeli cable companies Golden Channels, Tevel and Matav merged their marketing and advertising operations with a new brand, HOT, in order to intensify their losing battle with satellite broadcaster YES for subscribers. YES had 421,000 subscribers at the beginning of March, an estimated 30% share of the multi-channel TV market, and 43% of the multi-channel digital TV market. Bezeq currently owns 49.8% of YES, and holds options that can be realized immediately, increasing its stake to 54%. The company's plan is to invest heavily in YES, starting this month and ending in late 2005. If that cash injection happens, including purchasing its cash options, Bezeq could end up owning 60% of YES, although it's not a done deal, as the antitrust authority hasn't yet decided if it will allow Bezeq to have that much control of YES.
JAPAN
TV TOKYO TO BE LISTED
TV Tokyo Corp., will make its market debut on August 5 following an initial public offering (IPO) late this month. TV Tokyo will be the last of Japan's five nationwide commercial broadcasters to go public. The other four stations are already listed on the stock exchange. The Japan Times reported that in line with its listing, TV Tokyo said it will issue two million new shares. Four major shareholders - Nippon Steel Corp., Mizuho Bank, JFE Steel Corp. and Mizuho Corporate Bank - will also release up to 980,000 TV Tokyo shares. The TV station started broadcasting in
1964 and Nihon Keizai Shimbun Inc. later joined in its management. The station has been involved in producing educational, news and other programmes.
MALAYSIA
TV MALAYSIA PLANS GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION
TV Malaysia will go global once the technical, legal and programme details have been worked out, Information Minister Datuk Paduka Abdul Kadir Shaykh Fadzir told the Dewan Rakyat [House of People's Representatives] on 8 July. He said the other factors included renting of satellites for international transmission, broadcasting rights and negotiations with the relevant parties in the targeted countries.
Abdul Kadir said TV Malaysia's airing of news and other programmes globally would ensure transparency and accurate facts about Malaysia and Third World countries reached the international community without any distortion.
PAKISTAN
PUSHTO SATELLITE TV CHANNEL ON AIR
AVT Khyber, Pakistan's first Pushto satellite television channel, started its test transmissions on July 8 according to a report by Radio Netherlands. AVT Khyber's chief executive Jawad Hamid Raja said it was the first television channel to transmit programmes through the AsiaSat satellite beamed also to Afghanistan, Middle East and other countries. Through this channel, a large number of Pakhtuns living around the world will be provided with news and entertainment programmes, he added. Jawad said the channel would provide news, current affairs programmes and entertainment.
QATAR
AL-JAZEERA PREPARES FOR FLOAT
State-sponsored
Arabic news channel al-Jazeera is planning to become a private company and considering a stock market listing. The Qatar-based broadcaster is looking for outside investors ahead of a possible flotation. "In two to three years, our shares will be introduced at the stock market in Doha," the satellite broadcaster's chief news editor, Ahmed El Sheikh, told the German business daily Handelsblatt. Al-Jazeera, which has some 40 million viewers and operates more than 30 bureaux worldwide, is currently a loss-making business. Al-Jazeera was set up as an Arab-language news channel in 1996 and has since expanded rapidly.
Having launched a sports channel, it is now planning a documentary channel within the next three to four months and an English-language channel. Next year it will launch a specialist children's channel.
ABS-CBN TO DEPLOY HACKER-PROOF SYSTEM
The Manila-based ABS-CBN network, since the last couple of days, has deployed an enhanced security system that makes piracy of its signals extremely difficult, a senior official at MediaCom, its distributors here, said on July 4. The network, which was plagued by rampant piracy of its signals, has deployed a system which upgrades the multiple numeric code on a daily basis, he revealed. Speaking to The Peninsula, Francisco Duro, branch manager, Qatar at MediaCom, said the new encryption system which is now being used to prevent signal piracy, is almost foolproof against hackers. The system changes the numerical codes daily and hence, only those who have DTH equipment sold by the network are able to receive the signals without interruption. Their receivers also upgrade the digits automatically. DTH equipment that uses digital codes to hack into encryption systems are unable to upgrade them automatically and stop receiving the signal. The only way to beat the system, he said, is to have the codes on hack-capable sets or the pirated decryption cards upgraded daily. The process is, however, expensive since each such upgrade, conducted by technicians working in the local DTH market, is priced at QR20.
SOUTH KOREA
U.S. DIGITAL TV STANDARD ADOPTED
The Korean government has adopted the U.S.
transmission system of digital television broadcasting, ending years of protracted disputes and enabling households across the country to enjoy digital TV programming this year. The Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC) said July 8 the government and the broadcasting industry have finally agreed to adopt the U.S. format instead of the alternative European one. Under the agreement, terrestrial broadcasters of KBS and MBC will expand their high-definition services to five provincial cities this month. ``Provincial residents will be able to enjoy the upcoming Athens Olympics via digital TV.
Furthermore, we plan to expand digital TV coverage across the nation by the end of next year,'' MIC official Rha Bong-ha said. Rha added traditional analogue broadcasting will be suspended in 2010, when it is expected that 95 per cent of households will own digital TV sets. Korea picked the U.S. format as the national standard in 1997 and launched commercial digital broadcasting four years later in Seoul and the surrounding Kyonggi Province. Encouraged by MBC's field test back in 2001, however, some broadcasters and the media union raised concerns over the U.S.
standard's capability to offer quality services to viewers on the go and pressed the government to switch to the European format. In the face of strong opposition, the MIC delayed the expansion of digital TV services to five provincial cities of Pusan, Taegu, Kwangju, Taejon and Ulsan, which was originally planned to go in effect from this January. In an effort to supplement the U.S. standard which is weak in mobility-specific broadcasting, the locally developed ground digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB) will also be embarked this year, according to Rha.
TAIWAN
CTV OPTS FOR HARRIS
Harris Corporation announced that CTV, the Taiwan television broadcast network, has purchased 16 of Harris Broadcast Communications Division's NetVX High-speed Network Systems and upgrades for Harris'
FlexiCoder Encoding System. The equipment will be installed during the second phase of the network's digital rollout for the distribution of its TV services. At CTV, the NetVX system will receive feeds from either the Chung Hwa telecom network via fiber or CTV's digital microwave system to drive the DVB-T transmitters at the network's remote sites. At regional sites that provide localized encoding, the NetVX system will be equipped with a SD encoder that will encode audio and video from the local station to
MPEG-2 and multiplex that signal into the final multiplex. With its ability to establish links with all packet-based (ATM, IP, and microwave) services and receive satellite signals for news sendback and local news drop and insert, the NetVX system enables broadcasters to efficiently and cost-effectively move media (analog or digital video, audio and data) between physically disparate locations simultaneously.
This capability will help CTV to integrate the monitoring and control of the DVB-T transmission and transmitters via IP over ATM or IP over MPEG.
THAILAND
UBC DROPS CHANNEL
According to the Bangkok Post, the Mass Communications Organisation of Thailand (MCOT) has asked United Broadcasting Corporation (UBC) to stop broadcasting Channel 11/1 on the grounds that it is not a free-to-air TV channel. MCOT director-general Mingkwan Sangsuwan asked UBC president Somphan Charumilinda to stop broadcasting programming from Channel 11/1 on UBC's channels 77 and 19. All traces of Channel 11/1 have since been pulled from UBC's broadcasts. The request to stop broadcasting Channel 11/1 came after UBC failed to inform the MCOT regarding the introduction of the new programming, an omission that had put the pay-TV company in violation of its contract.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
ENCODA MEDIA GETS DUBAI MEDIA CONTRACT
As part of a major re-launch, Middle-East based broadcaster, Dubai Media Incorporated (DMI), has selected Encoda Systems to act as systems integrator and supplier to replace all its existing manual transmission and scheduling systems. The phased implementation will see the
installation of Encodas D Series Automation and programme scheduling and air-time sales solution Broadcast Master to transmit and manage its four current channels; EDTV, Channel 33, Dubai Sports and Dubai Business Channel. In addition, Broadcast Masters commercial sales module will allow DMI to optimise sales revenue from commercial air-time for the first time.
A F R I C A
ALGERIA
ENTV TO LAUNCH NEW CHANNELS
Algeria's public television network ENTV will launch several new channels, including one for the ethnic Berber minority, but is not yet ready to open the sector to private stations, an official said.
According to Radio Netherlands, ENTV plans to broadcast in the Berber language Tamazight. Berbers, who make up one fifth of Algeria's population, are demanding more language, cultural and democratic rights. ENTV will also offer new channels dedicated to sports, information and youth. The announcement by ENTV, which currently has just one channel for the domestic audience, and two for Algerians abroad, comes a week after a survey was published showing that almost half of all Algerians preferred French television.
GHANA
METRO TV ON SATELLITE
Metro TV, one of Ghana's premier private TV stations says it all set to become the first TV station in Ghana to transmit throughout Africa and Europe via satellite. According to a report by the Ghanaian Chronicle, arrangements and contracts have already been finalised with the satellite service provider to carry the signals over Ghana, Africa and Europe by September 2004. M
ZAMBIA
GOVERNMENT TERMINATES CASAT CONTRACT
The Zambian government has terminated its contract with Cable Satellite Television (CASAT) because the company has breached the agreement and failed to meet the needs of rural communities. Ministry of Information Permanent Secretary Bernard Namachila told the parliamentary committee on Government assurances that Government had contracted CASAT to install television transmitters in 34 rural districts.
Namachila said Government however, terminated the contract in March because of CASAT breaching the contract and complaints about the company not meeting the expectations of the rural viewers. Cable Satellite Television Technologies (CASAT) has rejected the termination of its contract with Government for rural television installation, saying the funds allocated to the project have to date not been released.
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