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A weekly roundup of global TV news sponsored by
TELE-satellite International
Editor: Branislav Pekic
E U R O P E
SBS SEEKS TO EXPAND
DIGITAL TV SERVICES
European broadcaster SBS is in high-level management
meetings to finalize its plans to expand into Europe's
new digital TV market. An early step in SBS
Broadcasting's digital plan came August 15 with the
launch in Denmark of Voice TV, SBS' new digital video
music channel. According to SBS founder and executive
chairman Harry Sloan, Voice TV is just the tip of the
iceberg for the broadcasters' long-term digital plans
in Europe. "There's going to be more homes that are
digital in Europe than the U.S. We are certainly
jumping in," Sloan said.
FRANCE
PINKTV PREPARES FOR AUTUMN LAUNCH
France's upcoming gay channel PinkTV will now go on
air via cable, satellite and ADSL on October 25.
PinkTV has been the subject of much industry
speculation in France, where many believed the channel
might not see the light of day. The launch has been
put back several times since the network's president
Pascal Houzelot was granted a broadcast licence back
in April 2003. However, issues concerning the
transmission of porn have been settled by providing
double encryption.
PROFITS UP AT M6
Media group M6 has reported operating profits of ?143
million for the first half of 2004 on consolidated
turnover of ?626.5 million, an increase of 3.1 per
cent on the same period last year. Advertising sales
in the same period grew by 8.8 per cent to ?327.4
million.
GERMANY
PROSIEBENSAT.1 REPORTS INCREASED PROFITS
Net profits for the first half of the year at
ProSiebenSat.1 Group were up to ?72.7 million as at
June 30, compared with ?4.1 million at the same time
last year. Consolidated revenues were up 6 per cent to
?932.3 million, and, for the first time in its
history, the group posted first-half profits at all
four stations. Sat.1 emerged from a pre-tax loss of ?5
million to a profit of ?62.4 million. ProSieben's
pre-tax profit soared 56 per cent to ?97.9 million. At
Kabel 1 pre-tax profit almost doubled, to ?12.4
million, while N24 reported a ?200,000 pre-tax profit,
compared to its ?13.2 million loss last year.
KIRCH MAY HAVE TO PAY BACK TAXES
Former German media mogul Leo Kirch, whose KirchGroup
empire collapsed into bankruptcy two years ago, could
now have to pay back taxes totaling as much as ?300
million. The Munich tax office is demanding the taxes
from Kirch, claiming he kept reported profits at his
group of companies artificially low through dubious
writeoffs and other tax accounting tricks.
GREECE
EUROSPORT LAUNCHES ITV OLYMPICS SERVICE
Viewers of Eurosport International on Greek satellite
platform Nova will now have access to an Olympic Games
iTV service, as part of a deal with interactive
television specialist Visiware. The service includes
constant live access to the Games, news headlines,
updated media rankings and a program guide.
INTELSAT BOOKS OVER 35,000 CHANNEL HOURS FOR OLYMPICS
Intelsat on August 19 confirmed that it pre-booked
over 35,000 hours of programming for 50 channels for
this year's Olympic Games in Athens. This represents
one of the highest traffic events in the company's
history, and equates to what would be almost four
years of continual programming carried within a 20-day
period. Intelsat is providing all-digital transmission
of the Games for many of the event's rights holders,
using six satellites from its global fleet covering
every ocean region. The Intelsat system is carrying
Olympic footage from Athens to North America, Asia and
South America for a number of premier customers,
including CCTV in China and
GlobeCast, a leading
international provider of satellite transmission and
production services for professional broadcast
customers. GlobeCast will utilize Intelsat capacity to
offer high-quality services to ATV Hong Kong, TV
Globo, Brazil, TVB Hong Kong and Chinese Taipei
Broadcast Pool. OTE, the national telecom provider of
Greece, will use the Intelsat system to provide
occasional use services to its customers in Europe.
Intelsat-carried Olympic images will be broadcast to a
potential viewing audience of over 3 billion people.
POLAND
NEW CHANNELS BRING PROFIT TO TVN
The ITI-owned television network TVN posted a zl.80.63
million profit in the first half of the year, which is
a 93% increase compared to the same period in 2003.
The company, which is currently preparing for its IPO,
also increased its sales income by 19% to zl.361.51
million and its EBIDTA by 34% to zl.121.68 million. In
March the company finalized the purchase of TVN 24
from the ITI group for zl.168 million, by the end of
April it had launched a new channel ITVN aimed at
foreign viewers and August 1 saw the start of another
new channel TVN Style aimed at women. An IPO is
scheduled for October 2004, worth $100-150 million. In
the first half of the year the TVN group had a 28.9%
market share in prime time, 10% more than in 2002.
RUSSIA
MTG INCREASES RUSSIAN TV STAKES
Sweden's Modern Times Group has increased its
interests in Russian television for the second time in
as many months, and now fully controls free-to-air
entertainment channel DTV. Local Russian companies
controlled by MTG have acquired the remaining 25% of
DTV, since overseas firms cannot own more than 49% of
Russian channels under current laws. Russian
authorities gave the green light this latest expansion
of MTG's interests in Europe's most populous
television market. DTV reaches more than 60 million
people in 400 Russian cities. MTG has also paid a
total of US$9.6 million for another share of
Moscow-based StoryFirst Communications, lifting its
stake by 1.9% to 39.9%. StoryFirst owns and operates
the CTC network along with 13 regional stations in
Russia. CTC boasts an audience of around 100 million.
UNITED KINGDOM
DD CHANNEL ON SKY DIGITAL
Despite reservations of the Finance Ministry, the
Information and Broadcasting ministry plans to put a
channel of Doordarshan on BSkyB DTH platform early
next year and to take it to the United States later.
Information and Broadcasting Secretary Navin B Chawla
who was in Britain earlier this month along with DD
Director-General to discuss various details with
regard to the channel, said on August 14 that the
national broadcaster was preparing a "whole new
channel with a mix of programming" in order to cater
to the wide mix of audience in Britain. He said
putting the channel on BSkyB's DTH platform is
expected to cost the public broadcaster Rs 9 crore.
"We plan to keep it free-to-air for one or two years,
going pay after it catches up with thee targeted
audience," he said. On the timing of the launch,
Chawla said, "BSkyB wants us to join its platform by
November this year but I would like to delay it by
another 2-3 months so that we get more time in
preparing the programming for it."
TECHNOLOGY TV ARRIVES IN OCTOBER
Dave Atherton, the Bolton entrepreneur behind the
online retailer dabs.com, is planning to launch
Technology TV in October. The output will be a balance
of editorial and interactive sales programming. And
backers are hoping that the educational and
entertainment value of the technology-themed
programmes will keep viewers coming back, whilst the
interactive shopping will generate the station's
revenue.
BSKYB CHANNELS ON HOMECHOICE
Sky Sports and Sky Movies channels will soon be
available on the HomeChoice broadband platform
following a deal between BSkyB and Video Networks.
Under the agreement, HomeChoice will be adding a Sky
premium package to its service, carrying channels Sky
Sports 1, 2, 3 and Xtra and Sky Movies (Screens
1,3,5,7,9). This brings the number of digital TV and
on-demand film, music and entertainment channels
available to HomeChoice's potential 1.25 million
households to over 80. The addition of Sky Movies will
take HomeChoice's on-demand film line-up well above
its current 1000+ titles. Video Networks launched its
first video-on-demand trial back in 1996 and followed
this up with HomeChoice in 2000.
BSKYB TAKES LEGAL ACTION AGAINST EDS
BSkyB said August 17 that it has filed a claim "for a
material amount" against U.S.-based technology company
Electronic Data Systems, relating to a customer call
center contract terminated in 2002. In a statement to
the London Stock Exchange, BSkyB said it hired EDS in
November 2000 to build an advanced customer service
call management system in a deal worth £61 million,
but the contract was terminated in 2002.
PROPERTY SHOPPING CHANNEL IN THE WORKS
The UK's first property teleshopping channel - The
Move Channel - is to launch on September 13 via the
Sky Digital platform. The bulk of the round-the-clock
programming schedule will be taken up by infomercials
showing properties from various different estate
agents and developers, with the geographical focus
being London and the South East. In addition there
will be slots available for financial services, new
developments and overseas homes, as well as commercial
spot advertising. The channel will launch with a 12
hour programme loop, which will run from 10:00 to
22:00 and then be repeated throughout the night.
CHANNEL 4 GETS EXTRA CASH
Channel 4 will invest an extra £20 million a year into
program spending on the back of increased revenue from
advertising, director of television Kevin Lygo said on
August 19. A record £469 million is now available for
calendar 2004, with the extra funds earmarked to boost
the channel's Christmas schedule and bring forward the
transmission of shows that would otherwise have aired
next year. The £20 million increase stems from a 5%
increase in ad revenue year-over-year and an increase
in viewers.
FIVE TO OFFER INTERACTIVE ADS
Five will launch interactive TV ads on September 1,
and is to unveil a range of enhanced programming
applications later in the month. The interactive
services will be trialled throughout the remainder of
2004, and Five will unveil its complete interactive
strategy at the start of next year. Five said that its
priority was to get its interactive advertising
services 'up and running', and seek out relevant
commercial partners. The interactive services will
initially be available on the Sky platform only.
FIVE RENEWS MOVIE PACKAGE WITH SONY PICTURES
The Five channel has extended its ongoing movie
package deal with Sony Pictures Television
International, adding a slew of popular movies, some
of which will air on the network without having a U.K.
pay window. Five has secured pay and free rights to
"Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines," "Tears of the
Sun," with Bruce Willis, and the Charlize Theron
starrer "Trapped." Five said it expects some of the
titles to air as early as November, 15 months after
their theatrical debut. These titles will not exploit
a U.K. pay window, but instead go straight to
terrestrial. The extended deal also covers such
terrestrial premieres as "Charlie's Angels: Full
Throttle," "Anger Management," "Bad Boys II," "Maid in
Manhattan" and "Daddy Day Care."
N O R T H A M E R I C A
CANADA
PANEL TO ANALYSE NEW TV CHANNELS
A special panel on international television services
has been set up to look at how cable television
reflects the country's multicultural society and
especially whether more channels, including some from
outside Canada, should be allowed in for Canadian
viewing. The panel, which will report to new federal
Heritage Minister Liza Frulla by September 30 and to
the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications
Commission by October 13, was set up following two
recent controversial decisions by the CRTC. These
included the allowing of subscription to the
Arabic Al
Jazeera network - under strict guidelines - and the
refusal to allow the Italian RAI International
network. RAI programs have been broadcast for more
than 20 years as part of Telelatino and other
networks' programming, and the CRTC felt that to allow
approval of Rogers' application for RAI would be
detrimental to these. The latter decision raised
protests from thousands of Italian-Canadians.
TVA AND SUN MEDIA TO PURCHASE TORONTO 1
TVA Group Inc. and Sun Media Corporation, both
subsidiaries of Quebecor Media Inc., announced on
August 20 that they have entered into a definitive
purchase agreement with CHUM Limited to acquire the
newly launched Toronto 1 station in Toronto which CHUM
is currently in the process of acquiring from Craig
Media Inc. Closing of the transaction remains subject
to certain conditions, including the obtaining of all
regulatory approvals and the closing of the
transaction between CHUM and Craig Media announced on
April 12. The purchase price of the acquisition is $46
million. TVA will pay $34.5 million in cash at closing
for a 75% interest in Toronto 1. Sun will pay $3.5
million in cash at closing and deliver to CHUM its
29.9% interest in CP24, a 24-hour local news channel
in Toronto, for the remaining 25% of Toronto 1.
Management of TVA and Sun Media anticipate that the
transaction will close in the second quarter of 2005.
UNITED STATES
NFL NETWORK SIGNS MAJOR CABLE DEAL
The NFL Network has reached a carriage agreement with
U.S. cable giant Comcast, securing a spot on the
platform's digital tier. The NFL Network launches this
month on Comcast's Digital Plus lineup, reaching more
than 8 million customers. In addition, NFL Network
programming will be provided on-demand in some Comcast
markets, including extended highlights of each NFL
regular-season game, as well as the Emmy-award winning
NFL Films library. NFL Network's schedule includes 54
pre-season games this year, 22 NFL Europe League
games, NFL Total Access, Game of the Week and Coach
Speak, among other shows.
AZTECA AMERICA SIGNS UP WITH TIME WARNER
Azteca America, Mexican network TV Azteca's U.S.
broadcast arm, has increased its penetration in the US
by inking a deal with cableco Time Warner. The
agreement with Time Warner gives Azteca around 900k
new Hispanic subscribers in the New York and New
Jersey areas. This builds on Azteca's existing
carriage agreements in Los Angeles, San Francisco,
Houston, Sacramento, Reno, Las Vegas, Palm Springs,
Santa Barbara and Salt Lake City. Azteca also has a
string of affiliate deals across the US, which
together with the cable deals, bring the network's
penetration to 78% of all Hispanic households.
NBC UNIVERSAL PLANS NEW CABLE CHANNELS
NBC Universal management is hatching ideas for new
cable/satellite channels, with sources indicating that
the cable division is considering creating a network
devoted to horror-themed programming. With USA Network
and Sci Fi Channel in the fold, NBC Uni has the extra
leverage to drive significant distribution. The
channel would nicely complement Sci Fi, which has
abandoned the horror genre in recent years for a more
mainstream focus but could serve as the ideal venue
for cross-promotion. The channel is said to be one of
several ideas NBC Uni is tossing around; another
natural application of the Universal library might
come in the detective genre. Universal operates such a
crime-centric channel in Latin America.
TBN'S FOUR TV NETWORKS ON INTELSAT AMERICAS 5
Trinity Broadcasting Network's (TBN) four signature
networks - TBN, JCTV, Enlace USA and The Church
Channel - are now transmitted on hybrid Intelsat
Americas 5, the new-generation communications
satellite operated by Intelsat. The Intelsat Americas
5 serves the United States, Alaska, Hawaii, southern
Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean. It is outfitted
with 24
C-band and 28 Ku-band transponders. TBN, The
Church Channel, TBN Enlace USA & JCTV can be received
free of charge to anyone living in North America
(US/Canada). TBN is the world's largest religious
network and America's most watched faith channel. TBN
offers 24 hours of faith-based programs including
gospel music concerts, informative talk shows, and
contemporary music videos. TBN now reaches every major
continent via 47 satellites and over 10,000 television
and cable affiliates worldwide. In the United States,
TBN is available to 92,540,954 households.
L A T I N A M E R I C A
ARGENTINA
REVENUES UP AT CLAXSON
Claxson Interactive Group posted second quarter
revenues of $23 million, a 17 per cent increase on
last year's results, but the company's net income
stayed roughly the same, rising just $300,000 in the
last year to $2.3 million. For the quarter, pay-TV
revenues were up 5 per cent, to $12.3 million, and
broadcast revenues rose to $10.6 million. For the
first six months of 2004, revenues were up 13 per cent
to $43.3 million, yet net profit dropped from $7.7
million to $2.5 million.
MEXICO
TELEVISA AND TV AZTECA SIGN NFL DEAL
Mexico's leading networks, Televisa and TV Azteca,
have reached a three-year deal with the National
Football League to televise NFL games during the next
three seasons. For the 85th season, which kicks off in
September, each network will air 23 games, including
five postseason matches. Televisa's Galavision Network
will broadcast on Monday nights and Azteca 7 will
transmit Sunday afternoon games. Each broadcaster will
carry about two dozen games for the 2005 and 2006
seasons as well.
A S I A & P A C I F I C
ASIASAT PLANS REGIONAL PAY-TV SERVICE
Asia Satellite Telecommunications Holdings (AsiaSat)
said it plans to venture into direct-to-home (DTH)
pay-TV services in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau to
boost its satellite utilization rate. AsiaSat,
controlled by China International Trust & Investment
Corp, derives most of its income from leasing
satellite transponders to television broadcasters and
phone companies. ``The low-cost regional pay-TV
service will be launched by the end of this year,''
chief executive officer Peter Jackson said, adding
that some areas in Guangdong may also receive the
signals. The pay-TV service was likely to cost less
than HK$100 a month for 20 to 40 channels, deputy
chief executive officer William Wade said. Viewers
would need a DTH receiver dish that sells for less
than HK$1,000 to get the signals, he said. The rollout
of pay-TV services, in which AsiaSat will introduce
partners, will use four transponders on AsiaSat4,
adding about 8 percentage points to the current
utilisation rate. At the end of June, AsiaSat2's
utilisation rate fell to 41 per cent from 54 per cent
six months earlier, AsiaSat3S rose to 74 per cent from
59 per cent, and AsiaSat4 went to 18 per cent from 10
per cent. Overall usage increased to 44 per cent from
39 per cent. At the end of June, the firm held
contracts worth HK$3.2 billion, down from HK$3.7
billion six months ago.
AUSTRALIA
MURDOCH WANTS TO MOVE NEWS CORP TO U.S.
Rupert Murdoch has admitted he is facing some
opposition from Australian shareholders over his bid
to move News Corp.'s headquarters to the United
States. Speaking to the Australian Financial Review
newspaper on August 19, Murdoch urged Australian
shareholders to vote in favor of the change, adding
that he was confident it would take place because more
than 90% of Australian shareholders would need to
oppose the move in order to stop it going ahead.
CHINA - HONG KONG
CHINA SEEKS 100 MILLION DIGITAL TV HOUSEHOLDS BY 2008
China will provide low-interest loans to cable
companies to convert 100 million urban households to
digital television by 2008, Wang Xiaojie,
director-general in charge of digital TV at the State
Administration of Radio, Film and Television said. The
goal is to have all 380 million households in China on
digital technology by 2015, providing sharper pictures
and access to interactive services such as home
shopping. About 280,000 households nationwide are now
digital. Skyworth and other digital TV makers
including Samsung Electronics Co and Sony Corp are set
to benefit from the new government policy, as will
overseas broadcasters such as News Corp and Viacom
Inc, which will have access to what was a restricted
market. Skyworth sold 330,000 digital TV sets last
year and 80,000 set-top boxes for receiving digital
signals from cable systems.
SIXTY NEW TV CHANNELS TO BE APPROVES SOON
Last year, China's TV regulator approved 40 digital
pay-TV channels and sixty more are to be approved in
the next two weeks. State-owned China Central
Television, which has 15 channels, began operating six
digital pay-TV channels last week. Currently, two of
the six channels feature coverage of the Athens Games.
The other four show TV serials, movies, scientific
documentaries and music. Reuters reports CCTV has
invested 300 million yuan (US$36.23 million), and the
service will eventually reach 50 major cities. Many
local Chinese TV stations also are getting into the
new technology. Shanghai Interactive Television has
also recently received approval from the SARFT to
operate pay channels. The Chinese government last year
announced that Qingdao is the key city for the digital
conversion. The government also picked 48 other cities
for conversion. China plans to completely replace the
existing analogue signal TV with digital TV in 2015.
INTELSAT TO SELL GALAXY STAKE
Intelsat, the main shareholder of Hong Kong's
loss-making Galaxy Satellite Broadcasting, has agreed
to be sold for US$3 billion to four buyout firms from
the United States and Europe. Zeus, formed by a
consortium of funds Apax Partners, Apollo Management,
Madison Dearborn Partners and Permira, will acquire
Intelsat at US$18.75 an Intelsat share issued and
outstanding, compared to US$12 to US$14 that Intelsat
had planned to raise in an initial public offering.
The total value of the transaction, including about
US$2 billion of existing net debt, is approximately
US$5 billion, and was approved by the Intelsat board
of directors. The deal still requires approval by 60
per cent of shareholders and the regulator, which was
expected to be obtained by year end. Intelsat has a 51
per cent stake in Galaxy Satellite Broadcasting, one
of the pay-TV rookies to challenge i-Cable
Communications' dominant position in the sector. The
pay-TV unit, 49 per cent owned by free-to-air
broadcaster Television Broadcasts (TVB), recorded a
first-half operating loss of US$19.1 million, 40 times
more than the US$479,000 loss a year earlier. Galaxy
is believed to have just 5,000 subscribers since its
launch in February.
DIGITAL TV STANDARDS TO BE LAUNCHED BY YEAR'S END
China will launch its digital television standards at
the end of the year, the Beijing Star Daily quoted a
senior Ministry of Information Industry (MII) official
as saying. The newspaper quoted Zhao Xinhua,
secretary-general of the ministry's Electronics
Standardization Institute as saying that six
standards, including network and digital TV access,
have been set, while liquid crystal display, plasma
display panel and audio and visual standards are still
being drafted. The paper said Zhao has warned domestic
TV set makers not to launch a price war, as many
intellectual property rights (IPRs), including those
for audio and visual components as well as monitors,
are held by foreign makers. China began drafting the
national digital TV standards in 2000, and the
country's long-term plan is to make digital TV
available to everyone by 2010.
FREE DIGITAL TV FOR MANY CITIES
China will reschedule its timetable of developing
digital cable television in cities and more cities
will give free decoders instead of selling them in
order to attract subscribers. The State Administration
of Radio, Film and Television published a timetable
last June, hoping for at least 30 million digital
cable TV subscribers by the end of next year. It also
planned to convert all municipalities, cities in
eastern regions and most provincial capitals in
central and western regions to digital broadcasting by
then. But the situation is not developing as the
administration has anticipated. Many cities have found
it difficult to attract subscribers, with the number
reaching just 20,000 in cities such as Shanghai,
Shenzhen and Beijing.
FIJI
FIJI TV SUES NEW SKIES SATELLITES
Fiji TV has begun legal proceedings for breach of
contract against New Skies Satellites of Netherlands
with whom it entered into a 10-year contract for the
provision of satellite transponder services. The
contract was to support Sky Pacific, its new
satellite-driven television service for Fiji and other
South Pacific countries. Fiji TV said it didn't
succeed in its first attempt to obtain interim orders
to compel New Skies to deliver the service. However,
on legal advice, it had taken its application to a
higher level in the Netherlands court system. In the
meantime arrangements were being made with Intelsat
for the use of their transponder on Intelsat 701, with
the business of delivery of Sky Pacific expected to
begin in September. Exact content and pricing is still
not available.
INDIA
TTV TO START BROADCASTING NEXT MONTH
`Thamizh Thirai' (Tamil Screen Channel), a TV channel
controlled and managed by the Tamil film industry
personnel, will start broadcasting from September 3
around the clock. The channel will buy documentary and
feature films, which won awards at the national and
international festivals, and will be available around
the world in 35 countries. The programmes will be
beamed up to the Insat 2E satellite from the Ambattur
uplink station.
ZEE SEEKS TO EXPAND REGIONALY
After its recent launch in Singapore, Zee Network has
announced that it will further extend its South East
Asian beam. The network will soon have a customised
feed to Hong Kong, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand
and Japan. Apart from entertainment feed, the channel
will also air three news bulletins every day, Hindi
pop and film music-based programs, Indian movies-based
programs and local programs.
DOORDARSHAN TO LAUNCH DTH SERVICE
According to Radio Netherlands, state-owned TV service
Doordarshan will soon launch its own low-cost Direct
to Home" (DTH) service, with four transponders
envisaging 40 channels, including private ones. In the
initial phase, to encourage adoption of this new
technology, it would cover about eight States
including Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat,
Karnataka and the North Eastern Region, as well as
public institutions such as Anganwadis, schools and
Public Health Centres.
ESPN TO MATCH ZEE CRICKET RIGHTS BID
ESPN-Star Sports is willing to match Zee Telefilms'
bid of $260 million for the rights to telecast cricket
matches conducted by the Board of Control for Cricket
in India (BCCI) in the country for the next four
years. ESPN had bid $230 million, but had also
expressed its willingness to increase it to around
$300 million if BCCI extended the offer to five years
from four. BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmiya said the
board would soon take a final decision after further
deliberations and had asked for some clarifications
from the various bidders. ESPN has publicly said Zee
does not qualify for the bidding process as it does
not meet the board's criterion of two years'
experience in telecasting international cricket
events. Zee executives, however, deny the charge,
pointing out that they have telecast international
cricket matches in countries like the UK since 1995.
The broadcaster which manages to win the four-year
telecast contract will get satellite as well as
terrestrial rights (which it will have to offer to
Doordarshan). The contract will also include
international satellite rights, telephony rights
(including cellular) and Internet rights.
IRAQ
NEW TV CHANNEL PREPARES FOR LAUNCH
Mohammed Gohar, the founder and chief executive of
Egyptian production house Video Cairo Sat, is looking
to launch a new television network in Iraq that will
air, among others, original soap operas and reality
shows, plus animation and news, according to the New
York Times, Gohar told the Times that he wants to
launch Nahrain later this month. "We just want to
inform and entertain and basically help people to cope
with their daily lives." The network will launch with
a 10-hour schedule of news, musical variety shows,
animation and Arabic-language sitcoms, plus feature
films, many of which will derive from Video Cairo
Sat's library of Egyptian movies. Among the titles
scheduled is a daily talk show, Baghdad Today. The
initial $25 million investment for Nahrain reportedly
comes from Naguib Sawiris, the chief executive of
Orascom, an Egyptian telecommunications group. The
network aims to raise revenues through
advertising-about 80 minutes a day, although Gohar
noted, "We are not expecting much revenue in the first
year."
ISRAEL
COMPETITION BETWEEN SATELLITE AND CABLE HEATS UP
The competition between satellite and Internet
television services providers has intensified over the
last few days as cable companies attempt to lure new
subscribers to their services with offers of free
television sets and computers. The merged cable
company HOT announced on August 19 that new customers
and existing subscribers upgrading to the new plan
will receive a 21 inch TV and 256 Mhz computer in
addition to its cable and Internet services. The deal,
which is available for one month until September 20,
will cost NIS 329 per month for 36 months giving
viewers its basic and movie packages and an Internet
connection. Services of an Internet provider are not
included and would cost an additional NIS 39 per
month. For those who do not need a new computer, they
can get a TV only with the basic package plus movie
channels and Internet for NIS 247 per month over 36
months. These packages are all upgrades from its
yearly subscription of NIS 176 per month for the basic
package plus any four other packages. In comparison,
HOT's competitor satellite TV provider YES is offering
TV and Internet services for NIS 209 per month
including its basic package plus 3 packages of choice
and a fast Internet line. The services of an Internet
provider can be attained separately at the market
price of NIS 39 per month. Alternatively YES TV only
deal will cost NIS 204 a month for the basic plus
three programming packages. Reportedly, HOT had a
total of 962,000 registered users in July down 2,500
from June, while Yes enjoyed an increase of 5,000
subscribers to 434,000.
MALAYSIA
ASTRO PLANS GLOBAL NEWS CHANNEL
Privately owned satellite-TV company Astro wants to
create a special news channel to broadcast Malaysian
news to a global market by next year. Its group chief
executive officer Ralph Marshall said it was currently
talking with the Information Ministry and other local
broadcasters to see how this could be done. The
purpose of the discussions with Bernama, TV3, NTV7,
RTM and the Information Ministry was to create a
content to "expose Malaysia's creative talents and
perspective internationally." ASTRO currently offers
about 50 direct-to-home satellite channels to about
1.4 million subscribers in Malaysia.
NEW ZEALAND
SKY TV PROFITS UP
Pay-TV operator Sky Television has reported an annual
profit of $35.3 million, while its proposed merger
partner, Independent Newspapers Limited (INL), has
reported an 82% profit slump. Sky TV and INL said on
August 19 they had reached in-principle agreement to
progress talks about a merger proposal, forming a new
single company. Sky TV says revenue was up more than
12.6% at $440.6 million. It says the number of
subscribers reached a record 576,602, while
disconnections of existing customers fell from 17.6%
to a new low of 17.1%. INL, the cashed up New Zealand
arm of Rupert Murdoch's media empire, has posted a net
profit after tax of $70.9 million for the year to June
30. INL's income was largely derived from its earnings
from its 78% stake in Sky TV. Under the merger
proposal, a new company (Newco) would be established
to acquire both Sky and INL, and would then carry the
Sky Network Television name. Sky and INL shareholders
would receive shares in the new company and cash in
return for their current shareholdings. The merger
proposal received the backing of Telecom, which owns
12% of INL. The proposal will not be put to
shareholders before the first quarter of 2005.
OMAN
PRIVATE TV TO GET GREEN LIGHT
The Sultanate of Oman is to allow the setting up
private radio and television companies, the terms and
conditions for which have been stipulated in law, the
Times of Oman has reported. The firms will take the
form of closed-shares companies owned by Omanis.
Transfer of shares to non-Omanis is not allowed. A
Committee for Private Radio and TV Firms is being
entrusted with the responsibility of granting licence
to operate private radio and TV channels. The licence
is given for a period of 10 years, and is renewable.
The medium of transmission could be Arabic or English.
For any other language, approval of the Council of
Ministers is needed.
THAILAND
MCOT BECOMES PUBLIC COMPANY
The Mass Communication Organization of Thailand (MCOT)
has officially become a public company, after King
Bhumiphol endorsed the move. The Director-General of
the Department of Business Development at the Ministry
of Commerce, MCOT is expected to be listed on the
Stock Exchange of Thailand within the next two months.
MCOT operates Channel 9, about 50 radio stations
nationwide and the official
Thai News Agency. It also
owns the concessions to Channel 3 and UBC cable
television, and is a member of the ABU's daily news
exchange, Asiavision.
TURKMENISTAN
FOURTH TV CHANNEL STARTS TEST BROADCASTS
The fourth TV channel has started trial transmissions
in seven languages, with around the clock
transmissions scheduled to begin on September 12. In
addition to the national language of Turkmenistan, the
channel is transmitting simultaneously in English,
Russian, French, Chinese, Arabic and Farsi languages.
Meanwhile, the existing three TV channels have
switched to new satellite frequencies. The TV channels
- Altyn Asyr, Yashlyk and Miras - as well as all three
radio channels have changed satellite frequencies. The
new parameters for the Turkmen TV and radio channels
are: frequency 3553 MHz and Symbol Rate: 20.5 m/s
A F R I C A
SOUTH AFRICA
MULTICHOICE SEEKS EXEMPTION FROM CROSS-MEDIA OWNERSHIP
LAW
Satellite broadcaster MultiChoice appealed to the
Independent Communications Authority of South Africa
(Icasa) on August 19 to back an exemption for pay-TV
companies from proposed new curbs to cross-media
ownership. The proposed additions to the Broadcasting
Act sections 49 and 50 are aimed at limiting
monopolies in the country's media. Icasa has been
asked to recommend to government whether these
rules
should apply to broadcasters. Icasa's decision could
have dramatic consequences for South Africa's large
media houses, including Naspers, Johnnic
Communications and Primedia, which could see any plans
to diversify and become multimedia conglomerates
either sanctioned or scuppered. The proposed section
49 states that "no person shall exercise control over
more than one commercial television broadcasting
licence". Section 50 states that no entity which
controls newspapers with a minimum of 25% of the
newspaper circulation of an area shall be allowed a
broadcasting licence for that area. MultiChoice lawyer
Schalk Burger attacked the two sections as being "out
of sync" with international media trends and
constitutionally suspect as they inhibited freedom of
expression. Burger warned this had grave implications
for media giant Naspers, which owns M-Net and
MultiChoice through MIH Holdings. He said th e new
constraints could force Naspers to sell off M-Net or
MultiChoice. Burger said Icasa should recommend
amending those sections to include clauses in both
stating that "this section does not apply to a
subscription broadcasting licence". Icasa will again
hear submissions on cross-media ownership legislation
on August 26 after which it will deliver its
far-reaching
SABC ACCUSES RIVALS OF DUOPOLY
State-owned broadcaster, the South African
Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), has accused
Multichoice and MNet's parent, MIH Group, of holding a
"managed duopoly" of the pay-TV market, and hampering
growth in the market through a price structure that
was affordable only to top earners. This week it said
the pay-television market could grow only if
competitors to Multichoice were licensed and if they
came with "flexible pricing and proposition
structures". Earlier this week, Competition Commission
compliance manager Zodwa Ntuli confirmed that
following a complaint from a subscriber over
Multichoice's 2002 price increases, the commission had
probed the matter. The SABC pointed out that only 9,3%
of South African households subscribed to these pay-TV
channels and the market had become saturated because
the prices were too high to be affordable for
middle-income earners. Some players in the industry
believe a new competitor to Multichoice could help put
downward pressure on Multichoice's prices, resulting
in a possible cut in its subscription fees.
Multichoice confirmed this week that 48% of its
subscribers come from the top tier of earners in terms
of a living standards measure but said this did not
indicate that its prices were excessive. The monthly
subscriptions for DSTV's monthly subscriptions range
between R379 and R429; the terrestrial MNet service
costs R209m a month.
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