A weekly roundup of global TV news sponsored by
TELE-satellite International
Editor: Branislav Pekic
E U R O P E
ZONE VISION SIGNS CARRIAGE DEALS
Zone Vision's has secured distribution on UPC in
Slovakia and MTIS in Belarus for both its Reality TV
and Romantica channels. In Hungary,
European movie
channel Europa Europa has been added to the EMKTV and
UPC cable systems. In Russia, Reality TV will be
broadcast on UCN and Romanian cable operator Astral
has renewed its contract to carry both Reality TV and
Romantica. As a result of these agreements, the
channels will reach an additional 1.1 million
subscribers throughout the region. Zone Vision has
also signed a channel representation deal with BBC
Prime for Eastern Europe and recently secured a
distribution deal for the new channel in Romania.
BELGIUM
BELGACOM SEEKS FOOTBALL RIGHTS
Telecommunications operator Belgacom is considering
bidding for next season's Belgian domestic club
football rights, the country's professional football
league said on September 9. Belgacom plans to roll out
interactive digital television in 2005, broadcast
through fixed telephone lines. Most Belgians already
subscribe to a cable service. Belgacom spokesman Jan
Margot did not want to comment on a possible bid,
saying consumer trials of the new television service
were not due to start until November. "We are
targeting all possible partners. We will look at how
people will use (digital television) and what they are
willing to pay," he said. Belgian cable company
Telenet also plans to offer digital television.
Belgian soccer clubs raised ?15 million in 2002 from
the sale of three years of television rights but
Sterckx hopes to get significantly more this time. If
Belgacom submits a formal bid, it will face
established broadcasters including publicly owned RTBF
and VRT, Vivendi Universal's Canal Plus and Flemish
commercial channel VTM.
FRANCE
CANALSATELLITE EXPANDS DSL SERVICE
Harmonic Inc. on September 9 announced that
CanalSatellite, part of CANAL+ Group which is a
VivendiUniversal company, has deployed Harmonic's
high-performance digital video headend systems to
efficiently deliver premium programming for the
CANALSATDSL TV- over-ADSL service. The ultra-low
bit-rate capabilities of Harmonic's DiviCom MV 100
encoder make it possible for CanalSatellite, France's
leading satellite distribution and direct-to-home
broadcaster, to transport broadcast-quality video over
a variety of telecom transport networks. The recently
introduced CANALSATDSL service offers 80 channels of
broadcast-quality television to ADSL subscribers via
the IP and ATM backbone networks of their telecom
partners. CanalSatellite, a 66% Canal+ Group
subsidiary, is the leader in digital pay-TV in France
with 2.83 million subscriptions at the end of June
2004. CanalSatellite offers over 260 channels and
services across all genres -- cinema, sport and
information as well as channels for young adults and
children.
Internet -
http://www.canalsatdsl.com
TPS SIGNS UP 1.5 MILLION SUBSCRIBERS
Satellite pay-TV platform TPS had 1.56 million
subscribers as of 30 June this year, with sales up 8%
to ?282 million and a reduction of the debt of ?42
million during the 12 months to June 2004. The number
of subscribers to TPS-L, the ADSL delivered version of
the TPS bouquet which opened earlier this year, is
about 10,000 with an aim of reaching 50,000 by year
end. If achieved, this should bring the total number
of new clients to TPS to 100,000 in the year. The
entry level pay-TV package will remain at ?11 a month,
but a new movie package TPS Star Premium will cost
?19.50 a month.
FOX PURCHASES VOYAGE CHANNEL
Fox International Channels (FIC) has concluded the
acquisition of French travel channel Voyage from
Pathé. "We are delighted and proud that our business
in France has expanded with the acquisition of Voyage,
a very strong TV brand well capitalized upon by Pathé
and a fine example of high quality French-produced
television," noted David Haslingden, the CEO of FIC.
GERMANY
SES ASTRA AND PREMIERE TO LAUNCH
HDTV CHANNELS
Premiere is to start broadcasting its first programmes
in high-definition TV format (HDTV) from 1 November
2005 onwards. The Munich-based pay-TV operator will
transmit HDTV content on three dedicated channels for
sport, film and documentaries. The programmes will be
broadcast in digital format via the ASTRA satellite
system at 19.2 degrees East. This has been agreed in
principle between Premiere and SES ASTRA. Premiere
also later intends to introduce its HDTV package on
cable networks. At present, the technical
specifications for HDTV receivers suitable for
Premiere are being set up. The marketing of HDTV
receivers suitable for Premiere is scheduled to begin
during the run-up to the Christmas season 2005.
Internet -
http://www.info.premiere.de
HARMONIC ADOPTS HARMONIC DVB
Harmonic Inc. announced that Digital Playout Center
(DPC), a subsidiary of Premiere Fernsehen, has
deployed an integrated, standards-based content
protection and service management solution from
Harmonic. DPC, Germany's largest satellite
broadcaster, is using Harmonic's award-winning
Broadcast Network Gateway (BNG) and NMX Digital
Service Manager to increase the security and
availability of its digital TV service. This
DVB-compliant solution is compatible with DPC's
existing headend and customer premises equipment,
bringing greater operational control and flexibility
while ensuring a seamless customer experience. The
DPC, a subsidiary of Premiere Fernsehen, operates one
of the most modern transmission centers in Europe.
Today, the broadcast center transmits by satellite
more than 100 digital TV and radio channels as well as
data services for Premiere. In addition to
transporting content for Premiere, DPC also transmits
programming for ProSiebenSat.1 Media, Home Shopping
Europe HSE 24, German sport television DSF, use Tele
5, 9Live and many others.
HUNGARY
SBS TO LAUNCH SECOND TV CHANNEL
SBS Broadcasting will launch Irisz, its second
television channel in the Hungarian market, on
September 13, and will be broadcast from 18:00 to
23:00 on the Hungarian feed of Club, a television
channel dedicated to women's entertainment. Irisz will
initially reach approximately 680,000 homes through
cable carriage on UPC Hungary, Hungary's largest cable
operator, and other local networks. Irisz will be a
female entertainment channel broadcast in the
Hungarian language and focused on the key 18-49 female
audience. Its programming schedule will complement
Club's female focus and leverage SBS's Hungarian
library. Irisz will consist of a mixture of popular
local productions and international programming. The
channel will be programmed and broadcast under a Dutch
broadcasting license. Launched in 1999, Club is a
television channel dedicated to women's entertainment
and is available in 20 countries across Europe and in
nine languages.
http://www.sbsbroadcasting.com
SWEDEN
MTG FILES SUIT CANAL DIGITAL
Modern Times Group has filed suit against Sweden's
Canal Digital, alleging that the platform has been
carrying Viasat Broadcasting's TV3, ZTV and TV8
without authorization. Viasat has applied to the
Swedish Market Court, seeking to block Canal Digital
from using reference to the three channels in its
marketing materials. Swedish viewers who want access
to the three channels can subscribe to Boxer's digital
terrestrial television pay-TV package. Albrecht added,
"We launched a new offer in Sweden last week enabling
viewers to subscribe to Viasat's pay-TV services in
the most simple and inexpensive way ever. New
subscribers signing up for Viasat's premium pay-TV
package in Sweden, Viasat Gold, now receive a free
dish, a free digital decoder and free
installation."
TURKEY
DIGITURK OPTS FOR UNIVERSAL ELECTRONICS
Universal Electronics Inc. (UEI) on September 9
announced it has entered into an agreement through its
wholly owned subsidiary Universal Electronics to
exclusively provide the Omega and Zapper remote
controls for DIGITURK's new interactive set-top box.
DIGITURK, the largest subscription satellite
television operator in Turkey, plans to distribute
these set-top boxes to customers starting in August.
DIGITURK broadcasts over the Eutelsat WA satellite
since the beginning of April 2000 and has more than
122 channels today. Since operations began in March
2000, DIGITURK has grown to over 700,000 subscribers,
with the total number of homes serviced in two years
exceeding 3 million.
Web Site:
http://www.uei.com
UNITED KINGDOM
HOMECHOICE IN TALKS WITH GOVERNMENT OVER DIGITAL TV
Video Networks, which relaunched its video-on-demand
television service HomeChoice in May, is in talks with
the Government about offering subsidised digital
television services to help the planned analogue
switch-off. The Government wants to turn off analogue
signals by 2012, when it hopes the nation's households
will have converted to digital TV, via cable,
satellite or ordinary aerials. But with existing
technology, this may not be possible. Over the summer,
Video Networks chief executive, Roger Lynch, has had
several meetings with Tessa Jowell, the Secretary of
State for Media, and BBC officials about how to reach
those households which may be unable - or unwilling -
to go digital. HomeChoice allows viewers to watch
television via broadband. As well as providing
internet access, it offers digital channels and
archived content - or "video on demand" - which is
"called down" the broadband network by the viewer.
With government help, Video Networks could launch a
slimmed-down, cheaper package of around 20 digital
channels which could be broadcast via telephone wires
as opposed to broadband, Lynch said. HomeChoice could
be useful in blocks of flats where ordinary
terrestrial aerials cannot be converted to Freeview
and satellite dishes cannot be fitted, he said.
BBC WORLDWIDE NOT FOR SALE
The BBC on September 8 dismissed reports that it is in
talks with big media groups including Time Warner,
Bertelsmann and the Walt Disney Co. to sell off its
commercial sales division BBC Worldwide.
Representatives for the public broadcaster poured cold
water on the suggestion that the $3 billion division
-- which includes three joint venture channels, a
program sales arm, a consumer magazine publishing
business and the international channels BBC America
and BBC World -- was being touted for sale. "BBC
Worldwide is categorically not for sale. There is no
question that we are asking anybody to table bids," a
spokeswoman said. UK press reports had mentioned that
the BBC had written to more than 25 potential bidders
and organisations interested in its commercial assets,
soliciting their views on the future of the business.
ITV3 TO LAUNCH ON NOVEMBER
ITV's over-35s station, ITV3, will launch on November
1 - but only Freeview customers, less than a third of
the total digital audience, will be able to tune in.
ITV has yet to sort out a slot for the channel with
cable giants NTL and Telewest and has been told by
BSkyB there is no space for it on the Sky Digital
satellite platform. The ITV chief executive, Charles
Allen, said today he was still in negotiations with
cable bosses but has yet to start talking to Sky about
a satellite slot. The limited distribution threatens
to get the new channel, which is costing £12 million a
year, off to a slow start. ITV is targeting the
over-35s with a mix of drama, films and repeated
entertainment shows. Allen said there would be three
"premium movies" a week on ITV3, as well as
behind-the-scenes programmes related to ITV1 shows.
Other programming will include repeats of Parkinson
and Today with Des and Mel, and omnibus editions of
The Bill. ITV is launching the channel to run
alongside its more youth-oriented ITV2 channel, where
the budget is being increased from £24 million to £48
million.
WILLIAM HILL TV TO LAUNCH INTERACTIVE TV
William Hill has announced that its new digital
interactive television service, Channel 425, will be
available, free to view, on the Sky platform from
October 6. The initial focus of the channel is to
capitalise on the strong fan base for UK greyhound
racing that has developed through Sky's coverage of
the sport in recent years with other betting
opportunities being provided by live US horseracing
and a number of simple random number generated
products. Initially set to show live greyhound racing
from Tuesday through to Saturday nights inclusive,
Channel 425 will launch with a series of minor
competitions from its two tracks at Brough Park and
Sunderland. The honour of screening the first race of
the new channel, the Welcome to Greyhound Racing On
Channel 425 Stakes (coincidentally worth £425 to the
winner), will fall to Sunderland. It is expected that
the channel will move to providing live greyhound
racing seven days a week within a matter of months and
talks are already underway to bring other live
sporting content to the channel as well.
ITV PROFITS UP
The broadcasting group ITV posted a 42-per cent
increase in half-year profits, with first-half
advertising revenues from all ITV channels improving
by 4.9% on 2003 and estimated to be up 5.5% in the
current quarter. Chief executive Charles Allen pledged
to raise the target from £100 million a year to £120
million but did not provide details of how the extra
savings would be achieved. ITV said operating profits
for the first half of 2004 rose 32% on a year earlier
to £123 million while bottom-line pre-tax profits came
in at £132 million. Meanwhile, ITV said on September 9
it did not intend to sell its stakes in SMG, the
Scottish broadcaster, GMTV, ITN and Ireland's TV3 as
part of an asset disposal likely to raise more than
£500 million.
NINE MILLION VIEWERS FOR BBC OLYMPIC COVERAGE
The BBC's interactive Olympics coverage reached 8.96
million users in satellite homes. The number
represents viewers that used the BBC interactive
Olympics service for more than a minute at some time
during the two week event. Senior BBC executives were
reportedly amazed by the figure, which compares very
favourably to the 4.1 million that accessed the
Wimbledon interactive service and 3.4 million that
sampled the interactive coverage of the Commonwealth
Games. The number is a significant gain on the 6.13
million users reported for the first week of the
Olympics. These numbers exclude digital terrestrial
and cable television for which interactive usage data
is currently unavailable. Some 7 million UK homes have
digital satellite television, while around 3.5 million
have digital terrestrial television, and about 2.5
million have digital cable.
N O R T H A M E R I C A
UNITED STATES
DISNEY VOD ON HOLD
The Walt Disney Company has put the further rollout of
its VOD service MovieBeam on hold for the time being,
according to the Los Angeles Times, as it looks to
possibly have the initiative included in set-top
boxes, PCs or other devices. Launched in September
last year in three cities, Disney had planned on
expanding to three more cities this year, with a
national rollout in early 2005. At present, some 100
feature-length films-from a number of studios-can be
stored in the MovieBeam stand-alone box. Disney
reportedly wants to tie up with a cable or satellite
provider so that the service can be bundled with other
offerings.
FCC TO VOTE ON DIGITAL EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS
Federal regulators on September 9 unanimously approved
a new set of children's television
rules in an attempt
to ensure that broadcasters will continue to air
educational TV programs on digital television. While
the FCC set the minimum amount of educational
television that broadcasters will be required to air
using their digital TV signals, the commission didn't
stop there. Included in the regulations are new
requirements broadcasters must meet using their
analogue signals as well. According to FCC staff and
documents released after the vote, broadcasters will
be required to run a new program descriptor "E/I" on
all programming that meets the children's
educational/informational programming requirement.
Broadcasters are required to air at least three hours
of children's educational or informational television
a week.
ESPN PREPARES COLLEGE SPORTS CHANNEL
To celebrate its 25th anniversary, ESPN announced it
will launch a seventh channel, this one dedicated to
college sports. ESPNU is scheduled to launch next
March and will provide and share content within the
ESPN "family" -- ESPN.com, ESPN The Magazine, ESPN
Radio, and ESPN Broadband. ESPN already has its
namesake network, plus ESPN2, ESPN
Classic, ESPNEWS,
ESPN Deportes (Spanish), and ESPN Today (a text
service for On Demand systems) in the United States.
The programming plan calls for the ESPNU to air
approximately 300 regular-season games in Division 1
football and basketball (men's and women's), plus
baseball, softball, volleyball, lacrosse, hockey,
wrestling, "spring" football, and select high school
football games. This will include some events now
airing on ESPN Regional TV, which distributes regional
telecasts and pay-per-view programming, and replays of
games on ABC Sports and other ESPN channels, plus
studio and stand-alone shows such as letter-of-intent
days.
ESPN UNVEILS ESPN2 HD
ESPN and ABC Sports President George Bodenheimer
announced on September 7 on ESPN's 25th Anniversary,
another chapter in ESPN's history, the January 2005
launch of ESPN2 HD, the company's second
high-definition sports service. ESPN2 HD will launch
as a simulcast of ESPN2 and will include over 100 live
telecasts in its first year of operation - featuring
college football plus men's and women's and college
basketball, the Little League World Series, Major
League Baseball, and the National Hockey League -
originally produced and distributed in high-definition
television. Together, ESPN HD and ESPN2 HD will
immediately offer viewers over 6,000 hours of
originally produced high-definition programming and
over 2,000 original programs. All high-definition
programming on ESPN HD and ESPN2 HD will be delivered
to cable systems and satellite providers in the 720p
high-definition format.
Q TELEVISION LAUNCHES
Q Television Network has solved the technical problems
that prevented it from launching the Network on
September 4 and with the assistance of RCN, Network
Teleport Systems and Firestone Communications, finally
launched on September 8. Over the next 45 days Q
Television Network will be rolling out its original
programming, which will be 20% life and 10% recorded.
Q Television Network goal is to rapidly grow to
150,000 subscribers within the first year and 250,000
the second year.
INHD AND CSTV TO SHHOW HDTV FOOTBALL
INHD, cable's most widely distributed all
high-definition network, has teamed up with CSTV:
College Sports Television, to broadcast numerous top
collegiate sports telecasts live, in high definition.
The agreement provides INHD the right to air the
events in high definition, while CSTV will
simultaneously carry the standard definition
broadcasts. The co-produced telecasts will include
regular season football, basketball, ice hockey,
baseball, volleyball, soccer, water polo and swimming
events, as well select conference tournaments and NCAA
National Championships. This is the second consecutive
year INHD will produce live college sports with CSTV.
Internet -
http://www.inhd.com
http://www.collegesports.com
G4TECHTV IN 50 MILLION HOMES
G4techTV, the one and only 24-hour television network
plugged into every dimension of games, gear, gadgets
and gigabytes, announced on September 8 it has a new
hi-score of 50 million Nielsen homes. Formed by the
May, 2004 merger of G4 and TechTV, G4techTV is the one
and only 24-hour television network that is plugged
into every dimension of games, gear, gadgets and
gigabytes. The network is available in 50 million
cable and satellite homes nationwide and airs 24
original series. Headquartered in Los Angeles,
G4techTV is owned by Comcast Corporation.
Internet -
http://www.g4techtv.com
DIRECTV TO LAUNCH NEW SATELLITES
DIRECTV announced on September 8 the planned launch of
four new next-generation satellites. These satellites
will provide DIRECTV with a massive expansion in local
and national high-definition (HD) channels, as well as
capacity for new interactive and enhanced services and
standard-definition programming. The first two of
these satellites, Spaceway 1 and Spaceway 2, will
launch in 2005 with programming being offered to
consumers by the middle of the year. These satellites
will have the capacity for more than 500 local HD
channels. The next two satellites, DIRECTV 10 and
DIRECTV 11, will launch in early 2007. These
satellites will have the capacity for more than 1,000
additional local HD channels, more than 150 national
HD channels, and other new programming offerings.
FCC CHAIRMAN SUPPORTS 2009 DIGITAL TV DEADLINE
U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairman
Michael Powell endorsed setting a 2009 deadline for
U.S. television broadcasters to switch to digital
signals. Powell told the Senate committee that he
would "strongly" recommend "endorsing a hard deadline
for the overall transition" to digital TV. Earlier
this year, FCC staff members proposed a January 2009
deadline for the digital-TV conversion. Powell stopped
short of endorsing this deadline until now. Paxson
Communications Chairman Lowell Paxson, whose company
operates the Pax television network, told reporters
after the hearing that Powell "has a lot of work to do
to get the transition going" with a 2009 deadline.
Powell's aides have said he may make a proposal about
the digital- TV conversion by the end of the year.
Congress has required broadcasters to convert to
digital TV once 85 per cent of U.S. homes are reached
by digital signals. About 2 per cent of U.S.
households now have digital TV equipment, the Consumer
Electronics Association has said.
HOME2US LAUNCHES ASIA NETWORK
Home2US Communications Inc, an operator of a premier
open pay television platform, and The Asia Network
(TAN TV), a subsidiary of KBFD-TV of Honolulu, Hawaii,
announced the launch of Korean TV channels in North
America. Distributed via SES-Americom's AMC-4, TAN TV
reaches the large Korean and Chinese community in the
US via Home2US DTH platform. TAN-TV, is a leading 24
hour Korean language television station in the U.S.
featuring four of Korea's major television networks,
KBS, MBC, SBS and YTN, which provide a wide range of
traditional and modern dramas, mini-series, comedy,
children's programming, and variety shows. Home2US is
providing TAN TV with an end-to-end satellite
distribution of its channels including the latest
version of Viaccess encryption, uplink and space
capacity.
DISH NETWORK ADDS CENTROAMERICA TV
EchoStar's DISH Network will add Centroamerica TV to
its Spanish-language, DISH Latino programming packages
beginning September 15. Centroamerica TV is the first
and only 24-hour, U.S.-based Central American channel
that will cater to the millions of Central Americans
living in the United States and is produced by Media
World. Centroamerica TV will be available exclusively
on Channel 834 nationwide in the DISH Latino, DISH
Latino Dos and DISH Latino Max packages at no extra
charge. Centroamerica TV offers the best, originally
produced programming directly from El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama
each day with up-to-the-minute news, novelas, talk
shows, top-rated series, music, culture and soccer.
Internet -
http://www.mediapro.es
http://www.centroamericatv.tv
L A T I N A M E R I C A
THOMSON EXTENDS STB DEAL WITH DIRECTV LATIN AMERICA
Thomson on September 7 announced it has extended its
agreement with DIRECTV Latin America for the
manufacture of digital set-top boxes that will deliver
digital satellite television throughout all of DIRECTV
Latin America's service territories. The agreement
further reinforces Thomson's position as the worldwide
leader in satellite set-top boxes and follows the
global strategic supplier agreement signed between
Thomson and News Corp in November 2003. For the past
year, Thomson has been targeting growth within the
News Corp family of operators as a key corporate
priority and recently announced satellite set-top box
agreements with DIRECTV, Sky Brasil and Sky Mexico.
Thomson will leverage its MPEG 2 product design and
the expertise of DIRECTV to deliver an advanced
set-top box for DIRECTV Latin America.
A S I A & P A C I F I C
AUSTRALIA
DIGITAL TV TO ARRIVE IN 2005
Digital TV services are coming to the Border and
Albury-Wodonga viewers will be able to take them up
next year. Digital television was launched in
metropolitan markets in January, 2001, and the service
will now be available in Albury-Wodonga from 2005 and
in smaller outlying towns from 2006. An Australian
Broadcast Authority spokesman said the Border would
soon have digital television available. "We are
looking at some time between July and September next
year," he said.
NEW DIGITAL TV STANDARD HITS 400,000
Free-to-air channels have agreed on a standard new
set-top box to give viewers interactive power on their
digital TVs, but the new standard leaves 400,000
people with existing set-top boxes out in the cold.
After more than three years, the ABC, Seven, Nine,
Ten, SBS and the regional broadcasters will have the
facility to compete with the interactive capabilities
of digital pay-television networks such as Foxtel.
Whatever they offer in terms of interactivity will be
available on set-top boxes sold in the future and
labelled "interactive". But those 400,000-plus people
who have already bought similar boxes will not be able
to see the interactive features. Pay-TV group Foxtel
has begun promoting interactivity as one of its key
selling points since the services began with the
launch of the new Foxtel Digital service. Foxtel
recently launched a polling service on Sky News, has
the Sports Active interactive service on Fox Sports
channels and has an interactive service on the Weather
Channel. Now the free-to-air TV networks will be able
to introduce similar services on their digital
free-to-air channels. The set-top boxes are expected
to be available early next year.
PANAMSAT AND
GLOBECAST LAUNCH PANGLOBAL TV
PanAmSat Corporation has teamed up with GlobeCast to
launch PanGlobal TV. Hosted on the PAS-8 Pacific Ocean
Region satellite, this new Australian DTH platform
will target international broadcasters wanting to
reach Australia's 5 million multicultural viewers.
PanGlobal TV's customer base will target international
broadcasters who wish to reach Australia's diverse
multi-cultural communities. The service will transmit
channel signals from either GlobeCast Australia's
Sydney teleport or the PanAmSat Napa Valley teleport.
In addition to digital encoding, signal processing and
transport, PanAmSat and GlobeCast Australia will
uplink the space segment to the PAS-8 Ku-Band
Australia beam. PanGlobal TV offers backhaul to either
the Napa teleport or the Sydney teleport by satellite,
fiber or hybrid satellite/fiber contribution.
CHINA - HONG KONG
SHANGAI MEDIA GROUP LAUNCHES FIVE DIGITAL TV CHANNELS
The Shanghai Media Group (SMG) launched five digital
channels in Beijing on September 9, with digital
signals covering 22 municipalities and provinces
nationwide, the Xinhua News Agency has reported. "The
five channels have 245,000 digital television viewers,
making up 79 per cent of the total viewers in China,"
a source from the group said. "China Satellite
Communication Corporation will provide a satellite to
safeguard signal transmission for these channels," the
source said. Encrypted by the satellite, the digital
signals from the five channels, together with other
six paid TV channels provided by Tianjin TV Station,
Hubei TV Station and Jiangsu TV Station, will be sent
to digital television viewers. SMG is the second firm
authorised in China to launch digital channels. On
August 9, state-owned China Central Television
launched six digital channels in Shanghai, Guizhou,
Chongqing and Sichuan.
FIJI
PAY-TV PROCESS CLARIFIED
Applications for pay-TV licences are assessed on merit
and its endorsement is the prerogative of the
licensing committee and the Communications ministry.
Chief executive in the Prime Minister's office Jioji
Kotobalavu said this as Fu Shun Television (Fiji)
Limited, a Chinese company, enquired as to when they
would be granted a pay-TV licence. "They have to go
through the proper channel which is the Information
and Communications Ministry. Besides, Fiji Television
only enjoys an exclusive licence in providing public
service television - not pay TV," Kotobalavu said.
INDIA
ESPN STAR SPORTS TAKES BCCI TO COURT OVER TV RIGHTS
Walt Disney Co. and News Corp. are challenging in
court the conditional award of Indian cricket TV
rights to media firm Zee Telefilms. On September 5,
the Indian cricket board awarded Zee, India's biggest
listed media company, rights to telecast all of the
Indian team's home matches for the next four years.
Zee had been in a fierce bidding war with ESPN. Zee
emerged the victor over the global TV heavyweight
pairing after raising its bid to $308 million from
$260 million, compared with ESPN Star's $230-million
bid. The cost is equal to Zee's sales over the last
three years, but at stake is a potential revenue pie
of as much as $350 million. Provided Zee meets certain
initial payment conditions, the Board of Control for
Cricket in India has promised it 144 days of
international cricket over four years starting in
October. ESPN Star filed its petition against the
decision in the Bombay High Court, said a spokesman
for ESPN Software India, which provides programming to
ESPN Star. ESPN Star said Zee was not qualified to bid
because it did not have experience in broadcasting or
producing live international cricket events as
specified in the tender. The chairman of the country's
largest private channel network Subash Chandra said
that the new channel would be launched irrespective of
BCCI granting the telecast rights to it.
KAIRALI TO LAUNCH SECOND CHANNEL
Buoyed by its impressive growth, recorded for the
first time, the Malayalam Communications Ltd beaming
the pro-Left Kairali Television, proposes to launch a
second channel very soon. ''We are in the process of
launching a second channel,'' to cater to the growing
needs of the viewers spread across the continents,
Kairali Managing director John Brittas said. Beyond
news and informative programmes, the channel would
beam the latest developments in agriculture,
technology, tourism and other sectors, he said. A
final decision on the launch would be taken by the
annual general body meeting of the company slated for
September 25, he said.
DTH TO BE COMMISSIONED IN KERALA
Doordarshan's free-to-air Direct-To-Home satellite
television service would soon be commissioned in
Kerala, a top official said on September 9. The DTH
service would initially offer a bouquet of 30
television channels directly to the user, of which 17
would be DD channels and the remaining that of private
broadcasters, Peer Mohammed, Director, Doordarshan
Kendra, Thiruvananthapuram, told reporters. Barring
the initial investment of around Rs 3000 on the
equipment, there would be no monthly subscription as
Doordarshan had made it free-to-air. The 30 channels
would be beamed through KU-band transponders and the
reception would be of highest quality.
NDRTV APPLIES FOR UPLINK FOR BUSINESS NEWS TV CHANNEL
New Delhi Television Ltd has informed BSE that an
application has been made to the Ministry of
Information and Broadcasting on September 9 for
permission to uplink another TV channel i. e. a
business news channel.
ENGLISH TV CHANNEL DEDICATED TO RAMANUJA PHILOSOPHY
A new satellite television channel in English, Sri
Vaishnava Channel, is to be launched on January 5 to
propagate the philosophy of Sri Ramanuja. P.
Sundararajan, one of the promoter-directors said that
initially the channel would function as a joint
venture with Sanskar channel, New Delhi, till it gets
its own transponder. The channel is the brainchild of
Sri Prasanna Venkatacharyar Chaturvedi Swami and its
goal is to spread the Vaishnavic dharma and culture.
PRASAR BHARATI TO CARRY BBC AND CNN
India's broadcasting corporation, Prasar Bharati,
plans to include BBC and CNN in its DTH
(direct-to-home) platform, India's Business Line has
reported. Prasar Bharati has distributed about 5,000
sets of set-top boxes and dish antenna to rural areas
in the country so far.
MALAYSIA
TV3 AND RTM TO WORK TOGETHER
Private station TV3 says it is keen to work with
government-owned Radio Television Malaysia for the
benefit of the nation, the official Bernama news
agency has reported. TV3 chief executive officer Datuk
Farid Ridzuan said although there was competition
between them in certain areas, there were other areas
where they could compromise for the sake of the
country. The matter, however, was still at the
discussion stage. Datuk Farid said he had met
Information Minister Datuk Paduka Abdul Kadir Sheikh
Fadzir to discuss the best way to cooperate with RTM.
He said TV3 had a 26 per cent market share of the
overall advertising revenue and hoped to double the
figure in the future. Asked what TV3's area of focus
would be, Datuk Farid said the station had always
emphasised providing informative entertainment to
viewers.
QATAR
SAUDI ARABIA
AL-JAZEERA MOST POPULAR CHANNEL
With some 90 per cent Saudi households having
satellite TVs, the Kingdom has a much larger
Al-Jazeera viewership base than US-sponsored Al-Hurra,
a new survey reveals. Al Hurra's credibility ratings
were also found to be quite poor all over Saudi Arabia
in contrast with the high scores of Doha-based
Al-Jazeera and Dubai-based Al-Arabiya. The Arab
Advisors Group survey covered all channels viewed in
Saudi Arabia, be they news, music, sports or general
entertainment. The survey indicates that close to 16
per cent of Arab households in Saudi Arabia have
pay-TV subscription. The survey also gives an
indication of the market shares of the main pay-TV
operators- ART, Orbit and Showtime. Ninety per cent of
surveyed households indicated that they prefer to
watch satellite TV programs in
Arabic, or with Arabic
subtitles. Only 10 per cent prefer the English
language. On the news channels front, Al-Jazeera
topped the ranks in brand recognition and viewers with
close to 82 per cent of households watching the
station. Al-Jazeera is closely followed by Al-Arabiya
with 75 per cent. The Saudi Al-Ekhbaria is viewed by
33 per cent of households, while Al-Hurra is watched
by 16 per cent of households. CNN was next with 12 per
cent followed by Al Mustakila (11 per cent), ANN (8
per cent), NBN (8 per cent), and BBC World (6 per
cent). Close to 70 per cent of respondents said that
Al-Arabiya is very trustworthy.
SOUTH KOREA
MOBILE SATELLITE BROADCASTING SERVICE PREPARES FOR
START
Companies in South Korea and Japan say they are ready
to launch a new satellite broadcasting service in the
next two months that can send video and audio directly
to devices such as mobile telephones, handheld
terminals and in-car receivers. Prototype terminals
for the service, which will be launched in South Korea
by TU Media Corp. and in Japan by Mobile Broadcasting
Corporation (MBCO), were on show at the International
Telecommunication Union's Telecom Asia 2004 conference
and exhibition in South Korea. TU Media is planning to
broadcast a package of 14 video channels and 24 audio
channels from November for a monthly charge of US$11
said Cho Jin-Ho, manager of the company's technology
strategy team. Japan's MBCO will start its service in
October and plans to offer seven video channels and 30
audio channels, said Yo****ake Yamaguchi, senior
manager for MBCO's satellite and coordination group.
The service will cost between US$9 and US$27 depending
on the number of channels selected. TU Media's TV
line-up will include South Korea's four major TV
networks while MBCO will include about eight hours per
day from Japanese public broadcaster Nippon Hoso
Kyokai and cable channels such as MTV Japan and
all-news NNN24.
THAILAND
MCOT PREPARES GLOBAL TV CHANNEL
MCOT has moved a step closer to fulfilling its dream
of creating a new global television channel. "The day
after tomorrow, MCOT executives and I will fly to
Europe to sign contracts with Rai Uno, Italy's biggest
TV channel, and TV5 of France," said MCOT president
Mingkwan Sangsuwan on September 6. "Through the
channel, we will broadcast the world's
English-language news around the clock." The new
global TV channel will be called MCOT Television, the
company's first-ever English-language offering. MCOT
plans to ink similar deals with stations from another
18 countries as part of its plan to broadcast the
channel around the world.
PROVINCIAL CABLE FIRMS AGAINST PAY-TV PLAN
Provincial pay-TV operators have strongly opposed the
government's proposal to pour billions of baht into a
pay-TV service, the Bangkok Post has reported. They
said the service would create new barriers for local
operators to attract new subscribers. The local
operators currently face limited financial resources,
high operating costs and debt burdens, as they depend
on subscription fees for their core revenue. Deputy
Prime Minister Visanu Krue-ngarm recently floated a
plan to create a pay-TV service, costing up to
US$480.6 million, as part of a government plan to
crack down on unlicensed operators. The minister said
the initiative was also aimed at narrowing the gap of
information access between urban centres and the
provinces, and would charge customers an
''affordable'' monthly fee. It was not fair for the
government to jump into the business to compete with
the private sector, said Bumroong Wasontakorn, the
President of the Thailand Cable TV Association.
A F R I C A
UGANDA
TV LICENSE FEE TO BE REINTRODUCED
Radio Netherlands has reported that the Ugandan
government says that it will re-introduce the TV
viewers' licence after the merger of Radio Uganda and
Uganda Television. The Minister of State for
Information, Nsaba Buturo, said preparations were
underway to merge Radio Uganda and Uganda Television
into a corporation. "Our target is to make sure the
radio and television reach every corner of the
country, before we re-introduce the viewers licence as
in the old days," he said.
ZIMBABWE
SECOND TV NETWORK TO LAUNCH BY YEAR'S END
Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings (ZBH) will be launching
a second TV station, National Television (NTV), which
is expected to start airing its programmes in local
languages before the end of the year. The chief
executive of NTV, Noel Sibanda, told "The Herald" on
August 30 that all was set for the launch of the
station as the structures and packaging of programmes
was already in place. The station will broadcast in
Shona, Ndebele, Tonga, Kalanga and other minority
indigenous languages with special focus on local
programmes covering drama, soaps and talk shows.
Sibanda stressed that NTV would not be competing with
its sister station, ZTV.
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