TELE-satellite News - Number 39/2004 - 26 September
2004
A weekly roundup of global TV news sponsored by
TELE-satellite International
Editor: Branislav Pekic
E U R O P E
FRANCE
FOOTBALL TV RIGHTS PROCESS INITIATES
France's football league, the Ligue de Football
Professionnel, said potential bidders for rights to
broadcast top-flight French football matches over the
next three years have until the end of this month to
declare their interest in taking part in an upcoming
auction of the rights. In a legal notice posted on the
league's web site, the LFP said it will launch the
auction "in the next few weeks". The main contenders
for the rights are expected to be Canal Plus, Vivendi
Universal's pay-TV unit, and TPS, a
digital TV
platform jointly-owned by TF1 and M6. Analysts say
fierce competition between the two main bidders could
push the price of the rights to over ?500 million.
Under the current deal, Canal Plus holds most of the
rights in a package worth around ?365 million.
FRENCH INTERESTED IN BRITISH DTT MODEL
A French government delegation met on September 22
British ministerial counterparts and broadcasters to
discuss applying UK's model for digital TV services in
France. Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, the French culture
minister, is also due for talks at Ofcom, the media
regulator, over the timetable for switching off
analogue signals in favour of multi-channel digital TV
transmissions. The French government has set a target
to achieve 35 per cent digital TV penetration by March
2005, rising to 85 per cent by 2007.
GERMANY
KABEL DEUTSCHLAND DROPS TAKEOVER ATTEMPT
German cable giant Kabel Deutschland (KDG) said on
September 22 that it has dropped its $3.3 billion
takeover attempt of three regional cable companies
after failing to receive regulatory approval for the
deal. KDG had planned to buy out regional operators
Ish Iesy and Kabel Baden-Wuerttemberg in a deal that
would have given the company a virtual monopoly on the
German market and up KDG's subscriber base from 7
million to 17 million customers. The deal appeared to
be dead after Germany's antitrust watchdog expressed
reservations in August. The authorities said they were
worried that KDG was not willing to invest enough to
develop high-speed Internet and cable telephony
services -- one of the main reasons the federal
watchdog rejected John Malone's bid for six German
cable networks two years ago. KDG had offered to
invest more than $2 billion over the next 10 years in
Internet and telephone services.
SABAN TO TAKE MAJORITY STAKE IN PROSIEBENSAT.1
Haim Saban will gain a majority stake in broadcaster
ProSiebenSat.1 following an agreement with media
company KirchMedia. The group of Saban and five
private equity firms will raise its stake to 50.5 per
cent from 37.6 per cent, as KirchMedia's unit Taurus
TV sells a 12.9 per cent stake to finance payments to
creditors Axel Springer and Universal Studios. Saban,
took control of ProSiebenSat.1 in August 2003 by
buying a 36 per cent stake, with 72 per cent of the
voting rights, from bankrupt KirchMedia. Meanwhile,
the administrator of KirchMedia announced that the
company's unit Taurus TV has ended insolvency
proceedings after reaching an agreement with
creditors. Universal Studios, owned by General
Electric, will receive a 'confidential payment,'
KirchMedia said. Europe's largest newspaper publisher
Axel Springer, will get 1.8 per cent of ProSiebenSat.1
shares from Kirch, increasing its stake in TV
broadcaster from 10.2 per cent to 12 per cent, as part
of a settlement and will also get ?60.3 million from
Kirch.
HISTORY AND NEW DISNEY CHANNELS PLANNED
After a general meeting of regional media regulators,
the AETN German subsidiary The History Channel has
obtained a licence to broadcast in the country. The
channel, which will be part of cable operator KDG's
digital bouquet, is launching September 27. KDG
reaches over 10 million homes of which currently
100,000 have subscribed to digital offers. In
addition, Disney's German unit has been licensed to
provide new thematic channels. Buena Vista Germany
intends to launch its
classic animation channel 'Toon
Disney' and its pre-school offer 'Playhouse Disney',
after securing long term agreements with pay-TV
platforms.
ITALY
NEWS CORP TO BECOME SOLE OWNER OF SKY ITALIA
News Corp. Ltd should reach a deal on September 28 to
buy the remaining 20% of pay-TV broadcaster Sky Italia
it doesn't already own from Telecom Italia, a person
familiar with the situation told Dow Jones Newswires.
"The two companies are working to close the deal on
September 28 for the agreed price of ?88 million," the
person said.
RUSSIA
CTC PREPARES SECOND NETWORK
The country's leading private commercial television
network, CTC, is set to spend $100 million on building
a new second-tier entertainment network. The
as-yet-unnamed network will target women viewers and a
broader age range than its current core youth
audience, CTC president and CEO Alexander Rodnyansky
said on September 22. The new network -- which will
launch in the spring -- will be based around a core of
four stations recently purchased in Moscow, St.
Petersburg, Perm and Kazan, and comes as part of a
strategic market restructuring that includes a change
of name for the network's parent company from
StoryFirst Communications to CTC Media.
DIGITAL TV IN MOSCOW IN TWO YEARS
Digital television will come to Moscow in two years,
Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Network
Director Gennady Sklyar said. He pointed out that
there was just one digital transmitter for channel 32
on the Ostankino television tower. However, Pavel
Komarov, the Deputy General Director of the Ostankino
television tower, noted that some 4 to 5 new digital
channels would be launched by the end of 2004. A $1
million transmitter for
Channel One, which is capable
of broadcasting programs in digital format, was
launched on November 1, 2003. However, this
transmitter is not used in a digital mode since there
are no legal procedures on transferring from analogue
to digital television broadcast.
SPAIN
SOGECABLE TO INVEST IN
SPANISH MOVIES
Pay-TV operator Sogecable said on September 21 that it
has reached landmark deals with some of the country's
independent distributors for specific titles to
complete its programming lineup. The deals end a
drought for acquisitions by the Spanish giant for
content from Spanish distributors brought on by the
backlog of titles after the merger of Sogecable and
rival platform Via Digital last year. The deals --
signed with Golem, Vertigo, Wanda, Musidora and Alta
Films -- are for as many as a dozen specific, already
released titles with distributors that Sogecable felt
are key to completing its quality programming slate.
PRISA TO INCREASE SOGECABLE STAKE
Media group Prisa confirmed it is going to raise its
shares in pay-TV group Sogecable up to 24 per cent
over the next months. Announcing the news, CEO Juan
Luis Cebrian, said that the move is aimed at "making
our presence in Sogecable the same as Telefonica", so
keeping the balance of power within the company.
Currently, Prisa holds 22 per cent in the pay-TV
group. Since the merger between the two digital DTH
platforms, Canal Satelite and Via Digital to create
Digital Plus, in June 2003, Prisa has increased its
shares several times, from the initial 16 per cent up
to the present 22 per cent.
SWEDEN
VIASAT SUCCESSFUL IN COURT AGAINST CANAL DIGITAL
Modern Times Group on September 23 announced that its
application to the Swedish Market Court for a court
injunction to prohibit Canal Digital from mentioning
Viasat's TV3, ZTV and TV8 entertainment channels in
its marketing material has had the desired result.
Canal Digital has notified the Market Court that it
has changed its marketing accordingly and has assured
the Court that the Viasat Channels will not be used in
future marketing campaigns or materials. No injunction
is therefore required at this time. The Viasat
channels therefore continue to be available only to
subscribers on the Viasat DTH satellite platform, the
Boxer digital terrestrial network in Sweden and cable
networks with which Viasat has agreements.
TURKEY
TRT MOST POPULAR TV CHANNEL
According to a public poll conducted by the
state-owned Turkish Radio and Television Corporation
(TRT), they are the most watched television channel in
the country. The results of the face to face survey
conducted on 2,140 people in 15 cities in May and June
show that 97.3 per cent of people watch TV, and TRT
was the most watched channel with 17 per cent. Show TV
followed with 14.1 per cent, ATV with 13.9 per cent,
Kanal D with 13.1 and Star TV with 8.4 per cent. TRT
shows between 6 and 9 p.m. were the ones most watched,
with culture and magazine programs being the most
popular, noted the poll. Of those polled, 72.87 per
cent listed the travel documentary "Gezelim Gorelim"
as their favorite program on the channel, while the
local music show "Yorelerimiz Turkulerimiz" came
second with 64.49 per cent. The dramas on TRT were
also very popular among those polled. When asked what
type of programs they wanted to watch on TV, 18.6 per
cent said foreign movies and documentaries. More local
dramas came second with 18.1 per cent. When asked
about which news programs they watched, TRT was also
the most popular. TRT news programs were watched by 33
per cent, while ATV received 15, Kanal D 13.4 and Show
TV 11.6 per cent. Among channels that exclusively
broadcast news, NTV was the most popular with 48.3 per
cent, followed by CNN-Turk with 28.9 and TRT-2 with
15.8 per cent. When asked how trustworthy they found
the TV channels, participants' answer showed that the
TRT-1 was the most trusted, with 32.8 per cent,
followed by NTV (14 per cent), CNN-Turk (8.8 per
cent), ATV (7.7 per cent), Kanal 7 (7.1 per cent) and
TRT-2 (5.9 per cent).
UNITED KINGDOM
BORDER TV TO BECOME ALL DIGITAL
Sparsely populated Border TV region has emerged as
favourite to be the digital television guinea pig for
the UK, but large parts of the area, including much of
West Cumbria, still cannot receive the digital
terrestrial signal. Thousands of TV sets and videos
would be rendered useless without digital Freeview
boxes when the analogue signal is turned off. And
research shows only 43 per cent of Cumbrian households
have satellite TV, which will continue work after the
switchover. Freeview boxes currently retail at
Ł50 upwards and one digital box will be needed
for each TV set in the home. This week it emerged that
the regular over-the-air analogue services will be
phased out nationwide by 2012. The Government has
always vowed not to switch off the analogue network
until the majority of homes have upgraded to digital.
But some believe the Border region will be used to
find out what level of uptake is politically
acceptable.
ITV SELLS THOMSON STAKE
ITV has sold its stake in Thomson, the French media
and information group. According to the Financial
Times, ITV has agreed to sell 5.5 per cent of Thomson,
with a book value of £162 million, to the investment
banks Citigroup and UBS. ITV said it will use the
proceeds to pay down its debt. This is ITV's second
sale of non-core businesses. The first was Carlton
Books in August.
CEEFAX CELEBRATES 30TH BIRTHDAY
The BBC's teletext service - Ceefax - celebrated its
30th anniversary this week. Launched on September 23,
1974, Ceefax was developed by BBC broadcast engineers
who were working on ways of providing subtitles for
the deaf. They found that a normal television picture
of 625 lines has "spare" lines at the top of the
picture that could be used to transmit words or
numbers. The first time the public heard the name
Ceefax - which stands for See-Facts - was late in
1972, in advance of the first experimental
transmissions. It went live in 1974 but one of the
early problems was it cost more than £300 to buy a
decoder and £700 for a new set. But as prices dropped,
demand grew and by 1985, the number of TV sets with
access to Ceefax was more than two million. The
service now has more than 20 million viewers a week.
FOOTBALL LEAGUE TO SUE OVER ITV DIGITAL DEAL
The Football League is launching legal action against
the solicitors who advised them on the ITV Digital
deal that fell apart in 2002. Many clubs outside the
top flight were left in financial limbo after ITV
Digital went into administration in March of that year
owing £178.5 million for the remaining two seasons of
its contract with the League. Some clubs ended up in
administration as a result and the League are now
suing law firm Hammonds Solicitors for alleged
negligence or breach of contract. Sir Brian Mawhinney,
the Football League chairman, has confirmed that High
Court proceedings have been issued against Hammonds,
previously known as Edge Ellison, the legal advisors
to the League during contract negotiations with ITV
Digital in 2000. The last legal action by the League
over the ITV Digital contract ended in defeat two
years ago when they failed in their efforts to make
ITV parent companies Carlton and Granada pay up
instead. The deal struck in June 2000 gave ONDigital
the right to broadcast Football League matches for
three seasons from 2001/2 but in the already-inflated
TV market it proved prohibitively costly. Television
audiences for matches were often outnumbered by crowds
at the games and the TV channel collapsed after less
than a season.
BT TAKES ON BSKYB
BT is to go head-to-head with BSkyB in the pay-TV
markets by launching its own digital set-top box in
conjunction with Freeview. The telecoms giant will
this week begin trials of the box, initally dubbed "BT
Freeview Plus", which will provide customers with
digital TV through a conventional TV aerial and
video-on-demand through a broadband internet
connection. It will become the central element in BT's
"new wave" strategy, which seeks to replace declining
revenues from traditional services, such as fixed-line
phonecalls, with new services such as broadband
Internet. The hybrid TV/internet device will cost
marginally more than existing Freeview boxes, which
retail at around £50. But customers will be able to
pay to download films and thousands of programmes
using their BT broadband internet connection. BT has
already secured the support of the BBC and a number of
other broadcasters for the service. TV stations that
already broadcast on Freeview include Channel 4, Five,
Ideal World, FTN, QVC, and the Community Channel.
Unlike the Sky Plus box, BT Freeview Plus will not
have a hard disk, so it will be able to record and
store downloaded programmes. Trials of BT Freeview
Plus will begin this week with just a few hundred
pre-selected customers. Subcribers will be slowly
built up over the next few months with a full
commercial launch planned for next summer.
INMEDIA LAUNCHES ADVERT CHANNEL
The Advert Channel has signed a three-year contract
with independent global communications company,
Inmedia, that will see Britain get its first 24 hour
TV station dedicated solely to airing adverts.
Broadcasting on the Sky digital satellite channel 694,
the Advert Channel is dedicated to bringing viewers
the best (and worst) TV adverts from around the world,
with a focus on adverts as a form of entertainment,
culture and from an artistic and creative aspect.
Programmes on the station will include Ad Chat, where
presenters will chat live about the top TV adverts;
Advert Focus, looking at ads making the news; Adverts
for You, featuring the adverts that make you laugh,
cry and those that are controversial; and Adverts
Today, a behind-the-scenes look at how top adverts are
made. Themed shows will focus on commercials of a
certain era and segments, such as ads from the 60's,
70's, 80's and 90's, late night adverts, sports and
celebrity adverts. The deal will ensure the smooth
delivery of the new channel's 24 hour programming to
Sky's 7.3 million subscribers using Inmedia's
fully-managed playout and satellite uplinking via its
Eurobird transponder.
N O R T H A M E R I C A
CANADA
GLOBAL TV TO LAUNCH HDTV
The Global Television Network plans to broadcast in
High Definition Television beginning October 11. The
network will initially offer six hours a week of
prime-time programming in HDTV; further HDTV
programming will be added to the prime-time schedule
as it becomes available. The HDTV programming will be
available to Rogers Ontario customers on channel 286
effective October 14, and on ExpressVu channel 801
effective October 11. The Global programs that will be
available in HDTV are Las Vegas and LAX (Monday
nights); Gilmore Girls (Wednesday nights); Without a
Trace (Thursday nights); One Tree Hill (Friday nights)
and Crossing
Jordan (Sunday nights). Canada.com will
develop a HDTV information page that will outline the
Global programs available in HDTV.
UNITED STATES
BROADCASTERS SAY NO TO MCCAIN BILL
Broadcasters beat back a proposal that would have
required them to give up their current analogue
channels by 2009 as their allies on the Senate
Commerce Committee won approval on September 22 for a
weaker proposal. Senator John McCain, the chairman of
the committee, was pushing legislation that would have
required broadcasters to abandon the analogue
frequencies by that date, turning many of them over to
government public safety operations or selling them
off for new technological uses. McCain accused
broadcasters of putting their economic needs above the
needs of firefighters, police officers and other
"first responders" who need them to more effectively
coordinate rescue efforts than was the case during the
9/11 episode. The commission that examined the
terrorist attacks concluded that lack of radio
spectrum created communication difficulties among
rescue personnel. If the proposal was approved, the
government would have been authorized to spend as much
as $1 billion to purchase digital-to-analog set-top
converter boxes for people who can't afford to pay for
converters or digital TVs, according to a staff draft
of the legislation. The National Association of
Broadcasters, which represents scores of local
television stations, opposed the bill because it would
not cover all the traditional television sets in
American households, estimated at over 70 million. The
Federal Communications Commission has mandated that by
July 2007 all new television sets with screens 13
inches or larger must be able to receive digital
signals but the Consumer Electronics Association
estimates that Americans replace their sets only every
eight to 10 years. While roughly 17 million homes do
not subscribe to cable or satellite service, many
homes have additional television sets in bedrooms,
kitchens and elsewhere, adding to the number that may
require converter boxes or need to be replaced.
Converters now cost roughly $300-$400, but as
production and demand rises, the price would likely
fall, possibly to as little as $50, according to some
experts.
TVK24 AND MBC IN PROGRAMMING ALLIANCE
Television Korea (tvK24), a 24-hour Korean-language
cable network that is scheduled to launch later this
year, has inked a programming deal with top Korean
network Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC). MBC,
Korea's most watched network for the last three years,
will serve as tvK24's primary programming partner,
supplying the prime-time block as well as other hours
throughout the day. Cable networks and content
providers On-Media, K-BEST, and Medi-TV will also
contribute programming. International Channel Networks
(ICN) will manage distribution and national
advertising sales for tvK24 and will help market the
channel.
UPN TO OFFER LIMITED HDTV
UPN has presented its largest slate of HDTV
programming for the 2004 to 2005 season. Half of the
network's primetime line-up - seven series - will be
broadcast in high-definition television, beginning
with the premieres of all three of UPN's drama series
"Veronica Mars," "Kevin Hill," and "Star Trek:
Enterprise," and extending to UPN's Monday night
comedies "One on One," "Half & Half," "Girlfriends,"
and "Second Time Around" by November. This brings the
network's weekly HDTV offerings to five hours. Last
season, UPN presented two hours of series programming
in HDTV, including "Star Trek: Enterprise," as well as
select Friday night movies.
NEW CHANNELS FROM SONY AND COMCAST ON THE CARDS
Sony is planning to launch at least three new TV
channels following an agreement with Comcast, the US
cable giant, to create a new channels joint venture.
Executives involved in the plan said Animax, AXN and
Sony Entertainment TV, three channels already
established in Asia and Latin America, could be
distributed by Comcast as part of the alliance. Sony's
TV distribution ambitions in the US, where it owns the
Games Show Network, have previously been held back by
launch costs. Comcast and Sony are also planning to
develop a video-on-demand joint venture, exploiting
the 3,000 films and 35,000 TV episodes held in the
Sony Pictures library. That library could also exploit
MGM's 4,000 movies and 10,000 TV episodes.
COMCAST AND ATLANTA BRAVES PLAN NEW CHANNEL
Comcast and the Atlanta Braves, a US Major League
Baseball team, have announced plans for a 24-hour
channel dedicated exclusively to a single Major League
Baseball team as part of Comcast Atlanta's Digital
Cable service at no additional charge. The channel
will feature live home games in HDTV (which are
already being shown on TBS or Turner South) for the
rest of the 2004 regular season for Comcast HDTV
households, along with encore game replays for all
digital cable viewers (both HDTV and digital).
L A T I N A M E R I C A
VH1 EXPANDS BY 40% IN LATIN AMERICA
VH1 Latin America said on September 22 that the music
channel has expanded its reach in the region by 40% in
only five months, with its number of households
totaling 3 million. MTV Networks Latin America, which
operates VH1 in more than 14 Latin American and
Caribbean territories, said that leading Mexican
satcaster Sky Mexico will add the network October 15,
joining a growing list of pay-TV systems carrying it.
VH1 Latin America airs on Mexico's leading cable
operator, Cablevision, and on rival PCTV. VH1 was
launched in Mexico in April and now reaches key
markets in Argentina, Venezuela and Chile.
A S I A & P A C I F I C
AUSTRALIA
LABOR IN FAVOUR OF TELSTRA GIVING UP FOXTEL STAKE
Government-owned telecom operator Telstra would be
forced to relinquish its stake in subscription
television leader Foxtel under a Labor government,
according to broadcasting policy released on September
21 by the main opposition party. The policy advocates
"greater competition and diversity" in the
communications sector and backs the Australian
Competition and Consumer Commission's view that
"getting Telstra out of Foxtel will encourage
competition in the communications industry." Foxtel is
50% owned by Telstra, along with Rupert Murdoch's News
Corp. and Kerry Packer's Publishing and Broadcasting
Limited, each 25% stakeholders.
ABC TO LAUNCH SECOND CHANNEL IN MARCH
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) will
launch a second TV channel in March next year. The new
channel will include a mix of children's, documentary,
arts, international and regional news programming and
will be available to viewers with digital television
receivers or as a free channel through subscription
television. "We have now delivered hard fought cost
savings and efficiencies that allow the ABC to launch
a second television channel," ABC Managing Director
Russell Balding said. "A major purpose of the digital
service is to expand the reach of ABC children's
programming. The second channel will allow families to
switch between the main and second channel to access
trusted, safe and high quality children's programming
right through the day and into the early evening. "
BRUNEI
BRUNEI AND SINGAPORE IN FAVOUR OF DIGITAL TV PUSH
Brunei and Singapore are spearheading an initiative to
hasten the adoption of digital TV in the region,
according to a report in Singapore's Sunday Times.
Quoting Dr Tan Chin Nam, Permanent Secretary in
Singapore's Ministry of Information, Communications
and the Arts, who was in Brunei last week to attend
the 14th joint technical committee meeting on
cooperation in broadcasting between Brunei and
Singapore, the report stated that both countries have
jointly hosted two Asean Digital Broadcasting meetings
this year. The two meetings led to the setting up of a
taskforce, comprising representatives from six Asean
countries, which is formulating common specifications
for decoder set-top boxes (STB) for adoption at the
third Asean meeting on digital broadcasting. Brunei
mooted the idea of a common minimum standard for STBs
for the Asean region in December last year. The
proposal was supported by Singapore, Sunday Times
reported. Radio Television Brunei (RTB) and MediaCorp
Technologies will be working together to develop
interactive applications for digital TV, Dr Tan said.
CHINA - HONG KONG
ASTRO LAUNCHES CELESTIAL MOVIE CHANNEL
Malaysian pay-TV operator Astro All Asia Networks's
Celestial Pictures unit has launched its Celestial
Movie Channel in China at certain hotels. "Celestial
Pictures plans to secure broader distribution over
cable networks," Astro said in a statement to the
stock exchange. The sales and distribution of the
channel will be undertaken by China International TV
Corp. Launched last March, Celestial Movies is a
subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Celestial Pictures,
owner of the Shaw Brothers film library, which
includes such classics as "One-Armed Swordsman" and
"36th Chamber of Shaolin." The group is wholly owned
by Malaysian broadcaster Astro All-Asia Networks.
NAPSTER PLANS PAY-TV SERVICE
Media and electronic broadcasting giant Naspers is
laying the groundwork for a satellite television
broadcast licence in China so that it is able to
provide a product similar to its African DStv
offerings. Group nonexecutive chairman Ton Vosloo told
the Cape Town Press Club that he could not say more at
this stage, as the group was hopeful it was making
headway.
TVB ENTERS MAINLAND MARKET
Hong Kong's free-to-air broadcaster Television
Broadcasts Limited (TVB) says it has won long-sought
landing rights to legally air its two flagship
channels to about five million homes in the Pearl
River Delta area, the South China Morning Post has
reported. The broadcasting licence - granted on
September 2 - laid a foundation for TVB and its
mainland partner Southern Media Corporation (SMC) to
jointly develop the market, TVB's General Manager of
International Operations Dewy Ip said. The channels -
Jade and Pearl - will be broadcast in nine cities:
Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Zhuhai, Foshan,
Huizhou, Jiangmen, Zhongshan and Zhaoqing. Future
co-operation opportunities included the collection of
advertising sales and content production and
distribution. The parties were in talks to produce
drama series together and TVB would help SMC
distribute its Chinese channel overseas.
TVB INITIATES TALKS OVER GALAXY STAKE
Hong Kong's Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) says
it is in talks with potential partners who could take
51 per cent of its pay-TV venture, Galaxy Satellite TV
Holdings Ltd (Galaxy), the South China Morning Post
has reported. "We have started seeking partners since
the announcement (of Intelsat's departure)," Stephen
Chan, General Manager of TVB said. "We are asking the
government to grant us a grace period so we can have
more time to seek one or more partners. TVB announced
last week that Intelsat would quit Galaxy and transfer
its 51 per cent stake to TVB. The free-to-air
broadcaster needs government approval to hold more
than 49 per cent of its pay-TV arm. Hutchison Global
Communications tops the partner wish list with its
network coverage of one million homes. Galaxy -
launched in February - is estimated to have around
5,000 to 6,000 users.
MTV AND NICKELODEON TO EXPAND PRESENCE
MTV and Nickelodeon, two cable channels owned by the
media conglomerate Viacom Inc., announced several
deals on September 24 to expand their reach in China.
MTV is tripling the reach of its 24-hour channel in
China's Guangdong province to 10 million by the end of
the year. It also entered an agreement with Beijing
Television, a regional broadcaster, to produce
Chinese-language music and entertainment programs for
BTV. The production deal with BTV marks the second
production venture in China for MTV, following the
announcement in March of a joint venture with Shanghai
Media Group to create children's programming. China's
state broadcaster, CCTV, also expanded its agreement
with Nickelodeon to gain rights to all episodes of
Nickelodeon's animated shows CatDog and The Wild
Thornberrys, which have been top ratings performers on
CCTV's new channel for children, which launched in
March. Viacom and CCTV are also discussing other
possible deals, including using programming made by
CCTV to air on Nickelodeon channels outside of China,
and other licensing deals for Nickelodeon shows on
CCTV.
INDIA
STILL NO SOLUTION IN CRICKET TV BID
The battle over the TV rights to India's international
cricketing series for the next four years has turned
into a messy court tangle, according to a report in
Variety. The Board of Control for Cricket in India
(BCCI) last week awarded the rights to Zee Network for
a $308 million, a sixfold increase from the $54
million paid by pubcaster Doordarshan for the past
four years. But the decision was challenged in Mumbai
High Court by rival ESPN-Star Sports, which claimed it
had not been given a fair chance to better its bid.
The court's proposal for both nets to submit fresh
bids to the court was accepted by ESPN-Star but
rejected by Zee on September 14 -- leaving a prolonged
legal battle the only option. Cricket-crazy Indians
are now worried a cricket Test series between India
and world champions Australia starting October 6 will
be blacked out. The BCCI said it may have to look
elsewhere to ensure fans are not left in the dark.
DISCOVERY TO LAUNCH TWO LIFESTYLE NETWORKS
Discovery Networks International has announced the
names for its three new lifestyle networks, with the
first, Discovery Travel & Living, set to launch
October 18 in India. Discovery Travel & Living,
together with Discovery Home & Health and Discovery
Real Time, form the core of Discovery Lifestyle
Networks, an initiative announced in June of this
year. Following the India launch, the three channels
will be rolled out throughout 2005 and will launch
with 70 million cumulative subscribers in 82 countries
and will be available in 15 languages. Discovery
Travel & Living will target adults aged 25 to 45,
while Discovery Real Time will target men in that
demographic and Discovery Home & Health will gear to
women aged 18 to 45. Discovery is using India as the
test-bed for the new services, with Travel & Living
distributed in India by the One Alliance, a
joint-venture between Sony Entertainment Television
India and Discovery Communications India.
KIDS NETWORK TO LAUNCH ON SEPTEMBER 26
UTV has set September 26 as the launch date for
Hungama TV, a new 24-hour channel in India for kids
aged 4 to 14. Programming includes the Chattar Pattar
block for preschoolers and Halla Gulla, from 5 p.m. to
6 p.m., for tweens. Other programming blocks include
Non-Stop Dhamaka and the Ulta Pulta Club, which will
include game shows, comedies and sci-fi. Later in the
evening, Abracadabra Spell & Movies will target a
broader family audience.
NDTV CHALLENGES MURDOCH'S STAR TV
Prannoy Roy left Star network last year and created
created his own venture in competition with Rupert
Murdoch's satellite TV platform. Roy's two channels -
NDTV, which broadcasts in English, and NDTV India,
whose programming is in Hindi - have established
themselves as the number one and number two channels
in their sectors. His recent quarterly results, £1
million profit from £5 million of advertising revenue,
are the best proof of his success. NDTV's rise can
also boast having pushed Star News into a distant
fourth place. Until 1992 television was the monopoly
of state broadcaster, Doordarshan. Now 10 new news
channels launch every year and it is estimated 44
all-news channels beam into India 24 hours a day,
seven days a week. Many of the new stations grew out
of news programmes commissioned by Doordarshan, which
started outsourcing production work in the early 1990s
as India liberalised. Roy's latest project appears to
be a business channel to challenge the market leader,
CNBC, which is run by US network NBC and is backed by
General Electric.
DD SIGNS UP 13 PRIVATE TV CHANNELS FOR DTH SERVICE
State-owned broadcaster Doordarshan (DD) has reached
agreement with 13 private satellite channels to join
its free-to-air direct-to-home (DTH) service. The
private channels include Aaj Tak, Headlines Today, BBC
World, Zee News, Zee Music, STAR Utsav, ETC Punjabi,
Kairali (Malayalam), Sun TV (Tamil), Jain TV, Aakaash
Bangla and CMM Music. The date of launch, however, is
yet to be fixed. "A formal launch is expected to be
announced after the (state) elections," said the
Director of Doordarshan's Mumbai centre, Mukesh
Sharma. Except for the cost of dish
installation and
the set-top box, the service is free. Set-top boxes
cost Rs 3,000 to Rs 3,500 each, and are available
through dealers.
Internet -
http://www.ddindia.com
MALAYSIA
8TV ON ASTRO
Free-to-air TV channel, 8TV, is extending its
broadcast to the east coast of the peninsular, Sabah
and Sarawak on October 1 via satellite TV operator
Astro All Asia Networks. Its parent company Media
Prima's group managing director Abdul Rahman Ahmad
said 8TV was also planning to spread its broadcast
reach free-to-air to Negri Sembilan, Malacca and
Kuantan with a RM7 million investment in new
transmitters by year-end. The TV station has so far
spent RM15 million on transmitters for the west coast
of the peninsular. 8TV is operated by Media Prima's
subsidiary Metropolitan TV. Media Prima also owns
Sistem Televisyen Malaysia and a 43% stake in The New
Straits Times (Malaysia). Currently, 8TV holds a
substantial market share of 20% for key demographics
of viewers between the ages of 15 and 34.
NEW ZEALAND
SKY TV SIGNS FIVE YEAR CRICKET DEAL
Sky Television has signed a deal with New Zealand
Cricket, giving the network exclusive rights to all
international and domestic cricket coverage for the
next five years. Under the deal, every home-based test
match and one-day international will be exclusively
live on Sky, until the end of the 2008/09 summer
season.
PAKISTAN
LICENSES TO BE AWARDED TO 12 NEW TV CHANNELS
Pakistan government would soon award licences to 12
new private TV channels, Mansoor Rasheed, a top
official of the Pakistan Electronic Media and
Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) said in Islamabad.
Rasheed said ten licences had been awarded to
satellite TV channels and two to virtual universities
that would air their transmissions soon. He also said
that licences to 22 new channels were in the pipeline
and would be completed soon, the Daily Times reported.
SOUTH KOREA
DIGITAL SATELLITE BROADCASTS IN BOTH KOREAS
South Korea's digital satellite broadcasting will be
made available this week in a North Korean border town
where South Korean companies are building a huge
industrial complex, officials said on September 23.
Officials of Skylife, South Korea's only operator of
digital satellite broadcasting, have set up equipment
necessary to receive broadcasting in the industrial
park in Kaesong. The broadcasting service is the third
of its kind in the reclusive country. The South Korean
operator has already offered the service at Mt
Kumgang, a scenic resort on the North's east coast, as
well as Sinpo-Kumho.
TAIWAN
CTS TO BE FIRST PUBLIC STATION
Taiwan's Government Information Office (GIO) has
announced that the Chinese Television System (CTS)
would be the nation's first government-owned
terrestrial TV station to be made into a "publicly
operated" station, the Taipei Times newspaper has
reported. "Before an independent National
Communication Commission (NCC) is established, one of
our future missions is to integrate the Public
Television Service (PTS) with four other public
service TV channels, including CTS, into a public
television group before the end of next year," GIO
Director-General Lin Chia-lung said. The government
owns 75.04 per cent of CTS and 47.39 per cent of
Taiwan Television (TTV). The GIO plans to take a
gradual approach to the issue of making CTS and TTV
publicly operated. GIO would start with the CTS, then
decide whether to commercialise TTV or integrate it
into the public television group, which would be
allowed to run commercials.
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