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Der TS Nachrichtendienst ist ein Service fuer die Freunde von TELE-satellit 
und TS-TV und ist nur fuer persoenliche infromation freigegeben.


Satellite news is now carried on the teletext service of SRG, Swiss TV. The 
latest satellite news, direct from our German and English language news 
services are updated Mondays and Fridays on page 699.



TELE-SATELLIT
EUROPE'S SATELLITE MAGAZINE
International Satellite News
Number 37, Week ending 5 February 1995
By Martyn Williams
News Desk : Internet martyn@euro.demon.co.uk  or CompuServe 100025,1637
(c) TELE-satellit Magazine


VT4 launches via satellite ... and cable
New Flemish TV sender VT4 began broadcasting earlier this week via satellite 
and cable. Last week we reported on the conflict between the owners and the 
Belgian authorities who were refusing access to the local cable nets. A press 
release from VT4 this week simply stated that "the satellite channel is made 
available to the Benelux region and is carried by cable systems reaching over 
90 percent of the television households in Flanders."  Flanders has a 
population of six million with 2.7 million television households.  SBS is 
operating VT4 with the, support of VUM, the largest Flemish publishing 
company, which has an option to acquire, 30 percent of the station.

In commenting on the new channel, Harry Evans Sloan, SBS's Chairman and Chief 
Executive Officer, said, "After two years of planning, we are very pleased to 
launch our first television station outside of Scandinavia.  The response from 
advertisers, and cable television systems has been very supportive.  With 
experienced management in place and a quality mix of programming, we plan to 
build VT4 into a premiere entertainment source in Benelux."

Originating from the U.K., VT4 is a Dutch-speaking service offering a 
combination of commissioned productions and purchased international programs. 
The station is targeted at a young audience (16-40 years old) and currently 
provides eight hours of programming per day.  VT4's first day of programming 
included a popular Belgian feature film, a 90-minute variety special promoting 
the station's launch and local news.


Sky announce news deal with Reuters
BSkyB announced Thursday that they had come to an agreement with Reuters that 
would mean the international news agency taking over the world wide news 
gathering operation that Sky currently runs. Sky would retain editorial 
control over the channel. BSkyB Director Sam Chisholm said the deal was a good 
platform to the global expansion of Sky News.


New channel on Hot Bird
NBC Super Channel has changed it's Hot Bird transponder for one on Hot Bird 2. 
The broadcaster will continue to use Astra for at least the next year and 
tells TS News that the Hot Bird 1 channel has been leased to African pay TV 
station Canal Horizons.


QVC to soft-scramble on Astra
London based shopping channel QVC has announced a new deal with BSkyB that not 
only reduces Sky's stake in the broadcaster from 50% to 20% but also gives the 
goahead for the beginning of soft scrambled broadcasting.

"QVC-The Shopping Channel has experienced phenomenal growth within its current 
distribution in the United Kingdom.  This success is an inspiration to go 
forward with a shareholding that reflects our financial commitment to the 
venture," states Bill Schereck, President, QVC International.  "We expect the 
business to continue to flourish as we expand The Shopping Channel's 
availability to anyone in the United Kingdom who has a videocrypt receiver. 
That means at least 300,000 new homes for us in Britain alone."

This may just be the first step towards totally clear broadcasting, a move 
which was forecast late last year, as Schereck continued "Viewers will be able 
to receive QVC, even if they do not subscribe to a SKY service, It's clearly 
sensible to have as many people watching as possible, and this is the first 
step in that direction."


Malta joins Intelsat
Malta has joined Intelsat and become the 135th member. Anthony De Bono, chief 
executive officer of Telemalta Corporation signed an agreement in Washington 
last week and became shareholders in the International satellite organisation 
with a stake on 0.05 %.


GE Americom sign for Ekspress channels
GE American Communications, Inc. this week announced the launch of an 
international video programming satellite service, which will be carried on 
the Intersputnik Express 6 hybrid satellite planned for launch in April 1995.  
The spacecraft will be located at 80 degrees East. Service is currently 
scheduled to begin July 1, 1995.

Americom's long-term agreement with Intersputnik includes five C-band and two 
Ku-band transponders on the Russian-built spacecraft. "This firmly establishes 
GE Americom as an innovative international satellite service company," said 
John F. Connelly, chairman and chief executive officer of GE Americom.

Among the TV services planned are English- and Hindi-language news and 
entertainment programming channels serving the Indian subcontinent.

The Express satellite series design evolved from Russian military 
communications satellite applications.  These spacecraft carry a total of 12 
transponders, with a minimum spacecraft life of five years.  They also carry 
an advanced Xenon ion engine that reduces the amount of propellant needed to 
fine-tune the initial orbit and perform station-keeping maneuvers.


Duma endorses media bill
Robert Orttung, OMRI, Inc.
The Duma passed a bill "On TV and Radio Broadcasting" in its second reading, 
Interfax reported 26 January. The bill will be returned to the legislature for 
final debate and possible passage by 10 February. In its present form, the 
bill bars federal, regional, and other local authorities, as well as 
individuals and public associations, from controlling the programming policy 
of a TV or radio company. There are exceptions, however, for broadcasts of 
elections, advertisements, erotic programs, and broadcasts from zones where a 
state of emergency is in force.


Ostankino turns "public" on 1 April
Julia Wishnevsky, OMRI, Inc.
Vladislav Listev, the new general director of Russian Public TV, formerly 
known as Ostankino, announced that he begins his tenure on 1 February and 
repeated that Ostankino will become the most widely watched, most powerful, 
and most competitive Russian TV channel. Listev reminded viewers of "Vremya" 
on 31 January that the formerly state-owned broadcasting company was made 
"public" by a presidential decree in 1994. In fact, this means it became a 
joint-stock company with the state retaining a 51% stake. Listev said 
Ostankino starts functioning as a public TV station on 1 April. Listev founded 
and hosted some of Russia's most popular political and entertainment shows. A 
few of them, however, have become considerably less popular under Listev's 
hand-picked successors.


CNN Airport Network is latest MPEG customer
CNN Airport Network has become the latest North American TV channel to decide 
on MPEG video compression for the delivery of it's news service specifically 
designed for airport lounges. Migration to the Scientific-Atlanta digital 
video compression system is scheduled for early 1995.

CNN Airport Network, started in 1991, is a news information service operated 
by Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. programmed to meet the information needs 
of airline travelers.  CNN Airport Network is seen in waiting areas in 21 
airports throughout the United States and carries 60-minute segments of news 
and features.  It draws from the vast newsgathering resources of CNN and has 
the capability to carry live coverage of sports and breaking news.


Neue Product
Petra Hther, TS Mnich

All In One
While the hunt for remote controls develops into one of mankind`s most 
charished leisure activities, it is certainly ridiculous that you need at 
least six of the control devices to operate the home theatre: one for the set 
plus a bunch of additional ones for the sat-receiver, the video, CD player, 
cassette recorder - making it nigh impossible to remember what device controls 
what!
Accordingly, a growing number of manufacturers comes up with system remotes 
that control all appliances. Which doesn`t help much if you own components 
from different makes, so you might be interested in VISA Electronics` range of 
universal remotes. They unite all functions on one single keyboard and VISA 
has come up with a tricky solution here: a display indicates functions that 
can be accessed by the keys below. 
It is quite easy for the user to operate the unit: you`ll just have to look 
into their helpful booklet for the remote code needed to control a specific 
device. Once you have entered the code into VISA`s remote, up to six 
appliances can be controlled.  
Info Fax: +49-8106-34691


European DX report
Norbert Schlammer
 DFS 1 Kopernikus, 32,5 Grad Ost
30 Jan : 11,625 GHz, h - Tests from German Telekom.
 DFS 2 Kopernikus, 28,5 Grad Ost
30 Jan : News feeds from the Dutch floods : 11,525 GHz, h; 11,602 GHz, v; 
12,655 GHz, v; Feeds for WDR and Swiss TV.
31 Jan : Outside Broadcasts from the Dutch floods : 11,602 GHz, v for RTL 4, 
11,551 GHz, v for Belgian TV
1 Feb : 11,625 GHz, h - Sports for DSF. Handball championship with commentary 
on 6,65 and clean sound on 7,20.
1 Feb : Outside Broadcasts from the floods in the Netherlands : 11,551 GHz, v, 
and 11,525 GHz, h for Dutch TV and 12,725 GHz, v for Portugese TV.
2 Feb : Outside Broadcasts from the floods in the Netherlands : 11,675 GHz, h, 
for France 2, 11,525 GHz, h for SAT.1 and 11,475 GHz, h, for Dutch TV.
 DFS 3 Kopernikus 23,5 Grad Ost
30 Jan : 11,675 GHz, h - Shortwave via satellite ! On the ex RTL transponder 
on audio 7,74 there was a shortwave broadcast complete with fading. The 
broadcast was in German.
 ASTRA 19,2 Grad Ost
2 Feb : TV Asia has left it's channels shared with Nickelodeon and Sky Movies 
Gold and now broadcasts just on Astra 1D, Transponder 54, 10,788 GHz.
 EUTELSAT II-F3, 16 Grad Ost
1 Feb : 12,539 GHz, v - Football feed for VTM Belgium.
1 Feb : 11,617 GHz, v - Canal Plus Poland has begun broadcasting some movies 
scrambled on their transponder. The system in use is Syster / Nagravision.
2 Feb : 12,539 GHz, v - Newsfeeds for Sky TV from Jerusalem JCS and in Flemish 
for VTM.
 EUTELSAT II-F1, 13 Grad Ost
30 Jan : 11,146 GHz, h - Many feeds from Intrax about the Dutch floods. Also 
carried is a promo for VT4 which starts on 1 Feb.
1 Feb : 11,080 GHz, v - Kiss FM from California live on TV 5's audio 7,92 from 
1500 to 1900.
The programme is also on Telecom 5 in stereo.
1 Feb : 11,145 GHz, h - VT 4 has begun broadcasting. Transmissions began at 
1700. The channel is using PAL with audio on 6,60 MHz.
2 Feb : 12,561 GHz, h - Newsfeeds from the floods in the Netherlands.
 EUTELSAT II-F2, 10 Grad Ost
1 Feb : 11,596 GHz, h - Pau Ortez/Ulker Istanbul Basketball feed for Turkish 
TV with audio on 6,60 and 7,20.
2 Feb : 11,142 GHz, v - Sports feed for TF 1 live from Dortmund with french 
audio at 7.20.
 TELECOM 1C, 3 Grad Ost
30 Jan : 12,602 GHz, v -  A seminar from a Data communication forum live from 
San Francisco in english with audio at 6,60 / 7,20. The broadcast was in PAL.
1 Feb : 12,648 GHz, v - Feed from BBC World Service TV in Arabic to the Orbit 
pay TV package. The broadcast is in PAL with audio on 6,60.
1 Feb : 12,692 GHz, v - Feed from the French floods for RTL French TV with 
audio on 5,80.
 INTELSAT 702, 1 Grad West
1 Feb : 11,595 GHz, v - The new film channel TV 1000 Cinema has begun 
broadcasting in D2-MAC with Eurocrypt.
1 Feb : 11,475 GHz, v - TV Denmark is currently broadcasting on SVT 2's 
channel in D2-MAC with Eurocrypt.
 TELECOM 2B, 5 Grad West
30 Jan : 12,648 GHz, v - Audio today included RTL Berlin, live from Cannes 
from 0600.
31 Jan : 12,648 GHz, v - A variety of radio stations are being heard, relayed 
for a trade audio show in Cannes. 1200 - 1400 40 Principales; 1500 - 2000 Kiss 
FM, Los Angeles
1 Feb : 12,648 GHz, v - Kiss-FM was heard from 15.00 to 19.00 via TMC on 7,25 
/ 8,20 audio.
 TDF, 18,8 Grad West
1 Feb : 11,881 GHz, rz - Arte has stopped broadcasting on TDF now in favour of 
Astra. There is now a blank test signal.
 INTELSAT 601, 27,5 Grad West
30 Jan : 11,017 GHz, h - The Superbowl live, with audio on 7,02 / 7,20.


TELE-satellit Magazine
This news is from the English language news service of TELE-satellit, a 
monthly satellite magazine edited in Munich, Germany. It consists of 164 
pages, full colour with tables, charts and news with many off-screen photos of 
the satellite channels plus an informative technical section. Subscriptions 
are available for DM 120, Europe surface mail; DM 144, Europe airmail and DM 
192, ROW airmail. Orders for subscriptions and more information should be sent 
to : TELE-satellit Customer Service, Silheimer Str. 6a, D-89278 Nersingen, 
Germany, Fax +49-7308-919001

Where to find satellite news :
TELE-satellit News, English :
CompuServe UK Forum (UKFORUM) - Windows Write / ASCII version, library 19
CompuServe European Forum (EURFORUM) - Windows Write version, library 5
CompuServe Deutschland on line (GERLINE) - Windows Write version, library 15
CompuServe Telecommunications Forum (TELECOM) - Windows Write version
fax on demand +49-8282-81003
fax on demand +49-2163-81744
fax on demand +49-7308-919009
NBC Super Channel - NBC Text page 171
alt.satellite.tv.europe newsgroup on Usenet
World Wide Web : http://xan.esrin.esa.it:2602/satellite.html
Fidonet SAT.028
Fidonet SATELLITE.FR
Fidonet RU.SAT
Fidonet SATELLIT_R23.PUB
Maus Net : tv.grp
America On Line - from the "ham radio" area in the General file library.
Anonymous FTP to : ftp.funet.fi /pub/dx/text/satellite/telesatellit
CIX Skyguide/telesat conference
SAT NET BBS network
SweDX BBS, Swedish DX Association. +46-8-53034727 / Fidonet 2:201/339
Short Wave Paradise BBS, online 24 hours a day ! USA 616-383-4979

TELE-satellit News, German :
CompuServe Deutschland on line (GERLINE) - ASCII version, library 15
CompuServe Der Spiegel Forum (SPIEGEL) - ASCII version, library 11
fax on demand +49-8282-81003
fax on demand +49-2163-81744
fax on demand +49-7308-919009
SAT 1 Text - page 513
SAT NET BBS network

Other reliable sources of satellite news :
 Radio Sweden Mediascan. 1st and 3rd Tuesday, 20 minutes into the English 
programme via Astra, Shortwave, Mediumwave 1197 kHz and the World Radio 
Network.
Text and audio files of Mediascan can be found in the SCDX directory on 
ftp.funet.fi
 Radio Netherlands Media Network, Thursday, 23 minutes into the English 
programme via
shorwave and The World Radio Network
   World Wide Web users can access TS News and the electronic journals above 
and more information via the European satellite home page, URL 
http://xan.esrin.esa.it:2602/satellite.html
 The ProShow. Every Sunday night starting at 9:00 pm EST on the Omega Radio 
Network - Galaxy 3, Transponder 17, 5.80 MHz.



-- 
Martyn Williams                    | Internet : martyn@euro.demon.co.uk
                                   | CI$      : 100025,1637
                                   | Nifty    : PXQ00623
                                   | The views above are, of course, my own

