Satellite Journal International Vol 2 No 5 (Part 2 of 2)
Gary Torrens
General Instrument Corporation announced that Adelphia
Communications, the nation's 10th largest cable television multiple
system operator (MSO), will purchase 120,000 of GI's DigiCable
set-top digital converters. The order is valued at approximately
$30 million. Initial deliveries are expected in early 1995.
Adelphia, headquartered in Coudersport, Pa., is the sixth of the
10 largest U.S. cable MSOs to order GI's DigiCable converters in
the past year. The other five top 10 MSO customers are
Tele-Communications, Inc. (TCI), Comcast Cable, Cox Cable, Newhouse
Broadcasting, and Cablevision Industries. Four other large MSOs,
Sammons Communications, Century Communications, and Telecable in the
U.S. and Shaw Communications in Canada, have also recently placed
sizeable DigiCable orders.
In addition, GI has recently licensed its digital compression
system architecture to Zenith Electronics and is negotiating similar
licenses with Scientific Atlanta, Hewlett-Packard, and others.
Scientific Atlanta and Hewlett-Packard have recently announced
letters of intent from TCI to purchase digital converters
incorporating the General Instrument technology.
"In this era of rapidly evolving programming offerings and the
need for additional channel space for incremental services, digital
compression is the most realistic way to go," explained James Rigas,
vice president of operations for Adelphia. "We selected DigiCable
because it is a superior system that we know will be available and
working this year. Digital compression will be rolled out
gradually, while we maintain a base of analogue addressable
converters.
This gives us the freedom to selectively roll out the new
technology and new services without disrupting our current
operations."
Hal Krisbergh, president of GI's Communications Division, said,
"We are pleased that Adelphia has joined the growing ranks of major
cable and satellite operators who have selected GI's digital
compression technology. As digital compression takes hold and
allows cable operators to significantly expand the offerings they
provide to their customers, our DigiCable terminals will give them
the ability to add new services incrementally. Due to its
compatibility with GI's analogue units, this transformation can be
made on a cost-effective, on-going basis.
"GI's digital compression system has become the technology of
choice among the leading cable and satellite operators," continued
Krisbergh. He noted that over the past year, in addition to the
orders from 10 large cable operators, GI has received orders for its
digital compression equipment from satellite operators and
programmers including HBO, Viacom, Encore, PRIME STAR and PBS.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The management of Universal Electronics Inc., announced that
the United States District Court for the Northern District of
Illinois held that its remote controls do not infringe Zenith
Electronics Corporation's patent. Thomas C. Tyler, Universal
Electronics' President and Chief Executive Officer, stated: "The
consumer benefits from this positive decision by eliminating the
potential for double royalties which would have resulted in a
significant increase in the retail price of universal remote control
products."
In November 1990, Zenith initiated correspondence claiming that
the sale of Universal Electronics' remote control products infringed
certain of its patent rights. In January 1992, Universal
Electronics filed an action for declaratory judgement, seeking a
determination that its remote control products do not infringe
Zenith's patent.
The judgement vindicated Universal Electronics on each of its
three positions: 1. That the consumer gains an implied license to
use Zenith's patent at the time the consumer purchases a Zenith
television and remote control system; 2. That the consumer has the
legal right to replace lost or broken Zenith remote controls with
Universal's remote controls; and 3. That the sale by Universal of
its remote products do not contribute to infringement.
Mr. Tyler further stated: "We are pleased with the court's
decision to support the Company's claims on all three issues. While
we have continually stated that we were confident about the outcome
and that financially it would have no material impact on the
Company's operations, the decision eliminates certain business
uncertainties and liabilities and enhances our OEM business."
In addition, Mr. Tyler stated: "That while it is probable that
Zenith will appeal this decision, Universal continues to believe
that its position is sound and that the decision will be upheld on
appeal. We also believe that a further immediate effect of this
decision will be to indefinitely suspend Zenith's recent request
before the International Trade Commission to bar the import of
Universal's and others' remote control products into the United
States."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
BroadBand Technologies, Inc, a leading provider of interactive
switched digital video for the information superhighway, introduced
a series of advanced software features for its Fiber Loop Access
(FLX) platform that allow consumers to more easily navigate along
the information highway, and offer video programming providers
unparalleled security, management, and statistics gathering
capabilities.
With the introduction of the new FLX software, BroadBand delivers
many of the promised capabilities of the information superhighway.
By supporting a user-friendly interface and allowing consumers to
choose when and what to watch, BroadBand has transformed the idea of
an unwieldy cable TV system with hundreds of channels into an
easy-to-use, interactive channel that is customised for each
consumer. Programming providers can offer their services in a wide
variety of merchandising packages while retaining their familiar
billing and accounting systems and enjoying the benefits of the
industry's most secure network technology.
These new features are only a sample of the advantages that
switched digital video has to offer, said Salim Bhatia, president
and CEO at BroadBand. No other technology or existing cable
television system can deliver the ease of navigation and the
combination of security and management that the BroadBand FLX system
is making available today. Additionally, the viewer statistics
gathering made possible by the FLX system has the potential to
generate significant revenues for carriers, who can sell statistical
information while protecting the privacy rights of their viewers.
The BroadBand FLX platform is a fiber-to-the-curb system that
delivers cost-effective telephone services along with interactive
switched digital video capabilities, enabling telephone companies to
provide advanced services such as enhanced cable TV, impulse
pay-per-view movies and movies on demand, on-line multi-media home
shopping, electronic yellow pages, interactive educational programs,
and telemedicine. BroadBand has committed to expanding its FLX
platform to access up to 1500 channels of on- demand, switched
digital video.
Interactive Navigation Features
BroadBand's software allows viewers to preview and buy
pay-per-view movies and events through their TV at the time they
want to buy it. No phone calls are required, and there is no
possibility of blocking just before a popular event, the "5 minutes
till 8:00 PM syndrome." There is also the chance for viewers to
change their minds and "un-buy" a movie. In addition, video
providers may make as many pay-per-view channels available as their
business warrants since all channels can be software configured as
pay-per- view.
It is also possible to offer premium movie channels, such as HBO,
to customers on an la carte or on a short-term basis. This allows
viewers to sign on for an hour or a weekend of a premium service
rather than paying for an entire month of service.
Features BroadBand is delivering include:
o One button buy allows consumers to order pay-per-view
programming with the push of a single button on the remote control.
A personal identification number can be used for security and
control.
o Favourite channels programming offers consumers a simple
way to ignore channels they don't normally watch, and surf only
favourite channels using the up or down arrow on a remote control.
In the future, favourite channels can be listed as icons, allowing
viewers to surf in a point-and-click mode instead of using the
up/down channel button.
o Teasers for premium and pay-per-view programming allow
consumers to watch a show for a few minutes while surfing to see if
they are interested before being asked to purchase the program or
event.
o Channel listing by name reminds viewers where their favourite
services are, allowing them to search for a premium sports channel,
for example, without scrolling through all the other available
channels.
o Parental control allows parents to lock children out of
individual channels. Access is granted via a control number that
parents can change at any time.
o One of the major factors in the widespread deployment of the
information superhighway will be customer acceptance, said Don
McCullough, FLX product line manager at BroadBand. BroadBand is
delivering a simple, elegant user interface enabling carriers to
offer all the features consumers are being led to expect.
Industry-Leading Security
Programming producers lose revenues every day from signals that
are stolen because cable television networks broadcast all
programming to all customers, according to McCullough. The switched
digital video (SDV) solution offered by BroadBand is already the
industries most secure solution, and has been enhanced with specific
software features. Said McCullough, with current coax systems,
anyone with a descrambler can get premium services free. With SDV,
viewers are sent only the signal for the programming they have
purchased; there is no other signal on their cable to descramble.
McCullough added, 7/8The security features offered by BroadBand are
orders of magnitude better than anything else on the market.
Programming Management
The FLX platform also provides management features no other
system can offer. Every component in an FLX-based network can be
monitored and managed by the Video Administration Module (VAM). The
system polls all components, including the set-top boxes in consumer
homes, every few seconds to determine if the equipment is operating
correctly, and the VAM stores the results of this monitoring. The
FLX management features allow programming carriers to proactively
manage the network, detecting any problems as they first develop.
The VAM also allows video providers to use their existing computer
systems for billing and customer service. These FLX management
capabilities will be an integral part of a network provider's total
quality management program and a key asset in streamlining business
management practices to reduce operating costs.
Viewer Statistics
The polling performed by the VAM enables the FLX system to
collect up-to-the-second statistics on what programming is being
accessed by the television sets in the network without identifying
the actual sets that are tuned in. This timely, highly accurate
information can be used to determine viewer programming preferences,
a feature of major importance to potential advertisers. It can also
be used by advertisers to gain an immediate and accurate count of
how many televisions were tuned to their advertisement. McCullough
explained, It will be like having a Nielsen box in every house,
without any extra work for the consumer and with complete protection
of their privacy. The direct feedback on advertising will be
invaluable to both the advertiser and to the network provider."
Availability
All of these new advanced FLX software features are available
immediately from BroadBand.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Radiation Systems, Inc. and COMSAT Corporation announced that
two purported shareholder class-action lawsuits have been filed in
Nevada state court challenging the previously-announced merger
involving the two companies.
Plaintiffs in the lawsuits allege, among other things, that the
proposed merger consideration is unfair and inadequate. The
lawsuits seek, among other things, to enjoin the merger and, in the
event the merger is consummated, to recover damages.
Radiation Systems and COMSAT stated that the lawsuits are, in
their view, without merit and will be defended against vigorously.
As previously announced, it is anticipated that a special meeting of
Radiation Systems stockholders will be held in the second quarter of
1994 to vote on approval of the merger.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Four more private cable television channels are coming to
Bulgaria. The Bulgarian Posts and Telecommunications Committee
(PTT) has issued four licences for the northern towns of Veliko
Tirnovo, Sevlievo and Provadia and the southern town of Peshtera.
Rodopi Television the first private television, broadcasts from
Kardzhali.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Telemedia Inc has agreed to buy radio station CJEZ 97.3 FM in
Toronto from Redmond Broadcasting Inc. The transaction is subject
to approval by the CRTC. Telemedia also owns THE FAN 1430 AM in
Toronto.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Turner Classic Movies, newest entertainment network from Turner
Broadcasting System, will make its cable debut with a showing of
"Gone With The Wind."
On April 14, the inaugural presentation will be an uninterrupted,
commercial-free version of the 1939 Academy Award-winning classic,
the original "road-show" film with complete overture, intermission
and exit music, plus footage from the 1964 gala celebrating its
re-issue.
Turner Classic Movies will broadcast outstanding films from the
1920s through the 1980s without commercials or interruption. TCM
will feature some 400 titles per month from the Turner library as
well as from major studios.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
AsiaWatch
From Tokyo
TOP STORY
First a Japanese official announced that effectively the US
standard for HDTV would be adopted in Japan and then in later
announcements he and various other officials and broadcasters denied
they would abandon the Japanese analogue MUSE HDTV system in favour
of the US digital HDTV system.
Earlier this fortnight, Akimasa Egawa, the top broadcasting
regulator in the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, announced
that the government planned to support development of a new
all-digital system based on the US HDTV standard.
The announcement was immediately denounced by an number of
other officials, NHK and the EIAJ.
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp said is not interested in
promoting a digital high-definition television (HDTV) system. "NTT
is not interested in nor does it intend to be involved in the
digital television system," a spokesman said.
"The EIAJ will continue to make HDTV sets based on the
current analogue system," said chairman Tadahiro Sekimoto.
After talks with Egawa later in the day, it appeared the ministry
would continue the current analogue HDTV testing and start
full-fledged broadcasting at some future point.
The next day Egawa appeared to be "sitting on the fence"
in that he partially reversed himself, saying the government will
still support the current format for a period of time.
Whatever the final decision of the Japanese government, the
announcement probably will effectively kill the MUSE system.
The only nation regularly broadcasting HDTV programs, Japan had
hoped its head start into HDTV would increase its dominance in
consumer electronics marketplace, however, with advancements in digital
technology in recent years and now the adoption of a US standard,
the MUSE system is seen as a format akin to that of Betamax.
THE CHINA GREAT WALL INDUSTRY CORP announced it has signed a
deal to launch the two satellites for EchoStar Satellite, the US DBS
service. EchoStar 1 will be launched around September of 1995 and
EchoStar 2 in mid-1996. Both satellites are Marietta Astro Space
Series 7000 satellites with 16 Ku transponders.
Also the China Aerospace Corporation, parent of Great Wall said
they are close to signing an agreement with Optus Communications of
Australia for the launch of Optus B3. Look for three satellite
launches this year from China -- East-is-Red 3, Apstar 1 and Apstar
2.
ISLA COMMUNICATIONS CORP, the Philippine cellular telephone
company, plans to launch a $200 million satellite network. Isla, a
partnership between Shinawatra group of Thailand and a local firm
Citadel Holdings Inc, is the second Philippine firm to express
interest in putting up a satellite, the first being, Philippine Long
Distance Telephone Co, the country's largest telecommunications
firm.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
EuroWatch ....
What's making news across Europe's skies
By Martyn Williams in London,
additional reporting by Joel Wirstzel in Paris.
RED HOT CLOSES .... AGAIN
Dutch based hard core porn TV station Red Hot TV has closed again.
SJI understands that the station boss, Mark Garner, is now in Ibiza,
Spain. The station was recently taken to court by Mastercard
International over a large amount of money it was owed by the
station. The court ruled that RHTV must pay off a portion of the
debt weekly. Reports say that Garner proceeded to produce a large
bundle of Spanish bank notes to pay the first part of the money.
Garner has said that the transponder is leased until September and
he hopes to restart RHTV sometime in March. A second network is
planned for the summer.
RHTV came to fame in the UK when the government issued a
proscription order banning the sale of decoders and cards intended
for reception of the service. The government was able to take
action under article 2.2 of the EC broadcasting directive which
allows a member state to take action against a service coming from
another member state where the service seriously infringes the
article which deals with protection of minors.
To escape the order RHTV moved the signal to a Danish uplink site
and issued no cards to UK residents officially. It was easy to get
around in practise because all that was needed was a phone call to
the Netherlands office who would process your order and mail a
card.
NEW FACES AT CANAL PLUS
Canal Plus chief Andre Rousellet, 72, has retired after ten years
with the company. Rousellet, a friend of Francios Mitterand, has
made Canal Plus one of the most successful media companies in
Europe.
Canal Plus currently operate pay TV networks in France (Canal Plus),
Belgium (Canal Plus Belgique), Spain (Canal Plus Espana) and also
have concerns in Germany (Premiere), Europe (Eurosport).
BBC BATTLE SKY
The BBC and British Sky Broadcasting look set for global TV war this
week. The problem surrounds the ambitions of both to become a
global alternative to CNN. Currently Sky News is available across
Europe and South Africa. The BBC's World Service Television is
available across Asia, where it ranks as one of the most popular
channels. The BBC's Asian service is carried as part of Sky owner
Rupert Murdoch's Star TV package which reaches viewers from China to
Israel.
Murdoch has wanted to ditch the BBC WSTV for Sky News since he took
over Star TV a year ago but the recent BBC announcement that it was
to start an Arabic language news channel gave him the excuse he
needs. Murdoch has threatened BBC WSTV that it will loose its place
in the Star package if it launches to the Middle East. He was
planning a Sky News service for this area.
At present the BBC seem to be winning the race for global coverage.
This year will see them launching to North America, Japan via DBS
and possibly adding the BBC WSTV news channel to the European
version which is mainly entertainment. Sky are still considering
launching a European version of Sky News with less UK news. This
will allow them to encrypt the UK version.
BBC WSTV is operated as a commercial TV service by BBC Enterprises.
The BBC's domestic services are still co-operating with Sky in areas
such as joint bidding for sports rights.
BT TESTS VOD
British Telecom has announced that it is to start testing
video-on-demand services via its telephone network. Initially the
test will involve 100 homes in Essex, east of London. The
programming will be supplied by LWT, Pearson and Kingfisher.
BT is currently barred from offering live entertainment services via
its lines. This bars out the carriage of cable TV.
NORWAY PROTESTS TV3 LICENCE
The Norwegian government has protested to the UK government over its
licensing of TV3 Norway. The service, one of three TV3 services
broadcast to Scandinavia, is produced and uplinked from the UK
although its target audience is Norway. Under EU law the channel
must only conform to the laws of the licensing country. This allows
TV3 to show advertising for alcohol, which is forbidden under
Norwegian law.
The Norwegian government says that TV3 Norway should be licensed
under the terms of the Council of Europe's convention on
trans-frontier television rather than the EU directive on
trans-frontier broadcasting.
It is rather ironic that the UK government allows TV3 to dodge
Norwegian broadcasting laws in this way since they complained very
loudly when other countries licensed Red Hot TV and allowed it to
broadcast hard core pornography into the UK.
NEW CHINESE CHANNEL FOR EUROPE
Europe's new Chinese Channel may launch on Astra. The Wilton Group,
who own 80% of the new channel, announced this at a press conference
in London on the eve of the Chinese new year. They also used the
opportunity to announce that they had signed an agreement with Hong
Kong's TVB for exclusive European rights to all programming.
The channel had been rumoured to launch on February 1st and then
February 10th but it now looks set to launch in March. The service
will initially comprise of three hours per night from midnight and
be free to air. The service should build up to a maximum of 12
hours per night in late 1994 and scramble. Initial estimates for
subscription prices are u12 per month. The target audience for the
service will be Europe's 850,000 Chinese, many of whom work at
restaurants in the evening and don't get a chance to watch TV until
after midnight. The Chinese Channel will join Chinese News and
Entertainment as Europe's only source of Chinese language
programming.
MDR SPUTNIK MOVES
German language radio station MDR Sputnik has moved from Astra 1B to
1C. The station was previously available via a stereo subcarrier on
Premiere. Now MDR Television is on Astra 1C the station has moved
to that transponder, subcarriers 7.38 and 7.56 MHz.
RTL 2 SHOWS BUNDESLIGA
Cologne based broadcaster RTL 2 were in hot water when they showed a
90 second clip from a Bundesliga match between Frankfurt and
Nuremberg. The station had no broadcast rights for the footage which
was shown in Action News on Saturday 12 February at 1750 CET.
Primary Bundesliga rights belong to SAT 1 with secondary rights at
ZDF / ARD.
AROUND THE WORLD IN 5K or less
------------------------------
.....MAI Plc has increased its share in Satellite Information
Services (SIS) to 17.5 percent from seven percent.
.....Fokker announced it has won an order from British
Aerospace to design and supply solar panels for the Skynet 4
satellite.
.....BT will soon announce a multi-billion investment programme
aimed at creating "information motorways" in Britain.
.....Whittle Communications LP, owner of the
Channel One school-television service, announced a satellite-based
television service for doctors.
.....Saleh Kamel is looking for a buyer for his 30 percent share in
MBC. Kamel plans to invest the money from MBC in his recently
launched Arab Radio and Television ART-TV.
.....The 32-nation Council of Europe adopted the convention on
copyrights of works broadcast by satellite.(Full text in previous
printed versions).
.....Portugal is to merge three state-run telecommunications
companies, Telefones de Lisboa e Porto (TLP), Telecom Portugal and
Teledifusora de Portugal (TDP), and semi-private Radio
Marconi into a new company, Portugal-Telecom.
.....Northern Telecom Europe and Prism Systems announced a contract
with TeleWest. The computerised telecommunications network
management system allows companies to monitor and control its
switches from a national operations centre.
.....Etisalat, the UAE satellite company, announced that profits rose
eight percent to 1.14 billion dirhams ($310 million) in 1993.
.....Bertelsmann announced a joint venture with Deutsche Telekom to
develop a network to provide two-way television and other
high-tech services.
.....Ruud Hendriks, formerly of RTL 4 and RTL 5, has been appointed MD
of NBC Super Channel.
.....Nick at Nite has delayed their UK launch. It will now take place
in September.
.....ARD has opened a new radio studio in Ankara to cover events in
Turkey, Greece, Iran, Turkmenistan and the CIS.
.....MDR is now available on channel E27 from a new transmitter in
Saalfeld / Remda. ARD is also available on channel E21.
.....Teletext has been added to the info channel on Vienna Cable.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Satellite Journal
International
Volume 2 Issue 5
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
------The DTP version is mailed via air or First Class and has
product information, reviews and other items not in the electronic
version.
U.S.A. $39.00 U.S. Dollars
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(Discount for FNL/OMEGA listeners)
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Other rates are in U.S. funds
Europe $69.00
Rest of World $79.00
**********Price Increase coming in April****************
------For information or to subscribe please contact Satellite
Journal International at:
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PO Box 2065
Burleson Texas
76097-2065 U.S.A.
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