Article: 2131 of rec.radio.info Xref: news.cs.tut.fi rec.radio.shortwave:22549 rec.radio.amateur.digital.misc:250 rec.radio.amateur.misc:38414 rec.radio.info:2131 Path: news.cs.tut.fi!news.funet.fi!sunic!mcsun!uunet!destroyer!nntp.cs.ubc.ca!alberta!fantom!crs-sys!ersys!adec23!ve6mgs!usenet From: Terry Stader - KA8SCP Newsgroups: rec.radio.shortwave,rec.radio.amateur.digital.misc,rec.radio.amateur.misc,rec.radio.info Subject: SCDX 2186 Message-ID: <$scdx.2186@ampr.org> Date: Sat, 4 Sep 1993 03:08:24 GMT Followup-To: rec.radio.shortwave,rec.radio.amateur.digital.misc Lines: 802 Approved: rec-radio-info@ve6mgs.ampr.ab.ca ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: MediaScan :: :: SWEDEN CALLING DXERS :: :: from Radio Sweden :: :: Number 2186--Sept. 6, 1993 :: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Satellite, shortwave and other electronic media news from Radio Sweden. This week's bulletin was written by George Wood. Packet Radio BID SCDX2186 All times UTC unless otherwise noted. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- NORDIC MEDIA NEWS: SWEDEN--The major media debate in Sweden right now is the dubbing into Swedish of the American animated cartoon, "The Simpsons" by the private broadcaster TV3. Traditionally, Scandinavian television broadcasters subtitle foreign programs. The only exception are cartoons for children. TV3 claims that carrying "The Simpsons" in English has excluded many young viewers. This decision has been widely criticised. In a lengthy article recently, Sweden's most respected newspaper, "Dagen Nyheter" maintained that "The Simpsons" is a program for adults, as it satirizes many aspects of American life. The newspaper compares what it calls the "lobotomizing" of the program to dubbing Sir Laurence Olivier with a "half-decent ventriloquist". TELEVISION IN SWEDEN--Sweden is the size and shape of California, yet has only three national television networks, and no other terrestrial television broadcasters. But there is room for many more stations. In comparison, to take the example of a small American city, in San Francisco alone there are 11 separate television stations. The Swedish government has now commissioned a study into expanding the number of over-the-air channels. According to Lars Maren of the Swedish Ministry of Culture, modern technology permits a major expansion. Following the study, the government will decide whether to authorize new national or local transmitters. (TT) TV4--Until two years ago, the only television signals on the air in Sweden were the two national public service channels. They have been joined by the private commercial broadcaster TV4, which also uses the Tele-X satellite. TV4 plans to expand its schedule to 24 hours a day. Initially, the station intends to broadcast continuously from morning to evening by next year. The all-night gap would be filled by 1996. The only problem with night broadcasting is that for two weeks every Fall and Spring, Tele-X is in the Earth's shadow, and cannot be used during the middle of the night. This affects the 2 percent of the station's audience who cannot receive TV4 from terrestrial transmitters. To counter this, TV4 is considering using another satellite. ("Dagens Nyheter") TELE-X--Things are not going well for Tele-X in other ways. FilmNet has sold its 85 percent share of the satellite back to the Swedish government, and the Swedish Space Corporation. The private pay film channel bought its share last September, as part of the Conservative-led government's privatization campaign. The intention was that another satellite would be bought and co- located with Tele-X at 5 degrees East, in order to establish a Nordic satellite position in orbit. (TT) But Norwegian Telecom outbid the Swedes and bought the only available direct broadcast satellite, Marco Polo II, which was then renamed Thor, and moved to 0.8 degrees West, alongside Intelsat 512, which also carries programming to Norway. On August 30th the FilmNet Movies channel left Tele-X for Thor. According to "What Satellite TV" magazine, FilmNet decided to sell its share of Tele-X when the Swedish Space Corporation refused to move the satellite to the same position as Thor and Intelsat 512. ("What Satellite TV" and TT) Unfortunately the Thor porject thus far borders on disaster, as the Norwegians insist on using the obscure D-MAC and Eurocrypt S systems, making what is supposed to be a Nordic satellite only available to Norwegians, and depriving satellite viewers in the rest of Scandinavia of CNN, Eurosport, FilmNet Movies and soon the Children's Channel. The only advantage for Nordic viewers is that when FilmNet Movies left Tele-X the satellite could be restored to full strength for its broadcasts of TV4 and TV5 Nordic. (Bertil Sundberg in "Paa TV") NORWAY--The Norwegian government is scrapping a demand it made to broadcasters requiring them to scramble television alcohol advertisements carried on cable and satellite television. The climb down was made by Norway as part of its negotiations to join the European Community. Previously CNN International had run in with Norway's rules after it was asked to erase commercials for alcohol. ("SatNews") EUROPEAN MEDIA NEWS: ASTRA--More broadcasters are appearing on the Astra 1C satellite. On (or just before) August 27th, in connection with the opening of the big electronics fair in Berlin, Germany's MDR3, ZDF, SW3 and ARD all launched their services on Astra. Mexico's Galavision has started test transmissions on Astra transponder 44. UK Living launched on transponder 34 on September 1st. Despite reports of problems or delays, on September 1st Country Music Television also began its service, on Astra transponder 41, sharing the channel with Discovery. The shopping channel QVC is also apparently no longer under threat, and has signed a lease for transponder 38, where it's due to begin broadcasts on October 1st. Meanwhile, the influence of the new satellite is making itself felt. According to "Skyguide", in its first three days on Astra, The Discovery Channel blasted into the UK satellite ratings with an impressive 200,000 viewers for its Loch Ness update program. Transponder 47 on Astra has been undergoing tests recently, thought to be in preparation for a new service. A number of broadcasters have been rumored for the channel, including HBO, Cinemax, and the Franco-Geman cultural channel ARTE. Now it's reported that Sky is planning to lessen the impact of the increase in Sky Sports subscriptions by launching a second sports channel, understood to be free to Sports subscribers, and this would use transponder 47. If it goes ahead, an announcement is likely to be made very shortly, with the channel possibly starting later this month. ("Skyguide" and James Robinson) RTL-5 has begun test broadcasts, using the out-of-band transponder 64, not 63 as previously thought. RTL-5 is currently relaying RTL-4, in the clear. RTL-5 is to launch with its own programming on October 2. (James Robinson) Instead, Filmnet is using transponder 63, and is now carrying some encryption tests. TNT and The Cartoon Network will begin their test transmissions on transponder 37 on September 10th, one week before their launch. ("Skyguide") The Adult Channel began broadcasts on Bravo's transponder 42 on September 1st. The channel will leave transponder 26 (home of Radio Sweden) on September 30. (James Robinson) RADIO--The World Radio Network will begin its tests on Astra transponder 22, audio 7.74 MHz, beginning September 15th, with a full schedule beginning October 1st. (James Robinson) This will include the relays of "All Things Considered" and "Morning Edition" from National Public Radio in the United States, currently heard on WRN's transponder on Eutelsat II-F1, as well as a number of hithertoo undisclosed international broadcasters in English. OLYMPUS--Europe has one less communications satellite. The European Space Agency announced August 26th that it has terminated the four-year-old mission of its troubled Olympus satellite, 11 months ahead of schedule. The ESA says it sent the satellite to a lower, non-operational orbit where it would not collide or interfere with other satellites. Olympus had started spinning and did not have enough fuel to return to its proper geostationary orbit. Olympus had carried broadcasts from Italy and relays of news from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and was also used to test advanced communications technologies, including high-definition television. Two years ago the satellite's position had to be corrected after it went into an uncontrolled drift around the world. (Reuters) EUTELSAT--The Turkish shopping channel KanalMarket can now be found on Eutelsat II-F4 on 11.575 GHz. (James Robinson) Eutelsat has decided to relocate its Eutelsat I-F1 satellite from 21.5 degrees east to a more easterly location to provide telecomms services from Russia and CIS republics to Europe. Eutelsat I-F1 is in its last stages of life, but it will provide service until replaced by planned Eutelsat launches. ("SatNews") Eutelsat I-F5 is to relay two hours of Albanian television every evening, beginning in October. The costs are being covered by the government of Serbian province of Kosovo, which has an ethnic Albanian majority. Programming will come from Albanian Radio Television and Kosovo's TV Pristina. (Radio Tirana via BBC Monitoring) HUNGARY--Antenna Hungaria, the Hungarian telecommunications company, says that it plans to launch a 16-channel European satellite called "Domestic" in 1996, offering Eastern Europe's first commercial satellite service. ("SatNews") POLAND--Reports say that Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. is likely to be a leading applicant in the race to run Poland's first national commercial television network. Apparently News Corp. is considering applying jointly with the Polish Investment Consortium to operate a service. Under Polish law News Corp would not be able to take more than a 33 percent stake in the broadcasting venture. Poland currently has two state-run television channels. ("SatNews") FRANCE--France's leading television station, TF1, announced August 26th it will launch the country's first all-news channel next year. Etienne Mougeotte, managing director of the private television station, told Le Figaro newspaper that the channel will carry French-language news updates every 15 minutes. It will also have "talk shows like on CNN". The station will broadcast via cable and satellite, he said. Mougeotte said TF1 would be the channel's sole operator, although it would consider cooperating with French pay television network Canal Plus. Prime Minister Edouard Balladur has announced the government will begin broadcasting educational programmes over the defunct Cinq network's airwaves next year. The programmes will run until 7 p.m., when the Franco-German biligual cultural station Arte, launched last year, starts its evening broadcasts. (Reuters) THE CHINESE CHANNEL--The Chinese Channel has been granted an ITC licence to uplink programming from the UK. The channel is thought to be planning to launch a European service in time for the Chinese New Year next February. Backed by one of the world's largest producers of chinese programming, it could broadcast overnight on Astra 1C until a full transponder becomes available. ("Skyguide") THE TRAVEL CHANNEL--Landmark Communications Inc, the US media conglomerate which owns the The Weather Channel and The Travel Channel, has confirmed that it is to launch The Travel Channel in Europe early 1994. The Landmark purchase of The Travel Channel US last year has been followed by a new look and programming review. Kevin Senie, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Landmark Communications says: "The UK is a key market for us, and now that The Travel Channel is working well in the States, we're in a position to move forward very quickly. We believe that this is a clear and powerful concept that UK viewers will react to very positively. "We will launch in the UK early in 1994 and in the meantime are making substantial progress with our development plans which also include Benelux and Scandinavia." Since the launch of The Weather Channel in 1982 it has enjoyed considerable success. It is now watched in 54 million homes in the US, and noted a surge in viewer ratings. The programming specification for the Travel Channel in the UK includes broad lifestyle entertainment across all the pleasures associated with travel - action, adventure, culinary experiences and cultural insights. ("SatNews") DIGITAL BROADCASTING--NTL and Eutelsat have completed joint tests to prove the viability of wideband satellite transponders for carrying both conventional analog FM television signals and the new digitally compressed TV signals of the NTL System 2000. A single Eutelsat transponder was shown to be able to carry simultaneously either a single FM channel and four digitally compressed channels or a total of eight digital channels at broadcast quality. The compatibility, within one transponder, of a high power analog transmission and lower power digitally compressed signals means that operators can more easily migrate from analog to digital, with its attractive cost reductions. Eutelsat says that its wideband transponders are especially attractive since the premium for the additional bandwidth is much less than the extra cost of a whole transponder. NTL's System 2000 is a complete multi-channel video compression system operating at broadcast quality using the MPEG standard. At 8 Mbits/second, four digital TV channels can be accommodated in the space normally occupied by one analog service. Lower bits rates are possible, giving even more channels at slightly reduced quality. ("SatNews") SATELLITE TVRO: GERMANY--Foreigners in Germany gained a rare advantage over their German neighbours recently when a court ruled they had a right to install satellite dishes to receive television broadcasts in their native languages. A state court in Karlsruhe said freedom of information took precedence over the rights of a landlord who wanted to block an Italian tenant from setting up a dish outside his flat. The court said landlords had to allow foreign tenants to set up a satellite dish if the apartment house does not have cable television or the local cable company does not provide programming in the tenant's language. But they can refuse permission to German tenants if the building has cable television because they would already have access to many different German-language broadcasters. Cable television in Germany usually offer broadcasts from several neighbouring countries and Turkey but the mix depends on what regional cable companies think best meets local needs. (Reuters) MALAYSIA--The situation is different in Malaysia. The Cabinet there has decided to continue to ban the use of satellite dishes to receive television programs. The Malaysian government wants to keep out what it views as possible negative cultural effects from foreign broadcasts. Relaxation of the ban also might allow foreign broadcasters to take away audiences from local programs, the "Sunday Star" and "New Sunday Times" newspapersquoted Information Minister Mohamed Rahmat as saying. Only the King and the Prime Minister are exempt from the ban, he said. Mohamed says three additional channels from the government-owned Radio Television Malaysia would be available next year for a monthly fee of about 50 Malaysian ringgit (USD 20). One channel would transmit CNN programs, one the BBC news service and the third would transmit sports programs. There are currently three television channels in Malaysia -- RTM One and RTM Two, owned by the government, and TV3, owned by the ruling party. All radio stations are government-owned. (AP) ASIAN/PACIFIC MEDIA NEWS: INDIA--As reported in edition 2184, on its Independence Day on August 15th India launched 5 new television channels on satellite. The event also marked the opening of the new Insat 2-B satellite. The five new channels - entertainment, music, "enrichment", business news and current affairs, and sports - are to compete with the Star-TV package from Hong Kong, which includes the Hindi language Zee TV channel. For the first time, airtime is being given to private producers. A survey in January indicated that 3.3 million Indian homes were watching Star and Zee TV. Another survey revealed that satellite TV has reached 4 percent of India's half a million villages, where English-language soap operas are the most popular programming. The Indian government has introduced legislation requiring cable operators to relay at least one of the new channels. But operators are complaining that signals from Insat 2-B are weaker than those from Star-TV on Asiasat-1. (PTI via BBC Monitoring and IPS) JAPAN--Nihon Keizai Shimbum, Television Tokyo Channel 13 Limited and five sub-affiliates say that they will start broadcasting programs by satellite from 1997 using the BS-4 satellite. BS-4 is set to be launched in 1997. Once operational, the company says that it will plan to relay live broadcasts of economic news from Monday through Friday, and sports events and broadcast movies will be aired at the weekend. The satellite operator TXN will simulcast HDTV broadcasts alongside conventional broadcasts, and the service will be split between pay-TV services and advertising supported. A report in the Nikkei Daily Journal said that the monthly viewers fee would be around YEN500 per month. ("SatNews") ASIA BUSINESS NEWS--Dow Jones has taken a 29.5 percent stake in Asia's first satellite business news channel Asia Business News. Transmissions are set to commence on October 15 initially for 18 hours daily on the Palapa B2P satellite. ABN is now owned jointly by Dow Jones, Television New Zealand Ltd and Telecommunications International, and SIM Ventures (two Singapore government bodies). ("SatNews") AUSTRALIA--"SatNews" describes the Australian government's plan to sell-off pay television rights as a "farce". Ever since it first announced that four channels could be broadcast by satellite aboard an Optus satellite the whole affair has been dogged by errors, omissions and plain stupidity. Industry analysts are amazed at the naivety of the Australian government and internationally it has became a laughing stock. In the latest twist to the bitter tale, the two upstart winners of the licences have failed to come up with money pledged for the licences. Ucom Pty Limited and Hi Vision Limited paid significantly over the odds against over 50 rivals including seasoned veterans such as News Corp. (owner of British Sky Broadcasting) to secure the licences. The Communications Ministry has now invited the second highest bidders to take over the licences. ("SatNews") INDONESIA--Arianespace has signed a contract to launch the Indonesian communications satellite Palapa C1. The satellite, to by built by Hughes,will carry 30 C-band transponders and 4 Ku-band transponders. It is tobe launched in October 1995 to replace Palapa B2P, and will have an expected life of 14 years. (AFP via BBC Monitoring) GLOBAL NETWORKS: MURDOCH EXPANDS--News Corp., the massive international conglomerate owned by Rupert Murdoch, has jointed forces with Australia's largest telephone company Telestra to form an alliance to exploit the Asian media market. The new venture will pursue interests and investments in activities such as pay television, home shopping and interactive services. It is not known whether News Corp. will merge its Asian media interests such as the recently acquired stake in Star-TV into the new venture, or whether it will continue to operate it at an arm's length. Telestra and News Corp. have already taken a stake in Australian terrestrial broadcaster Seven Network Limited, and the Australian Broadcasting Authority is examining the deal for evidence of unfair competition. ("SatNews") When News Corp, bought Star-TV there was wide speculation if Murdoch would put Sky News on Asiasat, competing with BBC World Service. Last week Murdoch announced he is turning Sky News into a global satellite television news network. Broadcasts to southern Africa are to begin on October 1. In a speech to Sky advertisers in London, Murdoch announced "Plans are well advanced to take Sky News, or a parallel service, to all continents of the world, where we will be seeking local partners, both national and regional." (Reuters) The expanded Sky News would compete both with BBC World Service and CNNI International. News Corp. also owns the Fox Network in the United States. Presumeably a worldwide news service would also use the news departments of the Fox stations. Ironically, a few weeks ago, when British Sky Broadcasting announced its Multi-Channel package, it appeared that Sky News would be coded and available only to viewers in Britain and Ireland. At his London news conference, Rupert Murdoch also said News Corp.has signed a deal to develop a common internatinal digital satellite standard, which would allow TV programs to be beamed around the world on a single system: "We signed an agreement with some of the best brains in the business to develop, co-operatively, what will be the common digital satellite system throughout Europe, Asia, and the Americas." (Reuters) NORTH AMERICAN MEDIA NEWS: USA--There have been many changes in American satellite broadcasting during August. On August 1st the new Galaxy 4 satellite became operational. It only took a few minutes to move the traffic off of Galaxy 6 C-band and SBS-6 Ku band onto Galaxy 4 C and Ku band. After that move, SBS-6 moved over to 95 degrees west and it became operational on August 8. It appears that SBS-3 was retired and the COMSAT VIDEO ENTERPRISES services were moved onto SBS-6 from SBS-3. CONUS COMMUNICATIONS is also using SBS-6 -- they have transponders 12, 13, and 14 for their various feeds and Newstar SNG uplinks. Galaxy 6, meanwhile, moved to 103 degrees west longitude and it started service on August 10 from that orbital slot. So far, the only video observed was the UNIVISION MIAMI occasional feeds channel on transponder 13. Telstar 301 is getting more and more inclined with each passing day. Syndicators and other users of T1 are finding new homes so their television station affiliates can have the best picture possible. If syndicators had remained on T1, then they would get horrible pictures as the satellite works its way out of the beamwidth. The satellite could also get entirely out of the beamwidth of the television station dish and not be visible at all until the satellite drifted back into the beamwidth. Some of the T1 services moving include: Warner Brothers to Galaxy 4/21 Buena Vista Television Network to Telstar 302/6 Compact Video Satellite to Telstar 302/7 Paramount Television (home of "Star Trek") to Telstar 302/3 The VTC Satellite Network to Telstar 302/16. ABC-TV has moved its east coast feeds and various newsfeeds (especially NewsOne feeds) to Telstar 302. The west coast feed is on Galaxy 3. All feeds were dual illuminating until August 1st,when LEITCH encryption was introduced. (Robert Smathers in "SatNews" and "Satellite TV Week") DBS--DirecTV has signed up two new television channels for its planned US DBS satellite service. CNN International and Turner Classic Movies will join the other Turner Broadcasting Channels (CNN, Headline News, TNT, Cartoon Network and TBS Superstation) who previously signed up for the service. ("SatNews") CHINA/USA--North American viewers can now watch hours of Chinese television programs from a new Sino-U.S. joint venture station. The America Asian Satellite Television Network is a joint venture of China Central Television Station, 20 local Chinese television stations, several major Chinese firms and the Chicago Chinese Communications Corp. (3C Group Enterprises), according to the official "China Daily". Twelve hours of programming each day will be uplinked from Chicago, including shows on Chinese culture, news, entertainment, sports, economy, as well as Chinese movies and soap operas. (AP) New Century Television Chicago's "Daily News from China" service can now be seen for one hour immediately proceeding the North American Chinese Network program on Satcom K2 transponder 14. (Robert Smathers in "SatNews") FOOD CHANNEL--TVFN, a new cable television food channel set for official launch on Thanksgiving Day in the US, is airing previews of its programming on cable networks. Initially a two-hour daily taster will be aired. Once launched, the service will be a round-the-clock basic cable service, featuring top food chefs, critics and industry previews. From September 27th TVFN will add a four-hour 'appetizer' to its viewing menu showing more programmes planned. Eight hours of daily programming will be cycled in a 24-hour interval. (Sat News) POLAND--TV Polonia, which broadcasts to Poles in Europe over Eutelsat, has signed an agreement to relay its programs to North America. The 10 million strong Polish community in the US and Canada will be watching Polish television programs from October 1st. TV Polonia hopes to sign agreements with 300 local cable networks to relay the programming. The next country which Polish television is to reach is Brazil. (TV Polonia via BBC Monitoring) CABLE TV--The US Federal Communications Commission has brought forward the date of a scheduled fee reduction in cable television services from October 1st to September 1st. Estimates say that subscribers could save up to 10 percent off cable fees as a result of the FCC's new and controversial ruling. There are over 55 million cable TV subscribers in the US, and according to Gene Kimmelman of the Consumer Federation of America, a viewers' lobby group, over USD 100 million will be saved by viewers annually. A decision was taken by the FCC on April 1st this year to reduce the fees charged to subscribers taking basic cable services. Premium channels will be unaffected by the move, and there is a fear that many cable networks will attempt to rejig and reclassify much of their programming. ("SatNews") SATELLITE RADIO--Last night I determined for sure that the BBC WS Radio on C- SPAN C3-07 5.4MHz is different from the one on Anik E2-20 at 7.58 MHz. At 9:45-10:00PM Eastern every weekday night you can compare C3-07 and E2-20. You will find "Carribean Report" on C3-07 while on E2-20 you will find the regularly scheduled World Service program. It looks like C-SPAN takes the feed intended for rebroadcast to the Carribean while the Canadians use another feed. This feed may not be the unmodified full schedule either. (Mike Gingell via Internet News) LATE NIGHT TV--The big American media news this week is the launching of the "Late Show with David Letterman" on CBS television, in direct competition with Jay Leno and "The Tonight Show" on NBC. Letterman was doing a later night show on NBC, but quit when the network gave "The Tonight Show" to Leno after Johnny Carson retired. Speaking to National Public Radio after the first broadcast, the media critic for "Rolling Stone" magazine, Jon Katz, commented that the situation today is totally different than when the "Tonight Show" first when on the air. Then, there was no competion. Today, besides "Tonight" and the new CBS program, Chevy Chase will be doing a similar program for the Fox Network, ABC has its "Nightline" news program, and there are dozens of cable and satellite film and specialty channels, as well as the ubiguitous video cassette recorder. The audience is fragmenting. FUTURE MEDIA--Michael Crichton, author of the books behind the current hit films "Jurrasic Park" and "Rising Sun", goes beyond this in an article in the September issue of "Wired" magazine. Referring to what he calls "The Mediasaurus", Crichton says "the next great American institution to find itself obsolete and outdated, while obstinately refusing to change" could be "The New York Times" and the commercial television networks. Praising CNN and C-SPAN (which broadcasts live from the American Congress and government agencies), he compares the traditional broadcast media to the days when all telephone calls had to be placed through operators. Crichton criticises the media for oversimplfying the issues, and suggests that once the proposed American fiber optic highway is in place, subscribers will be able to access all the information they want, unfiltered by the press and networks. One example of how media is changing is a computer program called "Journalist" that can be used with the CompuServe online information service. This program allows the user to lay out a personal "newspaper", with space for news on particular subjects of interest. When running, the program automatically phones up CompuServe on a regular basis, for example every morning, downloads the news of interest, and prints out a customized "newspaper". WEATHER SATELLITES: NOAA--Controllers have lost contact with the newest U.S. weather satellite. The satellite, NOAA-13, was last contacted at 2315 UTC August 21st, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The polar-orbiting satellite was launched by the Air Force on Aug. 9 and had been operating successfully until contact was lost, officials said. The satellite was designed to help monitor the earth's oceans and atmosphere, and joined satellites NOAA-11 and NOAA-12 in polar orbits. Polar orbiting satellites arc in a circle around the planet as it turns beneath them, permitting a view of the entire planet during the course of a day. The two older satellites continue in operation, NOAA officials said. (AP) USA/EUROPE--American and European weather forecasters have agreed to protect each other's weather forecasting operations when either side loses a major weather satellite. Meanwhile, hopes were fading for contacting a U.S. weather satellite that went dead last weekend. According to Jim Elliott of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, "We have established a board to investigate what we consider to be a failure". But he says scientists are still sending signals in hopes of getting a response from satellite NOAA-13, which is orbiting the Earth from pole to pole at an altitude of 540 miles. Elliott says the problem with the USD 62 million weather satellite appears to be a short in the electrical system, preventing the solar panels on the satellite from recharging its batteries. Loss of the weather satellite should not cause any problems in weather forecasting or tracking hurricanes. Two similar satellites, NOAA-11 and NOAA-12, remain in operation. The United States already has borrowed a European satellite, which is replacing a failed American GOES satellite in monitoring hurricanes, tropical storms and other weather. Normally the United States operates two GOES satellites, in fixed positions over the equator, to observe weather systems every half-hour. Meteosat-3 was borrowed in February when one of the American satellites failed. The new agreement calls for the United States and the European weather agency to each keep two stationary satellites in operation, and for each to reposition its instruments to help the other in the event of failure. The agencies have cooperated previously. The United States also borrowed Meteosat-3 in 1991, and before that allowed the Europeans to use a GOES satellite when Meteosat-2 failed. The European agency plans to launch a new Meteosat in November and NOAA has scheduled launches of new GOES satellites next April and in 1995. The geo-stationary satellites orbit the Earth at an altitude of 22,000 miles. They rotate around the Earth at the same rate the planet spins, thus remaining over the same spot all the time. (AP) MEDIUM AND SHORTWAVE: AZERBAIJAN--Azerbaijan Radio's Second Program was heard carrying a 15 minute news program in English at 19:00 hrs UTC on 4958 and 15240 kHz. This English- language program is in addition to Azerbaijan Radio's English Service to Europe, known as Radio Dada Gorgud, which is broadcast 17:00-18:00 hrs on 15240 kHz. (BBC Monitoring) ESTONIA--One of the few international broadcasters with programming in Swedish has been forced to close down completely. Estonian Radio is discontinuing all programs in foreign languages from Radio Estonia, beginning October 1st. Estonian Radio has been been broadcasting in Finnish, Swedish and English on shortwave and mediumwave for decades. This comes as a bit of a blow to Finland's University of Tampere, which has been working with the Estonian Radio for about three years. Students from the university's Department of Journalism and Mass Communication have been working at the Finnish language department of Radio Estonia. They have read news, made radio programs and taught Western radio journalism to their Estonian colleagues. Now this exchange comes to its end. (Jorna Manyla, Finland, James Robinson, and BBC Monitoring) KUWAIT--Kuwaiti Radio has been testing a new 600 kW transmitter on 540 kHz. (BBC Monitoring) LITHUANIA--Baltic Radio International will be on the air "this summer", says the general manager of the radio station, Mr. Paul Rusling. This commercial radio station is to broadcast on 684 kHz with a power of 200 kW from a transmitter site in Palanga, Lithuania. The antenna is directed towards Oslo with side lobes targeted towards Helsinki, Stockholm and Copenhagen. BRI has already started building work at its new transmitter site in Lithuania. In January, the British company signed an agreement with the Palanga local administration. In accordance with this agreement, BRI has secured a plot of land for 15 years. Every year they will pay Palanga USD 20000. General director of BRI, Mr. Paul Rusling, gave an interview in which he said that he was not afraid of rivals, but acknowledged that they exist and could hinder the intention to target advertisements in Scandinavia. BRI will build six radio masts, a transmitter building, generator and premises with a reserve studio, all costing GBP 1,400,000. BRI programs will consist of pop music, with several minutes of advertisements every hour. Mr. Rusling has said that the station opening this summer will feature Elton John and other rock stars. ("Lietuvos Rytas" via FDXA "Euronews") It seems that this strange radio station really will be on the air despite many doubts. However, Scandinavian DXers have heard nothing on 684 kHz, except Radio Baltika, which is a private radio station in St. Petersburg, Russia. Personally I am rather suspicious about the future of this radio station. Remember that Radio Luxembourg already closed their English channel. The Scandinavian market for a commercial English language radio station is even smaller than that of Radio Luxembourg in the heart of Europe. Furthermore, listening to an AM/medium-wave station in Scandinavia is more a curiosity because everything goes on FM. Finland, Norway and Denmark already have commercial radio stations (exclusively FM stereo) with their share of advertising market. Commercial radio will be launched in Sweden within coming months. And, finally, the state-owned radio companies in Scandinavia have rather good and popular rock-channels and Norway will have its own from the beginning of October. Thus, BRI will face a hard market if they really want to have listeners and advertisements. They will have approximately the same problems as Radio Luxembourg had with their English channel on 1440 kHz. But perhaps there are so strong market forces behind BRI that they'll overcome these troubles. It is really interesting to hear what happens on 684 kHz in the near future - if anything happens. (Jorma Mantyla in FDXA "Euronews") NICARAGUA--According to a commentary on the right wing station Radio Corporacion, the Nicaraguan government has completely neglected its official station, Radio Nicaragua. Power to the station's two transmitters on 620 and 640 kHz has been cut off. Three telephone lines have been disconnected for non-payment. Overtime has not been paid. Radio Nicaragua has reported that on August 20th an armed group of approximately 15 individuals stormed Radio Corporaction, and machine-gunned the offices of directors and managers, as well as the reception, recording, and master control rooms. (BBC Monitoring) RUSSIA--The authorities in Tatarstan have decided to begin broadcasts on shortwave, since only 25 percent of the Tatars live in Tatarstan. (Voice of Russia via BBC Monitoring) SRI LANKA/USA--A Voice of America radio station being built in a remote corner of Sri Lanka has raised fears among fishermen and pitted the local Roman Catholic church against the world's remaining superpower. The fishermen, who have staged vociferous protests to halt construction of the VOA station, fear it may mean American submarines will patrol off the island's north-western coast one day, denying them their fishing grounds. They also fear losing their land to the Americans, who they think may use the VOA station as a cover for a military communications center. The United States insists the high-powered shortwave transmitters being built on a 400-acre (161-hectare) coconut estate in Iranawila will improve its public radio broadcasts to Asia, Africa and the Middle East, and nothing more. The new facility on the coast, 80 km (50 miles) northwest of Colombo, should be completed by 1995. It is meant to replace existing VOA transmitters which have been broadcasting for 40 years near the capital, the U.S. embassy has said. The mainly Catholic fishermen say construction work on the project, which began early this year, has damaged their homes, disrupted their lifestyle and threatened their livelihood. The local church has thrown itself behind them and lobbied the government to scrap the project. (Reuters) UNOFFICIAL BROADCASTING--The Voice of the People of Kurdistan continues to be heard on 4130 kHz, from fade-in around 15:00 hrs UTC until sign-off att 16:25. The main program of the Voice of the People of Kurdistan is heard on around 4095 kHz at around 16:00-18:00 hrs. On April 29th the station announced it was broadcasting a "Second Program" at 14:00-16:00 hrs on 7265 kHz, although it has not been heard on this frequency. (BBC Monitoring) PUBLICATIONS: Two very interesting newsletters about satellite broadcasting are available over data networks. Both of which are used extensively in compiling "MediaScan", and we'd like to thank both for making themselves available to us. SATNEWS--SatNews is huge, so big that the fortnightly uploads have to be divided into three files. There's probably more here about the electronics and satellite industries than any one person wants, but all the important news is included. Editor Darren Ingram does a great job, but since he's sold the publication to a commercial company, it caters to business interests, at business prices. Fortunately they offer a special rate to non-commercial subscribers: only GBP 50 or USD 100 for one year to an Internet-compatible mailbox. If you need this kind of information, it's well worth it. You can contact SatNews at the Internet mailbox satnews@cix.compulink.co.uk for more information. SKY GUIDE--Skyguide is a short weekly newsletter covering satellite and cable broadcasting, concentrating on the UK. Fortunately, it's free. You can find Skyguide every week on London's CIX conferencing system, in the Skyguide conference, the Fidonet Satellite TV echo, and the Packet Radio Network. Skyguide is now available on the internet in the alt.satellite.tv.europe newsgroup. Comments, suggestions, stories and monetary donations are always appreciated. You can contact Skyguide in the following ways: CIX : mail to bignoise, or use the Skyguide/comments conference. Fidonet : Netmail to ANTONY PURVIS at 2:251/22, or leave a message in the Satellite TV echo. Internet: bignoise@cix.compulink.co.uk ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sweden Calling DXers is the world's oldest radio program for shortwave listeners. Radio Sweden has presented this round-up of radio news, features, and interviews on Tuesdays since 1948. Radio Sweden broadcasts in English: Europe and Africa: 15:00 hrs on 1179 khz (weekdays only) 16:15 hrs on 1179 and 6065 kHz 17:30 hrs on 1179, 6065, and 9645 kHz 20:30 hrs on 1179, 6065 and 9655 kHz 21:30 hrs on 1179 and 6065 khz, and 22:30 hrs on 1179 and 6065 kHz Middle East and East Africa: 15:00 hrs on 15190 kHz and 17:30 hrs on 15270 kHz Asia and the Pacific: 12:30 hrs on 15240 and 21500 kHz 22:30 hrs on 11910 kHz and 01:00 hrs on 9695 and 11820 kHz North America: 15:00 hrs on 15240 and 21500 kHz and 02:00 hrs on 9695 and 11705 kHz South America: 00:00 hrs on 9695 kHz The broadcasts at 12:30, 16:15, 17:30, 20:30 (weekends only), 21:30, and 22:30 hrs are also relayed to Europe by satellite: Astra 1B (19.2 degrees East) transponder 26 (Sky Movies Gold/TV Asia/Adult Channel) at 11.597 GHz, audio subcarrier at 7.74 MHz, Tele-X (5 degrees East) (TV4 transponder) at 12.207 GHz, audio subcarrier 7.38 MHz. Contributions can be sent to DX Editor George Wood by fax to +468-667-6283, from Internet, MCI Mail or CompuServe (to the CompuServe mailbox 70247,3516), through the FidoNet system to 2:201/697 or to SM0IIN at the packet radio BBS SM0ETV. Reports can also be sent to: Radio Sweden S-105 10 Stockholm Sweden Contributions should be NEWS about electronic media--from shortwave to satellites--and not loggings of information already available from sources such as the "World Radio TV Handbook". Clubs and DX publications may reprint material as long as MediaScan/Sweden Calling DXers and the original contributor are acknowledged, with the exception of items from BBC Monitoring, which are copyright. We welcome comments and suggestions about the electronic edition, Sweden Calling DXers, and our programs in general. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks to this week's contributors Good Listening!