Article: 2426 of rec.radio.info Xref: news.cs.tut.fi rec.radio.shortwave:23230 rec.radio.amateur.digital.misc:516 rec.radio.amateur.misc:39954 rec.radio.info:2426 Path: news.cs.tut.fi!butler.cc.tut.fi!news.funet.fi!news.tele.fi!uunet!spool.mu.edu!agate!library.ucla.edu!news.mic.ucla.edu!unixg.ubc.ca!nntp.cs.ubc.ca!alberta!nebulus!ve6mgs!usenet Date: Sun, 3 Oct 1993 11:31:43 GMT Message-ID: From: Terry Stader - KA8SCP Subject: SCDX 2188 Newsgroups: rec.radio.shortwave,rec.radio.amateur.digital.misc,rec.radio.amateur.misc,rec.radio.info Followup-To: rec.radio.shortwave,rec.radio.amateur.digital.misc Approved: rec-radio-info@ve6mgs.ampr.ab.ca Lines: 561 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: MediaScan :: :: SWEDEN CALLING DXERS :: :: from Radio Sweden :: :: Number 2188--Oct. 5, 1993 :: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Satellite, shortwave and other electronic media news from Radio Sweden. This week's bulletin was written by George Wood. Packet Radio BID SCDX2188 All times UTC unless otherwise noted. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- SWEDISH MEDIA NEWS: RADIO--The long-awaited auctioning off of frequencies for the country's first commercial radio stations began on September 22nd when the 10 new Stockholm channels were auctioned off, along with two more in the nearby city of Uppsala. 24 other frequenices in 12 cities in northern and central Sweden went on the block the following day. As we've reported previously in the program, the only criteria was the size of the bid. Under the law passed by the center-right government, the licencing authorities were not allowed to judge applicants on the basis of format, or even if they thought they could afford their bids, as was the case when Britain's independent television franchises were re-licenced. The highest power transmitter in Stockholm went to Radio Z, owned by the Kinnevik media empire, which also owns the satellite TV stations TV3 and TV1000; several cable-only film, music video, and shopping channels; and part of the terrestrial broadcaster TV4; as well as the country's second-largest cellular telephone network; and a number of magazines. Radio Z, which has been illegally relayed over community radio stations around Sweden for more than a year, promised to pay the state nearly 400,000 dollars a year for its licence. Other Stockholm licences have gone to the French company NRJ, Megapol, operated by the Bonniers publishing conglomerate, and the women's station Radio Q. Another went to Radio Rix, largely owned by a daily newspaper in Gothenburg, which altogether picked up licences in 9 communities. Radio Z is expected to work closely with the winning licensees in 4 towns outside of Stockholm, while Megapol seems to have picked up licences in 3 cities outside of Stockholm. While the government legislation forbids networking, Radio Rix, Radio Z, and Megapol are expected to try to find ways around this limitation in order to challenge the non-commercial public service Swedish Broadcasting Corporation, which has four national networks. One of the strangest results of the highest-bidder-takes-all auction system is that one station, Radio East, won both frequencies in the city of Norrkoping. They're promising to carry different formats on the two transmitters, one aimed at people under 40, the other at an older audience. One of the licences in Uppsala, the seat of the Lutheran Church of Sweden, went to a controversial fundamentalist Christian sect. Several of the new stations, including Radio Z and Radio Rix, can be expected to relay their progamming by satellite, probably the Swedish Tele-X (which also carries Radio Sweden). The auction for frequencies in southern Sweden will be held later. The chairman of the local radio licencing authority, Anders Stening, has promised to find more frequency allocations by next June, because of the enormous interest, with at least five times as many applicants as there were available channels. (TT) TELEVISION--The expansion of commercial television in Sweden is being discussed. There's currently one terrestrial commercial TV broadcaster here, TV4, although both TV3 and TV5 Nordic are available on cable and satellite. Recently Minister of Culture Birgit Friggebo repeated a suggestion that an additional terrestrial commercial broadcaster be licenced. According to Swedish Television news, the media spokesman for the opposition Social Democrats, Ake Gustavsson, has responded by proposing the inclusion of commercials in one of the two public service TV channels. (TT) The suggestion is surprising, since it goes against decades of party ideology, although it would not be the first time in recent years the Social Democrats have turned away from long-held policies. EUROPEAN MEDIA NEWS: SUPER CHANNEL--The American TV network NBC has announced it is buying control of Super Channel, which will no doubt make a lot of European viewers happy. Super Channel has carried an unfocused mix of music videos, B movies, and news programs. NBC will be cutting back on the videos, and adding such programs as the "Today Show", the "NBC Nightly News", "The Tonight Show", and other news programs from NBC and its financial channel CNBC. NBC and Credit Lyonnais will hold a 75 percent interest, while Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Atlantic airlines and the Virgin 1215 radio station, will continue to own the rest. (Reuters) FRANCE VS ????--France's Higher Broadcasting Council has banned cable networks from carrying Turner Broadcasting's new Astra relays of the Cartoon Network and TNT. Apparently dubbing Yogi Bear into French is regarded as cultural imperialism...the official reason is that the Turner channels are not in conformity with European regulations, that is, the non-obligatory and generally ignored EC recommendation that broadcasters carry a majority of European-produced programming. (BBC Monitoring) Ted Turner is entitled to lodge an appeal with French authorities, although, his last tussle with the French legal system was when French cable operators successfully demanded that they should not have to pay to carry CNN since it was free to satellite dish owners. There are many other channels in Europe which do not meet the EC quota which the French authorities are not trying to close down. Perhaps TNT's only crime is transmitting in French without being a part of the Canal Plus subscription network, which is partly owned by the French state. ("Skyguide") MTV--Ironically, after MTV signed a lease for a channel on the Eutelsat II-F1 satellite recently, the executive vice president of France Telecom, Jean-Yves Gouiffes, was full of praise for the American music video channel, which many would consider a bigger threat to European culture than Yogi Bear. The French official remarked that MTV "has an enviable reputation throughout Europe as a forerunner in youth entertainment." ("Satnews") MTV is taking the Eutelsat transponder to reach parts of Eastern Europe not covered by Astra. The channel recently leased a transponder on Norway's Thor satellite, in an attempt to reach Scandinavia. That means that MTV can continue to reach southern Europe using its Astra transponder 22, while using its other Astra transponder, 15, which has a good signal in northern Europe, to carry its VH-1 service, which is aimed at a somewhat older audience. VH-1 may launch in Europe as early as February next year. At the same time MTV could begin encrypting its Astra signals, both as part of Sky's Multi- Channels package, and as part of a European Multi-Channels package. The new Eutelsat transponder will also be encrypted, using digital compression to provide room for several channels. ("Skyguide" and "Satnews") FRANCE AND EUROSPORT--Eurosport has ceased providing a French audio soundtrack on its Astra and Eutelsat service. Viewers wishing to watch in French will need to subscribe to the Canal Plus package to receive "TV Sport", the French version of Eurosport. ("Skyguide") RADIO FRANCE--France Info, France Inter, and Radio Victor are now relayed on the TV5 Europe transponder on Eutelsat II-F1, on 7.02, 7.20, and 7.38 MHz. (BBC Monitoring) Radio France International is supposed to be broadcasting to Europe on Eutelsat II-F4. (AFP via BBC Monitoring) But monitoring checks have not revealed a relay of RFI. (BBC Monitoring) AFP quotes something called "World Radio". Could they mean the World Radio Network, which besides Astra, uses the MBC transponder on Eutelsat II-F1? CHINESE ASTRA--China News Europe will launch on Astra in the near future. It currently broadcasts three hours a night on Super Channel's Eutelsat transponder. The channel will continue the same broadcast hours and times, and will share an Astra transponder with a UK Astra channel - possibly The Family Channel or UK Living. The channel will will also change its name to "Chinese News and Entertainment" at the same time as the launch. ("Skyguide") RED HOT TV--Test transmissions from Red Hot Television (formerly Red Hot Dutch) have been noted on Eutelsat II-F3, with the promise of a full service in September. The first 'full broadcast' was of a bored- looking woman trying to repeatedly orally seduce a banana while encouraging tired viewers to subscribe to the service. ("Satnews") GREECE--ERT has announced the establishment of a satellite channel called ERT International. (BBC Monitoring) As it is to broadcast to Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, it will probably use Eutelsat. PORTUGAL--RTP International has switched from Eutelsat II-F3 to Eutelsat II- F2, where it has joined other Latin broadcasters such as Italy's RAI, Vatican TV, and Spain's TVE. RTP is using the transponder on 11.654 GHz. (BBC Monitoring) AFRICAN MEDIA NEWS: ALGERIA--The Algerian Ministry of Communications has decided that its project to set up a second TV channel via satellite was premature. The project has been postponed. (BBC Monitoring) EGYPT--Information Minister Safwat al-Sharif has announced that the Egyptian Satellite Channel will launch broadcasts in English and French in October. (BBC Monitoring) The ESC broadcasts on Eutelsat II-F3 on 11.178 GHz. AMERICAN MEDIA NEWS: MTV LATINO--MTV has started its new MTV Latino service to Spanish-speaking America from Miami. Initially MTV Latino is reaching 1.9 million homes in 10 Latin American countries and some parts of the United States, but hopes to eventually reach 3 to 5 million homes. MTV Latino is using the DigiCipher digital compression system on the Satcom C3 satellite, possibly on transponder 19. Viacom, which owns MTV, is considering making an analog version of MTV Latino available to home dish subscribers. MTV hopes its sister channels, VH-1 and Nickelodeon, will follow into Latin America. ("New York Times" and "Satellite TV Week") ESPN2--Another new channel which has just started is ESPN 2, a faster-paced version of the sport channel aimed at the 18 to 34 year old MTV audience. Like the original ESPN, the second channel is on the Galaxy 5 satellite, and is still in the clear on transponder 14. (AP and "San Francisco Chronicle") CABLE--In the United States, there's controversy over the new cable law that went into effect on September 1st. The law was supposed to lower consumers' bills, but complaints have come from across the country about cable operators taking advantage of the new regulations to raise rates instead. The chairman of the Federal Communiations Commmission, James Quello, defended the regulations implementing the new law before a House of Representative committee recently. 130 House members sent a letter to the agency two weeks ago urging the FCC to re-examine its regulations which, they say, "frustrated Congress's intent to make rates reasonable. Cable operators have also used the provision of the new law requring them to include local broadcasters, to drop the C-SPAN channel, which broadcasts from the American Congress, which passed the law. The operators claim they don't have enough bandwidth to carry C-SPAN if they are obliged to also carry all local over-the-air stations on their networks. The American Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether the provisions of the cable law requiring that cable systems devote one third of their channels to local broadcasters is constitutional. (Reuters, AP, "Satnews") FOX--Fox Inc. says that it will formally launch its long planned basic cable network on March 1, 1994, and it has already signed agreements with one-third of US cable networks for its distribution. The network, known as FX, will be a general entertainment network. ("Satnews") NBC--The NBC Network has acquired the entire capacity of the Ku-band SBS-4 satellite. NBC will use the satellite on an occasional-use basis until September, 1994, when the network will have full-time access. This marks the first time a broadcast network has arranged to be the sole user of a satellite. SBS-4 was launched in 1984 and carries ten 20-watt Ku-band transponders at 77 degrees west longitude. Hughes operates the satellite in an inclined geosynchronous orbit, enabling it to use less fuel with north-south station keeping. SBS-4 is expected to provide service until 2004. NBC has also signed an agreement with GE Americom Communications for Ku-band satellite capacity aboard its GE-1 satellite. Capacity will be used from 1996. Like the SBS-4 transponders, NBC will use GE-1 transponders for feeds and programme distribution. Elsewhere NBC has increased its interest in American Television Network, a partnership that produces health and medical programmes aimed at consumers and physicians. NBC plans to transform the network into a 24-hour cable channel at a later stage. ("Satellite TV Week" and "Skynews") NEW TURNER NETWORK--Turner Classic Movies will debut on April 14, 1994, the exact centennial anniversary of the first public movie showing in New York City. It will air hundreds of movies from the 1930's to the 1980's. ("Satellite TV Week") PARAMOUNT--Updating the report last time, the home shopping network QVC has offered a higher bid than Viacom to buy the entertainment giant Paramount. (Curiously, both QVC and Viacom are valued less than Paramount.) There is scepticism if QVC can actually raise the money, and Viacom is both suing its rival (claiming QVC is trying to monopolize the cable television industry through its contacts with the country's largest cable company TCI), and trying to find more funds. Viacom has brought in the video rental company Blockbuster Video on the deal. (Reuters and "New York Times") SHOPPING NETWORKS--ValueVision International Inc., a TV home shopping network, has signed up for a C-band transponder on Hughes Communications' next-generation Galaxy 1-R satellite, set to be located at 133 degrees west longitude. ("Satnews") Time Warner and Spiegel Inc. have announced they will launch two cable television home shopping channels next year, including an interactive "video shopping mall". The joint venture makrs the first attempt by either company to develop a home shopping business. The channels will feature clothes, accessories, and home furnishing sfrom Spiegel's catalog and from its Eddie Bauer and other speciality divisions. The interactive channel will make its debut next April on an experimental cable network Time Warner is building in Orlanda, Florida. "The interactive channel will, in effect, be a video shopping mall," say the two companies. "Cable customers will be able to enter any catalog 'store' at any time, view a variety of merchandise in full motion video and make purchases on demand." A more conventional home shopping channel with a working title of "The Catalog Channel" will start in the first quarter of next year on Time Warner's cable systems, the second largest in the US, with 7.1 million subscribers in 36 states. The channel will later be offered to other cable operators. (AP) WIRELESS SERVICES--The Federal Communications Commission in the United States has reallocated 160 MHz of spectrum fo companies to create a series of new wireless devices that the industry says could make pocket telephones so inexpensive that half the American population is expected to carry them by the year 2000. Proposed services also include palm-sized computers, and laptops that receive video pictures. In each local area 120 MHz will be divided into seven blocks that will be licenced to the highest bidders at an auction sometime next year. The remaining 40 MHz will be available for unlicenced, non-commercial services, such as the internal communications of a university. The new bandwidth is 4 times the size of the spectrum allocated for existing cellular phones. The FCC is taking the space away from users like utilities, railroads, and pipeline companies, who communicate from fixed trasmitters and could operate at higher frequencies. (AP and "San Francisco Chronicle") ASIAN-PACIFIC MEDIA NEWS: AUSTRALIAN TV FARCE--The biggest farce arguably in broadcasting history is still going on in Australia with the pay television licence awards. Ever since the Australian government 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. This time two private companies with the same owners, and related to an unsuccessful previous bidder, have been granted the licences to broadcast. David Beddall, Australia's beleaguered communications minister, said that UCOM Australia Pty Limited and New World Telecommunications Limited have stumped up enough cash to pay for their non-refundable deposits, and hence are eligible for the licences. Only a few weeks ago two companies 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. to secure the licences. A third licence has been reserved for the state-owned broadcasting company ABC. ("Satnews") INDIA--The federal minister for information and broadcasting has announced that the state TV Doordarshan will increase its operations to 21 channels. (PTI via BBC Monitoring) It was only on August 15th that Doordarshan added 6 new satellite channels to its existing 2. ASIASAT--BT has taken an option on five AsiaSat 2 36MHz C-band transponders for the satellite set to commence operation in March 1995. BT plans to use the satellites to expand its international broadcasting business. ("Satnews") STAR-TV--The Hong Kong-based STAR-TV satellite network may lose its pan-Asian character in the midst of intense competition for hefty shares of the television market in specific Asian countries. Media analysts predict that rather than offering a completely new perspective on Asian viewing that cuts across the region's cultural boundaries, STAR-TV will vie directly with local broadcasters to woo the bulk of viewers. Hints of a new, sharpened focus for STAR came last month when media tycoon Rupert Murdoch spoke of reorganising his newly-acquired network into at least two companies that would specifically target India and China, including Taiwan and Hong Kong -- and possibly a third for Indonesia. "I see STAR-TV being split into at least two companies: one for India and one for China. They are totally different cultures," media reports quote Murdoch as saying last month, just weeks after he took control of the network from founder Li Ka Shing. Analysts say Murdoch's remarks indicate his intention to meet competition from emerging satellite markets head on. Once the biggest markets are secured, advertising and the survival of the system will be locked in place, they add. Murdoch's take-over of the STAR occurred at a time when broadcasting markets in Asian countries were changing rapidly, partly in response to STAR itself and also to more planned satellites that will have footprints covering the continent. Begun in 1990, STAR is the acknowledged pioneer in Asian regional broadcasting. "STAR-TV achieved a measure of success in Asia at a time when the technological means for competing with it was not there," notes one media analyst here who declined to be named. "For STAR to survive, even if Murdoch had not taken over -- it would have to change." Indeed, competition in individual markets is heating up. India's Doordarshan launched five terrestial channels last month. And with India regarded as a key market for attracting audiences and advertising, other satellite and cable channels are opening up there. STAR is also after the Taiwanese market, where the population has considerable disposable income. But earlier this month, the government said six new channels would be starting up soon to join the three terrestial channels already controlled by Taipei, the armed forces and the provincial governments. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong broadcaster TVB, which had a planned tie-up bid with Murdoch that ran afoul of the colony's foreign media ownership rules, this week launched a special Mandarin language service for Taiwan, and plans to add three more channels there. But the broadcasters' dream -- and nightmare --remains China, where the population of 1.2 billion people have left merchants of all kinds drooling. Subscription television services are already opening up in that country, where the thirst for information from the outside has made it a major market. Comments Ronnie Liu, Disney's Hong Kong-based China director: "Mainlanders are like sponges. They will lap up anything. They are not yet as sophisticated, as discerning as consumers in Hong Kong or Taiwan." But some industry analysts have already begun lamenting the loss of STAR's pan-Asian orientation in favour of the planned audience-specific programming. They point out that one of the major successes of Music Television (MTV) Asia was the launch of new popstars whose appeal surmounted national boundaries. Taiwanese and Thai singers became popular in India. Indian rock groups made it in Hong Kong and the Middle East. But even pre-Murdoch STAR-TV was beginning to realise that programmes had to be more specifically geared. More targetted programmes were already being aired, such as the Indian Business Report, which relied on time zone differences for reaching its target audience. The British Broadcasting Co.'s (BBC) World Service Television News, which is carried by STAR, was also skewing its reports toward an Indian audience, where it has its largest, most loyal following. But Sarah Rochin, managing director of the brokerage firm CEA Pacific Rim that specialises in broadcasting told the South China Morning Post recently: "STAR-TV's programming is not the best yet because it does not address viewers' needs and aspirations. A division of the company into three regions could do that." Still, while many of STAR's staff members themselves admit they are worried about the changes, some say they are more fearful about reports that Murdoch may manage the network from London, particularly news and sports. "Asia moves so fast," says one disgruntled STAR executive, "It will be difficult to spot emerging trends and react swiftly and creatively from London." Some analysts say the move to have the network run by non-Asians a whole continent away may have more impact on STAR's 'Asian character' than the proposed divisions. Says one market analyst there: "Television is not about management techniques, where perhaps Murdoch's people may have the edge, but about keeping the pulse on the audience and responding to cultural trends." (Yojana Sharma, IPS) JAPAN--Three television stations have started new satellite channels, bringing the number of Japanese satellite channels to 9. The three are SVN Space Vision (entertainment and sports), Let's Try Life Design (hobby and cultural programs), and Asahi Newstar (news and documentaries). At present there are only 58,000 satellite subscriptions in Japan, far short of the targeted 200,000. One reason for the sluggish demand is the high cost of equipment. Currently, antennas and receivers cost around 200,000 yen. New receivers, cheaper by tens of thousands of yen, will be marketed later this year. (Kyodo news agency via BBC Monitoring) SHORTWAVE NEWS: CROATIA--Croatian Radio Studio Zagreb has been heard on a new frequency of 13640 kHz, in parallel with 13830, 9830, and 5920 kHz. Transmissions on these frequencies appear to be 24 hours a day, with relays of Croatian Radio's domestic service. (BBC Monitoring) LITHUANIA--Two months ago we reported that the private station Radiocentras was going against the trend of modern technology and broadcasting in morse code on 9400 kHz. BBC Monitoring now reports that Radiocentras has switched to relaying voice, apparently its domestic service in Lithuanian, along with short announcements in English and German. The transmissions on 9400 kHz are in lower side band. (BBC Monitoring) Radio Vilnius is transmitting to North America on the new frequency of 7335 kHz weekdays at 23:00 hrs. (Cees van Oudheusden in BDXA "DX Hotline" via Kauto Huopio) MOLDOVA--Radio Moldova International has transmissions in French at 12:00-12:25 hrs on 17800 kHz and at 18:00-18:25 on 11950 kHz. (Cees van Oudheusden in BDXA "DX Hotline" via Kauto Huopio) RUSSIA--Rukhi Meroc (Spiritual Heritage), Moscow, is a station broadcasting in Arabic/Tatar at 15:00-16:00 hrs (Fri) on 1332, 4055, 7160, 11630, 12075, and 17890 kHz. Broadcasts will be one hour later in winter. (BBC Monitoring) Russia's Radio - Nostalgia (Russian: Radio Rossii - Nostalzhi), Moscow, is an association between Russia's Radio and the French commercial radio organisation, Nostalgie Internationale. They are transmitting in Russian at 04:00-16:00 and in French at 16:00-04:00 (relay of Radio Nostalgie Paris) on 963 kHz. (BBC Monitoring) OFFSHORE BROADCASTERS--The Voice of Peace, which operates off the coast of Israel, closed down on October 1. With the signing of the peace agreement between Israel and the PLO, owner Abie Nathan believes the station is now obsolete. Speaking on the NPR "Weekend Edition" program Saturday, Abie Nathan said he had planned to scuttle the ship, but was instead persuaded by the Mayor of Tel Aviv to bring it to shore, where it is to be made into a beach museum. (National Public Radio and Martin Heffels on Internet News, via Kauto Huopio) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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: To Europe: 17:15 hrs on 1179 and 6065 kHz 18:30 hrs and 21:30 hrs on 1179, 6065, and 9655 kHz 22:30 hrs on 1179 and 6065 kHz 23:30 hrs on 1179 kHz To East Africa and the Middle East: 18:30 hrs on 15145 kHz To Asia and the Pacific: 12:30 hrs on 15240, 17740, and 17865 kHz 23:30 hrs on 11910 kHz 01:30 hrs on 9695 and 11695 kHz To North America: 13:30 and 14:30 hrs on 15240 and 17870 kHz 02:30 and 03:30 hrs on 9695 and 11650 kHz To Latin America: 00:30 hrs on 9695 and 11650 kHz The broadcasts at 17:15, 18:30, 21:30 (weekends only), and 22:30 hrs are relayed on satellite on Astra transponder 26 (Sky Movies Gold) audio 7.74 MHz and Tele-X on 12.207 GHz (TV4) audio 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!