::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: MediaScan :: :: SWEDEN CALLING DXERS :: :: from Radio Sweden :: :: Number 2190--Nov. 2, 1993 :: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Satellite, shortwave and other electronic media news from Radio Sweden. This week's bulletin was written by George Wood. Packet Radio BID SCDX2190 All times UTC unless otherwise noted. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- This marks the final bulletin I'll be writing in California. I'll be back in Stockholm on November 9th. Hopefully, writing the program at a distance hasn't affected the quality of the contents. NORDIC MEDIA NEWS: SWEDEN--We'll begin with the good news that Radio Sweden is now among the international broadcasters carried by the World Radio Network on Astra transponder 22, audio 7.74 MHz. You can heard Radio Sweden daily at 21:00 hrs UTC, in between National Public Radio's "Talk of the Nation" and the BBC World Service "Europe Today" program. COMMERCIAL RADIO--The first of Sweden's new private commercial FM stations to go on the air in Stockholm was the French-owned NRJ. Auctions for 21 remaining channels in southern and western Sweden are to be held in early December. There are to be five allocations in Gothenburg, and two each in 8 other cities. Sweden's third largest city, Malmo, was supposed to have three frequencies, but Swedish Radio has applied for one, to carry the round-the- clock classical music service now only found in Stockholm. There were 300 applicants for the 36 channels in central and northern Sweden that were auctioned off last month. But there have been only 100 applications for the final round of channel auctions. Apparently, many would-be applicants have been frightened off by the high bids in the first round. (TT) SCOLA--North American cable and satellite viewers who have been watching relays of the news from Sweden's TV4 on the SCOLA channel may have wondered where the broadcasts went when SCOLA revamped its schedule recently. The Swedish news is now carried Monday to Friday at 7:30 AM Eastern time, and on Saturdays at 6:00 AM Eastern. SCOLA is carried on the ASC-1 satellite, transponder 23. ("Satellite TV Week") EUROPEAN MEDIA NEWS: TELEVISION WITHOUT BORDERS--The launch of the Astra 1C satellite, and with it 20 more channels in the sky, has brought with it much controversy over the European Community's "Television Without Frontiers" directive. France and Belgium banned cable operators in their countries from carrying Turner Broadcasting's Cartoon Network, because it did not comply with the, largely ignored, provision for channels to carry mostly European programming. Now a Belgian court has declared the ban illegal. France is considering a formal complaint to the European Commission. (Reuters) Meanwhile, a stern letter has been written by the European Commission to the British government ordering it to comply with the Television Without Frontiers directive or face court action. The EC is annoyed that the UK is imposing too many controls and restrictions on foreign broadcasts directed into the UK. Under the present system, foreign broadcasters have to get ITV licences to be carried on cable television systems in Britain, even though they are already licensed in their home countries. EC sources say that the French, Italian, Belgian and Spanish governments may get similar letters unless they comply with the directive. ("Satnews") MULTI-CHOICES--On the other hand, Astra 1C has also meant that a number of previously European-wide channels, such as Discovery, Children's Channel, and Sky One, are now coded and restricted to subscribers in Britain only, at least as far as satellite reception is concerned. This may conflict with the EC provision that goods and services be available in all member countries. Possibly to forestall this criticism, the long-awaited European multi-channel satellite television service has been unveiled at the international television program market show in Cannes. The first channels to be offered in several countries across mainland Europe by what is called MultiChoice Kaleidoscope will be FilmNet, Discovery, The Children's Channel, Country Music Television Europe and The Adult Channel. All these channels, and others which are close to signing, will use a version of the Videocrypt coding system currently used by British Sky Broadcasting for its Multi-Channel package. There's speculation that some of the BSkyB channels will be offered in the new year. MultiChoice's parent company Network Holdings holds the rights for more than 30 European countries in Western, Central and Eastern Europe. The South African-based Network Holdings also owns FilmNet, which is also distributing subscription cards for the Thor Nordic DBS service, which includes many of the same channels. ("Satnews") BRITAIN--The BBC has confirmed its intention to change the domestic Radio Five channel into a 24-hour news and sports service. This change is to take place in April 1994 and the new service will continue to use the current Radio Five frequencies of 693 and 909 kHz. This decision means that Radio Four will continue to use the longwave frequency of 198 kHz. (Michael Murray) The earlier announcement that the 24 hour news service would be on 198 kHz provoked widespread complaints from listeners in parts of Europe close to Britain, who wanted to continue to listen to Radio Four. On the other hand, since Radio Five is carried on Astra, this means the new news channel will be available to satellite listeners across Western Europe. VOA EUROPE--Voice of America Europe will continue to broadcast their analog signal, in the clear, on Eutelsat 2-F1 for another year. VOA had been considering dropping the analog signals now that the service is begin carried digitally on Eutelsat 2-F4. VOA Europe is also carried on Intelsat 601 at 27.5 degrees West, and Intelsat 505 at 66 degrees East. The service will also soon be available on Intersputnik 1 and 2. (VOA Europe) DIGITAL SATELLITE RADIO--The two American satellite and cable digital music rivals, Digital Cable Radio and Digital Music Express, are now competing in Europe. Digital Cable Radio has been launched in Europe with a new name -- Music Choice Europe. "Satnews" says the service will have over 68 channels of music in Europe from early 1994. A number of cable operating and distribution agreements have already been signed in the Netherlands, Britain, and Switzerland, giving it a potential subscriber base in excess of three million homes. Digital Music Express, or DMX, has launched a new pan-European consumer marketing campaign, which "Satnews" says will be initially run in the UK, Denmark and Norway before being rolled out throughout Europe as distribution contracts are signed with carriers. DMX has also signed a contract with Norway's second largest cable operator to provide the service to Oslo's Norkable system, serving 125,000 residents. "Satnews" also says British Sky Broadcasting is close to signing an agreement with to relay DMX over Astra from June 1994. ("Satnews") ASIAN MEDIA NEWS: INTELSAT--On October 22nd the first of the new 7th generation Intelsats, Intelsat 701, was launched by an Ariane rocket. The satellite will be used to provide services in the Asia-Pacific region. The satellite is the first of nine Intelsat 7's scheduled for launch before the end of 1995. (Reuters) MURDOCH VS. THE BBC--When Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation bought control of Asia's Star-TV, observers wondered what might happen to BBC World Service Television, a key part of the Star package, since Murdoch also said he wanted to make his Sky News channel global, and has recently hired a number of respected BBC journalists. News Corporation has tried to terminate the BBC's ten year contract on Star, but has agreed to await the outcome of legal proceedings. News Corporation claims that the BBC's plans to start a 24 hour news service in Arabic violates the contract, as the new service from an Arabsat satellite would overlap Star's signal on the Asiasat satellite in the Middle East. The new BBC Arabic TV service is planned to start in April. (Reuters and "Satnews") This follows the report last time that the BBC is launching a 24 hour TV news service in Japanese. ASIASAT--Asiasat has settled its dispute with the Thai authorities, who wanted to put Thailand's first satellite right next to the planned Asiasat-2, at 100.5 degrees East. The Thais have abandoned their claim, in return for Asiasat relinquishing its 77.5 degrees East option so that the Thais can collocate their Thaicom 1 and Thaicom 2 satellites at 78.5 degrees east. ("Satnews" and "What Satellite TV") APSTAR--Star-TV is to face a rival. Five broadcasters have joined forces to take nine transponders on the planned Apstar-1 satellite. Besides Home Box Office, the sports channel ESPN, Turner Broadcasting, and Discovery, Hong Kong's TVB will be taking part. TVB has a vast library of programming in Cantonese and Mandarin. Apstar is due to be launched in mid-1994. (Reuters and "What Satellite TV") China will be the major market for these efforts, but recent attempts by the Chinese authorities to restrict access to satellite television may be a problem. AUSTRALIA--Another potential broadcaster to China is Australia's state-owned multicultural broadcasting network, which is holding talks with potential Asian and North American partners to establish an international satellite television service in several languages with English subtitles. The Special Broadcasting Service or SBS, currently broadcasts television and radio in 63 languages across Australia. While many Asian countries are afraid of being invaded by Western programming, SBS provides Asian programming for English- speakers. (Reuters) NORTH AMERICAN MEDIA NEWS: PARAMOUNT--In the midst of take-over crossfire, Paramount Communications has announced it plans to start the country's fifth terrestrial TV network in January, 1995. The network will combine Paramount's four unaffiliated stations and Chris-Craft Industries' six independent stations. Together the 10 stations reach more than 27 percent of American households, including such important markets as New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington, and San Francisco. One of the mainstays of the new network will be a new "Star Trek: Voyager" program. (AP) Meanwhile, in its battle to take over Paramount, Viacom has matched the shopping channel QVC's hostile bid. TURNER--Turner Broadcasting will introduce two new channels next year, a domestic feed of CNN International, and Turner Classic Movies. ("Satellite TV Week") COMPUTER NETWORKS--The Rupert Murdoch media empire has branched out in a new direction. Murdoch's News Technology Group has just bought the world's fifth largest online computer network, Delphi. This may fit in with Murdoch's intention to create a "digital super-highway of the future". ("Wired" magazine) SHORTWAVE: SWITZERLAND--Swiss Radio International have introduced an English transmission at 20:00 hrs on 6110 kHz beamed to the United Kingdom at a heading of 305 degrees. (Michael Murray) USA--Radio Free Europe (RFE) have stopped broadcasting in the Afghan language and will cease broadcasting in Hungarian by the end of October. By the end of 1993 they will have cut the hours of their Polish and Czech language outputs. It is reported that Radio Liberty (RL) broadcast hours are not affected by this announcement. In addition RFE/RL staffing will be halved during the next two years. Other moves include moving the RFE/RL headquarters from Munich, Germany to another country, most likely to be Prague in the Czech Republic. ("USA Today" via Michael Murray) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks to this week's contributors Good Listening!