From wood@stab.sr.seWed Jan 17 17:56:42 1996 Date: Tue, 16 Jan 1996 13:55:59 +0100 From: George Wood To: wood@rs.sr.se Subject: MediaScan/Sweden Calling DXers 2240 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: MediaScan :: :: SWEDEN CALLING DXERS :: :: from Radio Sweden :: :: Number 2240--Jan. 16, 1996 :: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Satellite, shortwave and other electronic media news from Radio Sweden. This week's bulletin was written by George Wood. Packet Radio BID SCDX2240 All times UTC unless otherwise noted. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Don't miss our Media Links page at: http://www.sr.se/rs/english/media/links.htm NORDIC MEDIA NEWS: BYE BYE TO ALL THAT--At the beginning of the year a 70 year tradition disappeared from Swedish Radio. The news agency TT no longer presents radio newscasts on the public service broadcaster. The Swedish news agency provided the first news on Swedish radio, beginning on March 5, 1924, even before the company was formally organized on January 1, 1925. TT had a monopoly on radio news until 1947. As the years have gone by more and more people began to feel it was an anarchronism for the news agency to provide newscasts, when Swedish Radio had its own well-respected News Department. SR has taken advantage of the government's imposed 11 percent budget cutback to drop the TT broadcasts. (TT) TT however, continues to provide news for many of the private commercial broadcasters who have gone on the air in Sweden during the past two years. The TT newscasts to private radio can be heard on the TV5/Nordic (Femman) transponder on the Tele-X satellite (12.475 GHz) on sound carrier 7.56 MHz. NEW NAMES--We've had some name changes among Swedish TV stations recently. Public broadcaster Swedish Television's 2 channels used to be called simply TV1 and TV2. Then a couple of years ago, in connection with a reorganization, TV1 became Kanal 1 (or Channel 1), and since then no one has been able to keep the two straight. Now, in connection with another reorganization, they'd adopted the EBU designation, SVT1 and SVT2. Another name change...when the pay movie outlet FilmNet split into two channels some time back, they called them FilmNet Plus, and FilmNet, the Complete Movie Channel, which is a mouthfull. (Try to say it fast 5 times.) Now they've become simply FilmNet 1 and FilmNet 2. SVT1/2--The Association of Swedes living abroad has written to the Swedish government formally proposing that SVT1 and SVT2 broadcast on satellite. In the letter, to the Minstry of Culture, the Association says Swedes abroada have greatly appreciated the satellite programs from Swedish Radio, which has meant much improved sound quality (compared to shortwave). The organization underlines that contact with television programming from home is especially important to Swedish children and young people growing up outside the country. (TT) The two channels are actually on satellite already, but relayed by Norway for cable networks, and no one else is allowed to have decoder cards, not even the 10,000 irrate Swedes who pay annual licence fees here, but who are out of the coverage areas of Swedish Television's transmitters. When we asked Minister of Culture Margot Wallstroem about this is the last program, her only response was that the coming switch to digital transmissions would solve the problem. KINNEVIK--There are rumors Kinnevik is ready to sell its TV1000 film channel to arch-rival FilmNet. ("What Satellite TV") Kinnevik seems to be doing well though, especially outside of Sweden. It's P4 channel is now the second most popular radio station in Norway (following the public service NRK), according to a new survey from Gothenburg University. (TT) Kinnevik is also extending its TV3 channel to Estonia. Kinnevik already runs the Estonian commercial station EETV, which shares its transmitter with another station called RTV. The two stations are to merge, creating the new TV3, in which Kinnevik would hold the largest share. This would be a terrestrial channel not a satellite outlet. Kinnevik already owns a local station in the Lativian capital Riga, also known as TV3, as well as a 35 percent share of Kaunas Plus in Lithuania. The company is also applying for a local TV licence in northern Poland. ("Svenska Dagbladet") NORWAY--The Norwegian public service broadcaster NRK is starting its second TV channel NRK 2 in March. A satellite relay is planned eventually, apparently from the Intelsat 707 satellite at 1 degree West, which is scheduled to be launched next month. (Bert Dahlstrom in "Paa TV") SIRIUS--Bert Dahlstrom has written to update his report on the new line-up on Sweden's Sirius satellite. Unfortunately, contrary to the previous report, TV3 on 11.785 GHz will also encrypt in D2-MAC beginning February 1st. (Bert Dahlstroem) Z-TV and the TV6/TV-G combination will be encoding as well, and TV6 has now moved to 12.015 GHz in D2-MAC from its former clear PAL channel on Sirius. The others should follow suit. FINLAND--A study in Finland has proposed licensing a new national commercial radio station, as well as a new national TV channel. Sweden's Bonniers publishing empire, which owns 13 local commercial radio stations here, has expressed interest in applying for the Finnish radio franchise. Some observers say it's more likely the company behind Finland's largest newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat, will win the licence. (TT) Finland's YLE Radio is now broadcasting in Finnish and Swedish digitally on Intelsat 702 at 1 degree West. According to YLE, the MPEG- 2 signals are on the Deutsche Welle transponder at 3.912 GHz, although we've never heard of a Deutsche Welle transponder on this satellite before. (YLE) EUROPEAN MEDIA NEWS: ONXY--Updating last time, on January 6, 1996, the German music video channel Onyx TV launched on Eutelsat II-F1, at 11.146 GHz. The new music channel, owned by the London-based Excalibur Communications Limited, operates for 18 hours a day, and addresses "adult music enthusiasts who no longer find themselves represented in chart- dominiated music channels...There wiull be something for those who like pop songs and hit tunes, for jazz lovers, country music connoisseurs, fans of musicals or follows of rhythm and blues or rock." (Eutelsat) MURDOCH AGAIN--Rupert Murdoch has bid a reported two billion dollars for European rights to the Olympic games from 2000 to 2008. The massive bid is an attempt to break the long-standing tradition of awarding the rights the EBU, which in turn has meant the games can be carried on all EBU member stations across Europe and on Eurosport. Apparently the deal would place some events on Murdoch's pay TV channels Sky Sports and Sky Sports 2, while some events would be carried free to air. If Murdoch wins the games, it would also open Sky Sports to a Pan-European audience (despite the provisions of the Maastrict agreement for free access to goods and services across the EU, Murdoch has refused to open his Sky Multichannels channels to non-British or Irish subscribers). ("Tele-satellit") GENERAL ELECTRIC--We've reported that General Electric will be using half the transponders on Sweden's upcoming Sirius 2 satellite at 5 degrees East, for Pan-European channels. Now GE Capital Satellite International has announced it is seeking 12 addiitonal satellite orbital slots to serve the European, African. and Asian-Pacific regions. Applications for these orbital locations have been made to the International Telecommunications Union by the government of Gibraltar, a British Dependent Territory. Satellites launched to these locations would be operated from a planned control facility on Gibraltar. Planned orbital locations include 3 degrees East, and 6.5, 10, 15, and 23 degrees West to Europe; 27.5, 47 and 51 degrees East to Africa; and 97, 100.7, 105.3, and 108.2 degrres East to Asia and the Pacific. (It's gonna get crowded up there!) The proposed satellites as currently envisioned would be used mainly for video programming distribution, including direct-to-home, cable headend, and other broadcast applications The planned spacecraft design would accommodate both analog and digtal video formats. ("Tele- satellit") BRITAIN--Members of Parliament from both the government and the opposition have voiced alarm about cuts in the funding of the BBC's World Service, which claims a global audience of 133 million. Following November's budget, the government said the international arm of the public service broadcaster would suffer a 20 percent cut in its capital budget in the three years from April. (Reuters) MIDDLE EASTERN MEDIA NEWS: BBC--BBC World Service Television is investigating reports that news stories about the expulsion by Britain of a Saudi dissident were blacked out on its service via the Saudi Arabian-based Orbit television package. The sginals travel from London via satellite to Rome, where they are combined with other channels and sent up to the Arabsat satellite. The Rome Earth station is operated by a Saudi company with close ties to the Saudi royal family. (Reuters) AMERICAN MEDIA NEWS: ECHOSTAR--In international news, quite a few satellites have been launched recently. On January 11th, EchoStar Communications announced its first direct broadcast satellite has reached final orbit at 119 degrees West. The satellite was launched from China on December 28th, and will provide more than 200 channels of digital video, audio, and data services to 18 inch dishes, together with EchoStar-2, which launches in mid-1996. PANAMSAT--On January 12th, an Ariane rocket successfully launched Malaysia's Measat-1 and PanAmSat-3R. The new Atlantic relay satellite PAS-3R replaces PanAmSat-3, which crashed on launch 13 months ago, and will be placed at 43 degrees West. It carries 16 transponders each in the C and Ku bands, and will be the first international satellite with primarily digital transmissions. Users include Turner Broadcasting, Warner Brothers Television, Viacom, ESPN, Home Box Office, Sony, Fox, and NBC. They'll be part of Latin America's first direct-to-home TV service, scheduled to start in the second quarter of the year. (Reuters, AP, "Tele-satellit", and Curt Swinehart) ASIAN MEDIA NEWS: MEASAT--Measat will be positioned at 91.5 degrees East, and carries 4 high-powered Ku-band transponders, which can be received by 50 centimeter antennas. The 12 C-band transponders will be used for video, voice, and data services from Burma to Japan. (Reuters, AP, "Tele- satellit", and Curt Swinehart) KOREA--On January 14th, Koreasat-2 was launched from Cape Canaveral. The identical Koreasat-1 was launched in August, but because of a booster separation problem, it's lifetime has been shortened. (Curt Swinehart) INDONESIA--Next up is Indonesia's Palapa C1, due to be launched January 31 from Cap Canaveral. (Curt Swinhart) NBC--NBC announced January 15 it is launching a new television network to Asia. NBC in Asia is a 24 hour English-language cable service offering a mix of global and Asian news, documentaries, drama, music, sports, and children's programming for the Pan-Asian region. A limited version debuted on January 15th, with an expanded schedule planned for mid-April. Based in Hong Kong, the new network initially will feature shows from its companion channel, the business-oriented CNBC Asia. (AP and Curt Swinehart) It sounds like this is paralleling NBC's European split between NBC Super Channel and CNBC Europe. INDIA--An Indian court has rejected a petition from state television to stop the granting of broadcast rights for this year's World Cup Cricket to media baron Rupert Murdoch's Star Television. The state-run Doordarshan television immediately gave notice it plans to appeal to the Indian Supreme Court. The case went to the Delhi High Court after the US film WorldTel, which bought the broadcast rights from the organizers, rescinded an agreement signed with Doordarshan in 1994, on the grounds that the Indian company had missed an installment payment. (Reuters) The "Asian Age" newspaper says the Indian government is making a new law to throw open state-controlled airwaves by permitting private televison and radio broadcasting. The newspaper says the Information and Broadcasting Ministry is giving final touches to a new bill to be placed before parliament. It did not say when the bill would be introduced. The bill would allow private broadcast channels, which would be regulated by a national broadcasting authority. State-run All India Radio and Doordarshan television would also be covered by the regulator. Private Indian broadcasters ship out videotapes to countries such as Hong Kong, Russia, Singapore, and the Philippines where they are broadcast by satellite to India's booming cable television market. (Reuters) CYBERSPACE: SUNERGY--The next Sunergy broadcast will be on January 18th, on the topic "Stocking the Data Warehouse", at 08:30-9:30 AM PST (16:30-17:30 hrs UTC). Besides the relay on the Internet MBONE, it will also be carried on satellite. To North America: Galaxy 7 3.920 GHz (transponder 11) (NTSC) To Latin America: Intelsat-K 11.842 GHz (NTSC) To Europe: Eutelsat II-F1 12.584 GHz (PAL) To South Africa: Intelsat 515 4.188 GHz (transponder 2) (PAL) More information from: http.//www.sun.com/sunergy STREAMWORKS--The World Radio Network is now relaying their WRN2 service to North America over the Internet, using the Streamworks system. This service carries programming in languages other than English, including Radio Sweden's Swedish program daily at 14:00 hrs Eastern Time. DIGTAL BROADCASTING--The digital future brings us to today's interview, which is courtesy of New Dimensions Radio in San Francisco. They've talked to Nicholas Negroponte, director of the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and author of the book "Being Digital". Thanks to New Dimensions Radio for making some of his comments on the potential of digital broadcasting available to us. More information about New Dimensions Radio at: http://www.newdimensions.org NASA TV--During the most recent US government closedown (caused by the budget crisis), NASA TV disappeared from the CU-SeeMe feed over the Internet. It returned when federal employees went back to work, just in time for the current Space Shuttle mission. Here are some of the video reflectors carrying the NASA TV CU-SeeMe feed into the Internet: 139.88.27.43 at the NASA Lewis Research Center 139.169.165.25 at the NASA Johnson Space Cetner 158.36.33.5 at Oestfold Regional College in Norway 130.235.128.100 at Lund University in Sweden 164.78.252.4 at Singapore Polytechnic in Singapore CU-See Software can be downloaded from: http://cu-seeme.cornell.edu/ NORDIC SHORTWAVE CENTER--Some of the oldest DX clubs in the Nordic countries invite Internet users to visit the Nordic Shortwave Center. The Danish Shortwave Clubs International and Sweden's "Shortwave Bulletin" offer the world's DXers a Website that "will prove to be the ultimate place for all of you who wish to keep up with the very latest in the DX hobby". Most of the information is free of charge, while some is intended for club members only. Check out: http://www.sds.se/org/swl/ SATELLITE COMPANIES ON THE WEB--The following satellite companies have WWW sites: http://www.Intelsat.com Intelsat http://www.worldserver.pipes.com/inmarsat Inmarsat http://www.directv.com DirecTV http://www.sattv.com DirecTV Latin America http://itre.ncsu.edu/misc/TELE-satellit/drdish Dr. Dish Q & A (Curt Swinehart) IRELAND--RTE1 Radio has gone 24 hours. Details are at the Web site: http://ireland.iol.ie/media/rtecork/ (Edward Dunne) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Sweden Calling DXers/MediaScan is the world's oldest radio program about international broadcasting. Radio Sweden has presented this round-up of radio news, features, and interviews on Tuesdays since 1948. It's currently broadcast on the first and third Tuesdays of the month. Radio Sweden broadcasts in English: To Europe: 17:15 hrs 1179 and 6065 kHz 18:30 1179, 6065, 7240, and 9655 kHz (also Africa/Middle East) 21:30 1179, 6065, and 7230 kHz (also Africa/Middle East) 22:30 1179 and 6065 kHz (also Africa/Middle East) 23:30 1179 kHz Asia/Pacific: 12:30 hrs 9835, 13740, and 15240 kHz 01:30 hrs 7120 kHz North America: 13:30 hrs on 11650 and 15240 kHz 14:30 hrs on 11650 and 15245 kHz 02:30 and 03:30 hrs on 7120 kHz Latin America: 00:30 hrs on 6065 and 9850 kHz The broadcasts at 17:15 and 18:30 hrs are also relayed to Europe by satellite: Astra 1C on ZDF's transponder 33 at 10.964 GHz, audio subcarrier at 7.38 MHz Tele-X via TV5 Nordic/Femman's transponder at 12.475 GHz, audio subcarrier 7.38 MHz Radio Sweden is also relayed to Europe via the World Radio Network on VH-1's transponder 22 on Astra 1C, audio 7.38 MHz, daily at 22:00 hrs CET. Radio Sweden can also be heard on WRN's North American service on Galaxy-5, on WTBS's transponder 6, audio 6.8 MHz, daily at 21:30 and 00:00 hrs Eastern time. Our new World Wide Web page is at: http://www.sr.se/rs A multimedia version of this bulletin can be found at: http://www.sr.se/rs/english/media/scdx.htm Sound recordings of interviews from previous programs can be found at: http://www.sr.se/rs/english/media/media2.htm Sound files of Mediascan are archived at: ftp.funet.fi:pub/sounds/RadioSweden/Mediascan. You can also find the programs among the offerings of Internet Talk Radio at various sites, including: ftp://town.hall.org/radio/Mirrors/RadioSweden/MediaScan Radio Sweden news (recorded at 01:30 hrs UTC daily) as well recordings of MediaScan are available in the Real Audio format via the World Radio Network, at: http://www.wrn.org WRN programming is carried live over the Internet in the Streamworks format. The WRN server is at Internet Multicasting at: town.hall.org Contributions can be sent to DX Editor George Wood by fax to +468-667-6283 or by e-mail to: wood@rs.sr.se 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. We welcome comments and suggestions about the electronic edition, Sweden Calling DXers, and our programs in general. The mailing list for the Electronic Edition is now open to general subscription. If you can send e-mail over the Internet, send a message to: subscribe@rs.sr.se You ought to get a confirmation message in reply. To unsubscribe from the list, send a message to unsubscribe@rs.sr.se To get a copy of Radio Sweden's English program schedule, write to: english@rs.sr.se And for general questions, comments, and reception reports, our e-mail address is: info@rs.sr.se ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks to this week's contributors Good Listening!  ************************ George Wood wood@rs.sr.se Radio Sweden http://www.sr.se/rs S-105 10 Stockholm tel: +468-784-7239 Sweden fax: +468-667-6283 ************************