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  • BSKYB MOVES THE BALL AROUND

    BSkyB moved quickly to settle a potentially damaging row over its proposed coverage of this year’s Ryder Cup golf tournament last week. The pay-TV operator had intended to put its […]

  • EUTELSAT TALKS UP MICRO TV

    Eutelsat is planning to use the development of more effective compression techniques to stimulate a new market in ultra-niche broadcasting. Director general Giuliano Berretta talked to Interspace about his expectations […]

  • SHOWTIME ON ROAD TO MOROCCO

    With the addition of four new channels, Middle East broadcaster Showtime is stepping up the pace in its attempts to break into new territories. On the eve of the platform’s […]

  • TRANSPONDER MONITOR

    Key: D=Digital A=Analog 76.5 degrees E: Apstar-2R D. Tibet TV, which uses two streams at 12376 MHz vertical to relay the two domestic TV channels, has undergone some changes effective […]

  • FLEXTECH ON THE ACQUISITION TRAIL

    UK programmer Flextech’s move from a modest profit (pounds 1.7 million for 1998) to a loss (pounds 2.9 million to June 1999), revealed the week before last, came about largely […]

  • TELENOR SLOVAK CONTRACTS

    Slovakian channels Luna TV and NASA TV will be added to Telenor Satellite’s Central and Eastern European broadcasting platform. Both will join Telenor’s Intelsat 707 platform later this year. Norway-based […]

  • INSURERS: COMPETITION TO BLAME

    Satellite builders are facing mounting criticism about a falling off in quality in the wake of problems such as those currently faced by Matra Marconi Space (MMS). However, sources within […]

  • MOTOROLA SNAPS UP GI

    The long-awaited acquisition of General Instrument (GI) was concluded last week when Motorola absorbed the box-making company in a stock swap that sees GI shareholders take a 17 per cent […]

  • DISCOVERY IN RUSSIA

    Discovery Network Europe and Russia’s NTV Plus have officially confirmed their joint plans for the broadcasting of three digital showcase channels in the territory of Russia, the CIS countries and […]

  • YAMAL LOST

    One of a pair of Yamal-100 telecommunications satellites launched from Kazakhstan on September 7 has failed to make contact with the ground, according to its project engineers. The craft were […]

  • DISTANCE EDUCATION: WHERE ARE WE NOW?

    by Katie McConnell Five years ago, satellite-based distance education appeared to be a minor marketplace barely being pursued by the satellite industry. Today, that scenario has changed. With the worldwide […]

  • ANTENNAS: THE INTERFACE WITH SPACE

    by Robert A. Nelson The antenna is the most visible part of the satellite communication system. The antenna transmits and receives the modulated carrier signal at the radio frequency (RF) […]

  • PIANO MOVERS IN THE SKY: THE RETRIEVAL OF WESTAR 6 AND PALAPA B2

    by Robert N. Wold It happened 15 years ago, the same year we first tensed up in the motion picture, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and also sat […]

  • DOLLARS AND SENSE: FRIEND OR FOE? DBS COMPANIES TAKE AIM AT EACH OTHER

    by Marc Crossman If only two companies were left facing a much larger, very powerful common enemy, one would think they would direct all resources at attacking the opponent, rather […]

  • INTERACTIVE TV: A NEW ADDITION TO DTH SERVICES

    by Theresa Foley Interactive TV over satellite will be delivered to U.S. homes this year for the first time as Echostar and DirecTV race into the multimedia services arena and […]

  • SATELLITE SOFTWARE: A CHALLENGING MARKET OF OPPORTUNITY

    by Rob Fernandez As the computing industry continues to evolve at a break-neck pace, with no signs of slowing anytime soon, the satellite industry is also experiencing a golden age […]

  • EMERGING VSAT MARKETS: DYNAMIC AND DIVERSE

    by James Careless When it comes to the global VSAT market, the United States and Europe dominate. In fact, according to Comsys’ 1999 VSAT Report, the United States accounted for […]

  • REGULATORY REVIEW: SATELLITE BROADBAND SERVICES

    by Gerald E. Oberst Jr. Satellite broadband service was the flavor of the month this summer in London. Two separate conferences, organized by IBC and IIR, explored this topic in […]

  • REN-TV GOES ON SATELLITE

    On September 6 Moscow-based REN-TV, one of the biggest private Russian channels, started broadcasting via Gorizont-43 at 40 degrees East using four transponders which should help to increase a number […]

  • BSKYB TAKES STAKE IN LEEDS UNITED

    BSkyB has taken a 9 per cent stake in Leeds United FC for Pounds 14 million. The deal will allow BSkyB to act as exclusive media agent for Leeds Sporting, […]

  • BIS SCRAPPED

    Marc Tessier, the recently appointed head of France Television, said that plans to start a time shifted version of terrestrial channel France 2, France 2 Bis, have been abandoned, when […]

  • ZDF TO REMAIN ON HOT BIRD 5

    In a decision which will make Eutelsatis Hot Bird position at 13 degrees East more popular in German-speaking Europe, German public broadcaster ZDF has announced it plans to remain on […]

  • TPS LOOKS TO THE FUTURE

    Jacques Espinasse, the Director General of TPS, said that new subscriptions over the summer were up 25 per cent compared to the same period last year, the same figure cited […]

  • STUDIO UNIVERSAL LAUNCHED IN GERMANY

    Studio Universal, the second German-language channel operated by Universal after 13th Street, launched, as planned, on 1 September at 2200 CET with Pulp Fiction. The pay-TV channel, part of DF1, […]

  • CNN TURK DELAYED

    CNN Internationalis joint-venture news channel in Turkey has had its launch delayed slightly because of the recent earthquake. Originally scheduled for September 14, the launch date is now slated for […]

  • NEWS BRIEFS

    Game Network, the digital TV channel about videogames and multimedia entertainment, is to launch on Eutelsat of September 17. The channel will broadcast free to air via Eutelsat Hot Bird […]

  • ROHNER SUCCEEDS KOFLER AT PRO SIEBEN

    The board of German media group Pro Sieben Media AG has elected Swiss economic jurist Urs Rohner as its new chairman. The decision was made unanimously, Pro Sieben said in […]

  • RAI TO BE PARTIALLY PRIVATISED

    Italian communications minister Salvatore Cardinale has confirmed that Italian public broadcaster RAI could be partially privatised in four to five months time. Speaking in Telese on August 31, Cardinale said […]

  • TRANSPONDER MONITOR

    Key: D=Digital A=Analog 116 degrees E: Koreasat-1/2 (Also known as Mugungwha) D According to Korean sources Koreasat-3 is to be positioned at 112.5 degrees East and not alongside the earlier […]

  • SPREERADIO LAUNCHES EUTELSAT DVB RADIO

    Berlin-based commercial radio station Spreeradio 105.5 is from now on available Europe-wide on Eutelsatis Hot Bird position at 13 degrees East. The satellite launch, which took place during the Internationale […]