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  • KIRCH IN D-BOX SWAPOUT

    In a controversial move which will add yet more fuel the ongoing discussion about equal, non-discriminatory access to digital television in Germany, Kirch Group has begun to exchange the first […]

  • CATHOLIC K-TV PREPARES

    A new Catholic cultural channel from Austria has started test transmissions on Eutelsat’s Hot Bird 5 satellite at 13 degrees East. The channel, called K-TV, is using the German digital […]

  • MTV ITALIA COULD LOSE DISTRIBUTION

    MTV Italia is facing the prospect of losing its nationwide terrestrial TV distribution following the announcement by Italy’s Ministry of Communications that only eight private TV networks will have their […]

  • RETE 4 TO BE SATELLITE-ONLY SERVICE

    One of the TV channels granted only a temporary broadcasting permit during the recent round of terrestrial broadcast licensing for private TV channels by the Italian Ministry for Communications was […]

  • RUSSIAN MEDIA WAR RAGES ON

    Russia’s "war of the TV channels" between the state-backed ORT and NTV, privately-owned by Vladimir Gusinsky’s Media Most group shows no sign of abating. ORT has frequently reported on Most’s […]

  • BSKYB BREAKS THE MILLION BARRIER

    BSkyB will reveal its final year results this week, and is expected to confirm that it has already achieved digital sales past the one million mark, following the implementation of […]

  • TRANSPONDER MONITOR

    Key: A. Analogue D. Digital 122 degrees E: Asiasat-1 Asiasat-1 has left its previous slot of 105.5 degrees East after being replaced by Asiasat-3S and is en route to 122 […]

  • FLEXTECH BOUNCES BACK

    Flextech shares leapt last week following a sharp drop of 17 per cent over a two week period. Analysts at Merrill Lynch put out a note on the company with […]

  • NEWS BYTES…

    Interactive television will generate revenues of $20 billion by 2004, according to Forrester Research. Forrester estimates that interactive applications will generate $11 billion in advertising, $7 billion in commerce and […]

  • AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 SECONDS: INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM DISTRIBUTION

    by Katie McConnell International relationships in the satellite community are not at their best. The U.S. decision to transfer the exporting of satellite licenses from the Commerce Department to the […]

  • REGULATORY REVIEW: SATELLITE COORDINATION RULES-CONFUSION REIGNS

    by Gerald E. Oberst Jr. After reading ITU documents for years, it was a pleasure to find in a recent paper the first candid assessment of how confusing the coordination […]

  • DOLLARS AND SENSE: IRIDIUM’S WOES

    by Marc Crossman Iridium’s inability to add meaningful subscribers to its network has left the company floundering in its ability to meet debt obligations. Despite the fact that three credit […]

  • UPLINKING: SETTING ITS SIGHTS ON THE STARS

    by Katie McConnell Michael Young, Hongkong Telecom’s marketing manager, says, "The digitization of television channels has created enormous growth in the total number of satellite channels available. Multiple channel per […]

  • IRIDIUM INVOKES GRACE

    Troubled MSS operator Iridium has invoked a 30-day grace period for the payment of $90 million in interest due on July 15 on its $1.45 billion outstanding senior notes. The […]

  • STUDIO UNIVERSAL GETS OK

    Studio Universal, the pay-TV movie channel operated by Universal Studios Networks Germany, will most probably be able to launch, as planned, on 1 September. Following the directors of the 15 […]

  • MOST DENIES BEING ‘NEAR BANKRUPT’

    Russia’s Media Most broadcasting group has strongly refuted reports that it is in severe financial trouble. Media Most which owns, among other things, the NTV satellite channels and the Segodnya […]

  • BOLLYWOOD COMES TO UK

    Bollywood For You (B4U) is a new 24-hour digital premium channel launching on August 26 for Asian viewers on Astra 2A. The channel will charge Pounds 9.99 as a stand-alone […]

  • EON EXPANDS CAPACITY

    Europe Online Networks (EON), has contracted additional capacity on the Astra satellite system at 19.2 degrees East and has established a smaller platform at 28.2 degrees East to develop its […]

  • DAIMLER-CHRYSLER ON HOT BIRD

    The worldwide corporate business TV channel planned by German-American automobile company Daimler-Chrysler (Interspace 671) has launched test transmissions for Europe on Eutelsat’s Hot Bird 3 satellite at 13 degrees East. […]

  • PREMIERE AXES FRINGE CHANNELS

    In a controversial move, German media company Kirch Group has decided to cancel all contracts with third party channels that have been using its digital DF1 platform with effect from […]

  • LE LAY REVEALS PLANS FOR TV BREIZH FOR BRITTANY

    Patrick Le Lay, head of French media group TF1, speaking at the Vieilles Charrues festival, revealed some details about the forthcoming Bretton channel, TV Breizh. Le Lay said that he […]

  • CGC SEEKS FOREIGN PARTNERS

    Italian media conglomerate Cecchi Gori Group (CGC) is seeking foreign partners to relaunch its ailing terrestrial TV channels (TMC and TMC2), which lose money and fail to draw more than […]

  • GERMAN DISNEY GETS LICENCE

    The German Disney Channel planned by Buena Vista Germany GmbH has finally received its cable and satellite licence from Bavarian media authority Bayerische Landeszentrale fur neue Medien (BLM). The approval, […]

  • NEWS CORP AND TELECOM ITALIA TO EXPAND COOPERATION

    Dispelling mounting speculation that News Corp has given up on its Italian TV ambitions, Rupert Murdoch and Telecom Italia president Roberto Colaninno met for the first time ever on July […]

  • EUTELSAT, SES SHOWCASE APPS

    Multimedia applications such as high-speed Internet access via satellite and other broadband data services are to form the focus of presentations by satellite operators Eutelsat and SES at the IFA […]

  • NEW SATELLITES FOR HISPASAT

    SPAIN’S Hispasat, owned by Telefonica and Retevision, has confirmed it is planning to enhance its coverage over Latin America and over Europe and North Africa. Hispasat 1C, scheduled to be […]

  • FRANCE TELECOM INVESTS IN NTL

    France Telecom’s $1 billion investment in UK cable operator NTL (with a promise of "more to come") may have implications beyond the realm of cable TV and telecoms. Besides its […]

  • CANAL PLUS REVEALS FIGURES

    Canal Plus has published its quarterly subscription figures, revealing a total subscription figure for the end of June of 12,301,320. According to Canal Plus, this represented an increase of 16 […]

  • STREAM’S RIVAL FOOTBALL OFFER

    For the first time ever, Italian football fans face the prospect of having to subscribe to both digital platforms in order to follow the complete 1999-2000 season on pay-TV. On […]

  • SAUDI ARABIA PREPARES FOR PIONEER

    The established Middle Eastern DTH broadcasters are soon to be joined by the long-awaited MMDS service for Saudi Arabia… The long-awaited launch of a Saudi Arabian multichannel MMDS system is […]