Satellite News

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News Outdoor, News Corp’s outdoor billboard business in Russia, has been hit with a $31m claim from Russia’s Federal Tax Service. The bill is very much disputed by News Corp.


According to Mosnews, News Outdoor allegedly engaged in activities other than outdoor advertising in 2006, and therefore had no right to claim tax benefits available to such advertisers. As a result, Federal Tax Service says that News Outdoor now owes the tax authorities 247 million roubles in income tax, and 679 million roubles in VAT, together making almost 14% of News Outdoor’s turnover in 2007-2008.

News Outdoor is reportedly going to file an appeal, and says it can prove that its Russian business was working within the law. However, it is somewhat stymied because Russia’s Interior Ministry is still holding onto documents seized in a complaint against the Murdoch-owned company. Last September News Outdoor’s Russian offices were raided by investigators from the prosecutor general’s office and accused of receiving illegal discounts on Moscow billboard advertising from 2002 to 2007, says Mosnews. The claim was later rejected by a Moscow court.

Rupert Murdoch is on record as saying he was concerned about further investments in Russia.

© Rapid TV News 2009

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Package RTL World Astre 3A


AAKTUALIZOVÁNO - on satellite Astra 3A (23.5 ° E), unexpectedly discovered a packet with the German RTL World thematic channels RTL - namely RTL Crime, RTL Living and Passion.All of these stations at the time of publishing the text broadcast free-to-air, so it can (and can) tune all satellite viewers who receive programs from this position.

Station RTL Living is intended not only women but also men. Index consists of the lifestyle magazine, docu soap, programs about cooking, garden, and magazines about the construction and travel. RTL Crime appeals mainly for men. Broadcast channel is composed of domestic and foreign series on the theme of crime. Passion is the first German digital thematic channel dedicated to a never-ending series, telenovelám and romantic series.

RTL Living, RTL Crime and Passion are paid channels and therefore free of the stations broadcasting on the 23.5 ° E is only temporary and is not yet clear whether these stations broadcasting on the 23.5 ° E is temporary or permanent (at 19.2 ° E are the same programs are coded and included pay-TV platform Premiere and Arenas).

RTL World package is transmitted to the satellite Astra 3A (23.5 ° E), the frequency of 12,689 GHz, vertical polarization, SR 6111, FEC 3 / 4, DVB-S.



Image for article: package RTL World Astre 3A

RTL Crime, service ID 12010, video PID 200, audio PID 201 RTL Crime, service ID 12010, video PID 200, audio PID 201

RTL Living, service ID 12030, video PID 210, audio PID 211 RTL Living, service ID 12030, video PID 210, audio PID 211

Passion, service ID 13207, video PID 2070, audio PID 2071 Passion, service ID 13207, Video PID 2070, audio PID 2071

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Eutelsat is ordering a new satellite, dubbed W3C, to replace the W2M craft lost after in-orbit problems occurred in January. The new satellite will come from Thales Alenia Space, and should be launched in Q3/2011.

The decision to build a replacement also has Eutelsat having to change some of the upcoming missions and locations. The original plan for W2M was for it to replace well in advance Eutelsat's W2 satellite. As a result of this January problem, Eutelsat decided that the W3B satellite, which is already one year into construction, will replace W2 from the middle of 2010, raising available capacity at 16 deg East to 56 transponders from its current manifest of 27 transponders.

W3B, says Eutelsat, had the dual mission of accompanying the expansion and in-orbit redundancy of Eutelsat's 7 degrees East position and to ensuring a solution for continuity of service in the event of the loss of W2M, W2A or W7. The W3C satellite will now assume this double mission of boosting by more than 50% available capacity at 7 degrees East, or ensuring - if required - Ku-band continuity of service for future satellites, namely W2A, W7 or W3B.

Scheduled for launch in third quarter 2011 and equipped with 56 transponders, W3C will be based on the Spacebus 4000 platform of Thales Alenia Space. Its co-positioning with Eutelsat's W3A satellite will expand capacity at 7 degrees East from 44 to 70 transponders. The co-positioning of both satellites underscores Eutelsat's objective to transform 7 degrees East into a flagship position, repeating the multi-satellite strategy pursued at 13 degrees East which has enabled the Hot Bird satellites to develop into the leading neighbourhood worldwide for the number of channels broadcast.

With optimised coverage of Europe, Africa, the Middle East and central Asia, the W3A satellite at 7 degrees East already broadcasts close to 200 television channels and carries professional video and data services. The additional resources will enable Eutelsat to support expanding business of existing customers, notably broadcasters now launching their first HDTV channels.

© Rapid TV News 2009

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Hong Kong's i-Cable crashed to a net loss of HK$111 million for 2008, compared with a profit of HK$183 million in 2007. The company characterised the Hong Kong pay-TV and telecoms markets as “a war of attrition”.

Revenues fell, both overall and in its pay-TV division, down 10% to HK$2,080 million overall and down 15% for pay-TV to HK$1,355 million. Pay-TV subs actually rose 4% to 917,000 from the previous year-end figure of 882,000.

Operating profit fell from HK$545 million in 2007 to HK$277 million, with network and other operating expenses up from HK$419 million to HK$487 million. Selling, general and admin expenses also rose markedly, up from HK$390 million to HK$423 million.

Operating profit from i-Cable’s pay-TV division was down from HK$179 million to just HK$6 million.

In a results statement, the company said: “Within the Pay TV market, competition remained intense. Our main competitor [PCCW’s Now TV] has been following our lead to launch local channels that focus on news and entertainment in order to chip away at our leadership in these areas. The Group will continue to invest to solidify our edge.

“With the markets becoming saturated, it is a war of attrition for both broadcasting and telecommunications services with the players trying to poach subscribers from one another via aggressive pricing, enhanced content and service quality. But the Group's strong balance sheet and low cost base will put us in a good position to stay competitive in a harsh environment.”

The operating environment for the year ahead would remain bleak under the “prevailing macro-economic climate” but i-Cable claims it has now braced itself for “subsequent waves by better equipping ourselves. The Group has acquired premier and attractive contents; is building up a new defence system against piracy; and gearing up for delivering new services such as High Definition TV.”

These initiatives will not take effect until the second half of the year but the company is hoping to be “back on a recovery track” when the economy turns around.

However, a new report from Paul Budde Communication casts doubt on the company’s resilience. The report, which examines Hong Kong’s mobile, telecoms and broadband sectors, states that having lost its leadership position to Now TV, i-Cable could be in for worse times.

“In a densely packed market with over 2 million TV households, PCCW ended 2008 with nearly 930,000 video subscribers in Hong Kong with a paying base of 670,000…Besides losing its historic market share edge, i-Cable may start shedding subscribers during 2009,” says the report.

© Rapid TV News 2009

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A motion filed on March 12 to the Delaware Bankruptcy Court argues that Worldspace has submitted incorrect information to the Court, at least as far as its Washington HQ lease might be concerned. The claim comes from Worldspace’s landlord at 8515 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, DC.

Worldspace hasn’t paid the rent on its HQ offices since it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October. Worldspace owes the landlords $195,512 to the end of March. Worldspace has asked the Court to permit the delayed payment for another 90 days.

Worldspace told the Court that until it knew who the successful bidder was for Worldspace’s assets they could not determine whether the Headquarters lease will be assigned to a buyer. This is not true, say the landlord’s lawyers. We now know that the successful bidder was a Noah Samara-owned business, Yenura Pte Ltd, and the March 9 ‘sale’ of Worldspace’s assets specifically excluded the HQ lease. In other words “the lease is not being included as part of the sale,” argue the lawyers, cheekily adding that “[Worldspace] obviously does not to intend to reorganise and continue its business since it is selling all of its assets needed to operate…and thus has no need to retain the HQ lease.”

The Motion adds: “The lease is no longer an important asset of the estate since it is not being sold [to the new Worldspace owners]. Indeed, in light of the fact that [Worldspace] has sold all of its assets and must be ceasing business operations leads to the inevitable conclusion that the lease is not required for any plan of reorganisation.”

© Rapid TV News 2009

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Jeremy Darroch, BSkyB’s CEO (and former CFO) told the Financial Times that his pay-TV subscribers were trading down a little. Asked what 2009’s recession looked like in terms of its own business, Darroch said “It's difficult to predict exactly - 2009 is going to be a difficult year for the consumer environment.”

Darroch confirmed that “so far” pay-TV income had proved to be “pretty resilient” to the downturn and that through 2008 Sky had grown at a slightly faster rate than 2007. But he was cautious on what might be happening to subscribers and Sky’s top tier bundles.

Asked whether subscribers were “trading down”, Darroch admitted this was happening “a bit… Right across our business what we are seeing are more marginal pressures and we are certainly seeing more customers come in at a basic level and a bit more pressure in terms of downgrades. Conversely, though, we're also seeing customers taking more services from us. One of the things we are seeing is that TV remains central to people's lives. They are consuming more TV than ever before.”

He told the FT – and perhaps referring obliqely to the current dilemma at Tiscali - that Sky had no need to buy another Internet company. “We've worked hard over the past few years to assemble the distribution assets we think are going to be competitive for the long term, and that is why we acquired our own broadband network three years ago. If there are opportunities we will be open-minded, but there is not really anything we feel we need to do,” he said.

© Rapid TV News 2009

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Echostar’s DISH Network has added another cluster of “national” (as distinct from local-into-local) HD channels to its portfolio – and promises more for this Spring.

On March 12 Dish launched HD feeds of Showtime Showcase HD, SHO2 HD, The Movie Channel HD and BET J, expanding its national HD count to 128 channels. In addition, DISH Network also announced that it will add BET, Comedy Central, CMT, MTV, Nickelodeon, Spike TV and VH-1 in HD this spring.

"We are excited to add new national HD channels to our growing programming line-up," said Dave Shull, SVP of programming for DISH Network. "Our subscribers are asking us for more HD, and we're responding by continuing to launch new local HD markets and new national HD channels, making DISH Network the best value in the pay-TV industry."

Showtime Showcase HD, SHO2 HD and The Movie Channel HD are located in the Showtime Unlimited package, available for just $12.99 per month. BET J is part of PlatinumHD, which can be added to any programming package for $10 per month. Existing DISH Network subscribers who upgrade to HD programming will receive PlatinumHD free for the first three months.

© Rapid TV News 2009

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Christian broadcaster Hope Channel has commenced transmissions in Germany. The 24-hour service is available free to air on Astra (19.2° East) in APS’ digital package on the frequency 12.149 GHz H (SR 27,500, FEC 3/4). A live-stream on the website at www.hopechannel.de is also offered.

The programmes, oriented around Christian values, cover areas such as health, family, education, advice and spirituality. The TV station, which was granted a broadcasting licence in January by media authority LPR, is backed by the church of the Seventh Day Adventist. Programmes are produced by German association “Stimme der Hoffnung“ (Voice of Hope), which already operates the radio station Hope Channel Radio, also available via Astra.

© Rapid TV News 2009

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Sarajevo-based Bosnia Herzegovina TV-1 (BHTV1) switched off its transmissions on Friday night, admitting that it could not meet Eutelsat’s satellite transmission bill of almost €1 million.

BBC Monitoring carried a report saying BHTV1 said it owed €924,000 to Eutelsat, and that transmissions were being curtailed. “Because of the announced switch-off B-H's diaspora will not be able to receive B-H TV One and B-H Radio One. Also, B-H Radio-TV programmes will not be able to reach significant part of B-H's territory, because 38 land transmitters that receive the signal via satellite will be out of operation as of midnight tonight. This practically means that around 270,000 citizens in B-H will be left without B-H TV One reception and 82,000 without B-H Radio One,” said the station.

“As of tomorrow, Bosnia Herzegovina will be the only country in Europe that does not provide its public broadcaster with satellite transmission.”

“The B-H Council of Ministers announced that, at a session on 19 March, it would analyse ways of settling B-H Radio-TV's debt. B-H TV One and B-H Radio One programmes will continue to be available via www.bhrt.ba website,” said the station.

© Rapid TV News 2009

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According to a report from Screen Digest the Blu-ray market is suffering from a shortage of replication factories. European consumers bought a total of 37.8m Blu-ray (BD) discs last year. This includes both straightforward video titles and games (for PS3 players). However, when you include the number of movies (and extra video content) that needed an extra disc the number of actual discs is significantly more.

Screen Digest reckons that this year a total of some 85.7m actual discs will be needed, helped along by rising BD hardware sales. By 2010 demand will top 150m total discs, touching 250m by 2011 and topping 300m during 2012.

There is also a material shift taking place in what consumers are buying. Last year, says the report, games accounted for 72% of consumer transactions. The volume of games discs will increase this year some 35%, but the percentage of games vs videos sold will fall to 43%.

There’s another shift happening. Traditionally most games are created on single layer 25GB discs. Screen Digest says its research shows that most videos are being released on the larger BD50 discs.

And there’s not enough factory replication about to handle this year’s anticipated volumes. In Europe alone the pattern during 2008 was such “that the BD replication lines operational by the first quarter of 2009 could, if running all year at maximum capacity, have been sufficient to meet these manufacturing requirements with no additional investment.”

But this is not the whole story. BD demand is highly seasonal which means that some 30% of pressing lines are largely redundant through much of the year. Last year 25% of European BD sales occurred during the first half of the year, with 60% happening in the pre-Christmas quarter. This pattern will happen again in 2009, suggests the study.

Therefore, despite Europe’s current 59 production lines for BD, Screen Digest says another “minimum” 18 further production lines will be needed to be made operational in readiness for this second half/2009, in order to handle the Q4 seasonal demand.

© Rapid TV News 2009

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Two major investors in Irish-based pay-TV sports broadcaster Setanta have written off the value of their investment stakes in the broadcaster. Doughty Hanson, which owns about 20% of Setanta and investment bankers Goldman Sachs (5% stake) have reportedly written down their stakes to zero valuations.

Setanta is said to be reviewing its business strategy following the English (soccer) Premiership awarding 5 out of a possible 6 bundles of TV soccer rights to BSkyB, leaving Setanta with just 50% of the already meagre cluster of matches it currently transmits. The new rights package kicks in with the 2010-11 season.

London newspaper The Daily Telegraph reported that Setanta is reviewing its assets and options, which include possibly reducing its existing coverage of boxing and rugby.

While the two investors might only be making prudent accounting provision for their Setanta valuations, it does not mean that Setanta has zero value. However, raising more cash to acquire other rights might now be even more difficult with positive sentiment ebbing away.

© Rapid TV News 2009

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Eutelsat is ordering a new satellite, dubbed W3C, to replace the W2M craft lost after in-orbit problems occurred in January. The new satellite will come from Thales Alenia Space, and should be launched in Q3/2011.

The decision to build a replacement also has Eutelsat having to change some of the upcoming missions and locations. The original plan for W2M was for it to replace well in advance Eutelsat's W2 satellite. As a result of this January problem, Eutelsat decided that the W3B satellite, which is already one year into construction, will replace W2 from the middle of 2010, raising available capacity at 16 deg East to 56 transponders from its current manifest of 27 transponders.

W3B, says Eutelsat, had the dual mission of accompanying the expansion and in-orbit redundancy of Eutelsat's 7 degrees East position and to ensuring a solution for continuity of service in the event of the loss of W2M, W2A or W7. The W3C satellite will now assume this double mission of boosting by more than 50% available capacity at 7 degrees East, or ensuring - if required - Ku-band continuity of service for future satellites, namely W2A, W7 or W3B.

Scheduled for launch in third quarter 2011 and equipped with 56 transponders, W3C will be based on the Spacebus 4000 platform of Thales Alenia Space. Its co-positioning with Eutelsat's W3A satellite will expand capacity at 7 degrees East from 44 to 70 transponders. The co-positioning of both satellites underscores Eutelsat's objective to transform 7 degrees East into a flagship position, repeating the multi-satellite strategy pursued at 13 degrees East which has enabled the Hot Bird satellites to develop into the leading neighbourhood worldwide for the number of channels broadcast.

With optimised coverage of Europe, Africa, the Middle East and central Asia, the W3A satellite at 7 degrees East already broadcasts close to 200 television channels and carries professional video and data services. The additional resources will enable Eutelsat to support expanding business of existing customers, notably broadcasters now launching their first HDTV channels.

© Rapid TV News 2009

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Paramount listed the show as Episode 28, and the show was first aired on April 6 1967. But there was something special about Star Trek’s “The City on the Edge of Forever” that clicked with the public and critics. Written by Harlan Ellison, he is now suing CBS Paramount TV for 25% of the net receipts from merchandising, publishing and other income from the show. What made the episode so important?

The show has Captain Kirk and his pals interfering with the time-space continuum, and ‘leaping’ back to New York during the 1930’s Great Depression. The episode also featured Joan Collins who played a Salvation Army-type helper at the 21st Street Mission.

Ellison’s action alleges that Paramount has “earned millions” exploiting the show since it was first shown, and that “Paramount has not accounted to Ellison or paid him for such exploitations as it is required to do under the 1960 minimum basic agreement and 1966 Amendment." Speaking to a trade magazine, Ellison said “I'm doing it for the 35-year-long disrespect and the money!"

Some other fascinating facts about “Edge of Forever”: It won instant critical acclaim, getting onto TV Guide’s 100 greatest TV episodes of all time. Ellison’s original script (although altered by the time the show went into production) won the WGA’s best dramatic 1-hour script of the season. William Shatner said it was his favourite Trek episode. The show was produced for $250,000, compared with the usual $185,000 per episode.

© Rapid TV News 2009

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Conax is having a good year, especially in India where it is claiming 68% growth over the past year. Conax, owned by Telenor of Norway, says it is now the World’s third-largest supplier to the global content security market. Conax made the statement ahead of its exhibit at the Convergence India show, which opens today (March 18-20) in New Delhi.

In India, Conax says it is “trusted by major operators such as Dish TV, WWIL and Digicable, and is also successfully working with various other cable operators and content providers. Showing growth of 68% last year, Conax continues to strengthen its market position.”

Conax’ core offering, Conax CAS7, provides operators with highly secure content protection built on Conax’ 15 years of security experience and strong anti-piracy record. Conax security solutions are non-proprietary and based on an open licensing policy for set-top box (STB) manufacturers.

“Conax’ pioneering strategy has been an important factor for our success and growth in the region. A key element is Conax’ strategy and ongoing policy for development of non-discriminatory, non-royalty relationships with 100’s of STB vendors. In fact, the Conax strategy has encouraged STB providers to offer operators a rich selection of quality consumer devices and competitive pricing alternatives for all market segments,” said Geir Bjørndal, EVP Sales & Marketing, Conax.

“In today’s competitive digital TV market, digital broadcasting operators and content providers are looking to specialist solutions, like Conax, to secure their platforms and premium content. What makes Conax unique is that Conax focuses on content protection only, providing all other services through a strategic network of best in class partners,” confirmed Bjørndal.

© Rapid TV News 2009

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One of the most anticipated high definition TV channels in Portugal is AXN HD which will launch on pay TV operators ZON TV Cabo and Meo from April 6.

AXN HD will occupy ZON channel 61 and will be offered to ZON BOX cable subscribers taking the Clássico and Funtastic packages. It will also be part of the satellite offering from the operator, in the packages MAX TVCine, MAX and Total.

Meo will also integrate AXN HD into its satellite and IPTV offerings, while also inaugurating AXN's standard-definition version in Meo Satélite’s basic package.

Aside from AXN HD, ZON TV Cabo announced the arrival of four more new channels to its offering from April 6.

New HD channel, Brava HDTV, will offer opera, dance and concerts as a premium channel for €4.99 per month. The channel will be offered to subscribers in the Lisbon, Porto, Coimbra and Margem Sul do Tejo areas.

Also from April 6 the clients of the satellite TV operator subscribing to the packages Max TVCine, Max, Total and Base and those to the cableoperators with the Clássico package with digital boxes and those with the Funtastic package will start receiving Sony Entertainment Television.

Other ZON news is the addition of children’s channel Animax which will be distributed in the Funtastic package on the Lisbon, Porto, Coimbra, and Margem Sul do Tejo's networks; and last but not least the addition of the English-language Russian channel Russia Today in the Clássico and Funtastic packages for subscribers also on the above networks.

© Rapid TV News 2009