textfiles/magazines/SKYGUIDE/skyguide.25

Skyguide Issue 025

-------------------------------- SKYGUIDE UK ---------------------------------
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|    Your digest of the latest news in the world of Satellite & Cable TV     |
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---------------------- Week Ending Sun September 26th ------------------------

* TOONS AVEC UN PEU DE FRONTIERES

TNT and The Cartoon Network have been banned from cable services in France
and Belgium following a rumpus about the content of the services.

French broadcasters and authorities claim that the channels are an invasion
of their territory, and initially attempted to get the broadcaster to cease
providing a French soundtrack.

When this failed, French authorities brought in the EC to attempt to shut the
channel entirely on the grounds that it does not meet EC broadcasting
regulations which require broadcasters to show at least 60% European material.

Joao de Pinheiro, European Culture Minister, claims the channel is not welcome
in Europe. He has written to Peter Brooke, the UK Heritage Secretary,
demanding to know why the channel was granted a license to broadcast from the
UK.

Ted Turner is entitled to lodge an appeal with French Authorities, although
his last tussle with the French legal system was when French cable operators
successfully demanded that they should not have to pay to carry the CNN News
Network since it was free to satellite dish owners.

Skyguide notes that there are many other channels in Europe which do not meet
the EC 60% quota which the French authorities are not trying to close down.
Perhaps TNT's only crime is transmitting in French without being a part of the
Canal Plus subscription network, and perhaps the French authorities'
assistance in the matter is nothing to do with the fact that the French
Government has interests in Canal Plus.


* AN ENTIRELY UNRELATED MATTER

Eurosport has ceased providing a French audio soundtrack on its Astra and
Eutelsat service. Viewers wishing to watch in French will need to subscribe to
the Canal Plus package to receive "TV Sport", the French version of Eurosport.


* CON JOBS

The editor of Satellite Times has warned that thousands of people are being
conned by dubious individuals claiming to sell satellite equipment or
subscriptions.

A common ploy is to advertise a new channel (usually of an adult nature),
urging people to subscribe, or to send off cash for a "preview video" of the
channels.

Tony Fuller says that it's difficult to check up on such companies, although
Skyguide notes that some magazines, even Satellite Times, seem not to mind
printing their adverts anyway.

One company is offering a "Eurocard" for the unusual price of 30 pounds 55
pence. The advertising asks "Do you pay Sky high monthly fees for Films and
Sport? Why when there is a sensible alternative? Join Euroclub now and
receive your free Eurocard."

The Eurocard is in fact a piece of cardboard advising viewers to watch other
clear channels like DSF for free sports.

Most con adverts stand out like a sore thumb, but Skyguide's advice is not to
send money to any company that is unwilling to tell you its registered
company number and trading address. Always pay by credit card if you can, for
added security.


* CAGE RATTLING

British Telecom, the UK telephone operator, recently announced plans for
telephone customers to receieve movies down their telephone lines.
Understandably, the UK Cable Television Association has attacked the plans as
a "pipe-dream".

The CTA said that BT were "once again rattling the cages because cable is
taking 20,000 subscribers from them a month", referring to the growth of
cable operators offering telephone services in the UK.

The CTA may also be less than happy since BT is now selling Astra satellite
dishes from its retail outlets, in preparation for when BT is eventually
allowed to provide full cable TV services.

In the UK, Cable TV is now increasingly offering less channels and costing
more money than equivalent satellite subscriptions. A number of UK Cable
operators are not carrying the new Sky channels available to dish owners,
while in the meantime raising their prices.


* SKY COMPLAINTS

The Independent Television Commission has upheld the majority of complaints
it received about the promotion of Sky's Multi-Channels package.

The main complaints were that some channels were unscrambled (Sky News, QVC,
etc.) but were marketed as part of the package, that some channels were not
available on the September 1st date, and that the claiming of channels "new"
to satellite (Discovery, Bravo, CMT) was untrue since they were already
available on Intelsat.

Sky claimed that they had placed text into the promotions to correct any
wrong impressions, but the ITC maintained that the text often contradicted
what was shown on-screen.


* ASA CHANGES

As if it wasn't enough to have the ITC and the UK Cable Industry on their
back, Sky have walked into a storm following their decision to remove ASA
(Authorised Sky Agent) status from around 1,400 satellite retailers.

There are now around 3,000 ASAs remaining in the UK.

Even the remaining ASAs are unhappy that Sky's marketing for Multi-Channels
invited subscribers to call Sky directly rather than obtaining a subscription
from their local dealer.

ASA subscriptions have also been cut. While there was never any commission for
selling Multichannels alone, selling a one or two premium channel subscription
now results in a 5 pound reward. Dealers selling a subscription to all three
premium channels will receive 17 pounds 50 pence per customer, with bonuses
if more than four of the 19.99 subscriptions are sold.


* MTV - A HAZY, SCRAMBLED SET OF IMAGES

MTV could encrypt its Astra signal as early as February next year. MTV would
retain its Astra 1B transponder (Tp 22) for the scrambled service, and
release the Astra 1A transponder (Tp 15) for the sister music channel VH-1,
which would probably launch at the same time.

The Astra 1A transponder is no longer necessary now that outlying regions of
Europe are covered by MTV's Thor and Eutelsat signals.

European Astra viewers may have the chance to subscribe to MTV, although with
other English language services, as part of a "European Multi-Channels"
Package, which could be up and running as early as January 1994.


* RATINGS NEWS

The encryption of the Sky Multi-Channels led to a drop in satellite viewing
in its first week, to the gain of MTV, which saw a gain in audience.

The new Multichannels are building audiences, although none have yet achieved
similar success to Discovery, which had a firm 200,000 viewers within days of
its launch.

UK Living achieved 90,000 viewers as its top rating, for the game show
Infatuation. Clarissa Explains It All, Nickelodeon's teen show, achieved
93,000, while top of the pile was The Family Channel's first home-produced
game show Trivial Pursuit, scoring a respectable 130,000 viewers.


* NO HIT FOR NICKELODEON

A possible ratings winner for Nickelodeon, if the success in America is
anything to go by, could be the Ren And Stimpy Show. Produced by Nickelodeon
in the USA, the show has overtaken The Simpsons in popularity.

Unfortunately, we won't see Ren and Stimpy on Nickelodeon for at least three
years, because the show has been sold to the BBC. This is the second
Nickelodeon series that the BBC has bought (the first being Rugrats).

Ren and Stimpy will air on BBC 2 from early next year.


* CHINESE ASTRA

China News Europe will launch on Astra in the near future. It currently
broadcasts three hours a night on SuperChannel's Eutelsat transponder.

The channel will continue the same broadcast hours and times, and will share
an Astra transponder with a UK Astra channel - possibly The Family Channel or
UK Living.

The channel will will also change its name to "Chinese News and
Entertainment" at the same time as the launch.


* OUT!

Sky is currently negotiating for the rights to live coverage of Wimbledon
from 1995, when the BBC's contract ends.

While Sky would be able to have exclusive rights to the preliminary matches,
the semi-finals and finals are designated as protected events under the
Broadcasting Act 1990, which stipulates that a number of major sporting events
must be available to terrestrial viewers.


* AUTO SPORT

Sky is making good use of their whizzy new telephone management system. The
400 line monster, newly installed at the Sky Subscribers centre in Scotland,
will be increasingly be used to allow subscribers to change their subscription
details (and possibly future pay-per-view events) automatically, without ever
needing to speak to a human operator.

The system is currently being used to allow existing Sky subscribers to add
Sky Sports to their viewing card instantly - the caller simply dials their
viewing card number and the computer will authorise the smartcard then and
there.


* AND FINALLY

Oops! There was no Skyguide again last week.. While the intention is to
publish every week, occasionally the odd week does get missed out.


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Skyguide Issue 25                                         Edited by Ant Purvis

Skyguide is published every week. You can find it on London's CIX conferencing
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