240 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
240 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
Skyguide Issue 025
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-------------------------------- 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 ------------------------
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* TOONS AVEC UN PEU DE FRONTIERES
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TNT and The Cartoon Network have been banned from cable services in France
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and Belgium following a rumpus about the content of the services.
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French broadcasters and authorities claim that the channels are an invasion
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of their territory, and initially attempted to get the broadcaster to cease
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providing a French soundtrack.
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When this failed, French authorities brought in the EC to attempt to shut the
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channel entirely on the grounds that it does not meet EC broadcasting
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regulations which require broadcasters to show at least 60% European material.
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Joao de Pinheiro, European Culture Minister, claims the channel is not welcome
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in Europe. He has written to Peter Brooke, the UK Heritage Secretary,
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demanding to know why the channel was granted a license to broadcast from the
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UK.
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Ted Turner is entitled to lodge an appeal with French Authorities, although
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his last tussle with the French legal system was when French cable operators
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successfully demanded that they should not have to pay to carry the CNN News
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Network since it was free to satellite dish owners.
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Skyguide notes that there are many other channels in Europe which do not meet
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the EC 60% quota which the French authorities are not trying to close down.
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Perhaps TNT's only crime is transmitting in French without being a part of the
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Canal Plus subscription network, and perhaps the French authorities'
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assistance in the matter is nothing to do with the fact that the French
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Government has interests in Canal Plus.
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* AN ENTIRELY UNRELATED MATTER
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Eurosport has ceased providing a French audio soundtrack on its Astra and
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Eutelsat service. Viewers wishing to watch in French will need to subscribe to
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the Canal Plus package to receive "TV Sport", the French version of Eurosport.
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* CON JOBS
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The editor of Satellite Times has warned that thousands of people are being
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conned by dubious individuals claiming to sell satellite equipment or
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subscriptions.
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A common ploy is to advertise a new channel (usually of an adult nature),
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urging people to subscribe, or to send off cash for a "preview video" of the
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channels.
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Tony Fuller says that it's difficult to check up on such companies, although
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Skyguide notes that some magazines, even Satellite Times, seem not to mind
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printing their adverts anyway.
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One company is offering a "Eurocard" for the unusual price of 30 pounds 55
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pence. The advertising asks "Do you pay Sky high monthly fees for Films and
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Sport? Why when there is a sensible alternative? Join Euroclub now and
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receive your free Eurocard."
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The Eurocard is in fact a piece of cardboard advising viewers to watch other
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clear channels like DSF for free sports.
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Most con adverts stand out like a sore thumb, but Skyguide's advice is not to
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send money to any company that is unwilling to tell you its registered
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company number and trading address. Always pay by credit card if you can, for
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added security.
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* CAGE RATTLING
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British Telecom, the UK telephone operator, recently announced plans for
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telephone customers to receieve movies down their telephone lines.
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Understandably, the UK Cable Television Association has attacked the plans as
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a "pipe-dream".
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The CTA said that BT were "once again rattling the cages because cable is
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taking 20,000 subscribers from them a month", referring to the growth of
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cable operators offering telephone services in the UK.
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The CTA may also be less than happy since BT is now selling Astra satellite
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dishes from its retail outlets, in preparation for when BT is eventually
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allowed to provide full cable TV services.
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In the UK, Cable TV is now increasingly offering less channels and costing
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more money than equivalent satellite subscriptions. A number of UK Cable
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operators are not carrying the new Sky channels available to dish owners,
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while in the meantime raising their prices.
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* SKY COMPLAINTS
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The Independent Television Commission has upheld the majority of complaints
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it received about the promotion of Sky's Multi-Channels package.
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The main complaints were that some channels were unscrambled (Sky News, QVC,
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etc.) but were marketed as part of the package, that some channels were not
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available on the September 1st date, and that the claiming of channels "new"
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to satellite (Discovery, Bravo, CMT) was untrue since they were already
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available on Intelsat.
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Sky claimed that they had placed text into the promotions to correct any
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wrong impressions, but the ITC maintained that the text often contradicted
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what was shown on-screen.
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* ASA CHANGES
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As if it wasn't enough to have the ITC and the UK Cable Industry on their
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back, Sky have walked into a storm following their decision to remove ASA
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(Authorised Sky Agent) status from around 1,400 satellite retailers.
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There are now around 3,000 ASAs remaining in the UK.
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Even the remaining ASAs are unhappy that Sky's marketing for Multi-Channels
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invited subscribers to call Sky directly rather than obtaining a subscription
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from their local dealer.
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ASA subscriptions have also been cut. While there was never any commission for
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selling Multichannels alone, selling a one or two premium channel subscription
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now results in a 5 pound reward. Dealers selling a subscription to all three
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premium channels will receive 17 pounds 50 pence per customer, with bonuses
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if more than four of the 19.99 subscriptions are sold.
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* MTV - A HAZY, SCRAMBLED SET OF IMAGES
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MTV could encrypt its Astra signal as early as February next year. MTV would
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retain its Astra 1B transponder (Tp 22) for the scrambled service, and
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release the Astra 1A transponder (Tp 15) for the sister music channel VH-1,
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which would probably launch at the same time.
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The Astra 1A transponder is no longer necessary now that outlying regions of
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Europe are covered by MTV's Thor and Eutelsat signals.
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European Astra viewers may have the chance to subscribe to MTV, although with
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other English language services, as part of a "European Multi-Channels"
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Package, which could be up and running as early as January 1994.
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* RATINGS NEWS
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The encryption of the Sky Multi-Channels led to a drop in satellite viewing
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in its first week, to the gain of MTV, which saw a gain in audience.
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The new Multichannels are building audiences, although none have yet achieved
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similar success to Discovery, which had a firm 200,000 viewers within days of
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its launch.
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UK Living achieved 90,000 viewers as its top rating, for the game show
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Infatuation. Clarissa Explains It All, Nickelodeon's teen show, achieved
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93,000, while top of the pile was The Family Channel's first home-produced
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game show Trivial Pursuit, scoring a respectable 130,000 viewers.
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* NO HIT FOR NICKELODEON
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A possible ratings winner for Nickelodeon, if the success in America is
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anything to go by, could be the Ren And Stimpy Show. Produced by Nickelodeon
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in the USA, the show has overtaken The Simpsons in popularity.
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Unfortunately, we won't see Ren and Stimpy on Nickelodeon for at least three
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years, because the show has been sold to the BBC. This is the second
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Nickelodeon series that the BBC has bought (the first being Rugrats).
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Ren and Stimpy will air on BBC 2 from early next year.
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* CHINESE ASTRA
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China News Europe will launch on Astra in the near future. It currently
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broadcasts three hours a night on SuperChannel's Eutelsat transponder.
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The channel will continue the same broadcast hours and times, and will share
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an Astra transponder with a UK Astra channel - possibly The Family Channel or
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UK Living.
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The channel will will also change its name to "Chinese News and
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Entertainment" at the same time as the launch.
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* OUT!
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Sky is currently negotiating for the rights to live coverage of Wimbledon
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from 1995, when the BBC's contract ends.
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While Sky would be able to have exclusive rights to the preliminary matches,
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the semi-finals and finals are designated as protected events under the
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Broadcasting Act 1990, which stipulates that a number of major sporting events
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must be available to terrestrial viewers.
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* AUTO SPORT
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Sky is making good use of their whizzy new telephone management system. The
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400 line monster, newly installed at the Sky Subscribers centre in Scotland,
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will be increasingly be used to allow subscribers to change their subscription
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details (and possibly future pay-per-view events) automatically, without ever
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needing to speak to a human operator.
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The system is currently being used to allow existing Sky subscribers to add
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Sky Sports to their viewing card instantly - the caller simply dials their
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viewing card number and the computer will authorise the smartcard then and
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there.
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* AND FINALLY
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Oops! There was no Skyguide again last week.. While the intention is to
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publish every week, occasionally the odd week does get missed out.
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Skyguide Issue 25 Edited by Ant Purvis
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Skyguide is published every week. You can find it on London's CIX conferencing
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system in the Skyguide conference, the Fidonet Satelite TV echo, the Packet
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Radio Network, and on internet in the alt.satellite.tv.europe newsgroup.
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Skyguide is not a commercial publication, nor is it a cut-down version of a
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printed journal. Nonetheless, it is copyright, and is not to be redistributed
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in any form without consent. (Just ask!) Errors and Omissions expected.
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Back issues can be mailed to internet mailboxes on request.
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Comments, suggestions, stories and monetary donations are always appreciated!
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You can contact Skyguide in the following ways:
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CIX : mail to bignoise, or use the Skyguide/comments conference.
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Fidonet : Netmail to ANTONY PURVIS at 2:251/203, or leave a message in the
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Satellite TV echo. Please note the new netmail address!
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Internet: bignoise@cix.compulink.co.uk
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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