Satellite News

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Here you will find the last satellite news!

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Burma’s military junta says it believes information technology, particularly satellite TV, “is a decadent threat that undermines nationalism and has warned the people to avoid satellite TV programmes.”
BBC Monitoring, quoting the local Irrawaddy website, reports that on Tuesday, the junta-controlled newspapers in Myanmah/Burma, The New Light of Myanmar, Myanma Alin and The Mirror, published a commentary blasting satellite TV.

"In reality, satellite [TV] programmes are particularly designed to wield influence, making use of media and arts," the newspapers said. "Today, certain countries are brazenly interfering in the internal affairs of their targeted countries by inciting political problems, instigating mass demonstrations, and demoralizing the characters [sic] and undermining the nationalistic sense of the people through decadent programmes."
The article was titled "We should not continue to allow decadent satellite programmes," in the English-language daily The New Light of Myanmar, and "Don't Continuously Water a Poison Plant!" in the Burmese-language newspapers, Myanma Alin and The Mirror.

The article said that watching satellite TV in Burma "should have been remedied" because "many of those channels [on satellite TV] can demoralize the people, hurt national spirit and patriotic spirit [sic], and arouse emotional feelings."

TV programmes received through a satellite receiver include news stories that "are against the government policy as well as the sense that may hurt national culture, customs, traditions and character of the people," the article claimed.

If the government disregards and ignores the problem, the nation and the people will face evil consequences, the article said, claiming that the Chinese government prohibits Chinese citizens from watching satellite TV programmes and many countries prohibit and control such broadcasts to protect their national interests.

Soon after the crackdowns on mass demonstrations led by Buddhist monks in September 2007, the junta attempted to control citizens' watching satellite TV, in particular the Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) as well as the international channels for Al Jazzera, CNN and BBC. In early 2008, the junta ordered a massive hike in the annual satellite TV license fee. At the time, the license fee was increased 166-fold.

As alternatives to the Burmese government's propaganda TV channels, MRTV and Myawaddy, many people in urban and rural areas watch DVB which broadcasts in the Burmese language and provides Burma related news, according to viewer surveys. DVB, run by Burmese exiles, is a "multimedia organization promoting press freedom, democracy and human rights," according to world-newspapers.com.

In recent years, Burmese authorities have tried to counter satellite TV, particularly DVB, by permitting the pay TV, government-controlled channels MRTV 4 and MRTV 5. Both channels are managed by the Ministry of Information. Audiences can access international news broadcasts, music and movie channels. News from international broadcasts is censored.

Most teashops in urban areas have satellite TV receivers and people who cannot afford to buy a receiver watch satellite TV programmes at teashops. Journalists in Rangoon say teashops with satellite TV get more customers. To reach a larger audience via satellite TV, the Washington-based Voice of America (VOA) Burmese Service reportedly has plans to expand its programmes from radio broadcasts to satellite TV in the Burmese language.

© Rapid TV News 2009

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War has broken out between Italian public broadcaster and Rupert Murdoch-backed Sky Italia. RAI is cancelling its encryption deal with Sky Italia, which scrambled satellite transmissions as far as Sky Italia receivers were concerned.

The RAI-Sky contract has six months left to run, but the cancellation comes just weeks after RAI teamed with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and his Mediaset cluster of channels to launch Tivu, a ‘Freesat’ operation that sets the two network operators up in direct competition with Sky.

At the moment Mediaset’s contractual obligations with Sky are being honoured, but it is widely anticipated that this deal too will soon cease. Both RAI and Mediaset have been seen as enjoying the extra coverage and convenience of Sky’s distribution.

As a direct result of this RAI action Italian homes with satellite equipment cannot access RAI’s channels via the Sky Italia set-top box, and must now buy a Tivu receiver in readiness for the official launch in June. Sky Italia has 4.7m subscribers.

Complicating the issue is that Sky uses the NDS-developed VideoGuard Conditional Access system, while Tivu has selected a rival system from Irdeto.

© Rapid TV News 2009

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KabelKiosk, Eutelsat’s German direct-to-cable platform, is taking television channels from TV group ProSiebenSat.1 on board its free-to-air bouquet.

Sat.1, ProSieben, kabel eins, N24 and 9Live have been added to the basic package. Together with channels operated by RTL group, which joined the platform last year, KabelKiosk now carries all the large German commercial broadcasters.

Cable head-ends are served through capacity on Eutelsat’s 9° East orbital position. KabelKiosk’s basic package, comprising 30 commercial broadcasters, will soon be expanded to 50 channels. Additionally, an HDTV package and digital video library will be added this year.

KabelKiosk supplies more than 250 cable companies, which altogether reach 2.8 million households, with digital TV channels.

© Rapid TV News 2009

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Satellite distribution specialist GlobeCast will use next month’s Dubai CabSat to launch a new African DTH platform

Hot on the heels of the failure of Gateway’s DTH bouquet, GlobeCast is attempting something a little different in the shape of a wholesale service. “The new platform is the first (free) Ku-band DTH platform with coverage over sub-Saharan Africa, providing broadcasters with the opportunity to reach households across the continent,” says GlobeCast.

GlobeCast is starting modestly and has one dedicated transponder on a satellite that facilitates uplink from Europe and is compliant to distribute services to IPTV or terrestrial network head-ends.

The new platform, which is an alternative to the pay TV bouquets in sub-Saharan Africa, responds to a strong demand for free-to-air Ku-band coverage of this crucial region. Several African broadcasters are already in contact with GlobeCast to secure positions in this coveted space and extend their audience to 56 African countries, says the operator.

© Rapid TV News 2009

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Portugal has just got a new 24 hour news channel called TVI 24, operated by Spanish company Prisa's Media Capital. The channel will launch officially on February 26 at 9pm, exclusively on ZON TV Cabo.


The new channel claims to be different from its competitors in its dynamic and innovative attitude in the way it treats the news according to José Eduardo Moniz, TVI's general director. The channel will fight for a rigorous and objective journalism by offering the tips so the viewers can get their own conclusions.

TVI 24 has different news blocks as well as magazines on sports, economy, culture, ways of living, science, fashion and Nature as well as debates and interviews. In these interviews it will count on the presence of Portugal's most important politicians such as Augusto Santos Silva and Nuno Morais Sarmento.

At the same time as the broadcasting channel a website will be launched www.tvi24.pt which will be the new entry door for the information the broadcaster aims to be leader in. This website also wants to be the leading website of Portugal's internet information in general.

On its side ZON TV Cabo has shown itself "enthusiastic and at the same time anxious" for the launching of the new channel. Luís Lopez (pictured, above), the channel's CEO, highlighted the importance of the new service for the reinforcing of the diversity of channels in the programming schelude of ZON TV Cabo.

© Rapid TV News 2009

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UPC Broadband has announced a major reorganisation and streamlining of its operations in Central and Eastern Europe.
It will see the regional management group overseeing six operating businesses in Hungary, Romania, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic closed down on March 31.
From then, the businesses in question will report directly to Gene Musselman, president and CEO of UPC Broadband.
Musselman has also been appointed the interim MD of UPC Hungary.

http://www.broadbandtvnews.com

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UPC goes for Fashion



By Chris Dziadul | March 9, 2009

Fashion TV has been added to the digital cable offers of UPC in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

It is being made available in the basic packages in both countries.

Fashion TV made its debut in the Czech Republic and Slovakia last week, initially to a combined total of just over 1 million homes.

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Next generation of Freeview unveiled



Monday, March 9 2009,



Specifications for the next generation of Freeview have been published by the Digital TV Group, the UK's industry association for digital TV.

The new book of specifications takes into account plans to launch HD services as part of a development plan that uses the new DVB-T2 transmission standard and MPEG-4 compression to increase the digital terrestrial platform's capacity. It specifies HD standards for subtitles and interactive services, adds an automatic rescan function so that consumers do not have to manually retune boxes to receive new services, and also introduces a broadband return path to enable two-way interactivity.

"The launch of HD services on Freeview is a landmark in UK broadcasting and I am intensely proud of the role the DTG and its membership are playing," said Richard Lindsay-Davies, director general of the DTG. "The DTG was established by the industry over a decade ago to protect consumers and safeguard the reputations of distribution platforms and receiver manufacturers.

“This has been achieved by defining the detailed interoperability specification for UK DTT, and by the development and implementation of test specifications and test regimes to measure product conformance against brand requirements. I am delighted that the expertise we have gained creating the robust open standards that have helped Freeview reach 65% of UK homes can now be applied to DVB-T2 services, which will offer four channels of free-to-air HD programming and firmly establishing the UK as a world leader in DTT services. "

Lindsay-Davies added that the new specification would "ensure that Freeview HD receivers will meet levels of compliance achieved previously only on vertical or lower volume proprietary tandard platforms".

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Sky proposes to develop C4 pay channels


Monday, March 9 2009,


Sky has issued a stinging rebuke to Channel 4's claims that its funding model is fundamentally broken and said it is disappointed that the Government has not considered the multichannel sector's contributions to public service broadcasting.

In a submission responding to communications minister Lord Carter's suggestion that a second public service broadcaster be formed around the core of Channel 4, Sky said that the channel's model is not broken because despite the advertising downturn, "Channel 4 has a strong balance sheet and has accumulated sufficient financial reserves to see it through the current recession".

Sky criticised Channel 4's decision to invest in "unprofitable non-core commercial activities", of which it said "most... have been poor any any reasonable standard, and would not have been allowed to proceed in an organisation with a more disciplined financial ethos". It said Channel 4 had accumulated losses of £270m over the last ten years from these investments, which include the now-axed plans to launch digital radio services.

It called on Channel 4 to come up with its own proposals for "self-help" and suggested that it spend some of its cash reserves, eliminate loss-making commercial ventures and rebalance its programme spend away from US imports and redirect the funds to UK production.

Sky also said that Channel 4 needed to diversify its revenue source out of a complete reliance on advertising.

"Channel 4's decision to exit from subscription channels in 2004, when it declined to renew carriage agreements with Sky and other pay TV retailers for its E4 and FilmFour channels, was a strategic mistake that has left it more exposed in the current downturn," it asserted. "Based on our experience of supporting third party channel partners, we would be prepared to work with Channel 4 to create a profitable suite of pay channels that will complement and provide financial support to its core free-to-air public service network."

Sky said that the government should take into account its £1bn investment in UK programme production across its channels and the £300m it pumps into joint-venture channels with A&E, Discovery, Nickelodeon and Disney.

"Given this track record, we are surprised that there has been very little consideration of the potential opportunities that pay television affords by Ofcom and Government in the wider policy debate about the future funding of public service content," Sky said

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Ad joy for TVP, Viva Polska

By Chris Dziadul | March 9, 2009 | 07:27 UK

February was an extraordinarily good month for ad income for the Polish public broadcaster TVP and the thematic channel Viva Polska.

Data produced by TNS OBOP for Wirtualne Media shows that TVP’s first channel secured revenues of PLN119,370,152 (€25,41,421) and its second PLN79,146,961, or 16.9% and 23.8% more than in the same month in 2008.

Viva Polska, on the other hand, posted PLN26,383,855, a year-on-year increase of 143.1%.

The biggest falls in ad revenues among the main broadcasters were at TV Puls (-21.8%) and Polsat (-12.3%), and 4fun TV (-39.4%) and TVN24 (-16.1%) among the thematic channels.