Satellite News Room

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Dutch international TV service BVN expands its programming

BVN, the public TV service for Dutch-speaking viewers worldwide based here at Radio Netherlands, will expand its programme schedule from 25 March. Currently the station has an eight-hour daily schedule, repeated twice. The new schedule will be 12 hours a day, repeated just once. This of course means that many of the current programme times will change.

The expanded programming is based on research amongst viewers, who in particular wanted more talk shows and more programmes for children. These programme are supplied by the public broadcasters in the Netherlands and Belgium. RNW Editor-in-Chief Joop Dalmeijer, who is in charge of programming at BVN, says the new programmes will improve the service to the half million or so viewers who watch BVN every day.

Full details of the new programming will be available on the BVN website

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Pan-African pay-TV satellite service nears launch

Telecommunications specialist Gateway Communications has unveiled plans to launch GTV, a pan-African pay-TV satellite service. Gateway said GTV would provide "high quality international and local entertainment content with a subscription price aimed at penetrating the chronically underserved African television market".

According to Gateway, Africa is the world's least-penetrated pay-TV region in the world, with less than 1% of television-owning households in sub-Saharan Africa currently subscribing to pay-TV services. That compares to 15% in Eastern Europe, 36% in Western Europe, and 93% in North America.

Yet with more than 46m TV sets, and set-ownership growing at more than 10% each year, Africa "represents a large and rapidly growing market for subscription television which Gateway's own independently commissioned research estimates will grow to over $3bn by 2015".

GTV founder Julian McIntyre said: "The African market has been artificially constrained by monopoly pricing and non-relevant content. Consumers across Africa want to watch the latest high-quality television programming that combines international and local content which is relevant to their lives and at a price that is comparable to a utility.

"GTV will be a pay-TV platform for Africa, not simply rebroadcasts of European or South African content."

GTV aims to launch its service from mid-2007 with a phased roll-out across sub-Saharan Africa.

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Sky News wins RTS News Channel of the Year



Sky News has been named News Channel of the Year at the Royal Television Society awards in London. Sky News correspondent Dominic Waghorn picked up both the Television Journalist of the Year award and also the International News award for a special report on baby snatching in China.

The RTS judges complemented Sky News on its “immediacy, impact, variety of coverage”. It was also commended on the way it covered major stories and for its “sharp and intelligent reporting”.

Sky News has been through a series of changes over the past year, introducing feature style programmes into evening primetime, three-headed bulletins into daytime and bringing in major names as anchors including James Rubin and Eamonn Holmes. The majority of the changes have subsequently been reversed with the evening bulletins recently being moved in the opposite direction in the form of 15-minute summaries.

Former Head of Sky News Nick Pollard, who after 10 years at Sky News was responsible for the changes, won a Lifetime Achievement Award.

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New business channel for Polsat



Poland’s TVN has confirmed that it will launch a new business channel at the end of Q3 this year. According to the company’s president Piotr Walter, its start up cost are likely to be up to PLN10 million (€2.57 million). Walter has also confirmed that plans for the new channel have been speeded up by Polsat’s acquisition of TV Biznes, Poland’s first and to date only business channel, for an estimated PLN20-25 million earlier this month. Separately, the DTH plaform Cyfrowy Polsat is to start carrying MTG’s pay channel TV1000.

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Ofcom publishes final Statement on the television advertising of food and drink..



Ofcom today completed its review of the rules relating to the television advertising of food and drink products to children, and published its final Statement on the introduction of restrictions in this area.

Ofcom’s co-regulatory partners, the Broadcast Committee on Advertising Practice (BCAP) and the Advertising Standards Authority, are now responsible for implementing the new scheduling and content rules and securing compliance respectively. The new rules will form part of the BCAP Television Advertising Standards Code.

Ofcom’s final Statement follows the conclusion of its additional consultation (published 17 November 2006). This proposed to extend restrictions on the television advertising of food and drink products high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) to include programmes and channels aimed at children aged under 16.

Ofcom has considered all responses to this consultation carefully. After a detailed ana*ysis of the evidence, including a full impact assessment, Ofcom has concluded it is appropriate and necessary to adopt restrictions intended to reduce significantly the exposure of children under 16 to HFSS advertising.
Scheduling restrictions

In light of concerns raised in the course of the consultation, the scheduling restrictions will now come into effect on a phased basis for all channels, as follows:

* From 1 April 2007, HFSS advertisements will not be permitted in or around programmes made for children (including pre-school children), or in or around programmes that are likely to be of particular appeal to children aged 4-9; and

* From 1 January 2008, HFSS advertisements will not be permitted in or around programmes made for children (including pre-school children), or in or around programmes that are likely to be of particular appeal to children aged 4-15.

As set out in the November Statement, children’s channels will be allowed a graduated phase-in period, with full implementation required by the end of December 2008.

Content rules

* New content rules come into effect immediately for new advertising campaigns.

* Existing advertising campaigns or those in the final stages of creative execution can be broadcast until the end of June 2007. However, from 1 July 2007 all advertising campaigns must comply with the new content rules.




Ofcom today completed its review of the rules relating to the television advertising of food and drink products to children, and published its final Statement on the introduction of restrictions in this area.

Ofcom’s co-regulatory partners, the Broadcast Committee on Advertising Practice (BCAP) and the Advertising Standards Authority, are now responsible for implementing the new scheduling and content rules and securing compliance respectively. The new rules will form part of the BCAP Television Advertising Standards Code.

Ofcom’s final Statement follows the conclusion of its additional consultation (published 17 November 2006). This proposed to extend restrictions on the television advertising of food and drink products high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) to include programmes and channels aimed at children aged under 16.

Ofcom has considered all responses to this consultation carefully. After a detailed ana*ysis of the evidence, including a full impact assessment, Ofcom has concluded it is appropriate and necessary to adopt restrictions intended to reduce significantly the exposure of children under 16 to HFSS advertising.
Scheduling restrictions

In light of concerns raised in the course of the consultation, the scheduling restrictions will now come into effect on a phased basis for all channels, as follows:

* From 1 April 2007, HFSS advertisements will not be permitted in or around programmes made for children (including pre-school children), or in or around programmes that are likely to be of particular appeal to children aged 4-9; and

* From 1 January 2008, HFSS advertisements will not be permitted in or around programmes made for children (including pre-school children), or in or around programmes that are likely to be of particular appeal to children aged 4-15.

As set out in the November Statement, children’s channels will be allowed a graduated phase-in period, with full implementation required by the end of December 2008.

Content rules

* New content rules come into effect immediately for new advertising campaigns.

* Existing advertising campaigns or those in the final stages of creative execution can be broadcast until the end of June 2007. However, from 1 July 2007 all advertising campaigns must comply with the new content rules.

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AMC-21 Satellite to be Launched for SES AMERICOM by Arianespace



AMC-21 is the 26th satellite entrusted to Arianespace by a member of the SES family of companies (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG), one of the world’s leading satellite operators. The launch of AMC-21 is scheduled for the 2nd quarter of 2008 on an Ariane 5 vehicle from Europe’s Spaceport at the Space Center in French Guiana.

AMC-21, under construction by Alcatel Alenia Space, will have a liftoff mass of approximately 2500 kg. The satellite is based on Orbital Science’s Star-2 satellite bus, and will provide high-powered satellite services with its payload of 24 active Ku-band transponders.

The AMC-21 satellite, which will be operated by SES AMERICOM, is designed for a minimum operational lifetime of 15 years, and will offer television and enterprise distribution services across the United States, the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America from the orbital position of 125 degrees West.

Edward Horowitz, President and CEO of SES AMERICOM, said, "We appreciate that Arianespace has incorporated AMC-21 into their first half 2008 manifest, as there is a high degree of demand for Ku-band capability in North America." He continued, "AMC-21 is an important component in our spe*trum of service offerings; it is designed to meet the growth demands of our media, enterprise and new services customers."

Arianespace CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall said, “We are extremely gratified to be chosen again by SES to launch one of their satellites, and advance their coverage of the Americas. It is appropriate that the contract for AMC-21 follows on the heels of Arianespace’s recent successful launch of another SES satellite, AMC-18.”

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Maori TV _ Sky Pauses



SKY TV has shied away from a confrontation with government darling Maori Television, agreeing to rebroadcast the channel on the vertical transponders it has leased on the Optus D1 satellite for the time being, so it can continue to be seen by Sky viewers.

The availability of Maori TV on the pay-TV network has been in doubt since December, when TVNZ and Maori TV shifted their satellite broadcasts from a vertically aligned transponder on the geriatric Optus B1 satellite to horizontal transponders that free-to- air consortium Freeview has leased on D1.

Sky TV set-top boxes cannot pick up transmissions from horizontally aligned transponders, so Maori TV would have been invisible to Sky customers, had Sky not agreed to also carry the channel.

Sky TV rebroadcasts TV1 and TV2 without charging TVNZ as both channels have large audiences, but is asking Maori TV to pay the cost price of bandwidth it leases on the D1 satellite to continue the arrangement between the two.

Sky spokesman Tony O'Brien says negotiations are still underway, but a deadline for Maori TV to cough up has passed without Sky cutting off broadcasts to its subscribers.

Mr O'Brien says Sky TV will review its position month-by-month.

In May, Sky TV plans to download a software patch to customers' set- top boxes that will let Sky subscribers view both horizontally and vertically aligned satellite transmissions.

Sky customers should then be able to view Maori TV and other new TV channels introduced by free-to-air consortium Freeview without Sky having to rebroadcast them, he says.

It was originally planned that both Sky and Freeview would broadcast vertically aligned signals from Optus D1.

However, the transponders on the satellite's New Zealand spot beam were incorrectly configured as horizontal before the satellite was put into orbit in September.

After the error was discovered, Sky TV was allocated transponders on a separate horizontally aligned beam that covers New Zealand and Australia.

Mr O'Brien says it is possible Sky may yet have to switch over to the horizontal New Zealand beam. Sky does not have an issue with old decoders and all its set- top boxes could be reconfigured for horizontal transmissions, he says.

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Stargate pay-TV platform



German pay-TV platform Stargate says that an autumn launch is a realistic timescale. Stargate will play a central role in the attempts by satellite operator Astra to establish its Entavio infrastructure as the means to develop the multichannel TV market in Germany.

However, the launch remains dependent on investors being secured for the Stargate project, which is expected to cost several million Euros to establish.

“If there are no investors there will be no Stargate,” Winter chief executive Wolfram Winter told Financial Times Deutschland. He added Stargate was building a package of channels that would include film channels from the Hollywood studios as channels from the major German channels. Winter said a monthly fee of €10 was a realistic pricepoint.

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Italy grants new decoder subsidies

With the confirmation of the switchover of the Rai Due and Retequattro channels from ****ogue to digital terrestrial from March 1 in the Cagliari area (Sardinia), the Italian Government is once again providing subsidies for the acquisition of digital decoders.

An estimated 560,000 Sardinians who are regularly paying the TV license fee qualify for a E70 discount on the purchase of a DTT box. Announcing the new subsidies, the president of the DGTVi consortium, Andrea Ambrogetti, also revealed that Retequattro will launch HD (High Definition) trials. Two years since the switching-on of the digital transmitters in simulcast mode, more than 80 per cent of Sardinian households are reached by a digital signal. In practice, four out of five families can watch the digital channels via terrestrial transmitters or satellite. The two channels that are due to become digital-only have a 25 per cent share of the total TV audience.

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Etisalat mobile TV service


Emirates telecom Etisalat has launched a new mobile TV service for GSM post-paid and Wasel prepaid customers, which allows mobile users with 3G enabled handsets to watch news, sport and entertainment channels live on their phones. The channels offered in the first phase of the service include: Abu Dhabi Sports Channel, Abu Dhabi TV, Dubai Sports, Al Arabiya TV, BBC World, CNBC Arabiya, Emirates, MBC1, Al Jazeera Al Jazeera International and Sama Dubai.

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ADB for ITI and Border States


Supplier of digital TV systems and software solutions for interactive television Advanced Digital Broadcast (ADB) has commenced deliveries of advanced, high definition digital set-top boxes to Polish media and entertainment group ITI. The unit is the first single-chip, HD, advanced digital set-top box with DVB-S2 and Advanced Video Coding (AVC) to be launched in Poland.

ADB has also signed a distribution agreement with Border States, supplier of products and services to the data communications sector in North America. The agreement relates to the distribution of IPTV set-top boxes which will be specifically targeted at the Independent Operating Companies (IOCs) in the telecommunications sector.

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Sky E29m profit hit from Virgin loss

BSkyB has warned that its operating profits could be hit by up to £20m (E29m) if it fails to reach a carriage deal with Virgin Media. Talks between the sides broke down last week after Virgin Media accused BSkyB of "bullying" and "arrogance". The weekend newspapers were full of adverts from each side asking customers to lobby on their behalf.

The current contract ends on February 28th and it looks increasingly likely that Sky will pull channels including Sky One and Sky News then. Virgin claims Sky tried to double the price. Sky denies this and says it has increased spending on original programmes by 68 per cent and was seeking a "fair price which reflects that".

Virgin Media said it was confident it could compete with Sky if it did not show Sky One.

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Ofcom to probe Sky ITV purchase

The UK Secretary of State for Industry has decided to order a preliminary Ofcom investigation into Sky’s purchase of an 18 per cent stake in ITV. Ofcom must report to the minister, Alistair Darling, by April 27 on whether the deal "raises public interest concerns about the number of different owners of media enterprises." If Ofcom says it does, the matter could then go to the Compeition Commission.

The move is a victory for Virgin Media which has lobbied hard for an investigation claiming the investment in ITV by an associate of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp threatened media plurality in the UK (Sky is 38 per cent owned by News Corp which in turn owns three national UK newspapers).

The ministers decision followed a provisional finding by the Office of Fair Trading on 12 January that a "relevant merger situation" may have been created for the purposes of the Enterprise Act 2002 as a result of BSkyB acquiring "material influence" over ITV.

Sky said that it noted the statement by the Secretary of State regarding "an initial
investigation'" that is made '"without prejudice'" to any subsequent, substantive
decisions, and confirmed that it would continue to engage fully with the DTI, the OFT and Ofcom during the ongoing process.

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Iran 'Launches Rocket Into Space' permalink



Iran says it has successfully launched its first rocket into space, Iranian state television has reported. It was unclear from the broadcast exactly what Iran had launched, but it appeared to refer to the country's efforts to launch commercial satellites into orbit. Mohsen Bahrami, the head of Iran's Space Research Centre, said that Iran's Science and Technology and Defence ministries built the craft.

He provided no other details beyond saying that Iran had successfully launched what he called a space rocket or space missile.
Iran has made clear in the past that it wants to be able to send its own satellites, including commercial ones, into orbit.
However, it revealed little information about the project.
In 2005, Iran launched its first such satellite in a joint project with Russia.

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Sky News is refreshing its on-screen look from Monday.

The news channel will introduce a new yellow banner that will pop up during breaking news stories. The move will mark a change from Sky News' current all red and white livery and will see the channel mimic CNN International's use of yellow to highlight breaking news.

Sky News' new banner is set to appear at the bottom of the screen over the ticker. It will alert viewers to new stories when the channel is in the middle of another item.

It is believed Sky News head John Ryley made the change to ensure the continued evolution of the channel's look.

Sky had planned to introduce them over the next few weeks but brought the change forward to Monday to coincide with the start of simulcasting morning show Sunrise with Eamonn Holmes on Sky One.

A Sky spokeswoman declined to reveal details of the changes but said: "Sky News will be freshening up its on air graphic look from next week. It's something we do periodically to ensure that viewers are provided with breaking news information even more quickly and clearly."

Sky News was revamped last year under previous boss Nick Pollard.

The channel did well at Tuesday night's Royal Television Society awards, beating News 24 to be named news channel of the year.

It also scooped the gongs for best international news and reporter of the year.