This news is provided free of charge to on-line users by TELE Satellit magazine and TS News Service GB. IT IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY. It may not be reproduced for commercial reasons by any means what so ever Der TS Nachrichtendienst ist ein Service fuer die Freunde von TELE Satellit und TS-TV und ist nur fuer persoenaliche infromation freigegeben. TELE SATELLIT European Satellite News - English Version Number 10, Week ending 31 July 1994 By Martyn Williams CompuServe 100025,1637 Internet martyn@euro.demon.co.uk (c) TELE Satellit Magazine APSTAR 1 successfully launched China successfully launched the new Apstar 1 satellite last Thursday, July 21st, from the Xichang space centre in southwestern China by a Long March 3 rocket. The launch took place at 1831 local time (1031 UTC) and was carried live on Chinese Central TV. Apstar 1 is owned by the APT Satellite Company of Hong Kong and was built by Hughes. The new satellite will provide telecommunications between the countries of the south east Asia region including China, Hong Kong, Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia. Among the video services set to be carried are a host of US broadcasters anxious to reach the region including CNN, Discovery Channel, HBO, ESPN and Hong Kong's number one broadcaster, TVB. Launch delay for DirecTV-2 The launch of a second satellite for the new US DBS service DirecTV has been delayed due to problems at the launch site. The Atlas rocket at NASA's Cape Canaveral facility was grounded by the rocket manufacterer after they discovered possible problems witht the on-board systems. In addition to the satellite a time capsule is also being carried containing optically stored messages from nearly 40,000 worldwide. "Der Wilde Suden" on Astra Southern German youth radio station SDR 3 is currently broadcasting via Astra. The station can be found on the 7.38 and 7.56 MHz subcarriers of ZDF TV. The relay is in preparation for the station's presentation of the Euro Megachart hit parade 1000 XL. The feed will remain until late August. SaRa tests on Eutelsat Eutelsat will begin tests of digital radio next week on August 4th. The SaRa system will provide up to 100 channels via the soon to be launched Hot Bird satellite. Tests begin next week with programming from Deutschlandradio, Deutsche Welle and WDR radio. The SaRa package is expected to become the first pan-European digital radio service. Sky launches direct to pubs service Sky confirmed this week that they are to begin broadcasting programming direct to pubs and clubs. The broadcasts will be seen over Astra's channel 47 and will be only available in participating establishments. The first event to be shown on the new sports service will be the Ibrox International Soccer Tournament. Pubs and clubs must pay Sky extra subscription fees to show any programming to the public and those that are will get thier smartcards updated over the air, enabling them to tune into the channel. TV 69 launch - again TV 69 have once again announced an imminent launch. This time they say they will start on the 5th August via Eutelsat 2 F3. Conflicting reports suggest that the service will begin with un-encrypted soft porn for between one week and two months, later scrambling. The scrambling system is not yet known although VideoCrypt 2, Eurocrypt and Syster have all been suggested. Iranian ban on dishes possible The Iranian parliament is et to debate whether to ban satellite dishes. A bill drawn up calls for the banning and dismantling of all dishes across the country. Users would have a month to take the dishes down or face jail and seizure of the equipment. The action on dish owners comes after an Iranian Ayatollah issued a religious decree against the use of dishes two months ago. Many people in the country, including the government, are opposed to the types of programming and messages that are carried on foreign TV channels. ZDF starts PAL Plus broadcasts Second German Television, ZDF, has now begun broadcasting selected films and special events in the new PAL Plus wide screen TV standard. ZDF joins sister station ARD as Astra broadcasters of the new format. Pal Plus programming is indicated on the teletext TV guide. Switzerland on euroNEWS On 1st August -Swiss National day - Euronews will be broadcasting a special programme dedicated to the Swiss Confederation. The european news and information channel, in cooperation with SSR, has produced a series of reports on uniquely swiss activities the history of Swiss priechers musical instrument, "Alpine Pipes", which once impressed Brahms, and the famous Hornuss, the "Farmers Rugby" game. ln this special schedule there will be an interview with Mario Botta - architect a magazine on tourism in Switzerland and an analysis of the relationship between Switzerland and the European Union. The highlight will be a live transmission of the information and musical evening having for topic swiss emigration throughout the world Switzerland, today an immigration oountry, was once an emigration country. This will be produced by swiss television and broadcast throughout Europe in english, french, german, spanish and italian by Euronews, as well as in "Schwitzerdeutsch", of german speaking swiss. During the Film Festival of Locarno, from August 4 until August 14, in cooperation with TSl, Euronews will be broadcasting special reports in its magazine ClNEMA. In brief ... - Kabelkanal is reported to be launching a Swiss cable service, Kabel 2. The new service will premiere in the Autumn via Astra. - Canal Plus Poland has a broadcasting licence thus setting in motion a pay TV war between two of Europe's biggest channels. FilmNet recently announced the start of a new Polish service. The new Canal Plus channel will only be available terrestrially. - RTL will establish a joint news division to serve RTL, RTL 2 and the upcoming RTL Club. The news service will be based in Cologne. - JSTV switched over to the new issue 3 cards last week. TELE Satellit Magazine This news is from the English language news service of TELE Satellit,a monthly satellite magazine edited in Munich, Germany. It consists of 164 pages, full colour with tables, charts and news with many off-screen photos of the satellite channels plus a informative technical section. Part of the magazine is written in English. Subscriptions are available for DM 120, Europe surface mail; DM 144, Europe airmail and DM 192, ROW airmail. Orders for subscriptions and more information should be sent to : TELE-satellit Customer Service, Silheimer Str. 6a, D-89278 Nersingen, Germany, Fax +49-7308-5296 Where to find satellite news : TELE Satellit News, English : LHARC'd Windows Write Version - CompuServe UKFORUM library 17, EURFORUM library 5 ASCII Text Version - CompuServe UKFORUM library 17 Fax polling - +31-45-273615 *2*44 ; +49-89-496287 *9 alt.satellite.tv.europe newsgroup on Internet World Wide Web : http://xan.esrin.esa.it:2602/satellite.html TELE Satellit News, German : ASCII Text Version - CompuServe Deutsches Computer Forum (GERNET) Fax polling - +49-89-496287 / +31-45-273615 TELE Satellit TV ! Last Friday of every month, repeated following Sunday . Eutlesat 2F1, 11,596 GHz, Horizontal. 20:00 UK, 21:00 CET Other reliable sources of satellite news : - Satellite Journal International provides worldwide satellite news and can be found in UKFORUM, EURFORUM, TELECOM, BPFORUM and CEFORUM plus other networks worldwide including Internet, Nifty Serve Japan and Fidonet. - 3615 SATPHONE on Minitel for the latest hot news ! - +33-1-3670-8192 in France for the latest satellite news updates - SAT 1 Text, page 550 with fresh news every 3-4 days plus frequency charts. - Radio Sweden Mediascan. 1st and 3rd Tuesday, 20 minutes into the English programme via Astra, Shortwave, Mediumwave 1197 kHz and the World Radio Network. - SatNews on the Internet - Skyguide on the Internet World Wide Web users can access several electronic journals and more information via the European satellite home page, URL http://xan.esrin.esa.it:2602/satellite.html We encourage all European satellite users and viewers to drop by UK Forum section 17, Entertainment, to chat and discuss all issues related to European satellite broadcasting.