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. If you wish to reproduce this news or redistribute it for non commercial use please contact the email address below. Der TS Nachrichtendienst ist ein Service fuer die Freunde von TELE-satellit und TS-TV und ist nur fuer persoenliche infromation freigegeben. TELE-satellit EUROPE'S SATELLITE MAGAZINE International Satellite Broadcasting News Number 43, Week ending 19 March 1995 By Martyn Williams News Desk : Internet martyn@euro.demon.co.uk or CompuServe 100025,1637 (c) TELE-satellit Magazine BROADCASTING LICENCE FOR SUPER RTL Cologne, Germany (TS) -- Super RTL has received a broadcasting license from the Landesanstalt Fur Rundfunk, Nordrhein-Westfalen (North Rhine Westphalia's state broadcasting authority). "Super RTL is our first thematic channel and a new area of broadcasting for CLT," said Michel Delloye, chief executive officer CLT Multi Media. "We're very excited about this new venture and in launching Super RTL, with Disney." "We have a great management team, a solid business plan and a wonderful partner in CLT," said Michael Eisner, chairman and chief executive of The Walt Disney Company. "We're thrilled about Super RTL." The award follows a license approval recommendation by the members of the Direktorenkonferenz der Landesmedienanstalten (DLM - Conference of the Directors of Regional Broadcasting). Super RTL, available through cable and satellite, plans to launch on April 28. On satellite the channel will use Astra 1A's channel 13, recently occupied by RTL 4. Said Super RTL Managing Director Peter T. Heimes: "We're delighted to have received the support of the DLM and the state broadcasting authority. Now we're looking forward to providing German viewers with quality entertainment for the entire family." With its headquarters at the Cologne Broadcast Centre in Cologne-Ossendorf, Super RTL will provide German viewers with popular Disney features from 6 to 8pm, Mondays through Fridays. Additional program highlights on the new channel include the popular "Li-La-Launebar," TV comedian Dirk Bach, Hella von Sinnen, the classic "Das Schloss am Worthersee" and the dramatic series "Matchball", starring pop singer Howard Carpendale and set in the fast- moving world of tennis. Super RTL expects to be available to a total of 12 million households by the end of this year. Approximately 7.5 million households are expected to have access to Super RTL through direct-to-home, satellite transmission, with the remainder receiving Super RTL through the cable networks. SUCCESSFULL LAUNCH FOR JAPAN'S H2 Kagoshima Space Centre, Japan (TS) -- After delays caused by leaking oxygen pipes and bad weather Japan's H2 rocket finally made it into orbit on Saturday. Aboard were GMS-5, Japan's newest weather satellite, and SFU, carrying a scientific payload. Liftoff was 1701 JST (0801 GMT). The GMS-5 satellite was built in Los Angeles by Hughes Space and Communications Company (HSC) under subcontract to NEC Corporation of Tokyo. The HS 378 model spacecraft is the fifth in a series of Hughes-built Geostationary Meterological Satellites that have been monitoring weather conditions over the Pacific Basin since 1977. Japan's National Space Development Agency awarded the contract, and the Japanese Meteorological Agency operates the spacecraft. After about three months of in-orbit testing, the satellite will be turned over for service at 140-degrees East. The GMS spacecraft collect and distribute weather data to other Asia-Pacific countries and contributes to weather forecast services in an area that includes Australia, China, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. CANADIAN COMPANY TO OFFER MORE DIGITAL TV Toronto, Canada (TS) -- Tee Comm Electronics announced a planned service that will deliver more than 100 digitally compressed TV channels to US viewers starting 1 December this year. The new service is called AlphaStar and will use AT&T's high powered Telstar 402R satellite to reach it's audience. WEGENER WIN SNG CONTRACT Clarksburg, Missouri, USA (TS) -- Wegener Communications has won a contract from ComSat to provide Satellite News Gathering (SNG) products. The products, using Labs-developed video compression technology, will be demonstrated during the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention April 10-13 in Las Vegas. Under the agreement, Wegener will produce MPEG-2 broadcast quality digital video encoders and decoders specifically for use in SNG applications. The products are ruggedized for "flyaway" and SNG truck applications. "This product will bring the economies of digital compression to satellite news gathering," said Bob Placek, president and CEO, Wegener Communications. "The compact electronics package, coupled with smaller uplink transmitters and antennas will greatly expand the applications for SNG by reducing the cost of SNG vehicles and the cost of satellite time." In a typical SNG application the encoder is installed in a remote news gathering truck. This studio-on-wheels goes to an event location, sets up its satellite transmission system, and sends a remote feed back to the main studio for rebroadcast. In the past, video SNG required an entire satellite transponder during the transmission. Now, by utilizing the digital compression technology developed at COMSAT Labs, up to eight video feeds can be transmitted over a single transponder. The next generation of Eutelsat satellites are amongst those that will be promoting the use of a wide band transponder for a conventional TV channel and a digitally compressed SNG channel squeezed into the space on the transponder. NEWS DATACOM TO SUPPLY AUSTRALIAN CABLE London, UK (TS) -- News Datacom will supply Conditional access systems for the new Australian digital cable network, FOXTEL. The system will use News Datacom's VCS 4000 Digital Video System which is fully DVB MPEG-2 compliant. In the last two weeks the VCS 4000 been successfully tested on cable in Europe using MPEG-2 broadcasts via Astra 1D as test material. The system has also won a contract with Star TV in Asia. MORE DIREC-TV SUPPLIERS Los Angeles, California, USA (TS) -- GM Hughes announced last week that three more manufacturers have been authorised to produce home reception equipment for the Direc-TV service. The companies are Toshiba, Uniden and Hughes. Currently Direc-TV receivers are manufactured solely by Thomson. MORE PROGRAMMING FOR ECHOSTAR Las Vegas, Nevada, USA (TS) -- Echostar have signed ESPN, USA Network, Disney Channel, TBS and the Discovery Channel for their upcoming DBS service. The new Echostar service will operate from their own satellites and is scheduled to begin in the autumn of this year. IN BRIEF - The Playboy Channel plans a summer launch via Astra transponder 42, currently used by Bravo until they close at midnight. - A German language home shopping channel may be launching via TV 3 Norway's channel 31 transponder on Astra. The German channel would be operated by TV3's owners, Kinnevik. - The Body Shop is to launch a in store radio service and is tipped to use Astra transponder 15, MTV Europe, in stereo. - VH-1 Germany has launched on Astra. - Canal Horizons will begin broadcasting on Hot Bird 1 from 1 September. The channel will use D2-Mac with Eurocrypt encryption. Canal Horizons is a pay TV service aimed at Africa and operated by Canal Plus. The Hot Bird service is hoped to increase penetration of the North African nations. - On Tele-X transponder 32 (12,322 GHz) Swedish Television are testing MPEG-2. Five TV services are expected to join the packet service including SVT-TV2, TV4 and TV6. (TS-Bureau Vilnius) - The new Norwegian channel TV+ will begin broadcasting from 20 March. The station will use D2-Mac with Eurocrypt on 11,823 GHz LH via the old TV-SAT in it's new home of 0,6 degrees West (TS Bureau Vilnius). SATELLITE NEWS ON THE INTERNET TS Bureau Lubeck, Germany TELE-satellit's German language news service from SAT 1 Text is now available on the Internet thanks to a new teletext server. The information is available via a World Wide Web page at address : http://odin.csn.tu-chemnitz.de:9999/SAT/513/1 SAT 1 Text satellite news is updated every Tuesday and Friday. In addition to TELE-satellit's recently launched Italian news service, the Italian satellite magazine *satellite* has debuted on the Internet with a section of satellite news at http://www.videomusic.com/sathome.html You can find the latest satellite news and other information including the programme listing for EBN. Dutch speakers can also get satellite news from http://www.veronica.nl/Veronica/Blad/SatNieuws/ A satellite news page is available, updated weekly. There are also sound files available at the Veronica's site but they are mostly over 1Mb in size so a fast link is recommended. 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 an informative technical section and Europe's best satellite frequency guide. 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 +49-7308-919001 or email 100543.660@compuserve.com Where to find satellite news : TELE-satellit News, English : CompuServe UK Forum (UKFORUM) - Windows Write / ASCII version, library 19 CompuServe European Forum (EURFORUM) - Windows Write version, library 5 CompuServe Deutschland on line (GERLINE) - Windows Write version, library 15 CompuServe Telecommunications Forum (TELECOM) - Windows Write version fax on demand +49-8282-81003 fax on demand +49-2163-81744 fax on demand +49-7308-919009 fax on demand +44-1875-614888 NBC Super Channel - NBC Text page 171 alt.satellite.tv.europe newsgroup on Usenet World Wide Web : http://xan.esrin.esa.it:2602/satellite.html Fidonet SAT.028 Fidonet SATELLITE.FR Fidonet RU.SAT Fidonet SATELLIT_R23.PUB Maus Net : tv.grp America On Line - from the "ham radio" area in the General file library. Anonymous FTP to : ftp.funet.fi /pub/dx/text/satellite/telesatellit CIX Skyguide/telesat conference SAT NET BBS network SweDX BBS, Swedish DX Confederation. +46-8-53034727 / Fidonet 2:201/339 Short Wave Paradise BBS, online 24 hours a day ! USA 616-383-4979 TELE-satellit News, German : CompuServe Deutschland on line (GERLINE) - ASCII version, library 15 CompuServe Der Spiegel Forum (SPIEGEL) - ASCII version, library 11 fax on demand +49-8282-81003 fax on demand +49-2163-81744 fax on demand +49-7308-919009 SAT 1 Text - page 513 3sat Text - page 279 SAT NET BBS network Other reliable sources of satellite news :  Radio Sweden Mediascan. 1st and 3rd Tuesday, 20 minutes into the English programme via Astra, Shortwave, Mediumwave 1197 kHz and the World Radio Network. Text and audio files of Mediascan can be found in the SCDX directory on ftp.funet.fi  Radio Netherlands Media Network, Thursday, 23 minutes into the English programme via shorwave and The World Radio Network  World Wide Web users can access TS News and the electronic journals above and more information via the European satellite home page, URL http://xan.esrin.esa.it:2602/satellite.html  The ProShow. Every Sunday night starting at 9:00 pm EST on the Omega Radio Network - Galaxy 3, Transponder 17, 5.80 MHz.