Skyguide Issue 025 -------------------------------- SKYGUIDE UK --------------------------------- | | | Your digest of the latest news in the world of Satellite & Cable TV | | | ---------------------- Week Ending Sun September 26th ------------------------ * TOONS AVEC UN PEU DE FRONTIERES TNT and The Cartoon Network have been banned from cable services in France and Belgium following a rumpus about the content of the services. French broadcasters and authorities claim that the channels are an invasion of their territory, and initially attempted to get the broadcaster to cease providing a French soundtrack. When this failed, French authorities brought in the EC to attempt to shut the channel entirely on the grounds that it does not meet EC broadcasting regulations which require broadcasters to show at least 60% European material. Joao de Pinheiro, European Culture Minister, claims the channel is not welcome in Europe. He has written to Peter Brooke, the UK Heritage Secretary, demanding to know why the channel was granted a license to broadcast from the UK. Ted Turner is entitled to lodge an appeal with French Authorities, although his last tussle with the French legal system was when French cable operators successfully demanded that they should not have to pay to carry the CNN News Network since it was free to satellite dish owners. Skyguide notes that there are many other channels in Europe which do not meet the EC 60% quota which the French authorities are not trying to close down. Perhaps TNT's only crime is transmitting in French without being a part of the Canal Plus subscription network, and perhaps the French authorities' assistance in the matter is nothing to do with the fact that the French Government has interests in Canal Plus. * AN ENTIRELY UNRELATED MATTER Eurosport has ceased providing a French audio soundtrack on its Astra and Eutelsat service. Viewers wishing to watch in French will need to subscribe to the Canal Plus package to receive "TV Sport", the French version of Eurosport. * CON JOBS The editor of Satellite Times has warned that thousands of people are being conned by dubious individuals claiming to sell satellite equipment or subscriptions. A common ploy is to advertise a new channel (usually of an adult nature), urging people to subscribe, or to send off cash for a "preview video" of the channels. Tony Fuller says that it's difficult to check up on such companies, although Skyguide notes that some magazines, even Satellite Times, seem not to mind printing their adverts anyway. One company is offering a "Eurocard" for the unusual price of 30 pounds 55 pence. The advertising asks "Do you pay Sky high monthly fees for Films and Sport? Why when there is a sensible alternative? Join Euroclub now and receive your free Eurocard." The Eurocard is in fact a piece of cardboard advising viewers to watch other clear channels like DSF for free sports. Most con adverts stand out like a sore thumb, but Skyguide's advice is not to send money to any company that is unwilling to tell you its registered company number and trading address. Always pay by credit card if you can, for added security. * CAGE RATTLING British Telecom, the UK telephone operator, recently announced plans for telephone customers to receieve movies down their telephone lines. Understandably, the UK Cable Television Association has attacked the plans as a "pipe-dream". The CTA said that BT were "once again rattling the cages because cable is taking 20,000 subscribers from them a month", referring to the growth of cable operators offering telephone services in the UK. The CTA may also be less than happy since BT is now selling Astra satellite dishes from its retail outlets, in preparation for when BT is eventually allowed to provide full cable TV services. In the UK, Cable TV is now increasingly offering less channels and costing more money than equivalent satellite subscriptions. A number of UK Cable operators are not carrying the new Sky channels available to dish owners, while in the meantime raising their prices. * SKY COMPLAINTS The Independent Television Commission has upheld the majority of complaints it received about the promotion of Sky's Multi-Channels package. The main complaints were that some channels were unscrambled (Sky News, QVC, etc.) but were marketed as part of the package, that some channels were not available on the September 1st date, and that the claiming of channels "new" to satellite (Discovery, Bravo, CMT) was untrue since they were already available on Intelsat. Sky claimed that they had placed text into the promotions to correct any wrong impressions, but the ITC maintained that the text often contradicted what was shown on-screen. * ASA CHANGES As if it wasn't enough to have the ITC and the UK Cable Industry on their back, Sky have walked into a storm following their decision to remove ASA (Authorised Sky Agent) status from around 1,400 satellite retailers. There are now around 3,000 ASAs remaining in the UK. Even the remaining ASAs are unhappy that Sky's marketing for Multi-Channels invited subscribers to call Sky directly rather than obtaining a subscription from their local dealer. ASA subscriptions have also been cut. While there was never any commission for selling Multichannels alone, selling a one or two premium channel subscription now results in a 5 pound reward. Dealers selling a subscription to all three premium channels will receive 17 pounds 50 pence per customer, with bonuses if more than four of the 19.99 subscriptions are sold. * MTV - A HAZY, SCRAMBLED SET OF IMAGES MTV could encrypt its Astra signal as early as February next year. MTV would retain its Astra 1B transponder (Tp 22) for the scrambled service, and release the Astra 1A transponder (Tp 15) for the sister music channel VH-1, which would probably launch at the same time. The Astra 1A transponder is no longer necessary now that outlying regions of Europe are covered by MTV's Thor and Eutelsat signals. European Astra viewers may have the chance to subscribe to MTV, although with other English language services, as part of a "European Multi-Channels" Package, which could be up and running as early as January 1994. * RATINGS NEWS The encryption of the Sky Multi-Channels led to a drop in satellite viewing in its first week, to the gain of MTV, which saw a gain in audience. The new Multichannels are building audiences, although none have yet achieved similar success to Discovery, which had a firm 200,000 viewers within days of its launch. UK Living achieved 90,000 viewers as its top rating, for the game show Infatuation. Clarissa Explains It All, Nickelodeon's teen show, achieved 93,000, while top of the pile was The Family Channel's first home-produced game show Trivial Pursuit, scoring a respectable 130,000 viewers. * NO HIT FOR NICKELODEON A possible ratings winner for Nickelodeon, if the success in America is anything to go by, could be the Ren And Stimpy Show. Produced by Nickelodeon in the USA, the show has overtaken The Simpsons in popularity. Unfortunately, we won't see Ren and Stimpy on Nickelodeon for at least three years, because the show has been sold to the BBC. This is the second Nickelodeon series that the BBC has bought (the first being Rugrats). Ren and Stimpy will air on BBC 2 from early next year. * CHINESE ASTRA China News Europe will launch on Astra in the near future. It currently broadcasts three hours a night on SuperChannel's Eutelsat transponder. The channel will continue the same broadcast hours and times, and will share an Astra transponder with a UK Astra channel - possibly The Family Channel or UK Living. The channel will will also change its name to "Chinese News and Entertainment" at the same time as the launch. * OUT! Sky is currently negotiating for the rights to live coverage of Wimbledon from 1995, when the BBC's contract ends. While Sky would be able to have exclusive rights to the preliminary matches, the semi-finals and finals are designated as protected events under the Broadcasting Act 1990, which stipulates that a number of major sporting events must be available to terrestrial viewers. * AUTO SPORT Sky is making good use of their whizzy new telephone management system. The 400 line monster, newly installed at the Sky Subscribers centre in Scotland, will be increasingly be used to allow subscribers to change their subscription details (and possibly future pay-per-view events) automatically, without ever needing to speak to a human operator. The system is currently being used to allow existing Sky subscribers to add Sky Sports to their viewing card instantly - the caller simply dials their viewing card number and the computer will authorise the smartcard then and there. * AND FINALLY Oops! There was no Skyguide again last week.. While the intention is to publish every week, occasionally the odd week does get missed out. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Skyguide Issue 25 Edited by Ant Purvis Skyguide is published every week. You can find it on London's CIX conferencing system in the Skyguide conference, the Fidonet Satelite TV echo, the Packet Radio Network, and on internet in the alt.satellite.tv.europe newsgroup. Skyguide is not a commercial publication, nor is it a cut-down version of a printed journal. Nonetheless, it is copyright, and is not to be redistributed in any form without consent. (Just ask!) Errors and Omissions expected. Back issues can be mailed to internet mailboxes on request. Comments, suggestions, stories and monetary donations are always appreciated! You can contact Skyguide in the following ways: CIX : mail to bignoise, or use the Skyguide/comments conference. Fidonet : Netmail to ANTONY PURVIS at 2:251/203, or leave a message in the Satellite TV echo. Please note the new netmail address! Internet: bignoise@cix.compulink.co.uk ------------------------------------------------------------------------------