From: hew@Turing.ORG (Harold E. Wheaton (N6WUX))
Subject: Re: Opinions on DirecTv SkyCable DBS Stuff
Organization: The Turing Project, Charlottesville Virginia.
Distribution: rec
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 05:06:17 GMT

In article <YARRI.92Nov18102718@solbol.icrl.mew.mei.co.jp>
 yarri@icrl.mew.mei.co.jp (Douglas Yarrington) writes:

>The sats will fly. They're being built now; ahead of schedule they say. Two
>16 transponder, Ku-Band Hughes HS 601 birds. We're looking for a launch of
>the first bird by Christmas 1993. USSB is working with DirecTv and is going
>to pick up some slack off of this two birds; I believe only four
>transponders per bird will by used by DirecTv.

It looks like the Hughes/RCA DirecTv system will be first rate, especially
since things are ahead of schedule.  It's interesting how only a few trans-
ponders will be used.  Goes to show what compression can do.
Anyone know what is up with Skypix?  I kept hearing about funding problems.
Did it finally have to back out?

>The pay structure, as best I can tell right now, is to model the cable TV
>'tier' system: basic level is included with the system purchase, premium
>service you pay for monthly, there are some pay-per-view schemes being
>proposed as well.

Wow!  No monthly fee for basic service?  Now I'm really getting excited!
Hopefully the premium services that are offered will not be "sky high"
with regards to prices.

>As for programming, well 128 channels is feasable. They're using two sats
>with at least 4:1 compression. The plan is to use the MPEG2 (soon-to-be)
>standard. There's the ablilty to do some really good compression (16:1) on
>some broadcast and that will increase the effect channel capacity.

Hmm...that MPEG sounds familiar.  Will DirecTv be sensitive to the educational
services (like PBS) that will arrive on Telstar 401?  If the MPEG really
becomes a standard, I'd hope my DirecTv box could access PBS (by just
turning the dish or else switching to a different dish).

>As for info, checkout "Satellite News" (pretty damn expensive but you might
>find it a large universities and some companies, or call 301/424-4297).
>I've also seen reports in "Multichannel News," but have no idea who
>publishes it.

Occassionally, _Broadcasting_ magazine (bi-weekly) has non-technical
information on this sort of thing.

>I think most of us on the business side of this venture feel like it's
>gonna need two things to succeed: one, good programming, and two, product
>differentiation.

For me, the big names (Hughes + RCA) say something to potential quality and
stability, and thus I may feel comfortable with the purchase of hardware.
Also, I feel the group needs to keep the big-city stations as "free" since
certain people get them free anyway, plus I am just not sure if I want to
pay for commercials.

>The bill which recently passed in Congress (Cable TV Consumer Protection
>Act) will give some programming to DirecTv, making it (by law) at least
>equal to Cable. Now we have to see whether the format differences are
>enough to differentiate the service, and whether additional programming can
>be obtained.

Will CSPAN, A&E, VH-1, and other cable channels be offered?  I don't get
cable (by choice) but I wouldn't mind some of what is offered.

>What do you all think?

I'm definitely more excited than I was before I read this.  I hope both
DirecTv and its competitors are able to start up without problems.
					-Harold