From: 70247.3516@compuserve.com (George Wood)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.shortwave
Subject: SCDX 2163
Date: 6 Oct 92 13:01:32 GMT
Organization: Finnish Academic and Research Network Project - FUNET


   
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  ::           MediaScan             ::
  ::      SWEDEN CALLING DXERS       ::
  ::       from Radio Sweden         :: 
  ::    Number 2163--Oct. 6, 1992    :: 
  ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 
 
 
Satellite, shortwave and other electronic media news from Radio Sweden.
 
This week's bulletin was written by George Wood.
 
Packet Radio BID SCDX2163

All times UTC unless otherwise noted.

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NOTE TO READERS: I'm scheduled to become a daddy again any day now, which
means I'll be taking the 10 day paternity leave permitted under Swedish law
later this month. There is a good chance there won't be an Electronic Edition
in two weeks. 

Next week's (pre-recorded) edition of "MediaScan", which will air on October
13th, the day after the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' arrival in
the New World, will be a feature on Native American broadcasting.

In other news, my motorized dish was installed last week, opening up the
Clarke Belt. That means more of the news here will be first hand.


LOCAL BROADCASTERS:
 
LUXEMBOURG--There's bad news for one of Europe's classic radio broadcasters,
Radio Luxembourg. For six decades, Luxembourg has challenged Europe's state
broadcasters, and attracted generations of young people. Recently the
station's English service left its medium wave transmitter on 1440 kHz for
sole reliance on the Astra satellite. There had been plans for rebroadcast on
cable here in Sweden, but that came to an end when the Swedish copyright
authorities demanded royalities that Luxembourg said far exceeded those paid
anywhere else. 

Now, the Radio Luxembourg English Service is going off the air at the end of
December, just after celebrating its 59th birthday. According to John
Catlett, General Manager of Radio Luxembourg's English Service, the board of
the parent company CLT decided the English Service wasn't earning enough
money to justify continuation. The station's other language services will not
be affected.

Radio Luxembourg went on the air on December 3, 1933. Today's English edition
of "MediaScan" includes an interview with John Catlett.

LITHUANIA--A Luxembourg-type station is going on the air in Lithuania. The
Lithuanian government has approved a joint venture with a British company to
be called Radio Baltic International. The station should be in operation by
the end of March, 1993. Broadcasts will be in English to Scandinavia and
Britain, probably on 684 kHz. (BBC Monitoring)
   
SWEDEN--It's hard to say how much impact the new station will have in Sweden,
where the first of the new commercial radio stations are now expected to go
on the air on the first of April, 1993. During the first phase, 58 stations
will be licenced in 23 cities. There will initially be 10 stations in
Stockholm, 5 in Gothenburg, 3 in Malmoe, and 2 in 20 smaller towns. So far,
the government continues to want to auction off frequencies to the highest
bidder. ("Pressens Tidning")


EUROPEAN SATELLITE BROADCASTING:

SWEDEN--The Swedish state has sold it's Tele-X satellite. Filmnet, which used
to be Swedish, but is now owned by a Swiss-based South African company, has
bought 85 percent of the satellite. The other 15 percent goes to the Swedish
Space Corporation. So Filmnet now owns its own direct broadcast satellite.
   
NORWAY--Meanwhile, columnist Bertil Sundberg in "Paa TV" magazine has pointed
out that now that Norwegian TV2 has launched on the Intelsat at 18 degrees
West, and Norway is moving the Macro Polo 1 satellite to 1 degree West, there
will soon be Norwegian programs on 5 satellites at 4 different positions.
They use a bewildering array of standards: PAL, D2-MAC in both Eurocrypt M
and Eurocrypt S, and D-MAC. This, he says, may explain why 80 percent of
satellite systems in Norway are motorized. ("Paa TV")

ITN--The ITN news is carried on Super Channel every evening at 10:00 PM
European time. At that same time, the SSVC channel on Intelsat 601 at 27.5
degrees West, which broadcasts to British forces in Europe, broadcasts an
unscrambled newscast. Because Europe is back on Standard Time, and Britain is
still on Summer Time until the end of the month, right now they're carrying
ITN's "News at Ten". What's interesting is that usually both programs are
being presented by the same person, Carol Barnes. 

And you thought news was live.

ASTRA/SPANISH--Most Europeans concentrate on the Astra satellites, and there
are some new Astra channels coming. Astra has finally found customers in
Spain, ironically just as Spain's own Hispasat has gone into orbit. Spanish
channels are about to appear on Astra transponders 30 and 32. The first will
be a movie channel, the second dedicated to science, nature, and culture.
Both will be encrypted in Nagravision, but there are to be several uncoded
segments daily to promote the service. Two more Spanish channels are to be on
Astra 1C, scheduled for launch in April or May, 1993. (Astra)

STAR TREK--Since we reported on "Star Trek" being relayed on Sweden's
satellite channels TV4 and TV5 Nordic, it's only fair to point out that Sky
One, which transmits uncoded on Astra 1A, is carrying the first three seasons
of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" every day Monday to Friday, starting
yesterday. A cutdown version for kids is aired at 17:00 hrs British time,
with the uncut version at 22:30 (note that until the end of the month,
Britain and Western Europe have the same time).

UK GOLD--The joint BBC-Thames venture UK Gold is set to launch on November
1st. With the Spanish channels on transponders 30 and 32, that leaves only
transponder 29 free, so look for UK Gold on 11.641 GHz. The service is going
to be "softscrambled" in videocrypt for 6 to 12 months. That means it will be
available free to anyone with a videocrypt decoder. (There are those who
would like to keep these restricted to Britain, but they may be available
elsewhere.)

The channel will be supported by advertising, but there is a suggestion to
include it as part of a subscription package together with Sky, after the
free period ends. Programming will rely on the libraries of the BBC and
Thames, which are said to have enough material to fill 18 years of
broadcasts. ("The Guardian", "What Satellite TV", "In Orbit", and Richard
Buckby)

BBC WORLD SERVICE--We've reported before that BBC World Service Television
will be switching its service on Intelsat 601 to D2-MAC, and it will be made
available to subscribers. A Swedish company called TV Extra has been
appointed distributor for the service, which they say will be launching in
November as well. They say subscriptions will cost SEK 50 a month, and can be
included on TV1000 and FilmNet smartcards. 

For more information, you can call them. After dialing the international
access number from your country, the number is 468-141-355-12. The fax number
is +468-141-355-13. (TV Extra)

EUTELSAT--Over to Eutelsat, where Eutelsat II-F4 has taken over at 7 degrees
East. Signals are much stronger, with Greece's ET1 on 11.174 GHz, PIK from
Cyprus at 11.141, Turkey's Kanal 6 at 11.158, and Serbia's RTV Belgrade at
11.595 GHz.

Germany's ARD 1 has appeared on Eutelsat II-F1 on 11.595 GHz.

The new RTL-2 service in German will be starting on Eutelsat II-F1, rather
than Astra, on 11.095 GHz. The launch has been postponed until November 28th,
so currently, there's just a test pattern. ("In Orbit" and Bertil Sundberg in
"Paa TV")

A new Dutch-based adult channel called MTX, is due to start on Eutelsat II-F1
later this year. At the opposite end of the spectrum, there's a new family
channel coming to Europe, run by evangelist Pat Robertson, who's behind the
Family Channel in the United States. Robertson's IFE company has bought
Britain's TVS, opening the door to a European service. ("In Orbit")

Meanwhile, with the expansion of France's TV5 service on Eutelsat II-F1,
Denmark's Third World-oriented One World Channel has vanished from the
airwaves. ("Paa TV")

A new Hungarian service is due to begin November 1st on Eutelsat II-F3, run
by the Hungarian government for expatriates. On the other hand, Astra is to
be the home of the third channel of Polish Television. According to a report
from BBC Monitoring, the relay is to be begin in March, but since Astra 1C
won't be in orbit until April at the earliest, it'll probably be then. (BBC
Monitoring, AFP)


NORTH AMERICAN SATELLITE AND CABLE:

USA--The American Congress has, for the first time, overturned a veto by
President George Bush, putting into law the "Cable Television Consumer
Protection Act". 

Reversing the deregulation introduced by the Reagan administration, the act
forces cable operators to maintain technical standards, charge reasonable
rates, and include local broadcasters in their output.

It also bans pricing descrimination against satellite home viewers and forces
programmers to make their offerings available to satellite viewers. The act
also lays down some rules for direct satellite broadcasting.


ASIAN/PACIFIC SATELLITE BROADCASTING:

ARABSAT--The Arab Space Communications Corporation has awarded a contract to
Hughes Communications for two new Arabsats. The first would be launched in
1995, and besides 18 C-band channels, and 2 S-band channels, they would also
carry 12 Ku-band transponders, making reception possible with 60 to 80 cm
dishes. (Reuters)

AUSTRALIA--The Australian government has cleared the way for the Australian
Broadcasting Commission to begin a satellite television service to Asia.
Tenatively named Television Australia, the service is expected to launch in
late November, using Indonesia's Palapa B-2P satellite. Initially the service
will be funded by advertising and will be in the clear. It may turn into a
scrambled subscription service in a few years. (BBC Monitoring, IPS)

CHINA--China's Central Television Station inaugurated its Channel 4 on
October 1st. This station is on the air for 15 hours a day using the NTSC
system on Asiasat-1 on 4120 MHz and PAL on Gorizont 19 on 3825 MHz. (BBC
Monitoring)


SHORTWAVE:

ALBANIA--Radio Tirana is now broadcasting in English at 15:30 hrs on 9760 and
7155 kHz; at 22:00 hrs on 9760, 11825, and 1395 kHz; and at 01:30 and 02:30
hrs on 9580 and 11840 kHz. (BBC Monitoring)

ANGOLA--As Angola holds its first democratic elections, the country's first
private radio station has gone on the air. Based in Luanda, Antena Comercial
broadcasts on 95.5 MHz FM. The style of the new station is said to be
Brazilian. The only other radio stations in the country are Radio Nacional de
Angola, operated by the MPLA government, and the Voice of the Resistance of
the Black Cockerel, operated by the UNITA guerillas. (BBC Monitoring)

BELGIUM--On Saturday September 26th, the BRT in Belgium transformed into a
new station, Radio Vlaandern Internationaal. The change has been made to
better reflect the station's objective of not competing with big
international broadcasters, but rather to reach Flemings abroad and tell the
rest of the world about about the Flemish way of life. 

The station also intends to serve the expatriate community working for the EC
and NATO in Brussels, by setting up a Euro service on FM aimed specifically
at the many foreigners living and working in Belgium. On shortwave,
transmissions continue in English, French, German, Spanish, and Arabic.

The new station, RVI, is also hoping to broadcast by the Astra satellite to
Europe, to complement its aging shortwave transmitters. (Janne Olsen)

MONTSERRAT--Radio Antilles resumed full time operation on September 21st. The
station is also relaying programs from the BBC World Service and the Voice of
America. (BBC Monitoring) Radio Antilles new 100 kW transmitter is on 930
kHz. 

NETHERLANDS/RUSSIA--Following the decision of the Dutch government not to
support a joint transmitter relay station with the BBC in Thailand, Radio
Netherlands has now decided to book airtime on Russian transmitters to boost
its Asian signal. ("Media Network" via BBC Monitoring)

RUSSIA/UNITED STATES/VIETNAM--The Moscow-based station broadcasting material
hostile to the government of Vietnam, Radio Irina, is now broadcasting at
15:00-16:00 hrs on 15620 and 15580 kHz. The same organization also plans to
test broadcast over WWCR in the United States, using the help of Radio Miami
International. (BBC Monitoring and WWCR "World of Radio")

UNOFFICIAL BROADCASTERS--The Voice of Renamo, operated by the Renamo guerilla
movement in Mozambique, is now broadcasting at 05:15 hrs on 6155 kHz and at
16:15 hrs on 5916 kHz. (BBC Monitoring)

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Sweden Calling DXers is the world's oldest radio program for shortwave  
listeners. Radio Sweden has presented this round-up of radio news, features,
and interviews on Tuesdays since 1948. 
  
Radio Sweden broadcasts to Europe in English on 21:30-22:30 hrs:

   on medium and shortwave: 1179, 6065 and 9655 kHz

   via satellite: Astra 1B (19.2 degrees East) channel 26 (Sky Movies Gold/TV
Asia/Adult Channel) at 11.597 GHz, audio subcarrier at 7.74 MHz, 

   Tele-X (5 degrees East) (TV4 transponder) at 12.207 GHz, audio subcarrier
7.38 MHz.

   We're also relay our half hour program at 13:30 hrs on satellite

The rest of the Radio Sweden English schedule is (half hour programs):

Europe:

   23:30 hrs on 1179 and 6065 kHz

Middle East and East Africa:

   16:00 hrs 15270 kHz

Asia and the Pacific:

   13:30 hrs on 15240 and 21625 kHz
   21:30-22:30 hrs on 11955 kHz
   01:00 hrs on 9695 and 11820 kHz

North America:

   16:00 hrs on 17870 and 21500 kHz 
   02:00 hrs on 9695 and 11705 kHz


Contributions can be sent to DX Editor George Wood by fax to +468-667-6283,
from Internet, MCI Mail or CompuServe (to the CompuServe mailbox 70247,3516),
through the FidoNet system to 2:201/697 or to SM0IIN at the packet radio BBS
SM0ETV.
 
Reports can also be sent to: 
 
      Radio Sweden 
      S-105 10 Stockholm 
      Sweden 
 
Contributions should be NEWS about electronic media--from shortwave to  
satellites--and not loggings of information already available from sources 
such as the "World Radio TV Handbook". Clubs and DX publications may reprint
material as long as Sweden Calling DXers and the original contributor are 
acknowledged, with the exception of items from BBC Monitoring, which are
copyright. 
 
We welcome comments and suggestions about the electronic edition, Sweden  
Calling DXers, and our programs in general. 
 
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Thanks to this week's contributors                           Good Listening!
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