27 May 2003
TVB 8 and TVB Xing He Channel have begun broadcasting on AsiaSat 3S. With AsiaSat 3S, TVBs two 24-hour Mandarin language satellite channels coverage will extend to all cable TV operators and more than 1.2 billions Chinese viewers across the satellites footprint covering over 50 countries and regions in Asia, the Middle East, Australasia and the C.I.S.
TVB 8 and TVB Xing He Channel are operated by Hong Kong-based TVB Satellite Broadcasting Limited (TVBSB), a subsidiary of Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB). TVB 8 carries a diverse mix of entertainment, infotainment and music programmes while TVB Xing He Channel offers a wide selection of top-rated classical and modern dramas.
AsiaSat 3S currently broadcasts over 70 television channels, including those from Arirang TV, Asia Plus, Bloomberg TV, CCTV, Indus Vision, NOW, Pakistan TV, Phoenix Satellite TV, MATV, SABe TV, Sahara TV, STAR, Sun TV, Tech TV, Turner Broadcasting System and ZEE Network.
27 May 2003
With UK culture minister Tessa Jowell claiming that conventional television sets are expected to be redundant by 2010, it may be that the day of digital radio and TV has finally dawned in Britain, with official figures showing that digital TV viewing is on the increase, and that millions of listeners are tuning in to new radio stations, often through their computers and television sets.
Authoritative listening figures clearly show how the renaissance in radio is being fuelled by the growing availability of more than 50 digital stations. Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) radio sets have tumbled in price to 150 US dollars. The growth in satellite and cable subscribers and the expansion of the internet have also provided ways of receiving digital stations.
The BBC World Service will have had a large proportion of digital listeners among its weekly UK reach of 1.36 million. Jenny Abramsky, the BBC’s director of radio and music, said: “[These] figures show that the whole industry goes from strength to strength with more people listening to radio.” She highlighted the success of the BBC’s Asian Network, which has picked up hundreds of thousands of digital listeners.
The rise of digital radio has been hampered by the difficulty in buying DAB sets. Mandy Green, of the Digital Radio Development Bureau, said that such problems were over. “The people making these radios in this country are not Sony and Hitachi. They are small, mostly British, entrepreneurial manufacturers.
27 May 2003
Path 1 Network Technologies has signed a worldwide OEM and reseller agreement with Scientific-Atlanta. Under the agreement, Path 1 will supply Scientific-Atlanta with OEM versions of its new Chameleon VidX product family, which provide key elements required for broadcasters and television service providers to migrate traditional ASI interfaces to IP network solutions. Scientific-Atlanta will also resell Path 1’s Chameleon vidX Cx1000 Video over IP Gateway under the Path 1 brand name. Within the terms of the agreement, Scientific-Atlanta also has OEM and reseller rights to future Path 1 products.
Current products under the agreement include Path 1’s Demultiplexers, Multiplexers and Video over IP Gateways. Since the Chameleon vidX(TM) product family utilizes a software-driven approach many available features and increased capabilities can be delivered via software upgrades.
The features offered by Chameleon vidX include handling up to 1024 streams of Standard Definition (SD) and High Definition (HD) VOD content, music and other data which can be multiplexed and de-multiplexed (grouped and un-grouped) for IP transport to existing digital cable set top boxes. Chameleon vidX(TM) allows cable operators to leverage the full benefit of IP transport infrastructure without the need for a forklift upgrade of existing equipment.
Moreover, Path 1’s Chameleon vidX products offer the only economically viable solution currently available that allows Telcos to deliver all TV programming “on demand” over DSL. This capability is particularly important to Telco operators in European and Asia Pacific markets. Unlike the U.S. market, which predominantly utilizes coaxial cable and fiber to deliver television programming and video-on-demand to end users, these areas utilizes an extensive legacy infrastructure of twisted-pair copper which possess limited bandwidth.
23 May 2003
The Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) has announced that its third annual Satellite Industry Forum has been rescheduled to take place in Hong Kong on October 28, 2003. The Forum will now be a curtain-raiser to the CASBAA 2003 Convention which runs from October 29-31.
The conference is themed Why Satellite: Customers, Services, Profits. Sessions will cover issues for telecom customers, special needs of regional & domestic broadcasters, new applications and ideas, and how to finance new projects. The day will wrap up with a high-powered CEO Forum on Keeping the Customer Satisfied.
This is an exciting and challenging time for the Asian satellite business, said Simon Twiston Davies, CEO, CASBAA. We have turned to the experts for the third year running to give us guidance on the issues that face all the players. This will be fun as well as informative.
The CASBAA Satellite Industry Forum has become the pre-eminent event in Asia for the satellite industry, said Mr William Wade, Deputy CEO of AsiaSat and Chairman of CASBAAs Satellite Committee. Last years forum was Asias largest gathering of the top level decision-makers who shape our industry, and we expect this year to be even better.
Confirmed speakers include CEOs and senior representatives from companies in Asia, North America and Europe including Asiasat, ASTRO, Sony India, ESPN STAR sports, Shin Satellite and Boeing Capital.
For more information on the CASBAA Satellite Industry Forum 2003 visit www.casbaa.com where full details of the programme and registration procedures are accessible.
23 May 2003
Ahmad al-Rikabi, a Swedish Iraqi, is to become the new head of Iraqi state television.
Al-Rikabi has worked in the Arabic Service of AIB Member Radio Sweden, part of Sweden’s national public-service broadcaster, Sveriges Radio. He has also been presenter of the SVT [Swedish television] programme ‘Mosaik’.
Al-Rikabi succeeds former dictator Saddam Husayn’s son Uday as head of Iraqi television. State-owned Iraqi propaganda TV is to be turned into a free medium serving democracy.
23 May 2003
BT Group, the UK’s dominant telco and a Member of the AIB, reported strong full-year profits and a better-than-expected dividend.
Underlying pre-tax profit rose 44 per cent to £1.8 billion in the year to the end of March. Earnings per share were at the top end of forecasts at 14.2 pence. Revenue rose two per cent to £18.7 billion, in line with forecasts.
