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Date: Mon, 25 Oct 93 17:04 GMT0
From: Darren Ingram <[e-mail]>
Subject: Satnews 118-1
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:---------------------Electronic Headlines----------------------:
:                                                               :
: Issue: 118 :-------:Published Biweekly:------: Date: 11/10/93 :
:                                                               :
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NBC BUYS SUPER CHANNEL IN EUROPE
The massive US television network NBC has bought a 75 percent stake
in Super Channel, the European cable and satellite television
channel for a reported GBP40 million.  The majority of the channel's
60 million European viewers view the service through cable networks,
but on the whole its programming content is considered quite dire by
viewers.

Terms of the purchase were not disclosed, and rumours of a GBP40
million pricetag have ben dismissed as being inaccurate by NBC, who
admitted that the channel has been losing around GBP10 million per
year.

Super Channel is set to keep its emphasis on light entertainment and
music, although a higher content of business and financial news is
to be introduced. NBC's CNBC business news channel has previously
said that it intends to expand into Europe and Asia. This growth in
business news could enable the channel to test the water and
establish European operations.

Patrick Cox, managing director of NBC Europe, is heading the
channel, and says that broadcasts of music videos will be cut back
and replaced with news and talk shows like NBC does in the US.  Many
of NBC's US programmes will also be aired on the channel.

"Super channel will offer an array of original programming appealing
directly to Europe's dynamic, internationally minded professional
business men and women," said Cox.

Tom Rogers, executive vice president of NBC, said that the new Super
Channel will provide NBC greater presence in Europe than CNN.

In 1988 Super Channel was purchased by the Marcucci family after it
crashed only a year after being set up by companies including the
Branson Virgin empire.  Marcucci paid GBP9 for the company and
agreed to honour GBP2.5 million of trade debts.  Since 1988 the
channel has spent over GBP25 million in establishing viewers and
support in eastern Europe.

According to the company, Austria, Switzerland and Holland are the
largest markets for the channel, where they command 3 percent of the
television audience.

SKY EUROPE TO BE RELAUNCHED?
British Sky Broadcasting is presently planning to launch its
multichannel service to Germany, and later throughout Europe,
according to company sources.

Following on from Rupert Murdoch's comments at the 1 September
launch of the multichannels and the cooperative pact between PRO 7
and the Leo Kirch empire, the basic multichannel package will be
offered in Germany and Austria for DM20 per month (1GBP=DM2.45).

Videocrypt decoders will be shipped into Germany for the service.
BSkyB is also looking at using digital compression services as a
delivery mechanism in the future, and this would be ideally suited
towards a multi-channel offering, even on a language basis.

BSkyB declined to be drawn about the relaunch, but one source said
that it was also renegotiating many of the film rights to cover
European English-language pay television services.  BSkyB, while now
making a profit, has the potential to succeed throughout Europe,
making better use of renegotiated film rights.

The European Commission is also looking into the European satellite
services market, and BSkyB's plans could preempt any future EC
ruling.

SES ORDERS SIXTH ASTRA SATELLITE
The sixth Astra direct broadcasting satellite has been ordered by
Societe Europeenne des Satellites. Astra 1F is to be built by Hughes
Space and Communications Inc. in Los Angeles, and it will be based
on its popular HS-601 payload.

The satellite will have 20 active transponders and eight spares, and
will be co-located at 19.2 degrees east, enhancing the digital
capabilities and providing a back up for the Astra 1E satellite, set
to commence operations in 1995.

Arianespace has already been contracted to provide launch facilities
for Astra 1D and 1E, but negotiations are presently ongoing with
launch companies for the 1F launch.

CABLE TV COMPUTER SYSTEM TO BE LAUNCHED
General Instrument's subsidiary Jerrold Communications is to launch
a 80386 PC-based set-top convertor for interactive multimedia cable
services at the European Cable Communications show in London (18-20
October).

The convertor, known as the International Consumer-Friendly Terminal
(ICFT-2200), has been developed to combine the intelligence of a PC
with the simplicity of a television set and is set to transform the
use of cable television services.

Tony White, managing director of Jerrold in the UK, said: "Our new
convertor is an easy-to-use interactive gateway, designed to appeal
to subscribers and to enable cable operators to take advantage of
the full potential of two-way services as they are developed."

Production is being geared up for the first availability of products
early in 1994.  The ICFT-2200 is going to be updated as new
technologies become available, and it can be operated in a secure
mode because of in-built addressability modules that permit the
operation of subscription-only data and information services.

LANDSCAPE RESTRUCTURES CABLE OFFERING
The Landscape Channel in the UK has completely restructured its
pricing terms to UK cable operators as a result of it revising its
plans to be a long-term cable-dedicated programmer, dashing hopes of
many satellite viewers that Landscape would lease downtime from an
existing satellite broadcaster.

But the channel is to use a low-powered cable distribution satellite
to beam its programming to cable network headends.  The satellite
service, enabling live Landscape programming, is set to be
introduced before the end of 1994.

Nick Austin, chairman of Landscape Channel, said that the revised
pricing was being made to recoup costs and to safeguard the future
of the channel.

"When Landscape started operations on cable television the market
was very different from the one we are in now.  When we entered that
market, Landscape was determined to prove to a very sceptical cable
trade that there was space on the network for a dedicated
instrumental music service.  In order to do this we adopted a market
entry policy that, to be frank, hardly covered the copyright costs."

"Copyright costs have risen substantially but we have held our
prices in line with our stated policy of working for growth.  We
believe that having started at the bottom and built our UK network
to nearly 80 percent of all broadband cable homes, that the time is
right to look to the future and reappraise our position."

Under the new rates cable companies will pay a negotiable sliding
scale of charges dependent upon the number of homes connected and
whether Landscape is used as a dedicated channel or as a filler.

All existing cable operators under contract will be offered the
option of either continuing their contract until the end of its term
or a new long-term contract with guaranteed discounts.

Landscape will now charge 10 pence (100 pence = GBP1) per subscriber
terminal per month, rising to 15 pence when it is used as a time-
shift/shared service.

ITC SPEAKS ON 'VIDEO ON DEMAND'
The UK's Independent Television Commission has issued a statement
saying that it does not consider that a service which consists
solely of video on demand -- programmes delivered by a
telecommunications system to a household at a time upon request --
need to be licensed as a local delivery system under part II of the
1990 Broadcasting Act.

While the ITC has yet to receive any detailed applications or
inquiries about the operation of such a service, there has been
intense press speculation that BT is considering launching such a
service.

Discussions between the ITC, Oftel and the Department of Trade and
Industry, have been held, with a common view emerging that the
licences held by BT and other national fixed link PTOs would not
prohibit the conveyance of a video on demand service that did not
need to be licensed under the Broadcasting Act.

The ITC is not disputing that a video on demand service would not
have been licensable by the Cable Authority under the Cable &
Broadcasting Act 1984, but since the Broadcasting Act was
introduced, the wording was slightly different there was some
confusion over whether such a service would be allowed.  The ITC
concluded it is unlikely that it would.

BT says that it is planning to test its video-on-demand
entertainment system in around 250,000 homes during 1994 as part of
a GBP75 million experiment. Initially the trials will be conducted
in rural areas in the south of England.  Technicians at BT's
Martlesham Heath research labs believe that VHS video picture
quality signals can be sent compressed down telephone lines at the
same time as a conversation.  Board approval for the trial is
expected to be given late in October.

COPY PROTECTION FOR SATELLITE RADIO?
A new music protection system which 'watermarks' music tracks with a
hidden code number is being developed in the UK by EMI's former
research arm, CRL.

The system, known as Identification Coding Embedded (ICE) enables
companies to automatically monitor and log tracks as they are played
on radio or cable delivery systems.  Executives also believe that it
can aid piracy detection, as illegal copies of pre-production
material could easily be traced back to the source.

ICE cuts a small frequency slot in the audio transmission at the
2kHz frequency range and adds a 50-bit digital code in its place,
with the code conforming to the International Standards Recording
Code which has been uniquely assigned to every track on music
productions for years.  ISRC was originally designed for
incorporation into CD systems, but it failed to take off.

Trials have proven that the ICE system works on terrestrial, cable
and satellite-delivered broadcasts of audio. There is no degradation
of the audio source.    Test CDs of ICE encoded material were sent
to selected engineers around the world, and only two could identify
the codes from analysing the soundtrack.  CRL believes that it will
be able to improve the system even more so that this cannot happen

A standalone PC and decoder will be used to decode the ICE codes
from audio fed into it.

The only thing now needed is for all sections of the record industry
to insert ISRC references into their soundtracks.

NTL CHANGES IDENTITY, GETS CONTRACTS
As forecast in Satnews 117, National Transcommunications Limited
(NTL), the former engineering arm of the UK Independent Broadcasting
Authority is no more -- it has been renamed NTL.

NTL says that the change was made because the industry was already
calling it by its short-form name, and that it seemed logical for it
to follow the industry trend while at the same time revising its
corporate appearance.

"The introduction of the new image reinforces the completed
transition of NTL from a public service culture to a 'customer
orientated' commercial company. It also reflects the company's
success in new markets such as satellite uplinking, digital
compression and telecommunications."

Image consultants Lloyd Northover were responsible for the new image
and corporate logo.

Tony Gee, marketing manager at NTL, said: "The developments in our
corporate image build on the progress we have made in sustaining our
established business.  We are in the communications business and we
think we are now presenting ourselves in a more appropriate light."

NTL has also been awarded a contract by Television New Zealand to
provide the first TV link across the Indian Ocean using digital
video compression.  TV programmes will be fed from the UK and Europe
by NTL to TVNZ's studios in digital component form.  The GBP1
million pound plus contract includes dual System 2000 video
compression hardware and Intelsat uplinking contracts for five
years.

Two diversely-routed 8mbit/s compressed circuits will be linked
terrestrially from the BBC Television Centre in London to NTL's
Winchester teleport before being uplinked onto a C-band transponder
aboard the Intelsat satellite at 57 degrees east longitude.  A
Telecom Australia (Telestra) earth station will downlink the signal
and reuplink it in digital form to another transponder aboard an
Intelsat satellite at 180 degrees east longitude before being
downlinked and decoded at TVNZ.

NTL's digital compression system enables broadcasters to carry the
equivalent of four analogue programmes in a digital format in one
conventional transponder.

SATELLITE AIDS RUSSIAN REVOLUTION COVERAGE
In probably one of the biggest news stories of the year -- the last
Russian revolution -- all of the major news networks were there
braving gunfire and shelling to beam live pictures back to the
living rooms and offices of viewers, or so they would have us
believe.

ABC, CBS and NBC in the US stayed, on the whole, with their
mainstream coverage, leaving the field open to CNN to provide
constant live coverage of developments. Only CNN's bureau chief
Steve Hurst was on live when foes of Boris Yeltsin broke through
police lines by the Russian parliament building.

When opponents of Yeltsin stormed the offices of Moscow's mayor, NBC
and CBS staff operating a flyaway uplink on the roof were arrested
briefly and ordered to closedown the station.  CNN's facilities were
on another roof and were unaffected.

Heavy firing was aimed at Moscow's Ostankino broadcasting centre,
forcing news crews to flee in all direction.  A CNN cameraman and
reporter were pinned down under heavy gunfire, but in the best
traditions of the job filming continued to produce a rather
spectacular report.

Government troops fended off an attack against the Russian
television complex, and the three Russian TV channels went off the
air after protestors attacked the complex with grenades and other
weapons. When the broadcasts came back on air, CNN relayed the
broadcasts live around the world.

SHARP INTRODUCES SATELLITE TV SETS
Sharp Corporation has introduced two 24-inch widescreen television
sets with built-in satellite tuners. Additionally one of the models
launched has a built in S-VHS video recorder.

Both television sets can switch between 4:3 and 16:9 screen formats
at the touch of a button   Close captions can also be displayed on
16:9 widescreen transmissions as appropriate.  The units will only
be available in the Japan/Asia-Pacific region.

The VT-24WS1 set with a built in video also enables the satellite
receiver to be programmed to switch channels for video recording at
pre-set intervals.  One feature which may upset advertisers in the
region is 'commercial zapping' whereby the video automatically fast
forwards past commercials during the playback of TV programs on the
video.

Sets will be launched at the end of October, with production
initially set at 10,000 units per month.

Additionally a 32-inch HDTV television with a built-in MUSE decoder
has been launched by Sharp, enabling the viewer to take advantage of
Hi-Vision HDTV broadcasts.   Circuitry has been built into the
television set to enable it to enhance conventional 525 line NTSC
transmissions,  which help reduce snow and colour bleeding.

Around 1,000 units of the YEN800,000 set will be produced monthly.

NEW HOME SHOPPING CHANNEL TO LAUNCH
Time Warner has joined forces with Spiegel, a leading retailer in
the US, to form two new 24-hour home shopping cable television
channels.

One of the channels will be called "The Catalog Channel" and it will
feature goods from a wide range of speciality catalogue companies,
and it will be launched on Time Warner cable systems early in 1994
before being offered nationally later in the year.

The second channel will utilise interactive television technology
allowing customers to call up descriptions of products upon demand,
ordering electronically as required.  Interactive television
technology will be introduced in Orlando, Florida as part of a
prototype network operated by Time Warner to trial the network.

According to marketing data released by the venture, the channels
will be aimed primarily at women between the ages of 25 and 55.
Each supplier will be responsible for the fulfilment and after-sales
support of the merchandise, a change from the industry norm of the
network operating its own fulfilment services.

QVC will also launch its Latin American shopping channel on 15
November. Telemercado Aladmea SA de CV will be operated in
conjunction with Grupo Television, and broadcast initially in Mexico
and throughout Latin America in time.

Meanwhile QVC Chesapeake, a subsidiary of QVC Network, has opened a
new 52,600 square-foot telecommunications centre for its
telehandling service. It will also handle over 60 million calls
yearly for QVC Network's home shopping service.  The centre has been
opened in Chesapeake, Virginia.

Home shopping is a growth market in America at the moment, and
Europe is still teetering on the edge of the home shopping
revolution. QVC Network Inc., a leading home shopping network, has
mounted a hostile takeover bid against Paramount Communications, the
movie channel, as well as one against its arch-competitor Home
Shopping Network.

On 1 October QVC -- The Shopping Channel launched in Europe on the
Astra channel as part of the BSkyB multichannel offering. The
channel is initially restricted to UK shoppers although there are
plans to roll out the service next year into Europe.   QVC hopes
that demand will be high for its 24-hour, 364 day-a-year service,
and in the first hour of trading (1400-1500 BST) it claimed to have
taken over a thousand telephone orders.

"Together with our partners BSkyB, we have mounted an interactive,
24-hour shopping and programming service in just a few short
months," said Mike Boyd, president and COO of QVC.  "It is really a
revolution in the way people shop!"

ANOTHER LATIN SIGNS FOR PAS-1
Latin America's latest satellite television network Tele-UNO has
signed a contract with PanAmSat for a 24-hour compressed digital
video circuit on PAS-1.  Tele-UNO, a joint venture between Spelling
Satellite Networks and Multivision Mexico, will use the circuit for
program distribution.

This service is PanAmSat's 30th full-time video service to Latin
America, and the 10th major programmer to use CDV services on PAS-1,
with broadcasters such as MTV Latino, Fox Hollywood Channel and NBC
Canal de Noticias.

Mike Antonovich, director of broadcast services at Alpha Lyracom,
said: "Tele-UNO is the latest sensation to hit Latin America.  "We
are very pleased to be able to provide the state-of-the-art
technology which will allow Tele-UNO to have the widest distribution
possible.  PanAmSat's dedication to technological innovation and
service is what allows us to keep broadcasters such as Tele-UNO
ahead of the game."

AIRPORT TV BOUND FOR UK
Plans are being formulated for a  private airport television news
network called Airport Television, designed to keep passengers
entertained and informed. The channel will be based on Turner
Broadcasting's Airport Channel in the US.

Initially six of the UK's largest airports will carry the new
service, broadcast for 17 hours daily. A range of light
entertainment and news is set to be provided by the service, being
operated by Sky Sites, a concession which holds the rights to
advertise at airports owned by the British Airport Authority,

Discussions are ongoing with news vendors in the UK and Europe to
provide bite-sized news nuggets for the service, which is set to be
supported by advertising.  Presumably TV news footage of air crashes
will be omitted from any airport TV news broadcasts.

At first the network would be fed by leased lines although if the
concept is extended into other airports an encrypted satellite
channel may be secured.  The advertising industry is reportedly
excited about the prospect of Airport Television, as typically air
travellers have to wait in captivity for a while and are usually
bored or anxious to do something, and television will help calm
their nerves, ease their boredom and (hopefully) sell products for
the advertisers.

A series of local ad breaks is also planned, enabling airport
concession stores to advise of special offers, such as a promotion
on gin at the duty-free store or special luncheons at the
restaurant.

MORE SEX URGED ON AMERICAN TELEVISION
Instead of complaining about the high levels of sex on American
screens, one organisation is asking for more to be aired. Moralists
need not fear, as the organisation hopes that the programmes will
enable more children and parents to talk about sex and become
educated at the same time.

The Centre for Population Options is a non-profit-making
organisation which aims to provide education on safe sex and birth
control. In its latest publication 'Talking with TV: A guide to
starting dialogue with youth," a number of TV shows to be aired
which talk about sex are listed, in the hope that American families
will tune in and learn together.

More shows which responsibly talk about sex were also sought.

"TV has the potential to be tremendously powerful for providing
powerful role models for parents as well," said Jennifer Daves,
director of the Centre's media project.

RELAXATION IN US HI-TECH EXPORT CONTROLS
The United States government has announced a new sweeping
liberalisation programme of export controls for high technology
products and it is to increase its subsidy of export financing.
News of the plans has been greeted by US companies who have
previously been hampered by the restrictions.

At the announcement, President Bill Clinton said: "I don't believe a
wealthy country can grow much richer...without expanding exports."

The government expects six million jobs to be created, generating
US$1 trillion of exports by the end of the century, aggressively
matching rival exporters around the world.

"The Cold War is over and the technologies have changed
dramatically. Therefore, today I am ordering sweeping changes in our
export controls that dramatically reduce controls on
telecommunications technologies and computers.  What we have today
at long last is a coordinated, targeted, aggressive export
strategy," said Clinton.

The US Congress forced the setting up of a committee to increase and
co-ordinate trade exports, and 65 different wide-ranging
recommendations were made. Liberalisation will mean a great
reduction in the amount of orders that need to be referred to the
state department for export licensing and clearance.

MARTIN MARIETTA TO SHED 3,5000 JOBS
Only weeks after starting internal investigation into the loss of
two space satellites and a spacecraft in close proximity, Martin
Marietta Corp. says that it plans to lay off at least 3,500 workers
over the next 15 months, and this figure could be even greater if
there are more cuts in the US Defence budget.

The company says that about 2000 of the layoffs are at sites
earmarked as part of a consolidation programme aimed at streamling
the company after it merged in April with GE Aerospace, but
according to Norman Augustine, chairman of Martin Marietta, the
space and commercial activities were on the whole unaffected by the
moves.

Martin Marietta presently employs around 94,000 people in the US,
but this is around 46,000 less than it and GE Aerospace had combined
in 1987.  Company reports show that around 65 percent of its revenue
is sourced from defence projects.

=========================================================================

Date: Mon, 25 Oct 93 17:04 GMT0
From: Darren Ingram <[e-mail]>
Subject: Satnews 118-2
To: [e-mail]
Cc: [e-mail]
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Sender: [e-mail]
X-Mailing-List: Satnews <[e-mail]>


recommendations were made. Liberalisation will mean a great
reduction in the amount of orders that need to be referred to the
state department for export licensing and clearance.

MARTIN MARIETTA TO SHED 3,5000 JOBS
Only weeks after starting internal investigation into the loss of
two space satellites and a spacecraft in close proximity, Martin
Marietta Corp. says that it plans to lay off at least 3,500 workers
over the next 15 months, and this figure could be even greater if
there are more cuts in the US Defence budget.

The company says that about 2000 of the layoffs are at sites
earmarked as part of a consolidation programme aimed at streamling
the company after it merged in April with GE Aerospace, but
according to Norman Augustine, chairman of Martin Marietta, the
space and commercial activities were on the whole unaffected by the
moves.

Martin Marietta presently employs around 94,000 people in the US,
but this is around 46,000 less than it and GE Aerospace had combined
in 1987.  Company reports show that around 65 percent of its revenue
is sourced from defence projects.

REUTERS LAUNCH NEW NEWS SERVICE
Reuters Television America has launching a new series of national,
international and business news for local US television stations.
The service commenced on on 1 October.

The new series of feeds, known as Reuter Reports, comprises of two
feeds daily at 1100 and 1616 EDT, with updates for the West Coast of
America news channels as needed.

Reports will be carried from Reuters' Asian desk in Hong Kong, its
world desk in London and feeds from its Washington bureau. Staffers
at the Washington bureau will compile the information, merging it
with business news from the New York markets. Additional ad hoc
material will be sourced from its 25 North American and 123
worldwide news bureaus.

Unlike most news agency feeds, the reports will have full narration,
making them suitable for insertion into local bulletins without
editing.

"We believe Reuter reports will provide an extremely useful and
cost-effective service for local stations which may appreciate an
additional reporting source," said Chris Travers, senior vice
president, television for Reuters America.  "It is a natural
extension of both print and television services from Reuters, which
has provided innovative and dependable news products to the media
for more than 140 years."

The company declined to say how much the service would cost and the
anticipated level of demand.

INTELSAT ORDERS NEW SATELLITES FOR SERVICE
Burgeoning demand on Intelsat satellite resources has seen the
international satellite cooperative forced into acquiring and
launching additional satellites to sustain resource availability.

At the recent board meeting of Intelsat governors, a decision was
taken to buy three additional Intelsat VIII/VIII-A satellites from
Martin Marietta Astro Space and lease one Russian Express satellite
to sustain service levels.

The Martin Marietta contract ends litigation against the company
after the unsuccessful launch of the Intelsat 603 satellite in March
1990.

Two additional VIII-series satellites (Intelsat 803/804) and one
modified VIII-A (Intelsat 805) will be ordered, with options for two
further craft also in place.   Once launched, Intelsat 803 and 804
will be deployed in the Indian Ocean and Eastern Atlantic Ocean
Regions for C-band service.  Each satellite will provide six global
beam, 12 'hemi' beam and 20 zone beam transponders.  Ku-band spot
transponders will also be carried on the satellites.

Intelsat has agreed to lease an Express satellite from the Russian
company Informkosmos for five years from June 1994, providing 10 C-
band 36MHz transponders and two Ku-band transponders.

With these new contracts Intelsat now has 15 satellites on order,
with the first one set for launch in the spring.  The remaining 14
are set to be launched by the end of 1996.

"These [corporate] decisions will enable us to accomplish our number
one business goal: providing cost-effective and reliable satellite
capacity when and where our customers need it," said Intelsat's
director-general Irving Goldstein.

US CUBAN BROADCASTS FAIL ONCE AGAIN
The Cuban government-controlled news agency Prensa Latina says that
renewed US efforts to broadcast its TV Marti propaganda channel into
Cuba have once again failed. The US government has been attempting
to broadcast a TV version of its Radio Marti programme since 1990.

Earlier in September the US government renewed its efforts to
broadcast the signal to 400,000 viewers through Cuba, said the
report.  "The Anti-Cuban television station's signal is not picked
up in the vicinity of the capital or the western region of Cuba,
contrary to what the Miami [American-backed] press are saying."

The report cites a group of Cuban and foreign reporters attempting
to tune into the station's signals in Puerto de Mariel, 21 miles
west of Havana, but failing in the process.

Prensa Latina said that some Cubans consider new efforts to
broadcast TV Marti in Cuba as '..nothing more than a propaganda
spectacular of conservative sectors in Washington and the Cuban
community in Miami.." and that "TV Marti and several other radio and
television stations are attempting to incite the Cuban population to
confront the government and urge the realisation of sabotage,
attacks and other terrorist acts."

NEWS IN BRIEF
Inmarsat has awarded a contract to ITT Aerospace/Communications to
study various satellite navigation systems for civil applications.
ITT will develop an outline system that would provide global
navigation services for civilian users, enhancing maritime and land
navigation and positioning capabilities.  Inmarsat will then
evaluate the service and consider it to form the basis of a new
portfolio and range of services.

Ignition problems have been blamed for the failure of India's US$144
million Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, set to launch a remote-
sensing reconnaissance-capable in satellite into orbit for the
Indian government.  Reports say that a disturbance occurred in the
third-stage ignition which crippled the PSLV's upward launch
velocity. According to the Indian Space Research Organisation all of
the rockets worked properly in the flight.  The US views the Indian
space program with concern because it fears that India will utilise
rocket launcher technology for military weapons purposes.

Three Norwegian firms -- Norsk Forsvarsteknologi, Raufoss and AME
Space -- have won a US$140 million contract to supply parts for
Arianespace's Ariane 5 rocket launcher.  Norsk will supply six stays
and two attachment devices for the launcher, and Raufoss and AME
will develop and produce separation stages and post launch guidance
systems.  Deliveries will continue for 20 years under the terms of
the contract.  The first Ariane 5 launch will be made late in 1995.

The space shuttle Discovery has made its first nighttime landing at
the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, USA.  Discovery concluded its
10-day mission after a number of delays held back the initial
launch. Shuttle communicator Kevin Chilton told the shuttle crew
upon landing "You left a beautiful streak from horizon to horizon as
you flew past Houston on your way to the Cape," and the crew replied
"You should have seen it from inside!"

Sweden Calling DXers quotes a Kyodo news agency report as saying
that three television stations in Japan have started new satellite
channels, bringing the number of satellite channels to nine. The
three are SVN Space Vision (entertainment and sports), Let's Try
Life Design (hobby and culture) and Asahi Newstar (news and
documentaries).

A new cable and satellite travel channel is to be launched by
Landmark Communications Inc. early in 1994 under the branding
"Travel 1."  The company is presently looking for London studio
headquarters in London, UK. Two management executives have since
been confirmed -- Jerry Glover, former director of business
development for The Travel Channel and the Weather Channel in the
US, who joins as commercial director, and Chris Roudette, former
head of acquisition and planning for Lifestyle, who  joins as
controller of programming and acquisitions.

According to figures released by the organisers of the Live '93
consumer electronics exhibition, over 140,000 people attended the
event, and exit polls showed that 91 percent of visitors hoped to
return the following year.  The show will be held from 20-25
September 1994 at Earls Court, a much bigger location, and more
exhibitors are expected to attend.

The European Space Agency says that it will be slashing its spending
until at least 2001 by GBP3.1 billion because of the worldwide
economic crisis.  Jean-Marie Luton, director-general of the ESA,
said that the agency had dropped plans for Europe's most ambitious
space project, the Hermes manned space shuttle.  Ministers will be
presented with a draft budget on 12 October, and a final decision
will be taken at that time.

MTV has launched its MTV Latino 24-hour Spanish language channel in
South America.  Over 19 countries are receiving the channel.  "You
can see slowly improving economies, we also have a relatively stable
political climate for a change, and, just as we found in Eastern
Europe, people have got to have their MTV," said Larry Gerbrandt,
entertainment analyst with Paul Kagan Associates in California,
commenting on the launch.

Reuter briefly reports that South Korea and China have signed a
preliminary agreement to manufacture and launch a communications
satellite, says an official of the satellite research centre at the
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.  No further
details are known at the time of going to press.

Sydney, Australia-based AWA is joining forces with Siemens of
Germany to develop pay television and interactive television
services delivered by existing telephone wires to the home.

The European Commission's Internal Market Council put the final seal
on a proposal harmonising copyright rules to provide for cross-
border satellite broadcasting and cable transmission in the EC. The
draft directive is aimed at preventing rights holders from having
their used without being paid, as well as helping to solve conflicts
when a broadcasting organisation 'unreasonably' refuses to authorise
the retransmissions of a programme by cable.

Canal Plus has seen its net interim profits rise 33 percent to
FFr676 million compared to FFr507 million the previous period. Full
year earnings are set to be FFr1.2 billion. Canal Plus is preparing
to renegotiate its original pay-TV licence with the government.

ZDF, a German public broadcasting company, is set to announce that
it has acquired a transponder aboard Astra 1D for a planned pay-per-
view service, using digital compression technology as the prime
delivery mechanism.

Peter Robertson and David Budge have been appointed as on-the-road
sales agents for Echosphere in the UK.

Arianespace has launched SPOT-3, the French space observation
satellite and five micro-satellites into orbit successfully.

General Instrument's DigiCipher compression system has been ordered
by the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC).

CBS Television in the US says that it will grant cable systems the
right to broadcast its programming for a year without paying
reprogramming fees.

Aerospatiale has suffered a net loss of US$150 million in the first
six months of the financial year, double that of the previous year.
The decline on the international defence market is cited for the
downturn.

The Federal States of Micronesia, a Pacific Island nation, has
jointed Intelsat as its 128th member, with the Micronesia
Telecommunications Corporation as the signatory with a 0.05 percent
investment share.

Reports say that China News Europe is close to securing an Astra
transponder. Once it has, the network plans to rename itself Chinese
News and Entertainment.

ERT, the Greek state-broadcasting company, has set up a satellite
channel called ERT International. Eutelsat Ku-band capacity is being
sought.

The Algerian Ministry of Communications has cancelled plans to set
up a second TV channel, distributed by satellite..

A bomb exploded outside the US Embassy in Tallinn, Estonia, damaging
a satellite dish and communications equipment, says the US embassy.
No personnel were hurt.

The Parliamentary Channel commences transmissions of UK
parliamentary sessions once again from 11 October as the
parliamentary season reopens.

NORTH AMERICAN SIGHTINGS: Robert Smathers is on holiday.

DIARY
11-15 October
Encom '93
The Hague, Netherlands
Tel: [phone]

11-14 October
ERS-1 Symposium
Hamburg, Germany
Tel: [phone]

12 October
Optical Fibre Systems for Cable Television
London, UK
Tel: [phone]

12-14 October
Inmarsat Second International Mobile Satellite Communications
Conference:
Paris, France
Tel: [phone]

12-14 October
Communications '93
RDS, Ballsbridge, Dublin
Tel: [phone]

14-15 October
Cable  and Satellite in Education '93
Blackburn, UK
Tel: [phone]

14-18 October
Broadcast technology and equipment conference
Milan, Italy
Tel: [phone]

15-17 October
Space '93
Hastings, UK
Tel: [phone]

18-20 October
European Cable Communications '93
London, UK
Tel: [phone]

20-21 October
Screen Entertainment 2000-The New Technology Agenda
London, UK
Tel: [phone]

27-29 October
Home Satellite TV Asia
Phuket, Thailand
Tel: [phone]

29-31 October
Broadcast India 93
Bombay, India
Tel: [phone]

2-4 November
Satellite Communications (3rd Euro Conf.)
Manchester, UK
Tel: [phone]

2-4 November
CATV and satellite conference & equipment exhibition
Budapest, Hungary
Tel: [phone]

3 November
Telecommunications in Euroipe
London, UK
Tel: [phone]

3-5 November
3rd CEPT Radio Conference
Madrid, Spain
Tel: [phone]

3 November
Telecommunications in Europe
London, UK
Tel: [phone]

4 November
Broadcast Audio equipment exhibition
Birmingham, UK
Tel: [phone]

8 November
Telecom Trends (cable telephony)
Opportunities in Europe
New York, USA
Tel: [phone]

10-11 November
Adam Smith Institute Conference/Exhibition for Satellite
Communications for Business Users
Amsterdam, Holland
Tel: [phone]

10 November
Digital terrestrial television
London, UK
Tel: [phone]

10 November
Digital TV by satellite
London, UK
Tel: [phone]

15 November
The future of Ka band for satellite communications
London, UK
Tel: [phone]

16-18 November
Broadcast technology equipment exhibition
Tokyo, Japan
Tel: [phone]

23 November
Spectrally efficient techniques for satellite communications
London, UK
Tel: [phone]

25-28 November
Communications & Broadcast 93
Istanbul, Turkey
Tel:[phone]

26 November
Telecommunications Contracts
London, UK
Tel: [phone]

29-30 November
A Charter for Public Broadcasting (EBU)
Brussels, Belgium
Tel: [phone]

30 November-1 December
Sircom '93
Paris, France
Tel: [phone]

1 December
The incredible shrinking satellite
London, UK
Tel: [phone]

1-2 December
European Science Media Conference
Geneva, Switzerland
Tel: [phone]

7-8 December
10th European Satellite Communications Conference
London, UK
Tel: [phone]

13-14 December
Exploting the future potential of cable telephony
London, UK
Tel: [phone]

1994

16-20 January
16th Annual Pacific Telecommunications Conference
Honolulu, Hawaii
Tel: [phone]

16-20 January
Saudicom '94
Riyadhi, Saudi Arabia
Tel: [phone]

25 January
Vertical Blanking Interval
London, UK
Tel: [phone]

8-10 February
Integrated Communications 94
London, UK
Tel: [phone]

15-17 February
Smart Card 94
London, UK
Tel: [phone]

15 February
S80T-a microsatellite for low cost mobile communications
London, UK
Tel: [phone]

11-13 April
Cable & Satellite 94
Olympia, London
Tel: [phone]

25-29 April 1994
Africa Telecom
Cairo, Egypt
Tel: [phone]

Tel:
15-21 May 1994
Input '94
Montreak, Canada
Tel: [phone]

20-25 September
Live '94
Earls Court, London
Tel: [phone]

30 November-2 December
Cable & Satellite Asia
Hong Kong
Tel: [phone]

30 November-2 December
MIP Asia Screening & Conference
Hong Kong
Tel: [phone]

1995
21-24 January
Middle East Broadcast 95
Bahrain, UAE
Tel: [phone]

25 August-3 September
International Funkaustellung '95
Berlin, Germany
Tel: [phone]


Companies are requested to fax information about forthcoming
events to "Diary" on [phone] or through mail in good
time for publication. There is no charge for this facility.
Entries used as space permits.


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