From WOOD@stab.sr.se Date: Tue, 20 Dec 1994 14:07:47 +0100 From: George Wood To: thomas@acat.oden.tips.se, andy.sennitt@almac.co.uk, ab5sm@netcom.com, hermod.pedersen@swedx.ct.se, kauto.huopio@lut.fi, kenta@sr.se, ar416@freenet.buffalo.edu, bignoise@cix.compulink.co.uk, tstader@aol.com, satnews@cix.compulink.co.uk, 100121.655@compuserve.com, 71163.1735@compuserve.com, 70630.560@compuserve.com, 100113.1517@compuserve.com, 76703.407@compuserve.com, 3382983@mcimail.com, 2446376@mcimail.com, jpdonnio@dialup.francenet.fr, scdx@get.pp.se, tp6@evansville.edu, martyn@euro.demon.co.uk Subject: scdx2214.asc ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: MediaScan :: :: SWEDEN CALLING DXERS :: :: from Radio Sweden :: :: Number 2214--Dec. 20, 1994 :: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Satellite, shortwave and other electronic media news from Radio Sweden. This week's bulletin was written by George Wood. Packet Radio BID SCDX2214 All times UTC unless otherwise noted. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- RADIO IN CYBERSPACE: WILLIAM GIBSON--In today's program we're once again exploring radio in Cyberspace, or more specifically, on the Internet. Author William Gibson is best known for his breakthrough science fiction novel from 1984, "Neuromancer", where he invented the whole concept of Cyberspace, the place where telephone calls and computer communications take place. He was here in Stockholm recently, in connection with the publication of the Swedish edition of his latest novel, "Virtual Light". Two extracts from his interview with Per Gustavsson of Swedish Radio's Science Department were included in the program. Gibson says once an interview like this would have stayed within Sweden. Now, he expects to see bits of it appearing on the Internet, illustrating how information now spreads itself around the world. We've just made his statement come true. Not only are his words winging there way around the world via shortwave and satellite, they are also now available on the Internet, since you are reading this. And since MediaScan is available as a sound file on the Net, the sound of Gibson's voice is also on the Net as well. RADIO SWEDEN--You can find us wherever Internet Multicasting can be found, but the primary upload site is ftp.funet.fi, where we can be found in the section pub, sounds, RadioSweden, Mediascan. This is the first radio program from Sweden on the Internet, but now Swedish Radio is busily setting up its own Internet World Wide Web server. In today's program we also interviewed Lars Beijar, who is charge of the project. The Swedish Radio WWW-server is to be in operation by March 1. At that time, 5 minute newscasts from the News Department and other departments here in Stockholm, along with 1 local radio station, Radio Kronoberg in Vaexsjoe, should be available for public access over the Net. Within a month of the start, Lars Beijar hopes the have the other 23 local radio stations included. Newscasts from Radio Sweden and the Immigrant Languages Department will also be available. WRN--You should be able to access Radio Sweden online in another way soon. The World Radio Network, which relays us and 21 other international broadcasters on satellite to Europe and North America, is working with Internet Multicasting in Washington DC, the same service that is carrying "MediaScan", to offer the entire WRN output on the Internet. LIVE RADIO--All of this Internet activity concerns sound files. There is some live radio and video on the Net, via a service called the MBONE. But now the first 24 hour live radio station has appeared on the MBONE. This is a student station at the University of North Caroline in Chapel Hill, WXYC, who are taking their current one the air FM signal and putting it on the Net. For more information about what they are up to, and the equipment needed to tune in, you can check out their World Wide Web page, which is: http://sunsite.unc.edu/wxyc And Radio Sweden may be joining WXYC live on the Internet. Lars Beijar also has plans for live radio from Sweden via the MBONE. After the WWW-server is running, the next project is live radio from Sweden. For copyright purposes, Radio Sweden will probably be the first programming offered. EUROPEAN SATELLITE NEWS: ASTRA--The new Astra 1D satellite is in position, and there are test patterns on transponders 54 and 60. Unfortunately, there seems to be a major problem at Astra's headquarters in Luxembourg. With the satellite due to go into service at the end of this month, Astra had said it would be announcing what broadcasters would be on the satellite on December 14th. But the 14th arrived, and all that has been heard from Luxembourg is silence. Apparently there are legal problems involved in allocating the extremely valuable Astra transponders. The only one we know about for sure is TV Asia, which is starting on transponder 54 in January. It will continue in parallel on the Sky Movies Gold transponder 26 for one month. "What Satellite TV" magazine, which has published a highly questionable list of 1D channels, since hardly any were in German, has come up with some more reasonable speculation. This is that Holland's RTL-4 will move to 1D, as will Switzerland's pay channel Teleclub. RTL's transponder 13 on Astra 1A would be taken over by the new RTL Super/German Disney Channel. The French-German cultural channel Arte is also said to have a good chance to move to Astra. ("What Satellite TV") When Teleclub moves, it will be replaced on Astra transponder 6 by Germany's Kabel Kanal, under the new name of Cable One. There are also reports that, despite all the denials, NBC Super Channel is rumored to be moving to Astra, and transponder 60. (James Robinson and Bertil Sundberg in "Paa TV") Disney is reported to be negotiating with British Sky Broadcasting to launch an English version of the Disney Channel that would be offered only to subscribers of Sky's two movie channels. If this is true, it means European viewers would be denied the Disney Channel in English, and British viewers would be forced to take the entire Sky package. Disney is likely to share transponder 26 for 16 hours a day with Sky Movies Gold, but wouldn't begin until the Fall. Talk about a Nightmare Before Christmas....("Tele-Satellit", James Robinson and "USA Today" via Michael Murray) The deal for ITN to supply Sky News has broken down, apparently because Sky wanted to continue to use it's own presenters. ("What Satellite TV") Sky One is going 24 hours from January, by programming music every night between 02:00 and 06:00 hrs. (James Robinson) If they program European-only music this could considerably boost their "European programming" statistics with the European Union (that is, French) "Europe-only" hardliners. Ted Turner is said to be in talks with Time-Warner with a view to forming a separate pay-TV package for Europe. News, cartoons, and feature films would form the backbone of the package. ("Whar Satellite TV") Turner offer this already. What more is coming? INTELSAT--A new global TV news nework began on December 1st. Telenoticias is a Spanish-language news channel that is transmitting to Spain, along with North, Central, and South America. In Europe it is also available in the clear on Intelsat-K, on 11.531 GHz. Sweden's new TV1000 Cinema will begin broadcasts on Intelsat 702 on 11.473 GHz, beginning on December 24th. It will be encoded in D2-MAC, Eurocrypt M, and free to subscribers to TV1000. ("Paa TV") TURKSAT--Show-TV has disappeared from Eutelsat II-F2. It is now on Turksat on 11.144 GHz. This is supposed to be the European beam but it is terribly weak here in Stockholm (worse than Nile TV, which is saying a lot). This does not bode well for the Turksat European beam. ARIANE/EUTELSAT/TV-SAT--The failed Ariane launch on December 1st not only destroyed the Panamsat-3 satellite, it also put back the Ariane program, while an investigation is carried out. This means the next launch, with Eutelsat's Hot Bird satellite, won't be until March or April, at the earliest. It had been rumored that Eutelsat might try to fill the gap by buying Germany's TV-SAT direct broadcast satellite. Other speculation has concerned the Swedish Space Corporation, which wants more capacity to complement Tele-X and Sirius at 5 degrees East. But according to one reliable source, TV-Sat has been sold to India. (Bertil Sundberg in "Paa TV") EUTELSAT--There is a new station on Eutelsat II-F1 evenings, in Slovak, called "Sky Channel". It is no relation to BSkyB. (James Robinson) Eutelsat has placed an order for Hot Bird-3. It will be built by the British- French company Matra Marconi Aerospace. (Tele-Satellit) AFRICAN SATELLITE NEWS: NAMIBIA--Multichoice Namibia is introducing 5 more channels to subscribers: K-TV/Super Sport, Bop Television, Television One, and CNN. (BBC Monitoring) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sweden Calling DXers/MediaScan is the world's oldest radio program about international broadcasting. Radio Sweden has presented this round-up of radio news, features, and interviews on Tuesdays since 1948. It's currently broadcast on the first and third Tuesdays of the month. Radio Sweden broadcasts in English: Europe: 17:15 hrs 1179 and 6065 kHz 18:30 1179, 6065, 9655, and 13690 kHz (also Africa/Middle East) 21:30 1179, 6065, and 9655 kHz (also Africa/Middle East) 22:30 1179 and 6065 kHz 23:30 1179 kHz Asia/Pacific: 12:30 hrs 13775, 15120, and 15240 kHz 23:30 11910 kHz 01:30 9895 and 11695 kHz North America: 13:30 and 14:30 hrs on 11650 and 15240 kHz 02:30 and 03:30 hrs on 6200 and 7120 kHz Latin America: 00:30 hrs on 6065 and 6200 kHz The broadcasts at 17:15 and 18:30 hrs are also relayed to Europe by satellite: Astra 1B (19.2 degrees East) transponder 26 (Sky Movies Gold) at 11.597 GHz, audio subcarrier at 7.74 MHz, Tele-X (5 degrees East) via TV5 Nordic at 12.475 GHz, audio subcarrier 7.38 MHz. Radio Sweden is also relayed to Europe via the World Radio Network on VH-1's transponder 22 on Astra, audio 7.38 MHz, daily at 20:00 hrs UTC. Radio Sweden can also be heard on WRN's North American service on Galaxy-5, on WTBS's transponder 6, audio 6.8 MHz, daily at 00:00 and 20:00 hrs. Sound files of Mediascan are archived at: ftp.funet.fi:pub/sounds/RadioSweden/Mediascan. If you access to the WorldWide Web, you can also find the programs among the offerings of Internet Talk Radio at: ftp://town.hall.org/radio/Mirrors/RadioSweden/MediaScan Contributions can be sent to DX Editor George Wood by fax to +468-667-6283, via the Internet to wood@stab.sr.se, from MCI Mail or CompuServe to the CompuServe mailbox 70247,3516, 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 MediaScan/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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks to this week's contributors Good Listening!