-------------------------------- SKYGUIDE UK --------------------------------- | | | Issue 7 - In your four full value pages this week... - Issue 7 | | | ------------------------ Week Ending Sat 24th April 1993 --------------------- Page 1 Page 2 * RED HOT IN COURT * WACO DRAMA ON SKY? * EQUITY STRIKE GOLD * NEW FACES ON SKY NEWS * POTTY ADVERTS * THE BIG FIGHT - ONLY ON SATELLITE * THREE NEW BBC CHANNELS FOR ASTRA Page 3 * YET MORE AMERICAN NETWORKS ON ASTRA 1C ? * SKY SHAREHOLDER BUYS THAMES * WHEN IS DEEP SPACE NINE ON? The Back Page * A DATE FOR YOUR DIARY * ISSUE TWO FOR A NEW MAGAZINE * RASPBERRY OF THE WEEK Skyguide Issue 007 Page 1 -------------------------------- SKYGUIDE UK --------------------------------- | | | Your digest of the latest news in the world of Satellite & Cable TV | | | ---------------------- Week Ending Sat 24th April 1993 ----------------------- * RED HOT IN COURT Red Hot Television had their day in the High Court today (Friday). Two High Court judges refused RHTV's request to restrain Heritage Secretary Peter Brooke from issuing a proscription order against the channel, but they have referred to the European Court of Justice, who will decide whether the Government's action was lawful. The UK judges will not make a final ruling until the European court decide if the Government action is lawful. The UK Ban on the channel will continue until the European court hearing. If RHTV was ruled illegal, it would be illegal to support the channel, list the programmes, sell use or buy decoding equipment, or to advertise the service. A spokesman for Continental Television said earlier in the week that they would carry on selling decoders to the UK from Holland if they were banned in this country. The number of RHTV subscribers increased by more than 20 percent following the Government's announcement of their intention to ban the channel. * EQUITY STRIKE GOLD Actor's union Equity has won another battle against UK Gold. Following a disagreement earlier this year over repeat fees, BBC Enterprises conceded to Equity's terms, allowing for increased payments to actors whose performances were repeated on UK Gold. Thames Television has also now agreed to pay repeat fees along the lines of that original agreement. This now opens the door for complete access to programmes in the Thames library, allowing screenings of more Thames programmes on UK Gold. * POTTY ADVERTS The Independent Television Commission received just under thirty complaints about an advert for Golden Wonder's Pot Snacks. The ads, featuring high-speed computer graphics, are said to have triggered epileptic fits in three viewers in the UK. The commercial was also aired across Europe on MTV, UK Gold and Sky, although it is not known if any European viewers were similarly affected. The advertising agency had sought medical advice before beginning the campaign, and replaced the commercial following the concern. On a similar theme, the ITC has also received complains about adverts for "The Guardian" newspaper. Some viewers have complained of dizziness and eye strain following the commercials, which feature a fast-moving collage of words. After due consideration, the ITC announced that they did not intend to ban the ad. -------------------------- Skyguide Issue 007 Page 2 * WACO DRAMA ON SKY? The Waco siege has been made into a TV movie. "Ambush At Waco" will be screened in America later next month. Actor Timothy Daly will play the part of David Koresh, leader of the Branch Dividians cult. World International Network, the distibutors of the movie, say that the drama has already been sold to a British Broadcaster, although they are unwilling to reveal which one. While Sky has purchased a number of real-life dramas from WIN in the past, ITV also stand a chance of screening the movie, bearing in mind that Central Television is a member of WIN. * NEW FACES ON SKY NEWS Sky has announced the recruitment of two new presenters to the station, following the departure of Scott Chisholm and Chris Mann. Presenters Frank Partridge and Laurie Meyer, both from the BBC, have been chosen to fill the gaps. * THE BIG FIGHT - ONLY ON SATELLITE Pace has spectacularly annoyed Amstrad with its current advertising campaign, which makes comparisons between Pace and Amstrad satellite receivers, predictably with Amstrad coming out worse off. Both companies have long disagreed with each other's claims regarding their respective shares of the UK satellite dish market in the past. Amstrad has now served a writ on Pace for libel, slander (of its goods) and malicious falsehood. * THREE NEW BBC CHANNELS FOR ASTRA The BBC has announced it intends to launch three new channels next year on the Astra 1D satellite. [D for Delta, this is not a mistake] The three channels will comprise a news channel, a documentary channel, and a children's channel. Director General John Birt has agreed to the move, and the BBC have said that they feel it is important to get into a "genre" early. The channels are likely to be supported by advertising in the initial period. The announcement looks set to create head-on competition with a number of channels in Sky's subscription package due to launch later this year, featuring, among others, the news channel Sky News, documentary channel Discovery and children's channel Nickelodeon. The BBC sought to downplay the competition, saying that in particular their documentary channel would complement Discovery, rather than compete with it. Talks were ongoing some time ago regarding the feasibility of a joint news channel with Sky, but it is understood that agreement could not be met since Rupert Murdoch insisted on overall control. The BBC will also be involved in the Thames "Women's Lifestyle" channel, set to launch on Astra 1C. -------------------------- Skyguide Issue 007 Page 3 * YET MORE AMERICAN NETWORKS ON ASTRA 1C ? Little more than strong rumours at the moment, but it looks likely that American film and television giants Paramount and MCA will launch two channels in Europe on Astra 1C. Both The USA Network and The Sci-Fi Channel are already running in the US, and the move is in line with many American broadcaster's desires to enter the European market. The Sci-Fi Channel is a particular cause of angst in the USA, since many cable television networks do not carry the channel, despite large demand from viewers. Many US cable networks have now reached their maximum capacity - as little as 30 channels in some cases - and no further channels can be added without dropping an existing channel, or upgrading the network. Neither options are particularly attractive to US cablenets - upgrading a network is very expensive, and with so many channels actually paying to be carried - such as Home Shopping or evangelical channels, there seems to be no easy solution. * SKY SHAREHOLDER BUYS THAMES Pearson, publisher of the Financial Times and BSkyB shareholder to the tune of 17.5%, has purchased Thames Television for 200 pence per share, valuing the company at some 99 million pounds. Majority shareholder Thorn EMI, owning just under 59% of the shares, have agreed to Pearson's bid, so it looks very much like a done deal. Thames Television lost the London ITV franchise on December 31st last year, but continues to make a number of programmes for the ITV Network, as well as being involved in the satellite channel UK Gold. Thames shares rose sharply to around 195 pence per share following the announcement this morning, up twenty pence. * WHEN IS DEEP SPACE NINE ON? Sky One's May schedules are all over the place, and it now looks as if Star Trek: Deep Space Nine may have been moved back for screening in the Autumn after all. "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles" now seem almost certain to be taking the Sunday 7pm slot from May 2nd. It's all very confusing, with a number of conflicting reports. I'll be absolutely frank, I don't know what the hell is happening. Your guess is as good as mine! * A DATE FOR THE DIARY Assuming good weather, expect Astra 1C to launch on Wednesday April 28th. Don't expect to see any transmissions from the satellite for a while though, it'll take a while to get into position. -------------------------- Skyguide Issue 007 The Back Page * ISSUE TWO FOR NEW MAGAZINE Issue Two of the new magazine "Buying Satellite" is in your newsagents now. Sadly they couldn't manage to go one month without the word "SEX" appearing on the cover again. Among the highlights is details of how to video satellite TV - useful advice if you do not possess the July 1989 issue of "What Satellite" (from the same publisher) which carries a feature on "how to video satellite TV". Buying Satellite is, of course, designed for a non-technical audience. The cover strap says "Your e-a-s-y guide to buying and using satellite TV", presumably spacing out the letters in "easy" in order that its readers are not confused by the long word. There's definitely room in the market for a "novice" publication like this, although if Issue 2 is anything to go by, this is not the one. A brief flick through the magazine revealed a number of excruciating errors, some repeated as many as three times. We particularly liked the advice that a centre speaker in a surround sound system should be placed in front of your television (which may somewhat obstruct your view of the screen). Satellite novices will also be interested to hear that "The Adult Channel" broadcasts for three hours a night (um.. four), on Sky One's transponder, (no..) that TCC starts at 4.30pm (5pm actually) and that it shows a home-produced programme named "Saved By The Bell" (which hitherto a small American network named "NBC" were rather under the impression that they were responsible for). But enough of the sub-editing. .. Which may have been what the publishers said. :-) * RASPBERRY OF THE WEEK .. goes to Sky News for completely failing to report the news about Red Hot Television this afternoon. Admittedly they did seem a little busy covering a story about an alleged takeover of "The Observer" newspaper, very manfully staging an OB from "Central London" at the "Observer HQ", which is more commonly known as "Marcopolo House", home of the defunct BSB. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Skyguide is published weekly and is copyright. Not to be redistributed in any form without consent. Errors and Omissions expected. (c) 1993 by Ant Purvis Comments, suggestions, stories and monetary donations are always appreciated! You can contact Skyguide in the following ways: CIX : mail to bignoise, or use the Skyguide/comments conference. Fidonet : Netmail to ANTONY PURVIS at 2:251/22, or leave a message in the Satellite TV echo. Internet: bignoise@cix.compulink.co.uk