Echostar plans to deliver this fall "between 20 and 30 channels of topic-specific interactive content such as news, sports, weather and entertainment." E* has "already signed an agreement to offer an interactive channel from Bloomberg Business News and inked a letter of intent to offer programming from simplyTV, a Web-based services that has built a library of 1,000 programs that can be delivered via systems that use Internet protocols. Each "channel" would broadcast data at rates of 400,000 bits per second, with the set-top boxes filtering the incoming signal to store only the data requested by a user.
The quality of the video will likely fall short of broadcast standards but will be significantly better than
the quality offered on the Web today, said Simply/TV Executive Vice President Tot Sawicki. EchoStar,
which now beams cable television programming to 1.2 million subscribers, in October plans to roll out a
set-top box with a 2.5 gigabyte hard drive that likely will be priced at $400 or less, McGary said. Also in
the works are PC boards that would allow computers to receive data broadcast by the EchoStar services.
EchoStar still has not determined whether it will charge viewers monthly or annual subscrip-tion fees or
whether it will implement pay-per-view offerings tied to its Internet-based broadcasting service."
DBS Companies are working on solutions for local channel access, each one a little different than other competing ideas.
DirecTV President Eddy Harten-stein said his company will provide a platform for the first high- definition television broadcasts later this year. Two channels of HDTV program-ming will be delivered by Hughes' IIIR satellite, and Thomson Con-sumer Electronics will deliver the set-top box. Hartenstein said the company is speaking with three other manufacturers regarding HDTV systems. He also said negotiations continue with broad-casters regarding a closer relation-ship between local stations and the DSS service.
EchoStar continues to push satellite uplinks of local stations as the best way to distinguish itself from competitors. Chairman Charlie Ergen said the company is working in Washington, D.C., for legislation that will make it easier for its local-into-local plans, and is fighting against must-carry mandates similar to rules governing cable.
U.S. Satellite Broadcasting is promoting maps that show signal strengths for off-air antennas,
considered the best solution by the company and its DSS partner DirecTV. PrimeStar President Dan
O'Brien said his company will promote off-air antennas as the best method for local station access. But he
said the company will promote the use of an "analog service" such as cable to get local stations.
As digital television approaches its official debut in the United States, a clearer picture emerges on how much new HDTV sets and other technology will cost consumers.
According to US News Online, the first customers will bear the financial brunt of early adoption - $7,000 to $12,000 per set. The first wave of digital TV sets coming out this fall are projected to be large- screened, costly sets.
For DSS owners, Thomson Consumer Electronics' Proscan set will sell for $7,000 to $8,000, and includes a 61-inch screen and a built-in decoder for DirecTV.
Samsung's first set will be one of the industry's smallest, a 55-inch-diagonal screen. The price of the set, to go on sale near the end of the year, should be under $8,500. Zenith's HDTV set, topping $10,000, has a 64-inch screen.
Sony's first HDTV set will be one of the only first generation sets that will be "direct view" with a picture tube. It will be priced somewhere between $7,000 and $12,000.
In November, Pioneer will unveil a 50-inch "plasma" TV, a flat-panel, hang-on-the-wall set that's less
than six inches thick. The price for the Pioneer set is somewhere in the $25,000, and it comes without a
tuner.
The Discovery Channel will launch a new programming initiative called Expedition Adventure, which
will film scientific expeditions around the world at ancient sites. The program will premiere in the 1998-99
season with the following special presentations: Cleopatra's Palace, a look at the sunken palace of the
queen; Forbidden Depths, an under-water exploration of a deep-sea canyon where three new species of life
are discovered; and Lost Warriors of the Clouds, a discovery of 200 mummies in a cave in the mountains
of Peru.
DirecTV will add Toon Disney, a new 24-hour all-animation network from Disney Channel, in April.
It will be added to all Total Choice programming packages. EchoStar's DISH Network also will carry Toon
Disney.
The sun is preparing to unleash one of its most unusual - and possibly quite damaging - solar storms to date, a natural event that could destroy satellites and hinder other commun-ications.
According to astron-omers, solar storm activity dramatically increased in March, signaling the start of a four-year storm season. Solar storm series occur every 11 years, and scientists said this could be one of the worst cycles to date.
More troubling is the fact that more and more people rely on satellites and other forms of electronic communications than ever before. In addition to that, solar activity can impact electrical utilities, causing massive blackouts.
One solar event was blamed for knocking out a Telstar satellite in the SkyNet fleet. According to NASA, at least one satellite has been lost for every major recorded solar storm.
Heavy satellite users, including DTH and cable companies, are expected to meet next month to discuss
options.
DirecTV and top NFL draft picks were presented with free RCA DSS systems and football package
subscriptions this week. DirecTV and the NFL presented the gifts to the family of every player selected in
the first round of the 1998 draft. Players also got free DSS and programming gifts.
All new subscribers who purchase a DSS system between April 23 and May 31, and subscribe to
DirecTV and USSB by June 10, will receive $100 worth of free programming.
As expected, U.S. Satellite Broadcasting reported it lost subscribers when it gave up basic networks to DirecTV and switched to a premium movie channel format in March.
The company lost about 72,000 subscribers due to programming changes. Yet, it added approximately
59,000 net new subscribers during the first quarter. USSB was serving 1.799 million paying subscribers at
the end of March.
EchoStar Communications will launch its fourth satellite from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakh-stan in May, with the hopes of parking the bird in its full-CONUS slot at 119 degrees.
The company wants to operate EchoStar IV at the 119-degree orbital location with EchoStar II, and is wating for the FCC to approve the proposal. EchoStar I, currently at the 119-degree position, will be trans- ferred to 148 degrees if the move is granted by the agency.
EchoStar I, along with EchoStar III at 61.5 degrees, will expand EchoStar's local programming initia-
tive to approximately 20 of the largest metropolitan areas. The bird also would provide expanded inter-
national and niche channels, educational and business television and data delivery applications.
The Outdoor Channel has signed a national carriage agreement with EchoStar Communications.
"We are looking forward to being launched on the DISH Network as it will be our first DBS launch," said Andy Dale, president and COO of The Outdoor Channel. "I am aware of a tremendous amount of pent-up demand by sportsmen for this network and now they have a means of satisfying that demand."
The Outdoor Channel is an independently-owned network that provides programming on outdoor sports
and interests such as fishing, hunting, and camping. The network has distribution in more than eight
million households in the United States.
The Learning Channel is joining the American Red Cross to launch a national television campaign for
children, TLC Safety Heroes. The effort will offer safety information to kids and families utilizing Red
Cross' extensive network of more than 1,300 local chapters and the organization's safety expertise
.
ESPN and ABC will be the exclusive network for nightly football matches on Sunday and Monday.
ESPN's Sunday coverage will show 18 games, and begins the season with a broadcast between the Oakland
Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs. The network will complement its coverage with NFL2Night and NFL
Countdown.
The Weather Channel avoided becoming part of a story it was covering involving the tragic swarm of tornadoes that swept across the Southeast United States in April.
A twister that earlier devastated parts of Alabama and Georgia passed The Weather Channel's headquarters in northern Atlanta by just a few hundred yards. Meteorologists were moved away from the network's update desk, located near windows, to the interior studio of The Weather Channel's eight-story glass building during the storm.
The network suffered mild damage to one satellite dish that was easily repaired. Though power outages were rampant, the 24-hour weather information source used generator power to stay on-air throughout the storm. No one was injured on or near the studio site.
The close call gave The Weather Channel an opportunity to promote its Project SafeSide effort, a
national weather safety and educational campaign that teams the resources of the American Red Cross with
the network. For its community contrib-utions, Project SafeSide recently received a Beacon Award from the
Cable Television Public Affairs Association and a Big Apple Award from the Public Relations Society of
America's New York Chapter.
The Mexican arm of Sky Latin America continues to fight the export and sale of its DTH systems in the United States, though company officials admit it's difficult to curb the flight of dishes to points north of the border.
The sale of Sky Mexican systems in the United States isn't illegal. But it has created a gray market situation similar to U.S. dishes crossing into Canada. The increased dish availability north of the border also surfaced as Sky added Zenith and Philips to its list of manufacturers.
"We are fighting against the sale of our dishes in the United States. We are trying to eliminate the problem. But it's complicated," said Jorge Alvarez, Sky Mexico's General Director.
"Satellites go beyond borders. Being in that situation, it takes a lot more work to curb the situation."
Sky partner Televisa has a license for a Mexican-based DTH service in the Southwestern United States, an area inside Sky's satellite footprint. But a U.S. offering hasn't been formally launched or authorized by the company. A Spanish-language, Mexican-based DTH service could be lucrative, especially since Mexican-born residents represent the largest immigrant population in the United States.
Most Sky DTH systems cross the California part of the border, in towns like Tijuana and Mexicali,
company officials said. Dishes are usually sold inside the United States, and are heavily publicized in
Spanish-language publications in Southern California.
Home satellite companies have an edge with ethnic programming that cable operators just aren't delivering.
DirecTV plans to deliver the following new ethnic channels: WMNB, a Russian language network; Network Asia, focused on India-oriented content; Ukrainian Broadcasting Network; CiaoTV The Italian Superchannel, and Egyptian Satellite Channel and Nile TV, both Arabic networks. These six networks will be offered through subscription packages and will provide marketing, customer service and billing in native languages.
DISH Network is also offering ethnic programming including: Fox Sports Americas, MTV Latino, and Telemundo, all three of which offer Spanish-language programming; Antenna, a Greek/Croatian network; ART, an Arabic channel; and RAI which provides Italian programming.
PrimeStar provides two ethnic channels -- TV Japan and Univision, a Spanish-language network. The satellite provider also offers partial Spanish-language dubbing on seven networks including HBO, Encore, and The Family Channel.
Look for more ethnic networks to come to home satellite as niche programming becomes less expen-sive
and more in demand.
The Federal Trade Commission said consumers would benefit if laws were changed to allow satellite television broadcasters to retransmit local stations.
The FTC, in comments to the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress, said giving satellite services access to local stations would increase competition in the multichannel market.
Cable companies argue that home satellite should not be allowed to carry local signals unless the they are subject to must carry rules carriage of all local signals in each market. The FTC rejected that view, concluding that must carry was imposed on cable after lawmakers realized monopoly cable systems could use their exclusive franchise to discriminate against some local stations.
"In contrast with franchised cable operators...DBS operators lack market power now, and they are
unlikely to acquire it in the near future," the agency said in a statement.
EchoStar Communications faces a patent infringement lawsuit from a Maryland entrepreneur who alleges the company is using a stolen "caller ID" design on high-end, set-top receivers.
Peter James of Germantown, Md., is seeking damages for "willful infringement" in the suit. Also named a defendant is set-top supplier JVC Corp., the Japanese manufacturing giant making boxes for EchoStar.
The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Maryland.
James has an electronics catalog company which sells a $120 device that automatically displays a caller's name and number on the top of a television screen without interrupting programming. The product, which plugs into a cable box or VCR, expands display venues of the caller ID services marketed by phone companies.
James claims he has exclusive licensing rights to the 4-year-old patent, called Computer Telecom-
munications Signaling Interface, from the Saskatchewan Government Growth Fund in Canada.
Home Box Office has announced the launch of two multiplex packages - HBO The Works and MultiMAX - that will provide ten HBO and Cinemax branded channels.
HBO The Works will consist of the following channels: HBO, HBO Plus, HBO Signature, HBO Family, HBO Comedy, and HBO Zone. The package is expected to be available in the fourth quarter of this year, with original programming for each channel by the beginning of 1999.
The MultiMAX package will include four channels - Cinemax, MoreMAX, ActionMAX and ThrillerMAX. MultiMAX will be launched on June 1.
The two multiplex packages will be available to all HBO and Cinemax distributors via digital format.