Talk Network Web page http://ttn.nai.net/, during the past 2 years has been on the cutting edge of technology, and was among one of the first sites in the US using RealAudio. The Talk Network site brings you the latest news on Satellites, Cable TV, Pirate Radio, Amateur Satellite Communications, Satellite TV Piracy and more!
The Talk Network web page will be among one of the first sites to be part of the New PointCast Connections Program! Soon using your Pointcast Program Version 2.0, available for download from www.pointcast.com, you will be able to find your favorite TTN shows as well as special news updates (such as Friday Night Live News and Special Bulletins not found on the web site!) We are proud to have this chance to have our content listed beside CNN, Ziff Davis, The LA Times, and The Boston Globe !! Look for further updates on this exciting development soon!
If you are having trouble bringing up the TTN web page make sure you are going to http://ttn.nai.net/ also if you are going to this address and still are not having success pulling up our page then try clearing both your disk and memory cache. The page will be changing again soon when the new Pointcast option goes online!!
Though the site incurred problems over the past few month, it is reported that everything is back online and operational. In the next few months a decision may be made about the site becoming a donation site, which means the site will still be free but they will be seeking sponsors for each show.
Beginning July 7 DirectTv will no longer offer its $200 consumer rebate or require its $360 upfront programming commitment. This move may force consumers to pay over $350 for hardware from the manufacturers, such as, RCA and Sony. DirecTv will continue its Star Spangled Summer promotion, which gives the viewer 3 months of free movies and sports programming, until August 3.
Lockheed Martin and Russia's Intersputnik will form a partnership providing global satellite telecommunications with Lockheed Martin as the majority shareholder in the company, dubbed Lockheed Martin Intersputnik.
It is expected that Lockheed Martin Intersputnik will launch first in the former communist East Bloc of Europe. Company officials said after the Eastern European debut, the partnership is expected to grow worldwide.
The company will be based in London with a sales office in Moscow.
A Lockheed Martin A2100, the first of four planned satellites, is being built in Sunnyvale, California and will be launched on a Proton rocket in late 1998 . It will then be stationed above the Ural Mountains in order to provide telecommunications services in Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and Asia.
Another satellite is scheduled for launch in 1999 and two more are scheduled to lift off in the year 2000 . After the three launches the venture will expand its international spectrum, with projected revenues of between $300 million and $500 million a year . The companies said up to 15 satellites could be launched through the venture.
PrimeStar will join the American Red Cross in an effort to assist ongoing relief efforts and boost public awareness of the non-profit organization for the second year in a row.
PrimeStar has given the American Red Cross nearly 9 million dollars in donations and promotional support over the past two years.
The program, which will also donate $10 for every new PrimeStar subscriber obtained in June of 199, has expanded from 35 markets nationally in 1996 to around 46 markets in 1997.
Some limits placed on pay-per-view programming offered by the United Kingdom's cable and home satellite services may be lifted by Britain's Independent Television Commission.
The commision, whose main goal is to keep explicit material out of the hands of children, stated that it would consider lifting some limitations if the programmers activated a PIN number system or other method of childproofing access to unsuitable material.
DirecTV was launched in Guatemala on Friday the 30th of May. The DBS powerhouse, which was launched by Hughes' Galaxy Latin America service, will offer up to 152 video and 33 audio channels with customized entertainment options for viewers . The service is available in Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, Mexico, Chile, Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago, Panama, Ecuador and Costa Rica.
The Primestar merger wasn't the only deal scored by News Corp. recently. Ruppert Murdoch also gained International Family Intertainment, which is parent to The Family Channel.
News Corp. plans to launch a children's programming network, Fox Kids Worldwide, with the use of its new assets. The founder of Fox Kids Worldwide, Pat Robertson, will most likely be co-chairman while his son, Tim Robertson, will remain president and chief executive of the childrens network .
Fox Kids, a unit owned equally by Saban Entertainment and News Corp., plans on utilizing News Corp's worldwide distribution system to broaden International Family Entertainment.
News Corp. agreed to pay $35 a share for International Family Entertainment.
In order to satisfy President Clinton's challenge to bring The Information Age into America's classroom EchoStar's DISH network has joined forces with the National Head Start Association to form the first ever direct broadcast satellite network for Head Start programs.
Dubbed "Heads Up" the satellite network will serve 750,000 low-income pre-school children and offer parent, teacher and pupil training materials
"Heads Up", which will offer a minimum of fou r programming hours per week, was developed by Future View, a Washington-based electronic video company.
EchoStar will accommodate the Head Start program with broadcast time, satellite receivers and 18 inch dishes to get things rolling. An estimated 3,000 multiple classroom Head Start centers are expected to join the Heads Up network.
NHSA is the only non-profit membership organization that provides enhancement of Head Start programs for low-income children on a national level.
The owner and operator of Exxxtasy International announced that in late June they would bring back, by popular demand, the Exotica channel. Exotica will replace the Venus channel, and bring with it a predominantly foreign content, providing subscribers with a truly alternative channel.
Exxxtasy International offers subscribers a diverse combination with Exxxtasy, Exotica and True Blue which all moved to the new, powerful T5 satellite on transponders 11, 12 and 14 respectively.
Due to serious health problems, Sam Chisholm, BskyB chief executive, has decided to take a step down on the corporate ladder. Mark Booth, chief operating officer of JskyB, will replace Chisholm effective Jan. 1, 1998. Both AskyB and BskyB are backed by News Corp. and partners.
Sam Chisholm played a major roll in making BskyB the United Kingdom's DBS powerhouse with over 6 million households in Britian and Ireland signed up for the service. Although Chisholm is stepping down from his position as chief executive he will remain on the board of BskyB.
The company is also facing financial problems due to a report suggesting that BskyB could be excluded from bidding for new digital television licenses. BskyB was told by the U.K.'s Independent Television Commission that they should decline their equity stake in a consortium with Carlton and Grenada.