1997 TVRO YEAR IN REVIEW compiled by Robert Smathers (roberts@nmia.com) (C) 1997 Robert Smathers Here is what I consider among the major events in TVRO/Cable/DBS/related industries in 1997. JANUARY ======= - Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) starts HDTV satellite distribution tests - DSS smart cart swapout begins; should be complete by Spring 1997 - WWOR leaves c-band on Satcom C4/15; Animal Planet launches on that transponder in analog Videocipher 2+ format (Animal Planet isn't just transmitted in Digicipher 2 anymore) - Video Catalog Channel (VCC) moves from Anik E2/18 C-band to Galaxy 6/7 - Venus adult TV moves to Telstar 402R/19 - Romance Classics launches on Galaxy 7/12 c-band - Friday Night Live starts the year on the Worldwide Freedom Radio Network - Keystone Communcations (currently known to the world as Globecast Communications) purchases 3 transponders on Galaxy 4; little did they or the North American dish owners know how good that acquision was, as ... - Telstar 401 goes out of service unexpectedly, about 6:15am Eastern time on Saturday Morning, January 11; charged particles related to solar activity is believed to have doomed the satellite; Telstar 401 users were lucky when the satellite disaster occurred - it was early on a Saturday morning, a very quiet time. ABC and FOX moved to Telstar 402R c-band and were able to get restored in time to not miss much of the Saturday morning programming; Paramount feeds moved to the Galaxy 4 transponders that Keystone had just acquired; PBS gets restored to Telstar 402R Ku, transponder 7; services without new homes immediately included Spectravision, Georgia Public TV, South Carolina Educational TV, Louisiana Public TV, and National Technological University. - General Instruments announces they will soon split into 3 separate businesses - Next Level Systems, General Semiconductor, and CommScope (the split actually officially took place in late July) - Expressvu Canadian DBS announces they will be using the same digital video gear that Echostar's D.I.S.H. DBS service uses - National Programming Service (NPS) brings WWOR back to satellite on Spacenet 4/14 c-band. - A Delta GPS satellite launch failed spectacularly - ABC uses GE-1 C-band for their backup affiliate feeds - GE-2 successfully launched on an Ariane launch vehicle FEBRUARY ======== - Telstar 402R undergoes a name change - to just plain Telstar 4. - General Instruments announces a new stat mux process that will increase to 16 the potential number of video streams that can be put on one transponder using Digicipher 2 technology - South Carolina Educational TV finds a home on Orion 1; National Technological University airs on SBS-5; Kentucky Educational TV airs on GE-1 Ku, Georgia Public TV finds their new home on Spacenet 4 Ku - Consumer Satellite Systems (CSS) named a 4DTV satellite receiver distributor by NextLevel Systems; 4DTV release scheduled for June MARCH ===== - GE-2 goes into service; NASA TV received much better throughout the North American continent from this much stronger satellite - DirecTV changes their Total Choice package; Encore and Encore-themed channels are removed from the Total Choice package while WGN and Animal Planet are some of the channels added; Encore services can be had for $4/month extra. - CBS and Bryant Gumbel come to terms on a contract - SBCA show held in Las Vegas, Nevada - Telstar 302 drifts from 85 deg W to 97 deg W to be used for occasional video transmissions; there aren't any takers for cheap capacity - CBS' Eye on People network launches on Galaxy 7 in digital format - Alphastar Canada commences service on Telstar 4 Ku-band; Alphastar United States service continues to be on Telstar 4 Ku - Tempo-2 DBS satellite is launched - American Sports Classics to launch later in the year as a competitor to Classic Sports Network (ed. note - at the end of 1997, ASC still hasn't launched and I've not heard of any plans for them ever launching) APRIL ===== - FCC ruled that stations in the top United States television markets must broadcast in HDTV in the next 3 years; the rest of the U.S. television stations will have to the year 2006 to begin HDTV transmissions - The industry speculates that there is something wrong (power loss) with the Tempo-2 DBS satellite - PBS announces they will be changing satellites in early October; a contract is signed for 7 transponders on the soon-to-be-launched GE-3 Ku-band and 1 transponder on GE-1 c-band - FCC says that HDTV licenses will be free to broadcasters - CNN opens up their Havana Cuba bureau - USIA Worldnet launches on GE-2 c-band using Powervu digital format - Star Choice launches their DBS service in Canada MAY === - 4DTV satellite receiver is released; a very preliminary version that will improve with time (especially in November) - Telstar 5 launches on a Proton rocket (International Launch Services launch) - The Bank of Montreal asks for the TeeComm loan to be repaid; TeeComm and Alphastar file for Chapter 11 bankrupcy in the United States courts - Reed Hundt announces his days at the FCC are numbered; he will soon be resigning as head of the FCC; William Kennard is soon picked and approved by the Senate to be the new FCC head - WQXR-FM from New York City is pulled from satellite subcarrier audio on Satcom C4/15; in November it resurfaces on Spacenet 4/14 - The first Iridium satellites are launched JUNE ==== - ABC and FOX lead the way to make TV ratings more descriptive (adding the S, L, V, D designators to the TV rating). The new ratings system is shortly thereafter implemented by some TV networks (NBC not using it). - Ruppert Murdoch finalizes his deal with Primestar; he also finalizes a deal to purchase International Family Entertainment (IFE) - HBO reveals plans to have HDTV programming by summer 1998. Discovery Channel shortly after that announces they will offer HDTV programming in 1998 - Bill Gates and Microsoft purchase Comcast (a cable television operator) - Friday Night Live moves to the Skylark Radio Network - In a big PPV boxing match, Mike Tyson is disqualified for biting Evander Holyfield's ear JULY ==== - Telstar 5 goes into operation; FOX and ABC and adult services light up C-band; analog occasional video on some Ku transponders; many transponders are taken by Alphastar DBS on the Ku side - Mars Pathfinder Lander and Rover land on Mars; plenty of good coverage (coverage of the landing and signal acquisition; press conferences) was found on NASA TV - DSS ends $200 rebate promotion (promotion was buy a dish and 1 year of Total Choice programming package and get $200 back) - CBC Newsworld begins digital video transmissions on Anik E2 Ku - The first Iridium satellite fails; 21 sats are still in orbit and performing well AUGUST ====== - South Carolina Educational TV moves from Orion-1 to Telstar 4 Ku - Alphastar DBS service officially goes out of service; all those 19 transponders they had been using on Telstar 5 Ku become available for other uses - SBCA show held in Nashville, Tennessee - Panamsat-5 and Panamsat-6 are successfully launched - Brandon Tartikoff, the NBC executive who made NBC a winner in television ratings, dies SEPTEMBER ========= - GE-3 is successfully launched on an Atlas launch vehicle - CSPAN-3 launches using a digital signal on the transponder edge of the analog CSPAN-2 transponder on Satcom C4/19 - Princess Di dies at the end of August; the spectaular funeral occurs in early September and ITN and BBC provide great coverage of it to the world - ESPN announces they will acquire Classic Sports Network - Expressvu Canadian DBS launches - Deutsche Welle begins dual-illumination on a move from Satcom C4/5 to GE-1/22. The dual-illumination ends in November. - Next Level Systems releases the Magnitude SR-3360 MPEG2/DVB compliant digital receiver - BBC World appears on TCI's Headend in the Sky (HITS) digital service - Panamsat-5 goes into operation at 58 degrees West. OCTOBER ======= - Primetime 24 changes the CBS East affiliate from WRAL-TV Raleigh to WSEE-TV Erie, Pennsylvania - GE-3 officially goes into service at 87 degrees West; there is much better reception on C-band video services from the much stronger GE-3 as compared to the older, weaker Spacenet 3R - Spacenet 3R moves and goes into service at 83 deg W - NBC NewsChannel digitizes using the Wegener video compression system - Global TV in Canada goes Powervu digital for their network feeds - Echostar 3 is launched - PBS carries out their transition from Telstar 4 Ku-band to GE-3 Ku-band and GE-1 C-band - Friday Night Live moves to the Omega Radio Network - The B-Movie Channel launches on Galaxy 7/22 c-band, but just as quickly leaves the TVRO airwaves - Intelsat 803 at 27.5 degrees West delivers very good quality pictures to home dish owners in the Eastern part of North America - WLBT-TV's transmission tower near Jackson, Mississippi collapses; WLBT uses Satcom C4/12 to feed cable companies until the tower is fixed - FCC makes it legal to transmit and receive from the United States to the Mexican-owned satellites (currently Morelos 2 and Solidaridad 1 and 2) - CCTV 4 China launches on Galaxy 4 Ku-band - Loral and its Mexican partner Telefonica Autrey had the winning bid in the auction to privatize the Mexican satellites (satellites involved are Morelos 2, Solidaridad 1 and 2, and the soon-to-be-launched Morelos 3) - Primetime 24 and Superstation copyright fees will increase by about 27 cents a month beginning in January 1998 - Iridium loses their second satellite; Motorola and the rest of the Iridium group say it is no big deal as it was planned to have some sats fail and not have it affect operations NOVEMBER ======== - Primetime 24 changes the ABC East affiliate from WJLA-TV Washington DC to WKRN-TV Nashville - CNN Headline News undergoes the first format changes in a long time -- weather updates at :08 and :38, summaries of the top news stories at :15 and :45 while Dollars and Sense slides one minute to :16 and :46. There is also a new look (graphics, music, and control room backdrop). - Paxson TV Network (PaxNet) is announced; it will launch in 1998 - Radio Aahs announces the network will cease opertions as a full time radio network come January 30, 1998 - Connie Chung and ABC come to terms on a contract - Echostar 3 continues to undergo satellite testing; Charlie Ergin announces that NASA TV will be carried on Echostar 3 - Friday Night Live moves to the W0KIE Radio Network on SBS6 Ku; it also marks the first time that FNL won't be one continuous show from beginning to end - there are two windows for FNL show programming due to the bingo uplink requirements DECEMBER ======== - Champion Holdings may try to launch a DBS service in 1998 using recently acquired Alphastar assets - Telesat Canada annouces that 2 "F" series satellites will be built to replace the Anik E series satellites; a name-the-satellite contest begins for the new satellites - Galaxy 8i was launched; it will go into service for Galaxy Latin America - Next Level announces it will close a Puerto Rico satellite receiver manufacturing plant - Disney announces they will launch a new channel, TOON DISNEY, in April 1998 - Next Level announces a name change back to General Instruments - United Video Satellite Group and Turnervision will combine their C-band programming units - Showtime announces it will launch a new channel, SHOWTIME EXTREME, in March 1998 Have a happy 1998!!!! -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- de fcc sgn, Robert Smathers (roberts@nmia.com) Albuquerque, NM USA Robert's Satellite TV/Baseball page: http://www.nmia.com/~roberts/ Proud owner, 4 TODYWEN(!) and 4 BUD-lites - Albuquerque Intl. Downlinkport Satellite Services Guide Manager & Co-Monitor, SATELLITE TIMES magazine