TVRO YEAR IN REVIEW 1994 - by Robert Smathers Here some of the events that happened in the Year in TVRO 1994 taken from my handy ORN notebook and my notes: January ======= - NFL announces affiliate feeds and backhauls are to be scrambled starting with the Fall 1994 season - G.E. Americom announces Satcom F2R is having problems - users begin to think about leaving for other homes but that never materialized much as we now know - Buzzard Massey, the chief prospector on the Outdoor Channel's Gold News Network, dies. - Anik E1/E2 problems -- E1 was saved rather quickly, E2 was knocked out pretty good -- all events blamed on geomagnetic storm effects on the satellites - Anik E2 users scramble for new homes because of that January 20th event. Some go to E1, others to Galaxy 6 at 103 deg W, and others to Spacenet 4. Telesat Canada plans on how to rescue and operate Anik E2. - Earthquake hits L.A. on Martin Luther King day. Skies light up with feeds. - Ariane v63 failure -- 2 satellites lost February ======== - Telstar 401 begins operation, Telstar 301 deactivated - P.B.S. dual illuminates on Spacenet 4 C-band and T401 Ku-band and then exclusively on T401 Ku-band a few weeks later with a C-band feed for dishowners - ABC moves to T401 with a multitude of transponders and breaks in their T401 Ku-band transponders with SNG activity and some backhauls - Bob Heil goes on KMOX-AM radio in St. Louis and sings the praises of DSS -- he is a autorized DSS seller in addition to his home theatre sales - Jerry Brown's talk show on the TALK AMERICA RADIO NETWORK begins - some of the service moves that occurred in January or February was: NASA SELECT to S2, Canal de Noticias NBC to S2, KBL to F2R, Netlink Atlantic 3 started on F2R - Bill in Colorado has the best line I think I've heard of the year in TVRO -- "Have you ever wanted to watch 3 soft porn and 2 hard porn channels delivered by satellite? You Will. And AT&T will bring it to you." - Intelsat 701 begins service - Two syndicated shows, "Rolanda" and "Can We Shop", are showing disappointing ratings and will be cancelled soon - Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, feeds galore but mostly on the Atlantic Ocean Regions birds, especially the Intelsat at 27.5 deg W. - Paramount feeds move from T302 to T401/3 - Viacom won the merger battle against QVC and now owns 75% of Paramount - Galaxy 1RR launched - CNN L.A. Contract Channel, on G2/9, leaves and goes fiber optic delivery March ===== - National Access TV launches on ASC1 - Some SBS6 transponders change frequencies to minimize co-satellite interference with T401 Ku. - Sci Fi Channel scrambles - Brother Stair moves to ASCs on the Main Street TV F2R signal - Galaxy 1RR begins operation - Z-Music moves to Galaxy 6 at 103 deg W. - General Instruments ECM's 032 VC2 boards, shorly turns off the VCII datastream - Morelos 1 retired - All News Channel, FLIX, Showtime 2 move to T302 - FOX begins the affiliate shuffle, signing their first new affiliates - getting football is apparently why most TV stations are changing to FOX - DSS announces their 5 test cities - Galaxy 2 runs out of fuel, Galaxy 6 is getting poised to move sometime in the next few months - NFL announces Sunday Ticket action will be found on T303 C-band in the Fall - Saudi Arabia bans satellite dishes - Prostar launches on T401/15 - Primestar begins phasing in Digicipher I delivery of their service on K1 - DSS delays rollout - Superstation bill passes in Congress April ===== - Turner Classic Movies launches on G1R/16 - DSS delays rollout again - Two Internet TVRO readers, Paul and Mike, find Telstar 301 stops drifting at 107.3 deg W. Saturation testing begins, and finally video activity appears as Telesat Canada uses the satellite - Galaxy 6 begins to drift to Galaxy 2's slot - Cupid Network TV launches on T2 - GE Americom takes over Spacenet 2 from GTE Spacenet - Egypt considers a satellite dish ban, but they probably don't ban them - Digital Cable Radio changes its name to Music Choice - STARZ! begins video compression delivery on G1R. - TeeComm announces a Canadian DBS system pending E2's return. The DBS system should launch in 1995 - Jim Shelton resigns from General Instruments - Richard Nixon dies. Skies lit with feeds of his funeral and memorials - MuchMusic puts up a feed on T301/20 - La Cadena Deportiva goes video compression on Satcom C1 May === - Galaxy 6 gets to 74 deg W and goes operational. Galaxy 2 retired. - Omega Radio Network video uplink on SBS5/10 - United Paramount Network officially announced by Paramount. Janauary 1995 launch. - Classic Arts Channel launches on G1R. - Jim Shelton gets a job with TV Comm International - Ernest Zundel and Sister Spring leave the TVRO airwaves - DSS rollout delayed again June ==== - Dishheads mailing list begins on the Internet - fX launches on Galaxy 7 - Caribbean Satellite Network leaves G3/14 - National Access TV cuts programming down to evenings and weekends - Future Mart leaves the satellite TV airwaves, leaving many customers without their ordered products or refunds - Howard Stern's E! show begins; feeds on T401 - Nicole Brown Simpson murder and O.J. Simpson car chase and arrest for her murder; feeds galore during that week - FOX moves to T401 - Intelsat 702 launched - DSS rollout occurs in the test cities - Telesat Canada regains pointing control of Anik E2 and prepares to bring Anik E2 back into operation July ==== - NPS Promo Channel launches on F2R - FOX tests the LEITCH system for the first time - MuchMusic U.S. version launches on G6/9 - O.J. Simpson preliminary hearings occur; tons of feeds - PAS-2 launched - TV! launches on Galaxy 7 - Las Vegas TV Network launches with their Around the World After Dark service on Galaxy 3. That service would soon disappear as would LVTN - America's Talking launches on G1R - GTE Spacenet fleet purchased by GE Americom - Shoemaker-Levy comet hits Jupiter -- great news conferences/photos shown on NASA SELECT - Newsweasels debuts on E! TV -- newsweasels was a comedy show that featured sky-scanning. Show didn't last too long. - Primestar begins national TV ad campaign to fight for the DBS dollar against DSS - Telemundo goes video compressed - Weird TV debuts on National Access TV August ====== - Anik E2 returns to operation - TV Food Network goes video compressed - National Access TV leaves the TVRO airwaves - DBS-2 launched - NBC begins LEITCH testing on Satcom K2 for football - Newfoundland TV launches on E2/20 - Woodstock '94 anniversary event - feeds galore - VC2+ signs of shortage begin to appear as the module prices start to rise - Brother Stair moves to Galaxy 5/6 September ========= - ASC-1 retires - WFLD, PT24 E FOX affiliate launches - Independent Film Network launches - FOX begins to LEITCH prime time programming often and then does it occasionally after a week or two of heavy Prime-time prg. LEITCH'ing. - PAS-2 goes operational - New England Cable News moves to S2 - T402 launch failure -- shortly after, a transponder shortage situation can be forecasted for 1995 - Bob Enyart show debuts on WHMB-TV on G4 - Haiti invasion occurs and plenty of feeds can be found, especially on Galaxy 4 Ku-band - Iran outlaws satellite dishes - DBS-2 becomes operational October ======= - PrimeTime 24 East services move to Galaxy 4 - PrimeTime 24 West services launch on S4 - fX movies launches on Galaxy 7 - Solidaridad 2 successfully launched - Intelsat 703 launched - Talk Channel launches on Galaxy 7 - DSS signs a contract to carry NFL Sunday Ticket - DSS tests Macrovision on a PPV event - Rec.Video.Satellite splits into 3 groups, DBSSAT, TVROSAT, MISCSAT - AT&T's T401 loses signal for about an hour one Sunday morning -- ABC launches a contingency channel on T302 just in case T401 fails entirely or goes out again for a longer length of time. AT&T has no explanation for what happened. - Microsoft TV launches a bi-weekly TV conference channel - Canal de Noticias NBC goes video compressed on G1R November ======== - Astra 1D launched - Republicans take over Congress -- a bunch of the usual election night feeds are found - Rush Limbaugh praises DSS on his radio show and in fact he gets a DSS system for his office - Associated Press TV launches -- feeds for APTV are found on TDRS-41 - FCC gives approval to use TDRS for domestic service rather than just international service December ======== - PAS-3 launch fails - Orion-1 launch successful - Game Show Network launches on Galaxy 7 - WUHF-TV, Rochester launches as the Cancom FOX channel - WJBK-TV, Detroit, replaced by WTOL-TV, Toledo as the Cancom CBS affiliate - KJAZ jazz returns to satellite on Satcom C1 - TCI purchases a bunch of transponders aboard Galaxy 7 Ku for their digital head-end in the sky - Anik E2 Ku-band explodes with testing as services prepare for a January 1 launch - Sega Channel launches in digital form on Galaxy 7 - Services start to flee Satcom F2R as its end of life approaches. Home Shopping Spree goes to G6 and others will be leaving soon. - STARZ! analog channel begins testing on S4 - DMX is now available to dishowners. $800 for the box and $15/month subscription fee - BBC announces a channel for the U.S. to launch in Feb. 1995 // -=-=-=-=-=-=-=- O // \ Robert Smathers Albuquerque, NM USA ||||||--(=)--|||||| // \ roberts@triton.unm.edu - roberts@unm.edu O |=== <| \\ / WWW: http://www.unm.edu/~roberts/robert.html O \\ / Satellite Services Guide, SATELLITE TIMES Mag. ||| \\ |||