TVRO Year in Review 2000 compiled by Robert Smathers (roberts@nmia.com) JANUARY ======= - FNL and W0KIE Radio Network leaves the air from GE1/12 at 5.70 MHz - Boston and Miami DISH Network local affiliate backhauls leave Spacenet 4 for fiber delivery - GE-4 lights up at 101 degrees West - DirecTV adds Raleigh-Durham local stations; DISH adds Detroit, Memphis, Seattle and Nashville - WSBK-TV 38 Boston leaves VC2+ mode on GE-3 - Several Fox Sports Network channels leave analog c-band: Fox Sports Northwest, West, West 2, SSN Extra 1 and 2. NESN leaves later in the year while Fox Sports-South stays all year - fX changes transponders on Satcom C1 from channel 13 to 7 - Anik E2/22 lights up with occasional video on the c-band side - GEMS Shopping Channel changes transponders on G3R C-band from channel 12 to 21 - DISH adds public interest channels NASA TV, CSPAN, Eternal Word TV Network, Trinity Broadcasting, University of California TV, LinkMedia, University House, BYU-TV, WorldLink TV, HITN Hispanic Programming, PBS You network, and Research TV - Motorola completes acquisition of General Instrument - America OnLine and Time Warner announce intent to merge and towards the end of the year the Federal Trade Commission approves the merger and the FCC will approve it early in 2001 - Space Systems Loral and Intelsat sign a contract for Intelsat 906 and Intelsat 907 - NSN Network Services purchases a transponder each aboard GE-4 (Ku side) and GE-8. - Boeing announces intention to purchase the satellite manufacturing unit of Hughes Electronics; the purchase is completed by year end - LodgeNet uses DSS as program provider for their member hotels/motels - Showtime debuts their HDTV feed on Satcom C3 - SoapNet launches - DISH Network announces intention to add Greek channels Ellinki Radiophonia Tileorassi (ERT) and MEGAcosmos - Galaxy 10R launched - DISH adds Cleveland and Orlando locals - Telesat Canada gets U.S. approval to market channels and services to the U.S. aboard Anik E1 and Anik E2 initially FEBRUARY ======== - Oxygen TV launches on C3/24 - PrimeTime 24 looks to move affiliates from GE-1 to GE-4; WNBC to transponder 18; WSEE to transponder 24 and WKRN to transponder 22 - SuperAudio audio subcarriers are removed from Galaxy 5/21 - Hispasat 1C launches on an Atlas - DirecTV adds Seattle, Orlando locals - CONUS Communications acquires their 5th transponder aboard SBS-6 and starts to deliver some feeds and services in digital format - ESPN purchases Wegener ENVOY gear for digital delivery of some backhauls to Bristol, CT. - Sunshine Network drops FOX SPORTS NET affiliation and goes to a mix of regional and local programming - SatMex leases 10 transponders to Hughes Network Services aboard SatMex 5 - MuchMusic (American version) leaves analog for digital delivery on C-band - fXM becomes the FOX MOVIE CHANNEL - DISH adds Tampa and Sacramento locals and announces they will soon carry Turner South, CNN-SI and Boomerang channels MARCH ===== - SportsChannel Florida is renamed to FOX SPORTS NET Florida - Galaxy 9 moves to 127 degrees West from 123 degrees West; Gospel Music TV and NHK Japan make the move to 127 degrees West - WSVN-TV Miami launches on GE-4 c-band as a Primetime 24 FOX affiliate - DirecTV adds Sacramento and St. Louis locals - DISH adds St. Louis and Portland, Oregon locals - Galaxy 10R lights up at 123 degrees West - WMNB leaves analog satellite TV in the satellite switch from SBS-5 to Galaxy 10R - DirecTV Para Todos launches - NBC launches a digital feed on Satcom C1/8 - DirecTV adds Oxygen and Boomerang to their lineup - Asiastar and Insat 3B launched on an Ariane - WSNet (World Satellite Network) signs agreement for Telstar 6 Ku-band capacity for a DBS service; WSNet already has an agreement to distribute Headend In The Sky from Galaxy 11 Ku APRIL ===== - It is announced that Headend In The Sky (HITS) will be available to 4DTV Home Dish Owners in the future - DISH launches America's Top 150 package; adds channels such as The Movie Channel, Biography Channel, STARZ! channels, Bloomberg TV, Boomerang, CNN-SI, Discovery Civilization Network, Discovery Home and Leisure Network, Discovery Kids Network, Discovery Science Network, Discovery Wings Network, Do It Yourself Network, History Channel, Outdoor Channel, OUtdoor Life Network and Speedvision - DISH announces plans to launch "America's Top 70" package and service to Alaska and Hawaii in the near future - Loral Orion receives authorization to operate Telstar 12 at 15 degrees West - WSNet signs agreement with Motorola to use Digicipher 2 equipment for their service - Galaxy 11 goes into service at 99 degrees West; World Harvest stays on transponder 15, Shepherd's Chapel moves to transponder 16 , STARZ! East on transponder 17, STARZ! West on transponder 18, STARZ! Theatre on transponder 19 and Encore Westerns on tranpsonder 20 - FOX and Tandberg agree on a contract for digital video gear; will eventually be used to distribute 16 video channels over 4 different transponders - Geocast Network Systems leases four transponders aboard GE-4 for IP over satellite - Spacecom Systems launches digital audio service for Christian broadcasters aboard GE-3 - 30,000 VC2+ subscribers lost in March, 1.561 million VC2+ subscribers remain - OlympuSat announces an intent to package 8-12 services for delivery over Telstar 7 C-band - DigitalXpress goes out of business and Globecast picks up the contracts and continues the service - Galaxy 4R successfully launched and will go into service at 99 degrees West - FCC conditionally approves Viacom-CBS merger - DISH reaches 4 million subscriber mark MAY === - OlympuSat announces first few channels to their lineup: Good Life TV, Majority Broadcasting Corp., FamilyNet, C3D TV, Canal Sur, B Movie Channel, and Independent Music TV Network - TVN leaves Galaxy 3R for digital delivery on Galaxy 10R - DirecTV to add locals from Salt Lake, Indianapolis, Charlotte and Milwaukee - DirecTV adds PaxNet to their lineup - GE Americom rolls out DigitalC service on GE-1 - BellSouth signs contract with GE Americom for capacity on GE-6 for a DBS service; BellSouth tests their service towards the end of the year on GE-6 - Expressvu hits 500,000 subscriber mark - USA Networks to purchase Trio International and CBC Newsworld International services JUNE ==== - OlympSat annouces they will add Shepherd's Chapel Network to their lineup - When Anik E2 moves to 111.1 degrees West in early 2001, Cancom will purchase 6 additional Ku-band transponders - DISH adds Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, and Denver to their existing lineup of New York City and Los Angeles locals offered in their distant network package - NNS news coop (coop of FOX, CBS, and ABC) launches - Expressvu adds DirectPC service - CONSUMER REPORTS say DISH is better than DSS in picture quality and both are equally good for sound - Southern Entertainment TV announces they will launch three music video services on Telstar 7 in the near future - Express 3A launched; will be operational at 11 degrees West - DirecTV adds Lifetime Movie Network to their lineup - Sirius-1 satellite is launched JULY ==== - Paramount and UPN begins digital delivery of their feeds on Telstar 5 - Comcast annouces they will acquire HTS and MSC from Viacom - Echostar 6 launched on an Atlas - Echostar admits Echostar 1, 2 and 3 are uninsured and they are trying to find more fairer insurance rates; also, they are disputing the amount of claim being paid on Echostar 4 - PAS-9 launched and will go into service at 58 degrees West - Galaxy 11 goes into service at 91 degrees West AUGUST ====== - STARZ! analog services move to Galaxy 9; Encore-East to transponder 16, STARZ!-East to transponder 4, STARZ!-West to transponder 8, Starz!-2 East to transponder 12 and Encore Westerns to transponder 20 - Lockheed Martin purchases Comsat - W0KIE Satellite Radio Network returns to subcarrier audio on Satcom C3/24 at 7.50 - The DSS satellites will be renamed from DBS-x to DIRECTV-x - Golden Eagle Broadcasting moves from G1R to GE-4/9 - DirecTV adds locals for Portland, OR, Nashville, Cincinnati, Columbus, OH, Memphis, San Antonio and Kansas City - Rumors fly that Netlink plans to shut down the Denver locals on GE-7 at the end of the year - Brasilsat B4 and Nilesat 102 launched on an Ariane - ZDTV renames to "tech tv" - Solidaridad 1 fails and goes out of service permanently - Galaxy 6 lights up at 74 degrees West SEPTEMBER ========= - Motorola provides Digicipher 2 and Videocipher 2 gear to NBC Cable for distributing the various Olympic telecast feeds - Sirius-2 launched on a Proton rocket - Gilat-at-Home signs a contract for 14 transponders on Telstar 7 Ku-band - DISH adds Odyssey TV to their lineup - J.D. Power ranks DISH Network highest in consumer satisfaction for the 2nd year in a row - Eutelsat W1 launched on an Ariane - HBO launches the HBO Latino channel - Gilat-at-Home is renamed Starband - GE Americom closes acquisition of Columbia Communications - SCOLA renews contract to continue delivering their service on Telstar 5 - GE-7 and Astra 2B is launched on an Ariane 5 - DirecTV launches service to Hawaii - CBC annouces most of their feeds will be going digital towards the end of 2000 - TNN renames to "The National Network" - Insight Communications purchases rights to market all GE-2 Ku-band transponders once Primestar ends service - Galaxy 8i is in trouble due to propulsion system difficulties; G8i is expected to remain in service long enough for Galaxy 3C to be launched - Primestar goes dark; 24 GE-2 Ku-band transponders freed up for occasional video and other usage - DISH Network pulls America's Voice TV from their lineup - CBS Network feeds start to convert to digital format; by the end of the year most CBS affiliate feeds are only found in digital format with a rare analog affiliate feed OCTOBER ======= - GE-1A launched on a Proton - DISH Network adds Zee TV, TV Asia, SET, Bollywood for You, and Zee Gold to their lineup - WSNet announces a contract to carry DMX Music Service - DISH adds San Antonio locals - NPS launches some Fox Sports regionals on GE-4 in Digicipher 2 format - DirecTV adds locals from Birmingham, Greensboro, West Palm Beach and Austin - DISH and STARZ! team up to offer some movies in Dolby Digital 5.1 format - Panamsat announces that ABC Cable Networks Group, ESPN Networks ABC TV Network have selected Panamsat as preferred provider of satellite capacity for the next 15 years - GE-6 successfully launched - ESPN selects Motorola's Digicipher 2 to deliver their networks and alternate feeds to cable headends on Galaxy 1R - GE-7 goes into service and replaces Satcom C1 - DISH network converts SHOP AT HOME from a part time service to a full time service in their lineup NOVEMBER ======== - Starband begins service - DISH adds Fox Sports World to the America's Top 150 package - Viacom announces intent to acquire BET Holdings - Canada acquires the 118.7 degrees West slot for communication satellites - Telesat Canada announces they have received approval to construct a second DBS satellite similar to Nimiq-1 - Star Choice announces they have been authorized to launch and build a Ka-band satellite to operate at 107.3 degrees west to provide broadband services to subscribers - Galaxy Latin America changes name to DirecTV Latin America - DISH attains the 5 million subscriber mark - There are 1.26 millions VC2+ subscribers left after 35,000 net deauthorizations in October - DISH adds Wisdom TV Network to their lineup - Panamsat-1R launched - Independent Music Network terminates contract with OlympuSat and looks for an alternate distribution method - Anik F1 successfully launched - GE-6 begins operation at 72 degrees West - CRTC announces at least 16 new English and 5 new French services have been licensed to offer programming in Canada - Galaxy 7 fails; it had been moved to 125 degrees West and provided occasional Ku-band activity after Galaxy 11 went into service at 91 degrees West - DISH adds Albuquerque locals - DirecTV adds Phoenix North American Chinese Channel to their lineup DECEMBER ======== - Microspace Velocity adds a transponder on Telstar 4 and will add another transponder when Telstar 8 goes into service - Sundance Channel analog moves to Satcom C4/20 - BellSouth scraps plans for a DBS service; instead will offer their subscribers service via DISH Network - Sirius-3 is launched - Romance Classics channel is renamed WE: Women's Entertainment - DISH adds HBO Latino, PAEC, TECN, CCN, FSLN, and RFD to their lineup - MTV2 and The Box merge - DSS adds BYU-TV to their lineup - Satmex announces intention to spend $300 million to build a satellite to serve the Americas - GE-8 is launched