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Satellite Dish News 506
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? "The World's Most Important Publication!" ?
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? (C)Copyright 1993 By Dolan & Associates - All Rights Reserved ?
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? THE SATELLITE TV INDUSTRY ONLINE MAGAZINE ?
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? Volume 5 - Issue # 06 Price:$2.95 April 1, 1993 ?
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? DISHCETERA Satellite TV Magazine, DISHCETERA - The Satellite TV Online ?
? Magazine, and DISHNEWS are (C)Copyrighted 1993 Dolan & Associates, Box 189 ?
? Bellaire, Texas 77402. All rights reserved. Subscription price is $25.per ?
? year pre-payment in advance in U.S. funds only. Send all subscriptions to ?
? DISHCETERA, Box 189, Bellaire, Texas 77402. ?
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THIS MONTH'S TOP SATELLITE NEWS STORIES
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THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION LOWERS THE BOOM ON CABLE
UNITED STATES SATELLITE BROADCASTING ANNOUNCES SOME PROGRAM AGREEMENTS
WHAT DO THE NEW FCC RULES SAY AND WHAT DO THEY MEAN TO YOU
THINGS ARE REALLY DULL IN FLORIDA - POLICE INVESTIGATE CABLE TV SHOW
GENERAL INSTRUMENTS COMPLETES STOCK SALE - PAYS EXECUTIVES MILLIONS
WHAT'S HAPPENING ACROSS THE HOME DISH SKY'S THIS MONTH - THE NEWS
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? THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION LOWERS THE BOOM ON CABLE ?
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The entire cable industry was praying that all that money they had spent on
re-election campaigns would bring some pressure upon the FCC to not do their
job and would hopefully cause the FCC to adopt some "dummy" cable tv rules.
Well, folks, it didn't happen quite that way. Instead, the FCC jumped on
them with both feet. Of course, it won't be over until the expected legal
challenges are over, but at least the "beginning" is over.
A couple of weeks ago the FCC told cable operators they were going to have
start answering their phones within thirty seconds. The very idea that they
should be made to answer their phones like other public service companies
caused anger throughout the cable industry and complaints that it wasn't any of
the FCC's business.
Now, the FCC has frozen the existing rates. And, the rates are frozen at
the same place they were back in October of last year when the legislation
passed. If a cable company raised it's rates since that time, the rates are
now rolled-back to their previous levels. Needless to say, the cable guys are
really screaming foul now, claiming that the FCC has no authority to tell them
what the rates should or shouldn't be. Which is true. The FCC doesn't have
that authority but Congress does or thinks it does, and directed the FCC to
follow the Congressional mandates set forth in the Cable Television Consumer
Protection and Competition Act of 1992. The FCC is just doing their job.
The FCC can also order that the "rolled-back" rates be decreased as much as
10% more if the Commission finds that the rates are still to high.
There is a "gotcha" to this rate roll-back. If a particular cable system
has received a franchise that allows it to charge higher rates than those
determined by the Commission, then those rates shall prevail.
Many cable systems have recently received renewed franchises that granted
higher rates based on the system's promise to upgrade it's system. In these
cases, the cable system can continue charging those higher rates. It will now
be up to the local franchising authority to ensure that the system follows-thru
with the promised system upgrading. This provision may turn out to be a huge
loophole that many cable systems slip through. It may also signal the
beginning of much new litigation on the local level to force cable operators to
comply.
James P. Mooney, president of the National Cable Television Association,
said,"he was appalled. At minimum, it appears that these rules will make it
very difficult for us to satisfy the expectations of our subscribers."
Let's see, they've had since 1984 to "satisfy the expectations" of the
subscribers. That's the reason the cable bill passed - they didn't do what
they said they were going to do. Now, the FCC will give them a little "push"
to get things started.
The rules the FCC is putting into place are exactly what is called for in
the legislation - pro consumer and pro-competition - and the FCC isn't finished
yet. They're just getting started.
Later this summer, the FCC will begin taking complaints about pricing of
additional levels of service or "tiers" as they are called in the industry. In
an effort to circumvent the FCC's rate regulation authority, many cable systems
hurriedly moved all of the most popular cable channels from the basic level of
service, to some more expensive tier.
The FCC will examine these "tiers" of service and determine the price-per-
channel to be charged based upon the price-per-service that the cable system
pays for the various channels. After deciding this, the FCC will place a
"price cap" on the system's rate for this "tier" of service. At that time, the
cable system will be instructed to roll-back it's rates. The FCC will also
order the cable systems to issue refunds to subscribers where the systems are
found to have been over-charging.
None of this will happen overnight, it's going to take a while to get all
of the new regulations in place and it will take some time for the FCC to make
it's determination on pricing. However, it WILL happen.
NO! This "ain't no April Fool's joke either. Usually, National Cable
Month begins on April 1st and for one whole month, the entire cable industry
makes a concerted effort to actually have a full month's worth of programming.
One month out of twelve isn't bad, at least that's what they think. We all
know it's just a really bad joke. This year, the joke's on THEM!
Ha! Ha! Ha!
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? UNITED STATES SATELLITE BROADCASTING ANNOUNCES SOME PROGRAM AGREEMENTS ?
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Unlike SkyPix who never actually had any agreements for programming, the
Hubbard direct-to-home satellite broadcasting venture which plans to launch
sometime next year, has made the announcement that HBO Satellite Networks and
Viacom Satellite Networks will be onboard. That means if you choose to go with
USSB, you can access HBO, CINEMAX, COMEDY CENTRAL, E!, SHOWTIME, MOVIE CHANNEL,
FLIX, MTV, VH-1, and NICKELODEON. According to a report in MultiChannel News,
Viacom indicated their services wouldn't be seen as part of any other dbs
programming package. What that means in simple terms, is that if you want any
of their services you'll have to sign-up with USSB. The press releases don't
say that the USSB agreement is "exclusive" but they very well might be.
Where does this announcement leave the Rural Telecommunications Coop and
their dbs venture that has only signed with Disney? D.O.A. If they can't get
these same channels to join with them, then they're history! If you can't
offer HBO and SHOWTIME you're out of business before you start.
So far, the R.T.C. isn't saying too much so we'll have to wait and see if
they have some talks going-on behind the scenes and maybe the have some old
Disney magic we haven't heard about yet.
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? WHAT DO THE NEW FCC RULES SAY AND WHAT DO THEY MEAN TO YOU ?
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>>> Beginning immediately, cable subscribers MUST be notified at least 30 days
before the cable system moves, drops, replaces, or re-arranges any of your
local television stations.
>>> Beginning immediately, cable operators will have to tell broadcast stations
who is qualified to be carried and who isn't and broadcast stations can begin
to make their case for being carried on a particular channel. Disputes by and
between both parties over each other's decisions should be settled by early
fall. Stations that must be carried, must be notified within 30 days and the
stations that must be carried have a little more than a month to decide IF they
really "must be carried".
In this case, must carry doesn't necessarily mean they must BE carried. In
THIS case, the FCC rules allow the local broadcast stations that qualify to be
a "must carry" station to decide their status.
The local broadcast stations [that qualify] are given a choice. They may
elect to be a "must carry" station and in doing so, get preferred treatment in
their channel positioning on the cable system.
What this means is that a tv station with a high channel number, channel 39
for example, could choose to be carried on 39 or on a much lower channel such
as channel 4 or channel 6. Lower channel positions are preferred because on
most cable systems, the lower channel positions can be received on tvs and vcrs
without having to rent expensive set-top convertors.
The FCC will also be setting the rates that can be charged for extra stuff
such as set-top convertors but these rules aren't available yet.
In most cases, the tv stations like to be placed on the same cable channel
as their actual FCC channel designation. [ie. channel 2 likes to be on cable
channel 2 - it makes it much easier for viewers to find them. It gets real
complicated when a cable system places channel 4 on channel 47 or something
like that. Viewers have trouble finding and remembering where they are and it
costs the stations lots of money promoting themselves as some weird cable
channel number, as well as, their regular channel number.]
So, if the station qualifies as a "must carry" they can elect to be a "must
carry" and get preferred channel positioning. However, they could choose the
"retransmission consent" option instead.
Retransmission consent simply means that the cable system has to work-out a
programming carriage contract with the broadcast station. It could mean that a
cable system would have to pay to carry the channel or it could mean that their
contract would guarantee the broadcast station a particular cable channel for
a specified number of years. A retransmission agreement could consist of other
terms and conditions too as it is agreed upon only between the station and the
cable system. The cable system could also decide NOT to carry the broadcast
station if they selected the retransmission consent option.
The stations and the cable systems have 60 days to work out a suitable
arrangement.
It should be noted here, that SMATV systems, MMDS, and any other providers
of multichannel programming services, except the local telephone company, will
also have to have re-transmission consent before they can continue carrying the
local broadcast stations. The "must-carry" section does not apply to these
other technologies.
>>> Within 90 days, cable systems must answer subscriber calls within thirty
seconds and have at least one phone that is answered 24 hours a day. The FCC
has also "grandfathered" all existing cable tv franchise customer service
standards into this new rule. This allows the local franchising authority to
regulate and decide on customer service standards for their area.
>>> Within the first year unless a cable system can demonstrate significant
reasons why they shouldn't, cable subscribers MUST be allowed to buy the
premimum services offered by the cable system without having to purchase any
other additional tiers of service or other premium channels first. This means
if you subscribe to basic cable, you must be able to order Showtime, Disney,
etc. on an ala carte basis without first purchasing HBO or a sports channel, or
some other level of additional services.
>>> Cable systems also cannot charge a higher price for ala carte services just
because you don't purchase some other level of service. If they charge $7. for
Disney with basic and expanded basic and their superstation tier of services,
they can't charge basic-only subscribers $12. for Disney.
If the cable system is already addressable, then these rules go into effect
immediately.
>>> Cable systems will now be allowed and required to block, the transmission
of any indecent programming carried on their leased access channels. Any user
of a leased access channel must notify the cable operator of his intention to
transmit such material and the cable system must the scramble or block the
programming so as to restrict it's reception from all households who have not
specifically requested to receive it.
You must make a written request that such programming be "un-blocked" and
the cable system has thirty days to make it available to you - the rules take
effect in thirty days.
>>> The cable company cannot come and rip out their wiring when you decide to
disconnect from the cable without first offering to sell you the wiring. These
rules to apply to all cable subscribers, no matter how long you have had cable.
None of the money you have paid the cable system over the length of your
subscription is applied to the cost of the wiring. And, the cable system may
charge you the current local price per foot for the wiring. You have thirty
days after they disconnect the service to make your decision and after that,
the wiring is yours if you refused to pay and they didn't come and take it out.
They also cannot charge you to take the wiring out and if they leave it or
you buy it, it is yours to do whatever you want with it. These rules take
effect immediately.
There are also new rules dealing with programming access but I don't have
them yet. In this area, we are experiencing an avalanche of multiple junk-fax
calls from these automated junk-fax calling machines and my fax machine simply
ran out of paper. Otherwise, I would have this and I apologize.
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? THINGS ARE REALLY DULL IN FLORIDA - POLICE INVESTIGATE CABLE TV SHOW ?
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Yes, things are so dull in Florida that the Tampa Police Department is
actually investigating a cable tv public access show for possible obscenity
violations.
It seems that one of Jones Intercable's public access channels, aired a
program at 11 PM on March 3, that had a least one viewer somewhat upset.
The weekly public access program, Morbid Underground, aired a tape of
something called Toilet Rockers [I think they're a "band" ?] which "featured"
a nude rock singer defecating and unrinating on stage.
While Hillsbourough County has an ordinace that prohibits nudity on
television until after 10 PM [I told you it was dull there!] and the Tampa
Police Department said the performance was "disgusting", they also say there's
very little they can do about this sort of thing.
In order for the material to be judged obscene, it must appeal to prurient
interest in sex, it must be patently offensive, and have no serious literary,
artistic, political, or scientific value; this to be determined by a reasonable
person of the community. Or... you'll know it when you see it!
The American Family Association chapter in Florida has urged cable viewers
to file complaints. So far, there haven't been any.
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? GENERAL INSTRUMENTS COMPLETES STOCK SALE - PAYS EXECUTIVES MILLIONS ?
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I know home dish owners will see the humor in this. General Instruments
just sold $300 million dollars worth of their stock. Some of the money raised
thru this stock offering will go to pay-off company executives who purchased GI
stock a couple of years ago for around $3. a share. The stock is now selling
for around $30.
James Bunker, president of the Videocipher division received $1.1 million,
Chairman Donald Rumsfeld received $6.9 million, Frank Drendel $7.5 million, and
Hal Krisbergh $1.1 million dollars.
Forstmann, Little, & Company bought General Instruments in August of 1990
for $1.5 billion dollars and has now recovered ALL of their investment plus an
additional $76 million dollars for their trouble.
Who said crime doesn't pay?
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? WHAT'S HAPPENING ACROSS THE HOME DISH SKY THIS MONTH ?
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As usual, at lot of folks are moving or have just finished moving. Here's
the current update:
Spacenet 2 at 69 degrees west, seems to be the bird of choice for new
Spanish langauge services. Joining SUR [Sistema de Retransmissione], ECO
GALAVISION, two TELEMUNDO channels, and E.S.P.N. Pan-American are: GEMS TV, a
a service designed for Hispanic women which plans an April 1st start-up up on
transponder 24, and CANAL de NOTICIAS, which is NBC's 24 hour news channel in
Spanish. It is already in operation on transponder #5. CHANNEL AMERICA, that
used to be on transponder #5 has joined SCOLA and MIDWEST SPORTS CHANNEL over
on ASC1. SCOLA will be moving to Telstar 401 after its July launch. At that
time, SCOLA plans to begin using Digicipher to compress their signal and offer
additional channels of programming. PBS will also be moving to Telstar 401
later this year and will also begin using Digicipher to compress their signals.
There is a rumor circulating that PBS "plans" to provide an unscrambled and
un-compressed feed somewhere on C-band after the move takes place. After quite
a few expensive telephone calls to PBS, I was able to confirm that they have NO
"plans" but didn't rule-out the possibility of a C-band feed if it was, their
quote, "necessary."
THE NOSTALGIA CHANNEL has completed its move to Galaxy 1 #22 from Satcom F4
and RTP has moved from Spacenet 3 #24 to Galaxy 3 #5. RTP carries programming
from various South American countries and now transmits using the videocipher 2
plus encryption method. I have no idea how much a subscription to this is but
SUR is now available thru several packagers for $130. a year. Those same
packagers probably will carry RTP. RTP is now in "fixed" key so that everyone
who owns a videocipher 2 plus and subscribes to at least one service, can view
their signal.
EMPIRE SPORTS NETWORK has also moved to Galaxy 3. They are located on
transponder #2 where the FOX CABLE NETWORK used to be. Fox is now on Satcom
C1 #19.
KEYSTONE INSPIRATIONAL NETWORK, which usually airs old B&W movies in the
morning and Robert Tilton later in the day, is on Galaxy 3 #1.
SHOWTIME2 has finished its move to Galaxy 1 transponder 16 while FLIX has
moved to Galaxy 1 transponder 10. For a short while, the FLIX signal can also
be found on Satcom C3 #19; its there for one cable system that cannot receive
Galaxy 1 anymore.
TELSTAR VIDEO NETWORKS has taken over those two transponders vacated by the
move of FLIX and SHOWTIME2 on Telstar 3. Transponder 19 now carries the TVN
promo channel while #17 carries TVN Theatre 2.
ZMUSIC, is now in business on Galaxy 1 transponder 15, providing 24 hours
a day of "family" music videos.
- - - - - - - - - -
That really expensive service for bars, TAVERN TV, on Galaxy 6 #16 - they
don't seem to be around anymore. What a surprise.
- - - - - - - - - -
Meanwhile, all of the various SportsChannels from around the country, will
no longer be available without a subscription. SportsChannels are now being
made available via two different programming options thru various packagers and
will cost about the same as the other satellite sports package or around $120.
per year.
- - - - - - - - - -
For those of you who haven't noticed, when Tom Snyder is live from L.A., on
his CNBC show, the live feed is usually on Telstar 1 #18. However, as Tom was
careful to explain recently on the show, between commercials he has told both
ends to make sure the audios are killed so home dish viewers can't hear what's
going on in the studio. Thanks a lot Tom!
- - - - - - - - - -
Hal Krisbergh, president of Jerrold [General Instruments], has announced
that their new set-top digicable [digicipher compatable] convertors will employ
a microprocessor with the power of an Intel 386 chip. These new set-top units
will be what they call, a "residential information and control system" and will
allow the introduction of new channels and interactive services into the home
via cable tv.
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? DISHCETERA - THE SATELLITE TV INDUSTRY ON-LINE MAGAZINE ?
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* DISHCETERA Satellite TV On-Line Magazine is available on the first
MONDAY of each month at our BBS or at a fine BBS near you
* News items, press releases, questions, comments, and/or any paperless
feedback may be sent to any of the following:
* G*E*N*I*E: JDolan2 (local access number)
* CompuServ: 76164,1564 (local access number)
* NODE:->SATEL on RelayNet(tm) - Satellite Tv Conference Host.
* On any FIDO board that carries the TVRO conference.
* On National Videotex: Satellite TV Conference (local access number)
-OR-
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? SATELLITE TV BOARD OF INFORMATION BBS : (713) 623-4899 9600 bd v.32 ?
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? Many satellite tv/cable tv and other related public interest news items and ?
? files are available. There's no charge to access the bbs. ?
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