Turner Broadcasting Selects General Instrument to Convert TCM - Turner Broadcasting has selected General Instrument’s DigiCipher II system for the conversion of Turner Classic Movies from analog to digital transmission. Delivery is scheduled to be completed by the end of January and the conversion will be final in the first quarter 1999.

FOX NEWS Channel (G7-20) has scrambled and is currently available only through select C-band programming packagers. Turner Vision is currently in negotiations with FOX NEWS to sell subscriptions to this service;
Military Channel launched unscrambled on July 4 on F3-24;
Fox Family Channel plans to begin broadcasting in place of Family Channel (G5-11) at 6:00AM(et) on August 15. Fox Family Channel will air original movies, specials, and more for the entire family;
NEW Digital feeds - The Suite from MTV and VH-1 launched in July using GI's digital DigiCipher II system. Four new feeds from Nickelodeon are being planned for a January 1999 launch date. No word on 4DTV distribution at this time for either service; KPIX (S4-24), PrimeTime 24's CBS station on the west coast, will end its early primetime hours on September 13. Programming will now begin at 8PM(et) Monday through Saturday and 7PM(et) on Sunday.

ATTENTION SSN and/or SPORTS CHANNEL PACKAGE SUBS: FOX Sports is making changes to its programming lineup. Here goes:
* Effective May 15, 1998, FOX Sports Detroit (GE3-19) will end its analog feed and will no longer be available to C-band subscribers. After May 15, FOX Sports Detroit will be located on Galaxy 7, using Wegener digital compression therefore making it unavailable to any C-band subscriber via 4DTV. FOX Sports Direct will be providing all Detroit Tiger games which appear simultaneously on FOX Sports Detroit and another FOX Sports Net to the Tiger's territory.
* FOX Sports Direct intends to begin a second "SSN Extra" feed for the purpose of providing a semi-permanent analog home for FOX Sports Detroit and any other digital only sports networks not currently being offered by SSN Extra. When the information does become available, FOX Sports Direct will air TAMs indicating the location of future Detroit Tiger and other teams' games.
* Home Team Sports remains at S3-23.
* New service, FOX Sports World (GE3-21), features sporting events, live and taped, from around the world. FOX Sports World replaces PRIME Sports in all Orbit Communications packages. Speaking of PRIME Sports, this service is no longer available on satellite.

For the latest run down and listing of our sports channels, go to the Channel Search Engine section of our website and select "SPORTS".

* Cinemax 2 (G3-17) becomes MoreMax on June 1.
* Nostalgia Good-TV (G1-22) has changed its name to Goodlife Network.
* FXM has moved from G7-23 to S3-18.
* Request TV is no longer broadcasting on C-band.
* Southern Entertainment Television has launched on W1-15. The new music video service features bluegrass music, etc. and is a sister channel of Outlaw Music Channel on W1-23.
* AdultVision has moved up one channel slot to G3, channel 9 replacing TVN Theater 9.

TCM Moves Feed on C-Band - Beginning Feb. 1, Turner Classic Movies will be available to C-band affiliates on satellite location GE 3 Transponder 14. The current C-band feed on Galaxy 1 Transponder 16 will end March 1 at 11 a.m.

Military Channel Debuts Army-Navy Basketball - Military Channel will debut its basketball line-up with a "live" double-header featuring men’s and women’s teams of Army and Navy from West Point on Jan. 19.

Two weeks after losing a landmark adult programming scrambling case, the Justice Department asked a federal court to require adult networks other than Playboy Enterprises to block out cable signals or limit their viewing period to late night.

DOJ lawyers said only Playboy should be exempt from section 505 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The adult entertainment provider was the victorious plaintiff in a Dec. 29 federal court decision challenging the section.

The provision required full audio and video scrambling of adult networks. Cable operators that refused to scramble had to limit showing Playboy and other adult networks from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Chuck Hewitt, president of the Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association, said the recent permanent injunction from a Miami federal court judge over the PrimeTime 24 and CBS/FOX will impact "hundreds of thousands" of DTH customers eligible for distant network signals.  But the April 30 cut-off date in the permanent injunction, which requires the shut-off of distant signal service to ineligible subscribers who signed up for the service before March 11, 1997, could give Judge Lenore Nesbitt time to consider options.

"We are encouraged that the cut-off date has been set after Feb. 1, when the Federal Communications Commission is expected to issue its rulemaking on thenetwork signal issue," Hewitt said, "and that the judge specifically indicated she 'reserves the right to issue a supplemental order after the FCC has resolved the rulemaking issues pending before it relative to this lawsuit.'

"This decision by the Miami court only increases the importance of the FCC's action on this issue," Hewitt said. "It is now critical that they act to protect satellite consumers nationwide. But we remain extremely concerned, as the National Association of Broadcasters continues its efforts to challenge the FCC's authority over network signal delivery." p>Nesbitt issued a permanent injunction against PrimeTime 24 preventing it from delivering distant CBS and FOX feeds to home satellite subscribers beginning April 30. CBS and FOX charged that distant network signals are delivered to ineligible subscribers.

The permanent injunction would affect satellite customers who signed up to receive CBS and FOX signals before March 11, 1997. Previously, Nesbitt issued a preliminary injunction to disconnect satellite customers nationwide from CBS and Fox signals by Feb. 28. That order covered customers who signed up for the service between March 11, 1997, and July 10, 1998. 

The National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative (NRTC), in a filing with the Federal Communications Commission on December 11, 1998, said determination of Grade B signal strength should be updated to reflect the needs of modern consumers. The original Grade B guidelines were made in 1952. "Viewers today have much more heighten expectations of picture quality than did viewers in the 1950s," said NRTC in its filing. "To ask these types of viewers to forsake their high quality distant network satellite service in return for analog, over-the-air local pictures is wholly inappropriate, as well as counterproductive to the development of a vibrant, competitive market."

Many of NRTC customers live outside urban areas, and could be unfairly harmed by the current Grade B guidelines. "NRTC believes the commission has unfairly prejudged certain critical issues in this proceeding, and has failed to protect adequately rural consumers who are currently unable to view acceptable pictures over-the-air but are prohibited from receiving distant network signals by satellite," NRTC said.

NRTC asked the FCC to use new standards that reflect "more accurately which households can actually receive an acceptable signal through a conventional roof top antenna." NRTC recommended use of a predictive method called Terrain-Integrated Rough Earth Model (TIREM). Unlike the Longley-Rice model that is currently used to determine Grade B signal strength, TIREM takes into account important factors that affect signal propagation, such as terrain, interference, vegetation and urban clutter.

For the complete text of NRTC's FCC filing: http://www.nrtc.org/legislative/121098.html

American Movie Classics will premiere an original holiday special, "The Great Christmas Movies," narrated by Shirley Jones, Dec. 15 at 10 p.m. AMC is also planing a "Home for the Holidays" film festival Dec. 24 and 25. The festival will include eight movies.

Fox Family will present "25 Days of Christmas" beginning Dec. 1, with more than 175 hours of holiday-themed programming. It kicks off with the original Harry Hamlin-Gary Coleman movie, "Like Father, Like Santa," on Dec. 1 at 9 p.m.

FX ordered eight additional episodes of original series "Penn & Teller's Sin City Spectacular." FX's initial commitment to comedy-variety show was 16 episodes.

The Military Channel’s live broadcast of the Oct. 10 Navy-Air Force football game
quadrupled its basic subscriber base for the day. The game was made available to at least 11.5 million homes by 19 carriers, including direct broadcast system EchoStar. Overseas, one million servicemen and women based in 156 countries - and sailors and marines embarked on ships in the sea - were able to see the game live courtesy of the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service.

The head of Time Warner, which owns Cable News Network, said his company is in talks with CBS, ABC and NBC about supplying news as the broadcast networks cut back. The networks have been cutting costs, according to Standard & Poor’s analyst
Tom Graves, due to "higher costs for hit programs and sports rights." Graves said he saw CNN acting "much like a White House pool reporter, but on international stories. The CNN Correspondent would be broadcasting on one or more networks." Both CBS and NBC have recently announced layoffs in their news divisions.

Speculation continues over the News Corp. / MCI 110 slot.
Obvious candidates are DIRECTV or EchoStar.  Some belive that EchoStar may have the edge as Murdoch could use the slot to help settle Echo's lawsuit.
Perennial DBS wanna-be, Loral, has also surfaced as a possible buyer. 
Loral's proposed Ka-Star service would be from the same 110 slot.

Long unchallenged as the leader in women's programming, Lifetime is about to get a run for its money as two powerhouse Hollywood execs have reportedly teamed up to
launch a women's oriented channel next summer. The execs are Geraldine Layborne, famed for building Nickelodeon into a multibillion-dollar childrens' service for Viacom Inc. and former head of  Walt Disney Co.'s cable group, and Marcy Carsey, head of the Hollywood production house Carsey-Werner which has produced such hits as "Roseanne,"  "The Bill Cosby Show" and "3rd Rock from the Sun."

The new network, Oxygen, got a big boost at the end of last week as cable king Tele-Communications Inc. confirmed its interest in distributing the channel.   Although women watch more television than men, women's programming has long been ignored by male-oriented advertising and programming.  This neglect has helped propel Lifetime, which is half-owned by Disney's ABC network, into a highly profitable channel.  
Just recently, other programmers have made foray's into women's programming, most notably HGTV, Home and Garden's network which has quickly gained a significant audience.   Disney, by the way, is an investor in Oxygen Media, Laybourne's new company.

Approximately 2.5 million C-Band viewers have gained access to the "family-friendly" programming of PAX TV, thanks to a recent agreement signed with the National
Programming Service.  The deal, plus several recently ]announced cable carriage agreements, would add approximately 6.4 million additional viewers extending to
the nation’s seventh, and newest, broadcast network.  PAX TV reach to more than 76 million U.S. TV households via broadcast, cable and now satellite.

Madonna will perform at the 1998 "VH1 Fashion Awards," joining the slate of performers that includes Janet Jackson, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Brian Setzer Orchestra and a special duet by Lenny Kravitz and Iggy Pop. The show
brings together designers, models, rock stars and show business luminaries for one exciting night of fashion, music and entertainment in New York City. The 1998
"VH1 Fashion Awards" will be taped at the Theater at Madison Square Garden on Friday, Oct. 23 and air on VH1 Tuesday, Oct. 27, at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Satellite subscribers who get distant network signals but are ineligible to receive them got a temporary reprieve from a federal court order that would have cut off some programming from the major broadcast networks today. 

U.S. District Judge Lenore Nesbitt agreed to delay her July decision that viewers should be cut-off from shows carried by CBS and Fox until Feb. 28, 1999 instead of today, Oct. 8.

The July order covered all customers signed up by PrimeTime 24, a programming wholesaler serving 2.6 million people, since March 11, 1997.

Network stations sued PrimeTime alleging the company's retransmissions violated federal law by selling network programming to customers who could receive such signals over an ordinary television antenna. The Satellite Home Viewer Act prohibits people who can receive adequate over-the-air signals from getting network programming by satellite, although the standard for clear reception is the subject of much debate.

The Federal Communications Commission is preparing for an Oct. 22 meeting to vote on DBS public service obligations that are required under the 1992 Cable Act.

Under the Cable Act, DBS operators are required to make available between four and seven percent of their channels for noncommercial, educational programming. After being held back due to a 1993 ruling that stated the set-aside dictum was unconstitutional, the DBS public service obligation was again put on the drawing block by the FCC in 1996.

The cable industry is making the most noise in regards to DBS public service requirements, arguing that satellite's carriage of networks such as Discovery Channel and C-SPAN do not count as public service programming.

HBO HDTV To Use GI Encoder Technology - Home Box Office has chosen General
Instrument technology for its High Definition TV feeds to be launched in
early 1999. GI's HDTV technology is compatible with the DigiCipher II
standard definition MPEG-2 systems deployed worldwide.

ESPN2 celebrated its fifth anniversary Thursday with a total of 60.5 million subscribers. The network will debut a new series tonight at 8 p.m. ET called "ESPN2 Friday Night Fights," featuring live championship fights, as well as classic footage
from the ESPN Big Fights library. Additionally, ESPN2 reported a viewing audience of two million for last Sunday's Major League Baseball coverage.

HBO Launches Two New Multiplex Networks - HBO launched two new multiplex channels - HBO Plus and HBO Signature - on Oct. 1. HBO Plus will take programming from the network's library of movies, specials, series and sports. HBO Signature will feature HBO original programming and select theatrical films. The two channels are part of HBO's new multiplex package called HBO The Works.

Legislation that would allow DTH companies to air local TV signals stalled in a Senate committee after broadcast representatives and the satellite industry fought over provisions added to the bill this week.

Chuck Hewitt, president of the Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association, said the satellite industry liked the bill as introduced by Sen. John McCain. But changes proposed by the broadcast industry - including additions from the National Association of Broadcasters that would redefine white area rules and how to determine eligible subscribers -will hurt the business and its customers.

"I am frankly disappointed that the broadcasters are proposing a laundry list of changes that would, if adopted, prevent satellite consumers for receiving the relief they need," Hewitt said. "The satellite industry is united in its support for the McCain legislation as first introduced. Unfortunately, we are forced to oppose any version of the bill that incorporates the broadcasters' unreasonable demands.

"It would be a shame for Congress to miss this opportunity to pass legislation that will benefit consumers and enable the satellite industry to fulfill its potential as the principal competitor to cable in the video marketplace."

McCain's bill, which was before the Senate Commerce Committee for mark-up Thursday, saw changes this week over how to best determine who could get satellite-delivered broadcast signals, which in the end would be up to the FCC. Hewitt told the committee that new provisions are set so high that the FCC's hands would virtually be tied from making any changes.

"Congress and the FCC must move quickly to prevent the termination of network signal service to hundreds of thousands of Americans who may soon lose the service provided to them via satellite," Hewitt said. "While we are pleased that the SBCA and the NAB have negotiated an agreement that may delay the service termination ordered by the Miami court, the delay is only a first step toward a solution to the consumer crisis created by the court's order.

"The delay provides Congress and the FCC with time to resolve the underlying consumer issues, but without quick action to establish a fair and workable viewing standard, the crisis will only be delayed." 

If satellite is to become a better competitor to cable, the business needs relief as far as delivery of local broadcast stations. "Being able to provide local TV stations will help satellite TV service compete more effectively with cable TV, and that in turn could help hold down cable rate increases," McCain said.

Gene Kimmelman agreed during testimony before the committee. "Much more is
needed to protect consumers from the price gouging and monopolistic practices consumers suffer at the hands of their cable companies," he said. 

"Only by putting a lid on cable rates and aggressively dismantling the concentration of power among the largest cable companies, will it be possible to protect consumers during the period when satellite and other potential cable competitors attempt to challenge cable monopolies."

The broadcast industry, reversing it's earlier position, agreed to a provision in the legislation that would phase in must-carry rules. The requirement would be fully implemented by Jan. 1, 2002 under McCain's bill.

PrimeTime 24 has chosen Decisionmark to provide subscriber-base analysis and point-of-sale screening for its distributors.

Through Decisionmark's subscriber-base analysis, PrimeTime 24 will be able to determine which current subscribers are eligible to receive the distant network package. Included in the analysis will be all PrimeTime 24 subscribers who signed up for the service from March 11, 1997, onward.

"Essentially, with our agreement, anyone who distributes PrimeTime 24 can come under our umbrella," said Jack Perry, president and CEO of Decisionmark. "PrimeTime 24 took great strides to ease its distributors' burden and expense of the court-ordered SHVA (Satellite Home Viewer Act) monitoring."

Decisionmark will also provide point-of-sale eligibility screening to PrimeTime 24's distributors, including Disney, HBO, NPS and Superstar/Netlink, by determining whether a customer's address is located within a local affiliate's Grade B signal area. This process will allow distributors to give viewers the option to request a waiver if necessary.

Both of these services offered by Decisionmark aid PrimeTime 24 in filling the requirements of the recent Miami court injunction issued to the company

A&E To Air Exclusive Ramsey Interview - A&E network will present an exclusive "A&E Investigative Reports" interview with John and Patsy Ramsey on Monday, Sept. 28 at 9 p.m. ET. The interview will be the couple's first public appearance this year and will include interviews with the Ramsey's family and friends, local journalists and the mayor of Boulder, CO, their home town.

HBO Offers C-Band Owners Free Preview - Home Box Office will offer C-Band customers a free preview of the HBO The Works and MultiMAX networks from Friday, Oct. 2 at 8 p.m. ET through Sunday, Oct. 4. HBO The Works includes five channels - HBO, HBO West, HBO Plus, HBO2, HBO Plus West and HBO Signature. MultiMAX includes Cinemax, Cinemax West and MoreMAX.

TLC Features "Vietnam: The Soldiers' Story" - The Learning Channel will be featuring a six-part documentary series, co-produced by ABC News Productions, on the Vietnam War. "Vietnam: The Soldiers' Story" - will include veterans' personal accounts of the war, covert operations and prisoners' life in the "Hanoi Hilton." The series is co-produced by ABC News Productions and will begin on Oct. 11.

ESPN Sunday Night Football Sports Technology First - ESPN's Sunday Night Football will debut its new "1st and Ten" technology on the Sunday, Sept. 27 broadcast of the Cincinnati Bengals at Baltimore Ravens game. This new technology will display a yellow line marking the first down line on the field, making it easy for viewers to keep the first down line in sight. This SporTVision Systems/ESPN "1st and Ten" technology will be used on all offensive downs.

VH1 Fashion Awards To Feature Star Performances - The 1998 "VH1 Fashion Awards" will feature performances by Janet Jackson, The Smashing Pumpkins, Lenny Kravitz and Iggy Pop. The award show will name celebrity winners in each of the following categories: "Most Stylish Music Video," "Best Personal Style (Male & Female)" and "Most Fashionable Artist." The 1998 "VH1 Fashion Awards" will air on VH1 on Tuesday, Oct. 27 at 9 p.m. ET.

Rep. Rick Boucher and 21 of his House colleagues wrote the Federal Communications Commission urging immediate consideration of an Emergency Petition for Rulemaking filed by the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative.

The NRTC petition urges the commission to adopt a pro-consumer definition of a "Grade B" signal for the purposes of the Satellite Home Viewer Act. 
The NRTC is seeking a Grade B mandate that is a contour encompassing a geographic area in which 100 percent of the population, using readily available, affordable equipment, receives over-the-air coverage by network affiliates 100 percent of the time with 100 percent reliability.

According to the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative, the National Association of Broadcasters' announcement that CBS and Fox would delay the enforcement of a network blackout until Jan. 1 doesn't address the problem of rural homes being unable to receive network signals.

Last week, the NAB announced that CBS and Fox would delay the enforcement of a preliminary injunction until Jan. 1, despite a court-ordered effective date of Oct. 8.

If enforced, the court injunction would shut off network signals to more than one million satellite households.

"While, on the surface, NAB's action appears to give satellite carriers an additional few weeks to comply with the injunction, in reality they are attempting to stem the rising tide of consumer calls to Congress and delay congressional action until after the November elections," said NRTC CEO Bob Phillips.

"The NAB's attempt to quell consumer outrage is a tiny public relations Band-Aid for a problem that will not go away without corrective surgery (by Congress and the Federal Communications Commission)," wrote Phillips and Glenn English, CEO of the NRECA.

PrimeTime 24 won a small reprieve from the National Association of Broadcasters, Fox Broadcasting, CBS Broadcasting and its affiliates after they announced plans to delay enforcement of a preliminary injunction forcing DBS providers to disconnect ineligible distant-network subscribers by Oct. 8.

Instead, broadcasters will give PrimeTime 24 until Jan. 1 to terminate service to subscribers deemed ineligible to receive those distant-network signals. Subscribers affected by the preliminary injunction, ordered by a U.S. District Court judge in June, must have signed up for service between March 11, 1997, and July 10 of this year.

Ben Ivan, NAB legal counsel, said that, "Given the great amount of misinformation" provided to affected subscribers from PrimeTime 24 and satellite providers, broadcasters thought that it was important to give consumers additional time to find other options for receiving local-network signals, such as an off-air antenna or lifeline cable subscriptions. 

While testimony wrapped up in a Miami federal courtroom involving PrimeTime 24 and broadcasters, the provider of satellite-delivered network signals suffered another blow in a different legal setting - this time a permanent injunction forbidding the company from sending any ABC signal to DTH subscribers in the Raleigh area.

The permanent injunction was handed down Wednesday by a U.S. District Court judge in North Carolina, and forbids PrimeTime 24 from selling any distant ABC signal to customers in the Raleigh market. In its order, the court said, "PrimeTime 24 has engaged and continues to engage in a willful or repeated pattern or practice, within the local market of ABC's local affiliate WTVD, of delivering primary transmissions made by a network station to subscribers that are not eligible to receive such service under
the Satellite Home Viewer Act."

The National Association of Broadcasters praised the ruling. "We are gratified by the court's decision that further vindicates broadcasters' long-held contention that PrimeTime 24 has willfully and repeatedly violated federal copyright law," NAB President Eddy Fritts said in a statement.

It marks the first permanent injunction against PrimeTime 24. In June, the U.S. District Court in Miami handed down a preliminary injunction that temporarily stopped the company from delivering network signals. 

In that Miami court, testimony in a separate case came to an end. Broadcasters are betting they will prevail against PrimeTime 24. "We are pretty confident the ruling will be in our favor," NAB spokesman Dennis Wharton said.

The case, in which broadcasters and local affiliates are suing PrimeTime 24 over the alleged delivery of broadcast network signals to customers deemed ineligible to receive the feeds, began Aug. 10. CBS, Fox Broadcasting and several of their Florida affiliate stations filed against PrimeTime 24, accusing the company of violating provisions of the Satellite Home Viewer Act.

On Wednesday, Rep. Thomas Bliley and Sen. John McCain wrote Federal Communications Commission Chairman William Kennard, urging him to find a solution to the white area issue impacting home satellite subscribers who can or can't receive broadcast network signals.

The letter from the two powerful lawmakers specifically addressed the ongoing trail in Miami involving local stations, broadcasters and PrimeTime 24, which provides broadcast network signals to DBS and C-Band customers.

The biggest concern from the trial, according to their letter, was the preliminary injunction issued by the Miami U.S. District Court judge forcing PrimeTime 24 to shut off service to customers deemed ineligible to receive distant network signals.

"Putting aside the question of whether the satellite television distributor in this case has actually violated SHVA (Satellite Home Viewer Act) - for that is a question the court should address - we are nonetheless concerned about the impact the court's preliminary injunction will have on consumers as well as competition in the market for multichannel video programming distribution," the letter states.

The injunction, according to the letter, "threatens to undermine the progress we have made in promoting competition. Network programming - be it local or otherwise - is widely viewed as critical to the competitive viability of any distributor of multichannel video programming.

"Our fear is that, once deprived of their network programming, consumers will abandon satellite television service in favor of other providers, namely incumbent cable service providers."

Both lawmakers asked Kennard to respond by Sept. 4 to several inquiries, including how many DTH subscribers the agency suggests will lose their network signals as a result of the injunction. The two also asked what impact termination of network signals would have on the multichannel marketplace, and what action the FCC could take "to protect consumers from having their network programming services terminated."

Bliley is chairman of the House Commerce Committee. McCain, an Arizona Republican, is chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and
Transportation.

The Copyright Office is telling satellite TV subsribers who face cancellation of their broadcast network TV signals that it isn't the one to blame for the loss.

In a fax offered to satellite TV customers, the agency states, "The Library of Congress, the Copyright Office and the Federal Communications Commission played absolutely no role in terminating your network service, or in the lawsuits that require service to be terminated to many subscribers. 

"The decision to terminate your service was solely that of your satellite carrier, not a federal agency." 

In the fax, the Copyright Office also said that the federal government is powerless in restoring network broadcast signals. Any loss in service, according to the agency, "could be that one or more of your local network affiliate stations have contacted your satellite carrier and alleged that you do not reside in an 'unserved household.' Your satellite carrier may be terminating your service in response to these challenges.

"Your satellite carrier has made a business decision that you are not, or may not, be eligible for network service under the copyright license granted satellite carriers by the Satellite Home Viewer Act." 

The Copyright Office effort follows the start of a Miami trial involving broadcasters, local affiliates and PrimeTime 24. Broadcasters are suing the company over the alleged delivery of satellite-delivered broadcast network signals to customers deemed ineligible to receive the feeds.

With the PrimeTime 24 court case in Miami entering its second week, observers suggest the trial is leaning strongly in favor of broadcasters hoping to cut off the company's satellite-delivered network feeds, a move some say will end service delivered to about a million subscribers.

However, as broadcasters mark victories achieved so far in that U.S. District Court, they may be losing a bigger battle in Washington. Angry DTH customers are reportedly phoning representatives in Washington over the potential loss of their broadcast network signals. And agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission and the Copyright Office at the Library of Congress also are fielding calls.

The FCC is referring mad callers to the Copyright Office. The Copyright Office, which can be contacted at 202-707-5932, is telling callers via a recorded statement that, "At this time, there is no government agency including the FCC that can restore your network TV programming."

Numerous DTH subscribers are learning about the impeding loss of network TV through Internet sites such as tvaccessnow.com, a service of the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative. Consumers also are accessing the Copyright Office site at http://www.lcweb.loc.gov/copyright for additional information. We will update you with current information on satellite/network feeds, providing hot links on how to locate representatives and other information.

The Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association also said it is receiving numerous phone calls from consumers who have been denied access to distant network signals, or have learned about the impending disconnection of network service.

The case, in which broadcasters and local affiliates are suing PrimeTime 24 over the alleged delivery of broadcast network signals to customers deemed ineligible to receive the feeds, began Aug. 10. With the powerful backing of the National Association of Broadcasters, CBS, Fox Broadcasting and several of their Florida affiliate stations filed against PrimeTime 24, accusing the company of violating provisions of the Satellite Home Viewer Act (SHVA).

Also last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Atlanta denied PrimeTime 24's emergency petition to stay the Miami court's preliminary injunction forcing the company to cut service off to subscribers.

As the trial involving PrimeTime 24 got underway in Miami, fallout increased from the court's preliminary injunction preventing the company from delivering broadcast signals to subscribers deemed ineligible for the feeds.

Twenty-three Members of Congress sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Bill Kennard expressing their concern over the injunction. They urged the FCC to take immediate action to address the an emergency petition filed by the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative concerning their worries over the issue.

The Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association also said it is receiving numerous phone calls from consumers who have been denied access to distant network signals, or have learned about the impending disconnection of network service.

MTV Awards Names Ben Stiller Host - Actor Ben Stiller has been named host of the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards. The 15th annual awards show will feature performances by Madonna, The Beastie Boys, Hole and the Backstreet Boys. The event will be broadcast live from the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles on Sept. 10 at 8 p.m.

Stewart To Host "The Daily Show" - Jon Stewart has been named the new host of Comedy Central's nightly news parody "The Daily Show." Comedy Central signed a four-year contract with Stewart and plans to expand the show to five nights a week from its current four. Stewart will take over the anchor desk from Craig Kilborn in January 1999 when Kilborn leaves to take over as host of "The Late, Late Show."

Showtime To Offer Free Boxing Preview - Showtime will be offering a free preview weekend of championship boxing matches Sept. 18-20. Included in the free preview will be the heavyweight championship match between Evander Holyfield and Vaughn Bean.

The National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative has launched a website for the more than one million satellite viewers that are facing a blackout of CBS and Fox networks.

The website - www.tvaccessnow.com - was launched after a July 10 injunction that prohibits satellite providers from selling CBS and Fox to subscribers in certain geographic areas; especially those in rural regions.

The NRTC will provide information on the website about the possible loss of network signals and link viewers to congressional members and 650 network affiliates.

"We're already seeing the fallout from this judge's ruling. Consumers are telling us they can't receive over-the-air signals and we're cutting off their only access," said NRTC CEO Bob Phillips. "They are confused and angry, and are turning to their local satellite provider for answers. This website will serve as a helpful resource."

Encore Media Group took another shot at HBO and Showtime with the latest round-up of DSS/Nielsen numbers for its Starz! and Encore movie channels, claiming that the offerings are No. 1 among DIRECTV subscribers not only in prime-time but for all-day viewing.

Results from the June Nielsen satellite survey, compiled through data collected from Encore, showed that DIRECTV homes garnered a 1.0 rating for total day, followed by HBO at 0.9 and Showtime at 0.2. For prime-time, Starz! and HBO shared the lead with each collecting a 2.5 rating while Showtime was third with a 0.3 share.

Results were based on head-to-head, flagship channel comparisons with no multiplex feeds included. When comparing flagship channels plus multiplexes, Starz! was second with a 4.9. HBO topped the category with a 5.0 rating. Showtime was third with a 5.0 rating.

Encore Chairman John Sie, reiterating his line that multiplexed Starz! and Encore channels are "like a video store at home," says the new ratings prove that the multichannel offerings continue to be a valuable commodity among consumers.

"The consumer likes it, the consumer is paying for it, and they are using it," Sie told SkyREPORT. "It is truly a new alternative to the video store. It works because it saves the customer money."

Encore and Starz! are carried as premium services on DIRECTV. U.S. Satellite Broadcasting offers the DSS feeds of HBO and Showtime. When explaining how the DIRECTV/DSS ratings were tabulated, Sie pointed out that 99 percent of USSB households also are DIRECTV households. "Essentially, you can almost equate DSS to DIRECTV," he said.

HBO answered the Encore blitz with a short statement. "The truth cannot be changed. The fact remains that nationally HBO and Cinemax continue to be the top two rated networks among all pay services across every day part," an HBO spokesperson said.

Encore Media Group took another shot at HBO and Showtime with the latest round-up of DSS/Nielsen numbers for its Starz! and Encore movie channels, claiming that the offerings are No. 1 among DIRECTV subscribers not only in prime-time but for all-day viewing.

Results from the June Nielsen satellite survey, compiled through data collected from Encore, showed that DIRECTV homes garnered a 1.0 rating for total day, followed by HBO at 0.9 and Showtime at 0.2. For prime-time, Starz! and HBO shared the lead with each collecting a 2.5 rating while Showtime was third with a 0.3 share.

Results were based on head-to-head, flagship channel comparisons with no multiplex feeds included. When comparing flagship channels plus multiplexes, Starz! was second with a 4.9. HBO topped the category with a 5.0 rating. Showtime was third with a 5.0 rating.

Encore Chairman John Sie, reiterating his line that multiplexed Starz! and Encore channels are "like a video store at home," says the new ratings prove that the multichannel offerings continue to be a valuable commodity among consumers.

"The consumer likes it, the consumer is paying for it, and they are using it," Sie told SkyREPORT. "It is truly a new alternative to the video store. It works because it saves the customer money."

Encore and Starz! are carried as premium services on DIRECTV. U.S. Satellite Broadcasting offers the DSS feeds of HBO and Showtime. When explaining how the DIRECTV/DSS ratings were tabulated, Sie pointed out that 99 percent of USSB households also are DIRECTV households. "Essentially, you can almost equate DSS to DIRECTV," he said.

HBO answered the Encore blitz with a short statement. "The truth cannot be changed. The fact remains that nationally HBO and Cinemax continue to be the top two rated networks among all pay services across every day part," an HBO spokesperson said.

The House Judiciary Committee is set to vote today on Rep. Billy Tauzin's H.R. 2921, a bill which would hold the Library of Congress' DTH copyright fee jump.

Rep. Howard Coble, chairman of the House Intellectual Property Subcommittee, is expected to propose amendments to the bill requiring DTH must-carry.

The National Association of Broadcasters has shown its support of Coble's amendments to the bill in a letter to the committee from President Eddie Fritts. According to the NAB, the amendments will be a positive in that they will "allow DBS companies to begin providing local service to as many or as few local communities as they choose."

Most in the satellite industry are opposed to must-carry mandates for local stations. EchoStar has been one of the most vocal opponents of the measure, saying current capacity couldn't deliver every station in the country.

The satellite industry took a step closer to copyright fee parity with cable after an amendment temporarily rescinding a royalty fee structure for satellite-delivered superstations and network feeds was approved by the full Senate.

The amendment passed last week - included in a bill funding the Commerce, State and Justice departments - would put off the copyright fee increase until Jan. 1, 2000. The fee, which charges DTH providers for the rights to distribute broadcast signals, went into effect on Jan.1.

The amendment was sponsored by Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican and
chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee.

The U.S. Copyright Office imposed the 27 cents per-month, per-subscriber in December. In contrast, cable broadcasters pay about 3 cents per subscriber
per month for the same rights.

The House is expected to approve similar legislation authored by Rep. Billy Tauzin, a Republican and chairman of the House Telecommunications Subcommittee.

CBS is selling half of its CBS Eye on People to Discovery Communications, which will manage the network and fund future investments in the channel.

The network will be renamed Eye on People, but will continue to feature programming on personalities, people and people-oriented historical documentaries produced by CBS News and Discovery. The channel will be overseen by a board of representatives from both companies, and Geoffrey Darby, who has headed the network since January 1997, will remain president.

Financial terms weren't disclosed.

Eye on People has reached 11 million viewers in cable and satellite homes since its introduction in March 1997.

The National Football League reaffirmed its commitment to delivering the Sunday Ticket game package to commercial C-Band subscribers and promised to continue its crack-down on those who take the satellite-exclusive offering without full paying for the service.

The NFL made its promise to commercial C-Band customers for at least the next several years after some got the impression that it wouldn't be available with the exit of Fox Sports Direct from the retail business. ESPN and Turner Home Satellite sell the package to commercial establishments.

For C-Band satellite system owners, all games are delivered on a single satellite, Galaxy III-R. The satellite's footprint covers the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii, as well as Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.

The NFL also said it will continue to target commercial establishments that inaccurately represent their business size when they subscribe to Sunday Ticket. The size factor is based on the establishment's fire occupancy code, a certificate that determines the number of customers a business can safely serve.

The NFL's security team and related outside agencies also will look for satellite signal theft or copyright infringement. Investigators will look for those problems by searching out residential subscriptions and determining black-out violations.

In addition to that news, the NFL launched a web site for its Sunday Ticket package, at http://www.nflsundayticket.com. The league also announced that it will provide fans in Japan with up to seven live NFL games each weekend.  

NASHVILE - Ethnic American Broadcasting Company is preparing to launch The World Channel and GMA, two channels providing Chinese and Filipino programming, respectively, that will launch during the third quarter of 1998.

The new channels and others offer a "window to the world," according to executive vice president Murray Klippenstein. EABC will roll out its services initially into major markets by the end of July, followed by additional channel launches throughout the fall of 1998. EABC will have the ability to offer up to 20 channels of foreign language programming on the new platform.

The World Channel will present movies in both Cantonese and Mandarin for Americans of Chinese ancestry. All films are produced in China and Hong Kong or through other international producers. The new channel will join the Eastern Communications Channel, a new 24-hour Mandarin-language channel covering Chinese news and entertainment programming.

GMA is a variety channel serving the Filipino-American community. Featuring general entertainment, news, sports, dramas and more, EABC's news programming partner, GMA Worldwide Philippines is one of the most popular television channels in the Pacific country. The channel will join VIVA Cinema, the world's first 24-hour Filipino-language movie channel, which is already part of EABC's channel line-up.

EABC has secured 10 additional channels for its niche offering delivered through the expanded DIRECTV platform aboard the Galaxy III-R satellite. Channels in the initial line-up that will be available are: WMNB-TV (Russian), Network Asia and Sony Entertainment Television (Hindu), Ukrainian Broadcasting Network, Ciao TV (Italian), Egyptian Satellite Channel and Nile Drama, ECom (Chinese/Mandarin), ERT (Greek), and VIVA Cinema (Filipino).

BET Movies and STARZ!3 have partnered to produce the first "BET Movies" original film. The picture, entitled "Funny Valentines," began filming this week in Wilmington, N.C. "Funny Valentines" will feature Alfre Woodard, Loretta Devine, CCH Pounder, as well as Tom Wright, Peter Jay Fernandez, Megalyn Echikunwoke and Kajuana Shuford.
on current sports issues. It is scheduled to air on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET beginning in February.

U.S. District Judge Lenore Nesbit issued a permanent injunction against PrimeTime 24, a company that distributes network television service to home satellite viewers. This ruling will affect subscribers to the PrimeTime 24 service who signed up before March 11, 1997. These customers could lose service by April 30.

The temporary injunction issued last summer affected PrimeTime 24 subscribers who signed up between March 11, 1997, and July 10, 1998. They will lose their signals by February 28.

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