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1999 News
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There are lots of satellite launches to look forward to
in the coming months. Whether the programming will be digital or analog,
available or not, is anybody's guess at this point, but the fact is, we
are throwing satellites up at a brisk pace.
Whew!
Realizing that more and more C-Band customers find themselves forced to program their own satellite receivers, and the fact that C-Band retailers are fast becoming a thing of the past. Furthermore, after receiving hundreds of requests to purchasing manuals for older type receivers. We are proud to announce that we have compiled a list of more than 175 C-Band Receiver Manuals for C-Band dish owners to use and enjoy completely FREE of charge. For More Details Visit http://www.OrbitSat.com/support
Motorola and General Instrument have completed their merger, following GI shareholder approval of the $17 billion deal during a special meeting Wednesday. Under the merger deal, each share of General Instrument was converted into 0.575 of a share of Motorola common stock. The merger of the two companies produced a new unit, Motorola Broadband Communications. Headed by Edward Breen, former chairman and chief executive of General Instrument, the Broadband Communications sector will focus on integrated and interactive broadband access products for the home. It will become one of the world's leading suppliers of digital and analog set-top terminals, thanks to GI's work with cable and satellite companies in the past. Among the new unit's products will be systems for wired and wireless cable TV networks, cable modems and modem network routers and HFC network transmission systems used by cable operators. In addition, the unit will have GI's DTH business.
Your network services have been saved due to the recent passing of the bill for the Satellite Home Viewer Act (SHVA). Here's what it means for C-Band subscribers:
Less than two weeks after the successful launch of Galaxy XI from French Guiana, PanAmSat shipped its Galaxy XR satellite to Arianespace's Kourou launch facility on the South American coast and has begun final preparations for its lift-off. Galaxy XR's flight should take place later this month. A successful launch for Galaxy XR will bring the company's global fleet to 21 spacecraft. It's also the second of seven PanAmSat launches scheduled to take place by mid-2001. Galaxy XR will become the fifth satellite in the Galaxy cable neighborhood, which delivers television to virtually all of the 11,000 cable systems throughout the United States. The payload also will deliver Internet and telecommunications services throughout North America. Galaxy XR, a Hughes-built satellite with 24 C-Band and 24 Ku-Band transponders, will be located at 123 degrees. It will launch aboard an Ariane 4 vehicle.
The announcement of the availability of seven digital channels of Fox Sports with the 4DTV receiver announced 4/1 was pre-maturely released. While there are discussions being held to make these channels available on C-Band, no formal agreement has been made. Orbit apologizes for any inconvenience this may have caused. Please stay tuned for further updates.
Loral Skynet's Telstar 6 was successfully deployed at its 93 degree location and was put into full commercial service Monday, according to the company. Telstar 6 covers the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, and into Canada and Latin America. It carries a total of 52 transponders - 24 at C-Band and 28 at Ku-Band. The satellite was launched Feb. 15 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard a Proton rocket. Loral's 1999 lift-off schedule includes the launches of Orion 3 in April, Telstar 7 in June and Orion 2 later in the year.
A failure aboard GE Americom's satellite GE-3, which reportedly began spinning out of control about 4 a.m. Eastern Time, disrupted a number of key networks, including a national PBS feed. According to news reports, the outage also affected home satellite reception of Turner Broadcasting networks such as CNNfn, CNN International, CNN-Sports Illustrated and Turner Classic Movies. The outage also reportedly disrupted CNN's Newsource news feed to 600 local television stations. GE-3 was put in service in September 1997. Its failure follows the May 1998 loss of the Galaxy-4 satellite.
As an estimated 700,000 satellite customers - and possibly as many as 1 million - lost Fox and CBS signals Sunday, there were more calls for a Congressional fix on the delivery of distant network feeds. At last report, there were no last-minute legal maneuverings over the Miami court's Feb. 28 shut-off date. This week, however, talk could heat up regarding a Congressionally approved moratorium that will allow delivery of distant network feeds. "Now, consumers have only one line of defense between themselves and the broadcast monopoly - and that is Congress," said Bob Phillips, CEO of the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative. "NRTC will mount a consumer campaign in the coming weeks to urge Congress to pass emergency legislation on behalf of these consumers. As network TV signals go dark in rural homes without cause, viewers must make their voices heard in Washington." What You Can Do If Your Network TV Stations Get Turned Off? Dish owners who lose their satellite-delivered network TV stations currently have two options for continued reception of network TV programming: 1: Request waivers from your local TV stations for continued satellite reception of distant network TV signals. To get a waiver, a request must be filed with each local TV station (ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC) in your area. There are several resources to help dish owners get waivers. Dish owners who have access to the Internet can go to www.tvaccessnow.com and click on "Request a waiver", www.sbca.com and click on "Save Our Signals", www.decisionmark.com and click on "SHVA Solution Central" and www.primetime24.com and click on "Satellite TV subscriber alert". Also, check out www.getawaiver.com and www.iwantmyfreetv.com. Or, write to the following addresses for more information: PrimeTime 24, 153 East 53rd St., 59th Floor, New York, NY 10022. SBCA, 225 Reinekers Ln., Suite 600, Alexandria, VA 22314. NRTC, 2201 Cooperative Way, Suite 400, Herndon, VA 20171. If and when you get that letter fax it in to your programming provider and your programming will be restored. If your are an Orbit Communications C-Band (Large Dish) programming customer fax it to 978-440-9662. 2: Try using a new, sophisticated off-air antenna to receive local TV stations. Off-air antenna technology has advanced considerably over the last 10 years. Check with our Local TV Channel Section, especially on the new off-air antenna maps from the Consumer Electronics Manufacturer's Association (CEMA). Maps for all 212 TV markets across the country are expected to be available next month-sooner in many areas. History of the Issue On March 11, 1997, CBS and Fox brought legal action against PrimeTime 24 in a Federal court in Miami. On June 10, 1998, the court ruled in favor of the broadcasters. The broadcasters claimed that PrimeTime 24 violated Federal law by providing distant network TV stations via satellite to dish owners who live in a local TV station's "grade B" signal contour. Broadcasters maintain that satellite reception of distant network TV stations in areas that supposedly can receive signals from local TV stations erodes a local TV station's viewership and, therefore ratings, which are used to determine advertising fees. The court's ruling requires satellite TV providers to shut off PrimeTime 24's satellite-delivered distant network TV stations, particularly CBS and Fox, that are being transmitted to dish owners who do not qualify (live within their local TV station's grade B signal contour). Many dish owners who are in their local TV station's grade B area cannot receive adequate signals from their local TV stations with an off-air antenna. The original court decision handed down by Miami Federal court judge Lenore Nesbitt mandated that the satellite delivery of distant network TV signals to ineligible subscribers had to be terminated on or before October 9, 1998. That ruling was delayed until February 28, 1999 in order to give the satellite industry, broadcasters and the government time to find a more reasonable solution. This first court ruling only impacts dish owners who ordered PrimeTime 24 stations between March 11, 1997, the day the broadcasters filed the lawsuit in Miami, and June 10, 1998, the day the court issued its original decision. On December 30, 1998, Federal court Judge Lenore Nesbitt, who is presiding over the case, issued a permanent injunction against PrimeTime 24. The permanent injunction mandates that all ineligible subscribers who ordered PrimeTime 24 before March 11, 1997, must be turned off on or before April 30, 1999. Instead of using the grade B signal contour as the standard of determining which dish owners do not qualify for satellite-delivered distant network TV stations, the SBCA and the NRTC have recommended using the Terrain Integrated Rough Earth Model (TIREM) which takes into account features of the local terrain. TIREM, which was developed by the National Telecommunication and Information Administration (NTIA), incorporates data from the U.S. Geological Survey. TIREM can provide a more accurate method of determining reception of local TV stations via an off-air antenna. The FCC has recommended a method of determining which dish owners do not qualify for satellite-delivered network TV stations that takes into account terrain.
Twelve days remain until distant network signals delivered via satellite are cut off to nearly 1 million subscribers. Last minute efforts to postpone the order were taken by Primetime 24, the distant network provider caught in the middle of the legal wrangling. In a filing last week with the U.S. District Court in Miami, the company asked the Feb. 28 shut-off be pushed back to April 30, the date an additional 1.2 million subscribers will lose service. PrimeTime 24 also asked the court to incorporate into its order a Federal Communications Commission order endorsing revised methodologies determining eligibility for distant network signal reception. The company said the Individual Location Longley-Rice model pushed by the FCC is an improvement on today's predictive model.
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. |
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Some or our news stories are provided by:
Skyreport, Orbit Magazine and Satellite TV Weekly.
