旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� � "The World's Most Important Publication!" � 쳐컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� � 같같겨 같� 같같같� 같� 같� 같같같� 같같같� 같]같겨 같같같� 같같같� 같같같� � � 같幡煞� 같� 같幡賽� 같� 같� 같幡賽� 같幡賽� 煞겡賽 같幡賽� 같幡같� 같幡같� � � 같� 겡 같� 같같같� 같같같� 같� 같같� 같� 같같� 같같겡� 같같같� � � 같� 겡 같� 賽煞겡 같幡같� 같� 같幡� 같� 같幡� 같幡같� 같幡같� � � 같같겡� 같� 같같같� 같� 같� 같같같� 같같같� 같� 같같같� 같� 같� 같� 같� � � 賽賽� 賽 賽賽賽 賽 賽 賽賽賽 賽賽賽 賽 賽賽賽 賽 賽 賽 賽 � � (C)Copyright 1993 By Dolan & Associates - All Rights Reserved � 쳐컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� � THE SATELLITE TV INDUSTRY ONLINE MAGAZINE � 쳐컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� � Volume 5 - Issue # 07 Price:$2.95 May 1, 1993 � 쳐컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� � 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. � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� THIS MONTH'S TOP SATELLITE NEWS STORIES --------------------------------------- FCC ISSUES NEW RULES ON RATES AND RE-REGULATION OF SERVICES SUPREME COURT JUSTICE REFUSES TO GRANT CABLE TV INJUNCTION N.C.T.A. SAYS CONSUMER ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY RESPONSIBLE FOR PROBLEMS TCI ANNOUNCES PLANS TO BUILD PAY-PER-USE FIBER OPTICS NETWORK E.S.P.N.'S SECOND NETWORK LOOKS LIKE IT MAY BE A REALITY WHAT'S HAPPENING ACROSS THE HOME DISH SKY'S THIS MONTH - THE NEWS 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� � FCC ISSUES NEW RULES ON RATES AND RE-REGULATION OF SERVICES � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� In a 500 page document issued on Monday, May 5, the FCC has decided the hows and whys of cable tv re-regulation. The rulings are designed to reduce the rates charged by most cable tv systems to their subscribers but the rates will not be reduced for at least six months. Before any rate-reduction can take place, the local regulatory authority must certify in writing that the cable company serving their area is a monopoly and that won't happen for at least a month. It will then take an additional month or so for that documentaion to arrive at the FCC and for the FCC to make such determination known to the cable company involved. The Cable company will then have 120 days to make any necessary rate changes. If you are not served by a monopoly cable company, which is to say there is more than one company you can call to obtain cable service, then the rules on rate-reduction do not apply and the competition between the other providers is intended to regulate the rates they charge. The FCC says their new rate regulation rules should reduce the nation's cable tv subscribers' basic cable bills by at least $1 billion dollars. The rate regulation rules only apply to "basic cable" and basic cable is the level of service that includes all of the local over-the-air broadcast stations, all of the public access channels, all of the government access channels, and all of the educational access channels. I'm not sure if this will also include any leased access channels that may be available of some systems. In order to determine what the proper "basic cable" rates should be, the FCC has provided numerous tables showing pricing schedules that are based on the number of channels, the number of subscribers, and the services which are carried. A cable company can simply look at the tables and find-out what they SHOULD be charging. If they are over-charging by more than 10% they must lower their rates by 10%. Previously, the FCC said cable systems would have to use the rates that were in effect on September 30, 1992 to make the determination. Lower rates for basic cable are expected on three-fourths of all cable systems. After the rates have been lowered, those rates are frozen until the system receives some sort-of competition from another multi-channel programming distributor. Based upon the FCC tables, most "cable services" cost around forty-five cents per channel or $22.50 per month for a 50 channel cable system. You can be sure than many cable companies will file appeals with the FCC on the new rates. When that fails, many will probably file lawsuits and the new rates won't really be in place for quite some time. 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� � SUPREME COURT JUSTICE REFUSES TO GRANT CABLE TV AN INJUNCTION � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� It hasn't been a very good "court" month for the cable industry. On April 12th a special three-judge panel said the new "must-carry" rules were legal and cable systems would have to start getting into compliance with the new law. Of course, the cable guys said they would appeal. And, that's just what they did. They asked the D.C. Court of Appeals to review the decision. The D.C. Court of Appeals agreed with the three-judge panel's ruling. Of course, the cable guys said they would appeal. And, that's just what they did. They've asked the Supreme Court to take-up the matter as soon as possible. In the mean time, they sought an injunction to stop enforcement of the new "must-carry" rules claiming their First Amendment right to speak is impaired if anyone else is allowed to speak. On Thursday April 29, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist turned down an emergency request by cable operators and programmers who sought to postpone the law's effect until an appeal is acted on by the full Supreme Court. Judge Rehnquist said, "It simply is not indisputably clear that (the cable operators and programmers) have a First Amendment right to be free from government regulation." The cable operators and programmers say the The Cable Television Consumer Protection & Competition Act of 1992, violates their free-speech rights. One section of the new law requires cable operators to devote a portion of their system's channel capacity to carrying commercial and public broadcast TV stations. The cable operators and programmers argue that this results in "directly controlling the content of cable operators' speech." Lawyers representing the FCC urged the chief justice to reject the emergency request saying that "the must-carry provisions are designed to regulate an economic market in serious dysfunction, and thereby to protect the First Amendment interests of viewers to receive a diversity of programming and information." 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� � N.C.T.A. SAYS CONSUMER ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY RESPONSIBLE FOR PROBLEMS � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� Recently, the Federal Communications Commission asked-for and received comments on, the compatability problems associated with cable tv systems and consumer purchased "cable-ready" tv's and vcr's. More than 60 million homes have cable tv and more than 55% of these also have vcr's. A large percentage of these tv's and vcr's are known as being "cable-ready". This means that they incorporate special tuners that will make it possible for them to be used on cable systems that use industry standard cable equipment, without the need for consumers to rent un-necessary set-top convertors from the local cable company. There's just one small hitch, most cable systems have made every reasonable effort to alter their systems so that consumers can not use any of these to acheive any level of suitable operation. Once upon a time, many cable systems installed "traps" outside of their cable subscriber's home that prevented reception of un-authorized channels but also allowed the balance of the channels to pass-thru to subscriber equipment un-altered. At that time, it was a simple matter for cable consumers to buy a cable-ready tv and just plug it into the cable jack. It wasn't necessary to rent set-top convertors or any other additional hardware from the cable company to make this happen. It was also a simple matter to purchase a "splitter" and hook-up your cable-ready vcr or other additional cable-ready tv's without calling the cable company out to do it for you. And, for the most part, everything worked well and it didn't cost anyone anything extra because "cable-ready" tuners were now available in most all consumer level tv's and vcr's at little or no additional costs. Cable consumers who purchased their own cable-ready hardware saved their cable company money too because it wasn't necessary for the company to buy and install set-top convertors. This also eliminated any maintenance associated with them and maintenance costs of set-top convertors is usually one of the cable systems biggest expenses. Every time the dog chewed-up the cord or ate the remote control or the kids poured Coke into the convertor, the cable system would have to roll a truck to track-down the problem and replace the unit. With the consumers buying their own equipment and being responsible for the cost of maintenance, they tend to take much better care of it because they are the ones who will have to pay to fix it. And, the cable system doesn't have to roll a truck. Not everyone had cable-ready hardware but as everyone buys a new tv with the cable-ready tuners built-in, it wouldn't take very many years before everyone DID have cable-ready hardware. Most cable systems sent out bill stuffers suggesting that any new tv's or vcr's purchased be cable-ready. Then, greed set in. Cable systems had finished wiring most areas for cable and had already hooked-up all of the homes who wanted their services. The dollars stopped rolling-in from new installations and cable systems started looking for ways to squeeze additional dollars out of their existing customers. Many systems did this by adding new channels and creating new levels of service called tiers. To get the new channels you would be forced to subscribe to a more expensive tier of service. The problem was, many systems would put these new services on channels that any home with cable-ready hardware could already receive at no additional charge. To stop cable ready hardware from receiving these new "tiers" of service it would now be necessary for systems that installed "traps" on the poles, to send an installer to each and every home and install some more traps. The traps only cost a couple of dollars and are pretty much maintenance-free and for all practical purposes, this is the cheapest and most effective way to "protect" the cable systems services from theft. However, what does cost a lot of money is sending a truck and installer to each home - we're talking big bucks here. It would also take a year or so for a large system to do this. So, what did the cable systems do? They scrambled the signals and told their customers to come in and pick-up a set-top convertor box. Of course, a deposit is required to get the boxes and also a monthly fee to rent the boxes. And, you have to have one for EVERY tv and vcr even though every tv and vcr is cable-ready. Want to record a couple of shows on different channels while you're gone? Too bad, using the cable systems equipment defeats many of the most popular features on your cable-ready hardware. You also now have an extra remote control unit to keep-up with. To add insult to injury, many cable systems are charging an additional monthly fee to get the remote control unit that is supplied free with their convertor. Pure and simple greed! Needless to say, the FCC had received many thousands of complaints about these problems so they issued a notice of inquiry and took official comments and proposals from anyone who was interested. The FCC plans to issue some new rules that will eliminate these kinds of problems. As was expected, consumers, consumer groups, consumer electronics manufacturers, and representatives of the consumer elctronics industry, all pointed-out that all of the problems with cable-ready hardware not working in the intended manner, is the fault of the cable industry. Every cable system does something different to defeat the use of cable-ready equipment. You'll be glad to know that the National Cable Television Association filed comments with the FCC that say the problems are with consumers and the makers of the cable-ready hardware. The cable industry wants tv sets and vcr's to be manufactured with better tuners??? They also want tv sets and vcr's to be built with ANSI 563 multiport decoder interfaces. This would allow cable systems to rent subscribers a set-top convertor/descrambler that plugs into the interface. They NCTA forgot to mention that "trapping" instead of scrambling would immediately solve all of the problems with a minimum of difficulty. The Electronics Industry Association wants the FCC to adopt a standard that would force cable systems to do "whatever they want to do to their signals" outside of customers homes and pass only unscrambled signals into the home or to adopt a "national scrambling standard". I know that you'll find this hard to believe, but the cable industry opposes that idea. The NCTA completed their comments by saying that all consumers need to do is rent the necessary convertor/descramblers from their local cable company and that would solve all of the difficulties. 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� � ADVERTISEMENT � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� All the services you want, can be found 24 hours a day on the National Videotex Network (NVN). SIGN UP NOW AND NVN WILL GIVE YOU A $10 USAGE CREDIT! As you are evaluating alternative services, consider NVN. Quality, great selection and REALLY COMPETITIVE RATES are what NVN is all about. A network membership, including use of over 80 Basic services, is a FLAT $5.95 per month. Premium services are priced at low connect time rates of just $5.00/hr. non-prime(6pm-8am*) and $8.00/hr. for prime time (8am - 6pm*). And, these same great rates apply whether you're accessing NVN at 1200, 2400 or even 9600 baud! (Some services may also carry additional surcharges or transaction fees.) And, NVN offers an ever increasing number of services to suit almost any interest. Enjoy lots of forums with discussion topics ranging from finance and computing to gardening and astrology. Communication between members continues 24 hours a day with instant message posting. COMMUNICATE WITH OTHER FORUM MEMBERS IN THE MESSAGE BASES AT NO EXTRA CHARGE. Or, choose the Basic Email or Premium "live" Chat club service for even more round the clock communication. Get global news and sports coverage from the nation's ten largest wire services. Take advantage of the low connect charges to download valuable information in the numerous databases available. Challenge your strategic and creative skills with interactive and multi-player games like the Island Of Kesmai(TM). Stay in step with business and financial services including stock quotes, currencies, commodities, market news and information from reference sources like Dun & Bradstreet and TRW. Other services include shopping, travel information and reservations, an encyclopedia and much more... JOIN NOW GET $10 IN FREE USAGE! Just set your communication software to 1200, 2400 or 9600 bps, 8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit and full duplex. Dial 1-800-336-9092; upon connection enter the code: BS93RR and press . Enter name , address and select credit card (VISA, MasterCard, Discover Card or American Express) or electronic fund transfer (bank account draft). Your Starter Kit will arrive by mail. To order by phone or for more information call NVN at 1-800-336-9096 Monday - Friday 8am - 10:00pm and weekends Noon - 8pm*. All hours indicated are Central time zone. You can even access DISHCETERA in the Satellite TV Forum via a 9600 baud call from most major cities at no additional connect charges. 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� � TCI ANNOUNCES PLANS TO BUILD PAY-PER-USE FIBER OPTICS NETWORK � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� After the cable industry spent the last two years telling lies about how the passage of the cable bill would cut future spending by cable companies and eliminate their investments in new technologies, Tele-Communications Inc, the world's largest cable operator, has announced it plans to spend $1.9 billion dollars upgrading it's systems and investing in new technologies. Saying they will lay 7,000 miles of fiber optic cables in less than three years, 27 years faster than they previously claimed it would take telephone companies to do the same thing, TCI plans to offer a variety of new services to their subscribers beginning next year. Using "smart" set-top convertors containing computer chips, TCI customers will be able to shop-at-home, bank-at-home, make airline reservations, play video games, AND access hundreds of channels of programming - that's the only thing you can't do right now using your existing telephone lines. Most of these hundreds of channels TCI plans to offer are nothing more than pay-per-view variations of existing programming and numerous duplications. For instance, they plan to offer a dozen pay-per-view movies starting every 15 minutes for convenience. They also plan on using digital storage to store various tv programs for later playback on a pay-per-view basis. You can already get a dozen pay-per-view movies that start every 30 minutes and set your vcr to record a program or group of programs while you are gone and then view them later for free. I can't see too much point to any of this aside from the fact that TCI wants to make sure that telephone companies don't offer the same things. TCI is said to be in partnership talks with General Instruments, Intel Corp and Microsoft to make all of this happen. At the recent National Association of Broadcasters trade show, Intel and Microsoft were at the General Instruments booth demonstrating set-top computer consoles that featured Microsoft Windows menus, that allowed the selection of various video options. Intel, Microsoft, and General Instruments have entered into a partnership to produce a "computer processing module" that will be incorporated into the DigiCable set-top convertors and DigiCipher descrambler modules manufactured by General Instruments. G.I.'s Hal Krisbergh says they are putting a $1000. 486 level computer into a $100. module which will have the capability of doing "anything" the cable operator wants it to do. Microsoft chairman Bill Gates said, "a wide variety of new programming and services must be created to entice the consumer into the digital revolution." Okay, I'm a little confused here; if G.I. can put a $1000. computer into a $100. module, why can't they put a $45. Videocipher into a $100. module? For those of you who were on another planet and didn't hear TCI's planted news story on every network or read about it in every newspaper, I have included it's text here. --- DENVER, Co. (April 12) - Tele-Communications Inc., the nation's largest cable-television company, unveiled a $1.9 billion plan Monday to build a cross-country fiber-optic system capable of delivering as many 500 channels and a forest of electronic information at futuristic speed. TCI, with 10 million customers and a 20 percent share of the U.S. cable market, said the system will eventually entail the laying of 7,000 miles of fiber-optic cable across the nation, linking more than 250 cities by the end of 1996. Fiber-optic cable can carry far more data than regular cable, which, in terms of television channels alone, tends to fill up at 54 channels. John Malone, Tele-Communications' CEO said the network is a step toward realizing President Clinton's goal of creating an information "superhighway" across the nation. "The Clinton administration has proposed a $17 billion government-coordinated communications infrastructure development plan that would build a two-way information superhighway across America," he said. "All agree that private enterprise must pull the strongest oar in meeting this need," he added. "This is an important signal to Washington," said Christopher Dixon, analyst with Paine Webber. The plan should also enable TCI to generate revenues from services not regulated by the Federal Communications Commissions. About 65 percent of TCI's business comes under regulation. Tele-Communications said its new network, called the Infostructure Network, will eventually give subscribers a range of services including interactive educational programming, multiple movies, enhanced shop-at-home offerings, data storage and transfer and computer software delivery, cable commuting and huge amounts of television programming. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT COMMUNICATIONS SUPERHIGHWAY Q. Why are they spending this money? A. Fiber optics is a superior delivery system to the current pencil-sized coaxial cables that currently run cable-TV into the home. A strand of fiber can deliver up to 500 channels, giving consumers greater choice. Q. Will it just upgrade the television set? A. Initially yes, by offering more channels with far better picture quality. But the company also said it will allow consumers "more personalized control over their TV service." It will allow two-way television, such as home shopping, and also links to data bases. Q. It's like a computer then? A. It will allow the television to act more like a computer. In the future, you might be able to transmit memos to the office, ring up data bases for flight information, news or stocks and send video pictures to distant family members over the fiber optic lines. Q. Isn't that what telephone lines are for? A. Exactly. And that's why a fight has developed, for telephone companies want to offer similar services over their lines. Essentially cable television companies and telephone companies are going head-to-head for control over delivering communications into the home. Q. Which side will win the battle? A. Analysts say cable tv has an edge in delivery, while the telephone companies have more capital. The most likely scenario will be for both sides to link up and come to the table with their best offerings. Q. Didn't Vice President Al Gore talk about this information "superhighway" during the campaign? A. The fiber optic superhighway was a cornerstone of the president's economic plan. But private enterprise is jumping ahead of the government in trying to get the program off the ground for consumers rather than for schools and businesses as Gore envisioned. Q. So will I be able to use my new-fangled television. A. Any new technology comes with its pitfalls and analysts are not even sure what the TV set will look like when this revolution is over. The new television/telephone/computer will have to be cheaper and easier to use than anything that's out there now, or consumers won't buy it. 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� � E.S.P.N.'S SECOND NETWORK LOOKS LIKE IT MAY BE A REALITY SOON � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� After much speculation, ESPN says they plan to begin offering, a second channel of "hipper" programming late this year. There is also talk that the so-called ESPN II would be a "cable exclusive channel" and not available through other distribution methods. Since ESPN is owned by Capital Cities/ABC and not by a cable company, ESPN is not required to offer their programming for sale by other technologies. Herb Granath, president of Capital Cities/ABC Video Enterprises says that there is plenty of sports programming to not only fill ESPN II but also a third ESPN channel. ESPN will not make any decisions on marketing for ESPN II until the dust settles from the passage of the cable bill. 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� � WHAT'S HAPPENING ACROSS THE HOME DISH SKY THIS MONTH � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� CNBC has pulled all of its ads from TV GUIDE because they won't carry the program listings for CNBC's programs. CNBC says they reach 48.5 million cable tv homes and are the largest network not listed in TV GUIDE. Recently, E! ENTERTAINMENT conducted a write-in campaign to get their listings published in TV GUIDE. TV GUIDE says that every time they add a new network's listings they have to add several pages to the guide and that costs lots of money. TV GUIDE's CABLE EXTRA is now being distributed with the Boston Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Chicago editions of TV GUIDE and does contain the listings for CNBC and E! ENTERTAINMENT. - - - - - - - - - - THE GAME CHANNEL will officially launch their service as part of THE FAMILY CHANNEL beginning June 7th. A two and one half hour block of interactive programming will begin at 12:30 (CST) with Let's Make A Deal, Trivial Pursuit, $100,000 Name That Tune, and another episode of Let's Make A Deal. It should be noted that these first shows will not really be interactive but will show viewers how to play the various games. Later on, they didn't give any idea when, the shows would switch to true interactive formats using either 800 or 900 numbers. [I bet I can guess which one!] Early next year another similar channel, THE GAME SHOW CHANNEL, plans to launch it's network and THE GAME CHANNEL wanted to be the first to get started. - - - - - - - - - - Remember the LAS VEGAS ENTERTAINMENT NETWORK? The one that spent a year promoting several different blocks of programming on one transponder and then vanished without any trace or explanation? A very interesting press release surfaced this last week and says as follows: --- Las Vegas Entertainment Network signs definitive sales and purchase agreement for acquisition of Maxim Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas Marina Del Rey, Ca. - Las Vegas Entertainment Network announced Friday it has escrowed funds and signed a formal purchase and sales agreement to acquire the Maxim Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. This follows a November 1992 announcement that LVEN had entered into a preliminary letter of intent to acquire the Maxim, which is located just off the famed Las Vegas "Strip" and within close proximity to major resorts such as Caesars Palace, Bally's, the Flamingo Hilton and the Mirage. The Maxim, which has operated under the same ownership since it opened its doors in 1977, contains a newly renovated 795 room hotel, a 20,000 square foot casino, a cabaret showroom and two restaurants among many other amenities. For the fiscal year ended June 30, 1992 Maxim revenues were approximately $60 million. LVEN is a media-based company and we intend to marry several resort destination projects currently in development with our ongoing television programming production, to maximize mutual marketing and publicity opportunities," said Bruce Lasky, LVEN vice-president. Las Vegas Entertainment Network Inc. is currently engaged in the production and international distribution of television programming that showcases entertainment and events centered in Las Vegas, Reno, and Lake Tahoe. The company's first television series, "Las Vegas Tonight," premiered in 1992 on France 3, one of three major networks broadcasting to French-speaking Europe. Distribution agreements are also into place for broadcast outlets in Spain, Portugal, Central and South America. --- I guess they decided not to serve the home dish market in this country. It would have been nice if they had issued a press release saying that. - - - - - - - - - - The founders of MOVIETIME, which is now E! ENTERTAINMENT, have announced plans to launch FXTV: FITNESS & EXERCISE TELEVISION, sometime in 1994. The channel will be free to cable systems that carry it on their basic level. - - - - - - - - - - The D.C. Court Of Appeals has issued a temporary injuction stopping the enforcement of recently enacted FCC rules prohibiting indecency on public access channels. The injunction will remain in effect until the court can rule on the constitutionality of the new regulations later this year. - - - - - - - - - - A new channel to deliver programming to the hotels and other resorts, as well as, cruise ships in the Caribbean area has been announced and plans to be in operation on June 1. Colin Chisholm III, a former executive with Turner Broadcasting and United Artists Television, said the network will offer entertainment and business news programming that its affiliates can pick up using a satellite dish and unscramble for their guests. The network has signed agreements to buy programming from the CNBC and from E! Entertainment Television. Chisholm said Caribbean resorts offer few English-language programs that appeal to American tourists. - - - - - - - - - - VIEWERS CHOICE has announced that they will begin feeding three channels of CONTINUOUS HITS and one channel of HOT CHOICE from a single transponder using DigiCipher beginning in August of this year. Starting next month, authorized affiliates will receive free DigiCipher integrated receiver descrambler units. The new compressed channels will be offered on Satcom C4 #18 and a single channel of VIEWERS CHOICE will remain in the analog format on Satcom C3 #3 for the time being. The DigiCipher units cost around $2000. for anyone who wants to be an "early adapter!" REQUEST TV has also announced that it will switch to five channels using compression later this year, however they are not providing any more details at this time. Clearly, if they don't keep-up with the other guys they would lose all of their customers and go out of business. In case anyone is interested, there's going to be a national pay-per-view conference in New Orleans on May 10 -12 at the Hyatt Regency. 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� � DISHCETERA - THE SATELLITE TV INDUSTRY ON-LINE MAGAZINE � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� * 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- 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� � SATELLITE TV BOARD OF INFORMATION BBS : (713) 623-4899 9600 bd v.32 � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� � Many satellite tv/cable tv and other related public interest news items and � � files are available. 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