- - - Phillips Raises Legislative Red Flag - - -

National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative (NRTC) President and CEO Bob Phillips has released a statement saying that many Americans will continue to be cut off from important television programming if pending satellite legislation passes in its current form.

"NRTC will continue to voice concerns about the inequities in this bill. Washington needs to hear quickly from the millions of consumers it will negatively affect," said Phillips. "There are 35 million American households that will not be able to access their local television networks via satellite if this bill passes without a guarantee of service for everyone."

A House/Senate conference committee has been charged with hammering out the final version of new satellite legislation. Although the conferees were announced this Spring, the committee has yet to officially meet.

Among other things, the legislation could permit the delivery of local broadcast network signals to their local markets. The NRTC takes issue with the fact that the separate House and Senate bills do not require satellite TV companies to deliver those signals to all of the nation's television markets. The organization is calling on Congress to change the pending legislation to include a rural service provision.

"If Congress passes the current satellite bill as it stands, sixteen entire states would be left without any local TV markets carried on satellite," Phillips said. "It's unfair that a whole segment of the population will be left behind with no satellite-delivered local service."

- - - Encore Joins Personal TV Group - - -

Encore Media Group has joined the Washington, D.C.-based Advanced Television Copyright Coalition, an organization focused on reconciling copyright issues with new personal video recording technologies.

"The time has come for the United States to set a global example by spearheading actions through groups, such as the ATCC, that protect this country's intellectual property - one of our country's most valuable exports and commodities - and encourages the growth of new television viewing technologies," Encore Chairman John Sie said in announcing the company's action.

The ATCC was founded by CBS, Discovery Communications, Disney, News Corp. and Time Warner. The organization is keeping a watchful eye on the intellectual property rights of creators and distributors of entertainment programming content. The group's concerns center around personal recorder TV technology and its impact on copyrighted material.

- - - Showtime Promotes DBS Executive - - -

Showtime Networks executive Taylor Adams was recently named to the new role of account vice president for DBS. He will report to Vice President of DBS Dani Effron.

Taylor Adams, who most recently served as director of DBS, will be responsible for representing Showtime's interests in all DBS distribution.

Adams began his career in the cable industry in 1986 with Showtime's parent company Viacom. He worked at both MTV Networks and Showtime's Network Operations departments before joining Showtime Satellite Networks as a market development coordinator in 1988. He also served as Showtime Satellite Networks' Southeast Region sales manager and national sales manager.

- - - SkyBOX: Signs of the Times - - -

Are the wire heads starting to run scared? Well, we'd think not, given their huge blocks of customers. But...

That ever ready cable advertiser, Craver Marcom Inc. just came out with its annual Holiday card selection and the number one feature is, guess what!, anti-DBS messages. With such goodies as "Do your subs know Santa can't get clearance to land on roofs obstructed by a Dish?" We're shaking in our boots...

Meanwhile just a few months ago a leading cable provider came up with a brand new "customer retention" program. Are any of you old enough to remember when gas stations gave out dishware to frequent customers? Never mind, now you can get your very own set of wire-head glasses just for hanging onto that antiquated service a little longer...

And finally, numbers continue to surface showing that new DBS subscribers within cabled areas have begun to outpace new sub sign-ups nationwide. Want more on that? Don't miss this fall's SkyFORUM, to be held September 16 at the Marriott Marquis in NYC. (Like how we snuck that one in? Seriously, don't miss it...)

- - - TECHNOLOGY: - - -

• AMC Announces a $19 Million Deal With Satmex -
  American Multiplexer Corporation (AMC) announced Friday that it has signed a $19 million agreement with Satmex to purchase satellite capacity over the next five years. Satmex owns and operates a fleet of satellites covering all of Continental US and South America. AMC plans to use the capacity for its high-speed Internet and Virtual Private Network services, which are scheduled to begin in October 1999.

• Lockheed Martin Releases New Product -
  Lockheed Martin has announced the availability of the Satellite Control System 210 Release 4.8, which provides an improved application programming interface for users to integrate SCS 21 into mission control centers quickly and at a low cost. SCS 21 is a workstation-based, telemetry, tracking and commanding product with application across a satellite's lifecycle, from integration and test through launch and on-orbit operations. Release 4.8 adds new, market driven functionality to that system.

• Satellite To Monitor Hong Kong Bridges -
  A satellite system will be in place next year to monitor structural safety of the Tsing Ma, Kap Shui Mun and Ting Kau bridges in Hong Kong. Authorities there have closed the bridges during inclement weather (such as typhoons) when strong winds cause them to swing. A new Global Positioning System will help authorities track changes in bridge positions.

• Arianespace Puts S. Korean Satellite in Orbit -
  An Arianespace rocket placed a South Korean satellite into orbit Saturday after two delays to checks on the satellite payload. The Ariane 42P rocket, equipped with two solid strap-on boosters, blasted-off from the European Space Agency (ESA) launch center in Kourou, on the northeast coast of South America. KOREASAT 3 will provide direct broadcast television and telecommunications services over the Asia-Pacific region for Korea Telecom.

• Advanced Statistical Multiplexing Available Worldwide -
  V-Bits and Tiernan Communications have announced an agreement for worldwide distribution of V-Bits' RateMux(TM) statistical multiplexing technology. RateMux(TM) squeezes additional program channels into available bandwidth by allocating data rates according to the content of each service.