|
Satellite cos. join forces
|
 |
February 25, 1997: 10:02 p.m. ET
News Corp., EchoStar to bring network, local programming
From Correspondent Steve Young
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) -- Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. and direct broadcast satellite company EchoStar are partnering in a $1 billion alliance to bring viewers national programs with the clarity of digital technology.
The companies announced a new service late Monday that they say will offer superb sound, crystal-clear pictures and local weather and sports.
Plans call for the American Sky Broadcasting service to likely offer more than 500 channels through a system that will include seven satellites, along with retransmission of local TV stations in markets representing more than 75 percent of all U.S. TV households.
In return for its $1 billion contribution, News Corp. will receive a 50 percent stake in Englewood, Colo.-based EchoStar, a worldwide manufacturer and distributor of satellite TV products.
Satellite companies now selling programs to television viewers can't offer local programming because their satellites lack channel capacity.
The centerpiece of the venture will be a new satellite with 50 transmitters on board and compression technology that will enable the satellite to transmit up to 500 channels.
That will give ASkyB plenty of room to carry cable channels as well as space to re-transmit local news, sports and weather in key markets.
"The initial game plan will be to roll out local programming to approximately 50 percent of U.S. households. Those would be the consumers living in the top 10 to 15 markets," said Rick Westerman, media analyst at UBS Securities.
ASkyB expects to provide local programming to at least another 25 percent of TV viewers down the road.
However, even with 500 channels, there's not enough room to carry every local TV station in the country. Tom Wolzien Sr., media analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, said that means who decides what stations get carried is murky. (141K WAV) or (141K AIFF)
The new company says it won't be a supplement to cable television, but a replacement.
To appease the venture's programming appetite, Rupert Murdoch may have to buy the hatchet with Time Warner Vice Chairman Ted Turner. Analysts say News Corp.'s Murdoch will need the popular Turner programming.
In fact, with 500 channels, one analyst says Murdoch may even start carrying fly fishing from Bangladesh.
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
