Since 1948
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Friday, January 13, 2006
Just a heads up, today is the last day this particular blog address
will work. MediaScan moved several weeks ago to the Sveriges
Radio/Radio Sweden site. The easiest way to find it is at:
mediascan.org
The RSS feed is at:
http://www.sr.se/xml_news/rss/SRImediaScanRSS.xml
Posted at 10:01 am by gwood
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Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Court Rejects Immigrants’ Right to Satellite TV
The Stockholm Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that three families in the
Stockholm suburb of Rinkeby can be evicted for mounting satellite TV dishes on
the outside wall of their apartment buildings.
Rinkeby is largely populated by refugees and other immigrants. Many residents
have satellite dishes on their balconies, so they can watch television from
home, channels not provided by their cable TV provider.
The owner of the building where the three families live, however, objected to
their satellite installations. A year ago the Regional Rent Tribunal approved
the dish antennas, arguing that the immigrants’ right to information outweighed
the property management company’s argument the antennas might fall down and
injure someone. The company then turned to the appeals court.
The Tenants’ Union, which has supported the three families, has already said
it is willing to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights. The three
families have until March to move out.
Posted at 02:45 pm by gwood
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Wednesday, December 14, 2005
The Swedish government has pulled the plug on digital radio, at least in its
current form.
Digital Audio Broadcasting, or DAB, is the official format for digital radio
in Europe, and much of the rest of the world. Public broadcaster Swedish Radio,
home of Radio Sweden, has been adding more and more DAB channels over the past
ten years. Sweden has been second only to Britain in developing the system.
But unlike Britain it is almost impossible to buy a DAB receiver in this
country, and without receivers there has been almost no audience. It’s been kind
of a chicken and egg effect…retailers won’t sell receivers unless there are more
digital stations, and Sweden’s commercial broadcasters have been waiting for the
official government announcement that analog FM radio is being phased out before
they spend the money to switch to DAB.
Last year an official commission recommended a transition period to the new
technology. But now the Swedish government has pulled the plug on the whole
project. Minister of Culture Leif Pagrotsky points to the lack of audience, and
says it would cost too much to continue broadcasting parallel in both DAB and
FM. He says Swedish Radio’s 50 million dollar investment in digital radio was
not wasted, and praises the broadcaster for moving forward with radio over the
Internet and on new generation mobile telephones, as well as podcasts. Pagrotsky
also wants Swedish Radio to put its signals available through digital television
systems, something which has only been partially explored.
In response, Swedish Radio Director General Peter Örn says the government’s
decision is regrettable. He points out that the initiative for DAB here came not
just from the public broadcaster but from the entire industry and public
transmitter operator Teracom, and the Swedish parliament allocated funds
specifically for developing DAB.
Posted at 10:23 am by gwood
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Monday, November 28, 2005
Beginning Monday November 28th there will be a new frequency and a new starting time for our DRM tests to Europe from from Radio Canada’s transmitters in Sackville.
The transmissons will be at 15:02-15:58 hrs UTC, and the frequency will be 17,880 kHz.
This arrangement provides a daylight path from Sackville to Europe and hopefully it might improve DRM coverage in western Europe.
Posted at 01:42 pm by gwood
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Thursday, November 10, 2005
MediaScan returns to Radio Sweden website
After our sojourn here at Blogdrive, MediaScan has returned to the Radio Sweden website. You can find us directly at MediaScan.org. Our new MediaScan RSS feed is: http://www.sr.se/xml_news/rss/SRImediaScanRSS.xml
Posted at 01:07 pm by gwood
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Wednesday, November 09, 2005
There will be a change of frequency in the DRM tests from the transmitters of Radio Canada International in Sackville, beamed to Europe.
Starting Sunday November 13th 13725 kHz will be replaced by 11805 kHz.
Please note that the starting time will be 19:02 hrsUTC, with sign off at 19:59.
Posted at 03:08 pm by gwood
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Tuesday, October 25, 2005
New Radio Sweden Schedule
Radio Sweden's English ScheduleHere is the upcoming Radio Sweden English broadcast schedule for the period beginning October 30, 2005 (all times UTC unless otherwise indicated): Europe and Africa/Middle East:
Satellite:Via Hot Bird 6 (13°E), digital MPEG-2, 12.597 GHz/V, 27500 FEC 3/4 and Sirius 2 (5º E) 12.379 GHz/H, SR 27500 FEC ¾, daily at 1430, weekdays at 1730 and 1830 hrs UTC. Also at 0130 via WRN on the same Hot Bird transponder and on Sky Digital channel 872 on Astra 2 (28º E). To Africa at 1430 and 2330 on Intelsat 10-02 (1º W) 3.912 GHz/R SR 5000 FEC 3/4, audio stream WRN English, on WorldSpace AfriStar channel 627 and in South Africa on SAfm. Changes in our satellite schedule may occur during the Winter period. Shortwave:1330-1400 11550 (85°) 1430-1500 11550 (70°) 1730-1800 Mondays-Friday 1830-1900 6065 (140°-240°) + MW 1179 Mondays-Saturdays 2000-2030 MW 1179 Mondays-Saturdays 2030-2100 6065 (140°-240°) 2230-2300 6065 (140°-240°) + MW 1179 Asia/Pacific:Satellite:On Thaicom 3 (78.5º E) 3.640 GHz/H SR 28066 FEC ¾ daily at 1430, weekdays at 1730 and 1830 hrs UTC. Also via WRN ar 1430 and 2330 on AsiaSat-2 4.000 GHZ/V audio WRN English, and Worldspace AsiaStar channel 1302. Shortwave:0130-0200 11550 (50°) via Madagascar 1330-1400 7420 (40°) and 11550 (85°) 1430-1500 11550 (70°) 2030-2100 7420 (125°) via Madagascar (to Australia) North America:
Satellite:Daily at 1500 & 2130 EST via WRN on Intelsat Americas 5 (97° w) on 12.177 GHz/V (transponder 27), SR 23.000, FEC 2/3, WRN1 (English), and Sirius Satellite Radio on Stream 140. Across Canada on CBC Overnight 2:05 AM local time (weekend times may vary) Shortwave:0230-0300 6010 (268°) via Sackville 0330-0400 6010 (277°) via Sackville 1330-1400 15240 (305°) 1430-1500 15240 (272°) via Sackville You can listen to our daily program in RealAudio at:
http://www.sr.se/rs/diverse/AppData/Eng/sounds/english.ramOr download from:
http://www.sr.se/laddahem/rs/aktuell/engakt.rmPodcast:
http://www.sr.se/Podradio/xml/SRI_en_sweToday.xmlNews RSS Feed: http://www.sr.se/xml_news/rss/SRIEnglishRSS.xmlProgramming:Radio Sweden’s weekday and weekend programming is a window on the diverse perspectives and issues in Sweden today. Our daily editions offer a smorgasbord of news and current affairs, science and technology, lifestyle, and culture. We explore, debate, analyse and give insight into the way Swedish society and its people are changing to meet today’s challenges and opportunities. Weekday features Monday: Culture Tuesday: Knowledge Wednesday: Real Life Thursday: Lifestyle Friday: Debate Weekend programming:Saturdays: Sweden Today (1st), Headset (2nd), Cooking with J&J (3rd), Studio 49 (4th) Sundays: Network Europe - The program that speaks to the hearts & minds of Europeans brought to you by Radio Sweden and a partnership of Europe’s leading international broadcasters. Updates, mailing list details, and daily news at: RadioSweden.org
Posted at 04:28 pm by gwood
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The first person charged under Sweden’s new law against file-sharing has been found guilty by the district court in Västerås, west of Stockholm.
The 28 year old was accused of distributing a popular Swedish film over the Internet, which he had first admitted, then denied, saying he had misunderstood the police question. Most of the evidence was gathered by a controversial film and music industry lobby organization, which has been accused in the past of planting files.
But the court rejected the defence contention that the evidence had been manufactured. Because the case concerned only a single film, and the defendant had not profited by his actions, the court did not give a jail sentence. Instead the 28 year old has been fined 2000 dollars.
Posted at 01:06 pm by gwood
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Monday, October 24, 2005
One 3G System for all of Sweden
The National Post and Telecom Agency has rejected plans by mobile telephone operators to complete the introduction of high-speed 3G networks using cheaper technology.
Two operators, Hi3G and Vodaphone, had applied to use the alternative CDMA 450 technology in sparsely populated areas, rather than the more expensive UMTS system used in the rest of the country. While the plan would have saved the operators money, it would have required mobile users to carry two phones.
Under the terms of the licences granted five years ago, the operators were required to cover 99.98 percent of the Swedish population by 2003. According to the telecoms agency, by the end of last year coverage had only reached 85 percent.
The agency, which has relaxed some of its rules for sharing antenna masts, says that if the 3G roll-out is not complete by this coming Spring, it will start to impose fines on operators.
Posted at 12:26 pm by gwood
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Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Evidence Criticised at File-sharing Trial
The first trial against a person accused of file-sharing here has raised a number of questions about the validity of evidence gathered for the police by private interests.
A 28 year old from Västerås, west of Stockholm, is accused of distributing a popular Swedish film over the Internet. But in court Tuesday, he said he had only confessed to downloading music and films, which did not become illegal until later. He says the police never once asked about the film, which he says he never had on his computer.
The evidence against him was gathered by the Anti-Pirate Bureau, a controversial music and film industry lobby group, which says they found the film offered from a specific IP address. Apparently the only police action was to ask an Internet Service Provider who had that address.
The defence spent several hours Tuesday pointing out the uncertainty of using IP addresses, which can be shared among many users or even hijacked. Critics have charged that the screenshots such as those presented by the lobby group can be easily faked.
The court is to issue its verdict on October 25.
Posted at 12:01 pm by gwood
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