Rock music link likely

Press, 7 September 1984, Page 15

Rock music link likely

NZPA-AAP London Australian and Japanese television stations may soon be able to buy a satellite service offering 'the latest British rock music videos, according to a report in the "Financial Times.” The service by Bright Star was already being set up for 600 United States’ television stations, the “Financial Times” said. Bright Star, run by the international television news agency, Visnews, and Western Union, said that interest in the service had also been expressed in Australia and Japan. The service, to be called Rockfeed, would start towards the end of the year. There would be weekly transmissions by record companies of their latest offerings, and Bright Star

said that five minutes of broadcasting quality video with digital stereo sound would cost $1859. Rockfeed would initially run for about an hour a week.

Bright Star leased a transponder on the Intelsat V satellite for 24 hours a day for the last year to relay television pictures between the United States and Britain. The project cost about $l6 million to set up. According to the “Financial Times”, the outlook had been improved after a shaky start by sporting events such as the Olympics. Bright Star expected to break even on a trading basis in two months and to repay the initial investment in two years.