Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company Limited (AsiaSat) and GlobeCast have signed a new lease agreement for half of a 36 MHz C-band transponder on AsiaSat 2. GlobeCast will take up additional C-band capacity on AsiaSat 2, to be used by Satlink Communications, one of the largest satellite service providers in the Middle East region.

Satlink Communications uses the AsiaSat 2 capacity to launch a multiple channels per carrier platform for the transmission of five digital television channels to Japan and the rest of Asia.

AsiaSat 2, a Lockheed Martin Series 7000 model, carries 20 36 MHz and four 72 MHz C-band, as well as nine 54 MHz Ku-band linearised transponders. Its C-band footprint covers 53 countries embracing Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Australasia and the CIS. AsiaSat 2 also has a high-power Ku beam serving the Greater China region, Korea and Japan.

AsiaSat claims to be Asia?s leading provider of high-quality satellite services to both the broadcast and telecommunications markets. AsiaSat serves telecommunications customers for public telephone networks, private VSAT networks and high speed Internet and multimedia services.

GlobeCast is a global leader in professional broadcasting and Internet delivery via satellite. It offers a one-stop shop source for full range of broadcast and Internet-driven services, from mobile newsgathering and event coverage, to studio production and post-production, DBS and DTH transmission, IP multicasting and two-way satellite Internet connectivity.

Satlink specialises in operating and installing video and audio satellite transmission systems. With 17 antennas for reception and 7 earth stations for uplink, Satlink is one of the largest satellite service providers in the Middle East region.

Two new television public service announcements (PSAs) that discourage ethnic stereotyping of Arab and Muslim Americans have been released. This is a joint effort between The Arab American Institute, Colorado-based Starz Encore Group, the National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA) as well as Cleveland-based Brokaw Inc. The PSAs will run in more than 71 million American television homes with support of cable & satellite TV industries.

The spots include the "Tolerance" PSA produced by Starz Encore Group contains images of Arab and Muslim Americans. It reminds the viewer that hostility directed toward fellow Americans just because they look like the perpetrators of the 11 September attacks is actually an attack on individual liberty.

The "Twin Towers" PSA, produced by Brokaw Inc. of Cleveland in association with the Arab American Institute, is voiced by "Family Ties" star Michael Gross. As Gross speaks his words appear on screen and form the outlines of the twin towers as they once stood in the Manhattan skyline.

The premium movie channel provider Starz Encore, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation, and Brokaw Inc. produced the PSAs at their own expense. Brokaw Inc. is a full-service, award-winning creative brand development firm. The PSAs stress the vital need for tolerance and warns against hate, injustices and discrimination against Asians.

Cable operators AOL Time Warner Cable, AT&T Broadband, Adelphia Communications, Charter Communications, Comcast Cable Communications and Cox Communications are all supporting the effort. They serve 54 million homes. The NCTA will inform its membership about the PSAs. This includes programming networks and cable television systems that reach 69 per cent of the United States? 102 million TV households. DIRECTV will carry one or both of the PSAs.

Starz Encore Group, the largest provider of cable and satellite delivered premium movie channels in the United States, is already airing its PSA in the heaviest rotation ever on all 13 of its movie channels. Starz Encore are uplinking the spots to the entire TV industry, including broadcasters, free of charge via three separate 15-minute satellite feeds. The first uplink took place on 21 December with two more scheduled for 27 December and 3 January at 2:00 p.m. ET.

The feeds can be found on the Galaxy 11 satellite, transponder C08. Galaxy 11 is located at 91 degrees west. The downlink frequency will be 3860 MHz with vertical polarity. Feeds will be analog and "in the clear."

Starz Encore Group owns 15 American channels with approximately 107 million pay units.

NCTA is the principal trade association of the cable television industry in the US. NCTA represents cable operators serving more than 90 per cent of the country?s cable television households and more than 200 cable programme networks.

Sound of Time, and Michael Neuman, director of Research Studios in San Francisco, have announced the introduction of The Sound of Time. It is a new editing technology linking sound and motion. Brand Jordan will be the first company to use it. The purpose will be the creation and production of commercials for the Jordan runner campaign. Brand Jordan is a division of sports good giant Nike.

The Sound of Time is multimedia system which automatically synchronises moving image with sound. So an infinite number of variations in motion, sound can be created. The concept of editing has been redefined as unrelated audio and visual tracks. can automatically be synchronised. The Sound of Time, using its proprietary Itchy technology gives one options for altering motion pictures with sound and vice versa. The Sound of Time has developed a way of fundamentally connecting audio and visual content for direct communication.

The Jordan ads will implement The Sound of Time creative system to develop a distinctive visual design unlike anything previously seen. Award winning director Brian Beletic will be working with Sound of Time inventors Michael Neuman and Michael Grey to create and produce the ads. Research Studios of San Francisco will do the titles and post-production, for the Jordan spots. It is a global studio providing award-winning and innovative creative visual systems for corporate clients including: Macromedia, The Guardian. Films it has been involved in include the Tom Cruise starrer ?Mission Impossible? and Oscar nominee ?The Insider?.

The new technology will be useful for anyone involved in creating multimedia products be it film, commercials, music videos or even home movies. Conventional editing or creative development software available does not allow you to edit multimedia automatically. The Sound of Time considerably reduces time taken to create multimedia works.