--- Forwarded Message from Duncan Charters <[log in to unmask]> ---

>In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2001 12:12:05 -0500
>To: Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum               <[log in to unmask]>
>From: Duncan Charters <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: #6305 Scola or Dish TV?

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Scola IS expensive. When we last looked at it years ago, it was $1600+ for
a dedicated receiver, needed to receive the specially encrypted signal. Any
new system adds to the technical challenges of operating an earlier one, if
that system is still maintained. Then there is the subscription fee, based
on student numbers at the institution. There are consortia (there was one
in the state of Illinois) which can reduce this cost considerably if one's
institution qualifies to be a member. For a large university with multiple
language programs, SCOLA is as far as I know still the best choice for news
programming.

Some years ago, we worked with a Dish TV distributor (EchoStar satellite
network), who along with other dealers was trying to get the company to
provide pricing for educational institutions. They then had only two ranges
of rates, one for individual home use, and one for commercial (e.g. a
business or cable service supplier). We have been told (recently repeated)
that we need to put the installation in the name of an individual to get
the home use price. This explains the comment about having it available on
only one piece of equipment. However, we never got any assurance from any
distributor that this was actually legal. One vendor even said "they'll
never know if it goes to just one receiver and is in the name of an
individual." That's not acceptable to us. Do they now have a legitimate,
legal arrangement for one installation in an educational institution rather
than in a home, or do they finally have educational rates?

Two years ago when I called DirectTV (Hughes network), the operator stated
flatly that they would never offer programming in languages other than
English because they didn't have the demand! That suddenly changed, and
they have an assortment of packages as does Dish TV, so one should also
check with them.  In both cases, Spanish is dominant, but they have other
languages too.

The International Channel is worth looking into, however they removed their
Spanish-language programming a while ago (extremely unhelpful!). Now the
French news isn't as useful programming as it used to be, and nowhere near
the level of TV5. I don't know the subscription price to institutions, but
TV5 is probably more than the home subscription cost of $15 a month (via
DishTV, which does offer this - they have various options for
single-channel or package subscriptions).

A local satellite service provider should be able to quote subscription
costs for either individual channels or packages. For Spanish, a
subscription to RTVE produces a very nice menu of diverse news, culture and
entertainment programming from Spain, but then you would want a couple of
others from Latin America for a full range.  You could choose one all-news
channel like SUR and one with variety, which could be one of the 3 U.S.
networks (Univision, Telemundo, Galavision).





Dr. Duncan Charters
Professor, Language Department
Principia College, Elsah, IL 62028-9799
Telephone: (618) 374-5252    Fax: (618) 374-5465
E-mail: <[log in to unmask]>