New Syria TV 13E

[Analoguesat]

New Syria TV (country unknown at the moment)

Hotbird 8

12149V
27500 3/4

Just carrying this testcard at the moment, with a scrolling Arabic ticker across the bottom. FTA

[SAT-WORLD]

Based in the UK.
Hadn't realised,it would be launching on Hotbird.
This controversial channel is being launched by the ex-Vice president of Syria,Abd al-Halim Khaddam.

Full story,courtesy of Rapid Tv News.

Abd al-Halim Khaddam, a prominent Syrian National Salvation Front [NSF] leader and former Syrian vice president who broke ranks with the Syrian regime, is preparing to launch a satellite channel Suriya al-Jadidah [new Syria] about now. The channel’s backers say it will be a free platform for the various Syrian political trends in the government and the opposition.

The report, carried by BBC Monitoring, says the assigning of Bashar al-Subay'i, former director of the NSF in the US, [to manage the channel] raised much controversy within the Syrian opposition given the views he expressed in the past on many sensitive issues, especially religion and its role in political and human life.

The BBC report quotes an exclusive statement to Quds Press news agency from Jihad Khaddam, businessman and son of former Syrian Vice President Abd-al-Halim Khaddam, saying Al-Subay'i was elected based on pure professional considerations. He noted that Al-Subay'i is a film and television direction graduate from American universities and that he is an open-minded liberal who worked as director of the NSF office in the United States. Al-Subay'i was appointed to this post based on pure professional criteria, he said.

Khaddam urged people not to prejudge the channel. "The awaited channel will reflect the views of the opposition and will be open for everyone without exception, including the symbols of the ruling regime. The channel will be 100% funded by Syrian money from a group of Syrian businessmen without any foreign interference. The channel's signal will appear on 1 August and the television will go on the air on 7 or 8 August."

But Mus'if al-Halfawi, former leader with the Muslim Brotherhood group and the Justice and Construction Movement, told Quds Press that he is already disappointed with the new channel. "The appointment of Bashar al-Subay'i as general manager of the channel is disappointing. We counted on the channel to be the voice of the Syrian people. But what is happening now is orchestrated by a Ba'thist who defected from the Ba'th Party but who has still not repented. He is the head of the Ba'th Party Regional Command. He has not apologized to the Syrian people and he still presents himself as a leader of the opposition. This is ethically unacceptable. What adds insult to injury is that a group of neoconservatives' followers, like Bashar al-Subay'i, who disdains religions, rally around him. If we have to choose between the Syrian regime and this anti-Islam group, we will choose the lesser evil; namely, the Syrian regime."

Al-Halfawi, a former leader with the Muslim Brotherhood, called on lawyer Ali Sadr-al-Din al-Bayanuni, general guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, to wash his hands of the NSF. "From my independent position I call on the Muslim Brotherhood group to be true to its history and to wash its hands of the coalition that is called NSF because it is based on a partnership with someone who has not repented, as he explicitly declares, and to return to the slogans and true objectives of the group."

In Damascus, Ilyas Murad, chief editor of Al-Ba'th newspaper, refused to comment on the launch of a new television channel close to Khaddam or on the appointment of Al-Subay'i. He told Quds Press: "This is premature. At any rate, this is not the first satellite channel beamed to Syria or against it. We have to wait to see who will watch the channel."

But the secretary of Syrian Kurdish Party Yekiti welcomed the new channel and said it would be a quantum leap in the media and political landscapes in Syria. "Any opposition channel serves the opposition and the issue of democracy and the exposure of the regime. What is important is that the channel should be a free platform exposing the defects of the regime. As for the doubts that Abd-al-Halim Khaddam still adheres to the Ba'th Party, we will wait to see the positions of the channel, which we believe will support solutions to the issues of the Kurds in accordance with the international law and within the framework of the national unity."

In London, the Muslim Brotherhood group, one of the main pillars of the opposition NSF, welcomed the new channel. In an exclusive statement to Quds Press, Muslim Brotherhood Spokesman Dr Zuhayr Salim said "the channel represents an important historical turning point in the modern Syrian political landscape." He added: "We welcome the channel and hope it will be a window expressing all sectors of the Syrian society and serving the national plan for change. We do not judge any channel or person before we see what they have to offer. By the way, there is not only one channel directed against Syria, as Ilyas Murad said."

Salim said the expected television channel would not speak for the NSF or work under its supervision. He added: "The channel is a private establishment with no official connection with the NSF. If one of the parties to the NSF is supervising the channel in his personal capacity, it does not mean the channel will work under the political guidance of the NSF. It is an independent channel from which everyone might benefit. As for the appointment of Bashar al-Subay'i as the general manager of the channel, we differentiate between two characters: Al-Subay'i as an individual entitled to his beliefs, and Al-Subay'i as a public figure. His positions will be revealed through this channel. If his positions are in harmony with the aspirations of the Syrian people.... If, God forbid, something else appears, we hope that Al-Subay'i will realize that Damascus, Aleppo, and Hamah are different from the US cities, and that the standards of the Syrian nation are different from the American standards."

[SAT-WORLD]

Now video/audio testing.

[Analoguesat]

Update 30/8/2008

New Syria TV – the first attempt by the Syrian opposition to launch a television station – began broadcasting on 17 August but stopped being transmitted on the evening of 26 August. The channel, broadcast via satellite from Brussels, is backed by the opposition National Salvation Front, which is led by former Syrian vice-president Abdel Halim Khaddam, a powerful opposition figure who split from the regime in 2005.

Bashar Elsbei, the head of New Syria TV’s Washington office, said that while the problem might have been caused by a technical glitch, the National Salvation Front suspects the Syrian authorities were responsible for the blackout. Technicians had not yet determined why the signal was not working, said Elsbei, although he was optimistic the station would be broadcasting again by next week.

New Syria TV is broadcast through Eutelsat’s Hotbird network, which is available in Syria and much of the Middle East. The party had hoped that it could use satellite technology to beam opposition views into Syria, where the government maintains a strong grip on the media.

Media Network

[SAT-WORLD]

Noticed a couple of days ago,that though the label was present,the channel was showing a blank screen on Hotbird.
Its now testing on Eurobird 9:
11938.00 H
27500
3/4

[remlap]

12.5w is a plain test card.

[SAT-WORLD]

This has re-appeared on Hotbird,now renamed as Zanoubia TV on:

12360H
27500
3/4

[Palikot]

Zanoubia TV (New Syria TV) transmists promgramms again on 12,360 GHz/H. Could Yiu tell me, why Zanoubia has troubles with transmitting signal on 13E? I think, Syria turned off its signal last time.

[SAT-WORLD]

Originally Posted by Palikot

Zanoubia TV (New Syria TV) transmists promgramms again on 12,360 GHz/H. Could Yiu tell me, why Zanoubia has troubles with transmitting signal on 13E? I think, Syria turned off its signal last time.

As they are still testing,it is common,for signals to disappear and re-appear on the same transponder or on a entirely different transponder.
However,if you want to go down the conspiracy route,then yes,Syria jammed the signals...