programming transmitted from space heedless of national borders. Multinational media companies such as Rupert Murdoch's Australia-based News Corp. seek to expand into new markets. Among U.S. DBS providers, DirecTV has been most active in pursuing joint ventures and other opportunities abroad.AmericanCanada, Mexico, and some South American countries hold some of the orbital slots over the Western Hemisphere that could service the United States. If any of these choose to auction off transponder rights, U.S. companies can bid for them. Likewise, U.S. companies can potentially service other markets in the Americas from their own slots. Nations may attempt to control the industry by regulating the sale of decoders; in 1998 Argentina temporarily halted DirecTV from competing in its market while it tried to get its own system in place.EuropeEurope has its own active DBS market. Luxembourg-based Socit Europenne des Satellites S.A. (SES) operates ASTRA, the leading satellite system, which served more than 74 million homes in Europe in 1999. More than 31 million European homes receive programming directly to a satellite dish via ASTRA. British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB), the first service provider to offer DBS in the United Kingdom (1989), relies on an ongoing contractual agreement with SES. In 10 years, the Isleworth, UK-based company has amassed 3.6 million DBS subscribers and 2.6 million cable subscribers in the United Kingdom and Ireland, where broadcast television consists of five channels. By holding broadcast rights to the leading soccer leagues in England and Scotland, the British satellite service has also become the largest pay-TV provider.AsiaJapanAsia, home of 60% of the world's population, is a tempting target for telecommunications companies, but DBS growth there been hampered by political and economic conditions. Japan, which can be completely covered from one orbital position and where cable television never really took o...
