| 1991 |
 Chronomedia index
Numbers after entries link to the list of references. |
links and notes |
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| January 13 |
Seizure of the Vilnius TV Tower in Lithuania by Soviet troops is opposed in clashes that
result in the deaths of 14 citizens and injuries to 700. |
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| January 28 |
Turner Broadcasting System launches TNT Latin America to 16 countries. |
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| January |
Philips adopts the MPEG-1 standard for CD-i full-motion
video (FMV). The company plans to launch its first US CD-i players in autumn 1991 without the FMV capability. |
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| January |
A prototype consumer recordable (write-once) consumer CD system is demonstrated by
Kenwood USA. |
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| January |
C-Cube Microsystems and SuperMac Technology announce the joint development of a video
compression card for Apple Macintosh computers. |
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| March |
C-Cube demonstrates real-time video compression from a single chip. |
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| April |
Commodore launches CDTV, selling in UK at £599. |
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| May 1 |
BBC Radio 1 begins a permanent round-the-clock schedule. |
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| May 17 |
First server running HTML and HTTP is set up and running by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN,
the European Particle Physics Laboratory in Geneva, thereby initiating the World Wide Web. |
Si monumentum requiris, circumspice. |
| May |
Sony announces development of the Mini Disc, a recordable magneto-optical
6cm/2.5-inch format. It intends to launch products by the end of 1992. |
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| June 17 |
European Audiovisual Observatory is established with a base in Strasbourg, France
to co-ordinate information about media in Europe. |
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| June |
QuickTime multimedia extensions for Macintosh System 7.0 are announced by Apple. |
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| July 1 |
Court TV is launched in the US. |
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| July |
Philips and Sony launch low-cost CD-ROM drives for home computers. Bundled software
is included to stimulate the consumer market. |
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| August |
Pioneer presses its 100 millionth Laser Disc. |
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| September 15 |
MTV Asia pop music channel launched as joint venture between Viacom and Hutchvision,
reaching 30 countries as part of Star-TV satellite service. |
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| October 16 |
UK's Independent Television Commission announces the results of the auctions for
16 ITV franchises. |
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| October |
Philips launches a $1,000 consumer CD-i player in the USA. |
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| October |
Sony shows a prototype hand-held Discman-style CD-i viewer with a 10cm/4-inch screen. |
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| October |
Kyocera shows a prototype portable CD-i player designed to be one-quarter the size
of a standard briefcase. |
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| October 29 |
First close-up photograph of an asteroid is taken by NASA's Galileo space probe,
1,600km from the planet 951 Gaspra. Because of a failure in the communications system, images are
relayed back to Earth at only 40 bits/sec. |
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| November 6 |
Death at sea, in mysterious circumstances, of British media tycoon Robert Maxwell. |
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| November |
Silvio Berlusconi’s Fininvest media conglomerate launches Telepiù pay TV service in
Italy; government insists Fininvest may not own more than 10 per cent. |
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| November |
<M-Net and Richemont acquire 75 per cent of FilmNet pay TV service./td>
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| November |
Prototype combi-player accommodating CD, Laser Disc and CD-I is demonstrated by Pioneer. |
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| November |
Philips buys a stake in international video rental chain Blockbuster Entertainment for $66m. |
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| December |
M-Net launches pay TV service in Namibia. |
à 1992 |
| December |
Microware Systems Corporation forms MicroMall Inc to develop and install CD-i
point-of-sale/information systems. |
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| December |
Up to 1,350m shares in British Telecom are offered for sale, reducing the state ownership
from 47.7 per cent to 25.8 per cent. |
|
| l |
Production of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger,
costs $95m—the most expensive film production to date. |
Rising cost of feature films |
| l |
Japan’s BS-3b broadcasting satellite is launched. |
|
| l |
A temporary television service is launched in Fiji. |
à 1994 |
| l |
Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion (CLT) moves its administrative and radio
operations from the Villa Louvigny to Kirchberg outside the city. |
à 1996 |
| l |
Liberty Media Corporation is created by Tele-Communications Inc (TCI) to own and
manage TCI's programming and regional sports assets. |
|
| l |
Sega acquires the distribution side of UK-based computer games software company
Virgin Mastertronic from the Virgin Group for £40m. The retained
publishing business is renamed Virgin Games. |
|
| l |
UK price of the Sega Megadrive is reduced to £129. |
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