Television direct to sailors (TV-DTS) - event awareness and quality of life for sailors and marines at sea

The availability of high powered, C-band, global-beam, commercial satellite transponders on the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (INTELSAT) system will soon support a new worldwide broadcast capability to meet the current event awareness and quality of life (QOL) needs of sailors and marines serving on U.S. Navy ships. The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) in cooperation with Naval Media Center (NAVMEDIACEN) and the American Forces Information Service (AFIS) will field television direct to sailors (TV-DTS) to bring real-time television to ships operating at sea. TY-DTS will broadcast a 3.6 Mbps digital signal to a 1.2 meter C-band shipboard antenna to support two compressed video channels, three radio channels and one data channel. The Armed Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS) will provide programming procured from licensed commercial television and government news and entertainment sources. Strong support from the Public Affairs Offices of the Navy and Secretary of Defense accelerated finding to enable a rapid terminal fielding and broadcast implementation effort beginning in the fall of 1997.