Broadcasting & Cable back issues from February 1996:
New law of the land; first major rewrite of communications regulation in half-century could be signed this week.
Feb 05, 1996; ... First major rewrite of communications regulation in half-century could be signed this weekThis is the first major over-haul of telecommunications law since Marconi was alive and the crystal set was state of the art," declared House Commerce Committee Chairman Thomas Bliley (R-Va.) ...
Industry gives thumbs-up to new bill; telecommunications executives poised to enter new markets, increase portfolios.
Feb 05, 1996; ... Telecommunications executives poised to enter new markets, increase portfoliosBroadcasters, cable operators and telephone companies have finally found something they all can agree on--the sweeping telcom bill passed by Congress last week by and large will be good for business. ...
Spectrum auction still looms.
Feb 05, 1996 ... While the rest of the industries affected by the Telecommunications Act of t996 celebrated its passage last week, broadcasters' enthusiasm was checked by vows from the Republican majority to revisit Congress's decision to set aside spectrum for the transition to digital TV. ...
Metromedia buys Goldwyn for $115 million; Tribune to take over sales of 'Flipper,' Gladiators 2000.(Metromedia International Group, Samuel Goldwyn Co., Tribune Entertainment)
Feb 05, 1996; ... Tribune to take over sales of 'Flipper,' 'Gladiators 2000'The Samuel Goldwyn Co. handed distribution rights to two of its TV series to Tribune Entertainment last week as the financially strapped Goldwyn accepted a $115 million buyout bid from John Kluge's Metromedia International ...
Networks consider Nielsen alternative.(Nielsen Media Research)
Feb 05, 1996; ... If the tour major broadcast networks have their way, Nielsen Media Research soon may have competition in the television ratings business.The would-be competitor is Statistical Research Inc., a Westfield, N.J.-based TV research company that has been testing an alternative ratings ...
Early start for kids upfront; majority of activity comes from cable; broadcast expected to break this week.
Feb 05, 1996; ... Majority of activity comes from cable; broadcast expected to break this weekWith less inventory and ratings points to sell and new advertisers entering the marketplace, the kids upfront market broke last week--earlier than in any recent year. The market activity came as two ...
FCC may deny Disney crossownership waiver.(Federal Communications Commission)
Feb 05, 1996; ... Disney may have to place more than KCAL-TV Los Angeles on the block to seal its $18.5 billion acquisition of CapCities/ABC.Sources expect the FCC to deny Disney's request to permanently keep newspaper/radio combinations held by CapCities/ABC in Detroit and Fort Worth. Although ...
New York challenges FCC's social contract; city asks appeals court to throw out agency's contract with Time Warner.(Federal Communications Commission)
Feb 05, 1996; ... City asks appeals court to throw out agency's contract with Time WarnerNew York City and other towns do not like the deal FCC officials cut in their "social contract" with Time Warner and are asking the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington to throw it out.In a petition ...
Kids show sell despite crunch; syndicators find takers at NATPE in face of lower ratings, fewer available time periods.
Feb 05, 1996; ... Syndicators found ready takers for most of the new children's shows pitched at the NATPE convention two weeks ago, despite declining ratings, increased competition from cable and a time period crunch brought on by the growth of start-up networks.Most new shows left the three-day ...
Stations will play games in daytime; game shows and reality will be counterprograming ammunition for some broadcasters this fall.
Feb 05, 1996; ... Game shows and reality will be counterprograming ammunition for some broadcasters this fallDiversity will be the watchword of daytime TV this fall as broadcasters turn to game shows and reality strips to break out of the talk bottleneck in many markets."We see game shows ...
Country still king, but slipping.(radio formats)
Feb 05, 1996; ... Analysis of fall '95 books in top 25 markets also shows news/talk, urban, Spanish gainingAlthough country music has locked in the nation's largest radio audience, news/talk formats claimed the most listeners in the top 25 markets, according to research based on the latest Arbitron ...
Evergreen revamps WYNY (FM) New York. (Evergreen Media Corp.)(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 1996; ... Evergreen Media Corp. executives announced they will drop the long-standing country format of WYNY(FM) on Feb. 5, but were tight-lipped about what New York listeners should expect next.Evergreen President and Chief Operating Officer Jim DeCastro would divulge only that WYNY will ...
Mayo to consult ABC. (Barry Mayo, ABC Radio Networks)(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 1996; ... Barry Mayo, veteran urban radio programer and former president of Broadcasting Partners Inc., has signed an exclusive agreement with ABC Radio Networks to serve as consultant for programing and marketing its urban format shows.Through BPI, Mayo worked with the group's former urban ...
Survey response rate by young males increases.(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 1996; ... Arbitron says the response rate of males ages 18-24 to its surveys has improved 20% in two years. The company says that 42.7% of the young men contacted to participate in its fall 1995 ...
Turner pays $1.2 million for 'ER.' (Turner Entertainment)(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 1996; ... Most recent in series of big-ticket off-net hour sales to cableCable networks are opening their wallets wider than ever in hot pursuit of off-network series. With the industry still catching its breath over the $600,000-per-episode sale of The X-Files to Fox's fX cable network, now ...
Ailes heads Fox cable news channel. (Roger Ailes)
Feb 05, 1996; ... Will oversee domestic news efforts for networkNews Corp. hired Roger Ailes last week to oversee of Fox's domestic news efforts, including the launch of a 24-hour news channel later this year.Fox News in effect has been restructured, with that division's ident, Joe ...
HBO divides to conquer; pay cable programer is multiplexing from 8 to 12 channels.
Feb 05, 1996; ... Pay cable programer is multiplexing from 8 to 12 channelsCable system and direct broadcast Satellite operators by next year will be able to offer subscribers four different channels of HBO--plus West Coast feeds--for the price of one.Encouraged by the fast rollout of its ...
Cable solos on V-chip.(broadcast television does not support television program ratings)
Feb 05, 1996; ... Broadcasters decline to appear at New York seminarCable networks have taken a different approach from broadcast networks to the issue of TV program ratings and the V-chip, both contained in telco-reform legislation expected to pass Congress perhaps as early as late last week. ...
The International Olympic Committee. (awards European broadcasting rights of the 2000-2008 Olympic Games to the European Broadcasting Union)(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 1996; ... The International Olympic Committee (IOC) nipped Rupert Murdoch's latest sports acquisition ambitions in the bud last week, awarding exclusive European broadcast rights to the Olympic games from 2000 to 2008 to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the body that represents Europe's public ...
The UK's Channel 5 Broadcasting. (maintains terrestrial television broadcast license)(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 1996; ... The UK's Channel 5 Broadcasting (C5B) consortium breathed a sigh of relief last week after a judge upheld the Independent Television Commission's (ITC) decision to award C5B a fifth terrestrial television broadcast license. Virgin, a consortium comprising Richard Branson's Virgin, ...
The UK's ITV. (acquires 'Savannah' television program)(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 1996; ... The UK's ITV acquired Aaron Spelling's one-hour drama Savannah from ...
Sony Entertainment will launch a Portuguese version of its Latin American service in February.(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 1996; ... Sony Entertainment will launch a Portuguese version of its Latin American service in February, according to Michael Grindon, president, Columbia TriStar ...
NewsTalk Television signs MSO. (multiservice operator)(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 1996; ... NewsTalk Television, recently acquired by Gannett, has launched on several MSO systems, including TeleCommunications Inc., Time Warner and Continental Cablevision, giving the news/talk network an additional 700,000 ...
EchoStar jumps into the DBS fray. (EchoStar Communications Corp.; direct-broadcast satellite television; interview with Charlie Ergen)(Special Report: Satellites '96)(Interview)
Feb 05, 1996; ... With one satellite in orbit and another on the way, EchoStar Communications Corp. jumps into the direct broadcast satellite (DBS) business next month and goes head-to-head with incumbents DIRECTV, United States Satellite Broadcasting and Primestar.Led by 42-year-old Charlie Ergen, ...
The growing world of satellite TV.(Special Report: Satellites '96)
Feb 05, 1996; ... It's getting crowded up there. Three companies--DIRECTV, Primestar and United States Satellite Broadcasting--now are offering satellite TV to subscribers in the U.S. with small dishes. And two more--EchoStar and MCI/News Corp.--are preparing to enter the fray. Following is a rundown of the ...
Satellite resellers see a tight '96.
Feb 05, 1996 ... Olympics and elections put space at a premium; there's slight improvement for C-band, but Ku is packed with special eventsThe Year from Hell." That was the theme for last week's meeting of the New York chapter of the Society of Satellite Professionals, and with good reason. After a ...
Compressed cable delivery expands abroad.(digitally compressed satellite transmission)(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 1996 ... Digitally compressed satellite transmission is having a big impact in the international distribution market, both as a way of dealing with limited capacity and as a source of geographically targeted channels.Keystone will offer digitally compressed transmission over its Pacific ...
SNG users take the long view.(television networks' transponder contracts)
Feb 05, 1996 ... With Ku-band capacity at a premium, network news operations aren't taking any chances. CBS has contracted for full-time transponder service on GE Americom's GSTAR 4 satellite to supplement the two Ku-band transponders it owns on the Hughes Galaxy IV bird. Under the five-year agreement, CBS ...
Radio networks moving to digital: ABC Radio and NPR offer compressed delivery of satellite feeds.
Feb 05, 1996; ... ABC Radio and NPR offer compressed delivery of satellite feedsWhile broadcast television networks eye digitally compressed distribution for the future, satellite-delivered radio networks already are using it on a daily basis.National Public Radio completed its conversion ...
Beware of auctions, warns satellite industry.(Satellite Industry Association)
Feb 05, 1996; ... Satellite companies this week are planning to bolster their case against spectrum auctions with a study of potential auction impacts on their business.The Satellite Industry Association (SIA), a collection of satellite entities financing the study, hopes its report will catch the ...
Microsoft and Silicon Graphics Inc. (launch competing special effects systems)(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 1996 ... Microsoft and Silicon Graphics Inc. have introduced competing special effects systems aimed at the low end of the post-production market. Microsoft will offer a new version of its Softimage 3-D software for the Windows NT platform as part of a $15,000 bundle that will include computer ...
CapCities/ABC Multimedia Group has signed an agreement with Princeton Video Image.(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 1996 ... CapCities/ABC Multimedia Group has signed an agreement with Princeton Video Image under which ABC Sports and ESPN will have exclusive national use of PVI's real-time system for inserting video advertising in live sports coverage. The PVI system, called Live Video Insertion System (L-VIS), ...
Producers Color Service, Detroit, has picked up its second Quantel Henry editing and compiting system.(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 1996 ... Producers Color Service, Detroit, has picked up its second Quantel Henry editing and compositing system. The new unit features the HIPPO image processing package, which includes subpixel, multipoint tracking and stabilization; lens and ...
GEMS International Television, the Spanish-language cable network, is playing the commercial spots on its three satellite feeds from a digital server system.(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 1996 ... GEMS International Television, the Spanish-language cable network, is playing the commercial spots on its three satellite feeds from a digital server system. GEMS has configured three ASC Audio Video Virtual Recorder digital disk recorders with a large RAID-3 ...
What's hot, what's next? The Internet PC.
Feb 05, 1996; ... Companies working on affordable TV sets that can access The InternetThe Internet PC, a low-cost computer device with limited functions, may be the next technological wave to overtake consumers--when manufacturers want to make the wave happen.Oracle Corp. originally ...
Microsoft boosts browser with MCI pact.(Explorer Internet browser)(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 1996; ... Deal expected to result in battle with NetscpeMicrosoft Corp. created a major conduit for its Explorer Internet browser last week in a broad pact that makes MCI Communications Corp. a booster for the browser.That is the immediate impact industry analysts see in an ...
BA launches Dover VDT network: telco delivering 77 channels, plans to expand to 384.(Bell Atlantic's video dialtone service)(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 1996 ... Bell Atlantic rang in the nation's first commercial video dialtone network in Dover Township, N.J., last week with an audience of approximately 200 customers.They began receiving 77 channels of cable programing from FutureVision of America, one of several companies looking to ...
Bochco's Flanagan: keeping close to the fun.(Stephen Bochco Productions President Dayna Kalins Flanagan)
Feb 05, 1996 ... The reason for Dayna Kalins Flanagan's success is simple, to hear Steven Bochco explain it: "She just works her butt off. With all due respect to the many talented executives I've worked with over the years, she just works harder."As president of Steven Bochco Productions, Flanagan ...
Broadcast TV.(includes multiple briefs on executive moves)
Feb 05, 1996 ... Appointments at Maryland Public Television, Owings Mills/Baltimore, Md.: Jennifer Lawson, former executive VP, programing and promotion services, Public Broadcasting Service, Washington, and now launching a Washington-based production company, has been retained as executive consultant, ...
Radio.(includes multiple briefs on executive moves)
Feb 05, 1996 ... Michael Marcotte, news director/assistant program director, KPLU-FM Tacoma, Wash., joins KPBS-FM San Diego as news director.Elliot Lee Speigel, director, programing, MediaStar International, joins SW Networks, New York, as director, affiliate relations. Jeffreyy Dinetz, director, ...
Allied fields.(includes multiple briefs on executive moves in communications-related fields)
Feb 05, 1996 ... C. Richard Allen, deputy assistant to President Clinton for national service, and chief external affairs officer, Corporation for National Service, Washington, joins Discovery Communications Inc., Bethesda, Md., as senior VP, business development.Appointments at Intelliventures ...
Telemedia.(includes multiple briefs on executive moves)
Feb 05, 1996 ... Emily Susskind, senior operating officer, global networking and advanced technology, Salomon Brothers Inc., joins Tele-TV Systems, Reston, Va., as senior VP, systems development.Kathlene Herrmann, manager, consumer research evaluation ...
Tele-Communications Inc. last Friday announced it has formed a satellite business group.(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 1996 ... Tele-Communications Inc. last Friday announced it has formed a satellite business group that will unite its satellite interests, including ...
CBS has ordered three more episodes of Viacom Productions' Diagnosis Murder.(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 1996 ... CBS has ordered three more episodes of Viacom Productions' Diagnosis Murder bringing the total ordered for the season to 16. The series ...
Eight CBS executives and journalists have been ordered to give depositions in the Brown and Williamson Tobacco Corp. lawsuit.(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 1996 ... Eight CBS executives and journalists have been ordered to give depositions in the Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. lawsuit against former employee and whistle-blower Jeffrey Wigand for breach of contract. Wigand allegedly disclosed confidential information to 60 Minutes and others in ...
Alliance Communications has named former executive VP Michael Weisbarth president of Alliance Television Productions.(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 1996 ... Alliance Communications has named former executive VP ...
Errata.(to article in January 22, 1996, issue on the proposed introduction of Dow Jones/ITT's WBIS plus superstation)(Correction Notice)
Feb 05, 1996 ... Errata: In the Jan 22. story on the proposed launch of Dow Jones/ITT's WBIS+ superstation, the purchase price of WNYC-TV New York was incorrect. It should be $207 million. The article indicated that Dow ...
Pike out at CBS.(John Pike leaves over allegations of racism)(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 1996 ... John Pike, senior vice president, late-night and non-network programing, CBS Entertainment, resigned last week in the wake of allegations that he had made racist comments.Pike has steadfastly denied that he made any such comments since word leaked out that a reporter for Details ...
Strike averted.(Adelphia Cable Communications signs labor contract at Toms River, NJ, cable system)(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 1996 ... Adelphia Cable Communications signed a last-minute labor contract with technical workers at the MSO's Toms River, N.J., cable system last week, averting a strike by field service technicians. Jerold Clark, a spokesman for Adelphia's Toms River-based company, says it has signed a new ...
Jump-starting the future.(Telecommunications Act of 1996)(Editorial)(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 1996 ... It's done. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 is now the law of the land (but for the President's signature, which is assured). Rarely have so many labored so long to effect so great a change in the nation's communications complex. Without endorsing every jot and tittle in this landmark ...
Clinton: V-chip is not enough: Hundt and Hollings also push plans to limit TV violence for sake of children.(Bill Clinton, Senator Ernest Hollings, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Reed Hundt)
Feb 12, 1996; ... Hundt and Hollings also push plans to limit TV violence for sake of childrenWhen broadcast and cable executives meet at the White House later this month, President Clinton will ask them to consider eliminating violent TV programing when children are most likely to be in the ...
V-chip battle gets N.Y. preview.(at International Radio and Television Society conference)
Feb 12, 1996; ... Markey says get used to "Big Father and Mother; Abrams says prepare for bland fareForeshadowing the coming legal battle over newly enacted V-chip law, champions and critics of the TV blocking technology squared off at the International Radio and Television Society conference in New ...
Disney/ABC: $19 billion done deal. (merger between Capital Cities/ABC, Walt Disney Co.)(Brief Article)
Feb 12, 1996; ... FCC approval paves way for worM's largest media companyIt became official last Friday, one day after the merger was approved by the FCC: Capital Cities/ABC is now a wholly owned subsidiary of the Wait Disney Co., which, with combined revenue of about $19 billion, becomes the ...
Mega-merger gets FCC nod. (Federal Communications Commission, merger of Capital Cities/ABC, Walt Disney; newspaper, radio station crossownership ban might be softened)(Brief Article)
Feb 12, 1996; ... FCC may relax newspaper-broadcast crossownership banFCC commissioners last week approved Disney's $18.5 billion acquisition of CapCities/ABC and kept the door open for the company to retain newspaper and radio holdings in two markets by pledging to review the newspaper-broadcast ...
KDKA-TV drops Nielsen. (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, TV station)(Brief Article)
Feb 12, 1996; ... CBS has canceled the Nielsen contract for its owned station KDKA-TV Pittsburgh. CBS Television Stations President Jonathan Klein said in a letter to Nielsen Media Research President John Dimling that he was making the move because of aggressive contesting going on in the Pittsburgh market ...
Commission conflict. (Federal Communications Commission; commitment to expand children's programming would have expedited Walt Disney's acquisition of Capital Cities/ABC)
Feb 12, 1996; ... Disney's acquisition of CapCities/ ABC didn't travel through the FCC without sparking another children's TV dispute among me commissioners.Reviewing Disney's various waiver requests, FCC Chairman Reed Hundt last week said that a commitment by the company to provide a guaranteed ...
FCC spells out telcom-bill game plan. (Federal Communications Commission schedule for implementing rulemakings required by Telecommunications Act of 1996)(Brief Article)
Feb 12, 1996; ... The FCC today (Feb. 12) plans to issue its schedule for implementing the approximately 80 rulemakings called for in the Telecommunications Act of 1996.The schedule may not carry 80 separate proceedings, because the FCC likely will lump some issues together into single rulemakings ....
FCC wants to ease EEO rules. (Federal Communications Commission, equal employment opportunity rules for broadcast stations)(Brief Article)
Feb 12, 1996; ... The FCC last week issued a series of proposals for easing EEO reporting requirements and imposing fines for EEO violations.The FCC invited comment on whether it should ease or eliminate its requirements for some stations and how it should qualify stations for any reduced ...
Cable on a roll in kids upfront. (Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite tops in 1996-97 children's upfront ad market)(Brief Article)
Feb 12, 1996; ... Nickelodeon is largest children's advertiser in market topping $700 millionIn last week's children's upfront advertising market, Nickelodeon appeared to be the prime beneficiary of ratings erosion on the broadcast side. Sources say the cable network did close to $200 million in ...
NBC moving toward sweeps win. (February 1996)(Brief Article)
Feb 12, 1996; ... NBC's Thursday night lineup seems to be getting stronger, with last Thursday's numbers reflecting record performances for some of its series. The ratings helped to swell the already sizable lead that NBC holds over the other networks in the February sweeps.The night saw NBC average ...
Jacor hits new limit with eight radios in Denver. (Jacor Communications, radio station ownership limit)(Brief Article)
Feb 12, 1996; ... Owners hustling to buy maximum stations in single marketThe clustering has begun.Even before President Clinton signed legislation last Thursday easing the limits on the number of radio stations a company may own, group owners were taking advantage of the liberalized ...
Ad agency buys piece of 'J&I.' (True North Communications sees talk show as advertiser friendly)(Brief Article)
Feb 12, 1996; ... In yet another sign of changing times for the talk show business, the parent company of advertising agency Foote, Cone & Belding has taken an equity stake in the new CBS/Group W/Maxam talk strip, J&I.The unusual move was prompted by the lack of advertiser-friendly options for the ...
Ownership spotlight moves to FCC.(Federal Communications Commission urged to reconsider duopoly restrictions)
Feb 12, 1996; ... New telcom act directs commission to re-examine station duopoly restrictionsProponents of relaxed local ownership rules last week were shifting their attention from Capitol Hill to the FCC.While lifting the national cap on TV ownership, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 ...
Battle lines drawn over market definitions.(market definitions for administering must-carry/retransmission consent rules)
Feb 12, 1996; ... Broadcasters, cablecasters on opposite sidesCable and broadcast groups are battling over how the FCC should define TV markets for the purpose of administering its must-carry/retransmission consent rules.The commission in December proposed continuing to use Arbitron's ADI ...
Spectrum auction revenue continues to climb at the FCC. (Federal Communications Commission)
Feb 12, 1996; ... Spectrum auction revenue continues to climb at the FCC. Last week the grand total for past and ongoing auctions passed the $15 billion mark. One heavy contributor is the ongoing PCS ...