Broadcasting & Cable back issues from February 1998:
Battle lines form over free airtime. (for political advertising)
Feb 02, 1998; ... President Clinton's call last week for free political airtime drew an FCC response -- and touched off a partisan battle -- in no time. The day after the President said he would "formally" ask the commission to move on a free or reduced-cost airtime plan for political ...
FCC delays DTV decision.(Brief Article)
Feb 02, 1998; ... TV stations will have to wait a little longer to see the FCC's final decision on assigning digital TV channels, but those seeking to hang on to channels in the 2-6 range will likely find the revised rules worth the extra time. Commissioners last week had hoped to complete a ...
Kennard corks liquor ad inquiry.
Feb 02, 1998; ... Broadcasters won't have to worry anytime soon about an FCC inquiry into televised alcohol advertising. "I am cautiously optimistic we can reach a voluntary industry restraint on this," Kennard said Friday in outlining his agenda for 1998. "I was heartened that we made it ...
Disney smells a 'Rugrat.'
Feb 02, 1998; ... It was supposed to be a match made in Fantasyland -- Buena Vista Television sending a daily block of Disney cartoons to UPN in a long-term deal that was to start in fall 1999. Buena Vista would get the distribution it sought for its Disney/Kellogg Alliance and UPN would receive a major ...
TBS, NBC huddle on new ball game. (potential alternative professional football league)(Brief Article)
Feb 02, 1998; ... The losers in the contest for NFL TV rights are considering returning to the field with a league of their own as NBC and TBS Inc. contemplate launching a rival professional football league. The two companies said Friday that they are in detailed discussions about the ...
Paxson goes 20 for 20.(Brief Article)
Feb 02, 1998; ... But Paxson is about to make history. With the purchase this week of WCFC-TV Chicago for $120 million cash plus an option to buy KWOK(TV) Novato/San Francisco, Calif., valued at $8 million, Paxson Communications Corp. will become the first television group ever to own stations in all top ...
Ratings' rising tide: the big story lifts all the TV networks.
Feb 02, 1998; ... The Clinton sex scandal has given cable news networks the biggest ratings spikes, but everything from morning news to Sunday talk shows to State of the Union broadcasts has gained from the President's pain. Among broadcast networks, ABC's ratings have jumped the most during ...
Networks go for silver: with Olympics giving CBS strong claim on February sweeps, competition is high for second place.
Feb 02, 1998; ... CBS Television President Leslie Moonves has declared victory even before the first shot has been fired. "I'll predict right now that we will win the February sweeps," he says. "That's because we have the Olympics." Four years ago, when the nation was gripped by ...
SAG walks out on Saban.(Brief Article)
Feb 02, 1998; ... After an overwhelming response from its members, the Los Angeles-based Screen Actors Guild has ordered its nearly 100,000 constituents to "immediately" boycott Saban Entertainment productions. SAG executives claim the children's entertainment giant severely underpays its ...
@Home, Road Runner merging?(Brief Article)
Feb 02, 1998; ... The two cable high-speed Internet services @ Home Corp. and Road Runner are in "serious" discussions about merging. The combination would have an absolute lock on the cable industry. Home would have potential access to some 45 million basic cable subscribers and pass a total ...
FCC to revisit ownership rules.(local radio ownership, newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership restrictions and other related rules)(includes related article on US West)
Feb 02, 1998; ... The FCC plans to put a stack of ownership rules on the table for review in the next two months. Writing late last month to Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) and House Telecommunications Subcommittee Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-La.), FCC Chairman William ...
Tauzin sets out ambitious agenda; House subcommittee to focus on public broadcasting, cable and Internet regulation(Representative Billy Tauzin (R-LA))
Feb 02, 1998; ... If Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-La.) gets his way, his House Telecommunications Subcommittee this year will change the face of public broadcasting, save the Internet from regulation, bring competition to the cable industry and allow satellite broadcasters to enter local markets. No ...
Taking exception to spectrum auctions.(radio and television frequencies)
Feb 02, 1998; ... Broadcasters and would-be broadcasters are looking to limit the use of auctions in assigning new radio and TV frequencies. In comments filed with the FCC last week, those with and without broadcast licenses asked the commission to spare specific classes of permits from the ...
New kid on the K Street (actually Connecticut Ave.) block.(new communications law firm, Harris, Wilshire & Grannis, in Washington, D.C.)(Brief Article)
Feb 02, 1998 ... Washington's communications law firms have a new competitor. Harris, Wiltshire & Grannis is hoping to open its doors on Connecticut Avenue today (Feb. 2). Among the firm's partners: former FCC International Bureau chief Scott Blake Harris, who had been working at Gibson, Dunn & ...
Nickelodeon's Herb Scannell: in toon with kids.(Nickelodeon President Herb Scannell, targeting children)(includes related article Nickelodeon's new studio)(Cover Story)
Feb 02, 1998; ... Like a cunning road runner being chased by a coyote, Nickelodeon President Herb Scannell is confident that he can outfox the competition. Celebrating his 10th anniversary with the network and his second year as its president, Scannell asserts that Nick's "kids first" ...
Living large in 1997: tv, radio post records for multiples, broker involvement.
Feb 02, 1998; ... Despite a $1.9 billion drop in overall deal value, 1997 was the busiest year on record for media brokers, they say. It was "a year of spectacular consolidation," says Peter Handy of Star Media Group Inc. "[Last year was] great in all respects. In terms of activity, ...
The big deals club.(sales of $2 million or over for radio broadcasting, $5 million or over for television acquisitions or mergers)(Directory)
Feb 02, 1998 ... The big deals club has been slightly altered from previous years. The threshold for the listing has been raised from $1 million for all sales to $2 million for radio deals and $5 million for TV deals. Multistate deals are arranged by price while single state deals are in alphabitical ...
NBC bowls over competition: close game keeps NBC advertisers happy, helps give NBC 14 of top 15 prime time shows for week.(football, Super Bowl XXXII)(Brief Article)
Feb 02, 1998; ... NBC scored huge but not record-breaking numbers for Super Bowl XXXII. The game (which aired Jan. 25 from 6:30 to 10 p.m.) averaged a 44.5 rating/67 share, according to Nielsen Media Research. The game had a 3% higher rating than Fox's telecast last year, which averaged a ...
Women lose news spotlight at nets.(network news organizations, study by University of Carbondale)(Brief Article)
Feb 02, 1998 ... Women are dropping out of the spotlight at network news organizations. but minorities are gaining more recognition, according to a study that tracks the most-visible correspondents. Joe Foote, dean of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale's College of Mass Communications and Media ...
The 'source' heard round the world: news analysts troubled by 'echo' effect of single-source Clinton stories gaining credence through repetition.(President Bill Clinton)
Feb 02, 1998; ... `Are we going to look back," CNN senior analyst Jeff Greenfield mused, "and discover an echo-chamber effect ... that all sources were getting their information from the same faulty source?" Unless journalists eschew the practice, as Greenfield says they should, the "echo" ...
Paramount gets Rich.(Paramount Network Television's deal with Eagle Point Productions' Lee Rich)(Brief Article)
Feb 02, 1998 ... Paramount Network Television has signed an overall deal with former MGM and Lorimar chairman Lee Rich to develop TV series, ...
Animated MGM.(MGM Animation to produce two new television series)(Brief Article)
Feb 02, 1998 ... MGM Animation is producing two new series for fall debuts, Robocop: Alpha Command and The Lionhearts. Robocop, which is based on the ...
Rose signs with Universal.(writer/producer Lee Rose, Universal Television Entertainment)(Brief Article)
Feb 02, 1998 ... Writer/Producer Lee Rose has entered into a multiyear production deal with Universal Television ...
PBS takes free-time offensive.(Public Broadcasting Service, free television air time to political candidates)(Brief Article)
Feb 02, 1998; ... Broadcasters oppose the idea of giving free airtime to political candidates -- unless the ones doing the giving are public broadcasters. With pressure mounting on broadcasters to do just that, PBS plans to give congressional candidates in the 1998 midterm elections free slots ...
USOC goes for ratings gold. (United States Olympic Committee)
Feb 02, 1998; ... Trans World International and the United States Olympic Committee are teaming up on a series of television and marketing ventures, including a new syndicated show, U.S. Olympic Gold. The magazine-style half-hour is being sold in 26 yearly episodes that profile past U.S ....
Good 1Q boosts Disney stock. (first quarter 1998)(Brief Article)
Feb 02, 1998; ... Disney's stock rose 7% in two days after its first-quarter results (released Jan. 26) outpaced analyst expectations. The quarter was driven by a particularly strong performance by the theme park/resorts segment. Despite continuing ratings troubles at the ABC Television Network, the ...
SportsFan taps Bloomberg; companies will join forces on 'sports business' updates. (SportsFan Radio Network, Bloomberg Business Radio)(Brief Article)
Feb 02, 1998; ... SportsFan Radio Network (SFRN) and Bloomberg Business Radio (BBR) are joining forces to produce and syndicate a new sports-business feature, the Bloomberg/SportsFan Business Minute, which will have three live weekday updates. The 60-second features will be produced by BBR and fed by ...
More motorists tuning in; study finds drop in 'old' media, gains for radio on the road.(Brief Article)
Feb 02, 1998; ... Since new technologies have entered the American home, there has been a drop in the use of such traditional media as television, newspapers and magazines -- and a noticeable jump in online activity, computer game use, videotape watching and time spent outside the home. That scenario ...
Lifetime of the 'Party': cable network gets rights to Columbia TriStar drama. (Lifetime, 'Party of Five')(Brief Article)
Feb 02, 1998; ... Lifetime came out on top in a heated bidding war for off-network rights to Columbia TriStar Television Distribution's hour drama Party of Five. The cable channel, which bins itself as Television for Women, dished out $550,000-$650,000 per episode for the Fox series, which ...
TBS ups Heyer to president/COO. (Steven Heyer)
Feb 02, 1998; ... Saying he wants to strengthen the network group's management structure, TBS Inc.Chairman Terry McGuirk has named the cable network group's ad and affiliate sales chief to the posts of president and COO. Steven Heyer has been president of worldwide sales based in New York City, joining the ...
S-A to ship 1 million set-tops. (Scientific-Atlanta)
Feb 02, 1998; ... Scientific-Atlanta, saying it holds an 18-month technological lead over competitor General Instrument, will ship just under 1 million of its Explorer 2000 digital set-top boxes this year. New deals with MediaOne, Cox, Adelphia and Marcus in the U.S. and with Rogers, Videotron ...
Cablevision buys the Wiz.
Feb 02, 1998; ... A mid skepticism about the wisdom of the investment, Cablevision systems Corp. has agreed to buy bankrupt New York City market electronics retailer Nobody Beats The Wiz, calling the deal helpful in its campaign to market new cable products. The 53-store chain filed for Chapter ...
Hughes is bullish on DirecTV.(parent Hughes Electronics Corp.)
Feb 02, 1998; ... DirecTV will increase subsidies for new subscribers to more than $400 this year, compared with the high $300s last year. While the move accelerates DirecTV's take-no-prisoners approach to gaining market share, it pushes the company's break-even point for cash flow and earnings into 1999, ...
Anstrom defends Telco Act. (National Cable Television Association President Decker Anstrom, Telecommunications Act of 1996)(Brief Article)
Feb 02, 1998; ... National Cable Television Association President Decker Anstrom defended the Telecommunications Act of 1996 last week while attacking the Bell operating companies (BOCs) for shutting out competition. Anstrom urged cable executives not to "jettison the core of the remarkable ...
What's in store for Discovery Networks.
Feb 02, 1998; ... Discovery Networks Inc. is ready to take a big step in its plunge into the retail business, opening a massive Discovery Channel Store as part of the new sports arena project in Washington. The $20 million four-floor store is the cornerstone of Discovery's attempt to emulate ...
WNBC launches new Chopper 4; state-of-the-art twin-engine bird is faster, safer and quieter.
Feb 02, 1998; ... WNBC(TV), the NBC O&O in New York, is now flying over Manhattan with a next-generation ENG helicopter. The new Chopper 4 represents a significant step-up in performance, safety and investment compared with the old unit, which WNBC has been using since November 1995. The new ...
Sinclair gears up for DTV demo.(Sinclair Broadcast Group, digital television)
Feb 02, 1998; ... Sinclair Broadcast Group and Comark Digital Services are working hard to prepare a DTV multicasting demonstration that Sinclair wants to hold in Baltimore early next month. Sinclair plans to showcase the multichannel capability of the ATSC standard, linking the experimental ...
DG Systems interfaces with Louth.(Louth Automation's contract with DG Systems to develop and market an interface for receiving commercial spots from digital satellites)(Brief Article)
Feb 02, 1998; ... In a move that should speed broadcasters' willingness to receive commercial spots via digital satellite, DG Systems and Louth Automation have formed a joint development and marketing alliance. The purpose is to develop an interface between DG System's MPEG-2 spot receiver and Louth's ...
Digital TV comes to computers.(a television equipped with an prototype DTV receiver by Intel Corp.)
Feb 02, 1998; ... A computer with rabbit ears? That's right, and executives at WETA-TV Washington are using one to watch digital TV. Technicians at the noncommercial station's offices in suburban Arlington, Va., flipped the switch on the unusual TV last week. Making it possible is ...
White House crisis draws to the 'net; news sites react quickly to accommodate the scandal-hungry.(Bill Clinton's sex scandal ups Internet usage figures)(Brief Article)
Feb 02, 1998; ... The White House sex scandal sent usage numbers zooming for Internet news sites last week, with TV network sites drawing much of the action. What began with the Drudge Report dredging up a story spiked by Newsweek -- and later released on the Internet by the magazine before it ...
Netscape knocked for loss.(Netscape Communications)(Brief Article)
Feb 02, 1998; ... Netscape Communications took a beating in its browser war with Microsoft, according to fourth-quarter results. Netscape sustained a quarterly loss of $88.3 million, compared with a gain of $8.2 million in the same quarter last year. Revenue improved 9%, to $125.3 million, ...
Data delivery delayed: DirecTV/Microsoft Internet satellite project in limbo.
Feb 02, 1998; ... One year after it was trumpeted as the next great combination of data and TV service, the future of DirecTV's PCTV project with Microsoft is uncertain, and DirecTV is working with another software maker and shifting emphasis to data delivered to TV. The project's high-profile ...
CBS New Media allies with InteliHealth.(online content partner)(Brief Article)
Feb 02, 1998 ... CBS New Media last week gained a content partner for CBS.com in InteliHealth, an online health information service. InteliHealth (www. InteliHealth.com), a joint venture of Aetna U.S. Healthcare and Johns Hopkins University, becomes the official health source for CBS.com. InteliHealth ...
ABC News slots InfoSpace into local net.(ABC News Internet Ventures, classified listings service deal for ABC Local Net)(Brief Article)
Feb 02, 1998 ... ABC News Internet Ventures and InfoSpace struck a deal last week making InfoSpace the classified listings service for ABC Local Net. The plan? To drive traffic from the classifieds to the affiliate sites participating in the Local Net project and to the ABCNews.com site. PC ...
From diodes to digital.(Intel Corp.'s Senior Vice President Ron Whittier manages the firm's digital television broadcasting strategies and the Intercast data broadcast project with NBC)
Feb 02, 1998; ... Ron Whittier's career at Intel loosely describes the arc of the computer industry, from the days of diodes and transistors to the dawn of digital TV. Whittier, senior vice president of Intel Corp.'s content group, has a strong hand in casting the company's DTV strategies, ...
Kevin Cassulo.(selected as national sales manager for WMBD(AM) and WPBG(FM))(Brief Article)
Feb 02, 1998 ... Kevin Cassulo, national sales manager for ...
Liz Janik.(Liz Janik Association President Liz Janik joins Big City Radio Inc.)(Brief Article)
Feb 02, 1998 ... Liz Janik, founder/president, Liz Janik Assoc., joins Big City Radio ...
Eric Bischoff.(selected as president of World Championship Wrestling, subsidiary of Turner Broadcasting and Time Warner)(Brief Article)
Feb 02, 1998 ... Eric Bischoff, executive VP, named ...
The FCC may challenge Primestar's proposed merger with News Corp.(Federal Communications Commission)(Brief Article)
Feb 02, 1998 ... After reviewing the commission's recent report on cable competition, officials are convinced that competition must be introduced to the video distribution marketplace. Direct broadcast satellite is the most likely suspect, but Primestar competitors and consumer groups have noted that ...
The Justice Department has OK'd CapStar Broadcasting Partners LP's $215 million purchase of Patterson Broadcasting Inc.(Brief Article)
Feb 02, 1998 ... As a condition of the deal, CapStar is selling Patterson's AM-FM combo in Allentown, Pa., Justice says. That sale, of WEEX(AM)-WODE-FM, was filed with the FCC in December; the buyer is Clear Channel Communications Inc. which is paying $29 ...
Twentieth Television's upcoming talk show Forgive or Forget is facing a lawsuit.(Endelmol Entertainment files a lawsuit, stolen idea)(Brief Article)
Feb 02, 1998 ... Dutch-based Endemol Entertainment has filed a complaint in Los Angeles charging that Twentieth Television, Jonathan Goodson and Goodson's production company stole the idea for Forgive or Forget from Endemol's Forgive Me. Endemol also alleges that Goodson had previously attempted to ...
Summit Media has cleared four new children's series in more than 80% of the country for fall 1998.(Brief Article)
Feb 02, 1998 ... Animated series Pokemon, which is based on a Nintendo video game, is cleared as a strip on 111 stations covering 85% of the country. Robocop: Alpha Command, based on the Robocop ...
Buena Vista Television has renewed its weekly series Honey I Shrunk the Kids in 95 markets.(Brief Article)
Feb 02, 1998 ... Buena Vista Television has renewed its weekly series Honey I Shrunk the Kids in 95 markets, representing 73% of the country. The ...
Tele-Communications Inc. is selling four cable systems in northern Ohio (about 21,000 subs) to fast-growing FrontierVision.(Brief Article)
Feb 02, 1998 ... Tele-communications inc. is selling four cable systems in northern Ohio (about 21,000 subs) to fast-growing FrontierVision for an undisclosed price. At the industry benchmark of $2,000 per sub, the deal would be worth about $42 million. However, because three of the four systems are below ...
ABC Inc. President Robert Iger has chosen not to exercise an option to leave the company.(Brief Article)
Feb 02, 1998 ... ABC inc. President Robert Iger has chosen not to exercise an option to leave the company, a spokesperson confirmed last week. The ABC ...
Entertainment Communications Inc.'s purchase of seven radio stations from Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. for $126.5 million releases Sinclair from a brief legal battle.(Brief Article)
Feb 02, 1998 ... Apparently both Entercom and Jacor Communications Inc. thought they had deals with Sinclair for the stations. Entercom filed suit ...
Global Broadcasting Co. Inc. has defaulted on its deal to buy Children's Broadcast Corp.'s 14 AM radio stations.(Brief Article)
Feb 02, 1998 ... CBC will continue to try to close the deal with Global, according to CEO C hristopher Dahl. Other options, Dahl says, include entering into local marketing agreements for all ...
Los Angeles radio stations continued to break revenue records for the fifth consecutive year in 1997.(Los Angeles, California)(Brief Article)
Feb 02, 1998 ... Los Angeles radio stations continued to break revenue records for the fifth consecutive year in 1997, the Southern California Broadcasters Association reports. Twenty-six stations had revenue of nearly $529 million for the year, 7.4% more than in 1996. The ...
A broad alliance of computer companies and telcos established last week promises to accelerate development of asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) services.(forms ADSL Working Group)(Brief Article)
Feb 02, 1998 ... Compaq Computer, Intel Corp. and Microsoft Corp. have linked with Ameritech, Bell Atlantic, BellSouth, GTE SBC Communications, Sprint and US West to form the ADSL Working Group. The goal is to standardize ADSL modems, aiming at field trials later this year. The initiative is intended to ...
A new look for HDTV: ABC, NBC ponder their digital futures in 720-line, progressive-scan format.(high definition television)(includes related articles on Fox SDTV and postponed DTV channels)
Feb 09, 1998; ... ABC, NBC ponder their digital futures in 720-line, progressive-scan format For the broadcast of high-definition television in the U.S., the 1,080-line interlace (1080I) format has long been the front-runner. But that format may soon find itself on the outside looking in. ...
Dollars, deals fly in CP gold rush; competing applicants for 50 new stations work out settlements.(construction permits, radio stations)
Feb 09, 1998; ... Competing applicants for 50 new stations work out settlements Some 50 new TV stations may be taking to the airwaves now that applicants for the channels have settled scores of competing bids. In a flurry of deal making that saw millions of dollars change hands--none ...
Feeding the peacock.(Don Ohlmeyer, NBC west coast president)(Interview)
Feb 09, 1998; ... With Seinfeld gong away, ER renewed (at a cost of most of the show's profits), NFL football lost and the fate of Mad About You hanging in the balance, NBC has been under a media microscope lately. Don Ohlmeyer, NBC's West Coast president, has been deeply involved as most of these events have ...
Old 'Blue' eye. (off-network 'NYPD Blue' runs cleared on CBS-owned/operated television stations)(Brief Article)
Feb 09, 1998 ... Twentieth Television has cleared off-network runs of NYPD Blue through 2001 on the CBS owned-and-operated stations. The weekly series, in its first season in syndication, is ...
Atlantis signs Sullivan. (Atlantis Communications; producer/director Beth Sullivan)(Brief Article)
Feb 09, 1998 ... Atlantis Communications Inc. has signed producer/director Beth Sullivan to an overall development and production deal. Sullivan is the creator and executive ...
Universal signs Balcer. (Universal Television; Rene Balcer)(Brief Article)
Feb 09, 1998; ... Universal Television has signed Law & Order executive producer Rene Balcer to a multiyear development deal. In ...