Multichannel News back issues from December 1997:
Nets rock on digital; MTV, VH1 join parade of programmers. (cable television networks)
Dec 01, 1997; ... NEW YORK - Programmers including MTV Networks Inc. and The Walt Disney Co. are rushing to stake their claims in the new digital landscape.Last week, MTVN laid out plans to roll out a package of seven digital-music networks in July, in genres ranging from rap to rock. MTV's ...
After busy year, Dolans eye next moves. (interview with Cablevision Systems Corp. Chairman Chuck Dolan and CEO Jim Dolan)(Interview)
Dec 01, 1997; ... It's been a great year for the Dolans and Cablevision Systems Corp. In April, they ponied up $500 million to tighten their grip on Madison Square Garden, raising their ownership to 89 percent. Then, they swung a series of deals that propelled Cablevision's lagging stock price from $29 in ...
Lifetime goes to movies in spinoff. (Lifetime Television; Lifetime Movie Network)
Dec 01, 1997; ... NEW YORK - Finally creating its first spinoff channel, Lifetime Television will venture forward next year with an ad-supported movie network that will feature contemporary made-for-television films and miniseries from the network's library.Lifetime, owned by The Wait Disney Co. and ...
Liberty Media wheels, deals Telemundo, HSN. (Liberty Media Group; Telemundo Group Inc.; HSN Inc.)
Dec 01, 1997; ... Tele-Communications Inc.'s Liberty Media Group found a new programming partner last week in Sony Corp. and edged closer to an existing partner in Barry Diller.Liberty and Sony Pictures Entertainment teamed up with two of Telemundo Group Inc.'s principal shareholders in a deal to ...
Valley Co. perks up VOD market. (Silicon Valley-based Diva Systems Inc.; video-on-demand)
Dec 01, 1997; ... A quiet Silicon Valley company called Diva Systems Inc emerged last week with a digital solution attractive enough to breathe new life into video-on-demand.Last week, Diva, a clandestine Silicon Valley start-up that is already two years old, came out of the closet with a turnkey ...
Charter woos cities in Minn. bid. (Charter Communications Inc.; Minneapolis cable subscribers)
Dec 01, 1997; ... After a series of setbacks, Charter Communications Inc. may have turned the tide in its bid to acquire 300,000 Minneapolis cable subscribers from U S West Inc.A source close to the matter said that during a trip to Minneapolis earlier this month, Charter chairman Barry Babcock ...
Ameritech's Detroit-area push may slow rate hikes. (Ameritech New Media; Detroit, MI)
Dec 01, 1997; ... Cable rates have risen dramatically in Detroit over the last 18 months, despite the area's emergence as one of the nation's most competitive markets.Almost two years after the 1996 Telecommunications Act introduced competition - and the promise of lower prices - to the ...
New networks ponder chances in digital, analog landscapes.(Panel Discussion)
Dec 01, 1997 ... In our third-annual New Networks Roundtable, Multichannel News asked three officials representing several new and soon-to-be-launched cable networks to discuss the challenging environment for rolling out programming services. The participants represented a wide spectrum, from veteran cable ...
GTE invades St. Pete. (St. Petersburg, FL)
Dec 01, 1997; ... Competition has come to the west coast of Florida, but not in the form of a price war.After years of searching, when hopes had all but faded, St. Petersburg has finally found competition for its Paragon Cable system. In fact, the answer landed right in the city's lap.In ...
MSO will offer Stones concert free to subs. (MSO News Press Gazette; Rolling Stones)
Dec 01, 1997; ... Missouri-based MSO News Press Gazette is taking on DirecTv Inc. by matching the direct-broadcast satellite company's free Rolling Stones pay-per-view concert offer for the Dec. 12 event.The MSO is hoping that the free offer, for which it is not receiving a split break from Viewers ...
TV set-makers ask for more time on V-chips.
Dec 01, 1997; ... WASHINGTON - Television set-makers, citing uncooperative production schedules, said last week that they could not meet the July 1, 1998, deadline to begin installing V-chips in almost all new televisions sold or made in the United States.The Federal Communications Commission is ...
Advanced broadband takes stage at CableNet.
Dec 01, 1997; ... For the fifth year in a row, CableNet will take the technological center stage at the Western Show, showcasing the latest in digital video and a first-ever demonstration of interoperable cable modems.Next week, more than 45 suppliers will show off the latest in advanced broadband, ...
DBS interest steady, new study says.
Dec 01, 1997; ... Interest among single-family cable households in buying a direct-broadcast satellite system has remained more or less steady, at about 10 percent. That's the good news, according to the fourth-annual Digital Television Survey.The bad news is that interest in a DBS system among ...
Cartoon Network punches up lineup.
Dec 01, 1997; ... NEW YORK - Cartoon Network will continue its expansion into original programming next year by launching two new series that it developed, stripping another two hit originals and acquiring eight series.During a press preview of its road show for advertisers, Cartoon disclosed that ...
Germany's younger Kirch speaks out. (interview with ProSibien Media AG)(includes related article)(Interview)
Dec 01, 1997; ... Thomas Kirch, 38, son of legendary German media mogul Leo Kirch, 71, is likely to take over his aging father's empire sometime in the coming years. That will make him one of the most powerful players in Europe's media scene, although he is already high up in the rankings. With nearly a 60 ...
Fitzgerald becomes TCI's ace closer. (William R. Fitzgerald)
Dec 01, 1997; ... The "Summer of Love" has kept a lot of people busy.By Tele-Communications Inc. president and chief operating officer Leo J. Hindery Jr.'s recent count, his company's "partnership" spree will end up affecting 18 different MSOs. TCI's joint ventures and swaps will affect some 6 ...
Nets attracting more female viewers. (part 1)
Dec 01, 1997; ... With the explosion of women's sports, cable networks are enjoying a surge in the number of females viewing sports events.Advertising executives said sports-dominated networks such as ESPN could make inroads in pulling more dollars targeting the coveted 18-to-34 female demographic, ...
Time Warner grows in competitive Houston. (Time Warner Cable of Houston)
Dec 01, 1997; ... Houston is a tough market for cable operators. EchoStar Communications Corp.'s Dish Network has targeted it for its low-cost satellite effort; there are 14 strong local broadcasters; and two multiple-dwelling-unit competitors beat cable companies to the punch to lay fiber.But Time ...
C-SPAN goes mobile in D.C. radio operation. (Washington, DC)
Dec 01, 1997; ... WASHINGTON - C-SPAN started up its D.C. radio station this fall - providing inside-the-Beltway political junkies with a new way to procure a congressional affairs fix.Since Oct. 9, WCSP-FM (90.1) has been on the air with an amalgamation of the network's three television channels. ...
Cable unites for World AIDS Day. (cable television industry)
Dec 01, 1997; ... Almost the entire cable television industry will stop competing for a moment today (Dec. 1) and unite to commemorate World AIDS Day.Under the leadership of Cable Positive, the cable industry's nonprofit AIDS action group, over 300 cable networks and operators throughout North and ...
DBS ponders local-system-operator proposal.
Dec 01, 1997; ... A group of satellite television retailers is floating a proposal calling for direct-broadcast satellite providers to appoint a local system operator in every town to handle DBS subscriber maintenance."This business needs to be built locally," said Rik Hawkins, owner of Starpath of ...
Jones' upstart GAC takes on CMT. (Jones International Networks Inc.; Great American Country; Country Music Television)
Dec 01, 1997; ... In the world of country music on cable, Great American Country is undoubtedly the plucky underdog. It's crafted a strategy that focuses on convincing operators to switch out Country Music Television and carry it instead.GAC, part of Jones International Networks Inc. and initially ...
MTV research is music to Frank's ears. (Betsy Frank)
Dec 01, 1997; ... NEW YORK - Executives at MTV: Music Television and MTV Networks, concerned about once trend-setting MTV's flat ratings for the past five years, can probably relate to a recent rap hit in its video rotation: Notorious B.I.G.'s "Mo' Money, Mo' Problems."But given its considerable ...
Encore's Wam! tries to establish itself. (Encore Media Group)
Dec 01, 1997; ... Mention Wam!, the, three-year-old kids network, to media analysts and cable operators, and you'll be met with an uncomprehending silence, apologetic murmers about how "I should know about it," or confused questions about the singing career of George Michael.Those were also the ...
Wam! touts wide mix of kids' shows.
Dec 01, 1997; ... Wam! is touting a lineup of acquired programming, both domestic and international, along with some original programming.Midge Pierce, the network's vice president of programming, said Warn! is committed to expanding its original productions in both educational and entertainment ...
Sports networks face off on the Web. (World Wide Web)
Dec 01, 1997; ... ESPN, the original and leading 24-hour cablesports channel, faces new competition from CNN/SI and Fox Sports Net. But that's only one-half of its problems.The new sports programmers are also attacking ESPN in another medium that it has dominated until now: the World Wide Web. ...
WCW vies for wrestling crown. (World Championship Wrestling)
Dec 01, 1997; ... Riding the recent success of its pay-per-view shows, Turner Sports' World Championship Wrestling is making an aggressive run at the World Wrestling Federation for PPV wrestling supremacy.Always considered the "second" wrestling organization behind the veteran WWF, the WCW is led ...
De La Hoya draws new sponsors to PPV. (welterweight champion Oscar De La Hoya)
Dec 01, 1997; ... Welterweight champion Oscar De La Hoya's charm and appeal continue to attract new retailers to his pay-per-view fights.The latest companies to join the De La Hoya bandwagon are Ceca-Cola Co.'s PowerAde fitness drink and car parts distributor Auto Zone, both of which will contribute ...
Time Warner Jamestown adds news.
Dec 01, 1997; ... Content is not only king: It can also be a princely way to generate local ad revenues.A case in point is Time Warner Cable of Jamestown, N.Y., which has found the selling of sponsorships on its local-origination programming to be a good revenue stream, even in a tough local ...
Denver's 'good-old-girl' network. (MediaOne VP and Chief Marketing Officer Julie Dexter Berg and Rifkin & Associates Inc. VP of Marketing Lee Clayton)
Dec 01, 1997; ... If the cable industry really does have a good-old-boy network, it had better make a place at the table in Denver for Julie Dexter Berg and Lee Clayton, women in their early 40s who have recently started their first jobs as MSO marketers.Berg is executive vice president and chief ...
Program-access debate growing in complexity.
Dec 01, 1997; ... WASHINGTON - Four ears ago, when Congress passed cable program-access laws, the issues were fairly straightforward. But in today's policy wars between cable operators and their competitors, "program access" is coming to mean just about anything and everything.In 1992, Congress ...
Switches galore in Taiwan cable biz. (change of distributors by cable providers)
Dec 01, 1997; ... A large number of overseas channel providers are swapping and changing their distributors in Taiwan, Asia's biggest and most volatile cable-TV market.Turner International's CNN International and TNT & Cartoon Network, along with CNBC, NBC and MGM Gold, have either just changed ...
Cable, DTH battle builds in Spain. (direct-to-home satellite services)
Dec 01, 1997; ... BARCELONA, SPAIN - Cableuropas Bradley Herrman, speaking at a recent IBC Technical Services conference on Spanish digital satellite and cable here, summed up the growing fight between Spain's two direct-to-home satellite services and its burgeoning cable industry by declaring: "There's a war ...
Canada regulator takes unusual stance. (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission)
Dec 01, 1997; ... OTTAWA - The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) generally defends the public interest whenever fights break out in the broadcast industry. However, in a recent rate dispute between a sports network and a cable system, the CRTC opted to stay out of the fight. ...
German heavyweight mulls cable spinoff. (Deutsche Telekom AG)
Dec 01, 1997; ... FRANKFURT, GERMANY - The board of Deutsche Telekom AG is nearing a decision on whether it should break its cable business apart from its telephony business, according to a report in the Nov. 21 issue of influential German business publication Manager Magazin.As part of the plan, ...
Argentine consolidation raises questions. (cable television industry)
Dec 01, 1997; ... BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA - The consolidation trend in the Argentine cable business may have reached a peak recently, when the country's two largest MSOs reached an agreement to split up the assets of a third MSO, Video CableComunicacion (VCC).But at least one more shoe is expected ...
CS Wireless tests TelQuest digital service. (CS Wireless Systems Inc.; TelqQuest Satellite Services LLC)
Dec 01, 1997; ... Wireless cable company CS Wireless Systems Inc. is still aiming for year-end 1997 to begin rolling out its first digital video service in Dallas. The launch would make CS Wireless the first company to employ the new digital headend service from TelQuest Satellite Services LLC.The ...
@Home's Tom Jermoluk offers more than speed. (interview with @Home Network's chairman and CEO)(Interview)
Dec 01, 1997; ... There's no cushy corner office for Tom Jermoluk, chairman and CEO of @Home Network. Instead, the high-speed content chief prefers to work on the first floor of @Home's sprawling. Silicon Valley-esque playground, not far from the foosball and pool tables and smack in the middle of a massive ...
GTE's ADSL debut may lead way to Microsoft data play. (asymmetrical digital subscriber line)
Dec 01, 1997; ... GTE Corp.'s debut of its first commercial offering of ADSL services may give Microsoft Corp. the opening that it has been looking for to begin building a business tied to high-speed-data access in the mass-market.Both companies pointed to their joint effort in the long-running ADSL ...
Samsung to unveil cable modem at Western Show. (Samsung Electronics America Inc.)
Dec 01, 1997; ... DENVER - Keep an eye out for another consumer-electronics giant at next week's Western Show, as Samsung Electronics America Inc. is set to debut the first in its "InfoLink" line of cable modems.In a briefing here last week, Samsung executives offered a sneak peek at the modem, ...
Toshiba high on full-security cable modems. (Toshiba America Information Systems Inc.)
Dec 01, 1997; ... Toshiba America Information Systems Inc. is tapping the technology of a Massachusetts-based start-up to deliver standards-compliant cable modems capable of supporting tiered services at little or no cost premium for the additional security.The move marks a departure from most modem ...
Motorola bolsters cable modems, drops price.
Dec 01, 1997; ... DENVER - Motorola Inc. is using next week s Western Show to debut a new, half-size cable modem, while dropping the price of its existing modem by 20 percent.Called "CyberSURFR Wave," the new modem aims to double its upstream speed to 1.5 megabits per second by adding 16 QAM ...
TCI rolls out @Home in Castro Valley. (Tele-Communications Inc.; @Home Network; Castro Valley, CA)
Dec 01, 1997; ... Continuing its push of high-speed content into the San Francisco Bay area, @Home Network rolled out in what is now Tele-Communications Inc.'s Castro Valley, Calif., system.The deployment is notable because the 13,000-subscriber Castro Valley system, formerly owned by Viacom Cable, ...
Gearloose inventions and realistic expectations. (comic-book character Gyro Gearloose and cable-modem services)
Dec 01, 1997; ... As we pack for the annual Anaheim adventure, let's get into a Disney-appropriate frame of mind. The technical parts of next week's events - from CTAM's one-day exploration of high-speed data, to the annual CableNet interconnectivity extravaganza - are becoming an industry centerpiece, so ...
Losses mounting, cable Web firm seeks partner. (Community Networks Inc.)
Dec 01, 1997; ... Community Networks Inc., a year-old firm that helps cable operators break into the cable-modem business, is retrenching and is in talks with rivals about a possible merger.A spokesman for CNI's parent company, BTG Inc., last week confirmed that talks were under way with Internet ...
Lunch in Woodbury. (Cablevision Systems Corp.'s headquarters in Woodbury, NY)
Dec 01, 1997; ... It's always a hoot to make what has now become an annual trek to see the Dolan family at Cablevision Systems Corp.'s headquarters in Woodbury, N.Y.In the unlikely locale of a seemingly sterile suburban office compound - also home to Weight Watchers and other disparate businesses ...
City manager tells truth - with help. (Iowa towns' plan to create communications utilities)
Dec 01, 1997; ... I am writing this on Nov. 5, 1997, one day after nine Iowa towns voted on the idea of creating communications utilities that are municipally owned and that will compete with existing private cable and telephone companies.In most of those towns, voters approved the idea of using ...
Some ops mull keeping TBS as superstation. (Turner Broadcasting System's TBS Superstation)
Dec 08, 1997; ... Several cable companies are taking a hard look at an 11th-hour attempt to maintain superstation status for Turner Broadcasting Systems Inc.'s TBS Superstation, even as Turner continues to sign major MSOs to deals converting the Atlanta station to a basic network.Newly formed, New ...
Cable's $4B game plan?: TCI, others close to huge set-top order.
Dec 08, 1997; ... TCI, Others Close to Huge Set-Top OrderWith a multibillion-dollar set-top order imminent, industry leaders may take advantage of this week's Western Show to spell out cable's blueprint for building more cross-industry alliances and accelerating the pace of rolling out enhanced ...
MediaOne's Peters: 'center-led.' (MediaOne CEO Jan Peters)(Interview)
Dec 08, 1997; ... To say that Jan Peters stepped in as Mediaone's CEO at a difficult time is an understatement. Amos Hostetter - co-founder of Continental Cablevision Inc., which became MediaOne when it merged with U S West Media Group (UMG) - had just angrily resigned over the planned headquarters move to ...
Prevue Interactive guide raises the ante.
Dec 08, 1997; ... Smaller MSOs are complaining that the pricing being floated for Headend in the Sky is just too expensive to work for them - especially the pricey monthly fee for its navigator.Officials at several small MSOs said the monthly flat fees being proposed for TeleCommunications Inc.'s ...
TCI Systems shuffles continue. (Tele-Communications Inc.)
Dec 08, 1997; ... Tele-Communications Inc. continued remapping the cable landscape last week by announcing another joint-venture deal and, sources said, wrapping up a major asset exchange with U S West Media Group Inc.TCI and Insight Communications Co. L.P., a New York-based MSO, agreed to combine ...
Nickelodeon joins rush to digital. (digital television)
Dec 08, 1997; ... After more than a year of development, Nickelodeon has decided to spin off a package of three to five digital networks aimed at kids, anchored by an educational service and possibly including channels for comedy, game shows and "'tweens," sources said last week.At this point, ...
Retail modems: not a no-brainer.
Dec 08, 1997; ... Broadband operators that expect cable-modem costs to move off their balance sheets will soon find that the devil is in the retail.Concerns about how operators will actually get modems off the shelves and into homes come as cable enters 1998 with a tremendous burden of proving that ...
Rockettes give Cablevision another leg in New York. (Cablevision Systems Corp.)
Dec 08, 1997; ... NEW YORK - By adding Radio City Music Hall to an asset base that already includes Madison Square Garden, Cablevision Systems Corp. is playing to its strengths - programming, packaging and the New York market.That's what analysts said after the Woodbury, N.Y.-based MSO announced ...
What's a 'classic' MSO to do? (cable operators)
Dec 08, 1997; ... Cable modems. Digital video. Two-way upgrades. None or all of the above.What's a "classic" MSO to do?The top 10 cable operators seem to have their strategies firmly in place, and those plans are familiar to Wall Street. But smaller operators' game plans are less ...
Rainbow sets digital play with local nets. (Rainbow Media Sports Holdings)
Dec 08, 1997; ... In an effort to secure shelf space in the digital environment, Rainbow Media Spots Holdings has plans to launch several new services to complement four of its existing SportsChannel regional sports networks.Rainbow hopes to parlay its expertise in developing regional sports ...
Western Show celebrates 30th anniversary.
Dec 08, 1997; ... Right around this time 30 years ago, about 500 cable people gathered in a small hotel complex called "Vacation Village" in San Diego, poring over tabletop exhibits of the latest solid-state, 12-channel distribution amplifiers and partying in hardware hospitality suites until dawn. ...
Ameritech hits franchise roadblock. (Ameritech New Media)
Dec 08, 1997; ... Ameritech New Media has run into a roadblock in its attempt to secure a franchise in the community of Park Ridge, Ill., a Chicago suburb of 37,000 residents.Negotiations had stalled last week over the city's insistence that advertising revenues be included in the gross receipts ...
DBS beefs up subscriber counts in November. (direct-broadcast satellite services)
Dec 08, 1997; ... Consumer-advertising promotions from competing direct-broadcast satellite platforms helped to drive DBS subscriber numbers up by well over 200,000 in November.DirecTv Inc. added an estimated 120,000 new subscribers in November, for a total count of 3.12 million, according to Media ...
DirectTv offers $54 incentive to new subs. (subscribers)
Dec 08, 1997; ... DirecTv Inc. continues to sweeten the pot for new subscribers. To help drive holiday sales of new Digital Satellite System hardware at retail, the direct-broadcast satellite provider is offering over $50 in programming discounts to anyone who signs up for DirecTv through Jan. 12, 1998 ....
Others interested in Magness stock? (Tele-Communications Inc. founder Bob Magness)
Dec 08, 1997; ... DENVER - The Walt Disney Co. and Comcast Corp. were among those reportedly interested in the stock held by the estate of late TeleCommunications Inc. founder Bob Magness.According to published reports, Disney chairman Michael Eisner was approached about buying the Magness stock, ...
Cablevision joins Boston interconnect. (Cablevision Systems Corp.)
Dec 08, 1997; ... Greater Boston Cable Advertising made it official late last week - Boston will be the last of the top 10 DMAs to become a unified market for ad sales, with the addition of Cablevision Systems Corp.Jeff Sohinki, general manager of GBCA's Boston interconnect, said the sixth-largest ...
EchoStar seeks FCC help to carry FX. (Federal Communications Commission)
Dec 08, 1997; ... WASHINGTON - For the bird time in less than two months, EchoStar Communications Corp. is turning to the Federal Communications Commission to resolve a program-access dispute.On Nov. 24, EchoStar filed a complaint alleging that it cannot purchase FX for national distribution and ...
NFL bidding war troubles cable ops. (National Football League; cable operators)
Dec 08, 1997; ... Cable operators, shell-shocked by a record-breaking National Basketball Association cable deal, are worried that negotiations for the upcoming National Football League agreement will further drive sports programming costs up.ESPN and Turner Network Television are expected to engage ...