BRIEFS

CABLEWORLD STAFF

A new study by MediaVest found that the growth of smaller cable networks is eating away at the ratings of the bigger cable networks. Since 2000, ratings of the top ten cable networks are down 11%, according to MediaVest's report. ?The larger cable networks need to rethink their programming strategies as the smaller guys are nibbling on their heels,? the report said. Jack Wakshlag, chief research officer at Turner Broadcasting, replied that some of those larger networks have grown (including TNT). ?If the future belongs to the smaller networks, we'd better be looking way, way out in the future because they are way, way behind,? he said.

Bravo's distribution passed the 70 million mark, according to Nielsen Media Research. The network has added 2 million subscribers since being acquired by NBC in December.

The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE), in conjunction with the New Jersey Institute of Technology, is offering an online course of study for those looking to prepare for SCTE certification. The classes, which are delivered via the mediation of a remote instructor, include streaming video and text-based content modules. Courses on offer include a general introduction to cable telecom, a primer on high-speed data service and a seminar on cable telephony.

Cable pioneer and Comcast Corp. co-founder Daniel Aaron died last week after battling Parkinson's Disease for over a decade. Aaron, whose family escaped Nazi Germany just prior to World War II, was 77. Aaron convinced Ralph Roberts to buy the cable system in Tupelo, Miss., in 1962, which formed the basis of what would later become Comcast, the nation's largest MSO with almost 22 million customers. Aaron, who retired from Comcast in 1990, was credited as a leading force behind Congress's passage of the 1984 Cable Act. He was inducted into the Cable Center's Hall of Fame last year.