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CABLE WORLD STAFF
* One of the first shoes to drop in the wake of the merger between America Online Inc. and Time Warner Inc. came last week when German media conglomerate Bertelsmann AG announced it'll sell back its 50% stake in AOL Europe and AOL Australia to AOL for as much as $8.25 billion. Bertelsmann will use the proceeds from the deal to build it's own e-commerce businesses and provide seed money for e-commerce and content plans.
* DirectTV is bumping the price of each of its programming packages by $2 for new customers effective May 25. The company said the price increases are needed to cover the costs of programming, which it says have risen 35% since 1997, and for investment in operations upgrades. Sound familiar?
* A year after shedding all his Disney stock, entertainment investment guru Gordon Crawford of Capital Research has been quietly buying back Disney's shares. The company's stock is showing signs of recovery in the midst of ratings records, thanks largely to Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Indeed, Disney's shares, which closed March 16 at $35.31, have risen 45% since October. Crawford's endorsement is noteworthy; he is one of the largest holders of media and entertainment stocks and is a well-known expert and insider.
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