April 30, 2001
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PROGRAMMING
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A&E Adds Big Names
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A&E Network will offer its own spin on reality programming through a co-development deal with the producer of Carl Sagan's Cosmos series, as...
BY LINDA MOSS
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BRIEFS
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NEW WB TEAM Eric Frankel, president of Warner Bros. Domestic Cable Distribution, has assembled the sales team that will help license Warner's movies...
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Sci Fi Puts More Minis Into Orbit
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Sci Fi Channel, buoyed by the out-of-this-world success of the Frank Herbert's Dune miniseries, wants to create more big-event programming....
BY LINDA MOSS
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Cover Story
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At Deadline?
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Seven-year veteran Susan Ness is stepping down on June 1 as FCC Commissioner. The Commission's senior Democrat, appointed by former...
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MSG-Yanks Settlement May Batter Ops
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There are no guarantees [the Yankees] will succeed in running a cable network. ESPN Rate Hike Arrives, page 47 Defending three-time...
BY WILL LEE
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The Big Picture
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A Different Sort of Rebuild
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Cable World has rebuilt itself through the hiring of a strong, dedicated staff....
BY ANDY GROSSMAN
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Broadband Content
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BRIEFS
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COURT STREAMS Court TV is moving a limited amount of programming onto the Internet. The basic cable network signed a deal with Aerocast to allow some...
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iNEXTV Formula: Put Squeeze on Web Shows
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The collapse of the portal model and the skeletonization of the Internet advertising market has left bandwidth-hungry Web videocasters scrambling to...
BY RICHARD COLE
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Interactive TV
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BRIEFS
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CANAL+ MUSIC Canal+ U.S. Technologies is working with Universal Music Group to develop and deliver an interactive music service that will allow TV viewers...
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MetaTV Clicks With Investors For $28M
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In an environment where interactive TV deployments are slow to roll out and some ITV firms are barely hanging on financially, MetaTV has managed to entice...
BY K. C. NEEL
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Sweeney to Kobalt
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Seems executives are leaving AT&T Broadband in droves these days. But the exodus is benefiting some smaller, more entrepreneurial firms. The latest refugee...
BY K. C. NEEL
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Broadband
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Downturn, Competition Hit Chipmaker Broadcom
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For a time, makers of communications chips were somewhat safe from the sharp downturn in the semiconductor industry, though nobody expected that to last...
BY DAN MITCHELL
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Receiver Deals With Digital TV
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With must carry rules in mind, Terayon Communication Systems has introduced a new integrated receiver for cable television operators, the DTE-7585. In...
BY BRIAN SANTO
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Business
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BRIEFS
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ADELPHIA MOVES Adelphia Communications said it expects cable revenues of $710M for the 1Q and operating income before depreciation and amortization of...
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Bright Spot For AT&T: New Service Growth
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In an industry increasingly focused on selling new services to existing customers, AT&T Broadband is becoming a new-product-selling machine. And despite...
BY MAVIS SCANLON
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Media Giants Buck Economy
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Three major media companies expressed optimism that they can withstand the current downturn in the economy last week as they reported better-then-expected...
BY MAVIS SCANLON
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Marketplace
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IPO Watch
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These companies are offering IPOs in the next four weeks. Aquila Energy, 17.5M shares offered, $23 high/$21 low offer price. BellaCasa...
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Market Comment
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How refreshing to see a telecom provider not issuing a warning for a change. Worldcom posted sharply lower earnings but met expectations, and...
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Marketplace
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People
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People
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Arbitron Kevin Smith to SVP-cable services and PPM business development from SVP-advertiser sales at Wink Communications. AT&T Broadband Margaret...
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General
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$50M Punch Hits PPV
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With one stiff right to Lennox Lewis' jaw, Hasim Rahman may have cost operators and promoters at least a $50 million payday. When Rahman scored his stunning...
BY WILL LEE
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Bernice Coe Dies
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Bernice Coe (Stavis), a founding member of Women in Cable and Television and a mentor to many women now occupying top positions in the industry, including...
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BET Departure Called Inside Job
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Three months after being acquired by Viacom, Black Entertainment Television is already a very different company. On the heels of the departure of BET...
BY LINDA MOSS
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BRIEFS
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VOLUNTEER WEEK Comcast encouraged viewers to volunteer their time and talents to neighborhood projects with a month-long public service campaign, timed...
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Correction
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A chart accompanying the story ?Tech Firms See Small Bounce Off Bottom? on page 6 of the April 23 Cable World did not reflect a...
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ESPN's 20% Hike Steams Small Ops
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Small cable operators officially got the bad news late last week. They received notices from ESPN saying rates for the sports channel were going up 20%...
BY LINDA MOSS
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Fly A Kite, Sure, But Don't Turn Off Cable
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U.S. Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher has it in for television. The medium, he says, ?contributes to childhood obesity.? Satcher, in conjunction...
BY DAVID CONNELL
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Foes Try To Slow Broadband Bill
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Powerful House Commerce Committee Chairman Billy Tauzin, R-La., is encountering fierce opposition over a bill that will allow the Baby Bells to send...
BY DAVID CONNELL
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Hart Faces Challenges
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Patti Hart's operational experience as CEO of DSL provider Telocity will come in handy in her new position as CEO and chairman of beaten-up cable modem...
Mavis Scanlon
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Hurrying and Waiting Is Pastime at NAB
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For many of the broadband technology companies attending last week's National Association of Broadcasters convention, it was a gathering of people hurrying...
BY BRIAN SANTO
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Internet's Ad Glass Half Full
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The famine also can be looked at as a feast ? ?Tis either a feast or a famine,? my Irish grandfather used to...
BY RICHARD COLE
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Local Ad, Programming Efforts Get Rewarded
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Cable operators are putting more effort into local advertising and local programming. And earlier this month, some operators won awards for those efforts....
BY ANDREA FIGLER
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More Cable, ISP Links
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Cable operators and Internet access providers are coming together more and more these days, cutting broadband carriage deals with increased regularity....
BY K. C. NEEL
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Movie Deal Puts Turner in Front Row
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With its history-making $350 million output agreement with DreamWorks, Turner Broadcasting System is stockpiling quality theatrical films into 2015....
BY LINDA MOSS
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No Slowdown For Cox
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What slowdown? Although Cox Communications saw declines in advertising sales last quarter, customers continued to sign up for Cox's new services at a...
BY MAVIS SCANLON
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Q&A with Robert Keane
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Comcast Business Communications is a recently formed unit of Comcast that offers a bundle of voice, data and Internet services to small and medium-sized...
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Roadshow Offers Route To Sponsorship Revenue
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Several cable networks are going Hollywood in pursuit of a larger share of advertiser marketing dollars. Networks such as Lifetime Television, TBS Superstation,...
BY ANDREA FIGLER
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Small Op Goes Digital Its Way
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Bob Gessner has always run Massillon Cable, his family-owned cable system, in ways that make some other cable operators shake their heads. While other...
BY K. C. NEEL
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SoapNet Bubbles With Viewers But Still Stings Some Operators
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A year ago this week, Time Warner Cable and Walt Disney were engaged in a bitter public retransmission-consent battle. SoapNet, a soap opera rerun channel,...
BY LINDA MOSS
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Study Sees Hard Road For Cable Overbuilders
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Competition, capital and regulation. Those are the three most troublesome issues facing competitive broadband service providers, known to the cable industry...
BY MAVIS SCANLON
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Torres: CEOs Must Stress Diversity
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Walter Kaitz Foundation president Art Torres believes cable industry CEOs are concerned about diversity at their MSOs. He just doesn't think their employees...
BY DAVID CONNELL
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