Remember the Puppy Channel? Its founder is still hoping hisdream will get ?adopted by one of the big dogs.?

Three years ago American Movie Classics held a press conferenceat a kitschy '50s-style diner in Manhattan to herald AMC's AmericanPop, a new network dedicated to pop culture. The service wasdesigned to debut on the Web and on broadband first and then launchas a 24-hour digital channel in late 1998.

Josh Sapan, president of Rainbow Media Holdings, addressed theluncheon, which was packed with reporters. In a press release hesaid, ?AMC's American Pop is paramount to our digitalstrategy.?

So far American Pop has made it to the Internet and broadband,but not to cable. A Rainbow spokeswoman says there are still plansto roll out American Pop as a cable network, but no launch date isset.

Welcome to the world of cable programming, where hype eventuallymeets hard reality. Enthusiastic programmers often unveil best-laidplans for new cable networks, plans later derailed by a dearth offinancing or a lack of distribution commitments. Programmers suchas Rainbow, which had planned to launch not only American Pop butWorld Cinema, pulled back the rollouts of those digital networksbecause of the delay in MSO deployment of digital set-top boxesacross the country, a process that has proceeded slowly.

Here's a roll call of networks that were announced, some withgreat ballyhoo, and have yet to make it to your local cable ordirect-broadcast satellite channel lineup. And while theseprogrammers initially were all too happy to talk about theirproposed networks, some opted not to return phone calls seekingcomment on where their pet projects stand now.

WORLD CINEMA: Plans for this digital service, likeAmerican Pop, were unveiled in the fall of 1997 by Rainbow. WorldCinema's strategy was to air foreign-language films, which hadproved very popular with Bravo's viewers. Rainbow officials saidthey would launch World Cinema when there were 1 million digitalset-tops deployed, which they felt would happen in the thirdquarter of 1998. In 1999, citing the lack of digital boxes, Bravowas talking about a World Cinema launch in 2000. The Rainbowspokeswoman says that like American Pop, World Cinema is stillbeing incubated on broadband, and it doesn't have a launchdate.

SI TV: Two years ago, the veteran production company SiTV unveiled plans to debut a 24-hour, English-language network forLatinos. The service, which sought to raise $100 million, wasslated to launch in the year 2000. Si TV's advisory board includedthe notable Hispanic actors Jimmy Smits, Hector Elizondo and CheechMarin. Si TV co-chairman Jeff Valdez, who produces The BrothersGarcia for Nickelodeon, couldn't be reached for comment onwhere the channel, aimed at bilingual Hispanics, stood.

FANFARE: The Classical Music Channel: Cable veteranJack Clifford had lined up Dick Cavett as a host for his proposedclassical-music channel, Fanfare. Clifford announced the digitalnetwork in December 1998, with an initial launch date ofThanksgiving 1999. Clifford's partner was WETA-TV, a publicbroadcaster in Washington, D.C. But after several delays, even acable-industry stalwart like Clifford couldn't find financing forFanfare. The project was shelved.

CNBC2: NBC Cable has been talking about launching aCNBC2, once dubbed ?CNBC Biz 24,? for several yearsnow. The digital service was slated to air programming from CNBCAsia and Europe, CNBC.com and full versions of CEO interviews doneby CNBC. While CNBC has reserved satellite space for a CNBC2, thatfeed in some cases has just been a CNBC simulcast, not a newdistinct network. For that reason, after receiving viewercomplaints, Time Warner Cable in Manhattan replaced the CNBC2 feedwith C-SPAN3 earlier this year. In February, NBC Cable presidentDavid Zaslav said CNBC2 would launch this summer. He couldn't bereached for comment on an update.

AMERICAN CATHOLIC TV: Rainbow recruited former CBSTelevision Network president Tom Leahy to work on a startup networkdedicated to the Catholic faith. News that Leahy had been hiredbroke last summer, with the proposed network's launch rumored to betaking place in January of this year. A Rainbow spokeswoman saysodds are that American Catholic TV will be launched as some kind ofnew-media service, rather than a 24-hour channel. Rainbow parentCablevision Systems has registered the Web site URL ?americancatholictv.com.?

SCIENCE FICTION NETWORK NO. 2: Viacom chairman SumnerRedstone in 1999 talked about launching a science-fiction networkthat would compete against USA Cable's SciFi Channel. Redstone saidViacom's sci-fi service couldn't launch until fall 2001, when anoncompete clause stemming from Viacom's sale of its 50% stake inSciFi to USA expired. Viacom's Paramount had programming, such asthe trilogy of Star Trek sequel series, to put on its ownchannel. But now, Paramount has licensed that programming to TheNational Network, which Viacom recently acquired as part of itsmerger with CBS. And MTV Networks chairman Tom Freston says hiscompany isn't looking to launch new cable networks this year. AViacom spokesman says the sci-fi network is still in development?but very much back burner because analog space is so tightright now.?

50-PLUS CHANNEL: Also in 1999, both Redstone andFreston talked about creating a channel aimed at the 50years-and-older audience. Viacom officials said they had formed atask force to determine whether there was a market for channel thattargets the aging baby boomer and senior-citizen audience. Withsuch a service, Viacom would have cable networks addressingvirtually every demographic, the so-called cradle to grave. TheViacom says this channel, like the sci-fi offering, is indevelopment but ?back burner.?

CALIFORNIA NEWS SERVICE: A cadre of former Cable NewsNetwork executives, including Ed Turner, is trying to get thisstatewide news channel off the ground. Back in December, Turnersaid CNS was looking for $45 million in financing and was hoping tolaunch early this year. Now one of the project's founders, KenChamberlain, says CNS is talking to a local broadcaster as apotential partner and hopes to roll out in September, instead ofthe planned May debut, if that money comes through. In themeantime, CNS has until May 30 to prove it has its financing inorder ? otherwise it forfeits the $450,000 it has paid towarda former Woolworth's building owned by the city of Sacramento,Calif., that CSN planned to use as the site of itsheadquarters.

THE PUPPY CHANNEL: This proposed network, familiar toanyone who has ever attended the NCTA Show, has had its launchdelayed so many times that chairman Daniel FitzSimons can't recallwhen it was originally set to debut. Now, the date is sometime in2002. He says he had moved to California as part of a quest to findventure-capital financing for the network, which would offer videosof puppies accompanied by soothing music. Now, he's back in hishometown of Cleveland. FitzSimons says he went about trying to getfinancing in Los Angeles in the wrong manner, failing to beproperly introduced to venture capitalists by lawyers andaccountants with the right connections. But he is still pluggingfor The Puppy Channel, hoping, he says, that ?it will beadopted by one of the big dogs.?

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