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By Simon Applebaum
Rick Newberger is raising a new stable of digital cable services, more than a year after parting with longtime partner George Greenberg, who accepted the CEO role at nascent new diginet Horse TV (see "The Puppy Channel of 2004?" June 21 issue).
The Sci Fi Channel, The Golf Channel and TechTV were among the cable ventures Newberger and Greenberg helped nurture from 1987 to 2003, through the media advisory firm bearing their last names.
Now running Vanguard Media Corp., Newberger mostly is in stealth mode. He is willing, however, to discuss in some detail "Built Digital," a group of networks operating under some common characteristics: They have $50-75 million in start-up funding; they'll develop multiple revenue streams and won't take license fees; they'll incorporate new advertising models; and they plan to turn a profit in four years at 25 million subscribers.
Newberger will announce the first Built Digital net later this summer. "The rest of them will follow in short order," he promises. "All of them will work on economical cost models and take maximum advantage of the new digital infrastructure cable operators are working with. The massive server power in that infrastructure will open the door for networks, VOD and ITV to be introduced in new ways."
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