AtDeadline...

CABLE WORLD STAFF

* Reacting to AT&T's 10% rate hike affecting about 1 million Chicago area cable customers, Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, demanded a federal review of the increase and asked FCC chairman William Kennard whether the industry should be re-regulated.

* AT&T is looking to shed its stakes in Speedvision and Outdoor Life - assets it inherited when it bought MediaOne - despite urgings from Liberty chairman and AT&T vice chairman John Malone that AT&T should be beefing up its content portfolio. Cox, Comcast and Fox/Liberty Networks are the other primary investors in the nets. AT&T says it needs permission from the FCC to negotiate the sale of Speedvision and Outdoor Life to the other owners.

* Rogers Communications is apparently joining the growing fraternity of media companies that own sports teams. Rogers, Canada's largest MSO, is close to acquiring the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team for about $150 million. The company is rumored to also be interested in the Montreal Canadiens hockey team.

* Excite continues to lure customers, but the company's subscriber growth slowed in the second quarter. The company's subscriber base rose to 1.8 million, slightly less than the 1.9 million analysts had predicted. Company officials pin the slowdown on a lack of available cable modems. Excite still expects to serve some 3 million customers by year's-end.

* Bertelsmann has snapped up cash-strapped online music seller CDnow for $117 million. CDnow will operate under its current brand name and become a subsidiary of Bertelsmann's electronic-commerce group. Bertelsmann has been actively searching for ways to increase its presence on the Internet - particularly in light of Vivendi's agreement to buy Universal and AOL's acquisition of Time Warner.

* CNET Networks is buying its biggest competitor, Ziff-Davis and its online business ZDNet, for $1.6 billion in stock. The combination of the cross-town San Francisco rivals ends the 73-year independence of Ziff-Davis. The takeover combines two of the 20 most popular sites on the Web.

* NBC is appealing in federal court the FCC's broadcast ownership rules claiming the current regulations are "antiquated." The Peacock Network claims the rules are biased against over-the-air broadcasters and restricts them from competing equally with cable, satellite and Internet providers in the new media environment.

* Comcast Cable will offer its own coverage of the Republican National Convention being held in Philadelphia next month to other MSOs. Comcast will produce a three-hour nightly telecast of the convention and offer the show to AT&T, Time Warner, Cablevision Systems, Cox, Charter and Adelphia for a potential audience of 65 million cable homes nationwide. Lynn Doyle, who hosts a show on Comcast Network, will serve as anchor of the show, which will also feature QVC's Lisa Robertson and Bill Patatucci, former campaign director for President George Bush.