|
MIKE REYNOLDS
Adelphia Communications, one of the few cable operators with a long-standing policy against adult programming, has come up with a novel strategy in Los Angeles.
After pulling the Spice Channel on systems it acquired from Century Communications, it said it would consider bringing the PPV service back, if local lawmakers demand it.
One LA TV executive says that won't happen.
"When is a politician or community leader going to come out and say, `We want the sex channels?'" he asks. "It's a very sound way for Adelphia to protect its position."
Adelphia, Los Angeles' largest MSO, has been phasing out Spice on the cable systems it bought from Century Communications.
Responding to a front-page article in the Los Angeles Times last week about Spice's fade to black, Adelphia president/CEO John Rigas said in a prepared statement: "Should franchise authorities from those communities in which Adelphia operates approach us with requests for reinstatement of adult programming, we would naturally take those requests very seriously."
Adds Adelphia SVP Bill Rosendahl: "If a franchise group or community strongly expressed its view, if there were an outcry that they were interested in this type of programming, then we would obviously reconsider our position. But I want to emphasize that the communications we have had with customers strongly suggest otherwise. The communications have been extremely positive, applauding us for standing up for something at a time when few will."
Back to this issue
|
