Broadcasting & Cable articles from May 2003

Broadcasting & Cable archives from May 2003

Powell, Copps swap shots on dereg. (Media Ownership).(Michael Powell, Michael Copps)
May 5, 2003... A chorus of lawmakers, artists and activists clamoring to delay the FCC's June 2 vote on sweeping ownership rules is getting a deaf ear from agency Chairman Michael Powell. Powell told reporters Thursday he "feels good" about chances for...

Deficit disorder: why some good pilots never get produced. (Upfront).
May 5, 2003... CBS liked the idea of Joan of Arcadia, an hour domestic drama about a woman who moves to the 'burbs with her family and cop husband. It had the right talent: actors Joe Mantegna and Mary Steenburgen and producer/writer Barbara Hall, whose...

Redstone warms to all-Vivendi deal. (Viacom Empire).(Sumner Redstone of Viacom)
May 5, 2003... The dismantling of Vivendi Universal's U.S. entertainment assets could get a lot more interesting, as Vivendi CEO Rene Fourtou showed new flexibility in selling the properties and an important suitor--Viacom--suddenly indicated that it might be...

Disney gets slammed on the TV side: war, sports rights and unpaid bills take a toll on broadcast and cable. (Top of the Week).
May 5, 2003... Walt Disney Co. TV operations saw a surprising surge in expenses overwhelm strong sales growth during the quarter ended March 31, showing that the parent company's problems run deeper than recession-battered theme parks. On the sales side,...

NBC, Fox in 18-49 sweeps tie. (Breaking).(Brief Article)
May 5, 2003... LOS ANGELES -- One week into the May sweeps, NBC and Fox were tied in the 18-49 demographic, both at a 4.4 rating/l3 share, according to Nielsen. That looks at the first full week of the sweeps, through last Wednesday night. Numbers including...

Hearst-Argyle takes a tumble. (Breaking).(Brief Article)
May 5, 2003... NEW YORK -- Hearst-Argyle Television's operating income for the first quarter fell 19% to $37.5 million on a 4% drop in revenue to $149.3 million. "We are hopeful that the conclusion of the war bodes well for eventual economic recovery," said...

News Corp. files for DirecTV. (Breaking).(Brief Article)
May 5, 2003... WASHINGTON -- News Corp. Friday submitted its application for FCC permission to gain control of DirecTV and pledged to expand carriage of local broadcast signals in "as many as" 210 markets as soon as "economically and technologically...

Murdoch takes direct approach: News Corp. chief will pitch merits of DirecTV deal to judiciary committee. (Dbs).
May 5, 2003... After weeks of soothing Washington decision-makers in private, media baron Rupert Murdoch this week pitches them publicly to win support for his $6.6 billion bid to acquire controlling interest in DirecTV. Whether asking the U.S....

Teens bored with reality but not with Idol. (Top of the Week).(Brief Article)
May 5, 2003... Bolt Inc., a teen-targeted online community, says 13- to 24-year-olds are getting "sick" of reality TV, unless it is American Idol, and prefer sitcoms to reality. That's according to an opt-in online survey of 512 of its members (with a margin...

B&C Indices. (Top of the Week).(Broadcasting and Cable securities)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
May 5, 2003... WEEK OF APRIL 16-MAY 1 B&C INDICES WEEK YTD THE B&C 10 03.% 3.1% BROADCAST TV GROUPS 0.1% 6.5% CABLE TV MSO'S 0.6% 20.2% RADIO 0.2% 0.7% ...

Buena Vista Television. (The Clearinghouse).(My Wife and Kids)(Brief Article)
May 5, 2003... BUENA VISTA TELEVISION's My Wife and Kids is selling fast, with the show cleared in 25 markets, including 15 of the top 20, and more than 45% of the country for a fall 2005 launch, said JANICE MARINELLI, president of Buena Vista Television....

Telco Productions. (The Clearinghouse).(Missing)(Brief Article)
May 5, 2003... TELCO PRODUCTIONS has cleared its weekly half-hour series Missing in more than 75% of the country for a fall 2003 launch, according to Telco President Alex Paen. Telco recently added independent WCIU-TV Chicago; NBC affiliate WFLA-TV Tampa,...

Universal Domestic Television. (People Mover).
May 5, 2003... DAN WEISS is joining UNIVERSAL DOMESTIC TELEVISION in the newly created position of executive vice president of worldwide marketing for Universal's domestic and international divisions. He comes to Universal from CARSEYWERNER-MANDABACH, where...

NBC News. (People Mover).
May 5, 2003... NBC NEWS has nabbed boyish war correspondent RICHARD ENGEL, who had been freelancing for ABC NEWS during the war in Iraq. Engel, 29 and fluent in Arabic, among other languages, was the only TV reporter for an American news outlet who remained...

Topic A With Tina Brown. (Topic A to Z).
May 5, 2003... After all the hype, a very small crowd tuned in to the debut of TINA BROWN'S CNBC show April 30. Her Topic A With Tina Brown mustered a 0.1 rating, or 74,000 viewers, in its debut outing, according to Nielsen Media Research. That is half the...

Jack Myers Report. (Topic A to Z).
May 5, 2003... Jack Myers Report, in its latest analysis of the upcoming 2003-04 upfront marketplace, projects that NBC will again amass the biggest dollar total, with $2.8 billion, up 3.7% from its year-ago $2.7 billion. CBS will be second, JMR says, with...

Paramount. (Topic A to Z).
May 5, 2003... The top two weekly hours showed the largest percentage gains in syndication for the week ending April20. PARAMOUNT's ET Weekend was the No. 1 weekly hour for the 70th time in the past 71 weeks and scored its highest ratings since the beginning...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
May 5, 2003... BitCentral's content management system will replace Pathfire's IP system at the NBC News Channel, a service that delivers content to NBC affiliated stations. A Cutting Edge item on page 25 of the April 7 edition incorrectly reported the...

Too close to home. (Fast Track).(CSI: Miami nightclub fire episode)(Brief Article)
May 5, 2003... WPRI-TV Providence, R.I., won't show CSI: Miami, starring David Caruso (above), on May 5: The plot involves a deadly nightclub fire caused by pyrotechnics. On Feb. 20, a fire at the Station Nightclub, outside Providence, also started by...

Travel Channel chief checks out. (Executives).(Steve Cheskin)
May 5, 2003... As the Travel Channel continues on its road trip, the channel's top executive is getting off the bus. Executive Vice President and General Manager Steve Cheskin is leaving the Discovery Networks'-owned channel after 18 years with the company...

TiVo taps a new topper: NBC vet expected to look for exclusives. (Top of the Week).(Martin Yudkovitz)(Brief Article)
May 5, 2003... In a move clearly aimed at building alliances with other media companies, personal-video-recorder developer TiVo has named NBC vet Martin Yudkovitz president. Yudkovitz spent 19 years at NBC, most recently as president of NBC Digital. That...

Granite chips away at duop rules. (Media Ownership).(Stuart Beck)(Brief Article)
May 5, 2003... Granite Broadcasting President Stuart Beck (below) is pushing state broadcast associations to take a stronger stand than the National Association of Broadcasters has on relaxing TV duopoly restrictions. Last week, he pushed the Illinois...

KFTL's higher-priced digital switch. (DTV).(bought by Univision)(Brief Article)
May 5, 2003... Spanish-language broadcaster Univislon is buying KFTL(TV) Stockton, Calif., from Family Communications for $65 million, according to documents filed at the FCC. Univision would not comment on the price, but there is more to it than meets the...

NBC will have to Wing it without Sorkin. (Top of the Week).(Aaron Sorkin)
May 5, 2003... West Wing creator, writer and executive producer Aaron Sorkin is leaving the show, and executive producer Thomas Schlamme is going with him, the two said last week, taking the network by surprise. Executive producer John Wells, whose...

Wide bodies, wide pictures. (Sports).(high definition NBA TV)(Brief Article)
May 5, 2003... NBA TV's experiments with HD production of regular-season and playoff games have been enough of a hit to have the league moving toward going fulltime HD for its subscription service. Gregg Winik, NBA TV and NBA Entertainment executive VP of...

Studio name game. (Programming).(independent production companies' names)(Brief Article)
May 5, 2003... Mutant Enemy, Once Upon a Frog, Persons Unknown, Deedle-Dee, Where's Lunch, Tea Gal, and Java Boy. New names for bands? No, some of the production companies filling the networks' schedules. The names were part of an appendix to an FCC filing by...

Heeeeere's Johnny's house. (Real Estate).(Brief Article)
May 5, 2003... The owner of former Tonight Show host Johnny Carson's boyhood home in Norfolk, Neb., is auctioning the house on e-Bay, starting price $150,000 (at press time, there had been no nibbles). For those without that kind of change to plunk down on...

Executive shake-up. (Station Break).(Mike McDonald hired at WTVQ-TV)(Brief Article)
May 5, 2003... LEXINGTON, KY.--Media General ABC affiliate WTVQ-TV appointed Mike McDonald interim general manager last week after firing GM Bill Stanley, News Director David Foky and Executive Producer Audrey Port. Media General Vice President of Broadcast...

New news faces on 7 and 8. (Station Break).(WJLA-TV appointments)(Brief Article)
May 5, 2003... WASHINGTON--Allbritton's WJLA-TV, which is channel 7 in Washington, and the company's NewsChannel 8 cable channel went on a hiring spree last week. News Vice President Bill Lord, who oversees both operations, got a news director for the ABC...

Former WCBS-TV reporter dies. (Station Break).(Chris Borgen)(Brief Article)(Obituary)
May 5, 2003... NEW YORK--Chris Borgen, 76, long-time reporter at WCBS-TV and a former New York City Police detective, died from pulmonary fibrosis on April 25 at Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, N.J. In addition to his reporting for the station's 6 and 11...

E! Plans a busy summer: ordering 14 new shows, easy on the shock value. (Cable).
May 5, 2003... Anna Nicole Smith might have been too much reality for E! Entertainment Television viewers. The Anna Nicole Show, with its bizarre star who is hard to watch and even harder to turn off, grabbed headlines and big ratings last summer. But now, E!...

Oxygen: it lives! Now can it breathe? After some stumbles, the women's network is working to refine and redefine its image. (Programming).
May 5, 2003... As Oxygen continues its hunt for female viewers, the net is adding scripted shows that are both "powerful and playful," says programming chief Debby Beece. "We're out there trying to get ourselves noticed." Oxygen certainly gained notice,...

Fox keeps killing, even after the war. (Programming).
May 5, 2003... Fox News Channel continued its winning ways in April, its war coverage attracting droves of viewers and helping silence critics who said the net couldn't handle hard news. Now, with breaking news giving way to post-war analysis and...

'70s lives on in Syndie. (Off-Net Sitcom).(That '70s Show)(Illustration)
May 5, 2003... Carsey-Werner-Mandabach's That '70s Show has proved a strong entry in syndication,. skewing young and entering the rankings near the top of the list. It's the fourth-highest-rated off-net sitcom on the air in adults 18-34 season-to-date,...

King World has a programming exec. (Syndie Insider).(Mike Stornello)(Brief Article)
May 5, 2003... King World has hired its first development executive after letting its entire programming department go at the end of last year. Mike Stornello, who has been with the company since 1990 and was most recently senior vice president of sales, will...

Hey, John Walsh, look out for Maury. (Syndie Insider).
May 5, 2003... Universal's Maury did John Walsh proud on Friday, April 25 when the daytime talk show helped catch a criminal who had been on the lam for two years. On April 18, Maury did a show about brutal attacks. The program featured Jamieka Cooper of...

Pie Town divvies up pieces. (Syndie Insider).(amongst executives)(Brief Article)
May 5, 2003... Production company Pie Town Productions is giving a broader corporate role to three of its executives, all of whom work on Paramount's syndicated strip Life Moments,. Eric Black, formerly post-production producer on Life Moments, returns to Pie...

Nielsen Ratings. (Programming).(Illustration)
May 5, 2003... NIELSEN RATINGS April 21-27 abc MONDAY Week 31 5.1/8 8:00 59. John Stossal Special 5.4/9 8:30 9:00 62. The Practice 5.3/8 9:30 10:00 ...

Lifetime picks two for prime. (Programming).(1-800 Missing and Wild Card)(Brief Article)
May 5, 2003... It's never easy to pick favorites among your progeny, but Lifetime has finally elected two of its four drama pilots to take to series. Dramas 1-800-Missing and Wild Card will debut in early August, each with an initial run of 13 episodes. ...

One station, many rivals. (Market/Jonesboro/Focus).(KAIT-TV)
May 5, 2003... At first glance, ABC affiliate KAIT-TV might seem to have the Jonesboro, Ark., market all locked up: It's the only TV station in town. But first impressions can be deceiving, says Clyde Anderson, general manager of the Liberty Corp.-owned...

How's local TV biz looking? Dunno, say some big group owners. (TV Buyer).
May 5, 2003... Most broadcasters have reported financial results for the first three months of 2003 (or will do so shortly), and it's becoming clear just how unclear the advertising outlook is for the station business for the next couple of quarters. ...

Sound of silence for radio in April. (EBB & Flow).(advertising sales down)(Brief Article)
May 5, 2003... Radio's rough patch continues, but some relief may arrive by June. Bear Stearns estimates that radio ad sales were down 3% last month vs. April 2002, and the firm projects that May will be down about the same amount. But look for resurgence in...

With two pitches, buyers see double at TNT/TBS upfront. (Cable).
May 5, 2003... Turner Broadcasting entertainment executives are emphasizing two messages in this year's upfront season--one painstakingly number-crunchy, one simple and direct. The company's upfront presentation in New York last Tuesday distinguished...

CAB narrows CEO search to three. (Hot Spots).(Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau)(Brief Article)
May 5, 2003... The CABLETELEVISON ADVERTISING BUREAU has trimmed its search for a new CEO to the three contenders, all from the ad-agency side (as outgoing CEO JOSEPH OSTROW was when named to the post in 1994). According to sources close to the situation, the...

Sponsorships. (Hot Spots).(includes brief articles)(Brief Article)
May 5, 2003... USA NETWORK has signed about a half dozen major sponsors for Eco-Challenge Fiji a five-hour competition airing in one-hour installments May 5-7 and a two-hour finale May 8. CHEVY TRUCKS will be the presenting sponsor; KODAK MAX, SMIRNOFF ICE...

Scarborough offers expanded database. (Hot Spots).(Scarborough Research)(Brief Article)
May 5, 2003... SCARBOROUGH RESEARCH has effectively doubled the size of its database by combining data from two continuous 12-month studies into a single 24-month database. STUDY MAKER, an addition to Scarborough's PRIME NEXT data-analysis software, allows...

Myers sees broadcast, cable upfront gains. (Hot Spots).(Jack Myers Reports)(Brief Article)
May 5, 2003... Jack Myers Reports last week released its projections for the 2003-04 upfront market--upwardly revised to $8.75 billion for the broadcast networks and $5.35 billion for cable. The broadcast prime time estimate represents a 6.7% increase...

Next J&J 'Spotlight' movie set for fall. (Hot Spots).(Johnson & Johnson's 'Spotlight Presentation")(Brief Article)
May 5, 2003... JOHNSON & JOHNSON'S next "Spotlight Presentation" movie on TNT will be Wilder Days, due in October with PETER FALK as the star. As reported two weeks ago, the movie will be about a grandfather's recalling for his grandson his days on a circus...

Clear Channel victory: challenge to Ohio acquisition dismissed; Georgia buy likely. (Washington).
May 5, 2003... Clear Channel appears to be beating back the host of single-station and small-group owners who have asked the FCC to stop what they say are strong-arm and illegal tactics by the radio giant, which has muscled its way to domination in many...

More noncoms than expected miss DTV deadline. (Capital Watch).(public television stations)(Brief Article)
May 5, 2003... More than half the county's 357 public TV stations missed last week's May 1 deadline for launching digital service, a substantially higher percentage than the one-quarter to one-third predicted six months ago. Nevertheless, a greater share of...

MPAA will fight Grokster decision. (Capital Watch).(Motion Picture Association of America; file sharing software case)(Brief Article)
May 5, 2003... Motion Picture Association of America President Jack Valenti says the association will appeal a California district court decision that two Internet companies were not liable for producing the software that allows copying and streaming of music...

President signs AMBER bill. (Legislation).(AMBER Alert system for missing children)(Brief Article)
May 5, 2003... With NAB President Eddie Fritts looking on, President George W. Bush, last Wednesday signed legislation establishing a national AMBER Alert system. "AMBER Alerts are becoming an increasingly important tool in rescuing kidnapped children," Bush...

Clarification.(Correction Notice)
May 5, 2003... The story titled "NAB Wants DTV Leeway" (4/28, p.20) mischaracterized the Advanced Television Systems Committee's position on cellular-phone-style distributed DTV. ATSC believes that no commission approval is needed to implement its candidate...

Changing hands. (Business).(radio and television stations)(Illustration)
May 5, 2003... Combos KABI-AM and KSAJ-FM 'Abilene, KBLS-FM North Fort Riley, KSAL-AM, KYEZ-FM and KZBZ-FM Salina, Kan. PRICE: $9.2 million BUYER: MCC Radio LLC (Michael D. Osterhout, president); owns 27 other stations, none, in this market ...

NBA commits to games in high-definition: this season's playoff coverage lays the groundwork for NBA HDTV channel. (Sports).(National Basketball Association)
May 5, 2003... With ABC Sports set to broadcast the NBA Finals in HDTV in June, there's little doubt that broadcasters are serious about HD coverage of the basketball league. But today the NBA itself is showing how serious it is about HD: Its 24-hour TV...

Yankee looks at HD. (Cutting Edge).(Yankee Group)(Brief Article)
May 5, 2003... A new study on HDTV released by the Yankee Group predicts that 46.8 million homes will have HDTV monitors by the end of 2007. The study, released as part of "The Connected Consumer Summit: Setting Strategy, Identifying Allies and Eliminating...

Snall granted Liberty. (Cutting Edge).(Snell & Wilcox equipment purchased)(Brief Article)
May 5, 2003... Station group Liberty has purchased a range of Snell & Wilcox IQ Modular intelligent infrastructure products and HD5200 upconverters for its 15 TV stations. The equipment, currently operating at 11 of the 15, will be used for the groups DTV...

GoldPocket a StoryTeller. (Cutting Edge).(GoldPocket Interactive acquisition)(Brief Article)
May 5, 2003... GoldPocket Interactive acquired WatchPoint Media, creator of StoryTeller iTV authoring software, last week. The acquisition is expected to help GoldPocket enter the European TV market. The company will offer a powerful new system combining...

MGM taps CinemaNow. (Cutting Edge).(MGM Home Entertainment Group)(Brief Article)
May 5, 2003... "After an initial trial with CinemaNow, we were able to gain positive and useful insight that helped prepare us for future distribution of our films via the Internet," said David Bishop, president and COO, MGM Home Entertainment Group. An...

Rockwell gets Ikegami. (Cutting Edge).(Rockwell Scientific)(Brief Article)
May 5, 2003... Rockwell Scientific's ProCamHD 3530 HDTV CMOS-based image sensor is being featured in Ikegami's recently introduced HDL-40 full-digital box-type HD camera. The two companies have been collaborating for several months to test and certify the...

Scripps takes on Broadway: traffic and billing system from CAM Systems will be installed this year. (Focus: Traffic & Sales).(Scripps Networks)
May 5, 2003... With four separate cable-network properties (HGTV, the Food Network, Fine Living and Do It Yourself), Scripps Networks often finds itself battling with itself when it comes to selling advertising. Later this year, the company will deploy the...

More languages more viewers.(from TranslateTV)(Brief Article)
May 5, 2003... TV stations that want to reach audiences that don't understand English have a new alternative to the often costly efforts needed to offer translations via secondary audio channel (SAP): a PC-based system from TranslateTV. The system allows...

Kid from Queens counts on NYC energy: Hecht says he can use it in relaunch of TNN as Spike TV. (The Fifth Estater).(Albie Hecht)
May 5, 2003... Albie Hecht credits the streets of Queens for the creative juices that have fueled his career as studio musician, music-video pioneer, kids-TV producer and cable-network executive. "It was just so great to grow up in an environment like...

Broadcast TV. (Fates & Fortunes).(personnel appointments)(Brief Article)
May 5, 2003... RICHARD LAHTI, director, engineering and operations, Telemundo, Los Angeles, named director, engineering, Telemundo and KNBC(TV) Los Angeles. FRANK WILLSON, director, marketing and design, WBNS-TV Columbus, Ohio, expands his duties to...

Cable TV. (Fates & Fortunes).(Bill Shaw appointment at Bright House Networks)(Brief Article)
May 5, 2003... BILL SHAW, VP, field operations, AT&T Broadband, Miramar, Fla., joins Bright House Networks' Birmingham, Ala., division, as president.

Programming. (Fates Fortunes).(personnel appointments)
May 5, 2003... STEVE SMITH, COO, Intertainer Asia, Singapore, named COO and executive VP, Encore International, Denver/Hong Kong. BRUCE R. THOMAS, VP, integrated marketing and business development, A&E Television Networks, New York, joins Yankees...

Journalism. (Fates & Fortunes).(personnel appointments)(Brief Article)
May 5, 2003... JOE ALLBAUGH, director, Federal Emergency Managment Agency, Washington, joins Fox News Channel, Washington, as contributor. STAN STOVALL, anchor, WMAR-TV Baltimore, named weekend morning co-anchor, WBAL-TV Baltimore. TOM CLYDE, sports...

Radio. (Fates & Fortunes).(Bev Smith appointment at WWRL-AM)(Brief Article)
May 5, 2003... BEV SMITH, radio talk-show host, Black Entertainment Television, Washington, joins WWRL(AM) New York, as host, The Bev Smith Show.

Technology. (Fates & Fortunes).(Jim Kuhns appointment at Optinel Systems)(Brief Article)
May 5, 2003... JIM KUHNS, director, field support, Terayon Communications Systems, Clinton Township, Mich., joins Optinel Systems, Elkridge, Md., as director, network engineering.

Advertising/Marketing/PR. (Fates & Fortunes).(Sam Millstone, Kevin Cox appointments)(Brief Article)
May 5, 2003... SAM MILLSTONE, senior VP, lodging finance and business development, Marriott International, New York, joins Arbitron, New York, as VP, finance. KEVIN COX, VP/director, strategy and integrated marketing, Doremus & Co., San Francisco, named...

Obituary.
May 5, 2003... COL. BARNEY OLDFIELD (USAF, retired), journalist, publicist, philanthropist, writer and founder of the Radio-Television News Directors Foundation, died April 26 in Los Angeles. He was 93. As chairman of the RTNDA finance and fundraising...

June 2 is none too soon. (Editorials).
May 5, 2003... There is a tide in the affairs of the FCC that, taken at the flood, leads on to victory, or at least gets one of many important proceedings out the door. It is time for the FCC to proceed with revising its broadcast-ownership rules. OK,...

Make DTV Albatross into an asset. (Airtime: Guest Commentary).(Column)
May 5, 2003... For broadcasters, DTV remains a technology in search of a business plan. Meanwhile, ESPN and other cable networks are hijacking HDTV. Broadcasters have rightfully pushed for DTV tuner mandates and digital must-carry--unfortunately, to the...

Fin-Syn, Redux. (Open Mike).
May 5, 2003... Editor: Anyone who has worked with Bob Corn-Revere over the years knows of his tenacious defense of the First Amendment. However, in his Counterpoint commentary (B&C, 4/28, p.12), Bob has missed the important, pro-First Amendment benefits of...

Let's be Real funny: may Charles Douglass and his laugh track rest in peace.
May 5, 2003... Charles Douglass, the man who invented the laugh track, died last month. I never met him, but a long time ago I interviewed Carroll Pratt, the man who helped him when Hollywood needed more fake laughs than Douglass's company could crank out....

More Oprah crowds out successors. (Unstoppable).
May 12, 2003... Oprah Winfrey plans to stay on the nation's TV screens through 2007-08--and a deal with the ABC owned stations is nearly signed, sources say--but not everyone is happy to hear that daytime-TV staple Oprah Winfrey Show will be around for five...

That pink slip is showing--again.
May 12, 2003... When you get the ax, colleagues start treating you like a SARS carrier. In the days after Tola Murphy-Baran found out she was being restructured out of her job running part of the NFL's media operations, she felt shunned. Colleagues would avert...

Bide time, then buy: Broadcasters can't wait for the FCC to loosen media-ownership rules.
May 12, 2003... For three of the top five TV station group owners--Viacom, Fox and Tribune-the likelihood of looser ownership rules is not just critical for expansion plans. Liberalized rules are also necessary for those three groups to keep the stations they...

Comcast: integrating AT&T is going well; MSO stemmed subscriber loss, saw cable system revenues rise. (Top of the Week).
May 12, 2003... Comcast's turnaround of AT&T Broadband's ailing cable systems is going much better than expected, as evidenced by unexpectedly strong results for the first quarter. When they took over AT&T's 11 million-subscriber cable systems, Comcast...

IFC offers 'uncensored' movies. (Breaking).(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... NEW YORK -- IFC is bringing previously censored movies, documentaries and music to the U.S. for the first time as part of a new subscription video-on-demand offering. Each month, Uncensored on Demand will offer a new slate of programming on...

Insight to sell for MediaCom in Ill. (Breaking).(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... NEW YORK -- Insight Communications is taking oversight of MediaCom's local ad sales in Illinois. The partnership covers about 80,000 subscribers in the state, concentrated in the Peoria, Champaign/Springfield, and Quincy DMAs. MediaCam's...

Court upholds Public TV's ad, rights. (Breaking).(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... WASHINGTON -- Public-TV stations may offer subscription services, including advertising-supported ones, on a portion of their digital spectrum, federal judges ruled Friday. "Digital technology offers enough capacity that public stations can...

Terrestrial pay-TV auction postponed. (Breaking).(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... WASHINGTON -- The FCC last Friday called off a June 25 auction of spectrum slated for a terrestrially based competitor to DBS. The commission said it will reschedule the sale after it decides on proposals to accelerate buildout requirements for...

News Corp. takes political heat: hill critics blast DBS deal but are unlikely to derail it. (Satellite).
May 12, 2003... Rupert Murdoch's liberal critics couldn't conceal a sense of desperation last week as they grilled the media baron on his proposed acquisition of control of satellite-TV leader DirecTV. Recognizing that his pledge not to discriminate...