Video Age International articles from March 1997

Video Age International archives from March 1997

L.A. Screenings get an early start; California bazaar expected to set records, ruffle feathers. (Los Angeles Screenings)
March 1, 1997... This year the Los Angeles Screenings come rather early: as it stands, the Screenings are set for May 21-June 5, even though companies such as Sweden's SVT have hotel reservations for as late as June 7. There are some problems, especially for the...

Cable changing its game plan; vertical integration wreaking havoc with cable nets. (Tele-Communications Inc. discards several networks)
March 1, 1997... John Malone's now memorable speech at the Western Cable Show last December in which he criticized the current license fee model sent shock-waves through the industry. Malone said that if cable networks can't prove their worth, c'est la vie....

Satellite fight in Brazil. (direct broadcast satellite television)
March 1, 1997... It's a familiar story: satellite companies fighting each other for subscribers, cable companies fighting back. It is happening in Brazil too. Last fall, two DTH satellite services were launched in Brazil. August 1996 saw the Brazilian birth of...

Brits seek digital licenses. (British Digital Broadcasting applies for digital terrestrial TV licenses)
March 1, 1997... British Sky Broadcasting, Carlton Communications and Granada Group have formed a new company, British Digital Broadcasting, which has applied to the U.K.'s Independent Trade Commission (ITC) for three digital terrestrial TV licenses. In...

CNN opens Havana News Bureau. (Cable News Network)
March 1, 1997... The Clinton administration recently allowed American news organizations to open bureaus in Cuba. Thus far, Fidel Castro has granted only CNN the permission to do so. This move marks the first time in nearly three decades that a foreign news corps...

Rough road for Russia's RTR.
March 1, 1997... It's no secret that for the past couple of years Russia has been known more for its criminally corrupt businesses than for its vodka. And as for Russian media outlets, volatility remains their key characteristic. Just recently, RTR boss Eduard...

Digital dilemma in Spain. (Spanish government imposes restrictions on Canal Satellite)
March 1, 1997... January 31 was a big day for Canal Satelite, Spain's first digital TV service. It was the day that the service - owned by publishing group Prisa, Canal+ and TV network Antena 3 - began broadcasting. It was also the day that the Spanish government...

Blacklist revisited: a banned scriptwriter remembers the McCarthy era. (review of book entitled ' Inside Out: A Memoir of the Blacklist' by Walter Bernstein)
March 1, 1997... Let's face it: most entertainment industry biographies have a certain element of shallowness to them. Glittery they may be, and dotted with celebrity cameos, but they are usually not very weighty. One exception to this rule is Inside Out: A...

The History Channel: making the past come alive. (A&E Television Network's The History Channel International)
March 1, 1997... The cable network continues to increase its international reach A&E Television Networks are seen in more than 80 million homes in the U.S. and Canada. The enterprises of A&E Television Networks include the A&E Network, The History Channel, The...

TV mart reconfirms its motto; market is for serious business. (Monte Carlo TV Market)
March 1, 1997... The recently concluded Monte Carlo TV Market left at least one distributor pleasantly surprised: he recalled a buyer asking him, "What else do you have?" The distributor explained, "That question never comes up at other markets, busy as they are...

MIP-TV through the looking glass. (French television broadcasting industry)
March 1, 1997... One may ask, where is MIP-TV headed as a market? Is it still useful for sales? To be sure, the industry's abundance of markets is astounding, if not downright overwhelming. Some feel that NATPE now overshadows "the mother of all markets," since...

The Russians landed on Santa Monica's shores. (17th Annual American Film Market in Santa Monica, CA)
March 1, 1997... As a money-making machine for its management team, the AFM was surely a success. As a film market for its members... well, it was less so. The 17th annual American Film Market, held in Santa Monica, California, from February 27 to March 7,...

Cartoons on the Bay too: twice is nice. (SACIS President Giompaolo Sodano hosts event for international children's animation)
March 1, 1997... Last year, Giampaolo Sodano, president of SACIS (RAI's program sales arm), spearheaded the first Cartoons on the Bay. The event took place on Italy's picturesque Amalfi (Neapolitan) coast and honored the best in international children's...

Who pays the piper? (payment of programming and copyrights in United Kingdom and Europe)
March 1, 1997... The issue of payment for programming and copyrights is very difficult for the U.K. and mainland Europe. Mention that dark and menacing word "copyright" to a mainland European cable operator and one will see a whitening of the skin, a slight...

Close to home: regional markets on the rise. (international film and television industry in South Africa)
March 1, 1997... Like mushrooms in far-flung fields, regional markets have been cropping up all over the world in the last two or three years. While the industry remains dominated by large markets like MIP-TV and MIP-COM, regional markets have advantages that...