Cablers fight for shelf life; clone webs tier into digital future.(cable TV networks create digital extensions)

The Disney Channel is doing it. So is Discovery. E! Entertainment is on board, and Nickelodeon has just weighed in.

What these networks have in common is that they're all giving birth to digital clones of themselves, and the National Cable Show in Atlanta from May 3 to 6 will be something of a coming-out party for Disney Channel's Toon Disney, Discovery's Wings, E!'s Style Channel and Nickelodeon's Noggin.

"We're all trying to figure out what kind of programming to put on the new digital platforms," says Phil Laxar, senior VP of programming for Jones Intercable, a top-10 MSO (multisystem cable operator).

"The beauty of these new channels is that they're coming from networks with known brands, which should help our subscribers to take the leap into buying (the separately priced digital tiers)," he says.

The conventional wisdom is that pay-per-view and multiplexed channels of HBO, Showtime and Starz will be the revenue …