Boom time for cablers
Mergers, investments heighten interest in NCTA
That’s the word from Robert Sachs, president and CEO of the NCTA, who says that all of the signs are pointing to an upbeat convention, which began Sunday.
“Revolution” is not too strong a word to describe the recent investment of hundreds of billions of dollars in cable by such giants as America Online, which has signed an agreement to buy Time Warner Cable; AT&T, which has already bought Tele-Communications Inc. and is seeking regulatory approval to purchase MediaOne; and Paul Allen’s Vulcan Ventures, whose buying spree has in three years transformed Charter Communications from the 12th- to the third-largest cable operator in the U.S., behind AT&T and Time Warner.
Since the passage of the 1996 Cable Act, which threw out most of the regulations shackling the industry, Sachs says cable operators have shelled out an impressive $35 billion to “upgrade and rebuild” their operations so that subscribers can get access to video-on-demand movies and utilize cable telephony, interactive services such as e-commerce and high-speed modems. Cable operators are counting on revenue bonanzas from these technologies over the next decade.
Cable modems, which allow subscribers to surf the Internet at warp speed, “are flying off the shelves” at electronic stores, Sachs said. The 1.6 million households with cable modems will swell to 3.6 million by the end of 2000, he added, citing Paul Kagan’s estimates.
More than 20,000 people have registered to attend this year’s cable show, and the NCTA anticipates that the final count should rise to a record high of 30,000 -- about 500 more than last year.
Although few cable nets are planning to announce any sweeping changes this week, some news has already hit the floor:
- Lifetime Entertainment Services has signed a carriage agreement with Charter Communications for the Lifetime Movie Network. Deal initially calls for LMN to be distributed over more than 30 Charter systems. Offered to Charter customers as part of Charter Digital Cable, LMN is available to almost 1 million Charter digital cable homes.
- TV Guide will team with VH1 as part of an overall expansion and enhancement of music-related content into TV Guide magazine, TV Guide Channel and TV Guide Online, beginning today. As part of the deal, TV Guide Channel and VH1 will share select content including interviews with artists, event footage, and co-hosting opportunities with Rebecca Rankin of “The Daily One” and Katie Wagner of “Music News.”
- MTV Nets will announce today that it is launching a new ad campaign for digital network MTV2. The campaign will focus on the net’s interactive possibilities.
- The Independent Film Channel has ordered a new season of its signature series, “Split Screen,” created and hosted by indie film guru John Pierson. New season will kick off Sept. 4.
- AMC Networks has signed a licensing agreement with Twentieth Television for more than 40 films that will air on American Movie Classics and Romance Classics from March 2000 through 2003.
Deal includes titles such as “An Affair to Remember,” “Harry and Tonto,” “Class Action” and “Soup to Nuts,” featuring the film debut of the Three Stooges. Films slated for Romance Classics include “The Crucible,” “Nine to Five,” Eyewitness,” “An Unmarried Woman” and “The Rose.”
