Offline to bow 4 digital webs
Co. offers equity stakes to cable operators
Rick Blume, president and chief operating officer of Offline Holdings, says he's offering equity stakes in Chronicle and the three other networks to cable operators in exchange for digital carriage on their systems. The other networks -- all reality-based -- are Offbeat (hard-edged docus and music-oriented programming), Kidstuff (educational shows for kids 5 to 12) and Passport (e-commerce for airfares, hotels and foreign tours).
Offline includes a factory in Manhattan that will deliver the infrastructure of the networks, including graphics, editing, music and sound effects, Blume says. Keeping everything inhouse will allow Offline to get Chronicle on the air for the low figure of about $100,000, not counting the cost of the programming.
Blume has appointed Henri Kessler senior VP of programming, Kessler produced "Slam" and other documentaries.
