BRIEFS

Leon Harris has accepted a job with WJLA-TV, an ABC affiliate in Washington, D.C. A 20-year CNN veteran, Harris will co-anchor 5, 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts starting Oct. 12. He currently co-anchors CNN Live Today. In addition to his coverage of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Los Angeles riots and 2000 presidential election, Harris has anchored American Stories, CNN Presents, Early Edition, Prime News and The World Today. Lifetime this week will receive the Governors Award from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for its Stop Violence Against Women campaign. At last week’s 2003 News and Documentary Emmy Awards, MSNBC and Discovery Channel each won three awards, while HBO also won for Telling Nicholas, part of its America Undercover series; CNN won for CNN Presents: The Enemy Within; and Sundance Channel and TLC each received one Emmy award for their documentaries. National Cable Communications added two channels to the list of local news channels it represents for national spot ad sales: LNC5 of Norfolk, Va., and Las Vegas One. The spot cable rep firm now features 19 news channels reaching more than 13 million U.S. households. Its new additions are both located in markets served by Cox Communications: LNC5 reaches 90% of Norfolk’s cable households, Las Vegas One reaches 92% of its market. The Golf Channel launched on Comcast’s standard cable lineup throughout the MSO’s Washington market. Now in more than 59 million homes, the network also announced Mutual of Omaha as the first title sponsor for its junior golf program starting in 2004. Golf Channel’s Drive, Chip & Putt Jr. Challenge is now in its fifth year of helping boys and girls 7 to 12 compete in golf challenges. Next year the tour expands to include 13- and 14-year-olds, involving more than 25,000 youths. Food Network surpassed the 80 million-subscriber mark and is now in 80.9 million homes thanks to recent launches. Food added more than 107 cable systems in over 100 cities this summer, and has added over 4 million new subs this year. Hallmark Channel launched as a full-time basic service to 350,000 homes serviced by Time Warner Cable’s Oceanic system in Hawaii, resulting in over 1.4 million new subs this year. Bloomberg Television added its millionth digital sub in metro New York.