News Briefing for Tuesday, May 27, 2008 A certain pay-TV distributor has denied rumors that it is in negotations for a full-scale revival in New York of The Uncle Floyd Show. Happy Tuesday.

New York City’s cable operators, Time Warner Cable and Cablevision, and their new competitor coming to town, Verizon’s FiOS TV, are unlikely to engage in a price war, the New York Times says. Verizon will probably offer introductory deals to consumers that undercut cable’s prices, but eventually the price differences will be minimal. The city’s Franchise and Concession Review Committee is expected to approve Verizon’s application to sell TV service today; Verizon is not expected to be able to offer FiOS to all New York City residents until mid-2014. It’s going to be a slow build-out. [New York Times]
 
Comcast has put up for sale 46 cable systems in “outlying areas” in states including Maine, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Mexico, Virginia, Georgia, West Virginia and California, according to an AP story picked up by news outlets. The systems for sale serve a total of 400,000 to 500,000 subscribers. [6abc.com]

Cox added six channels to its hi-def lineup in Oklahoma. [NewsOK.com]

The Tribune Co. began its relaunch of Superstation WGN on Memorial Day. [Chicago Tribune]

A Nielsen Media Research report released today says 25 million homes have at least one television that will lose its signal after the digital conversion, and 10 million of those homes either have no clue that the change is coming or have made no plans for the change. [New York Times]

Director, producer and actor Sydney Pollack passed away yesterday from cancer, aged 73. Working nearly up until his death, Pollack exec produced HBO’s highly regarded political film Recount, which premiered Sunday. He also had a memorable turn as an incarcerated doctor-turned-orderly in the final season of The Sopranos. Ironically, Pollack’s character in The Sopranos provided advice on cancer to an ailing John Sacramoni (aka Johnny Sack), played by Vince Curatola.  [Variety

Late Story
Outdoor Channel signed a distribution agreement with Caribbean Cable Cooperative Limited. The agreement makes Outdoor available to 40 member companies in 23 countries across the Caribbean.  The cooperative will offer Outdoor Channel SD, HD and VOD to its member companies that represent 50 cable systems and more than 600,000 subs. Monday’s Top Stories

Who are cable’s most influential minority executives? Help CableFAX: The Magazine decide by nominating the executives you think should be included in our annual list of the Most Influential Minorities in Cable. We will rank the top 50 minorities, and run a list of the second 50, in the September issue of CableFAX: The Magazine. Nominations are open to all cable operators, programmers, vendors and trade associations. Click here for nomination form. Deadline for nominations: July 3.

Visit Cable360 to respond to the current poll question: Which political party are cable operators, satellite distributors and telcos more likely to contribute to in the general election for the presidency?

Got a tip? Contact [email protected] and [email protected].

The Daily

Subscribe

VP Harris Introduces Federal Policy Around AI Tools

In a continuation of what is a major week of conversation on Capitol Hill around artificial intelligence, VP Kamala Harris unveiled the first government-wide policy regarding the use of AI tools by federal

Read the Full Issue
The Skinny is delivered on Tuesday and focuses on the cable profession. You'll stay in the know on the headlines, topics and special issues you value most. Sign Up

Calendar

Apr 25
2024 Cablefax 100 Awards Magazine Release: April 25, 2024
Jun 13
2024 American Broadband Congress Conference Registration is Open!
Jun 26
2024 FAXIES Awards Nominations Are Open!
Full Calendar

Jobs

Seeking an INDUSTRY JOB?
VIEW JOBS

Hiring? In conjunction with our sister brand, Cynopsis, we are offering hiring managers a deep pool of media-savvy, skilled candidates at a range of experience levels and sectors, The result will be an even more robust industry job board, to help both employers and job seekers.

Contact Rob Hudgins, [email protected], for more information.