LATE BREAKING NEWS
Kim Kelly is stepping down as president and COO of Insight Communications, effective Nov. 30. The 13-year veteran of the company has agreed to stay on as a consultant for up to two years after her departure. “I decided that it was time for me to pursue other opportunities,” Kelly said in a statement. Insight vice chairman and CEO Michael Willner commented: “Kim has been a major force contributing to the growth and success of Insight. While she will be missed, she consistently had in place a terrific team of senior operating executives both in the systems and at the home office.” A press release said the ninth-ranked MSO has begun its search for a new COO. One in five TV households subscribe to either DirecTV or EchoStar’s Dish Network, according to the Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association. DBS penetration reached 20.36 million homes as of June 30. DirecTV added 181,000 customers (averaging 1.5% monthly churn) for a total 11.56 million customers, and Dish, with an average 1.67% churn rate, added 270,000 customers for a total 8.8 million. According to SBCA, a McKinsey & Co. report estimated monthly digital cable churn at 4% to 5%. A promo for TBS’s college football games this fall is putting a new spin on out-of-home marketing. TBS is setting up flat-screen TVs in men’s restrooms in bars in 12 cities next month; the promo will start running when a patron approaches a urinal. TBS is carrying 11 games this season: six Pac-10 games live and five Big 12 games, alternating the first pick (following ABC’s selection) from one of the conferences each week with Fox Sports Net. A federal judge on Friday afternoon denied Fox News Channel’s request for an injunction blocking liberal political satirist Al Franken’s new book; FNC argued that Franken’s book violates its trademarked slogan “fair and balanced.” Franken cohosts CNN’s Crossfire this week with regular cohost Tucker Carlson…. Shaw Communications will carry select NFL games in HDTV including Monday Night Football and Fox Sunday games as part of its new three-year deal to carry NFL Sunday Ticket on digital cable in Western Canada and northern Ontario…. Comcast Corp. completed the interconnection of cable advertising operations within 50 of its top markets…. SureWest Communications got the green light last week from Sacramento County authorities to launch its bundled service in Elk Grove, Calif., next year…. In the Aug. 11 issue, the figure for a cable system’s average gross revenue of $323,640 for adult film buys from The Erotic Networks should have been per month, not per year…. The Adelphia Awards Program, discontinued last year, is not being reinstated, as noted in the same issue; the company is thanking former awards members with free service options.
