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| November 5, 2009 |
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Scripps inks deal for control of Travel Channel
Scripps Networks -- which already controls cable networks such as Food Network, DIY Network and HGTV -- has announced a deal to become the majority owner of the Travel Channel. As part of its deal with Cox Communications, Scripps will offer up a cash payment of $181 million to acquire 65% of the Travel Channel, which is valued at $975 million. Bloomberg (11/5) Reuters (11/5)
Q3 data additions make Comcast the No. 1 broadband provider
Comcast added 361,000 data subscribers in the third quarter for a total of 15.7 million broadband customers, which makes the company, in addition to being the country's top cable firm, the largest Internet provider as well. Comcast also announced quarterly revenue of $8.8 billion, a 3% improvement, and earnings of $944 million, a 22% increase. CEDMagazine.com (11/4) The Wall Street Journal (11/5)
Other News
FX developing Western set in post-Civil War Missouri
FX is developing a period Western drama titled "Reconstruction." The series, which is set in post-Civil War Missouri, is the second Western-genre offering from FX, which also is supporting a contemporary Western titled "Lawman." The Hollywood Reporter (11/4)
HBO acquires rights to book on Iranian hostage crisis
HBO has acquired the rights to "Black Hawk Down" author Mark Bowden's book about the 1979 Iran hostage crisis. News of the HBO pickup of Bowden's "Guests of the Ayatollah" came 30 years to the day after Iranian militants took 66 U.S. hostages, most of whom were not set free until the start of 1981. Variety (subscription required) (11/4)
Other News
Comcast announces more day-and-date VOD films
Comcast announced that it soon would offer its video-on-demand subscribers 10 major Hollywood movies on the same day that they become available as DVD releases. The so-called day-and-date strategy has turned out to be an important initiative for the company, which has struck such deals this year with top studios, including Warner Bros./New Line, Fox and Universal. CEDMagazine.com (11/4)
Bewkes: TV Everywhere tests going better "than I expected"
In a staff memo, Time Warner Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bewkes said the company's TV Everywhere tests were advancing "even faster than I expected." In fact, Bewkes is so enamored with the distribution model that he wants to export it to the publishing side of Time Warner's business. The Hollywood Reporter (11/4)
New Kayak.com campaign seeks to use cable to raise awareness
Search engine Kayak.com this week is launching its first national ad campaign as it looks to raise its profile among travelers. The push, from ad agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, includes a heavy rotation of spots on cable networks such as CNN, Comedy Central, ESPN, TNT, USA, AMC, Bravo and MSNBC. MediaPost Communications/Marketing Daily (11/4)
Bresnan signs on for ad-management system from OpenTV
Bresnan Communications has signed on to become a client of OpenTV's EclipsePlus system for managing advertising campaigns. Bresnan Chief Executive Officer Ben Bennett said the system would be used in about 200,000 subscriber homes. CEDMagazine.com (11/4)
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Report: Cablevision eyes EBIF launch with Zodiac user agent
Zodiac Interactive, an ITV software developer, soon will begin providing Cablevision with an Enhanced TV Binary Interchange Format user agent for its Cisco/Scientific Atlanta set-top boxes, according to this report. Cablevision, which declined comment on the Zodiac development, reportedly is looking to offer advanced EBIF services in the first half of next year. Multichannel News (11/4)
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Erspamer signs on as chief creative officer for OWN
The Oprah Winfrey Network, the cable channel being developed by the talk show host and Discovery Communications, has named Lisa Erspamer chief creative officer. Erspamer, a 15-year veteran of Winfrey's Harpo Prods., takes on her new duties in January and will report to Christina Norman, the network's chief executive officer. The Hollywood Reporter (11/4)
Other News
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