Word: network
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...summer of 1993 Jamie Kellner was sitting around his house in Santa Barbara, Calif., bored out of his mind. For eight years he had served as president of the Fox network, which he had helped create. Exhausted, he had retired. "But after six months," he says, "I was very unhappy." He noticed that some of his former colleagues were leaving Fox, and he knew that Fox was trying to broaden its audience, no longer concentrating on young people. So Kellner had a realization: he ought to get his old team back together and start Fox all over again...
...shopped his idea to various parties and was soon in business with Warner Bros. (which, like TIME, is owned by Time Warner). Recent changes in FCC regulations had allowed networks to own the programs they broadcast, and studios like Warner Bros., which supply shows to the networks, were worried that the broadcasters would begin to favor shows produced internally. By starting a network, Warner Bros. could guarantee an outlet for its programming. Time Warner shares ownership of the network with Tribune Broadcasting, Kellner and other officers...
Kellner says the first year was "a disaster" as the WB battled for affiliates with the other start-up network, UPN. Traditionally, networks pay affiliates to carry their programming, but the WB offered no payments and went even further, asking the stations to remit a portion of their profits once they reached a certain level. Kellner's selling points were his team and the involvement of Warner Bros. and Tribune, but he was able to persuade only 54 stations to sign up. UPN, offering the traditional terms, started with nearly twice that many. Since then, though, the number...
Last week DAVID WESTIN, chairman of ABC News, killed a 20/20 news story critical of ABC's parent, the Walt Disney Co. The network said, "We were looking into a possible story concerning theme parks, which would have included, among others, Disney. A draft story was submitted that did not work." Indeed, the submitted story did mention other Orlando, Fla., parks, noting that theme parks tend to attract child molesters who seek to work at them. But the report singled out Disney as less responsive than other park operators to the problem. According to an ABC source familiar with...
...price tag on the new lightweight satellite phones made by Kyocera and Motorola seems a bit high, globetrotters on tight budgets might consider Iridium's $500 Go Anywhere pager instead. When Iridium's 66-satellite network becomes operational--which is supposed to happen next month--the little pager will receive messages anywhere in the world. Usage fees aren't set, but could be $50 to $100 a month...