Word: thompson
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
When Cuban bought the team two years ago, he called FoxSports Network president Robert Thompson seeking to broadcast Mavs games in high definition. Thompson was dumb struck. "I said why would I want to do that?" At the time, there were no trucks for HD transmission, no distribution channels, and the costs were off the charts. "But he did pique my interest...
...Thompson introduced Cuban to a Fox production specialist, Phil Garvin, who helped him solve the technical and financial obstacles to HDTV broadcasting. "With regular TV, you pull a truck up to a stadium, hook up to existing cables from every camera to the truck outside and transmit," he says. "But there were no cables for high def, and the setup was expensive." Sony had to create a new cable system for the five HD cameras needed for each game. By piggybacking on FoxSports' regular NHL broadcasts and using its graphics and audio, Garvin and Cuban got the network running...
...exchange for their help, Fox and DirecTV got options worth as much as 20% of Cuban's new network. For Thompson at Fox, HDNet is a handy "laboratory" to see how high def works, technically and economically. "If you've seen high def, you know it's gorgeous," says Thompson. "But I was skeptical of the financial model. They need to go well beyond 100,000 homes." Cuban says his customer base through DirecTV is growing 10% to 15% a month, and he's working the retail angle hard--getting 1,000 outlets such as those of Circuit City...
When asked about child-care funding at a Senate hearing last month, HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson cited the nation's budget, pinched by the war on terror. The Administration also points out that it is addressing children's well-being with its pledge of $300 million to promote healthy marriages. Did the Administration try to postpone a report that could be embarrassing? Wade Horn, Assistant Secretary for Children and Families at HHS, says that "would have been inappropriate," and he is "chalking it up to misperception." --By Jodie Morse
What a shame. If nuns had had higher status, they might have prevented the cover-up. According to Syracuse history professor Margaret Susan Thompson, who researched the archives of 75 religious orders, "nuns had no standing; even Mother Superior wouldn't call a bishop." Monsignor Thomas Duffy of Blessed Sacrament Church in Washington says the nuns simply wouldn't have known what the priests were up to at the parishes he served in. But he also contends they would have spoken out come what may. "Sister Gonzaga--God rest her soul, I just buried her this week--was very strong...