fred, what do yopu think of this?
Cowles/SIMBA Media Daily : (Cable World) As details leaked out aboutpricing plans for the new Sky direct- broadcast-satellite service -- $50 buys the dish, $29.95 the monthly service -- News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch, who apparently lost a key lobbying battle in
Congress, stepped up his efforts last week to land a big-name partner.
Ameritech, one of several Baby Bells that News Corp. is courting, said it's discussing some kind of DBS alliance with Murdoch or DirecTv.Patrick Campbell, the telco's VP-corporate strategy, said his company is seeking an equity investment or a pure marketing alliance.
That came as media industry executives and analysts largely dismissed the notion that News Corp. would team up with Primestar Partners instead of EchoStar.A meeting that Murdoch held with TCI chairman John Malone two weeks ago renewed speculation that the two companies may join DBS forces. A Primestar spokesman confirmed that Murdoch aproached her company to discuss "options going forward in the DBS arena."
But Gerald Levin, the chairman of Time Warner Inc., which holds a
Primestar stake, said a deal with News Corp. is "just not in the cards." What's more, industry analysts said the Murdoch-Malone talks
probably focused much more on their companies' joint cable sports
venture, which News Corp. may want to buy outright.
News Corp. and EchoStar plan to launch Sky this fall offering a basic programming package that would include the top 50 cable networks
now offered by EchoStar, as well as local broadcast stations and FOX
Broadcasting's specialty news, sports and children's services.
Sky subscribers also could lease additional converter boxes for about $5 each a month. But it's not yet clear if customers would have to make a one-year or longer commitment upfront, as they must now do
to take advantage of EchoStar and DirecTv's $199 dish offers.
News Corp. and EchoStar executives stressed that they won't be able to cut prices unless they win Capitol Hill concessions that would let Sky retransmit local broadcast signals without paying the stations or meeting cable's must- carry obligations.
That lobbying effort, however, hit a wall last week when senior
lawmakers signaled their opposition to a News Corp. drive to tack
Satellite Home Viewer Act exemptions to a critical federal spending bill-- a move that was considered a win for cable industry lobbyists.
"I'm reluctant to give it carte blanche," U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT),who chairs the Senate Communications Subcommittee, said. He also confirmed that Murdoch has "made several visits" to lawmakers over the last several weeks.
In an apparent admission of defeat last week, Murdoch reportedly said that if he didn't have the support of at least 60 senators, he would drop his efforts to have the spot-beam language added to the bill.
News Corp. executives were unavailable for comment last week.
Despite the uphill battle, Murdoch has at least one powerful Senate
ally: Sources said last week that News Corp. executives recently met
with Sen. Alfonse D'Amato (R-NY) to see if he could turn the tide.
(Alan Breznick and Eric Glick)
SOURCE:<<Cowles/SIMBA Media Daily -- 04-21-97>> |
