Interactivity that Really Works
Wednesday, June 16, 1999 -- 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Moderator: Lee Masters
President & CEO
Liberty Digital
Speakers: M. Sonia Khademi
President & CEO
Cablesoft
Tom Rogers
President, NBC Cable Business Development
NBC
David Reese
President
ACTV Entertainment
Jonathan Taplin
CEO
Intertainer, Inc.
"''This assures NBC's growth across AT&T's analog and digital offerings,'' Tom Rogers, president of NBC's cable division, said in a statement."
NBC, AT&T Form 8-Year Pact to Air NBC Shows, Olympics
New York, June 10 (Bloomberg) -- NBC, the No. 2 U.S. television network, said it reached an eight-year agreement with AT&T Corp., soon to be the largest cable-TV company, to air its broadcast and cable programs, digital services and the Olympics.
AT&T Broadband & Interactive Services, the company's cable arm formerly known as Tele-Communications Inc., will air NBC's CNBC and MSNBC cable channels. AT&T also will have the right to retransmit NBC programs and carry the digital signals of NBC's 13 owned and operated TV stations through 2009. NBC, a unit of General Electric Co., didn't disclose financial terms.
The alliance is longer and more wide-reaching than typical agreements between networks and cable operators. NBC said the pact will increase distribution of its MSNBC cable-news channel to more than 66 million homes in three years from 50 million now. It also will enable NBC to air the Olympics over network TV as well as cable, meaning more potential ad revenue.
''This assures NBC's growth across AT&T's analog and digital offerings,'' Tom Rogers, president of NBC's cable division, said in a statement.
The move comes as the U.S. TV industry prepares to switch from analog to digital technology, which provides better picture and sound quality and more channel capacity. It also comes as NBC, as all the big networks do, faces audience erosion as more viewers turn to cable-TV, the Internet and other forms of media.
The networks are working to ensure that they're positioned to survive the advent of digital TV, which will mean even further audience fragmentation.
Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE's shares fell 1 11/16 to 101. New York-based AT&T fell 1/8 to 53 11/16. |
