EDIT: I posted this prior to post #3978 (or is it #3979) where a person said that he is 100% positive that the rollout would occur during Q3.
From what I understood, and Art & William may have heard better than I..... Malone doesn't like that "bottom up" approach, i.e. rolling out on a small scale in Texas & California with Fox Sports Plus (as it is being called)and he is calling the shots on this thing. He wants to wait and do a National Roll-Out...
If Malone wants to do this, and I know I'm gonna get flamed for saying this, he's a fool. A smaller-scale roll-out lets you ramp up slowly so that you can work the inevitable kinks out of the system, kinks that don't show up in testing because testing almost never mimics real-life. Plus it would let IATV bring in revenue in the near term, which would increase shareholder value (a plus in my book) and would allow us to be out there now so that we don't lose more potential clients to Wink or to people who want to wait and see what MSFT is going to do before deciding to go with IATV.
If he wants to have a Hyper-TV rollout in Y2K, that's fine, but give us the interactive TV stuff now. It's been ready for 3 years plus, and I've been waiting for it for a while.
No 1999 rollout = company losing credibility. I had thought that 1999 was going to be different, but it seems that it's gonna be more of the same...
From a February, 1999 10Q found at:
<link removed because it's too long>
The Company plans to launch its first Regional Network in 1999 in the region served by FOX Sports Southwest (the "Southwest Regional Network"). FOX Sports Southwest distributes programming to more than 5 million households in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and nine New Mexico counties. The Southwest Regional Network will feature individualized telecasts of professional basketball (Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs), hockey (Dallas Stars), and baseball (Texas Rangers, Houston Astros), along with college
sports events from the Southeastern, Southland and Western Athletic conferences.
From a September, 1997 10Q found at:
<link removed because it's too long>
The Company intends to launch its regional individualized sports networks in the late fourth quarter of 1997 or early in 1998, beginning with the region served by FOX Sports Southwest. FOX Sports Southwest distributes college and professional sports programs to 5.1 million households in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and nine New Mexico counties. The Company has also announced plans to launch individualized networks in the regions served by FOX Sports West, FOX Sports Northwest, and the Sunshine Network, an affiliate in Florida.
The Company will be responsible for the incremental content, transmission, delivery and master control costs incurred in connection with the Individualized Programming to be presented through its regional networks.
From the 3/31/97 Annual Report found at:
<link removed because it's too long>
Note that originally the West region was to open almost immediately after the Southwest, now we've just been talking Southwest.
Based on the success of the Individualized Programming trial in TCI's Ventura County System, as well as the relationship with FOX Sports Net, the Company plans to launch the Regional Networks within the regions served by FOX Sports Southwest and FOX Sports West. Current plans are for the launch of the Southwest Regional Network as early as the fourth quarter of 1997 and the West Regional Network shortly thereafter. FOX Sports Southwest distributes programming to 5.1 million households in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and nine New Mexico counties, while FOX Sports West serves 4.5 million households in Southern California, Hawaii and Clark County, Nevada. The planned Regional Networks, like the recently completed trial, will feature FOX Sports Net regional programming enhanced by the Company's Individualized Programming. Over time, the Company will produce other national programming and make such programming available to the Regional Networks. The Company will be responsible for the incremental content, transmission, delivery and master control costs incurred in connection with the enhancement of the Individualized Programming tobe presented through its Regional Networks.
Every time, the network is "almost ready" to roll out and it will just be a few short months... first we were waiting for digital cable boxes, now they're out, so we're waiting on something else. Get the darn product out the door, Malone! We've had it since a trial in LA in 1995-96 and a trial in Canada in 1993-ish. What's taking so darn long?
-Mike |
