Friday June 4 6:19 PM ET
Paul Allen Considers Stake In Oxygen Media -- Paper
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Billionaire investor Paul Allen is in talks to
invest $100 million for a stake of about 7 percent in Oxygen Media, a
women's online network and nascent cable TV venture, the Los Angeles
Times reported Friday.
Oxygen Media, formed by cable TV veteran Geraldine Laybourne, TV talk
show host Oprah Winfrey and others, is expected to compete with the
Lifetime cable channel when it launches next year. It already operates
several Web sites geared toward women.
Oxygen Media officials were not available and a spokeswoman for Allen's investment company, Vulcan Ventures Inc., declined to comment on the story.
Allen, who co-founded Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) with Bill
Gates, has invested billions in a wide variety of technology and sports ventures.
In recent months, he has acquired several cable TV systems, becoming the fourth largest cable owner in the United States, with more than 5.5 million subscribers, via his Charter Communications Inc.
Just last week Charter agreed to acquire Denver-based Fanch
Communications Inc. and Los Angeles-based Falcon Communications in two
separate deals that reportedly cost Charter as much as $5.6 billion in
cash and stock.
Charter reportedly would carry Oxygen Media's cable network, virtually
guaranteeing that cable giant Tele-Communications Inc. (Nasdaq:TCOMP -
news) would eventually provide the channel to 7 million of its 11
million total subscribers, the Times said.
Citing unnamed sources, the Times also reported that cable operator Cox Communications Inc. (NYSE:COX - news) is in ''advanced negotiations'' to take a stake in Oxygen Media in exchange for carriage to its 5 million subscribers.
''We have talked to them, but to say talks are 'advanced' would be an
exaggeration,'' said a spokeswoman for Cox. She declined to give further details.
Equity for carriage deals are not uncommon in the industry. John Malone, who ran Tele-Communications Inc. before it was sold to AT&T Corp. (NYSE:T - news) in March, built sister company Liberty Media Corp. by acquiring stakes in cable networks owned by Discovery Communications Inc, BET Holdings and others.
Laybourne is respected in television circles for successfully building
the Nickelodeon children's cable network owned by Viacom Inc. (NYSE:VIA - news), then heading up the Walt Disney Co.'s cable operations. She left Disney in 1996 to become an entrepreneur.
Oxygen Media, which also has America Online Inc. (NYSE:AOL - news) and
TV producer Marcy Carsey as investors, is designed to combine the
audience reach of cable TV with the Internet's interactivity through
cross-promotion of programs, information, chat, electronic mail and
other services targeted to women.
Oxygen Media currently operates online sites Thrive, Moms Online and
Electra, through its umbrella site, www.oxygen.com. In August, it plans to unveil Oprah Online, and the cable TV network is scheduled to launch in February next year.
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