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Technology Stocks : C-Cube -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: BillyG who wrote (25820)	11/27/1997 6:29:00 PM
From: John Rieman	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 50808

Digital Deployments.............................. ijumpstart.com TCI [TCOMA] launched digital cable in eight more markets last week. The service is now available in Buffalo, NY; Carlsbad and Davis, CA; Bainbridge, GA; South Bend, IN; Grand Rapids, MI; Scottsbluff, NE; and Cheyenne, WY. TCI is "soft-launching" the product this year, relying on word of mouth and news reports before it starts aggressively marketing the service next year. Digital cable is now available to about 2mln of TCI's 14.3mln subs and the company is on an aggressive schedule to add additional markets each week through the end of the year, the op says. She expects to announce more markets tomorrow. Expect joint venture announcements from the MSO this week, too. Eight of Leo Hindery's planned 1997 partnerships have been announced to date, another four have been agreed to and six are pending. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Digital Distribution <Picture><Picture><Picture> As Disney [DIS], MTV, Lifetime and other programmers move forward with their new digital networks and multiplexes, the challenge lies in securing distribution. The 12 to 1 compression ratio on HITS transponders offers more capacity for new channels than on analog systems, but programmers are "clamoring" for that space, says TCI's [TCOMA] LaRae Marsik. "There are so many programmers looking to expand their lineup in a digital world and we are looking at them all," she says. MTV's chmn/CEO Tom Freston tells us he plans to hold formal talks with TCI soon to discuss carriage on HITS. With only 36 channels taken up by TCI's 3-pak digital cable offering, the op still has 120 channels to fill on its 10 remaining transponders. Time Warner [TWX] is creating a national digital feed for its Pegasus system to launch commercially in the middle of next year, which will provide another outlet for new programmers. The op hasn't decided yet if the service will be available to non-Time-Warner systems. Programmers can also turn to Primestar's DigiSat product for cable ops and beyond that to DBS. MTV is looking for digital distribution on every multichannel platform including DBS. Lifetime also is "open to any and all options," an official says.