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Strategies & Market Trends : Rande Is . . . HOME -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: NoWhereMan who wrote (5197)	4/8/1999 10:49:00 AM
From: Rande Is	Respond to of 57584

No, NoWhere. Here's an article that better sums up TUNE deal: Liberty proposal boosts affiliate TCI Music to be route for Internet ventures By Rebecca Cantwell News Staff Writer Liberty Media will use stock in TCI Music as its primary currency for investing in new Internet and interactive ventures, a plan that sent stock of the formerly obscure affiliate soaring for the second day. Liberty plans to increase its stake in TCI Music from 86 percent to 94 percent, swapping Internet and interactive TV assets for about $1.1 billion worth of stock. "The purpose is to create an Internet currency so we can be more active in that area," said Liberty Chief Executive Robert "Dob" Bennett in a conference call with analysts Wednesday. He said Internet stocks trade in a "different dynamic." And Liberty wants to showcase its Internet assets, which individually don't add up to much, but together represent more value. The stock market listened, with shares of TCI Music Inc. rising $17.09 Wednesday to $46.75, after rising $21.19 and tripling in value Tuesday. Following the deal, expected to take about two months to close, the name will change to Liberty Digital, already the name of a smaller subsidiary. Among the most valuable assets Liberty will contribute to the Internet company are bandwidth rights to provide interactive video to AT&T cable systems under an agreement in connection with AT&T's recent acquisition of Tele-Communications Inc. AT&T acquired Liberty as part of the TCI merger, but is leaving it as a virtually autonomous unit under the chairmanship of former TCI Chairman John Malone. Other Liberty interests that will be contributed to TCI Music include investments in public companies: priceline.com Inc. (2.5 million shares), iVillage Inc. (753,864 shares), ACTV Inc. (2.5 million shares) and Sportsline USA Inc. (533,334 shares). Private interactive companies in which Liberty is a part owner and that will contribute the interest include: Drugstore.com, The Lightspan Partnership Inc., Academic Systems Corp., iBeam Broadcasting Corp., Interactive Pictures Corp, TE Network Inc., KPCB Java Fund and Digital Health Group. TCI Music's current businesses include DMX, which distributes a digital audio music service; The Box, an interactive music video television network; and SonicNet, an Internet music network. Liberty released year-end financial results Wednesday for the rest of its major investments as well. Highlights include: Encore Media Group, which provides the Encore, Starz and multiplex premium cable movie channels, finished the year with $100 million in positive cash flow, compared to a $28 million deficit in 1997. The company reported 46.6 million total subscribers for its services, up from 38.1 million in 1997. Discovery Communications Inc., of which Liberty is about half-owner, reported cash flow from its developed networks of $353 million in 1998, compared to $259 million in 1997. Animal Planet, which launched in Oct. 1996, ended 1998 with more than 44.8 million subscribers, making it one of the fastest growing cable channels in the industry. QVC, 43 percet owned by Liberty, reported cash flow of $434 million in 1998 compared to $338 million in 1997. insidedenver.com