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

To: Black-Scholes who wrote (41469)	5/24/1999 5:16:00 PM
From: Humblefrank	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50808

I wouldn't try to predict this stock for the short term. I like it cause digital video is about to take off and Cube looks strong there. If it doesn't move by the end of the year something's wrong, but I think it will.

To: Black-Scholes who wrote (41469)	5/24/1999 5:44:00 PM
From: John Rieman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50808

The great Digital Settop Box give away............................. mediacentral.com 05-24-99 10:47 EDT Headlines ONdigital aims at Sky in U.K.'s pay-TV war LONDON, May 24 (Reuters) - British pay-TV company ONdigital fired back on Monday in its battle against Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB by announcing it will match its main rival's offer to give away digital TV equipment. ONdigital, 50/50 owned by Carlton Communications Plc and Granada Group Plc , said the move would cost its two shareholders a total of 200 million pounds ($320 million) in additional investment over the next two years. But the company said its counter-strike would enable it to reach its break-even point of about two million subscribers in three years' time, having already signed up 110,000 customers in its first four months. Carlton's shares jumped 3.2 percent, gaining 17 pence to 545 by 1415 GMT, while Granada's firmed 1.2 percent, or 14 pence, to 1233 after the news, which is widely expected to speed the development of Britain's cutting-edge digital TV market. BSkyB's shares were littled changed, down 2.5 pence at 583. "This levels the playing field," Lehman Brothers analyst Julien Roch said. "The whole bet is that you lower your profitability, but you bring forward the number of suscribers, and on a net present value basis, it's worth it." ONdigital offers a choice of some 30 channels through customers' existing TV aerials compared to BSkyB's 150-channel platform, which can only be received via satellite dish. "Today marks the beginning of the end of analogue TV," ONdigital Chief Executive Stephen Grabiner said, adding that the giveaway plan should speed Britain's conversion to digital TV. ONdigital's move had been widely expected after BSkyB, which is 40-percent-owned by Murdoch's News Corp , announced earlier this month that it would give its 200 pound digital TV equipment to subscribers free of charge. Separately, Moody's Investor Service said it was revising a senior debt rating for BSkyB, noting that its free box plan would hurt its financial flexibility in the near term. Although ONdigital took three weeks to confirm it would match BSkyB's offer, it plans to be first to the market with free equipment, trumping its rival by one working day. Whereas BSkyB's offer takes effect on June 1, ONdigital said its free boxes will be available this Friday. ONdigital's giveaway replaces its existing offer, which required customers to buy 200 pounds worth of goods in order to receive a free digital decoder. In the two rivals' marketing battle, ONdigital also plans to scrap its 20 pound connection charge, meaning that there will be no upfront fee for the service. In contrast, BSkyB's SkyDigital subscribers will need to pay a 40 pound installation fee. To receive either ONdigital or SkyDigital, subscribers have to commit to a 12-month subscription package. Besides scrapping the charge for digital decoders, ONdigital said it was subsidising the price of integrated digital TV sets so that they will cost roughly the same as analogue TV models. The integrated digital TV sets, due on the market next month with a starting price of 299 pounds, will have ONdigital decoding equipment built into them, eliminating the need for clunky set-top digital TV decoders. "We will be the only people who will be in IDTVs this year -- that's about as mainstream as you can get," Grabiner told a news conference. In response to a similar move by BSkyB, ONdigital said customers will be able to receive savings of up to 40 percent on standard British Telecommunications Plc rates from July. ONdigital also raised its existing subscription by two pounds a month for new subscribers, meaning that the new minimum subscription starts from 6.99 pounds. Existing customers' subscriptions are frozen until 2002. For its part, BSkyB welcomed ONdigital's move. "Consumers will (now) have the chance to make a direct comparison between the content and services offered by the two digital providers," BSkyB said. "We relish this prospect."