Broadcasting & Cable (May 3, 1993)

by: Future US-Next TV

Publication date: 1993-05-03

Topics: 1990s, 1993, Broadcasting & Cable, Broadcasting magazine, Future US, trade magazine, Next TV, World Radio History

Collection: magazine_contributions; magazine_rack

(c)1993 Future US-Next TV

This is a copy of the Broadcasting & Cable magazine for May 3, 1993. Broadcasting & Cable had adopted its present name two months earlier with the March 1, 1993 issue.

Link to Broadcasting Magazine archives from 1931-2002 here: https://worldradiohistory.com/Broadcasting-Magazine.htm

CONTENTS

1. FOX proposes to forgo cable retransmission fees for affiliates in favor of a basic cable network in which the affiliates would receive a share of the revenue

2. NBC enters contract extension with NBA in which, in exchange for a lower-than-requested fee of $750 million over 4 years, the NBA would receive a share of ad revenues once sales pass $1.06 billion mark

3. Continental Cablevision chairman Amos Hostetter announces that the cable operator will not pay retransmission fees; planning instead to enter long-term must-carry deals regardless of questions of constitutionality

4. TCI COO Brendan Clouston dismisses concerns over plan by TCI and Carolco Pictures to provide a pre-theatrical PPV window would cut into revenues as "premature" (sort of a forerunner to the recent streaming releases during the COVID shutdowns)

5. "Simpsons"; "SNL" and "Not Necessarily the News" writer Conan O'Brien the surprise choice by NBC to replace David Letterman on "Late Night" following Letterman's defection to CBS

6. Vicki Lawrence no-shows for taping of her talk-show; leading to Group W naming Cristina Ferrare and "Wonder Years" co-star Alley Mills as substitutes

7. Plans to launch syndicated version of "Robocop" take shape after British firm SkyVision acquires rights from ailing Orion Pictures

8. Showtime lines up family-oriented block for upcoming season; headlined by collaboration with Shelley Duvall's Think Entertainment and "The Busy World of Richard Scarry"

9. CBS' Howard Stringer dismisses belief that consumers want more channel options

10. NTN Communications - one day after TCI announces deal to invest $10 million into Interactive Network Inc. - sues Interactive Network claiming "ongoing misstatements" about NTN's capabilities

11. Comcast - generating $15-$20 million from video-on-demand services - expects growth to $300 million by 1996-97

12. Look at upcoming pay-per-view broadcasters convention

13. California computer hackers plead guilty to fraud related to seizing control of radio station phone-lines

14. Watergate figure-turned-conservative talker G. Gordon Liddy's radio show goes national

15. TV stations report strong Q1 of 1993

16. Newspaper Association of America looks into joint venture with cable and telephone companies

17. Ad agencies taking cautious look at news upfronts

18. NBC - having dumped Saturday morning cartoons the previous season - refocuses efforts on a teen audience with newly-named "TNBC" block

19. Intel, Microsoft and General Instrument enter agreement to create microprocessor-driven cable converter for interactive services (based on Microsoft's Windows operating system)

The "Fifth Estater" interview features a young Jeff Zucker (long before his reign of error at NBC and later CNN left a string of disasters in its wake)

Other sections include: Changing Hands; Classifieds; Closed Circuit; Datebook; Editorials; Fates & Fortunes; Fifth Estater; For the Record and In Brief