`LIFETIME' TO END FOR MANY : PROTESTS GREET TCI PLAN TO CUT CHANNEL.Byline: Bill Carter The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times Plans by the nation's largest cable television company to drop the Lifetime Channel from several of its systems have prompted an angry protest from women's groups and many prominent political figures. Tele-Communications Inc. said it intends to pull a number of cable channels, including the women-oriented Lifetime, by Oct. 7, to make room for the all-news channel being created by Rupert Murdoch's Fox Inc. Lifetime, which is seen in 66 million homes, expects to lose more than 300,000 homes from TCI (Trustworthy Computing Initiative) An umbrella term from Microsoft for its efforts to improve security in Windows. TCI was announced in 2002 after viruses such as Code Red and Nimda had succeeded in attacking numerous Windows computers. cable systems. Among the most vocal critics were Sen. Bill Bradley For other uses, see Bill Bradley (disambiguation) and William Bradley. William Warren "Bill" Bradley (born July 28, 1943) is an American hall of fame basketball player, Rhodes scholar, and former U.S. of New Jersey; Rep. Pat Schroeder of Colorado; Libby Pataki Libby Pataki (born Elizabeth Rowland on November 17, 1950) is the former First Lady of New York and the wife of former New York Governor George Pataki. She served as First Lady during the three terms of her husband's administration. , the wife of Gov. George Pataki George Elmer Pataki (born June 24, 1945) is an American politician who was the 57th Governor of New York serving from January 1995 until January 1, 2007. He is a member of the Republican Party and was seen as a possible 2000 and 2008 Presidential candidate. of New York; and Rep. Peter DeFazio Peter Anthony DeFazio (born May 27, 1947) is an American politician. He serves as a Democratic U.S. Representative from Oregon, representing the 4th Congressional District and is currently serving his 11th term. , whose Eugene, Ore., district has the most viewers of any region affected by the decision. ``Women kind of feel like they're being rolled over so that the guys who run these companies can make more money,'' Schroeder said. She labeled the decision a ``power play'' by two executives, Murdoch and John Malone, the chief executive of TCI. The selection of Lifetime to make room for Murdoch's news channel, at least the third or fourth news channel on several cable systems, surprised many in the industry because Lifetime is among the highest-rated channels. But TCI executives expressed wonderment that a decision affecting less than 10 percent of Lifetime's audience could elicit so strong a response. According to several executives, the public protest has so angered the company that it may have negative implications for any plans by Lifetime's parent companies, Hearst Corp. and Walt Disney Co., to start new cable services. Robert Thomson, a senior vice president of TCI, called the protest ``laughably out of scale.'' Fox executives said they had nothing to do with TCI's decision. |
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