CABLE HOOKUP; DISNEY'S ESPN INKS DEAL FOR CLASSIC SPORTS NETWORK.Byline: Dave McNary Daily News Staff Writer Walt Disney Noun 1. Walt Disney - United States film maker who pioneered animated cartoons and created such characters as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck; founded Disneyland (1901-1966) Disney, Walter Elias Disney Co. announced Wednesday its ESPN ESPN Entertainment and Sports Programming Network network will buy Classic Sports Network for an undisclosed price in a deal reflecting the soaring stakes in the world of cable sports properties. Wall Street analysts have estimated the price tag for privately held Classic Sports at $175 million. The two-year-old channel, with more than 10 million cable customers, specializes in sporting events from the past, such as World Series games, National Basketball Association playoffs The NBA Playoffs is a four-round best-of-seven elimination tournament between sixteen teams in the Eastern Conference and Western Conferences (called Divisions, pre-1970) of the National Basketball Association, ultimately determining the league champion. and prize fights. ``For our affiliates and advertisers, it's yet another valuable entity for integrated marketing and advertising sales opportunities across ESPN-branded services,'' said Steven Bornstein, president and chief executive of ESPN. Bornstein said the new channel will not take away viewers from ESPN's three channels. ``Classic Sports is a very good companion to ESPN,'' he said. The deal, expected to close by early November, comes two months after Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. attacked ESPN's market share by allying with Cablevision to form a Fox Sports Net venture of 17 regional sports networks and 55 million subscribers. Executives with ESPN, the nation's largest cable network with 73 million subscribers, denied that the Fox deal prompted them to buy Classic Sports, but Disney was believed to be seeking properties. Analyst Linda Bannister of Edward Jones Edward, Eddie, or Ed Jones is the name of: Edward Jones:
adj. Slang 1. Exhilarated or excited. 2. Being or feeling high or intoxicated, especially from a drug. the fire to buy Classic Sports.'' Bannister also said sports programming still has not reached a saturation point saturation point n. 1. Chemistry The point at which a substance will receive no more of another substance in solution. 2. The point at which no more can be absorbed or assimilated. . ``As a nonsports fan, I ask myself that question every day when my husband turns on ESPN first thing in the morning,'' she said. ``There seems to be a healthy appetite for more sports programming. Classic Sports has a good niche and Disney should help them get carried on a lot systems.'' Classic Sports chief Steve Greenberg said the channel is expected to reach 15 million subscribers by the end of the year, still small by cable standards. Under Disney's ownership, Classic Sports will have access to 18 years of ESPN programming along with the ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. sports library, which includes massive amounts of college football and basketball, Monday Night Football “MNF” redirects here. For other uses, see MNF (disambiguation). Monday Night Football (MNF) is a live television broadcast of the National Football League. , a moderate amount of baseball coverage, a variety of Summer and Winter Olympiads, 35 years from the ``Wide World of Sports'' and ``The American Sportsman'' outdoor series. Bornstein said ESPN, 80 percent owned by Burbank-based Disney and 20 percent owned by Hearst Corp., had held informal buyout talks prior to Classic Sports' launch. Classic Sports executives, who had said in the past they would remain independent, disclosed they had held similar talks with other potential buyers but always preferred ESPN. Formal discussions began several weeks ago. ``We expect Classic Sports to be universally distributed,'' said Greenberg, president and co-founder. Greenberg and Chief Executive Brian Bedol, who will continue to run the network, built the New York-based channel by buying rights to archives and attracting investments from Allen & Co., AT&T Ventures, Warburg Pincus Ventures and MassMutual Life Insurance. For Disney, the announcement is the first move to boost its sports holdings, which also include the Anaheim Angels and the Mighty Ducks, since Murdoch stunned the sports world in May with his preliminary pact to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers "Dodgers" and "Brooklyn Dodgers" redirect here. For the American football team, see Brooklyn Dodgers (football). For the Eastern Basketball Association team, see Brooklyn Dodgers (basketball). for $350 million. Disney still might launch a regional sports network in Southern California to counteract the two Fox Sports West channels. Classic Sports has been fighting with Cablevision over access to Cablevision's Rainbow Programming unit. It said in a complaint to the Federal Communications Commission Federal Communications Commission (FCC), independent executive agency of the U.S. government established in 1934 to regulate interstate and foreign communications in the public interest. that Cablevision had denied it access to the New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. and Connecticut markets because it would not surrender ownership. Cablevision has denied the claim. It had plans for a rival American Sports Classics network but delayed those after helping form Fox Sports Net. CAPTION(S): Box Box: (Color) DISNEY BUYING CLASSIC SPORTS The deal will give Disney a fourth cable sports network. Bradford Mar/Daily News |
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