TV FANS AWAIT CABLE ACCORD; CHANNEL 7 OUTLOOK IFFY.Byline: Marla Matzer Rose Staff Writer Will thousands of the Valley's cable subscribers soon miss the chance to see Regis Philbin Regis Francis Xavier Philbin (born August 25, 1931) is an Emmy Award-winning American television personality best known for his roles as a talk show host, game show host, singer and presenter at various events. pass out a million dollars? Since mid-December, Time Warner's 150,000 local cable subscribers from Woodland Hills to South Pasadena South Pasadena (păs'ədē`nə), city (1990 pop. 23,936), Los Angeles co., S Calif., a residential suburb of Los Angeles; inc. 1888. Medical supplies, clothing, and transportation and electronic equipment are manufactured. have seen the following message scrolling across the top of the screen on the TV Guide preview channel: ``In order to carry KABC KABC Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children after 1/15/2000, Time Warner is required by law to obtain permission from KABC's parent, 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. . We're hopeful that negotiations will result in an agreement but if the talks don't succeed, ABC will require us to stop carriage of Channel 7.'' Huh? The message, say representatives for the network and the cable company, is part of a standard FCC (1) (Federal Communications Commission, Washington, DC, www.fcc.gov) The U.S. government agency that regulates interstate and international communications including wire, cable, radio, TV and satellite. The FCC was created under the U.S. requirement to notify subscribers of programming changes 30 days in advance. The negotiations referred to in the message became standard six years ago. That's when the FCC ruled that cable operators must compensate the networks, in cash or ``carriage'' of channels, for re-transmitting the networks' signals to their cable subscribers. These agreements are re-negotiated every few years, with the ABC-Time Warner negotiations among the first of the second wave of pact talks. Should viewers worry about losing such shows as ``Spin City'' and ``Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?''? ``There's no guarantees, but I could say we're highly optimistic op·ti·mist n. 1. One who usually expects a favorable outcome. 2. A believer in philosophical optimism. op that negotiations will go well,'' said John Trierweiler, a local vice president of marketing for Time Warner Communications. ABC spokeswoman Julie Hoover would only offer the following: ``We continue to negotiate with Time Warner, and hope to reach a satisfactory arrangement.'' If things are worked out, chances are Time Warner subscribers will soon be getting the Soap Cable Network as part of the deal. In the last round of negotiations, ABC asked cable operators to carry ESPN ESPN Entertainment and Sports Programming Network 2 in exchange for the rights to carry ABC programming. This time, the network is reportedly asking for carriage of the new soap opera soap opera Broadcast serial drama, characterized by a permanent cast of actors, a continuing story, tangled interpersonal situations, and a melodramatic or sentimental style. network, set to launch in some markets as early as this month. Hoover declined to comment on the details of the negotiations; Trierweiler only categorized the talks as ``complex.'' Trierweiler said Time Warner had received few calls on the matter. ``I think the message is pretty self-explanatory, and people understand it,'' Trierweiler said. How will people know the outcome? ``We'll probably modify the crawl if and when negotiations are successfully completed. Or, you'll just notice that you're still getting Channel 7,'' said Trierweiler with a laugh. |
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