Cable Networks

WASHINGTON -- MCI Communications Corp., Jones Lightwave Inc., Jones Intercable Inc. and Scientific Atlanta Inc. said yesterday that they would offer phone services over cable networks for the first time, beginning in March.The service would initially be offered on a trial basis. If successful, it could mean big savings for MCI and less revenue for the seven regional Bell operating companies.MCI, Jones Lightwave and Jones Intercable plan to use broadband cable television networks to provide phone services in Alexandria, Va., and a Chicago suburb.

We all have our favorite ways to escape from the pressures of life. Hobbies serve a grand purpose, focusing all our attention when engaged, and thus erasing for a while the irritations, stresses, disappointments and fears that pile up as we go about living. They're better at that than, say, drinking alcohol, since gardening, woodworking and contract bridge don't cause liver damage and shouldn't hinder ones' ability to drive safely. (As an aside, I get a kick out of the oft-heard plea, "He's really a nice guy when he isn't drunk."

The commercial networks, led by NBC, which announced its fall schedule Monday, aren't the only television operations getting ready for a new season.Cable networks, too, have a bunch of new offerings for the coming months. And with TV writers throughout the country primed to cover the network's fall lineups, is it an accident that some cable operations have chosen now to reveal what the next year has in store?Of course it isn't. Here's a sampling of what the cable folks want us to tell you about.

A few years ago, it looked like Court TV was all about courtrooms, FX Network was for tough guys, and AMC ran only movies. In the coming months, however, cable TV viewers will start to see things change. Court TV has just become TruTV. FX ads will explain "There is no box" that its shows fit into. And AMC will launch its third original scripted program. As cable TV has exploded into hundreds of channels, networks must grow increasingly sophisticated to stand out amid the competition and maintain their double-digit annual growth.

MTV to test home shoppingMTV Networks said yesterday that it will run a test of home shopping programs on its TV cable networks -- MTV, VH-1 and Nick at Nite.After this spring's test, MTV said, it will consider launching a stand-alone shopping channel.

Believe it or not, the infomercial is 20 years old. And how it has grown. Today, the often mocked format is as much a part of the TV landscape as sitcoms and reality shows. And bigger business than ever. The diet aid Herbalife was among the first infomercials to break big during the mid-1980s. Since then, infomercials have created some of the best-known faces in America. Self-help guru Tony Robbins has sold more than $300 million of his products through infomercials. Ali MacGraw and Lisa Hartman opened the way for actors to appear in infomercials when they turned up in a 1989 makeover spot for Victoria Jackson Cosmetics.

WASHINGTON - Define racism. One possible definition can be seen in the media's - and especially the cable news networks' - recent nonstop coverage of the Elizabeth Smart missing person case. Much like Chandra Levy, whose disappearance generated a media feeding frenzy, Miss Smart, the 14-year-old abducted from her Salt Lake City home June 5, comes from affluence, is photogenic, talented ... and white. And therein lies a possible building block of racism. The racism in this case, however, while predicated on skin color, is racism based on demographics, dollar signs and ratings points.

WASHINGTON -- In a court decision hailed by cable television officials, a federal judge here has ruled that one of the two principal music-licensing associations cannot demand separate royalties from both cable television networks and individual cable systems.The decision affects tens of millions of dollars in copyright payments for background music for everything from serial comedies to old movies.The decision, issued late last week by U.S. District Court Judge Joyce Hens Green, came after a long-running dispute between the cable industry and Broadcast Music Inc., one of the two main associations that negotiate royalty agreements for the music used on radio and television and in the movies.

NEW YORK - Vivendi Universal SA, trying to cut $16 billion of debt, received five offers for its U.S. entertainment assets and may narrow the field of potential buyers starting next week, people familiar with the situation said yesterday. Billionaire Marvin Davis, Edgar Bronfman Jr. and John Malone's Liberty Media Corp. all bid for the Paris-based company's Vivendi Music Group and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, said the people, who asked not to be named. The assets include the Universal film and television studios, the USA and Sci-Fi cable networks and amusement parks.

In a further deregulatory action aimed at helping the shrinking fortunes of the three major television networks, the Federal Communications Commission yesterday unanimously overturned a 22-year prohibition against networks' owning cable TV systems.The 5-0 decision, which followed the FCC's promise last year to conduct a thorough review of decades-old regulations governing television networks and local stations, is designed to give the networks new areas in which to expand in the face of growing competition from cable.

NEW YORK -- In the last three years, Josh Bernstein rode horses across the Mongolian steppe with nomads, traveled deep into the Amazon to seek out a remote tribe and slept in an igloo on an Austrian glacier to test the conditions faced by Neolithic cavemen. Now he's venturing into another new territory: the Silver Spring-based Discovery Channel, a television network in the midst of its own evolution. Last week, the cable channel plucked Bernstein away from rival network the History Channel, where he has drawn a following as the host of the popular Digging for the Truth series.

WASHINGTON -- As Americans watched the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, this year, we enjoyed the acrobatics of world-class athletes. But back in Washington, a supposedly expert government agency was engaged in a less-inspiring kind of acrobatics - a flip-flop that could lead to higher cable television bills for consumers and less opportunity for television programmers. The less-than-elegant back flip was a highly questionable effort by the Federal Communications Commission, which reversed itself in a report that endorses a new federal regulation that would allow cable television viewers to be charged on a per-channel basis.

ELENI VANRODEN made adjustments to the camera while Jennifer Retzlaff reviewed the script for the third time. Stephanie Griffin and Michael O'Donnell sat before a bank of phones, taking in the last few moments of quiet before calls started rolling in. Nearby, Diane McDonnell quietly put the finishing touches on a math lesson she would present on air. I'm scared to death," said McDonnell, who taught middle school math for 13 years in Cecil County....

If the Baltimore Orioles and Comcast Corp. cannot work through their legal problems, a regional cable network - thought to be a boon for the club - could be more of a short-term bust, and many baseball fans in the Baltimore-Washington area could lose the opportunity to watch their home teams almost every night. Or, industry analysts say, the standoff could be no more than posturing between giants who realize it's in their mutual best interest to reach a deal. "Obviously, they're both losing money in the short term, but this isn't about losing, it's about winning," Roger Caplan, whose Howard County ad agency places commercials on local sports broadcasts, said yesterday.

If Ted Sophocleus becomes Anne Arundel's next county executive Tuesday, the first thing he ought to do is send a "Thank you" card to Robert J. Pivec. Pivec helped transform Sophocleus from an obscure North County councilman to the candidate of the people. He capitalized on Sophocleus' affable nature, turning it into a weapon against the hard-edged professionalism of Republican Robert R. Neall. He took a candidate whose name people didn't recognize and couldn't pronounce and made him a household name.

Once upon a time, the Emmys celebrated excellence in writing, producing, acting and directing wherever found throughout the television industry. But this year, one network seems to have, if not a stranglehold, then a headlock on superior programming. Cable's HBO network, which already has set one record by receiving 124 nominations, is expected to sweep tonight's 56th annual Emmy Awards show when the statues are handed out. And a second record stands to be broken: Angels in America, HBO's adaptation of Tony Kushner's Pulitzer Prize-winning play about AIDS and Reagan-era America, is likely to surpass ABC's 1977 landmark Roots (which won nine Emmys)

NEW YORK -- Shareholders yesterday approved Walt Disney Co.'s purchase of Capital Cities/ABC Inc., a $19 billion acquisition that will give Disney the pieces it needs to compete in an increasingly crowded industry.The addition of Capital Cities' television and cable networks, such as ABC and ESPN, supplies Disney with top-ranked news and sports programming to go along with its world-leading movie and theme park businesses. Such content will give Disney a leg up as a growing number of cable channels, on-line services and even broadcast networks battle for an audience, executives said.

New York--If Carl and Debbie Perrone's viewing habits are any indication, television executives had better watch out.The Perrones and their three children participate in a Time Warner Inc. pilot project that offers 150 channels to families in New York City's borough of Queens. Mr. Perrone likes to watch a channel featuring Chinese programming -- even though he doesn't understand the language. And the whole family gathers for recently released movies, which cost $3.95."For a family of five, it's much cheaper than going to the movies," said Mrs. Perrone, who pays $23.95 monthly for a service that includes as many as eight starting times for each of 15 movies.

Believe it or not, the infomercial is 20 years old. And how it has grown. Today, the often mocked format is as much a part of the TV landscape as sitcoms and reality shows. And bigger business than ever. The diet aid Herbalife was among the first infomercials to break big during the mid-1980s. Since then, infomercials have created some of the best-known faces in America. Self-help guru Tony Robbins has sold more than $300 million of his products through infomercials. Ali MacGraw and Lisa Hartman opened the way for actors to appear in infomercials when they turned up in a 1989 makeover spot for Victoria Jackson Cosmetics.

NEW YORK - Vivendi Universal SA, trying to cut $16 billion of debt, received five offers for its U.S. entertainment assets and may narrow the field of potential buyers starting next week, people familiar with the situation said yesterday. Billionaire Marvin Davis, Edgar Bronfman Jr. and John Malone's Liberty Media Corp. all bid for the Paris-based company's Vivendi Music Group and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, said the people, who asked not to be named. The assets include the Universal film and television studios, the USA and Sci-Fi cable networks and amusement parks.