Coda
by Staff -- Multichannel News, 3/2/2008 7:00:00 PM
MSGN's Plus-Sized Sibling
New York — Cablevision Systems' FSN New York regional sports network is getting a facelift.
Madison Square Garden Network's sister service will be renamed MSG Plus on March 10 and will celebrate its rebrand with a live simulcast of The Tennis Channel's coverage of the Roger Federer-Pete Sampras exhibition tennis match from namesake arena Madison Square Garden.
As part of its coverage of the match, MSG Plus will be producing Buick-sponsored pre- and post-match shows, as well as a live stream of the match along with live analysis on its Web site (www.msg.com).
MSG Media officials say that the fusion of the network and the Web will be a staple of the newly branded service. For example, the network will allow viewers to e-mail questions and comments during the network's New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils National Hockey League telecasts that game announcers will read within the game.
The new-look service will also feature a bottom screen 24-hour news ticker.
While the network will have a new on-screen look, its content will continue to consist of live hockey games, local sports news and features, and Fox Sports Net national programming, including Best Damn Sports Show, according to MSG officials.
— R. Thomas Umstead
Verizon's Swinging For Extra Innings
New York — Verizon Communications said it is in negotiations with Major League Baseball to offer its “MLB Extra Innings” package to FiOS TV subscribers, but cautioned that there's no guarantee a deal will be done by the time the season starts.
“We're hopefully finishing up the negotiations” with MLB, said Verizon senior vice president of media relations Eric Rabe. But, he added, “I can't guarantee that the deal will be done.”
Rabe declined to say whether Verizon has agreed to carry the league's 24-hour MLB Channel, expected to launch in 2009, as part of the Extra Innings negotiations.
MLB representatives did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
The Extra Innings package offers subscribers as many as 60 out-of-market games a week during the regular season, with some contests available in high-definition.
Even if Verizon and MLB come to terms on a deal, Extra Innings would not be available in every FiOS TV market immediately. Verizon must reconfigure each of its 13 video hub offices around the country to be able to carry the service, Rabe said, a process that could take somewhere around eight weeks.
— Todd Spangler
Viacom Revs Up To Raise Fees
New York — Viacom reported strong revenue and operating income growth for the fourth quarter, primarily driven by gains at its cable networks like MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon.
Revenue increased 19% in the quarter, to $4.5 billion, while adjusted operating income rose 18% in the period, to $978 million. At its Media Networks division, which includes the MTV Networks and BET Networks cable channels, revenue rose 18% to $2.4 billion and adjusted operating income increased 15% to $915.5 million.
Viacom said worldwide advertising revenue for the unit was up 9% to $1.39 billion. Domestic advertising revenue rose 5% in the period.
On a conference call with analysts, Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman said that the advertising market has been strong, adding that fourth-quarter scatter pricing for Viacom networks is averaging double-digit pricing increases over the upfronts.
Dauman hinted that strong ratings at several networks will lead to higher affiliate fees from cable, satellite TV and telephone companies as carriage deals come up for renewal, and singled out one network in particular — Comedy Central.
“Comedy Central is a much more powerful brand and a much more successful network with a lot of great franchises than it was many years ago, when many of the current affiliation agreements were entered into,” Dauman said. “As we go forward we expect to have a constructive dialogue with our partners — both cable, satellite and telcos — about the value that we bring to them and their consumers and we expect to get nice rate increases.”
Dauman did not elaborate on the timing of when those deals may be up for renewal. However, the media giant last renewed deals for MTV Networks in 2003 and 2004 with several multichannel operators, including Comcast, DirecTV and Mediacom Communications.
— Mike Farrell
NTIA Loses Topper — Again
Washington — For the second time since November, the Bush administration is losing the Commerce Department official in charge of the $1.5 billion subsidy program designed to help millions of consumers watch digital-TV signals on their old analog sets after early 2009.
Acting Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information Meredith Attwell Baker, also acting National Telecommunications and Information Administration administrator, is leaving her post in the government.
“She's been talking for months to Commerce Department officials about her intent to leave,” said NTIA communications director Todd Sedmak, who didn't know Baker's exact departure date.
Baker, daughter-in-law of former Secretary of State James Baker, joined the Commerce Department in 2004. She moved up to acting NTIA administrator late last year, filling a vacancy left by John Kneuer when he joined the private sector.
— Ted Hearn
Everybody Is MMA Fighting
New York — CBS will jump into the mixed martial arts ring when it televises four ProElite Inc.-distributed events a year as part of a multiyear agreement between the two parties.
The deal calls for CBS to air four live, Saturday-night events beginning in late April or early May from ProElite's Elite XC MMA franchise, a partnership between the MMA company and CBS sister cable service Showtime. The pay TV company will continue to air Elite XC shows and distribute the franchise's pay-per-view events.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
— R. Thomas Umstead
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