Constellation Bearish About TV One
By Simon Applebaum -- Multichannel News, 7/15/2003 8:43:00 AM
Constellation Ventures, Bear Stearns Cos. Inc.'s media-centric venture-capital unit, will make a multimillion-dollar investment in TV One, the upcoming cable channel aimed at African Americans and jointly managed by Comcast Corp. and Radio One Inc.
Constellation senior managing director Clifford Friedman disclosed the situation during his presentation at the New York Venture Summit Tuesday morning. "We're about to be a part of it," he said in reference to TV One, which plans to launch in January.
Friedman would not divulge how much Constellation will invest in the channel. However, he noted in passing that other investments by his firm involved as much as $20 million-$25 million.
TV One is the second new cable-programming venture Constellation is participating with this year. Earlier, the unit joined The Coca-Cola Co. and other investment sources in launching College Sports Television, the 24-hour digital network devoted to the college-sports scene. One of those sources was a group of athletes that formed an angel investment venture.
CSTV launched in early April, after the conclusion of the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship. At the moment, it is being distributed full-time by DirecTV Inc. and on a video-on-demand basis through In Demand.
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