Through the Wire

Bay Area FM Fans Get Air Faves Back

There's finally proof that it pays for disaffected consumers to make a lot of noise about changes in the cable lineup. When Comcast Corp. took over cable systems in the San Francisco Bay area from AT&T Cable, consumers were polled regarding the programming they wanted on their cable systems. A legacy service on the lineup was FM radio reception, and subscribers named that near the bottom of the “most wanted” list.

So the operator began phasing out that feature with little response from consumers, until the drop announcement hit homes in Marin County across the bay. Because of topography, those consumers get poor to no FM reception from San Francisco stations without the help of cable. A noisy protest ensued, involving county leaders and including a vociferous protest crowd outside the Moscone Convention Center during this year's National Show. (The protest linked up with one organized by the Communications Workers of America.)

The “shot of publicity” is cited as the reason, during the latest subscriber survey that FM service jumped among the top-five must-haves, said Andrew Johnson, Comcast vice president of communications in the Bay Area. FM service, including 30 stations, will return to the cable lineup in September, after the operator concludes carriage agreements with the stations.

Customers will have to take at least basic cable ($14-$18) and get a digital box ($5) to get FM stations. It will be included in the programming for current digital customers.

“We listen to our customers,” Johnson said.

Meet Phil, Cable Guy: It's One Looney Tune

Time Warner Cable is beginning to experiment with weblogs — the latest Internet fad — as a way to market its services. Web surfers visiting Time Warner South Carolina's site are now greeted by a cartoon character named “Phil The Cable Guy,” who posts blog entries each day that tout cable programming and video-on-demand offerings.

The blog was created by Philip Looney, the division's sales channel development coordinator, who bears a striking resemblance to the Phil the Cable Guy cartoon, according to system reps.

While Looney's job is focused on sales, readers won't get any hard pitches in Phil's blog. His entries, such as one last Thursday about Discovery Channel's “Shark Week” lineup, are more aimed at informing subscribers about cool cable programming.

One of our favorite Phil the Cable Guy entries was his commentary about GSN's new Ball Breakers billiards program, where players compete for a chance to win $20,000.

“If that's not enough reality for you, they've thrown in Adrienne Curry, winner of the first season of America's Top Model, as the Rack Girl,” Phil wrote in a recent blog entry.

Phil may even show up one day in Time Warner commercials. “Originally we did not have plans to turn Phil the Cable Guy into a component of our media creative; however, his buzz seems to be growing, so you may well see him playing a creative role in our media in the future,” a system spokeswoman said.

Blogs could show up at other Time Warner systems. “Each division, individually, may be looking at whether blogging will support their public messaging,” says corporate spokesman Keith Cocozza.

A Critics Tour Trio: Howie, Kirk, Kathy

As usual, the critic's tour, this year at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., was a mix of wall-to-wall programming presentations as networks tried to convince the nation's television writers that they have the next break-out hit.

Here are some snapshots of the talent who stole the show:

— Howie Mandel, who will have a hidden-camera show on Bravo, didn't get the benefit of a panel devoted to his show, but he did join Wire correspondents for lunch one day.

Word to the wise: if you ever meet him, don't ask to shake his hand. That simple act got us talking about his obsessive-compulsive habits, and we barely talked about his show. Mandel's OCD is so bad, he told us, the handshake would have sent him in search of a restroom so he could wash his hands 20 times. He also travels with his own plastic place settings and makes paths of clean towels through his hotel rooms.

Despite all that, he has managed to cope and continue his stand-up career, maintain a 30-year-marriage and, yes, shoot that show for Bravo. Mandel said he pitched the concept to NBC but the pilot “just didn't work.” So he went home and shot it himself, with no network interference, and Bravo picked it up.

— He's old, yes. He's had a stroke. But Kirk (Spartacus) Douglas is still full of vinegar. He was scheduled at the tour to promote a Lee Grant-directed Home Box Office documentary featuring a dialogue between the elder Douglas and his son, Michael, but instead he appeared via satellite from home as he is recovering from surgery.

Michael Douglas used this as an example of how you can't tell his dad anything. Against family and medical advice, the 89-year-old actor has had knee replacement surgery. “I got a new knee so I can audition for Dancing With the Stars,” the actor quipped, needling the younger Douglas that he would compete with Michael's wife, Catherine Zeta Jones.

— Kathy Griffin, like Dennis Leary before her, became this tour's critic's favorite for her shoot-from-the-lip style. She doesn't use as many F-bombs as Leary, but her rants are just as pointed and, often, downright mean. After all, who else would start a rumor at the Golden Globes that adorable Dakota Fanning (War of the Worlds) is already headed for rehab?

Griffin's biggest targets lately are tabloid faves Tom Cruise and Angelina Jolie, railing on them with language that would have sent our parents searching for that sure-fire potty mouth remedy, Lava soap. Creepily, her parents were in the audience, smiling beatifically at their D-List daughter.

Anyone within her gaze is fair game, but she admitted that in her own Bravo reality show, Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, she edited out painful scenes dealing with the aftermath of botched LASIK surgery that has compromised her vision. Her explanation for the double standard? “Nobody wants to see that.”

Contributor: Steve Donohue.