• Cablevision Shares Five-Year High
• Inside Verizon’s FCC Talks
• Clearwire Scores $1 Billion Loan
• NBC Renews Wimbledon Contract
• Illinois Gov. Signs Franchise Law
• NatGeo Hires Programming Chief
• Sigler Stars in Lifetime Miniseries

• Sky Angel Promotes Executives
• Sky Italia Cuts Gemstar Deal
• Gates Returns to CES

• Telemundo Anchor Dates L.A. Mayor
• Hannah Montana Rules Billboard Charts
• AT&T Shuns Set-Top Waiver

Cablevision Shares Five-Year High
Shares of Cablevision Systems rose more than 3% ($1.30 per share) to $37.73 per share on Thursday, surpassing the $36.26 per share offer its ruling Dolan family made in May to take the company private and casting further doubt that shareholders will approve the plan. It was the highest level Cablevision stock has reached in about five years. The shares last traded higher than $37.73 each in March 2002. Spurring the rise in the share price was a research report issued by Sanford Bernstein cable and satellite analyst Craig Moffett on Thursday, which stated that given the company’s growth projections over the next four years, Cablevision could be worth twice what the Dolan’s have offered. click to read more...
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Inside Verizon’s FCC Talks
Verizon told the Federal Communications Commission June 29 that it would eventually move to all-digital video distribution, hours before the agency issued an order exempting the phone company from the integrated set-top ban based on that commitment. Late last Friday, the FCC’s Media Bureau granted waivers of the July 1 ban to Verizon and about 120 other video providers that currently have all-digital networks or have promised to convert to all-digital transmission by Feb. 17, 2009. Meanwhile, the agency denied requests by the National Cable & Telecommunications Association and 10 cable operators. In a July 3 letter to the FCC, Comcast attorney Jonathan Friedman said the agency’s treatment of the Verizon waiver request “raises serious questions about the integrity of the waiver process.” click to read more...
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Clearwire Scores $1 Billion Loan
Clearwire, the wireless high-speed Internet provider, secured a $1 billion loan that it will use to refinance its debt and expand operations. The company, founded by mobile phone pioneer Craig McCaw, recently unveiled distribution agreements with DirecTV and EchoStar Communications, who will offer its high-speed data service as part of their bundles. click to read more...
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NBC Renews Wimbledon Contract
NBC Sports netted a familiar doubles partner, The Wimbledon Championships, which will guarantee at least a 40-year marriage. According to sources at ESPN, the total sports network has also reached an agreement in principle to extend its Wimbledon rights. click to read more...
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Illinois Gov. Signs Franchise Law
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed a law which assigns franchising authority to the state’s Commerce Commission. The governor said the bill, SB678 will provide consumers with more providers while requiring incumbent operators to provide more reliable, on-time service. In addition to shifting franchising authority to state officials, the bill introduces a number of new customer service rules, such as the implementation of standards for installation, repair, telephone response time, billing, collections and services for the disabled. click to read more...
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NatGeo Hires Programming Chief
National Geographic Channel has found a successor to John Ford as the network’s top programmer. Former Discovery official Steve Burns was named executive vice president, content. click to read more...
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Sigler Stars in Lifetime Miniseries
The new Lifetime original series The Gathering will debut this October. The show will air as a two part, four-hour miniseries starring Peter Fonda, Peter Gallagher, and Jamie-Lynn Sigler. click to read more...
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Sky Angel Promotes Executives
Dominion Video Satellite owner and operator of the Sky Angel Christian-owned family-oriented TV service, made several promotions at its Naples, Fla., corporate headquarters and Cleveland, Tenn., operations. click to read more...
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Sky Italia Cuts Gemstar Deal
Rupert Murdoch’s Sky Italia, a satellite-television service with 4 million subscribers, signed a multiyear patent-licensing agreement with Gemstar-TV Guide International. click to read more...
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Gates Returns to CES
Top executives from Microsoft, Panasonic and Intel will deliver keynote addresses at the 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show, official said Thursday. Microsoft chairman Bill Gates will deliver a pre-show keynote address Jan. 6, 2008, at 6:30 p.m. click to read more...
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