Coda

Net Puts Faith in New Name

New York — Faith & Values Media is changing its name to Odyssey Networks, as well as hiring a new president and CEO, according to company officials.

“We’ve always loved the name Odyssey Networks,” said Bob Thompson, the company’s chief operating officer.

Odyssey Networks is also embarking on a new strategy of producing commercially viable faith-based programming, which has been its forte.

The National Interfaith Cable Coalition, a consortium of religious groups that had been doing business as Faith & Values Media, has for years been a program supplier to and investor in Hallmark Channel.

The network has undergone various name changes under its various owners since its founding in 1988, employing the monikers VISN Satellite Network, VISN/ACTS, Faith and Values Channel, Odyssey Channel and, ultimately, Hallmark Channel in 2001.

The network still has many investors, but currently is mainly owned and operated by Crown Media Holdings. Crown was launched by Hallmark Entertainment in 1995, and acquired a stake in then-named Odyssey Channel in 1998.

Thompson has been serving as the NICC’s acting president since president Ed Murray retired in June. The company is in the process of hiring a new president, Thompson said.

Currently the NICC programs a two-hour Sunday block on Hallmark Channel, and last year produced a very successful made-for-TV movie, The Note, for the network.

“That was an important breakthrough for us because it showed we can actually do commercial made-for-TV movies,” Thompson said.

The NICC has expanded its business to supply programming for networks beyond Hallmark Channel.

The company is producing “mission-oriented” programming through several co-ventures with international partners, including the BBC, according to Thompson.

That programming has included Inside the Koran for National Geographic Channel and C.S. Lewis Beyond Narnia, a docudrama for the BBC.

— Linda Moss

All BETs Are Off for Hudlin

New York — BET president of entertainment Reggie Hudlin will leave the company after three years in the position, the network announced last Thursday.

BET CEO Debra Lee said Lee’s departure was “mutual” and that he is returning to his “entrepreneurial roots” as an independent producer.

Executive vice president of music programming & talent Stephen Hill will take over as interim head of entertainment, according to Lee.

Since his appointment in 2005, Hudlin — who along with his brother Warrington produced such films as House Party, Boomerang and The Great White Hype — has developed some of the African-American targeted network’s biggest original series ever, including Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is, American Gangster and Baldwin Hills, as well as its first scripted series, Somebodies, which drew 618,000 viewers for its Sept. 9 premiere.

Under Hudlin’s leadership, the entertainment division produced 17 of the top 20 highest-rated shows in the network’s 28-year history, according to Lee.

“Reggie came here three years ago and did exactly what I wanted him to do … he developed key franchises and great news specials and put together an impressive team of people,” said Lee. “We’ve had a lot of great growth over the past three years, and we have Reggie to thank for it.”

But none of Hudlin’s shows was a breakout ratings hit or helped propel the network into the top of the cable ratings heap.

BET’s 0.5 second-quarter primetime household rating was down 17% from the 0.6 generated for the same period in 2007.

Lee said she expects to have Hudlin’s replacement by no later than the end of 2008, and said she would not hesitate to again look to a Hollywood producer as his successor, although she would not say is she has anyone in mind.

“If we’re going to compete in the original programming space, you need someone with connections in Hollywood who can attract the right talent and producers, and Reggie did a great job at that,” she said.

The Parents Television Council, which has been critical of BET shows such as Rap City for exposing younger viewers to adult content, issued a statement in response to the news of Hudlin’s departure. PTC President Tim Winter called on the network to choose “a successor who will place a high priority on moving towards more appropriate content.”

— R. Thomas Umstead

Back to Beijing For Universal Sports

New York — This month, Universal Sports is replaying all of the major 2008 Summer Olympics Games events from swimming to cycling to beach volleyball, according to network officials. The NBC Universal and Intermedia Partners-owned network also announced several major distribution deals that will more than double its current 13 million subscriber base to 30 million subscribers.

Systems launching the service include Time Warner systems in Dallas/Ft. Worth; Comcast Cable systems in Chicago, San Francisco, and Cox Systems in San Diego, Washington D.C., Hartford, Las Vegas and Omaha, Neb.

“Our first-time encore presentation of NBC Universal’s coverage of the Beijing Games coupled with our broadcasts of key world championships ensures Universal Sports is the preeminent year-round multi-platform destination of Olympic-related and lifestyle sports,” said Universal Sports CEO Claude Ruibal.

— R. Thomas Umstead

Harron Chairman Joel Cohen Dies

New Brunswick, N.J. — Joel C. Cohen, chairman of cable operator Harron Communications and a member of the Cable TV Pioneers, died last Monday of cancer at age 63.

Cohen, a National Cable & Telecommunications Association board member who spent more than 30 years in the cable industry, was Harron’s chief operating officer and chief financial officer until he left in 1995. He then formed Avalon Cable TV with partner David Unger and was its CEO until it was sold to Charter Communications in 1999.

Cohen rejoined Harron as CEO in late 2002 and became chairman in early 2006.

— Kent Gibbons