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Allen May Take Charter Private
Charter Communications chairman and largest individual shareholder Paul Allen revealed in a federal filing Wednesday that he is mulling several options for the St. Louis-based cable company -- including taking the cable operator private. In an SEC filing Wednesday, Allen – who owns 52% of Charter’s equity and 91% of its voting shares – said that he may consider, among other options, a going-private transaction through which he would end up owning all or substantially all of Charter’s outstanding shares. Allen also said he would consider a recapitalization or restructuring of the company, a merger, reorganization or sale of material assets. Allen, who has pumped about $7 billion of his own money into Charter since acquiring the cable operator in 1998, has seen his investment dwindle over the years. Charter went public in 1999 at $20 per share, but the stock, which has been rebounding of late, has fallen off substantially overall. Charter shares were trading at $2.57 each on Wednesday.
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DirecTV, WOW Top J.D. Survey
DirecTV ranked highest in customer satisfaction in three regions and WOW! ranked highest in one region among cable and satellite providers, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Residential Cable/Satellite Satisfaction Study. DirecTV ranked highest in the East, West and South regions.
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IBM Wins Converter Contract
IBM won a $120 million government contract Wednesday to supply digital-to-analog converters to consumers after the February 2009 cutoff of analog broadcast signals. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration said IBM will get $84.9 million for the base period of the contract, and $34.8 million for a contingent period.
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DirecTV Cuts WiMax Deal
As promised this spring, DirecTV closed a wholesale-distribution deal with Current Group that will allow it to offer high-speed Internet and voice services over electric power lines. DirecTV will partner with Current and use its broadband over powerlines infrastructure by early next year. DirecTV will have access to Current’s BPL network, initially in Dallas- Fort Worth, Texas, in an area that will cover about 1.8 million homes and businesses.
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EchoStar Launches Football Campaign
EchoStar kicked off a “football 24/7” advertising campaign, offering subscribers its $29.99 monthly programming package, which includes games on NFL Network. Although EchoStar rival DirecTV has exclusive rights to the popular NFL Sunday Ticket package, EchoStar is looking to use its distribution of NFL Network to attract football fans.
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Degeneres Hosts TBS Special
Ellen DeGeneres will look to be the hostess with the most laughs when she heads an upcoming variety show for TBS in November. The two-hour variety special Ellen’s Really Big Show, featuring performances from the worlds of comedy and music, will be shot as part as part of HBO and AEG’s Live’s The Comedy Festival, which will take at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas from Nov. 14-17.
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Showtime Comedy Block Sparks Up
The third-season premiere of Weeds was smoking, setting the stage for a strong beginning for Showtime’s rookie comedy Californication. Weeds attracted 824,000 viewers during its 10 p.m. time slot on Aug. 13, a best-ever for show. The second-half of the comedy block, Californication, got out of the gate fast, drawing 550,000 viewers to rank as Showtime’s best-ever comedy series launch.
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Anime Licenses Series
Anime Network said it licensed anime series B’tx and AM Driver from Illumitoon Entertainment. B’tx will premiere Sept. 6 on Anime’s video-on-demand channel. AM Driver premieres Sept. 9.
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ION Licenses '48 Hours'
ION Media Networks closed a multi-year acquisition deal with CBS Television Distribution to air the newsmagazine 48 Hours on its flagship television network. Peviously aired installments of 48 Hours will be updated with new graphics and wraps by host Erin Moriarty, and begin running on ION in Q4.
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Logo's Internet Marketing Campaign
Continuing its push into the community, Logo signed an agreement to acquire DowneLink.com, a leading social networking site for the multicultural lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) audience.
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Miss America Digs TLC Move
New York -- Miss America says she’s pleased next year’s competition will be televised on TLC. “I think it will be a great partnership. It’s a multiyear contract and it’s a multimillion dollar contract,’’ Miss America 2007 Lauren Nelson, of Lawton, Okla., said on Wednesday. “I think it will be good for the pageant. I think it will be good for TLC.” Nelson visited the Multichannel News offices here, speaking out on behalf of her flagship issue, Internet safety. She has testified on Capitol Hill on the issue; and has made roughly four or five public appearances weekly, since assuming the crown in January.
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