
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, May 26, 1990                   TAG: 9005260507
SECTION: SPECTATOR                    PAGE: 1   EDITION: METRO  
SOURCE: Cox News Service
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

CHANNELS LOOK FOR SPACE ON CROWDED DIAL

Willie Nelson once advised mothers not to let their babies grow up to be cowboys. Now he's changing his tune, urging families to watch cowboys on television.

Nelson's latest venture is The Cowboy Channel, one of several cable network wanna-bes competing for space on increasingly crowded cable boxes.

Nelson, whose Cowboy Channel title is chairman of the board, will be an on-camera host, along with friends Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson and Roger Miller. President Mack Long said a Nov. 29 launch is planned for the channel. It will show reruns of old Western TV series ("Wyatt Earp," "Gunsmoke"), Western movies, concerts, rodeos, wrestling and some original movies.

It's one of the few fledgling networks that cable operators give much chance of succeeding.

The problem is that most cable systems are at channel capacity and can't expand without expensive equipment changes. That would mean rate hikes. And with Congress eyeing a re-regulation bill because of recent rate increases, that idea isn't popular right now among cable managers.

"We've had to delay our start-up because so many systems are at capacity," says Thomas Collins, executive vice president of ATV. That network will be all advertising - mostly "infomercials," or show-length ads that resemble talk shows and frequently use celebrities to pitch products.

Although the market is tough, Collins says, he still believes ATV is viable and will eventually catch on.

Also vying for attention:

- The Sci-Fi Channel, a privately owned business in Boca Raton, Fla., has enlisted Isaac Asimov and "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry as advisers. The channel, which hopes to begin early in 1991, will mix old TV series, fantasy and horror movies and original programming, such as "Haunted House," a kids' game show.

- In Court, a cable channel currently operating in Long Island, N.Y., hopes to expand to national service this fall. It will show nothing but real trials, mostly live, from the 44 states that allow TV cameras in the courtroom. In Court has competition, though, from The American Trial Network, which has the same plan, and has hired former CBS Newsman Fred Graham as host.

- Talk TV Network plans 18 straight hours of talk a day when it launches in January 1991, with viewer call-ins similar to local talk radio.

- The Senior American Network, which will target viewers aged 50 and older with 2 seniors' sporting events and beauty pageants.

- The Monitor Channel will be information programming produced by the Christian Science Monitor's TV division.

- E!, a total revamping of Movietime that will be like a 24-hour-a-day "Entertainment Tonight."

by CNB