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

DATE: FRIDAY, March 8, 1991                   TAG: 9103080114
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Short

CABLE TV SOON MAY LET YOU TALK BACK/ 150-CHANNEL SYSTEM IN THE WORKS

The company said those customers also would get so-called interactive capabilities that will give them unprecedented control over what they want to watch and when they want to see it.

The service will be available initially in parts of New York City's borough of Queens, and the company plans to expand it to other parts of the city and the nation over the next few years. It offered no estimate of how much the expansion would cost.

Company executives cited as examples channels that would offer opera, ballet performances, sports events, concerts, interactive educational services, shopping channels from around the world and music videos on demand.

Once the system expands nationally, they said, it could be used by medical experts, for instance, to consult on emergency surgical cases or by college students to hear and question lecturers addressing them from distant locations.

"Our system . . . is equipped to handle high-definition, wide-screen TV, voice interactivity and linkages with computers, fax machines and personal communications networks upon license approval," said Steven J. Ross, chairman and co-chief executive of Time Warner.