Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 13, 1995 TAG: 9505150018
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: DALLAS LENGTH: Medium
If you've ever wondered how those guys can break a brick with their bare hands, then Chop TV may be just what you've been looking for: It's a cable television channel devoted entirely to martial arts.
Automobiles, boats, planes? There's a channel aimed at just those pursuits. Crazy about infomercials? There's a channel with nothing but.
And don't despair, soap opera fans, a new heartache-and-romance channel could be headed your way.
But don't be surprised if you can't find them on your TV set, because they're among at least 100 new cable channels looking for homes on the nation's crowded cable TV systems.
The average cable system has 40 channels, so it's not easy to persuade cable system owners that they really should dump an old channel of programming in favor of one catering to the likes of pet lovers, parents, bookworms, seniors, or arts and crafts enthusiasts.
And expanding the number of channels on existing systems usually requires laying additional cable or new, larger-capacity fiber optic lines - a hugely expensive proposition.
New-channel executives attending the National Cable Television Association's convention in Dallas say it's getting tougher to break in to the marketplace, despite a new regulatory provision designed to encourage the nation's 11,000 cable systems to add channels.
``The situation is still very difficult,'' said Roger Werner, president of Speedvision, the auto, boating and aviation channel. The channel's only agreement so far is with partner Cox Cable, whose systems serve 3.2 million people, including about 55,000 households in Roanoke.
Speedvision, which will have commercials, will carry historical documentaries, such as a segment on the great ocean liners, and instructional programs like how to fly a plane or repair a wooden boat. And it will cover live racing events, Werner said.
``Channel capacity continues to be a very big issue for all new channels,'' said Nora Ryan, executive vice president of business development for Showtime Networks Inc., which is backing Robert Redford's new independent film channel, Sundance.
The commercial-free Sundance ``will be programmed like a film festival,'' said the network's president, Gary Beer. While the channel will run such films as ``Orlando'' and ``Four Weddings and a Funeral,'' which already have run in theaters, the vast majority of its films will not have been released, Beer said.Like a film festival, the channel will run segments examining the cultural and social issues of a film genre or a filmmakers' point of view. It also will run programs on emerging independent directors like Whit Stillman, who made ``Barcelona'' and ``Metropolitan,'' and established directors like Louis Malle, whose credits include ``Au Revoir, Les Enfants'' and ``Pretty Baby.''
At last year's convention, new-channel executives looking for homes on cable systems were particularly frustrated. Cable rate re-regulation, which took effect in September 1993, discouraged cable systems from adding channels.
The Federal Communications Commission, which wrote the rate regulations, acknowledged there was a problem. Last year the commission eased regulations, permitting cable systems to add channels and charge customers more.
Still, new channels must contend with the aftermath of another cable regulation - one that ended up expanding the number of local broadcast stations carried on cable systems. The provision makes it that much harder for a new cable channel to find a home, executives said.
New digital technology promises to vastly expand cable systems' capacity to hundreds of channels. But the technology, which is still being refined, is expensive.
And cable operators say that regulations could make it hard, if not impossible, to offer such services on a cost-effective basis.
by CNB