THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 27, 1996 TAG: 9606270037
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: LARRY BONKO
LENGTH: 89 lines
THE FAMILIAR FACE of NBC anchorman Tom Brokaw will pop up on cable starting July 15, when the Peacock network and Microsoft launch MSNBC, a 24-hour news, information and talk network to rival CNN.
You'll also be seeing Jane Pauley and Bryant Gumbel there, too.
However, it won't be until Aug. 1 when Cox Communications in Hampton Road begins delivering MSNBC to its 200,000-plus subscribers on Channel 23. That announcement was made in Virginia Beach by Cox marketing and sales manager Larry Michel, who said The Nashville Network, now occupying Channel 23, will move to another channel in August.
MSNBC won't be starting from scratch. NBC has converted the America's Talking cable network into MSNBC, giving it an instant reach of 22 million cable households.
``No other network has been launched with this many subscribers,'' said Bob Wright, the president and chief executive officer of NBC in addressing reporters on closed-circuit TV from Manhattan.
The MSNBC project is much more than bringing another cable channel into your living room.
In partnership with computer software giant Microsoft, which paid NBC $220 million for a 50 percent stake in America's Talking, NBC will also supply a news and information service to users of personal computers.
NBC and Microsoft announced that MSNBC on the Internet will be available to home computers via the worldwide web (http://www.msnbc.com) starting on July 15. NBC will also feed news and information to The Microsoft Network on-line service.
For the first time, people using home computers will be able to check out local, international and national news - including text, audio and video - that has been produced by the news division of a TV network and its affiliates.
Michel did not say if cable rates will rise when MSNBC is added to the Cox lineup. Nor did he say if Cox also has plans to add Fox Broadcasting's around-the-clock news channel when it begins in September.
Unlike CNN, which isn't much on star power, NBC has marquee names in news and sports, and has recruited them for MSNBC. That's an example, said Wright, of how his network is using the full value of its resources in this cable and computer venture.
Look for some appearances by Brokaw on ``Internight,'' an interview program scheduled Monday through Saturday at 8 p.m. on MSNBC cable. And look for Brokaw and his NBC News colleagues to visit MSNBC's Internet chat rooms.
``This is one giant step for electronic journalism,'' said NBC News president Andrew Lack when the MSNBC-Microsoft partnership was announced.
Gumbel and Katie Couric of ``Today,'' as well as Brokaw, sports anchor Bob Costas and commentator Bill Moyers will participate in ``Internight,'' to be followed Monday through Friday at 9 p.m. by ``The News with Brian Williams.''
MSNBC's evening programming begins at 7 p.m. with ``Time and Again,'' anchored by Pauley. It's a nightly documentary, a history of the 20th century. The cable channel's prime-time schedule concludes at 10 with ``The Site,'' an hour about how technology is evolving.
The daytime block of news and talk begins at 9 a.m. and runs until ``Time and Again'' signs on at 7 p.m. The daytime anchors include Jodi Applegate, John Gibson, Ed Gordon and John Seigenthaler. Gordon will also anchor the Saturday edition of ``Internight.''
Other weekend programs include ``Hockenberry'' with ``Dateline NBC'' correspondent John Hockenberry on Saturday at 7 p.m., Williams' weekend news program Saturday at 9 p.m. and ``Internight Weekend Edition'' Sunday night at 8 - the best of previous week's ``Internight'' interviews.
``NBC News' most respected and recognized correspondents, anchors and commentators will have highly visible roles on MSNBC. NBC News on cable and the Internet will come with the same dedication to quality journalism, production and programming as its broadcast counterpart,'' said NBC spokeswoman Beth Comstock.
She also said MSNBC will be different from CNN (64 million U.S. subscribers) but gave no details other than to say that NBC and Microsoft will put on programming that will appeal to young viewers.
``The cornerstone of MSNBC's programming will be coverage of breaking news,'' she said.
As it is now, NBC News has to get it done in 2 1/2 hours of daily programming not counting ``Dateline NBC.'' Said Brokaw, ``It's gratifying to know that when a big story breaks, we'll have all the time we need to get the story to viewers. In the past, when there was a big story to be covered, NBC News quickly moved to get the people and technology in place. The problem was that we rarely had enough time to air all the story.''
That changes on July 15 elsewhere, and on Aug. 1 in Hampton Roads, when NBC News begins delivering news around the clock on cable and on the Internet. ``NBC and Microsoft have come together to report on news for the next millennium,'' said Wright. ``It will be a unique combination of content and technology.''
And it comes with people you've been inviting into your home for years. ILLUSTRATION: Microsoft and NBC launch their 24-hour information
network on July 15. by CNB