Broadcasting Oct 31 - American Radio History

Franchising phase out
Group W Cable said last week that it will
phase out its franchising department and
lay off approximately 100 employes, mostly
in New York, by the end of the year. A
spokesman said the layoffs would include
some employes in franchising, some in ac-
counting and some in other areas.
Actually the headquarters staff is being
reduced to about 85 employes from about
250, according to the spokesman, but much
of that reduction is being accomplished by
the transfer of functions, "notably in the ac-
counting area," from headquarters to field
locations.
The transfers were said to be an exten-
sion of a decentralization program that had
cut the New York staff to its present 250
employes from 400 two years ago. "Greater
operating efficiencies" resulting from the in-
stallation of a new management information
system were also cited as contributors to
the layoffs and transfer program.
The company -wide total of about 100 lay-
offs "amounts to just under 1.5% of our 7,200
employes in 35 states," the company said.
The phasing -out of the company's franchis-
ing program should surprise no one, the
spokesman said, because Group W has not
been active lately in seeking new franchises
and sees no important franchise opportuni-
ties outstanding. Jane Hartley, head of fran-
chising, will remain with the company in a
related but as yet unspecified capacity, ac-
cording to the spokesman.
He denied that the upcoming layoffs were
in any way related to the Group W Satellite
Communications decision to sell Satellite
News Channels or were being undertaken
on orders from Westinghouse Electric Co.,
parent of Westinghouse Broadcasting and
Cable, which is the parent of Group W Cable
and GWSC. He said the layoffs and reas-
signments were being made "simply to
(CGble'CGSti2 gs)
make the company a better run, better man-
aged, more efficient business." He empha-
sizet that the company is still growing:
Even with the termination of 100 employes,
he said, the work force at the end of the year
will total 7,100 as compared with 5,900 at
the end of 1982.
CBS connection
CBS Interconnects, a recently established
subsidiary of CBS/Broadcast Group, has an-
nounced it has signed a deal with Centel
Videopath reserving capacity on its micro-
wave system in the Chicago area which cur-
rently connects seven cable systems and
will add 17 systems to the interconnect by
mid -1984. CBS Interconnects is negotiating
with those cable systems, and hopes to con-
clude agreements with them whereby it
would act as a cable advertising representa-
tive, selling a portion of their local commer-
cial availabilities to regional advertisers.
The Chicago area currently has 350,000 ca-
ble subscribers and projects 1.1 million by
1986 after most of the city is wired.
Disney character
After six months and one week of operation,
the Disney Channel is right on track, ac-
cording to the family -oriented network's
president, Jim Jimirro. "The happy news,
from our point of view," Jimirro said in a
speech before the Washington Metropolitan
Cable Club last Thursday, "is that all of our
assumptions [about the demand for the ser-
vice] are intact."
With 500,000 subscribers in some 1,000
cable systems, he said, the service is well on
the way to reaching the breakeven point-
on schedule -some time around its second
anniversay in April 1985. What chum the
service has suffered, he said, is due solely to
'NNTN' goes to D.C. The cast of HBO's successful comedy spoof, Not Necessarily the
News, went to Washington last week to celebrate its first season and to tape some capital
locations for its second season, which begins in January. Festivities were held at the Corco-
ran Gallery of Art where HBO President Michael Fuchs opened the program. On hand were (I-
r): producers John Moffitt and Pat Lee; cast members Stuart Pankin, Mitchell Laurance, Anne
Bloom, Audrie Neenan and Danny Breen, and Fuchs.
Broadcasting Oct 31 1983
A
the pricing, packaging and marketing of the
service. "I know of no churn that is related to
consumer dissatisfaction with the service,"
he said.
Municipal objections
Foes of a municipal cable operation in Cam-
bridge, Mass., have mounted a constitu-
tional challenge against the city's order for-
bidding any municipal employe from
unauthorized talk or meetings with cable
industry representatives. A federal judge
has taken the suit, which alleges that the
order violates the First and 14th Amend-
ments, under advisement. Cambridge vot-
ers will decide Nov. 8 whether the city
should be able to compete with other appli-
cants for the 21,000 -home franchise.
Compromise falters
The compromise between the National
League of Cities and the National Cable
Television Association on cable deregula-
tion legislation appears to be collapsing.
NLC President Charles Royer, mayor of Se-
attle, sent a letter last week to House Tele-
communications Subcommittee Chairman
Tim Wirth (D- Colo.) outlining specific prob-
lems the league has with Wirth's cable bill
(H.R.4103), which embodies the compro-
mise. The letter also refers to a resolution
passed by a key NLC committee, which
would essentially nullify the NLC -NCTA
agreement (BROADCASTING, Oct. 10). And
Royer suggests that when NLC members
gather for their annual meeting in Novem-
ber, the league may change its position.
Royer notes that H.R. 4103 fails to provide
municipal franchising authorities with ade-
quate authority to "ensure diversity of infor-
mation or to protect other essential interests
of consumers." Royer cites numerous short-
comings in the legislation and asks for revi-
sions on key issues concerning rate regula-
tion, leased access, public, educational and
governmental access, franchise renewal, fa-
cilities and services and franchise fees.
"While H.R. 4103 has some good features,
it is clear that a number of major changes
must be made if the interests of consumers
are to be fully protected. We are pleased,
however, that you recognize diversity of in-
formation as the central public policy issue,
a view which I have long shared," the letter
said.
City restraints
The National Cable Television Association
charged municipal governments with "mis-
using their authority to regulate cable."
NCTA leveled that charge in a white paper
called "City Regulation of Cable TV:Its Im-
pact on Consumers," and circulated it
among House members. "Examples of mis-