Discovery Times Joins Freedom Forum for 1st Amendment Venture
In its first such partnership since launching, Discovery Times Channel has joined with The Freedom Forum, a nonpartisan foundation, in a joint venture to inform the public about issues relating to the First Amendment.
The first collaboration under the joint venture is a series of 60-second interstitials examining the results of the Forum’s annual State of the First Amendment survey. Those interstitials are being broadcast Friday, Aug. 1.
Discovery Times is a joint venture between Discovery Communications and The New York Times Co
Kennedy, Clinton Want FCC ‘Language Minority’ Regulation: Sens. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., today introduced legislation that would require the Federal Communications Commission to hold public hearings on applications to transfer radio and TV licenses of stations used “primarily to serve language minorities.” In a statement, Sen. Kennedy said the measure is intended to ensure that American Indians, Asian Americans, Alaskan natives and Hispanic Americans “are not injured by excessive media concentration of companies that broadcast primarily in their native languages.”
AOL’s Turner Selling More Shares: AOL Director Ted Turner continued to pare down his holdings in AOL Time Warner stock, selling 3 million shares Wednesday, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing submitted late Thursday.
The sale, which was executed at $15.60 a share, leaves Mr. Turner owning around 38.1 million shares directly and another 2.7 million shares indirectly, down sharply from the 131 million shares he held as of Jan. 31.
Mr. Turner has been trimming his stake in the company for much of this year. In May Mr. Turner sold 60 million shares owned by him and a charitable trust he controls.
Spike Jones Jr. to Produce Emmys: Spike Jones Jr. will return to produce his ninth Primetime Emmy Awards, Television Academy Chairman Bryce Zabel announced today.
“Spike Jones Jr. always brings a fresh vision and approach to the Creative Arts Emmy Awards and every year he tops himself,” Mr. Zabel said. “We are thrilled to welcome him back.”
Mr. Jones has produced many televised award and variety shows and produced and directed projects for HBO, Showtime, A&E Networks and other cable networks. The Emmy Awards will be held Saturday, Sept. 13 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.
Tennis Channel Expands by 16 Markets: The recently launched Tennis Channel has added distribution in 16 new markets, expanding its current footprint to 18 states and more than 8 million basic cable homes.
The newest distribution includes Time Warner Cable systems in Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Memphis, Tenn., Waco, Texas, and Greensboro and Winston-Salem, N.C.; Cox Cable systems in Baton Rouge, La., and Pensacola, Fla.; and Knology systems in Knoxville, Tenn., Charleston, S.C., Panama City, Fla., Huntsville and Montgomery, Ala., and Augusta, Columbus and West Point Valley, Ga.
Cartoon Channel Adds ‘Knights’: Cartoon Network’s latest addition to its Saturday evening action programming block is “Knights of the Zodiac,” a futuristic action-adventure Japanese anime that will debut Aug. 30.