March 23 — AOL Time Warner plans to launch a cable TV music channel by the end of the year or early 2002 that would directly compete with MTV and VH1 while at the same time solidifying the media giant’s plans to combine its music, broadcast and computer properties, sources familiar with the channel told MSNBC.com.
THE CHANNEL, which will likely be called “AOL Music,” is expected to launch by the end of the year or early 2002, the sources said. The timing of the launch is planned to avoid other major events like the baseball World Series in October, though AOL is looking into buying a Super Bowl advertisement to promote the new channel.
AOL Time Warner did not return calls for comment.
The new music channel would likely be run by Jamie Kellner, chief executive of AOL Time Warner’s Turner Broadcasting group, sources told MSNBC.com. Earlier this month, AOL Time Warner merged its broadcast and cable networks under Kellner, the founder and chairman of the company’s WB network.
At the time, AOL Time Warner co-COO Bob Pittman said the restructuring would give greater efficiencies to the company’s cable networks, including CNN, TBS, TNT and the Cartoon Network, and allow for starting new channels. Pittman, of course, has a background with starting music channels, as he was one of the co-founders of MTV.
It is unclear whether the channel will be a new channel that will have to vie for space on already tight cable channel lineups — though a new AOL Music channel would likely have no problem getting space on Time Warner Cable, which serves 12.7 million customers.
Another scenario is that the channel would “piggyback,” or begin as partial-day programming, on one of the Turner channels, like TNT. This would become more likely if the company finds a buyer for World Class Wrestling, which has been a staple of Turner programming before losing a ratings war with the World Wrestling Federation, according to one of the sources.
Want to learn more?
http://www.msnbc.com/news/548754.asp
------------------
"I occasionally think how quickly our differences worldwide would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world. And yet, I ask, is not an alien force ALREADY among us?" - Ronald Reagan
THE CHANNEL, which will likely be called “AOL Music,” is expected to launch by the end of the year or early 2002, the sources said. The timing of the launch is planned to avoid other major events like the baseball World Series in October, though AOL is looking into buying a Super Bowl advertisement to promote the new channel.
AOL Time Warner did not return calls for comment.
The new music channel would likely be run by Jamie Kellner, chief executive of AOL Time Warner’s Turner Broadcasting group, sources told MSNBC.com. Earlier this month, AOL Time Warner merged its broadcast and cable networks under Kellner, the founder and chairman of the company’s WB network.
At the time, AOL Time Warner co-COO Bob Pittman said the restructuring would give greater efficiencies to the company’s cable networks, including CNN, TBS, TNT and the Cartoon Network, and allow for starting new channels. Pittman, of course, has a background with starting music channels, as he was one of the co-founders of MTV.
It is unclear whether the channel will be a new channel that will have to vie for space on already tight cable channel lineups — though a new AOL Music channel would likely have no problem getting space on Time Warner Cable, which serves 12.7 million customers.
Another scenario is that the channel would “piggyback,” or begin as partial-day programming, on one of the Turner channels, like TNT. This would become more likely if the company finds a buyer for World Class Wrestling, which has been a staple of Turner programming before losing a ratings war with the World Wrestling Federation, according to one of the sources.
Want to learn more?
http://www.msnbc.com/news/548754.asp
------------------
"I occasionally think how quickly our differences worldwide would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world. And yet, I ask, is not an alien force ALREADY among us?" - Ronald Reagan
