PRIMESTAR PARTNERS UPSET OVER NO DEAL WITH NFL

     Cable operators that make up Primestar Partners "are furious
at the NFL for not cutting a deal with the direct broadcast
satellite venture."  John Malone, President and CEO of TCI, a
partner in Primestar: "For them to make an exclusive deal with
DirectTV makes no economic sense."  DirectTV, owned by GM,
recently signed a deal with the league allowing them to be the
exculsive DBS supplier to sell NFL games to customers.  One cable
exec in the Primestar partnership said the NFL "left $20 million
on the table by not dealing with us."  The cable group will now
push Primestar to their own customers who want DBS over cable.
One cable exec of a Primestar partner: "It's much smarter to
cannibalize ourselves and keep the business rather than let some
other DBS supplier get it" (Chuck Ross, INSIDE MEDIA, 11/2
issue).