Time Warner begins its interactive experiment in Orlando on
Wednesday. The Orlando system "is undoubtedly the most
futuristic network introduced so far" (Edmond Andrews, N.Y.
TIMES, 12/12). Analyst Martyn Roetter of Decision Resources
estimates that interactive TV could be a $300B business. "But,
he says, less than 10% of that will materialize in the next five
to seven years" (BUSINESS WEEK, 12/19 issue)....With NBC
challenging Fox in a FCC petition alleging foreign-ownership,
Republican Rep. Michael Oxley, a member of the House
telecommunications committee, plans to file a bill to overturn
the limits on foreigners owning U.S. broadcast networks (W.S.
JOURNAL, 12/12). In Boston, Frederic Biddle writes that the
fight "might make the broadcast networks ripe for foreign
ownership -- a replay of what happened to Hollywood's movie
studios. Or it might stop upstart Fox in its tracks" (BOSTON
GLOBE, 12/11).... Cablevision Chair Charles Dolan is profiled in
the L.A. TIMES. One cable exec: "He's like Darth Vader dressed
up in a Howdy Doody outfit" (L.A. TIMES, 12/11)....Asked how much
has the baseball and hockey situations affected major ad
agencies, Bruce Mason, CEO & Chair of Foote, Cone & Belding,
replied: "The networks by and large have scrambled to replace
the audience loss with different programming -- so, very little"
("Bloomberg Business News," 12/12).
