Dow Jones & Co. and ITT Corp. unveiled the programming
outline for WBIS+-TV in New York, which debuts Tuesday night
with a Knicks-Bulls game, according to Elizabeth Sanger of
NEWSDAY. The independent WBIS+ will feature business news
during the day and sports programming at night. WBIS+
President Carolyn Wall said that a "bulk of its revenues
will come from advertising," although she refused to name
any advertisers that had signed on. Wall also said that the
station will attempt to go national in "mid-1997." Although
primetime hours are "devoted to sports," the schedule of
sporting events has not been set, as "negotiations with
teams and cable systems are continuing" (NEWSDAY, 1/16).
DAILY FEED: The daily programming features a three-hour
morning show of business information, lifestyle advice, news
and sports reports; a midday sports news program,
highlighting the previous night's results and previewing
upcoming games; live sporting events or entertainment
specials (WBIS+). The N.Y. TIMES' Richard Sandomir notes
"it is unclear" whether WBIS+ will replace WPIX as the
carrier of 50 Yankees games. Wall: "It's our fondest hope
to carry the Yankees" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/16). Wall said the
station has been upgrading its signal and negotiating with
cable operators "to increase carriage beyond the 73 systems
that now carry it." WBIS+ said its "potential" audience is
6.7 million (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 1/16). ITT President
Robert Bowman said yesterday that MSG Network [which owns TV
rights to Yankees, Knicks and Rangers] and SportsChannel
[Mets, Islanders, Nets and Devils] would merge "sometime in
the first quarter" of this year (NEWSDAY, 1/16).
