AOL - Belts CNBC

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NYPost

AOL BELTS CNBC

By ALLYSON LIEBERMAN

August 2, 2001 -- AOL Time Warner finally gave CNBC the shaft big-time yesterday, booting the dominant financial news network to Channel 64 on its New York City cable system.

AOL apparently has grown tired of seeing CNN's little financial news network, CNNfn, get its butt kicked by CNBC consistently for years.

Since Time Warner was acquired by AOL, top executives at the company have changed, and Bob Pittman has been put in charge.

He, in turn, hired hard-charging ente rtainment exec Jamie Kellner, who brought Lou Dobbs back to CNN's business news operations.

AOL could take further steps to push its own financial network, now on Channel 27 in New York, including forcing it into more prominent slots on cable systems around the U.S.

In Manhattan, GE-owned CNBC will be moved to no-man's land on Sept. 5 from its prime slot on Channel 15.

It will swap slots with Cablevision's Bravo network.

CNBC insiders were blindsided by the move, but their bosses at parent NBC say they have just begun to fight.

"We are evaluating our next move," said an NBC spokeswoman. "We are clearly disconcerted."

The NBC exec added that the switch "is not in the viewers' best interest."

But Time Warner Cable execs disagree.

"We look at all the channels to see who's doing something new - who's reinventing themselves," explained Barry Rosenblum, who is the president of Time Warner Cable of New York City.

"In this case, both Bravo and TNN [which are being given better placement] are doing something different. We wanted to help them out - to give them a better shot."

He denied that the switch was orchestrated by Bob Pittman and Kellner, who have been spearheading the revival of the stodgy CNN and CNNfn.

"It has nothing to do with anything other than we are trying to create a refreshing lineup," Rosenblum said.

CNNfn is being renamed and relaunched in October as CNN Money.

Reaching a paltry 17.5 million homes, it has consistently lost out to CNBC in ratings and profits.

CNBC, in comparison, reaches approximately 77 million homes in the United States.

Experts predict CNNfn will get a much-needed boost from CNBC's move upstream.

CNNfn insiders applauded the move.

"It's about time," said one exec. "The new bosses are extremely focused. One could say this was their top priority."

CNN insiders say that in addition to the sweeping changes at the news network - including the well-publicized return of Dobbs - AOL Time Warner is busy relaunching its Headline News production.

"The timing of the switch is noteworthy," said one TV insider.

"In light of all the issues AOL Time Warner fought for FCC approval - talking about non-discrimination - look at where they've placed their own channels," said one insider.

Indeed, AOL Time Warner networks with prominent placement on Time Warner Cable are: NY1 (Channel 1), TNT (Channel 3), TBS (Channel 8) and CNN (Channel 10).

-- Anonymous, August 02, 2001


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