Starting May 1, cable operators will be able to get a digital package or "suite" of independent cable networks-services that don't have ties to major programming companies and aren't owned by MSOs.
OlympuSAT Inc., an affiliate of Ocean Communications, is putting together a group of eight to 12 independent programming services that it plans to offer as a digital package on one satellite feed through Loral Skynet's Telstar 7, officials said last week.
Ocean is a clearinghouse for cable networks looking for distribution on analog cable or broadcast television.
The new digital suite, "Olympu-SAT I," is the latest in a number of digital packages being offered to cable systems as alternatives or complements to Headend in the Sky and Time Warner Cable's "AthenaTV." To offer its digital suite to MSOs and direct-broadcast satellite providers, OlympuSAT will use the C-band capacity on Telstar 7.
"This was born out of a need really voiced by cable operators," OlympuSAT vice president of affiliate relations Doug Hull said. "We are putting together a grouping of networks that are truly independent in terms of their ownership, and that have no leverage. We have approached a wide array of independent services."
The new digital pod will include independent networks offering ethnic programming, music, news and information, family-oriented fare and general entertainment, according to Hull. He declined to say which networks he has lined up so far or is talking to.
Operators won't be charged any transport fees or authorization fees to carry OlympuSAT I, Hull added.
Currently, digital platforms such as HITS-which is part of AT & T Corp.-and Athena-TV typically carry networks that are part of huge programming companies. For example, HITS carries digi-nets from Discovery Communications Inc. and spinoffs from MTV Networks. AthenaTV offers networks such as CNNfn from Turner Broadcasting System Inc., among others.
But not all cable operators want the specific networks HITS and AthenaTV are offering digitally or like the pricing for those digital platforms.
So, some programmers have already banded together to offer cable systems an alternative and to split the hefty transponder costs involved in setting up digital feeds.
A & E Television Networks, for example, helped to create a digital pod of services, also on Telstar 7. The suite includes The Biography Channel, History Channel International, Lifetime Movie Network, The Independent Film Channel, MuchMusic USA, ZDTV and Do It Yourself.
And E! Networks has also created a digital pod, which includes Style, Romance Classics, Toon Disney, SoapNet, Bloomberg Television, Country Music Television, ESPN2 and ESPNews.
Cable operators like having cable networks grouped in one digital feed because it permits them to offer a package of digital networks efficiently, not wasting any bandwidth.
"Everybody wins," said Frank Hughes, senior vice president of programming for the National Cable Television Cooperative. "It's an efficient way for operators to carry these services."
Hull claimed that some of the existing digital platforms and pods have been "elitist" in terms of which networks they include in their packages. OlympuSAT will offer its programming partners marketing and affiliate-relations services to help them increase distribution.
