Chicago -- Style has signed a carriage deal with Adelphia
Communications Corp. that will give the E! Entertainment Television spinoff 1.6 million
analog subscribers in Southern California and Florida, officials said last week.
"These are the areas we have to get on board to build
momentum for the network," E! Networks president Fran Shea said.
Under terms of the deal, by December, Style will be added
to Adelphia's current and newly acquired systems in Santa Monica, Redondo Beach, Bel Air
and Beverly Hills, Calif., representing 100,000 subscribers.
Then, throughout 2000 and 2001, Style will launch on every
Los Angeles-DMA Adelphia system being rebuilt, including additional systems that are part
of the MSO's consolidation plans, for a total of 1.1 million subscribers.
In Florida, the network will be added to Adelphia's analog
systems as they are rebuilt, tacking on another 500,000 homes by 2001. Adelphia also
agreed to add Style to every digital system as they come online.
And E! closed a 10-year affiliation renewal with Adelphia
that includes some new markets for the basic entertainment network.
Adelphia is buying Century Communications Corp. systems in
California, among other places, and it will roll Style out on those systems after
consolidation and rebuilds, totaling 1.6 million analog homes by 2001.
The Adelphia contract bolsters Style's efforts to balloon
from about 5 million analog subscribers currently to 10 million by the end of this year
and 20 million at year-end 2000, officials said.
E!/Style executive vice president David Cassaro also
disclosed talks with Time Warner Cable of New York City about giving Style a berth.
At the National Show here last week, Style unveiled a slate
of original programming for the summer, including new episodes of Homes with Style
and Model, as well as the new Stylemaker series. Stylemaker started
out as a special, and it will return as a regular series in the fall.
Style will kick off the summer with its Golf Style
special, as well as a Mind, Body & Spirit special premiering in September.
And Rachel Ashwell, creator of the "Shabby Chic"
line of home furnishings, will host her own weekly series on style, Rachel Ashwell's
Shabby Chic on Style, with 65 episodes slated. The first will debut in October.
