Channeling David Hasselhoff

Cable channeling, that is. When General Electric Co. struck a $14 billion deal to merge its NBC unit with Universal Studios two years ago, there was big talk about exploiting Universal's library of 55,000 television episodes and 9,000 movies to create new TV channels. Among the ideas tossed around: NBC could use Universal, home to the trio of "Law & Order" juggernauts and older police dramas such as "The Rockford Files" and "Dragnet," to create an all-crime channel. Now, almost 18 months after the deal was completed, no major new channels have materialized in the U.S., where demand has diminished. Many American households already have access to hundreds of TV channels. Cable-TV operators are more interested in developing new services such as video-on-demand than in carrying new channels. Although new channels in the U.S. remain a possibility, NBC Universal is first looking overseas. Last month, in what is likely to be a trial run for further initiatives, NBC introduced a channel in Germany, airing a diet rich in old Universal movies and TV shows. NBC Universal hopes a success in Germany will turn into a string of international expansions in Eastern Europe, Asia and Mexico. Overseas markets generate only about 20% of NBC Universal's annual revenue of $15 billion; the company hopes to change that. "Could it be 50-50 in five years? Maybe," says Brandon Burgess, executive vice president of business development.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Mike Esterl mike.esterl@dowjones.com and Brooks Barnes brooks.barnes@wsj.com ]
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB112951643506170425.html?mod=todays_us_marketplace
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