Western Communications Inc.

News & Analysis

western communications inc. - All News and Analysis

• Chronicle OKs $570M cable deal with TCI. (Chronicle Publishing Co.; Tele-Communications Inc.)

  - 1995-03-06

  Tele-Communications Inc. moved closer to a deal for Chronicle Publishing Corp.'s cable operations last week as the company's board approved the MSO's $570 million offer for its Western Communications unit. Tele-Communications Inc. moved closer to a deal for Chronicle Publishing Corp.'s cable operations...

  Tags: cable, TCI

• Western uses new set-top feature to aid PPV buys. (Western Communications; pay per view)

  - 1994-08-29

  Western Communications' Hemet, Calif., system used an electronic marketing message, delivered through its set-top hardware, to help pump buy-rates on Polygram Diversified Entertainment's Aug. 13-14 Woodstock '94 pay-per-view event. The 50,000-subscriber Inland Valley Cablevision system achieved a 2 percent buy-rate, with a...

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• Except for Western, MSOs hold fast to $3.95 per movie. (Western Communications; multiple-systems operators)

  - 1994-04-11

  PPV network execs push for lower prices to spur trials, but MSOs are afraid of leaving money on the table. While many cable executives agree that at $3.95 or more, pay-per-view movies are priced too high to lure consumers away from the cheaper video...

  Tags: Western Communications Inc.

• Chronicle ponders shedding its MSO. (Chronicle Publishing Co.'s Western Communications subsidiary)

  - 1994-01-03

  Chronicle Publishing Co. is considering selling its 318,000-subscriber cable subsidiary, Western Communications, rather than undertake the heavy capital upgrade necessary to compete against new wireless and wireline entrants. Cable brokers said that while Western's systems are in very attractive markets such as...

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• Thieriot retires; Lammers to head Western. (Charles Thieriot; Christopher Lammers; Western Communications)

  - 1993-07-05

  Following the retirement of Western Communications president and Chronicle Publishing Co. family member Charles "Kip" Thieriot two weeks ago, the company promoted a vice president of the 33rd-largest cable MSO to the post. Christopher Lammers, 39, who joined Western in 1985 to handle...

  Tags: Cable, Cooper, NETWORKING, president, TELECOMMUNICATIONS

• Western: PPV movies are very profitable at $2.95. (Western Communications; pay-per-view TV)

  - 1993-05-10

  Reducing prices on movies to $2.95 has fueled increases in monthly buy-rates to as high as 204 percent, Western Communications executives will tell attendees of this week's Cable Television Administration & Marketing Society pay-per-view conference. The MSO had calculated its break-even point at...

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• Western Comm. trims its sails; drops NCTA & CATA memberships. (Western Communications Inc.; National Cable Television Association; Community Antenna Television Association)

  - 1993-01-18

  In an effort to improve cash flow, Western Communications Inc. has dropped its membership in two cable trade groups and plans companywide measures to boost its performance. Charles ("Kip") Thieriot, president of the 300,000-subscriber MSO, said, "This is plain, old-fashioned, 'Gotta get...

  Tags: CATA, Western Communications Inc.

• Cable system bows PPV movies at $2.95. (Western Communications offers low-cost pay-per-view movies)

  - 1992-08-28

  SPECIAL TO VIDEO BUSINESS At least one cable operator is taking its hat off to video rentals by dropping its price on pay-per-view movies. In an unprecedented move, San Francisco-based Western Communications will launch pay-per-view services by offering movies for $2.95...

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• Western Comm. kills KRON feed over cable story. (Western Communications; KRON, San Francisco, California's three-part series criticizing Bay Area cable systems)

  - 1992-03-16

  Western Communications severed its CNN Local Edition partnership with sister company KRON-TV Los Angelas in the wake of a three-part November series by the station that was critical of Bay Area cable systems and the industry in general. Both Western and...

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