Media Notes: 10,000 Prime Cable subscribers get CNN-SI

Tim Graham

Wednesday, Jan. 15, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

A select portion of Prime Cable's subscribers is receiving a new, six-channel package that includes CNN-SI and the Classic Sports Network. The rest, however, may have to wait until 1999.

About 10,000 Prime Cable subscribers already get CNN-SI, a 24-hour, all-sports news network, and Classic Sports, a vintage, all-sports replay channel. Each month, about 7,000 more subscribers will be added to what the valley's lone cable operator calls its "upgrade area."

According to Mary Alice Bauchman, Prime Cable's vice president of marketing, the process is expected to be complete some time in 1999. Subscribers will know when their areas are upgraded through mailings and door-knob notifications.

"We're installing fiber optics and replacing electronics, and we have to do that one area at a time," Bauchman said. "Once that's complete, subscribers will have the capacity for 17 new channels immediately, with the ability to add 200 more."

When the six-channel package -- which also includes Country Music Television, Discovery's Animal Planet, the Game Show Network and the Sundance Channel -- is first made available, it is free for 30 days and $1.95 thereafter.

In addition, upgraded homes receive the Cartoon Network, Home and Garden, Bravo and six more pay-per-view channels free.

But the station of note for sports fans is CNN-SI, the joint venture between CNN and Sports Illustrated.

CNN vice president Jim Walton was pleased with CNN-SI's launch base and its presence in the valley. Including the 10,000 homes in the Las Vegas area, the network debuted on Dec. 12 in 4.6 million homes. Another 1.5 million will be added next month when Prime Star picks it up.

By comparison, ESPN's 24-hour all-sports news station, ESPNews, launched to an estimated 1.5 million homes Nov. 1.

CNN-SI's advantage over ESPNews isn't in viewers alone. In the early days of the competing networks, CNN-SI has distinguished itself behind Sports Illustrated's firepower, with inside information and hard-hitting commentary.

"We're about going live and utilizing great writers," said Walton, who has been at CNN 15 years. "We're doing things much better than anyone else.

"I've been in this business a long time, and I know how every channel works, how they get their information. We have the edge."

In other words, instead of waiting a week to read the next Sports Illustrated, viewers now can see it 24 hours a day with the help of CNN. A half-hour version also replaced "Sports Latenight" on CNN (Prime Cable Channel 20) and can be seen nightly.

"If there's an event that has news value, we'll take it live," Walton said. "We've been aggressive in that respect.

"People want that, especially in this town. Whether or not they're betting on sports, people are dying for information. They need to know as much as they can."

Static

* PLAYING 8 BALL: The KLAS Channel 8 sports department will mix it up with its early evening rivals for the first time in at least five years when it returns to the station's 6 p.m. newscast next week. "People want more sports, and it gives a chance to compete with our colleagues on a head-to-head basis, which is more fun," weeknight sports anchor Dave McCann said. The move coincides with the station's new news set. KLAS will retain its 6:30 and 11 p.m. sportscasts as well.

* HEAR UNLV BASEBALL: For the first time in the program's history, UNLV's baseball team this season will have a commercial radio package. The first of 21 Rebels games can be heard on KORK 920-AM, starting Jan. 31 against UCLA. The schedule includes 15 home games and six road games. Scott Gulbransen and Scott Robbs will handle the play by play and color commentary. Gulbransen, who also works in UNLV's marketing department, currently hosts "UNLV Season Ticket" every week on Prime Cable Channel 4. Robbs, the longtime public address announcer at Wilson Stadium, covered the Rebels' NCAA Regional appearance in Baton Rouge, La., last year for KENO 1460-AM.

* WE GAVE AT THE OFFICE: KXNT 840-AM recently won the Santa Fe's football charity contest, which pitted members of the local media in a weekly NFL handicapping competition. KXNT raised $2,412.50 for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation and the Las Vegas Boys and Girls Club. The rest of the field: KTNV Channel 13 (second with $2,095.83), KVBC Channel 3 (third with $1,437.50), the SUN (fourth with $1,433.34) and KLAS Channel 8 (fifth with $1,120.83).

TIM GRAHAM is a Las Vegas SUN sports writer. His media column appears Wednesdays. He can be reached on the Internet at tim@lvsun.com