Game Show Network to remain on basic cable

Kirk Baird

Thursday, Nov. 21, 2002 | 8:16 a.m.

As the old public-relations adage goes, it was a win-win situation.

That's certainly the stance both Cox Communications and the Game Show Network are taking after the cable company's decision to keep the popular network on its basic tier instead of moving it to the more expensive digital tier. Game Show Network will remain on Cox cable channel 68.

At issue was bandwidth. Analog cable only has so much room. And with Cox adding channels, there simply wasn't enough room for each addition. So the cable company opted to bump the Game Show Network from analog to digital Cox to free up space.

"It's the equivalent of a pipe," Stephanie Stallworth, Cox spokeswoman, said. "You can only pump so much water through a pipe. Bandwidth is the same way. You can only put so many channels on analog.

"Fortunately, Cox was able to reconfigure its limited analog bandwidth space to allow additional room to accommodate keeping the Game Show Network in its previous channel location."

Cox announced its plan to move the Game Show Network to digital in September.

Not surprisingly, the move didn't sit well with the Game Show Network brass. Upon learning of Cox's decision, the network mounted a vigorous campaign to keep the network on basic cable, including urging its fans to call and write Cox to voice displeasure over the move.

Stallworth, however, insisted keeping the Game Show Network on analog had nothing to do with the network's campaign.

"The Game Show Network had little to no effect on our decision where to keep or place our channels," she said. "I wouldn't say our phones were ringing off the hook from Game Show Network fans. We receive input from our subscribers every day about programming. And we welcome that. We want our customers to let us know what they want to watch."