IN BRIEF
Staff -- Broadcasting & Cable, 4/30/2001
Fox reporter gets letter from McVeigh
Fox News Channel's Rita Cosby received a letter from convicted Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh last week. It was sent, the death row prisoner said, "so that the record is clear as to my thinking and motivations in bombing a government installation."
McVeigh had agreed to an on-camera interview, but the Justice Department restrictions on death row access made that impossible. According to Cosby, an interview she'd done with co-conspirator Terry Nichols led to a recommendation to McVeigh from Nichols' father. "Talk about a bizarre reference," she said.
FCC asked to rethink carriage ruling
Limiting cable carriage to one signal from each TV station during the digital transition would be a "death blow," broadcast associations told the FCC last week. Led by the NAB, the groups asked the FCC to reconsider.
The cable industry is fighting another portion of the ruling, which requires cable companies to carry the signals of new digital-only TV stations in an analog format if the stations request it.
TBS buys rights to 60 DreamWorks films
TBS will reportedly pay $350 million to $450 million for the rights for up to 60 films from DreamWorks SKG, including Gladiator, American Beauty and Cast Away.
Under the deal's terms, the titles will be available to the Turner channels immediately following their license to a broadcast network and until 2015. The deal is the first time a basic cable programmer has struck a broadcast window output deal with a single major studio.
