ABC News Employees Wary of Talks With CNN
Date: 26 September 2002
By Jim Rutenberg
Jim Rutenberg
People at ABC News meet reports of possible merger with CNN with fear, optimism or wariness; many believe there could be advantages to merger that might result in larger, stronger news organization; others believe that there is danger in merging with cable organization they long derided as lesser journalistic version of ABC News; ABC News president David Westin warns that any merger agreement is long way off; says ABC News would emerge stronger if deal is done; it is generally assumed that ABC News talent like Peter Jennings, Diane Sawyer and Barbara Walters would appear on CNN in some capacity; Viacom executive says its CBS News division decided not to pursue deal with CNN because it believes that it would give CNN upper hand in day-to-day decision making (M)
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AOL Time Warner and Disney Revive Talks on News Venture
Date: 25 September 2002
By David D. Kirkpatrick and Bill Carter
David
AOL Time Warner and Walt Disney Co revive long-running talks about combining their CNN and ABC News operations into joint venture in effort to cut costs; preliminary terms of deal call for two news divisions to merge into joint venture, two-third owned by AOL Time Warner and one-third owned by Disney; ownership stakes would not determine each side's degree of control over combined news organization's editorial content; issue has yet to be decided; both companies are more motivated to reach agreement than ever because they are suffering through prolonged downturn in advertising sales while under pressure from investors and credit-rating agencies to pay down their debts; discussions also take place at time when top executives of AOL Time Warner and Disney are under pressure from shareholders and directors to improve their results; photos (M)
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Programming Helps BSkyB Pull Ahead Of Rivals
Date: 25 September 2002
By Suzanne Kapner
Suzanne Kapner
Programming is helping British Sky Broadcasting pull ahead of pay television rivals at time when many of those operations are going under across Europe; among those who have given up in recent months is KirchPayTV, part of German media mogul Leo Kirch's crumbling empire; Vivendi Universal may sell Canal Plus operations outside of France and it appears close to deal to sell Italian pay TV unit Telepiu to News Corp of Rupert Murdoch, effectively handing control of that market to its archrival; Murdoch is chairman of BSky B (M)
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Bure Is Hurt And Rangers Hold Breath
Date: 25 September 2002
By Jason Diamos
Jason Diamos
Hockey Notebook discusses condition of New York Rangers right wing Pavel Bure, who hurt knee in exhibition game; Rangers player Bobby Holik faces former team New Jersey Devils for first time in exhibition game; Detroit Red Wings defenseman Chris Chelios tells media that Rangers paid too much to sign Holik; photo (M)
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Tony Blair's Role: Statesman, or Poodle?
Date: 26 September 2002
By Warren Hoge
Warren Hoge
Analysis: Pres Bush's reliance on Prime Min Tony Blair to present American case on Iraq to European Union, and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder's request that Blair intercede on his behalf with Washington over differences relating to Iraq, seem to confirm that Blair has secured his long-sought role for Britain as bridge between Europe and United States and to validate his view that he could at once be good Atlanticist and trusted European; it is precarious position, since suspicions are rampant in European Union over his closeness to Washington and even at home, where British press regularly portrays him as 'Bush's poodle'; photo (M)
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Vivendi Will Move Quickly to Sell Many Assets
Date: 26 September 2002
By John Tagliabue
John Tagliabue
Vivendi Universal's chief executive Jean-Rene Fourtou announces shake-up of company's board with six resignations and says Vivendi will speed up sales of assets and focus on entertainment and telecommunications; says company will also seek to form closer partnership with executives in US to aid management of its media assets, which include Universal movie, television, music and theme park businesses; acknowledges that Vivendi Univeral Entertainment chairman Barry Diller has greater expertise in those businesses; some critics say strategy is similar to company former chief executive Jean-Marie Messier set out to create; Fourtou also seeks to resolve issue of severance payment for Messier, by saying Messier not only will receive nothing but will be forced to return salary payment he inadvertently received in July; announces sale of Telepiu, Italian pay television network, to News Corp for 1 million euros; News Corp says no definitive agreement has been reached; also says it has sold Canal Plus Technologies, maker of television set-top box software, to Thomson Multimedia for 190 million euros in cash; photo (M)
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DUKE ENERGY WILL SELL SHARES TO PAY DEBT
Date: 26 September 2002
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Duke Energy Corp plans to sell 52 million common shares to raise $954.2 million to pay debt from its purchase of Westcoast Energy (S)
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GOODYEAR TO LAY OFF 450 WORKERS IN TENNESSEE
Date: 26 September 2002
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co will lay off 450 workers, or 12 percent of work force, at Tennessee factory after its sales declined in August (S)
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WYNDHAM IS SELLING 13 HOTELS TO CUT DEBT
Date: 25 September 2002
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Wyndham International Inc, hotel company controlled by investors Thomas Lee and Leon Black, agrees to sell 13 hotel properties in US to Westbrook Hotel Partners IV for about $447 million to reduce its debt (S)
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DRUG MAKER SAYS BLADDER TREATMENT WORKS WELL
Date: 25 September 2002
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Indevus Pharmaceuticals says experimental treatment called trospium for bladder problems like incontinence worked well in study, setting off 57 percent increase in its stock price (S)
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