CATV - CABLE TELEVISION (53)
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Vision Cable Of PineUas, Inc.
2530 Drew Street
Clearwater, Florida 34625
(813) 797-1818
RECEIVED
SCP 1 3 199~
eifY CLeRK DEPT.
September 12, 1994
Ms. Cyndie Goudeau
city of Clearwater
112 S. Osceola Ave.
Clearwater, FL 34616
Dear Ms. Goudeau:
This morning our company announced that an agreement has been
reached with Time Warner Cable to form a new joint venture cable
operation to be called the Time Warner Entertainment-
Advance/Newhouse partnership. Attached is a copy of the press
release describing the transaction.
As you will see, we believe this transaction will bring
exci ting changes to our system. Our industry is facing new
challenges and opportunities, and we believe this venture with Time
Warner Cable will bring the resources and expertise needed to
provide the future of telecommunications to your community.
I will be contacting you shortly to answer any questions you
may have regarding the transaction, and to discuss any requirements
which may exist for your consent to the transfer of the franchise
to the new venture.
~y,
L.~
C/ ames K. al 0
, Vice President/General Manager
. JKW/sj
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Enclosure
THE ENTERTAINMENT PEOPLE
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SEPTEMBER 12, 1994
CONTACT: Michael Luftman
(203) 328-0613
Robert J. Miron
(315) 463-7675
TIME WARNER AND ADVANCE/NEWHOUSE
FORM 4 MILLION - SUBSCRIBER JOINT VENTURE
Operation Manaaed bv Time Warner will Enlarae Clustered Systems
Time Warner Cable with Advance PUblications and Newhou6e
Broadcasting Corporation have signed a definitive agreement to
create a new j oint venture cable operation to be called Time Warner
Entertainment-Advance/Newhouse.
Advance and Newhouse will contribute all their cable
television franchises, serving 1. 4 million customers, and Time
Warner will contribute cable systems with 2.8 million customers,
for a total of 4.2 million customers to be served by the new
venture.
Day to day operations of the j oint venture will be
managed by Time Warner Cable. The venture will be two-thirds owned
by Time Warner Cable and one-third owned by Advance/Newhouse, a
partnership of Newhouse Broadcasting and Advance Publications Inc.
The new venture will enlarge existing cable clusters already
owned by the partners in North Carolina, Florida and New York
State. In North Carolina, the contributions of the partners will
result in a total subscriber count in the state of nearly 800,000.
Florida systems of the venture will have 640,000 subscribers and in
New York State, the venture's total subscribers will reach nearly
625,000. Time Warner Cable's New York City operations, which serve
1 million customers, are not included in the transaction.
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Gerald M. Levin, chairman and CEO of Time Warner Inc. said:
"with the Newhouse subscribers under our management, Time Warner
has increased its customer base to 8.9 million. Also, we have
enhanced key operations in North Carolina, Florida and New York.
Large-scale clusters like these improve the growth prospects not
only for our core cable business and in advertising sales, but in
the telephone business and future interactive services, where Time
Warner is the acknowledged leader."
Donald E. Newhouse, President of Advance PUblications and
Chairman of Newhouse Broadcasting Corporation said: "We are proud
to contribute our franchises to this new partnership which will
offer increased value to its customers, result in enhanced services
to its communities and provide new opportunities for its
employees."
Joseph J. Collins, chairman and CEO of Time Warner Cable,
added: "The Newhouse cable operations are among the best managed
in the country and the technical quality of their systems is
extremely high. They will make an extremely good fit with the
operations we are contributing to this new venture. Large scale,
well clustered operations win be the key to efficiently providing
. .
present and future services which will open important new revenue
streams."
Robert J. Miron, President of Newhouse Broadcasting, stated:
"The combined strengths that are placed in the new entity will be
of substantial benefit to the communities and customers served by
both companies in programming and services. We will do everything
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we can to make the transition go smoothly for all involved."
In North Carolina, Time Warner-owned systems in and around
Charlotte, Raleigh/Durham, Fayetteville and Greensboro will be
contributed to the joint venture and be joined by Newhouse-owned
systems in the Charlotte area, Wilmington and
Morehead/Jacksonville.
In New York state, Time Warner will contribute operations in
Albany, Rochester and Ithaca, while Newhouse will contribute its
systems in and around Troy, the Syracuse area, Rome, Binghamton and
other locations.
In Florida, Time Warner will contribute its Orlando-based
Central Florida operation and Newhouse its Clearwater-Pinellas
operation. Other major Time Warner operations included in the
transaction are in Austin, Bakersfield, Birmingham, Houston,
Indianapolis, San Diego, Savannah and the Los Angeles area. Other
large Newhouse operations are in the Chicago and Detroit suburbs,
Bergen County, New Jersey, Lincoln, Nebraska, Prince Georges
County, Maryland and Waco/Killeen/Temple, Texas.
An executive committee with proportional representation from
the two companies will oversee the joint venture. Closing is
subject to necessary government approvals.
Time Warner Cable, the nation's second largest cable
television operator, currently serves 7.3 million customers in 36
states. It is a unit of Time Warner Entertainment Company, L.P.
Advance/Newhouse currently serves 1.4 million subscribers in
17 states.
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