ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, January 16, 1996 TAG: 9601160061
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
Turner exploring cable channel
NEW YORK - Ted Turner is actively exploring starting a 24-hour sports news network in a move that would put him indirectly in competition with cable powerhouse ESPN, sources familiar with the matter said Monday.
Turner hasn't yet proposed the idea to the board of his Turner Broadcasting System Inc., but the sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that could come as early as a scheduled mid-February meeting.
The sports news and information service is seen as a way to leverage Turner's involvement in newsgathering with Cable News Network and in covering sports events on his TBS and TNT cable channels.
Atlanta-based Turner Broadcasting declined comment on the report, which first appeared in Monday's edition of the trade publication Advertising Age.
Ad Age also said news channels on health and entertainment are being discussed.
Turner has demonstrated an ability to spin off new services from his other assets, most recently with the creation of CNNfn, a financial news channel that debuted Dec. 29 with a big lift from the CNN business news staff.
The Turner Movie Classics network relies heavily on the MGM film library Turner acquired in the late 1980s, and the Cartoon Network provides an outlet for Turner's Hanna-Barbera unit.
The current plans do not call for putting events on the sports news channel, but the new service could air news programs at little added cost from event sites where other Turner channels are operating.
- Associated Press
English firm to open office in Va.
RICHMOND - An English chemical company is opening a sales office in Virginia that could eventually also lead to the company's building a manufacturing plant here, state officials said.
Contract Chemicals of Merseyside, England, will open an office in suburban Richmond. Officials said it will invest at least $500,000 in Virginia over the next three years. The office will employ five people.
The company makes chemicals used in pharmaceuticals, agriculture, photography and water treatment. Its three plants in England employ 240 people. The company makes nearly $50 million a year.
- Associated Press
Briefly ...
AutoZone Inc., a Memphis, Tenn., auto parts and accessories retailer with stores in the Roanoke Valley, reported net income of $34.8 million, or 23 cents per share, on sales of $463 million in its first quarter ended Nov. 18, compared with year-earlier net income of $27.6 million, or 19 cents per share, on sales of $389.8 million.
Multimedia Creations, a Salem publishing and design firm, has expanded and moved its office to 111 E. Main St., Salem. The business, which specializes in CD-ROM recording, graphic design and multimedia presentations, previously had been situated in a house.
LENGTH: Medium: 61 linesby CNB