Cable Television History

It was every man's dream. And he did it when he was young. On his 21st birthday, he boarded a 32-foot ketch to sail around the world. Six years and six days later, he came back--just in time to reload his film camera for the Pacific action during World War II. Dwight Stanley Long, lifetime mariner, adventurer and pioneering documentary filmmaker, died of pneumonia July 3 in Santa Monica. He was 89.

A caller on KABC radio's "Sportstalk" the other day was upset that the Dodgers sometimes don't sell tickets to the right-field bleachers, instead cramming everyone into the left-field bleachers. The caller told Stu Nahan, the show's host, that he heard the reason was that the club doesn't want to pay ushers who would have to work that area. "I don't think that is the reason," Nahan said. "I'll call the Dodger PR office to get an explanation."

ESPN's "Monday Night Football" game between the New England Patriots and the Baltimore Ravens was the most-watched program in cable television history, according to figures released Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research. The Patriots' last-minute 27-24 victory Dec. 3 averaged 17.52 million viewers, breaking the previous record of 17.24 million for the premiere of the Disney Channel movie "High School Musical 2" on Aug. 17.

Disney Channel's unprecedented ratings success didn't end when the credits rolled for Friday's record-setting premiere of "High School Musical 2." With that premiere drawing 17.24 million viewers -- the largest audience in cable television history -- Disney Channel averaged 5.93 million viewers for its prime-time programming from Aug. 13 through Monday, making it the third-most-watched network of the week, according to figures released Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.

AT&T on Thursday proposed the biggest merger in cable television history, bidding $58 billion in cash and stock for MediaOne Group in a move that throws a wrench into MediaOne's existing agreement to be taken over by Comcast Corp. The deal would make the nation's largest phone company also its largest cable system operator, a coast-to-coast behemoth with access to 26.5 million households, including 815,000 subscribers in Southern California.