Intermedia Partners

In a deal that would create the nation's largest minority-owned cable TV system, Viacom Inc. has agreed to sell its cable franchises to a San Francisco-based partnership, sources close to the deal said Tuesday.

A group led by InterMedia Partners has purchased the assets of Vibe, the popular hip-hop and urban culture magazine that shut down in June amid a sharp decline in advertising revenue. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. InterMedia, a private equity fund focused on the media industry, said it has partnered with Uptown Media Group, an InterMedia portfolio company that publishes Uptown Magazine, and Blackrock Digital, an interactive media sales and marketing firm, to buy the assets of Vibe and Vibe.

Leo J. Hindery Jr., general partner and chief executive of InterMedia Partners, was named president of Tele-Communications Inc., the nation's largest cable TV operator. John Malone, chairman, CEO and current president of TCI, said the chief executive of each TCI business unit would report to Hindery. Malone had been expected to bring in a respected cable executive in an effort to restore the profitability of the Englewood, Colo.-based company.

Leo J. Hindery Jr., general partner and chief executive of InterMedia Partners, was named president of Tele-Communications Inc., the nation's largest cable TV operator. John Malone, chairman, CEO and current president of TCI, said the chief executive of each TCI business unit would report to Hindery. Malone had been expected to bring in a respected cable executive in an effort to restore the profitability of the Englewood, Colo.-based company.

A group led by InterMedia Partners has purchased the assets of Vibe, the popular hip-hop and urban culture magazine that shut down in June amid a sharp decline in advertising revenue. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. InterMedia, a private equity fund focused on the media industry, said it has partnered with Uptown Media Group, an InterMedia portfolio company that publishes Uptown Magazine, and Blackrock Digital, an interactive media sales and marketing firm, to buy the assets of Vibe and Vibe.

In his discussion of U.S. universities, Pfaff has made the error of confusing the movement for a more universalist foundation for a canon of knowledge with his unease at the relativist approach of "postmodern" literary theory. While the two may be related, they are not the same. My particular concern is with his assumption that Western civilization is somehow morally superior to other cultures.

Viacom to Sell Cable TV Systems: The company said it will sell its cable television systems, serving 1.1 million customers, to a partnership in which cable giant Tele-Communications Inc. has a stake, for $2.3 billion. The negotiations have been previously reported. NRCS Pacific LP is to buy Viacom's cable systems in the Seattle-Tacoma area; Northern California; Salem, Ore., and Dayton, Ohio. RCS Nashville LP is to buy Viacom's system in Nashville, Tenn.

Jack Kent Cooke, owner of the Daily News in Los Angeles and the Washington Redskins, announced an agreement to sell his cable holdings, which reach 675,000 subscribers, to a consortium of six buyers. Cooke's company, Jack Kent Cooke Inc., based in Middleburg, Va., did not disclose the value of the sale, announced in Los Angeles by Cooke CableVision on Thursday. The buyers of the Woodland Hills-based cable company are Tele-Communications Inc.

"Soul Train," the television show that featured Michael Jackson and James Brown, was sold to MadVision Entertainment Inc. and will be put back into production. The purchase includes control of archives from the dance show's 37-year run, MadVision spokeswoman Elaine Garza said Tuesday. Financial terms weren't disclosed.

Charter Communications Corp., a cable-TV operator owned by billionaire Paul Allen, and Tele-Communications Inc. will acquire cable systems from InterMedia Partners in a transaction valued at $2.4 billion, the companies said. Charter will gain 400,000 of InterMedia's 1.2 million subscribers and give TCI, the No. 2 cable-TV operator and co-owner of InterMedia, cable systems in Montana and Indiana with 140,000 customers. TCI will also receive 300,000 subscribers in Nashville from InterMedia.

In a deal that would create the nation's largest minority-owned cable TV system, Viacom Inc. has agreed to sell its cable franchises to a San Francisco-based partnership, sources close to the deal said Tuesday.

In his discussion of U.S. universities, Pfaff has made the error of confusing the movement for a more universalist foundation for a canon of knowledge with his unease at the relativist approach of "postmodern" literary theory. While the two may be related, they are not the same. My particular concern is with his assumption that Western civilization is somehow morally superior to other cultures.

In a decision that could undermine a deal to create the nation's largest minority-owned cable TV company, the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday voted to eliminate a longstanding tax credit designed to increase minority ownership of media properties. The committee's vote comes only a few weeks after Intermedia Partners, a San Francisco-based minority-operated cable company, agreed to buy the cable franchises of Viacom Inc. for $2.3 billion.