BC 1991 10 07 OCR Page 0050

CÂBLE
TCI TAKES ITS STORY TO THE PUBLIC

Expanded public relations campaign will attempt to explain various aspects
of business to subscribers and regulators
In an attempt to further educate its for programing, 88% of TCI subscribers credit for that," said Sparkman. By
customers, as well as state and fed- were unaware TCI paid to carry cable breaking out the franchise fee, ICI and
eral regulators, about what it does, networks. These subscribers said they its customers will save on sales tax on
Tele- Communications Inc. last week un- thought either TC1 got the programing that fee, since a tax cannot be taxed,
veiled a multifaceted campaign to tell its free, or that programers paid a fee to according to Sparkman.
story. TCI. That, said Sparkman, "shook me As part of the plan, TCI also plans to
The program includes a multimedia up.' continue its national ad campaign.
information campaign, continuation of TCI now wants to address consumers' Building on three spots created this year
national television advertising, delinea- "abysmal understanding of the facts of by Hal Riney & Partners that sought to
tion of franchise fees on customer bills, the business," said Thomson. A key create a personality for TCI, the four
and the sending of an annual report to all part of the plan will be to break out the spots for 1992 deal with more specific
ICI subscribers, expected to number 10 franchise fee as a line item on TCI cus- aspects of the MSO. One ad, for exam-
million by the end of 1992, according to tomers' bills starting in the spring of ple, highlights CNN's coverage of the
TCI Senior Vice President Robert 1992. "We want to make them [sub- Gulf War and ends with the tag line:
Thomson. scribers] aware, as much as we can, "TCI is one of the largest financial con-
TCI Executive Vice President and where their dollar goes," said Thomson. tributors to CNN." One spot highlights
Chief Operating Officer J.C. Sparkman ICI also wants to prevent a potential VISN, the religious network coordinated
said the plan would cost "a couple of problem if local officials "take it wrong- by 27 different groups, and ends with
million dollars," but TCI would make ly, and think we're trying to shift blame the statement: "The VISN network is
up the cost if it cut down basic churn just for rate increases to them," said Thom- one of many channels TCI helped cre-
1%. TCI's churn average -and the in- son, so the MSO will make every effort ate." Another spot ends by humorously
dustry's-is 27%-30%, according to to make sure the change is presented in a depicting how TCI spends "over $600
Sparkman, although it is down a bit this "neutral," not "hostile," manner to million just to make sure there's some-
year because fewer people are moving city government. Thomson pointed out thing on that everyone wants to watch."
due to the economy, he said. that other MSO's already break out fran- Another part of TCI's new communi-
The main impetus for the plan, ac- chise fees on their bills. However, TCI cations plan begins in 1992, and ex-
cording to TCI executives, was the re- does want to make clear to its customers plains a new facet of TCI's business-
sults of a customer satisfaction survey that the cable industry as a whole pays rate structure, technical aspects, channel
conducted by Talmey -Drake Research $800 million a year in franchise fees positioning, etc. -every month through
and Strategy Inc. When asked who paid (TCI pays $150 million). "We get no print ads, bill stuffers, countertop dis-
plays and video spots. Additionally,
starting this fiscal year, all TCI subscrib-
TURNER HOPES ANIMATION CHANNEL WILL COME TO LIFE ers will receive a newlycreated annual
Turder Broadcasting Systems Chairman Ted Turner confirmed last week that report offering details of TCI and its
TBS, now in negotiation to purchase the Hanna -Barbera library, is looking future plans.
to create a 24-hour animation channel, assuming the acquisition is completed
The plan is a supplement to TCI's
(BROADCASTING, Aug. 12, Sept. 9). Turner is said to be offering Hanna-
two-year-old Customer 1st program,
Barbera's owner, Great American Communications, $250 million to $300 which encompasses 33 elements to im-
million for the library. prove customer service, including the 11
In a speech to cable operators at the Cable Television Administration and
NCTA customer guidelines.
Marketing Society conference in Atlantic City last week, Turner said TBS was To further improve customer service,
"taking a hard look with MSO's about whether or not they'd like us to do an ICI plans to further its research of cus-
tomer satisfaction, starting in December.
animation channel." Although Turner was not specific about a launch date,
the current licensing status of much of the Hanna -Barbera product would Talmey -Drake, which has been perform-
likely put off launch for several years. Much of the 7,000 half-hours of the ing surveys for TCI since 1988, now
will survey its customers every day, for
Hanna -Barbera library are currently under license, but most of those contracts
a total of 3,000 each week. Those results
are up in about three years. The Hanna -Barbera library is about one -third of all
will be available to TCI executives
animation ever produced, and TBS already has a substantial animation library,
including MGM and Warner Bros. cartoons, giving it a total library few, if weekly, division heads monthly and
any, competitors would be able to match. Turner said in a speech in New York state managers quarterly, and local sys-
late last month that the Hanna -Barbera acquisition would give TBS a larger
tems will get an annual report card,
based on interviews with 300 subscrib-
animation library than Disney, the current leader.
ers in their franchises. -SOM
Broadcasting Oct 7 1991

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TCI TAKES ITS STORY TO THE PUBLIC

Broadcasting Oct 7 1991

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