BETA RESEARCH CHANNEL CARRIAGE STUDY AMONG CABLE OPERATORS

A telephone survey among cable operators will be conducted in October. The study will focus on:

– specific plans to add channels in next 12 months

– interest in adding specific emerging networks by the end of next year

– interest in adding specific mid-sized networks by the end of next year

Included – Sales Leads

The study will reveal to each network client the names and towns of any cable systems who expressed interest in launching that network. (Beta will reveal only the cable systems who give permission to release their names.)

An outline of the questionnaire is as follows:

1. Number of services expect to add to basic or expanded basic in the next 12 months.

2. Specific channels/services most interested in adding to basic or expanded basic in the next 12 months – unaided.

3. Number of services expect to add to digital cable in the next 12 months.

4. Specific channels/services most interested in adding to digital cable in the next 12 months – unaided.

5. Whether system carries specific mid-sized networks.

6. Interest in adding specific mid-sized networks by the end of next year.

7. Whether recall seeing any marketing materials or trade ads for specific emerging networks in the past 12 months.

8. Interest in carrying specific new emerging/digital networks by the end of next year.

The mid-sized networks to be measured are:

BBC America, Discovery Health, ESPN Classic, ESPNEWS, Fuse, GSN, Golf Channel, Hallmark Channel, Lifetime Movie Network, MTV2, National Geographic Channel, Noggin, Outdoor Life, Oxygen, Speed Channel, Style, G4, SOAPnet, Toon Disney, WE and WGN.

A list of emerging cable networks to be measured includes:

Anime Network, Biography Channel, Bloomberg TV, CSTV, Discovery Digital Networks, DIY, FamilyNet, Fine Living, Fox Movie Channel, Fuel, Hallmark Movie Channel, History International, Independent Film Channel, Lifetime Real Women, MTV/VH1 Suite Channels, NBA-TV, NFL Network, Nickelodeon Digital Networks, The Outdoor Channel, PBS Kids Channel, Sundance Channel, Tennis Channel, and Weatherscan .

New networks not listed who order this study will be added to the questionnaire.

150 interviews will be completed with General Managers or Marketing Directors who help make programming decisions. A quota will be established to insure that a minimum of 30% of the final sample will be from systems with 25,000 or more subscribers. Certain results will be compared to past studies.