But the nation has an endless hunger for entertainment, and Mr. Kellner hopes he can bring network-level ratings to TBS and TNT, Turner's two general-interest cable channels.
By subjecting themselves to beauty makeovers or personality transplants, the more general-interest cable channels hope to distinguish themselves, with viewers and advertisers, from new, tightly focused networks like the Game Show Network and the Outdoor Life Network.
AT&T Cable Systems, for example, generated interest in cable phone service in the late 1990's, but the company was acquired last year by Comcast, the nation's largest cable company.
TBS, which started in 1976, was among the first general interest, basic cable services.
Those companies able to borrow were being asked to provide extra security and pay large arrangement fees and high interest rates, Cable said.
"My one regret is that people viewed our Disney bid as a sign we lost faith and interest in cable," he said.
Jean-Marie Messier, chairman of Vivendi Universal, which has an interest in cable programming through its stake in USA Networks, told reporters last week that the proposed deal was more appealing than a News Corporation takeover of DirecTV.
In addition to his interest in cable companies, he has invested in interactive TV company Wink and Internet TV-over-cable TV-over-cable TV-over-cable
Kelly says that corporately, Time Warner Cable believes that a message of offering choice among ISPs increases overall awareness and interest about cable broadband.
In 2004, the group sold a 47.4% interest in cable company Hutchison Global Crossing, 29.8% of Hutchison Telecom and its stake in Procter & Gamble China for a total of HK$19.2 billion ($2.5 billion).
Rather, it comes from Hearst Entertainment, the division that oversees the media giant's interest in cable network and TV channels like ESPN, A&E, and Vice Media, but also a growing interest in B2B services.
