ABSTRACT
The relationship between local and regional newspapers and the developing cable industry, which is also keen to identify local markets for news and other entertainment and information services, promises to be at best uncertain and, at worst, problematic; and for all parties! The character of the eventual relationship will be influenced by factors such as the nature of the company which holds the local cable franchise, the attitude other local media groups adopt to the new technology, or the strategy which some of the bigger national media groups take to issues of cross-media ownership. Another vital dimension will be the extent to which cable companies are successful in persuading potential customers to become subscribers to their television and telephony services. It is against the backcloth of the cable industry’s future prospects that assessments of the likely relations between cable and other local media must be made. It is not the intention here to re-rehearse the early debates and false starts within the cable industry so typical of the 198Os, but to look at the key contemporary features of the industry and the factors likely to influence future development.’
