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Steve Cheskin's contract as SVP/GM of Travel Channel was not renewed, and parent Discovery Communications has begun a search for his replacement. According to executives familiar with the situation, there were differences about the future direction for Travel Channel between Discovery management and Cheskin, an 18-year veteran of the company who was put in charge of Travel Channel in 2000. Cheskin confirmed that a new contract was not offered after a discussion he had with Billy Campbell, president of Discovery Networks. Travel Channel's ratings and revenue had been hit hard after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but were on the rebound thanks to series including The World Poker Tour and Road Trip. "I can only tell you that I did everything I promised when I took this job," said Cheskin, who wants to stay in the TV business. "I'm leaving at a time when the network is on an upswing."

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SPIKE TAKES SECOND WHACK AT SLAMBALL

Spike TV ordered 16 new episodes for season two of Slamball from Tollin/Robbins productions and Telepictures. Slamball will follow WWE Raw beginning Aug. 4. Spike also hired the entertainment division of Dentsu's Colby & Partners to create a multimedia promotional campaign introducing the channel's adult programming block.

DIGITAL BOOMS IN MINNEAPOLIS, BOSTON

Digital cable penetration has more than doubled in the past 18 months in nine of the top 25 TV markets, with Minneapolis and Boston each growing more than 300%, according to new research from Centris. Boston and Philadelphia are now at over 80% cable penetration, while St. Louis is the leader for DBS penetration at 23.6%. Atlanta came first in PPV activity, with 14% of all multichannel households using the service at least once a month.

NEW TIVO PRESIDENT TO SIDLE UP TO CABLE

TiVo Inc. named Martin Yudkovitz, EVP and president of digital media for NBC, as its president, replacing Morgan Guenther, who resigned in January. Yudkovitz is expected to increase partnerships with cable and satellite companies and develop new revenue opportunities for content creators. TiVo now has 624,000 users for its digital video recording platform.

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Cable World, May 5, 2003

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