TV & VIDEO - July 27, 1989

HBO confirmed Wednesday that it will take over the management of the Movietime Channel, but executives from the nation’s largest pay-cable service were not immediately available to explain the details of the deal that is to be announced next week. Movietime, a basic-cable service that reports on and promotes the movie industry, has about 13 million subscribers. HBO reportedly is having difficulty convincing local cable operators to carry its planned all-comedy basic cable venture and hopes that by proving it can successfully manage a basic channel such as Movietime, more cable companies will be willing to sign up for the Comedy Channel, scheduled to premiere this fall.