Showtime Deal Shelved: Tele-Communications Inc. and Viacom...

Showtime Deal Shelved: Tele-Communications Inc. and Viacom Inc. have called a proposed deal under which the Denver cable giant would have bought 50% of Viacom subsidiary Showtime Networks Inc. for $225 million. The deal, announced in October, 1989, had been under Federal Trade Commission review for possible antitrust violations. Last week, the FTC notified both parties that it had dropped the review. But, in the interim, the market growth for cable networks, particularly pay TV channels, has slowed considerably.