COMPANY TOWN

Cable: Knight-Ridder Inc. would like to sell its 50% stake in a cable joint venture, Chief Financial Officer Ross Jones said. He also said Tele-Communications Inc., the nation’s No. 1 cable TV company, would be a likely buyer of the stake in the small New Jersey-based company, TKR. Jones, who appeared at a Paine-Webber conference, said Knight-Ridder has talked to TCI about buying the stake. He said he is optimistic that the company will get “our fair price,” which he defined as being in the $300-million-to-$400-million range after taxes. Jones also said Knight-Ridder would consider selling or seeking a partner for its Knight-Ridder Financial unit, but he said its first choice is to strengthen the business, which faces stiff competition in the financial information industry. Speaking of the company’s newspaper business, Jones said Knight-Ridder expects a 30% average increase in the price of newsprint in 1996, although he said there are signs that the increase would not hold.

* Interactive: New Line Cinema is setting up a special in-house division for interactive programs and marketing. The unit, part of a larger expansion of the company’s marketing efforts, will be led by Elissa Greer, who was promoted to vice president of field and interactive marketing. The unit is expected to join with World Wide Web page producers and online services to promote New Line films.