COMPANY TOWN ANNEX

Cap Cities Interested in Expanding Cable Investments: Capital Cities/ABC Inc. would like to explore new cable ventures despite uncertainty about the future of the industry, said Robert Iger, new president and chief operating officer of the TV and print company. The company already has substantial stakes in ESPN and ESPN2, Arts & Entertainment and Lifetime. In a brief comment during a panel discussion at an industry forum, Iger listed several stumbling blocks for cable: that there are many cable stations already delivering hours of programming, that it’s not clear demand will increase and that cable’s place as a distribution channel for programming may be superseded by new methods. Others at the forum argued for the primacy of programming over distribution.