• Broadcasting & Cable, Monday, October 15, 2007 10 AM

MTV Networks wants to jettison Caribbean music and culture network Tempo, insiders says, with parent Viacom busily shopping it to local investors who might run it under a licensing deal or maybe just buy it outright. The move comes after the group restructures its cable operations to boost profitability overseas, buying stakes in big markets and making licensing deals in small ones.

MTV rolled out Tempo less than two years ago via a carriag edeal with 100,000-subscriber Innovative Cable TV. At the time, it said Tempo would debut in North America in 2006, something that never happened. Cable & Wireless was the charter sponsor for the net, which runs a mix of original and acquired programming from MTVN's library and local Caribbean networks. MTVN could sell its interest in the venture to a local company, selling local assets and giving ad-sales responsibility to a local buyer while continuing to sell its programming.

In June, the company sold its 53% stake in MTV Russia to Prof-Media,a local company, with the latter acquiring 100% of the venture and running the net under a license agreement. MTVN "has been trying to work on the cost side of the equation to lift the margin and focus energies on where they should redeploy their efforts," notes Miller Tabak media analyst David Joyce.

Read the whole story at Broadcasting & Cable »