Feb. 17--Cox Cable subscribers will be getting a full plate of Atlanta Braves games as the team starts its new season later this year.
Cox Communications Middle Georgia -- the primary cable television provider in Macon and Warner Robins -- said Wednesday it will soon begin carrying Turner Broadcasting System Inc.'s 4-month-old Turner South service. With that added, Cox said, many cable subscribers will no longer be at risk of missing a portion of the Braves' regular season games, officials said.
'With Turner South, we should have every game that is televised,' said Don Karell, vice president and general manager of Cox Communications Middle Georgia.
Turner South will likely be available on cable channel 78 within the next couple of weeks, Karell said. The service, described by officials as a regional entertainment network, is slated to show 15 Hawks games, 46 Thrashers games and 35 regular-season Braves games. Most Braves games are aired on TBS.
Turner South broadcasts a mix of programming besides Atlanta sports teams, including Southern Living Presents, a show based on the popular magazine.
The network will only be available to Cox expanded cable or digital television subscribers, officials said.
Cox missed out on the station's October debut because negotiations between Turner and Cox were put on hold during last year's litigation between Turner and Fox SportsSouth. An Atlanta judge ruled in September that Turner South had the right to carry portions of the Braves and Hawks schedules, officials previously said.
Details of the agreement between Turner and Cox remained undisclosed Wednesday, but Karell said the cable giant did not have to pay a higher-than-normal fee to air Turner South.
Channel changes are nothing new to Cox. The cable giant has already lost two programmers due to broadcasting disputes, including WAGA, the Atlanta Fox affiliate, and the WB network.
Cox recently moved WGNX, Atlanta's CBS affiliate, from cable channel 3 to channel 11, and it duplicated Pax TV programming on channel 3 until the company is able to fill the void.
'I think you can say channel 3 will have something by mid-March,' Karell said.
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(c) 2000, The Macon Telegraph, Ga. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
