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Lime sours on cable, stays with VOD

Mon Jan 29, 2007 9:06pm EST

By Andrew Wallenstein

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - An independent cable channel is dropping its linear network to focus more on other platforms.

Lime, a health-minded brand launched by former AOL chairman Steve Case under his new company, Revolution Llc., is discontinuing carriage as a channel with operators including Comcast Corp. The network, which will continue to have distribution via VOD, was available in less than 7 million homes since launching in fall 2005.

Lime will continue to forge ahead on the digital side, making its programming available through its Web site, as well as with partners through new deals with Yahoo! Health and Joost. The brand also has signed advertisers, including Toyota and Garnier, to multiplatform sponsorships.

New independent cable channels could go years without getting payments from distributors in order to obtain carriage while sustaining infrastructure costs.

"We looked at that and said that this doesn't make sense for the long haul," said C.J. Kettler, founder and CEO of Lime.

Lime is not the first existing channel to bail on linear channels. NBC Universal's Trio continued as a broadband brand after the expiration of its carriage deal with DirecTV last year.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter


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