COMPANY TOWN ANNEX

Fox News Channel Attracts Continental, Comcast: The nation’s third- and fourth-largest cable operators agreed to roll out Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News Channel to more than half a million subscribers. Time Warner Cable has rejected broadcasting the 24-hour FNC. Although Fox is a few days away from an official announcement, sources told Variety that Continental and Comcast will each make FNC available to about 300,000 subscribers initially on Oct. 7, the date the network makes its debut. In exchange for the vote of confidence in FNC, Fox will pay Comcast and Continental about $10 per subscriber, the highest launch-budget fee in the history of cable. Six weeks ago, Fox TV also agreed to shell out $50 million to buy 33% of the Golf Channel, funneling needed cash to the network.