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The Knoxville News-Sentinel

Sep. 1--With limited space on regular cable and satellite TV lineups, Jewelry Television is going digital.

The Knoxville company, formerly America's Collectibles Network or ACN, announced it has struck a deal with Philadelphia-based Comcast to carry its 24-hour network as part of Comcast's digital cable packages in several larger markets, including Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Pittsburgh.

Digital programming of Jewelry Television has been added in the major markets over the past several weeks.

Other markets will be added on a region-by-region basis, although no firm plans are in place to carry the network in Knoxville.

The deal immediately adds 3.2 million viewers to Jewelry Television's current full-time viewership of 45 million households. (An additional 25 million homes have access to the network part time.) Viewership should increase as additional Comcast markets add Jewelry Television to their offerings, said Kelly Kress, spokeswoman for Jewelry Television.

The deal represents the company's targeted expansion to digital cable, which offer hundreds of channels to the viewers they serve compared to the few dozen offered to non-digital subscribers.

"There is so little distribution left for cable television," Kress said. "The next step for us is to penetrate the digital sphere. It's always been a part of our growth strategy."

Of the 45 million viewers that have access to Jewelry Television, she said, about 10 percent receive it as a digital broadcast, and the Comcast agreement is the company's first exclusively digital deal.

"We expect that (number) to continue to grow," she said. Kress did not have revenue projections involving the Comcast agreement.

However, there are no firm plans to broadcast the network around the clock in its hometown. Jewelry Television can now be viewed on WVLT-TV, Channel 30 from 11:30 p.m. to 10 a.m. seven days a week.

But Kress said, "We're negotiating with Comcast and another company to offer digital broadcast of Jewelry Television." She would not name the second party.

Launched in 1993, Jewelry Television is the 19th largest jewelry retailer in the nation, according to National Jeweler Magazine. The company also sells its products online at www.jewelrytelevision.com.

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