Cable TV dispute settled

Cable & Wireless Communications, the UK's biggest cable operator, has settled its dispute with Channel One. The pair were due to go to the High Court next week over CWC's exclusion of Channel One from its cheapest package of channels. CWC said yesterday that, although Channel One would not be included in its Headstart basic package, it would provide the channel with guaranteed revenue and would run promotions to encourage subscribers to take packages that did include Channel One.

A similar disagreement also broke out between NTL, the cable operator, and L!ve TV, the channel owned by Mirror Group. CWC and Channel One had two preliminary court hearings before deciding to settle ahead of next week's appearance. Headstart offers a telephone line and a small number of cable channels for pounds 11.99 a month.