The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • 73

Thursday. Nov. 17, 1994 Tha Markets DE3 Borrowing Mortgage rates not responding to Feds action Weather In this section The Atlanta Journal ConsumerWatch Dow average 13.84 Nasdaq 0.62 Prime rate 8.5 The Atlanta Constitution F2 26-week T-bilb- 5.72 F3 Earnings Report F3 two 12-hour shifts on both Satur! The privately owned maker of computer modems says it will step up production, adding weekend shifts to meet delivery commitments. Stones concert had local evecs cause any work force reduction in Atlanta. Hayes emphasized that his company was solvent "In other words, our assets exceed our liabilities," he said.

Hayes said the timing of the filing was dictated by the amount of cash on hand at the company. By filing for protection under the bankruptcy laws, the company protects its assets cash, buildings, equipment from creditors. "We wanted enough cash going into Chapter 11 so we could continue to operate the business," he said. "We have that cash now, but it would have been difficult if we waited." Here's the picture Hayes By Bill Husted and Robert Luke STAFF WRITERS Facing a cash crunch, Hayes Microcomputer Products the Norcross company that set the standard for the com puter modem, has filed for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of federal bankruptcy law. The privately owned company, which employs 1,000 workers in metro Atlanta, said its facilities here and in Thousand Oaks, will continue to operate and the company will meet prod-.

uct-delivery commitments. Owner Dennis C. Hayes said this week's filing would not THE painted of the events that led to the filing: During the April-July period the company was experiencing rapid growth and high demand, i "It exceeded our capacity to build production in our own factory," he said. "During this time, we were ordering in inventory from our suppliers. Since we could not handle the production, we brought in new subcontrac tors.

We thought that they were ready, but they weren't." That's when the company began to experience cash flow problems as it attempted to pay for inventory before it received sales revenue. Ironically, as part of the solution, Hayes said the company would hire about 100 more workers to begin producing modems during weekends. It will have NETWORKS GO I llllf tV' a i I JL'L 1.1 fii 13 CBS affiliation with 46, new ownership at 36 again change the Atlanta television picture day and Sunday in an attempt tt ship more modems, which are devices that allow computers communicate through telephone lines. I I Sales are at an all-time highl Hayes added. They totaled mofey than $250 million in fiscal 1994.

Even so, analyst Todd A. Dagres of Robinson-Humphrey Co. in Atlanta said Hayes is "sell-v ing products at a price below what they need to sell them for a profits s. Although Hayes set the stanc dard for modems, other compa- nies made copycat products and sold them at lower prices. competition and pricing are fierce.

''vi Although Channel 46 will switch to CBS, it will continue to air the syndicated "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine." f) ED HI if)7 KQD WSB-TV WAGA-TV WxSvTV WATL-TV WGNX-TV WVEU-TV ABC CBS NBC Fox Independent Independent iNo Fox, No Independent, CBS, No change; could change tentatively on change affiliating with new tentatively on affiliate with new Dec. II Warner Bros. Dec. II United-Paramount network in January network in January Cox Enter- New World Gannett Qwest Tribune Broadcast Corp- prises, Commun- Broad- Broadcasting, Los oration of Georgia Atlanta ications, casting, Angeles (pending Chicago is selling it to CBS, Marietta Arlington, Va. which will resell it Monica After switch: "E.R.." After switch: Ricki After switch: The old guns of Kaufman Tons of local "Seinfeld," Lake, "Star Trek: David prime time -reruns John Pruitt, news, NFL the '96 Voyager" (in Letterman, of "Cannon," Oprah football, "The Olympics January) "Murphy "Magnum, Winfrey, Simpsons," Brown," Dan "Kojak" and "The "Home steamy prime- Rather and A-Team" Improve- time soaps Connie Chung ment" up late rockin' The lure of the Rolling Stones was enough to get several local executives out to a rock 'n' roll concert for the first time and most of them liked what they saw and heard.

"I loved it," said John P. Imlay 58, chairman of Software, who hosted a group in his Georgia Dome suite Tuesday night. "I was just overwhelmed. I've become their No. 1 fan." Among Imlay's guests was W.

Thomas Smith area general manager and vice president for IBM, who was seeing his first concert. "I think Smith is still there," Imlay joked Wednesday. When reached at his office Wednesday, Smith's comment was, "Oh my Lord. I think this concert thing is a once-in-a-life-time thing for me." Actually, Smith, who turns 48 on Saturday, said he was most fascinated with the elaborate stage. "I was amazed by how much technology was in that thing, and I was really struck with all the creativity that went into it," he said.

And the Stones? "I enjoyed the music 10 times more than I thought I might," Smith said. Still recovering Wednesday was John D. "Jack" Phillips, CEO of Actava Group. "One o'clock. That's just too late for a guy my age," Phillips, 51, said of when the show end-1 ed.

Apparently, his teenage son, Scott, felt the same way. 'He's still mad. He's asking why an old fogey at my age gets to go to the Stones and he had to stay home," Phillips said. "If I was in my 20s, it would have been perfect." At least one prominent fa- ther-son duo was there. Tommy Holder, CEO of Holder i was on the floor; his fa-; ther, Chairman Robert M.

Holder was in the club i i seats, "out of harm's way." Tommy Holder, 37, couldn't believe the hand's enerev. Rut he added, "It seemed awfully loud. If you say that, everybody will think I'm an old prude." "My ears are still ringing," said the elder Holder, who turns 64 on Friday. Olympics chief Billy Payne took his two children. "I'm real-; ly here to see how the Dome handles an event like this," Payne joked.

Tuesday wasn't the first Stones concert for consultant Sam 7amarrina. who still seemed to be rocking Wednes-. day. "I feel like a teenager again," Zamarripa, 42, said. "It; took me back 20 years." Morehouse update Morehouse College's board of trustees meets Friday and is expected to discuss its search for a president to replace Leroy Keith.

A search committee has been named that includes board Chairman Otis Moss, alumni president Willie Davis and Coca-Cola President M. Douglas Ivester. At the Friday meeting, Davis said, the board will decide whether to hire a search firm. Apparently, at least three firms are under consideration. Morehouse hopes to select a president by spring.

"We've got to get going on this," Davis said. Maria Saporta't column, with assistance from Connie Mayberry, appears Tuesday through Saturday. Mor Maria Saporta. Read her recent columns on line with your computer and modern, Information, A2. Mtmbm, jump to Mark Saporta, "Picket Fences," starring Tom Skerritt and Kathy Baker (in photo on right), will move to 10 p.m.

Friday on Channel 46. i 7 jii ByPhilKloer TV WRITER With CBS now affiliating with' WGNXChannel 46 and Quincy Jones' new company buying WATLChannel 36 for $150 million, Atlanta's confused TV market is finally settling down. Plenty of questions still remain, but fortunately most of them have answers. Here's what Atlantans are asking about the deals announced Wednesday: When will the switch take place? On Dec. 11, Fox moves to WAGAChannel 5 and CBS moves to Channel 46.

There is "only a very, very remote chance" it could occur on another date, says Terry Bridges, executive vice president of New World Communications, which owns Channel 5. New World, which started the affiliate hip-hop back in May, has the final say on when the switch happens. Will Channel 46 move or pre-empt CBS programming the way Channel 5 always has? Channel 46 General Manager Herman Ramsey says the station will run all CBS shows at their scheduled times. That means "Late Show With David Letterman" will start at 11:35 p.m.; "CBS This Morning" will air from 7-9 a.m.; all the CBS soaps will be on in the afternoon. It likely will stay that way for 10 years the length of the affiliation agreement.

What happens to Channel 46's local news? At The 7:30 and 10 p.m. news shows will end with the switch. Channel 46 will do 35 minutes at 11 p.m., and a half-, hour of local news at 7 p.m., immediately following "CBS Evening News." The station will probably expand its early evening local news eventually. Qt Why did CBS announce it would buy WVEU Channel 69 and then change its mind? At CBS always considered Channel 69 a safety net. If it couldn't find anything better, at least it would stay on the air in Atlanta, the country's lOth-big-gest TV market.

But CBS never really wanted 69. It would have had to spend tens of millions above the $22 million price on a new building, a news division, etc. So CBS kept working behind the scenes to get something better. Channel 46 has much higher ratings and already has a solid news operation. If you want to get Machiavellian, CBS also pulled a neat trick.

When the CBS-69 deal was announced, that killed any chance of Channel 6 becoming a net- CBS plans to buy Channel 69 and immediately resell it. work affiliate. Without that possibility, Fox had to slash its asking price for 36, because an independent station is generally worth less than an affiliate. That allowed Jones' new company, Qwest Broadcasting, and Tribune Broadcasting to work their complicated deal. How does that deal work? Jones, TV personalities Geraldo Rivera and Don Cornelius and former Green Bay Packer-turned-businessman Willie Davis own 55 percent of Qwest; Tribune owns 45 percent.

Tribune also owns Channel 46. Qwest and Tribune will com-1 bine some of the operations atj the two stations (36 and 46), mainly support positions such as payroll, legal and human re-! sources. Tribune spokesman Robert Carr says "there's just no way to tell" whether that will involve layoffs at the stations, but there will be employees moving back and forth. It's even possible Channel 46 would produce a news show to air on Channel 36, but that's way down the road. Basically, Tribune gets a lot of benefits and trims some expenses in the deal.

What happens to Channel 69? CBS will buy 69 as it said it would, then resell it immediately, probably coming close to breaking even. What happens to Channel 36? Fox has only two hours a day of prime-time programming (three on Sundays), so a lot of Channel 36's schedule stays the same, such as "Ricki Lake" and "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers." Atlanta Hawks basketball games will move from 46 to 36, as will many of the prime-time syndicated shows (but not "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," which stays on 46). When 36 joins the Warner Bros, network in January, new WB shows will slowly ease those out. Why Is this happening to Atlanta? It's not just Atlanta; it's happening in about half the country. There's never been anything like it in TV history.

If viewers are lucky, there won't be again. I Atlanta Hawks caught up In anotner cnanqei move tw (i 7 "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" is not part of Fox Broadcasting and will remain on Channel 36 for now. Quincy Jones, partners hope deal launches chain of stations 1 Wj 9h LUl I Quincy Geraldo Jones Rivera Expect to see Hawks basketball, Aaron Spelling soaps and Hercu-. les movies on Channel 36. WATL will also affiliate In; January with the fledgling Warner Bros, network, which, will begin with two hours of pro- gramminga week.

Jones says one of the station's objectives is to air an aggressive local which initially I could use WGNX's staff. There's no timetable, but Jones says 1 WATL eventually plans to have its own newsroom. "We want to do this with the By Drew Jubera TV WRITER Change has been the constant at WATLChannel 36. Pending FCC approval, Qwest Broadcasting's purchase of the station from Fox marks WATL's eighth ownership change in 12 years. Qwest's core is four high-pro-, file minority partners: Quincy Jones, chairman and CEO: You name it, he's done it.

Twenty-six Grammy Awards. Producer of Michael Jackson's "Thriller." Soundtrack composer for 33 films, including "The Color Purple." Executive producer of NBC's "The Fresh Prince of Bel Founder of Vibe magazine. Owner of New Orleans' WNOL-TV. Geraldo Rivera: Talk show pugilist. Currently hosts the syndicated "Geraldo" and CNBC's "Geraldo Live." Don Cornelius: Creator and highest standards of excellencrJ like we've all done in the past," 7 tmxto Tnnati 1 longtime host of syndicated dance show "Soul Train." Willie Davis: Hall of Fame defensive end for the Green Bay Packers and businessman.

The $150 million WATL purchase, coupled with WNOL, is a first step in Qwest's goal to acquire as many as 14 stations nationwide. Its initial vision for WATL: Much of its programming will carry over from WGNXChannel 46, the Tribune Co. station that is a 45 percent pawner in the deal. una to iuc laicai uuc IUI nority-owned station in the couif-try," Rivera adds. "We're fdur self-made men, all successftri.

committed believers in the of those token oz' sham deals.".