Entertainment Television, Speedvision Network, Outdoor Life Network, and regional news and sports channels. When pitched with a new idea for a cable channel, Palmer first wants to know if the concept has been tried, and if so, how it fared. It's about dependable viewing options. One neophyte that took his advice was the Sundance Channel, which airs independent films, many from Robert Redford's festival of the same name. He suggested a full channel instead.
Price is still a key factor.
Cable operators want to improve their profit margins while appeasing consumers fed up with rising cable bills. Networks, however, want to be seen by as many people as possible to command higher ad rates. That discourages tiers. While Palmer can hold forth on eclectic subjects from Beanie Babies to obscure dog breeds, programmers can't count on appealing to his personal interests to win him over during negotiations. He gives more credit to the promotional methods of Nick at Nite's TV Land, a spin-off of MTV Networks' Nickelodeon that runs ads on its big sister channels urging viewers to request it.