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DEN Plays With $24M In Financing. The big kids at Digital Entertainment Network (DEN), a Gen-Y geared on-line programmer, have received much-needed play money to the sum of US$24 million. The new round of financing includes investments from NBC, Chase Capital Partners, Enron Broadband Services Inc. and Intel, among others. Missing from this round of financing is former Warner Bros. chairman, Terry Semel. However sources say he has separately invested $2 million in the company. Santa Monica-based DEN has also restructured its management team, making Gary Gersh, former co-president of DEN Music Group and past president and CEO of Capitol Records, chairman; chief technology officer and former Microsoft exec Greg Carpenter has been made CEO and chief information officer; former Disney TV president David Neuman will continue as president; and John Silva, co-chairman of management firm GAS Entertainment and formerly co-president of the DEN Music Group, will now serve as president of the tunes division. The additional funding, which brings its total to $65 million, tech partnerships and management re-alignment is expected to light a fire under the feet of the troubled Netcaster. Plus, executive salaries that were reportedly the highest in the biz have been significantly altered. Currently, the network broadcasts such interactive shows as college-centered Frat Ratz, the Christian-themed Redemption High, Flash-animated Fat Kid and Aggronation, an extreme sports show. "With these agreements, we have completed the necessary infrastructure to economically create, promote and deliver our extensive array of Internet entertainment content," Carpenter said. Last May, DEN raised $30 million from Chase Capital, Dell, Microsoft and senior partners of Lazard Freres. The new cash will help move DEN closer to its plans to go public in a $75 million offering. Original plans had an IPO scheduled for the end of 1999.

3Dlabs Grows German Office. 3Dlabs, Inc., a professional graphics firm, has expanded its presence in Europe with a new office near Frankfurt, Germany. 3Dlabs plans to use the new branch as a base for expanding its market coverage in Central Europe, one of the largest markets for its workstation graphics products. In turn, 3Dlabs announced the appointment of Frank Losch as country manager. Mr. Losch brings many years of marketing and sales expertise to the new position. "The ability to increase market penetration of Oxygen workstation graphics into the German market through enhancing our local operation is a significant opportunity to grow our European business," said Tim Lewis, business director EMEA at 3Dlabs. "The award-winning quality of our products combined with focused, local representation to support our channel partners and customers will add further momentum to our global presence as a leading supplier of workstation graphics boards." For more information about 3Dlabs contact Frank Losch, 3Dlabs, GmbH at: Breckenheimer Weg 29, 65205 Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Tel.: ++49 6122 916 778; or Fax: ++49 6122 919 646.

Mickey Fears AOL/Warner Mega-Merger. On Thursday, March 2, 2000, South Carolina's Democratic Senator Ernest Hollings of the Senate Commerce Committee told Time Warner CEO Gerald Levin and AOL chairman Steve Case that the "Disney people are afraid to come testify" about their concerns regarding the proposed merger of the two companies. Hollings told Levin and Case, who were in Washington D.C. testifying about their merger, that Disney is concerned that Time Warner will retaliate against the company by relegating its cable networks to inferior positions on Time Warner-owned cable systems' channel lineups or remove them from the systems completely. Refusing to discuss Hollings' statement directly, Preston Padden, Disney's top Washington lobbyist, said, "We are studying the complex issues posed by the merger." Already, the ABC television network and Time Warner are squabbling over channel positions on cable systems in Houston, Texas. In turn, Time Warner systems may lose ABC signals in other markets as well. Disney is worried that a Time Warner/AOL merger will create an Internet stronghold that will direct Web surfers to its own content at the expense of other companies. In addition, the merged forces could make it easier and faster to access Time Warner's content via AOL's high speed Internet network. The fearful Disney has had trouble finding any support for its effort from other studios and content owners. Earlier in the week in front of the Judiciary Committee, Case and Levin insisted that the company will not become an Internet bottleneck. At Thursday's hearing, Levin firmly declared that AOL would enjoy no preferential treatment on Time Warner cable systems. As they did earlier in the week, Levin and Case presented a "Memorandum of Understanding" between the two companies that promises that Time Warner's high speed Internet network would be open to rival Internet service providers such as Earthlink and Prodigy. Senators expressed skepticism about the pledge between Time Warner and AOL. Congress does not have the power to block the deal, which must be approved by the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission, however these commissions could impose conditions on the deal as part of their approval. Several senators have suggested that the agencies use the Time Warner/AOL "Memorandum of Understanding" as a foundation for their okay.