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New York — CBS College Sports Network and 17 affiliates will give sports fans alternative views this summer.

Continuing its video-on-demand push, CBS College Sports and its distribution partners are proffering coverage from The Alt Games: College Action Sports Championships, an original network event showcasing an array of collegiate championships.

Featuring action from the 2009 Alt Games that played out in Copper Mountain, Colo., San Diego and Riverside, Calif., the exclusive VOD content, available for the second straight year, begins July 8 and will be accessible through September.

The Alt Games event roster includes snowboarding, wakeboarding, flowboarding, beach volleyball, freeskiing and competitive eating, plus a Best Tricks, Crashes and Girls of the Alt Games: College Action Sports Championship segment. It features more than 500 competitors from 45 different colleges and universities. Jonny Moseley, the 1998 Winter Olympic gold medalist in freestyle skiing, along with entertainment reporter Adrianna Costa, host the coverage.

All told, CBS College Sports is offering seven, 10-minute highlight segments from the aforementioned grouping, and a single “Best of Show” feature, spanning 44 minutes. The programming is available in both the standard- and high-definition formats.

The Alt Games VOD distribution roster comprises Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, DirecTV, Dish Network, Verizon Communications’ FiOS, Insight Communications, Mediacom Communications, Bresnan Communications, RCN, Metrocast, Advanced Broadband, HTC, Sunflower Broadband, Service Electric Cablevision, Click! Network, Sky Angel and Comcast, in select markets.

“The Alt Games provides our clients precisely the type of on-demand content they are looking for — compelling high-definition sports action, which features local schools,” said CBS Sports Network senior vice president of affiliate marketing Ellen Schned.

In addition, CBS College Sports Network, which has left its imprimatur on the college basketball tournament with its expansive “NCAA VOD: The Best of March Madness” package the past two tourneys, is customizing Alt Games programming for select markets to highlight local teams and athletes who competed in the event.

To that end, Time Warner Texas is featuring the University of Texas Longhorns, winners in several of the sports, on both its Sports on Demand application and BE-VOD, the operator’s exclusive UT on-demand channel

In Gainesville, Fla., Cox is spotlighting the wakeboarding champion Florida Gators, while Comcast Colorado is celebrating all of the Colorado schools that competed in the skiing and snowboarding events at Copper Mountain.

For its part, DirecTV will promote Alt Games on demand fare as part of its back-to-school push for September.

As part of the local programming, CBS College Sports is providing customized cross-channel spots featuring local championship teams, Web banners and VOD barker channel promotions.

“Localism is a high priority, and we’re working with operators to provide customized spots and Web banners promoting the local schools and participants.” Schned noted.

— Mike Reynolds

San Marcos, Texas — Grande Communications, the overbuilder that went on the block last year, has agreed to a recapitalization with Boston-based investment banker ABRY Partners for an undisclosed sum.

According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 12, Grande entered into a non-binding letter of intent with ABRY Partners on June 9. The deal will essentially give ABRY control of the majority of Grande’s outstanding equity in exchange for cash and the creation of a new credit facility. The deal is subject to a successful due-diligence review, approval by Grande’s board of directors and clearance from various government regulatory agencies.

Grande first went on the block in January 2008, when it said it had hired New York-based investment banker Waller Capital Corp. as an adviser to explore strategic alternatives. In April, the company hinted at a sale stating in SEC filings that a third party may be trying to raise money for a bid. That filing came after reports that ABRY was trying to raise debt for a bid, valuing a possible deal at about $250 million.

Grande has about 147,000 residential customers in Texas, offering services in Austin, San Marcos, Waco and parts of Houston.

— Mike Farrell

Alexandria, Va. — National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors Executive Director Elizabeth “Libby” Beaty died on June 12 at age 48. The cause was lung cancer, NATOA said.

A memorial service has been scheduled for Friday June 26 at the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Alexandria, Va.

“Libby was an extraordinary woman, a loving mother and a great friend,” NATOA said.

Prior to joining NATOA in 1999, Beaty served in a variety of senior positions at the Federal Communications Commission. She earned her bachelor of arts degree in Business Management and in Fine Arts from Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, N.C., and her J.D. from Brooklyn Law School in Brooklyn, N.Y. 

— Kent Gibbons

Knoxville, Tenn. — Fine Living Network (FLN) is recruiting top designers and putting the emphasis on home decor with its new “FLN Is In The House” programming block. The weekend lineup, from 9am to 4pm, includes Design Inc., reDesign, Work That Room with Christopher Lowell, Outer Spaces, Landscapers’ Challenge, Sarah’s House, Debbie Travis’ Facelift, I Want That! Kitchens/Baths, The Fix, Mission: Organization and Lloyd Boston’s style and closet makeover series Closet Cases (pictured).

In a statement, FLN general manager Chad Youngblood described the block as “a time to sit back, relax and dream about what’s possible while gathering great takeaway and resources for creating a beautiful space from our experts.”

— George Vernadakis