ABA seeks more subscribers for banking TV network.

ABA Seeks More Subscribers For Banking TV Network

The American Bankers Association is inviting banks to subscribe to its new satellite television network, which offers banking-related educational programs five mornings a week.

The ABA bought American Financial Skylink from the Kentucky Bankers Association last spring in order to take the service nationwide. The national group broadcasts programs from 6 to 8 every morning, and bankers can tape the programs, then replay them for employees at training sessions.

7 Associations Sign Up

The ABA began broadcasting its own programming to the original 100 members of the network last month. It has now signed up seven bankers associations in addition to Kentucky's, all in community banking strongholds in the Midwest and Pacific Northwest.

The ABA said it believes its programming will have a national appeal. The association will air programs on such topics as teller training, as the Kentucky group did. Interviews with national lobbyists on the status and impact of banking reform will also be shown.

Some original members said the network has helped them train more effectively. "This has enabled us to be far more flexible in training and educational efforts," said Louis Prichard, vice president of Farmers National Bank, Danville, Ky.

Other bankers were less pleased. "We found there was too much material to digest; we had information overload," said Lewis Prewitt, vice president of human resources at Farmers Bank & Trust Co., Frankfort, Ky.

To answer such complaints, the ABA plans a program to show banks how to use the programming effectively by offering incentives to employees who take advantage of it.

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