FIRST OFF . . .

Financial hardships have prompted the Who to try a comeback early next year, reports the London Daily Express. The newspaper quoted the group’s bassist, John Entwistle, 43, as saying: “It is better to be a wealthy old rock star than a broke old rock star.” He said he can no longer afford his $1.3-million mansion in Roehampton, a suburb in southwest London, and will have to sell it. Drummer Kenney Jones has also sold his Tudor mansion in Surrey and moved to a smaller home. The Daily Express said that guitarist-composer Pete Townshend (now a book editor) and singer Roger Daltrey also have agreed to end the band’s five-year retirement, but Anne Weldon of the Who’s New York management firm expressed a note of caution, saying the band’s reunion “is certainly nowhere near a completed act.” The British hard-rock group made millions in the 1960s and ‘70s with a string of hit singles and its rock opera “Tommy.”

Cable TV mogul Ted Turner plans to unveil another cable channel--TNT--early next year, USA Today reported Monday. The new channel--the initials standing for Turner Network Television--will feature big-name movies, sports and specials and will start in March if Turner Broadcasting System’s board of directors approves the plan later this week.