The Des Moines Register from Des Moines, Iowa • Page 131

Fox growing into a full-scale network Nary a Hitch FOX prime-time programming for 1993 Townsend Television Martln Roc Beverly The Simpsons The Adventures Cops My Girls Jf BuddyBlues Hllls-90210 Sinbad Brlsco County, Jr. Cops Children MV'eS America's In Living Color Most Melrose Place The Front Daddy Dearest Wanted Herman's Head X-Files Pa08 By RICK DU BROW Los Angeles Times The Fox Broadcasting Co. has grown up, with young adult responsibilities. The past few weeks, the 7-year-old TV organization has made two major moves in its bid for full-scale network status. First, the network began weekly movies that will take it into the fall season as a regular seven-night service.

Second, it launched a prime-time newsmagazine, "Front Page," on Saturdays. When Fox's new late-night series with Chevy Chase debuts Sept 7, the company will be even more of a nightly competitive force against ABC, CBS and NBC. Says Fox Chairwoman Lucie Sal-hany: That was the vision of the people who started this network to expand to seven nights, be in late-night and ultimately become the No. 1 young adult network." Although Fox will have only 15 hours of prime-time programming this fall compared to 22 hours each for the Big Three, the impact of its gambling instincts and bare-bones management style has been considerable. Despite some program concepts that have been over the top and tasteless, the network has made waves, from The Simpsons" to "Cops." At 7 p.m.

Monday, the weekly "Fox Night at the Movies" features "Life-pod," with Robert Loggia and Ron Silver (see review on this page) in a tale of nine people stranded on a craft in space. There will also be a July 5 science-fiction TV film, "12:01," with Martin Landau and Jonathan Silverman in a story of "a man trapped in time who has the chance to change the course of fate." And on Aug. 9, Fox spoofs the flood of reality-based TV movies with another original film, "Based on an Untrue Story," with Dyan Cannon and Ricki Lake. "There will be about 33 to 35 weeks of fresh TV product" in the combination of TV movies and features during the coming season, says Rick Bieber, president of Fox West Pictures. Tin? Register Chevy Chase Avoiding talk-show cliches mula talk shows.

There won't be an opening 10-joke monologue. That's not to say Chevy won't talk to the audience. But one rule we want is unpredictability. The idea is to put talented people around Chevy, not unlike what (David) Letterman is doing." Ullman to horrible (the recently canceled "Key Fox is usually in the ratings cellar. However, as an innovator, Fox is always experimenting, as evidenced by the prime-time cartoon The Simpsons," the live sitcom "Roc," and the ensemble young-adult dramas, "Beverly Hills 90201" and "Melrose Place." So bosses such as MacArthur are constantly being asked to make a blind leap of faith.

But MacArthur seems comfortable with his association with Fox. He likes the youthful image Fox has established. He likes the growth of the network. For example, when Fox came on-air in 1986 there were 96 stations. Now there are 139 affiliates.

i tmmummmmmmltftJ mi iinnr I in I inn i Fox movie 'Lifepod' is sci-h By RON MILLER San Joke Mercury News When a fusion reactor core begins to melt down aboard a space-liner in the year 2169, it's extremely bad news for the 2,000 or so passengers on their way back to Earth. Think about it When a spaceship is disabled, it doesn't sink, cabins don't I rTJrTTyi I fill with water I Luluil I and sharks don't circle around. It either just sits there while everybody runs out of food, water and air or it explodes. We get a little bit of one and a lot of the other in "Lifepod," the first big first-run attraction of the Fox network's now weekly "Fox Monday Night at the Movies" series, airing Monday at 7 p.m. Based on Alfred Hitchcock's 1944 thriller "Lifeboat" Hitch even gets a screen credit "Lifepod" neatly extrapolates the John Steinbeck story idea that Hitchcock fashioned into his castaway classic.

By taking a similar situation into the 22nd century, "Lifepod" manages to retain the claustrophobic atmosphere of the Hitchcock film while giving it a high-tech finish. In the TV film, the fusion reactor accident occurs on Christmas Eve. As everyone scrambles for the nearest "lifepod," the outer space equivalent of a rubber raft, the giant spacecraft detonates, turning into a miniature sun against the LIFEPOD Please turn to 4-TV He likes the beef-up to seven-nights-a-week programming. And he has a fairly open-arms attitude about Chevy Chase, the comedian who has been tapped to host a late-night show beginning Sept 7. This is a lot of contentment to be expressed by the underdog in the local TV market.

Is there anything that bugs MacArthur? Yes, fertilizer and other farming products. He explains that advertising agencies, some located in Iowa, others in big cities such as Chicago, have the mistaken belief that farmers want agriculture commercials only on newscasts. Since MacArthur doesn't have one yet (he's mulling the possi- FOX Please turn to Page 4-TV fa? MAinkb SOnbay Rbowtbr June 27, 1903 A-IV 1994. I don't mean that in a shallow way with graphics, but to capture a little bit of that attitude." Like its exceptional recent anthology, Tribeca," which failed in the ratings, Fox's weekly movies and "Front Page" are indicative of the network's aim to reach a slightly older audience than before, even though young viewers are still its bread and butter. Fox's main audience has been 18-to-34 years old, but the range will now move more in the direction of 18-to-49.

"What we've done," says Salhany, "is expand our demographics a little bit Our average-age viewer is about a 28-year-old male, and we'd like to get that up to about 32 years old." Why? "It's just a little maturity. We've got to get a little older because our core audience is going to get a little older. But that doesn't mean we've got to change our kind of unique programming." Fox is counting heavily on Chase not only to help give the network a well-rounded competitive presence but also to enhance its reputation for going its own way. Steve Binder, executive producer of the Chase series, says, "it won't be a passive talk show. It will be basically a comedy show.

Our goal is not to fall into the traps of cliches. We know the audience is sick of formatted, for- advertising promotions. Plus, he has an aggressive general sales manager, Ted Stephens, who thinks of ideas such as a recent commercial that connected KDSM with downtown Des Moines auto dealers. And I must mention the lobby once again, or rather, its mural-in-progress by local artist Jeff Hansea It features Fox stars from the prime-time lineup, such as Bart Simpson. So, yes, MacArthur has been a busy bee.

I've always admired Fox affiliate bosses for having the patience of Job. The newcomer network has overcome tremendous odds in just existing, surviving against the Big Three: ABC, CBS and NBC. programming has ranged from-terrific (Emmy winner "The Tracey ALL TIMES ARE CENTRAL "We're trying to promote a profile and identity for Fox TV movies films you wouldn't expect to see on the other networks, much more feature-like, more movie-movie." While a certain amount of crime stories are a given, Bieber says Fox Broadcasting is generally taking a different direction from the Big Three's emphasis on movies about "true Fox is counting heavily on Chase to enhance its reputation for going its own way. crime, diseases-of-the-week and women in jeopardy," which are targeted toward female viewers. Fox's audience has a powerful base of young men: "We'll have just as much a male slant as female." A young attitude will also be pivotal in "Front Page," which debuted this past Saturday.

The Fox newsmagazine uses the classic Bradbury Building in downtown Los Angeles as its studio and includes such correspondents as Ron Reagan. The idea, says Reagan who gained attention with a late-night television show, documentaries for the cable network and on "Good Morning America" is to "marry a younger sensibility to an old format. Mix in a little MTV with your '60 and TV Editor Janis D. Frgelicii names and faces. So MacArthur hired Diana Sokol and Steve Berry to be on-alr hdsty handle fhe Fbk17 Kids Club 'amf make pubtio Appearances tied to Affiliate KDSM proudly capitalizes on tie with Fox Thomas E.

MacArthur has made lots of changes at KDSM, the Des Moines Fox affiliate, since his company, River City Broadcasting, purchased the station on July 1, 1991. First, he had a sign placed out front that identified KDSM as what it is proud to be a Fox affiliate. Then his attention switched to the control room, located just off the station's reception area Here he had new equipment installed so the station's picture would come in much clearer for viewers. No more fuzzy Fox reception. He's gotten the station more involved in the community not an instant draw because KDSM didn't have TV personalities, which is the usual way viewers identify stations they're watching.

But with no newscast, there are -no4.