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2003:06:17:14:57:43 E14 CALENDAR LOSANGELESTIMES TELEVISION RADIO HOSE Must- See Movie of the blurbs in this newspaper and the irritating pop-up ads on the Web site attest that The Times is a for-profit enterprise. Yet perhaps naively, such endorsements are kept distinct from editorial content unlike inbroadcasting, where fears of skipping, zipping and zapping havehastened ad seepage into every pore of TV and radio shows. So in our ongoing efforts to stay on the cutting edge, we bring you a column from our sponsors. First, some background. The TV industry won a small reprieve last week when digital video recorder company Re- playTV(a rival of TiVo) sought to mollify Hollywood by dropping its ad-skipping function.

Media buyers also committed a record sum to the networks this year for prime time, indicating the old system of buying commercials still has plenty of life in it. Eventually, however, technology will triumph, in much the way weeds sprout through cracks in the pavement and kids download songs. That inevitability explains the Coca-Cola cups and Ford Focusmoments in as well as the upcoming aconcert series providing title sponsorship to the other major purveyor of fizzy sugar- water. also why more news and talk-radio hosts banter about products the familiar voice updating traffic or ranting about Congress one minute and chatting up a weight-loss supplement the next. You can appreciate the uphill battle being waged to ensure ads get noticed, and yet still find these intrusions annoying whether fusing products and programs or listening to Howard Stern prattle on about them.

Such practices also raise legitimate questions about diminishing credibility and trust. Norm Zareski of Palos Verdes Estates, for one, wonders if AM talk hosts like Al Rantel or Bill Handel worry about their integrity or their listener base is stupid enough to really believe they use all the stuff they claim to Nevertheless, the drip, drip, drip of advertising into programs continues, suggesting that newspapers are missing out by failing to board the endorsement bandwagon. As a result, pleased to note that while Zareski conveyed his thoughts via an e-mail, he could have just as easily sent a lovely Hallmark card, assuming he chose to send the very best. Whatever the conduit, having a reader express such views so eloquently was a welcome sight especially because I see so much better now, thanks to Lasik eye surgery. If other viewers object, it shown up in the ratings, as shows like and feature elaborate tie-ins but still enjoy strong viewership.

Indeed, after the May sweeps, NBC Entertainment President Jeff Zucker noted that the huge ratings generated by prove that when it comes to reaching a mass audience, works like the network which reminds me how happy I am with my new copper re-piping, from Arnola Plumbing. Then again, Zucker recently stated that NBC was implementing a management overhaul because the network is aposition of He the only executive prone to say things that are sometimes hard to swallow, which may be why I take products, whose supplement helps my digestion, even when being fed a bill of goods. To be fair, NBC still finished first among key demographics for the TV season, putting them in a better position than ABC, whose steep decline televising the just-ended NBA playoffs bringsto mind the percentage you can shave off car insurance bills thanks to theAuto Insurance Specialists. Some will argue that wanton commercialism pales next to other media issues and excesses, from concentration of ownership to the sexuality and coarse language fouling the airwaves much the way odors can foul your house, come to think of it, which is why you need a Living Air purifier. Yet beyond the mere nuisance factor, blending ads into content risks further undermining what faith the audience has left in its media.

The ultimate goal, after all, is to pull a fast one squeeze ads into shows in a manner that makes them both subtle and unavoidable. The benefits to marketers are obvious, but the negatives are too often overlooked. Should we suspect that opinions about the economy are expressed not out of conviction but because they dovetail with the home-remodeling ad to follow? Should we assume the cool TV people whose style we admire are outfitted head to toe by paying sponsors, making them considerably less cool? Is Eminem still arebel if his videos are tailored by the Gap and furnished by IKEA? No wonder they call seemingly minor breaches in editorial independence a Because once you begin venturing down this path, hard to stop even in a new pair of Nikes that make you feel like walking on air. insight AVID death last week came right after I finished reading the memoir by ABC News and ABC Sports chief Roone Arledge, who died in December. contributions to television all positive, especially the close and approach to sports in general and the Olympics in particular.

Knowing a little about the participants is swell, but when a 10-second race is preceded by ahalf-hour profile set to piano music, out of whack. That said, just as Brinkley was a titan among TV newsmen, Arledge was a visionary who brought to late night, Brinkley to and Night to prime time. Moreover, as a consummate insider, his assessment of the modern media is telling inasmuch as he paints its current stewards largely as quick-buck artists, living from one quarterly earnings report to the next. became essential for the established companies generate profits now, not to build for 10 years hence or even next year, and in my judgment, every company in my field suffered from that he writes in the final chapter. was not a world in which I felt particularly comfortable.

It was one that exploited much and created little, where buying and selling far outstripped content, and where the older concepts grown up with of building, of loyalty, of integrity had less And speaking of room, friends, if you need more, with interest rates this low never been a better time to Brian column appears Wednesdays. He can be reached at brian.lowry@latimes.com. ON TV BRIAN LOWRY Ray Mickshaw CONSPICUOUS: name is on display in an episode of featuring Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul. Now, a column from our sponsors By Josh Friedman Times Staff Writer Outsurf. Outparty.

Outpose. From producer Mark Burnett, the kahuna behind comes the unscripted House: North a six-part glimpse into the surfing culture premiering tonight at 8 on the WB. The premise: Seven world- class surfers are rivals in the ocean but roommates on land, staying at an opulent beach house on North Shore while they compete in the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing. The cast includes five-time champ Sunny Garcia, a hulk of seething intensity; Holly Beck, a dedicated competitor who scoffs at giggly surfer chicks; party animal Danny Fuller; model-athlete Veronica Kay, the international face of Roxy surfwear (if never heard of it, ask your kids); plus Myles Padaca, Damien Hobgood and Chelsea Georgeson. Burnett was brought in to turn raw footage from the November-December tournament into an appealing package aimed at young adults, and his brisk touch shows.

Thankfully, the series is also pleasantly uncon- trived by unscripted TV standards, with no lame household games such as eviction votes and immunity challenges. The surfing competition is all that passes for suspense on Although the action highlights are as in good serious surfing fans may already know the results. No matter. What really offers is an offhand look at the grungy glamour of the surfer life, especially those candid moments that make the show such lightweight fun for us wannabes and other couch potatoes. In one scene, Sunny slow- burns when a clueless recreational surfer on him, cutting him off midwave.

Later, the tension rockets at a local dance club when an annoying patron hits on wife. Danny does nothing to dispel any stereotypes, and thankfully so. In his opening interview, he explains that he has few girlfriends here and there but nothing too adding with a laid-back drawl: really handle the lockdown right This stuff, as several of the roommates remark when they first enter the house and take in its splendor, is killer. TUNED IN Sharing surf and turf in SERIES Surfers up: Seven professional surfers live together in Hawaii in the premiere of the unscripted House: North (8 p.m. WB) Just to have a laugh: Carol Burnett is profiled on (8 p.m.

Show kids: Five contestantswill advance to the final round on (8:30 p.m. Fox). SPECIALS Deal them in: Some of the best poker players in the world vie for the last seats in the championship of the Poker (6 and 9 p.m. Travel). MOVIES Good boys: Nick Nolte and Mac Davis star as professionalfootball players with bad habits in Dallas (8 a.m.

Comedy Central). Love story: Clark Gable, Jeanette MacDonald and Spencer Tracy star in (8 a.m. TCM). Down the aisle again: Steve Martin and Diane Keaton star in the 1995 comedy of the Bride Part (9:30 a.m. and 5:15 p.m.

TMC). Stranger in town: Clint Eastwood directed and stars in the 1973 western Plains (9:55 p.m. AMC). SPORTS College baseball: NCAA World Series, Cal State Fullerton vs. Stanford (11 a.m.

ESPN2). Baseball: The San Francisco Giants visit the Dodgers. (7 p.m. ESPN2 and FSN2). Highlights Here are the rankings for national prime-time network television last week (June 9-15) as compiled by Nielsen Media Research.

They are based on the average number of people who watched a program from start to finish. Nielsen estimates there are 272.04 million potential viewers in the U.S. age 2 and older. Viewership is listed in millions. Program Network View- ersProgram Network Viewers 1 CSICBS14.58 2 Everybody Loves Raymond CBS13.99 3 CSI: MiamiCBS12.82 4 Law OrderNBC12.39 5 Still StandingCBS12.03 --------------------------------------------6 Finals: Game 7 Without a TraceCBS11.37 8 Dateline: NBC 9 48 Hours InvestigatesCBS10.77 10 Law Order: SVUNBC10.49 --------------------------------------------11 FriendsNBC10.39 12 Law Order (9 p.m.)NBC10.27 13 Yes, DearCBS9.84 14 Last Comic StandingNBC9.72 15 60 Minutes IICBS9.70 --------------------------------------------16 King of QueensCBS9.67 17 Finals: Game 18 Law Order: Criminal Intent NBC9.59 19 Will GraceNBC9.51 20 60 MinutesCBS9.45 --------------------------------------------21 Finals: Game 22 According to JimABC9.11 23 For Love or MoneyNBC8.91 24 American JuniorsFOX8.73 25 FrasierNBC8.56 --------------------------------------------Crime and PunishmentNBC8.56 27 ScrubsNBC8.47 28 Flubs and Screw-Ups CBS8.41 29 48 Hours Investigates (Fri.) CBS8.40 30 Dateline: NBC --------------------------------------------31 Amazing Race: 4CBS8.13 32 Primetime ThursdayABC7.85 33 8 Simple Rules (8:30 p.m.) ABC7.83 34 The SimpsonsFOX7.52 35 Law Order: SVU --------------------------------------------36 FameNBC7.47 37 Dog Eat DogNBC7.45 Fame 39 the 40 Less Than PerfectABC7.29 --------------------------------------------41 8 Simple RulesABC7.24 42 Cup Final: Game ABC7.17 43 Malcolm in the MiddleFOX7.15 44 Judging AmyCBS7.13 45 JAGCBS7.10 --------------------------------------------46 the Stars 47 Bernie MacFOX7.05 ERNBC7.05 49 King of the Hill (8:30 p.m.) FOX7.00 50 NYPD BlueABC6.98 --------------------------------------------51 Most WantedFOX6.81 52 The Simpsons 53 That ShowFOX6.58 54 Dateline: NBC 55 The GuardianCBS6.32 --------------------------------------------56 Oliver BeeneFOX6.27 57 Price Is Right: Million CBS6.15 58 The DistrictCBS6.07 59 Incredible ABC6.03 60 WWE --------------------------------------------61 BeckerCBS5.68 62 Cops (8:30 p.m.)FOX5.67 63 Behavior: Caught on FOX5.56 64 Cedric the Entertainer: Presents FOX5.51 65 30 Seconds to FameFOX5.48 --------------------------------------------66 The AgencyCBS5.43 67 Funniest Home Videos ABC5.37 68 Baby BobCBS5.13 69 CopsFOX5.01 70 Keen EddieFOX4.99 --------------------------------------------71 King of the Hill (8:30 p.m.) FOX4.95 72 Shoot-Around Finals: Game ABC4.90 73 HackCBS4.87 74 Charlie LawrenceCBS4.72 75 Yes, Dear --------------------------------------------76 Shoot-Around Finals: Game ABC4.46 77 FuturamaFOX4.39 78 Reba (9:30 p.m.)WB4.32 79 Shoot-Around Finals: Game ABC4.20 80 PulseFOX4.08 --------------------------------------------81 Beach 82 RebaWB3.90 83 Powers: International Man of WB3.77 84 85 Next Top ModelUPN3.38 --------------------------------------------86 FastlaneFOX3.25 87 Charmed (9 p.m.)WB3.11 88 Jamie KennedyWB3.09 89 Fear FactorNBC3.08 SmallvilleWB3.08 --------------------------------------------91 7th HeavenWB3.01 92 GirlfriendsUPN2.93 93 Half and HalfUPN2.88 94 CharmedWB2.86 7th Heaven (9 p.m.)WB2.86 Russia With 97 Fastlane (9 p.m.)FOX2.82 What I Like About YouWB2.82 99 What I Like About You (8:30 p.m.) WB2.78 100 Hot --------------------------------------------101 One on OneUPN2.40 102 Next Top Model (8 p.m.) UPN2.32 103 Smallville (8 p.m.)WB2.28 104 EnterpriseUPN1.91 105 Gilmore Girls: BeginningsWB1.88 --------------------------------------------The ParkersUPN1.88 107 The Twilight ZoneUPN1.80 108 109 (8 p.m.)WB1.52 Network averages Here is the number of viewers (in millions) that each network averaged per hour of prime time, for last week and for the season.

Network Last week Season to date NBC8.3611.36 CBS8.3512.20 ABC7.139.65 FOX5.859.64 UPN3.193.48 WB2.943.97 The San Antonio Spurs are the new champions of the sports world, but ABC came up a loser in its broadcast of the NBA Finals, according to Nielsen Media Research ratings released Tuesday. The six-game seriesbetween the Spurs and the New Jersey Nets was watched by the fewest households in the broadcast history of the event, which dates to 1971. The seriesdropped off in households from last year, when NBC aired the finals featuring the Nets and the Lakers. In other ratings news, the summer doldrums may be here for a lot of network shows in repeats, but the sun of high ratings continues to shine brightly on franchise. The three dramas under the umbrella created by producer Dick Wolf all landed in the top 20 among total viewers last week: ranked No.

4, Order: was No. 10, and Order: Criminal was in the No. 18 spot. NBC also had good news with the showing of its new unscripted comedy competition, Comic But the controversy surrounding Rob Campos, the star of another unscripted NBC series, Love or may be taking a toll on its popularity. The dating series featuring Campos and several women fell from last No.

16 spot to No. 23 in its third week. The law firm where Campos worked let him go last week following reports that he had been expelled from a military program for allegedly drunkenly groping a female naval officer. CBS had the top three shows in overall Crime Scene four of the top five and six of the top nine. Braxton Prime-Time TV Rankings NBA Finals hits bottom on ABC The View withMonica Lewinsky; Kate Hudson; Rob Reiner.

10 a.m. KABC Oprah Winfrey Book Club. 3 p.m. KABC Dr. Phil Plastic-surgery addiction.

4 p.m. KNBC Charlie Rose Jeremy Greenstock, U.N. ambassador; actor Harrison Ford. 11:30 p.m. KCET Late Show With David Letterman Johnny Depp; Christine Todd Whitman, former EPA administrator; B.B.

King. 11:35 p.m. KCBS The Tonight Show With Jay Leno Bernie Mac; Dwight Yoakam. 11:35 p.m. KNBC The Late Late Show With Craig Kilborn Nick Stahl; Jewel.

12:35 a.m. KCBS Late Night With Conan Kate Hudson; Dale Earnhardt O.A.R.12:35 a.m. KNBC Listings include talk shows that provide aguest list. Talk Shows TIPS FOR TODAY 9 a.m.-noon—Morning Becomes Eclectic: Balladeer Tom Brosseau performs live, in-studio (11:15 a.m.-noon), KCRW- FM (89.9). p.m., a.m.—The Third Man: Lime (Orson Welles) deals with the black market in Marseilles (originally broadcast Dec.

21, 1951), KNX (1070). 10-11 p.m.—Arts in Review: Actor French Stewart; Flamenco artist Maria Bermudez, KPFK-FM (90.7). DRAMA, COMEDY, FAMILY p.m., a.m.—Tales of the Texas Rangers: The apparent accidental death of a family turns out to be murder (originally broadcast April 22, 1951), KNX (1070). CLASSICAL 9 a.m.-noon—Kimberlea Daddy: Tchaikovsky Trio in pianist Yefim Bronfman, violinist Cho-Liang Lin, cellist Gary Hoffman) a.m.), KUSC-FM (91.5). 10-11 a.m.—Morning Symphony: Ber- lioz (Symphonie Fantastique, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra), KCSN-FM (88.5).

p.m.—Masterpiece of the Day: Haydn (22nd Symphony, Northern Chamber Orchestra), KMZT-FM (105.1). 2-3 p.m.—Cost-Conscious Classix: Beethoven (7th Symphony, Vienna Philharmonic), KCSN-FM (88.5). 7-8 p.m.—Symphony at 7: Schubert (5th Symphony, New York Chamber Orchestra), KMZT-FM (105.1). 7 p.m.-midnight—Jim Svejda: Wooden Pierre Boulez conducts New York Philharmonic) p.m.), KUSC-FM (91.5). 8-10 p.m.—Evening Concert: Mozart Concerto in clarinetist Richard Stoltzman, English Chamber Orchestra) p.m.), KMZT-FM (105.1).

POP, COUNTRY, FOLK, JAZZ 10 a.m.-1 p.m.—Global Village FM (90.7). 1-4 p.m.—Gary Owens, KLAC (570). p.m.—Metropolis, KCRW-FM (89.9). 8-10 p.m.—Rhapsody in Black, doo-wop, KPFK-FM (90.7). 10 p.m.-midnight—Chocolate City, KCRW-FM (89.9).

Radio.