Daily News from New York, New York • 773

Leisure 15 POP MUSIC 1 I By LYNN VAN MATRE DN ITS THREE YEARS of operation, MTV has gone from a red-ink operation to a profitable and extraordinaryly powerful force in rock 'n roll. The 24-hour music-video cable channel, which now reaches an estimated 22 million households, is invariably cited as one of the factors in the recovery of the ailing record industry. And with good video has proven to be a potent tool for breaking in new acts and breathing new life into old ones. When it comes to video exposure, MTV is the undisputed king of the mountain. It's not only the most important rock music-video channel, it's the only 24-hour music-video channel.

Or, at least it will be until Oct. 26. Oh RODRtCK EYER DAILY NEWS is very healthy for the industry," he adds. "Those deals are selfish and I don't think they increase the audience that much, anyway." HERE ARE other clips that viewers won't see on MVN that have nothing to do with MTV's hit the charts and then play them. We'll play them right away if we think that they're good," says Sassa.

But there are a number of videos that MVN won't be playing, at least right away, because MTV has got them locked up. Earlier this summer, the channel quietly entered into what are referred to as "exclusivity deals" with a number of major record labels. Because of contractual confidentiality clauses, neither the labels (widely reported in trade publications to be CBS, Geffen, RCA, MCA and Elek- agreements with the various labels. Turner, according to Sassa, finds the sex and violence depicted on many network TV shows distasteful; "Night Tracks" refused to air a number of videos deemed objectionable in those It promises to be a bloody battle, as Turner's new 24-hour music-video channel challenges the established champ. that date, Atlanta-based cable mogul Ted Turner launches his 24-hour cable music channel, Music Video Network (MVN), and the video wars commence.

The opening salvos in what promises to be one of the harder-fought battles for the hearts, minds and eyes of young America were fired earlier, this summer on MTV's home turf in New York, when Turner, speaking to a group of cable operators, described MTV as a "sleazy operation" that played "dirty videos." MTV declined to respond to Turner's remarks, but MTV's chief operating officer, Bob Pittman, has indicated that in his view, the coaxial cable isn't big enough for two pop video empires. "I don't think that any of us are looking to have it out in the street," says Scott Sassa, vice president and general manager of the newly created MVN, which will be headquartered in Los Angeles. Still, there's no doubt in the industry or in the respective video camps that MTV and MVN are going to come out fighting, not only for the highly desirable 12-24 (or 34) crowd, but for the older baby boomers, the 25-to-49-year-olds whose musical tastes may be somewhat different. According to Sassa, Turner's MVN will be shooting for the 12-49 audience, admittedly a wide range. MTV, meanwhile, is not sitting idly by, letting Turner pluck off the upper end of the video demographic spec-rtrum without a fight The established music channel recently announced plans to launch a second 24-hour cable video service as yet unnamed but referred to as the "Second Service" or "MTV2" that will woo contemporary music fans aged 25 to 49.

The second channel, which has been in the planning stages for some time, is scheduled to debut Jan. 1, 1985; it's no secret in the industry that launch plans were hastily speeded up because of the -Turner move. Sassa sees MVN as "an alternative" to -'MTV for recording artists, advertisers, cable operators and He maintains that "Night Tracks," a weekend video show currently carried on the Turner Broadcasting System, regularly featured worthwhile artists before they became big names he cites Howard Jones as an example and says that MVN will follow in this tradition. (TBS will continue to air "Night Tracks" for at least the next year or so, utilizing it as a promotional vehicle for the new channel.) "You've got to be progressive and pick up songs as soon as they come out A lot of stations wait until songs he plans to use off -camera announcers instead. The MVN playist will include the usual pop and rock songs, plus crossover songs from the dance, soul and country charts.

MTV executives have repeatedly declined to specify what sort of format MTV2 will adopt, but record companies are hoping that the new channel will provide an outlet for softer rockpop artists currently deemed too unhip or middle of the road for MTV airplay. At this point, nobody at Turner Broadcasting is willing to go on record with an estimation of how long it will be before the new channel begins turning a profit. Reportedly, the venture is expected to cost the company $15 to $20 million, and some financial analysts have expressed concern over Turner's tendency toward overexpan-sion of a cable empire already heavily in debt. As for MTV's "Second Service." Billboard reports that the costs of launching the new channel will come to a relatively low $7 million, due to the fact that MTV is building on programing, research and advertising sales departments that are already established; new hirings consequent ly will be kept to a minimum. Besides MTV and MVN, yet another 24 hour cable video service.

Discovery Network, recently announced plans to hit the airwaves in December with a mix of pop, country, soul and oldies. The question is, will there be enough viewers to go around? A number of record company executives in charge of video for their labels aren't at all sure. Several also expressed concern about being able to provide enough programing. "I think it's healthy that a lot of people are trying to get into (video)," says Sassa, who sees no reason why upstart MVN can't "cohabitate" with established colossus MTV. Still, he acknowledges, "It's a tough business." And it's a sure bet that things are going to get tougher come Oc t.

26 and really tough when Jan. 1 rolls around and the Video Wars begin in earnest. CttiM Tribune V) a departments, and MVN will follow a similar "no sleaze, please" policy. "We don't want to show videos that portray images that aren't healthy for the potential viewing audience that might be out there," Sassa confirms. "A lot of young kids I'm talking kids under 12 watch videos, and they can form strong impressions from violent videos." The tiresome "bimbos in garter belts" syndrome, in which females are depicted as male fantasy objects a la Frederick's of Hollywood, also gets short shrift at Turner Broadcasting.

Asked for a couple of examples of "objectionable" videos that MVN would not air, Sassa cited the Chicago video, "Stay the Night." "It had a lot of car chase scenes and violence. We didn't play it on 'Night We didn't play the Romantics' 'Talking in Your either, because it lightly dealt with necrophilia and there were girls running around in negligees." MVN, unlike MTV, will have no video jocks. Sassa believes that they "impede the progress of the pro- traAsylum) nor MTV will confirm the deals, but they have been in effect for some time. Here's how it works: MTV gets first crack at the label's new videos by big-name acts; depending on the act and the deal, those chosen videos will be aired only on MTV for periods of approximately one to four weeks. All of the other video outlets, including MVN, will have to wait to play the coveted clip.

In return for the rights to be first (and only) with the hottest new video product, MTV coughs up cash and agrees to air a specified number of the labels' new and struggling acts, thus giving them the exposure so vital for mass success. MTV's exclusivity deals, Sassa ascknowleges, "won't help" MVN, but he believes that the new network can "work around" the problem. He says that Turner Broadcasting has no plans to try to beat MTV at the exclusivity game, though he concedes that "payment for videoclips is inevitable. But I don't think that exclusivity.