Daily News from New York, New York • 700

i S3? DOW JONES INDUSTRIALS DOWN 19.75 CLOSE 6,422.94 AMERICAN EXCHANGE DOWN 3.19 CLOSE 588.99 sap 500 index DOWN 3.18 CLOSE 745.10 NASDAQ MARKET DOWN 3.35 CLOSE 1,297.02 THE IRS on the line n7E pi n3- rn 1 w-rs By ANGELA G. KING (Mm HEADQUARTERS: Manhattan LAUNCHED: January 1995 by Viacom and Chris-Craft Industries, owned and operated by BHC Communications. PROGRAMING: Monday-Wednesday schedule is anchored by "Star Trek: KSIM I Moesha RmC Voyager." Others include "Homeboys in Outer "The Sentinel" and two-hour weekend movie, and two-hour block of children's cartoons on Sunday mornings. NETWORK: Six major stations Including WWOR (Channel 9) in the metro New York area and KCOP in Los Angeles, 152 affliates covering about 92 of U.S. households.

Daily News Business Writer Viacom chief Sumner Redstone bulked up his media stable yesterday by purchasing a big stake in the fledgling UPN TV network. Redstone, whose empire includes MTV, VH-1 and the Paramount movie studio, said Viacom will pay $160 million for a 50 stake in the network. Viacom launched UPN with Chris-Craft Industries in January 1995, hoping to build a broadcast powerhouse that would rival the major networks. "Since its launch, the United Paramount Network has exceeded our expectations and delivered on its promise to bring original programing that creates real value for its affiliate stations," Redstone said in a statement. While UPN is still two years away from making a profit, buying a stake in the neophyte network gives Viacom guaranteed distribution for the shows produced by Paramount television and movies.

The network, which is based on the Paramount Studio lot in Los Angeles, has 152 affiliates covering about 92 of U.S. TV households. Viacom owns and operates 11 TV stations, nine of which are UPN stations. The network's biggest stations are WWOR (Channel 9) here and KCOP in Los Angeles. The UPN network is still a fairly young network that Viacom, "with their marketing power, can make grow and funnel their own programing into," said Brian Eisenbarth, an analyst with Collins Co.

Viacom's deal to become half owner and operator of UPN comes 11 days before the deadline for Viacom to notify Chris-Craft that it would exercise its option to buy the network. UPN airs original programing Monday through Wednesday, movies and children's shows on Sundays. But it has been slow to lure viewers. This season, just 5 of households that had TVs were tuned into UPN. That pales in comparison to more than half of the households that tune into the Big Three networks.

STAR TREKl VOYAGER 1996 EARNINGS: through September, loss of $95.8 million CHRIS-CRAFT STOCK PRICE: $41.50. 52-WEEK HIGH, LOW: $44, $38,371. 0 BHC STOCK PRICE: 1, $102.87. 52-WEEK HIGH, LOW: $103.37,, $89. The IRS is expanding its telephone filing program next year to include some married couples as well as recipients of unemployment compensation.

In '96, the first year of national operation for TeleFile, just single taxpayers whose income was limited to wages and interest could use it. To be eligible in '97, taxpayers must be one of 22 million filers selected to receive a TeleFile booklet containing a personal identification number. They must be single or married filing a joint return. They must have no dependents, the same mailing address as this year, total income of less than $50,000 and interest income of less than $400. Calls last about 10 minutes.

Blimpie's a 'bargain' Blimpie International shares rose IV, or nearly 20, to after Barber Branson analyst Eric Elliot appearing on CNBC yesterday morning said the sandwich chain is a "bargain." The stock hit a 52-week high of $16 on June 3, and a low of $9. 12V on Dec. 6, 1995. The New York-based company, which has 1,500 shops in New York and 44 others states, earned $940,723, or 10 cents a share, on sales of $10.17 million during its last full quarter. Tuned to Internet Comcast Cablevision is offering a service to residents of Baltimore and Howard counties in Maryland that will make them the first in the nation to try out a combined TV and Internet service through cable.

Installation costs $175, but the company is temporarily offering a discounted price of $95. It promises high-speed delivery through a fiber-optic cable TV system already in place. U.S. auto safes lag The Big Three auto makers saw overall sales dip 6 November, while European auto makers posted a 13 gain last month, and the Japanese and South Koreans combined for a 10 increase. GM suffered a 12 decline.

Ford sales fell 2, and Chrysler was up 1. Teeth problems Procter Gamble is suing Colgate-Palmolive and its advertising agency, Young Rubicam, saying they deliberately copied a toothpaste advertisement has been using since 1989. The suit alleges copyright infringement and unfair competition and seeks unspecified damages. Colgate said the suit has no merit. Affordable housing The most inexpensive housing market in the nation is located in the western New York town of Jamestown, near the Pennsylvania border, according to the National Association of Home Builders' Housing Opportunity Index.

San Francisco was at the bottom of the list, a position it has held since the association began compiling its index in 1991. The median price of a home was $55,000 in Jamestown and $289,000 in San Francisco. Nationwide: $122,000. VIACOA 78 EH F3 TX Hyiawi 3 111 HEADQUARTERS: Manhattan CHAIRMANCEO: Sumner Redstone EMPLOYES: 5.000 CABLE CHANNELS: MTV, NickelodeonNick at Nite, Showtime, The VIDEO HiTS ONt Movie Channel, USA Network (50), Sci-Fi (50) Simon MAIN OPERATIONS: Paramount Pictures, Paramount Television, Spelling Entertainment Group, Blockbuster Video and Music stores. Discovery Zone, Schuster, regional theme parkts, movie theaters.

1996 EARNINGS: through September, $1.43 billion STOCK PRICE: $36.62 52-WEEK HIGH, LOW: $47.88, $29.62 JIM WILUS DAILY NEWS UPN's marquee-name TV shows, "Star Trek: Voyager" and "Moesha," rank 76th and 80th, respectively, in the Nielsen ratings. The announcement of the purchase comes as Viacom battles MCA in court over their joint ownership of USA Networks. NBC and CBS are reportedly interested in buying USA Networks to beef up their cable presence. (Consumers pEsii tie ping LPS sales Personal computer sales over the crucial Thanksgiving weekend lagged expectations at more than a third of U.S. electronics retailers, adding to concern about an already disappointing season for PCs.

Consumers, unenthusiastic about new offerings, failed to respond even to unprecedented giveaways. Analysts now expect November to rival October as the worst month ever for PC sales at U.S. stores. "It's tough and it's ugly," said Beth Richard, an analyst at Everen Securities. "It's never been so bad with the combination of no new products, prices plummeting and intensified competition." Retailers are expected to report PC sales at 15 or more lower than year-ago levels.

As a result, they are chop Seibald, an analyst at Blackford Securities. CompUSA is on target to meet sales expectations for the holiday and the quarter to date, he said. Competitor Best Buy, meantime, offered no payments until January 1998. Computer City and Circuit City offered no payments for a year and free monitors, or money off monitors. They also have thrown in free monitors and printers during special promotions.

"There's been a lot of news about Christmas getting better, but that's not true in consumer electronics," said Everen's Richard. A survey of 50 stores by Lehman Brothers found 34 said sales were slightly worse than expected over the Thanksgiving weekend, while 2 said sales were significantly worse. i Bloomberg Business News ping already thin margins and offering plush financing deals no down payments, no interest to draw customers. That will short-circuit profits for many and likely push some retailers out of business. PC makers that focus on the consumer market will suffer as well.

Apple Computer, Packard Bell-NEC and Acer are among those likely to be hardest hit, as new entries from Sony, Toshiba and Compaq Computer vie for consumers' dollars. "This year is going to separate the men from the boys, and some companies will not survive," said Kurt Barnard, a retail consultant and president of Barnard's Retail Market Report. One exception may be CompuUSA, which gave away a 13-inch color TV with the purchase of a PC, said Jack 3 to 'f pi to j2.