The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida • 125

v'0-yrw "TuTlTTV 1V VT'I'H' fX tryryyrrtyt yl NYSE2C NASDAQ SC AMEX4C SECTION FRIDAY NOVEMBER 171995 MJ ERO cfc Herald New owner buying in once proud CBS If nothing else the sale to Westinghouse will remove the man who most agree is responsible for steep decline: penny-pinching owner Laurence Tisch By MARC GUNTHER Knight-Ridder News Service NEW YORK CBS is last in prime time last in news last in sports last with its stations in worse shape from top to bottom than any of the Big Three networks has ever been Any resemblance to the old CBS the proud and arrogant Tiffany Network that once ruled the airwaves now seems purely coincidental Thursday CBS shareholders approved selling the company to Wes- NEWS ANALYSIS outside CBS say the rebuilding task that faces the new owners is staggering exist anymore a said Don Hewitt the executive producer of 60 Minutes it get better this year? No it will not get better this year so mired in SOUTH FLORIDA IN LIGHTS: Miami South Beach beam was the inspiration and will often be the stage for Sun- Channel 7 anchors new show Deco Drive to be hosted by Kelley Mitchell and Jessica Aguirre A new locally produced show promises neon flash reports on stars that may be a tad catty a band jazzy and an imaginary street Deco Drive Sunbeam show stars Fla ritz and glitz third place and could slip into fourth place and if there was another network it would be in fifth Hewitt said Things have gotten so bad that hits like 60 Minutes and Late Night With David Letterman have sunk in the ratings merely because they are on CBS Most weeks CBS land a single program in the Nielsen Top 10 And its audience remains older and therefore less desirable to advertisers than viewers of rivals ABC NBC and Fox Yet CBS can be rejuvenated most PLEASE SEE CBS 3C Southeast trustee sues law firm Steel Hector scoffs at malpractice allegation By GREGG FIELDS Herald Business Writer William Brandt Jr the trustee for the estate of the Southeast Banking Corp sued Steel Hector Davis and many of its partners on Thursday alleging the Miami law firm of (which) caused economic injury to Southeast ultimately leading to its However Joseph Klock Jr the managing partner of the firm called the lawsuit and predicted it will go nowhere is no basis to he said in an interview is inconceivable why anyone would do something like Besides contesting facts in the suit Klock said that two of the defendants are dead Other defendants joined the firm after Southeast failed four years ago suit essentially alleges that Steel Hector gave bad legal advice and helped prepare false financial documents in order to help Southeast Banking management entrench itself I lector did so in order to preserve its position as general outside counsel and the multi-million dollar annual billings it collected from that rcla the lawsuit states The suit states that the' annual billings at least in one year were over $2 million The suit seek a specified amount of damages but rather asks that damages be determined at trial The complaint was the latest salvo in a long legal battle waged by Brandt against those he says are culpable in the Sept 19 1991 collapse of Southeast Bank Southeast Banking Corp the parent company which Brandt represents filed for bankruptcy frankly just never going to let them Brandt said in an interview on Thursday Brandt has scored some major coups in his fight particularly after the FD1C later acknowledged that it would earn money on the assets seized from South- -east calling into question whether the bank should ever have been seized at all The FDIC later paid Brandt $152 million to be distributed to the bondholders of Southeast Banking Corp However Brandt has also suffered egal reversals Most of the counts in a twsuit he filed against former Southeast officers and directors were dismissed by a judge And earlier this year a judge threw out his lawsuit against First Union Corp the North Carolina banking giant that purchased Southeast Brandt said he sure when the legal battles will be over but said he is determined to stay the course but the regulatory agencies are making me take a long he said commercial market St Louis-based McDonnell Douglas is the largest aircraft supplier to the Defense Department They have combined sales of around $35 billion Lockheed Martin Corp had 1994 sales of $23 billion imagine the government would allow that to said Bill Whitlow an analyst for Pacific Crest Securities in Seattle already has 60 percent of the (worldwide) market and this would bring it to 70-plus That just smacks in the face of Analysts agree that a merger of defense divisions is a stronger possibil-1 ity and would likely have the support of the Pentagon McDonnell Douglas closed at on Thursday up $437'2 Boeing shares gained $187'2 ending at $7587'2 STOCK INDEX t333 COMEX SPOT $38570 $o8o BONDS US 30-YEAR 6m 007 DOLLAR VS YEN 10209 071 EDM Financial guru Givens must refund customers From Herald Staff and Wire Reports Financial guru Charles Givens Jr will refund up to $175000 to disgruntled customers and modify his business practices according to a settlement agreement announced Thursday Florida Attorney General Bob But-terworth said Givens the Wealth Without Risk author who has made a fortune charging people for his advice already has refunded about $145000 to 121 customers Givens also agreed to pay $75000 for the investigative costs Butterworth filed Given) a civil lawsuit in December 1993 against Givens his son Charles Givens III and the Charles-J Givens Organization Inc accusing them of fraud and deceptive trade practices The suit accused Givens of making it difficult or impossible for dissatisfied customers to obtain refunds and with misrepresenting the chances of financial success when using moneymaking strategies A phone call to Givens seeking comment was not immediately returned Givens has estimated his net worth at $232 million and earned $3 million in 199? as the chief executive of the Givens Organization in Altamonte Springs Sensormatic to install system in Wfolden Books Sensormatic Electronics Corp said Thursday it has signed a $22 million agreement to install an Ultra Max anti-shoplifting system in the Walden Books store chain The Ann Arbor Mich-based book store chain said it chose Sensormatic over other technologies because of its reliability aesthetic design adaptability to wide door openings and a new thinner Ultra Max label suited for books Walden Books has 1100 stores nationwide Eli Lilly program using ProxyMed system Eli Lilly PCS Health Systems subsidiary will conduct a pilot program using a computerized drug-tracking system developed by ProxyMed Inc of Fort Lauderdale About 50 physicians at the 10000-member Advantage Care health maintenance organization in Lexington Kentucky will receive equipment system provides a variety of information about medicines enabling pharmacists to determine possible drug interactions and whether another drug might service as an effective less-expensive generic substitute The prescriptions are then sent on-line or on a fax machine to local pharmacies About 1000 Florida doctors use the system i InPhyNet Medical wins prison contracts InPhyNet Medical Management of Fort Lauderdale has received two contracts? to provide physicians and related services to correctional facilities in Florida and Nevada A two-year contract with City of Las Vegas is expected to bring $25 million A three-year contract with the Florida Department of Okeechobee Correctional Institution will generate $57 million InPhyNet provides physicians and related services to hospitals correctional facilities and health maintenance organizations it GameTek Inc a troubled computer game developer in Aventura reported an $84 million quarterly net loss Earnings of South Florida companies Page 3C tinghouse Electric for $54 billion to create the largest US broadcasting company If nothing else the sale will remove the man who most agree is responsible for steep decline: penny-pinching owner Laurence Tisch But industry executives inside and WHDH-Channcl 7 also a Sunbeam station and production company executives would like to eventually syndicate it In Miami the show will air at 7 pm and be repeated at 11:15 pm typical news magazine genre has gotten very old There been a new twist for quite some said Joel Chcatwood senior vice president and the man responsible for creating run-and-gun news style like to think Deco Drive is an opportunity to give the genre a new coat of he said completely new promises Ed Ansin president and chief executive of Sunbeam Television the production parent PLEASE SEE DECO DRIVE 3C to the cruise future big cruise lines believe there is a large market of potential cruisers in the European said Jill Krutick cruise analyst for Smith Barney population density and the wealth in Europe support that But there are a lot of cultural issues a lot of language issues that need to be worked Carnival spoke with Costa and other European travel companies after its said US Commerce Undersecretary Greg Farmer who stopped in Miami Thursday to announce the program Jim Host executive vice president of the National Tour Association will chair the group which will be made up of 25 to 30 public and private sector representatives from law enforce ment and the tourism industry The establishment of a tourism safety organization is one of the recommendations that came out of last White House Conference on Tourism In 1994 Miami and all of Florida saw significant drops in international tourism after a series of international tourist murders across the state made headlines around the world By MIMI WHITEFIELD Herald Business Writer Sunbeam Productions is gearing up for Deco Drive a new locally-produced show it hopes will find a niche somewhere between the jaded news magazine format and the glut of all-too-similar-sounding talk shows Deco Drive which will be produced at the studios of WSVN-Channel 7 is an entertainmentlife-style news magazine but Sunbeam executives say be a magazine with a difference Look for neon flash reports on stars that may be a tad catty a band sound and an imaginary street Deco Drive that was created on a computer to serve as a set backdrop The half-hour program is scheduled to debut Jan 8 on WSVN and Bos Cruise lines target Europe ft i tjttf (jK ifyx Mitchell Aguirre for expansion partnership with the Greek cruise line Epirotiki collapsed in April because of strategic but no deal materialized Royal Caribbean also has talked to Costa Earlier this week rumors swept the cruise industry that a deal had been made But that was not the case Richard Fain chairman of Royal PLEASE SEE CRUISE LINES 3C By TED REED Herald Business Writer two major cruise lines are eager to expand into Europe so eager that both have talked about partnerships with Genoa-based Costa Crociere parent of largest cruise line To date those talks have gone nowhere But executives of both Carnival Corp and Royal Caribbean Cruises believe that European expansion is key McDonnell Douglas and Boeing are reportedly in merger talks Fighting the fear of crime US will create National Travel Safety Team ST LOUIS (AP) Boeing Co and McDonnell Douglas Corp are reportedly talking merger a combination that would create an aerospace monolith that would redefine the buying and selling of planes Analysts said Thursday that a full-fledged merger of the two largest US aircraft manufacturers is unlikely but that Boeing and McDonnell Douglas could end up working together on some projects Merger talks are taking place in New York The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday quoting people knowledgeable about the talks It said the discussions also might lead to an exchange of major assets In addition a merger could face an antitrust challenge Spokesmen for Boeing and McDonnell Douglas both refused comment Seattle-based Boeing dominates the By ANNE MONCREIFF ARRARTE Herald Business Writer Worried that fear of crime is keeping international tourists away the US Travel and Tourism Administration is creating a national Travel Safety Team The team which will model many of its tourism safety initiatives after successful tourism crime prevention program will advise US destinations and offer crisis management A recent Justice Department study shows that about 1 3 percent of all US tourists are crime victims Safety Team will offer everything from on-site evaluations to a national emergency hotline to international public relations pii fo- it it -it A JF'-it itt it' it 'fit' 4k.