The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida • 55

EARED TELEVISION MONDAY, MAY 22, 1995 BM THE HERALD Date for channel switch pushed back By MIMI WHITEFIELD 'T he Herald switch, Channel Channel 4 Business big when 6 and exchange Writer channel WCIX- WTVJ- transmitting towers and places on the dial, is still expected this summer just not as early as once anticipated. The target date had been July 1, but "it's clearly slipping into August. How much beyond that it could slip no one knows. The process is taking longer than anyone imagined," said Don Browne, president and general manager of WTVJ. A complex deal The switch which will give WCIX a stronger signal and WTVJ a signal that won't reach into parts of Broward County wasn't initiated by the local stations.

It resulted from a complex series of negotiations involving the two stations' parent networks, CBS and NBC. and a new joint venture between CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting (Group W). A delay in receiving federal regulatory approval for the deals has pushed back the day when WCIX will become Channel 4 and adopt the new call letters WFOR, and WTVJ becomes Channel 6. "It's difficult to tell exactly when it will be," said Allen Shaklan, general manager of WCIX. "CBS needs to file additional documents with the FCC Communications and they haven't been submitted yet." Affiliations unchanged The stations will retain their network affiliations: WCIX sticks with CBS and WTVJ remains in the NBC camp.

Unlike the big TV shake-up of 1989. when channels 4, 6 and 7 simultaneously switched networks, this time both local and network pro- station managed by Allen Shaklan, right, will trade channels with WTVJ, the NBC station run by Don Browne, below. WCIX, the CBS gramming will move with the channels. As part of the deal, WCIX gets WTVJ's more desirable tower on the Dade-Broward line, and WTVJ gets WCIX's South Dade tower. Its weaker signal could cost the station about 15 percent of its audience.

"This will be a revolutionary change for us," said WCIX's Shaklan. "It will be wonderful for WVTJ, on the other hand, is much more low-key about the significance of the switch and is still vague about its plans to offset WCIX's imminent advantage in reach. When the shift was announced in November, WTVJ employees were the recipients of toy pit bulls with this legend: "It's not the size of the dog in the fight; it's the size of the fight in the With cable, no issue Herald file photo Herald file photo The change in reception won't be an issue for viewers who have cable. In Dade, that's more than 50 percent of TV households. In Broward, about 77 percent of TV homes have cable.

WCIX and WTVJ have already begun to prepare viewers in subtle ways for the day the channels shift. WTVJ, for example, has started to de-emphasize its Channel 4 identity and emphasize its network affiliation. "NBC, thanks for calling," is the way phones are now answered at WTVJ. "We're an NBC station, and we're clearly emphasizing NBC," said Browne. "The NBC brand is extremely strong, and we believe in it." WCIX is preparing graphics that will reflect its new call letters and is working on revamping its sets.

But both stations say their big promotional blitzes won't come until one or two weeks before the actual switch date. Local channel switch began in Philadelphia he South Florida channel switch is part of a domino effect that began when Westinghouse Broadcasting and CBS decided to become partners in a broadcasting alliance. As a result, the Westinghouse station in Philadelphia, the nation's fourth-largest market, moved from the ranks of NBC to CBS. That left NBC without a Philadelphia station and CBS with two stations in that market. Then the horse-trading began.

CBS agreed to swap WCAUChannel 10 in Philadelphia for stations in Denver and Salt Lake City, as well as NBC's superior broadcasting tower at WTVJ in Miami, the 16th-largest market. The local stations' network affiliations: WTVJ will remain an NBCowned station. WCIX, now a CBS station, will be owned by a new joint venture that gives Group a 50.5 percent interest in the station, and CBS a 49.5 percent interest. Regulatory Issues: NBC and CBS are seeking FCC approval for the station switch and have submitted documentation in support of the transaction. The FCC, however, has asked for additional documents pertaining to the joint venture.

Legal sources at CBS say those documents are expected to be submitted in the next few weeks. At issue is an FCC rule that limits the number of stations that can be owned by a single broadcasting entity. As a general rule, the limit is 12 stations, with the total not having an audience reach of more than 25 percent of the country. CBS says it has structured the Miami deal so that ownership of WCIX clearly falls in the Westinghouse column. But the FCC wants to be sure about who owns WCIX, as well as other pending ownership agreements between CBS and Group W..