Newsday from New York, New York • 67

B19 RADIO Still That Network EranuriHonisi Ear better or fixr worse Fax stays true to itself By Noel Holston STAFF WHITER i Pasadena Calif Sira OX and 1 are two phras es seldom encountered in the same sentence Fox has long had a fcmmk for neutralizing the critical goodwill generated by series such as "The and in the with shows about wild police chases cruises and enraged animals But Fox just claimed five of the 20 spots in Electronic fell winter poll of TV feves including the jfo 1 pick an innovative din-hanger about a federal agent trying to thwart an assassination plot even as the evildoers hold his wife nd daughter hos- Continuing to "be is not just a matter of philosophy or strategy For the time being all Fox can do Program develop- ment is not a quick-turnaround proposition Berman has to fill the notes in schedule with replacements that were in the works well before September And even some of them have required revisions In the case of tne comedy-drama American which will get a tryout in Monday slot starting March 11 the pilot episode concluded with a terrorist bombing Most of midseason shows however are typically irreverent comedies That due Jan 23 from the same team as hit about "70s high jinks is half pop-culture nostalgia and hair sex jokes Every American who has watched Fox for 10 minutes in the past month has heard the spike-haired punk withering retort to a man who inquires how she gets it to stand up Due most likely in March "Andy Richter Controls the casts Conan former partner-in-irony as a "Dil-beri-like corporate peon while "Greg the could be likened to The Muppet Show with a case of "South potty mouth not a certain darling among them which could spell good-news for ratings Not that they mind the improved press Grushow said the high praise for shows such as signals Madison Avenue that Fox is delivering "a more valuable Despite its still small overall audience has the concentration of upscale viewers of all prime-time shows Briefly soted: Berman said Fox will cease Friday repeats of in February when "Dark moves to the 9 pm slot She also said Halle Berry is set for a guest shot on and that the show will shoot its hourlong season finale in Chicago Grushow said Fox hasn't ruled out carrying ads for hard liquor but has no immediate plans to follow NBC's lead TNT Photo Erik tMni la Brad Beyar left and John Turturro in "Monday Night MOVIES Monday Night Mayhem (o pm TNT) New TV movie goes behind the scenes of the early days of ABC's Night John Turturro stars as sportscaster Howard Cosell SPECIALS Mark Twain (8 pm wnet13) Ken Bums' latest film chronicles the Hfe Part two airs tomorrow night at 8 Buffalo Philharmonic Plays Vivaldi and (9 pm WUW 21) The Seasons of Ufd is the theme of a concert featuring Vivaldi's Seasons and composer Mark O'Connor's Seasons for Fiddle and Orchestra SERIES Everybody Loves Raymosd (9 pm WCBS 2) Debra unintentionally hurts Frank's feelings Ally McBoal (9 pm wnyw 5) Jon Bon Jovf Joins the show as a handyman who becomes Ally's newest kws Interest luvestlgstlvo Reports (io pm profiles Mohamed Ufa alleged ringleader of the 011 'And the bottom line is I think we still have to be who we are We still have to be an alternative viewing network We still have to be Gail Berman Fox Broadcasting entertainment chief hosannaa were horses Fox would be riding high But the reali-ty is that only one of acclaimed fell newcomers t' "The Bemie Mac hais really taken off while several of its long-running mainstays notably "Ally and The are spiraling downward in the Nielsens One of the new shows that made the list "The already has been ranralad And even the vaunted is at best a cult hit Speaking to visiting critics Friday Fox Television Entertainment Group chairman Sandy Grushow blamed disappointing fall season partly on delays necessitated by the Sept 11 terrorist attacks He noted that Fax was "forced to launch practically its entire schedule during the high stakes and highly competitive November It may be true as well that Fox which has made edginess a hallmark of its series programming was hurt by the suddenly increased viewer appetite for so-called TV as America went to war certainly had this conversation said Gail Berman the Fox Broadcasting entertainment chief talked about it with my staff talked about it with my friends And the bottom line is I think we still have to be who we are We still have to be an alternative viewing network We cant pretend that what we built ourselves on is not who we are sensitive to happened concerned about the audience and how the audience is going to move forward But essentially we still have to be A New Choice for Spanish-Speaking Viewers By Verne Gay BTAIT WKT1XK WFUT68 which originates from the Empire State Building Univiaion executives were unavailable for comment because of a company policy that prohibits contact with the press Therefore the new key strategic goals and chal- tenges are somewhat obscure For exainpte how much if at all will TeleFutura cut into Univi- viewer base? Univision hais IN AMOVE TO LURE the growing number of Spanish-speaking viewers nationwide TV powerhouse -Univiaion will launch a new sister broadcast network today at 4 pm that will have local affiliates on Long -Island and in New York City 1 or The Future-of or no TV at all Which poses another question: Why Univision expanded its program line-up to appeal to these viewers? TeleFutura executives "believe that the market is as large as the market for Uni vision and that the way to attract those coveted viewers is to offer more choices in she said in a statement TeleFutura has a potentially huge viewer base to build upon According to statistics provided in the company statement and based on US Census figures the Hispanic population now stands at 353 million and "accounted for 40 percent of UJ3 population the afternoon and early evening schedules drew younger viewers than competing schedules on WABC 7 while the newscasts have had higher ratings than those of WCBS 2 New Yorkh population is 192 percent Hispanic The new movies "Cine de las will air on nights such as action adventure on Thursday and Friday and comedy on Saturday Latin American films will air Wednesdays The daytime schedule will include a talk show entitled The Midday that ia loosely modeled on The as well as a popular talk show taped will be in stark con-: had steady growth in recent years mostly on the strength of novellas anil news programming also unclear precisely what sort of viewers TeleFutura will target A spokeswoman said the network is desifpied to appeal to Hispanics who are not currently watching SflaniAgwtg treat to Univision which relies on soap opera-style novellas to fill prime time prime-time schedule Will be made up almost entirely of Hollywood movies dubbed in Span- iah The network will air on 42 stations nationwide including growth from WXTV41 the New York flagship fof InivMMtfl aij fckttfe-dfct YMbroad Jsq kjg gains in New Yotk cabWUBf WoHd Cup matches i from 'JwgroingtaaatationflppkBflinan IMriahJBdl Jppmup Jana imtl VlittaJl'ni irr liU re wFTy77 fa television hut a fTCi-tt'Et KiMf tkloii ijtyft'sDtais vert cinri isf iiafsfMDMU gctf iJ.