Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 8

8A DETROIT FREE PRESSFRIDAY. SEPTEMBER 23. 1994 I CBS purchase expected CHANGING CHANNELS Iacocca firm eyes casino in Romulus The Detroit shuffle that began when Fox announced in May it would switch station affiliations will continue when CBS takes over WGPR-TV, Channel 62. competition from the U.S. secretary of the interior How it all shakes out: WJBK-TV Channel 2 WKBD-TV WGPR-TV WDIV-TV WXYZ-TV Channel 50 Channel 62 Channel 4 Channel 7 WHERE CBS WILL BE When CBS moves to WGPR-TV this fall, one of the things it may have to give up is its low spot on the dial, considered useful for attracting viewers.

For non-cable viewers, WGPR is Channel 62. Here is a sample of where it can be found on major cable systems in metro Detroit to add jobs, CBS, from Page 1A Though WGPR was America's first black-owned TV station when it went on the air in 1975, it has long been too under-financed and poorly equipped to compete in the highly charged Detroit TV market. Duane Kell, general manager of WKBD-TV (Channel 50), said Thursday, "We knew CBS would be very aggressive in trying to build the station, regardless of whether they bought it or just signed it up as an affiliate. "We expect CBS to come out with both barrels blazing." Which means that CBS is likely to spend millions over the coming months and years to build state-of-the-art studios, promote WGPR's new CBS identity, hire dozens of employees and launch a daily newscast operation, said Kell and other Detroit TV executives. In hiring for a news department, CBS is likely to woo reporters, producers and anchors now at Detroit's other major stations, including WXYZ-TV (Channel 7), WDIV-TV (Channel 4), Channel 50 and Channel 2.

"If I were CBS, I would go after the best and the brightest in this market," said Channel 2 news director Mort Meisner. "CBS will be unbelievably aggressive. And they'd be smart to go after people with a knowledge of the Detroit market instead of bringing in a lot of carpetbaggers from other cities." But most of Detroit's big-name TV news personalities, including Channel 7's Bill Bonds, Channel 4's Mort Crim and Carmen Harlan, and Channel 2's Rich Fisher and Huel Perkins, are iunder contracts running for several years, sources said. "They're going to have to hire a lot of people, maybe 100 to 200 people," said Channel 7 general manager Channel 62's By Larry Gabriel Free Press Staff Writer If the track record of network-owned stations continues, there will be little, if any, room for local programming on WGPR-TV, Channel 62, after its sale to CBS. i Programs such as "Soul Beat" and New Dance Show" may have sizable audiences although there are no ratings numbers to gauge how sizable but they're not likely to preempt CBS fare.

i "I will be negotiating with CBS," said Faisel Arabo, producer of "Arab Voice of Detroit," which airs at 10 p.m. Saturdays. "I may go nationwide. There is a powerful Arab market in the United States." CBS Fox Independent remains NBC remains ABC Fox Paramount CBS CONTINENTAL Roseville 12 Southfield 3 TCI CABLE North Oakland TV 12 North Oakland box 62 Source: Free Press research ROGER HICKS Detroit Free Press can get the signal," he said. Channel 62 will become the first Detroit station to be owned and operated by a major network since ABC sold WXYZ-TV to Scripps Howard Broadcasting a decade ago.

WGPR is now owned by the International Free and Accepted Modern Masons, a nationwide African-American fraternal organization. Business Writer Joann Muller contributed to this report. Sale prices, unless otherwise noted, good thru Friday, 9-30-94 (OP African Violets In 4" Containers Fantastic assortment of colors and varietiesl Reg. 2.69 ea. for SI Every Christmas Plaster Ornament Many styles, all ready to finish.

Great gift idea! Reg. 79c ea. FROM on oTi CASINO, from Page 1A the merger, would not comment on specific sites in Michigan, but said the Detroit area would be a logical location. The agreement signed last Friday with the four tribes says Full Howe would put up as much as $100 million for a casino, excluding land costs. Full House would get 24 percent of the net profits from a casino.

The documents show that Full House would acquire the land for the casino project, deed it to the tribes, and the tribes would then lease the land to Full House to build the casino. Full House would acquire and develop any non-casino parts of the project, such as hotels and golf courses. A huge new office, housing and shopping development, known as Metro World Centre, is already planned in Romulus. Tom Shields, a spokesman for Metro World Centre, said the tribal casino is not linked to that project and would not be on land Metro World owns. The four tribes whose chairmen signed the agreement are the Hannah-ville Indian Community, the Lac Vieux Desert Band, Grand Traverse Band and Keweenaw Bay Indian Community.

All four operate casinos in nodrth-erri Michigan. Iacocca was in Flint this summer to discuss building a casino in the defunct Autoworld theme park. A tribal casino would need approval for $10 20-lD. All Seasons Wild Bird Food Contains 5 sunflower. It's our best-selling mix! JJ 1 40 Offff Every Dried Flower Huge selection of varieties and colors! Regularly 79c to 9.99 drafts tan -V Byte it 13 Mi Wm-VMDytertUMli Plan BIO) 826-8771 Wntan) Warn it Wtm U.

Phoni 0131 513-7520 Curt Urnm on No pet tern, pan or aan i prim aaoiti Monday thru Saturday 9 to 9, FRANK'S' of i Thomas Griesdorn. "That's good for the economy, that's good for the TV business, that's good for Detroit." "Hopefully, the city will see the value of keeping us in Detroit," said a CBS executive, speaking on condition of anonymity. "We want to be citizens of metropolitan Detroit, but we want to truly be citizens of Detroit." The immediate TV-watching impact of the WGPRCBS deal for Detroit area viewers? Very little. Most CBS programming from "60 Minutes" to "Late Show with David Letterman" will continue to air on Channel 2 until Nov. 27, the expiration date of CBS's affiliation agreement with WJBK.

Channel 62, which has been carrying "CBS This Morning" weekdays the past year, will gradually pick up other CBS programs currently pre-empted by WJBK. That should include "CBS Sunday Afternoon Showcase," a series of Harlequin romance movies being used to fill the gap left by CBS's loss of NFL games to Fox. Eventually, longtime viewers of WGPR will see a wholesale change. CBS is likely to drop nearly all of WGPR's signature programming, a li-tle-watched schedule of paid religious shows, locally produced music programs and ethnic shows. But success is not guaranteed.

"There's one view that no matter where you are" on the dial "people follow programs," said Channel 7's Griesdorn. "I don't necessarily agree with that. TV viewers in general, but especially in Detroit, don't like change." Griesdorn and other TV and advertising executives predicted CBS will have a tough time drawing a significant viewership in the early going. "It's almost like CBS is starting all over again from ground zero," said Ron own shows are But if the show stays on 62, it's likely to be in the wee hours. Arabo said he has considered buying a radio station or negotiating time with another television station for a block of shows that include Greek, Armenian, Indian and Pakistani programming.

Arabo, who also is an agent for the New York Life Insurance says he has the investors to expand. Late Night Entertainment Productions, which produces five programs aired on WGPR at its Key Wat TV Productions studio, recently bought a radio station (WHPR-FM, 88.1) and has a contract to buy a low-power television station. "We were hoping to stay with WGPR and our own channel and be a i i Rattier titan confront her morbid fear J1 4 1 (f ftcrnM, Milliccnt changed her name 10 Yaunimr and moved ut Tehran. i i i About 50,000 of these cards have sold since August, and the company doesn't plan a recall. thy." The Detroit area's Arab-American population is among the largest in the country, with estimates ranging between 100,000 to 250,000.

Barriers such as language make it hard to pinpoint a number. The card company the fourth largest in the world has built its success since the early 1970s by specializing in cards that make fun of ethnicity, religion, gender, physical appearance and other traits. It sells about two million cards per year. Another card that has spurred complaints shows a cow holding its udders and screaming to a farmer, "Don't touch me! Don't you EVER TOUCH The front of the card reads: "It was that time of month and Daisy was suffering from 'Pre-Milking The inside reads: "Such a 'touching' birthday card, isn't Recycled Paper Greetings does not poke fun at violence, such as child abuse, rape or the Holocaust, Murray said. Beyond that, few subjects are sacred.

"If we tried to be sensitive to every organization, every ethnic group, that abounds in this land, we'd be out of business," he said. About 50,000 of the cards being criticized by the Arab-Amecan com a lensthv orocess. and from the trover nor. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt has already approved one tribal casino in Detroit's Greektown, but Gov. John Engler vetoed the plan because he said he was concerned about the proliferation of casinos.

A non-tribal casino would require a change in state law, which bans casinos everywhere except on tribally owned land. Engler has appointed a gaming commission to study all forms of gambling in Michigan. Engler spokesman John Truscott said Thursday night that no decisions about casinos would be made or even discussed until after the gaming com-; mission makes its report after the first, of the year. Full House runs Deadwood Gulch Resort, a casino and hotel complex in Deadwood, S.D., and another resort in Florida. Iacocca first became involved with Full House when he invested $4.5 million for a 10-percent stake in the company last May.

The chairman of the Coquille tribe in Oregon said Tuesday that Iacocca and other partners in Full House Re-sorts Inc. plan to invest $16 million to build a casino and family entertainment complex near the town of Coos Bay. The tribal chairman said other partners in Full House include Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. founder and former: Chairman Allen Paulson and real estate; pagnate Bill McComas. 2 fon $10 8-Inch Tropical Hanging Baskets Special group of easy-to-care-for plants.

Values up to $10 R. f-i i 30 Offff Entire Selecton Jewelry Pinbacks, beads, cameos and much more! Reg. 29c to 6.99 b1 TT-T'TTXi m'HiTm Carton Tib Woatwon Soutigatt Una Park Uwnoi (Scroolcrall) Oak Par w. Btaifeu BloortfeM Tomra WaferM Uta Slerkig Hetf CfcwToinhp Wairan (10 Mit) Warm (Van Dyka) Sunday 9 to 6 Card draws anger from Arab Americans BARD EN Detroit 62 BOOTH Bloomfield HillsBirmingham 19 COMCAST PontiacWaterford 10 Grosse Pointe 30 Warren 15 Wroblewski, vice president and manager at Advertising in Bloom-field Hills. Wroblewski said it will probably take CBS six months to a year or more to boost WGPR's signal, update its facilities and build its local news programming.

Until that happens, CBS ratings may be very low and the station won't bring in many advertising dollars, Wroblewski said. But Bob Mancini, senior vice president at J. Walter Thompson, an advertising firm, said a CBS-run WGPR should have success in the long run. Mancini also took the opposite view from Channel 7's Griesdorn. "People watch programs, they don't watch stations.

People will gravitate to that station, as long as they endangered bigger conglomerate of programmers," CEO Robert J. Watkins said. "I'm hoping we'll also be able to do that with CBS." Watkins' facility at 15851 Woodward also has a concert hall that may be operating soon. The Rev. Charles Ellis, who produces WGPR's Monday evening show "Greater Grace Temple," expects the station's gospel programming to scatter to other stations, including open slots on Barden Cablevision.

The problem with cable is that in order to reach the same market area as WGPR, producers must negotiate with the several cable companies operating jn southeastern Michigan. munity have sold nationwide since they arrived in stores last August. The company has received more than 300 calls protesting the card the firm usually receives 300 complaints per year. One company official has received death threats, Murray said. The FBI is investigating the reported threat.

Company officials are apologizing to individual callers, but the remorse stops there. "This card has no intended malice, and it sells reasonably well," Murray said. "We don't think it's offensive." But Hooper said the card reinforces stereotypes. "People can be bombarded with this kind of hostility to Islam," he said, "and it creates an environment that results in people being insensitive to the feelings of Muslims." Marsden said such conflicts tend to flare up when ethnic groups begin to become part of the American mainstream. In the early 1900s, for example, people of Irish descent were frequent targets in vaudeville and editorial humor.

Later, Jews and people of Russian and Chinese heritage were often the butt of jokes or were villains in movies and cartoons. Now, newer immigrant groups, such as those from the Middle East and Latin America are targets. Cubans and Haitians likely will be next, he said. Mary Ann Watson, a telecommunications professor at Eastern Michigan University, sees an increasing openness by some people to ridicule minorities and feminists as a backlash against political correctness or what people perceive as what they should or shouldn't say or do. Watson thinks the success of conservative talk show host Rush Lim-baugh has helped bring "that kind of humor out of the closet." "We don't have to be ashamed of our prejudices anymore," Watson said.

"I think that's a sad thing." NMU's Marsden said he sees the trend as a "healthy process. The debate shows that we value cultural difference much higher than we have before." Still, jokes can go too far, Marsden said. "If a joke illustrates a basic lack of respect for the person or the group of people," he said, "then it's crossed the line." CARDS, from Page 1A "I wish they could understand when I say, 'No offense, Murray Isaid. It's just one card, but the fervent protest is becoming a familiar debate: What one group finds entertaining, another finds insensitive. "What can we or what can't we say?" asked Michael Marsden, pop culture expert at Northern Michigan University in Marquette.

"The debate is not about First Amendment rights, it's about what constitutes appropriate respect for other cultures and people." Arab Americans around the country are asking Recycled Paper Greetings for an official apology and recall. But the Chicago-based company has refused both, spurring hundreds of calls. The Islamic Center of America and other metro Detroit Arab-American groups plan to join the Saturday protest. On Thursday, Elahi called on religious and minority organizations to do the same. In the Detroit area, about 250 stores carry Recycled Paper Greetings cards, including Hallmark stores.

This week, the company agreed to ask the stores to pull the card. It's unknown how many have complied. The get-well card gained attention this month when an Arab American complained to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a national grass-roots umbrella group for Arab-American and Muslim groups. CAIR is based on Washington, D.C. "It's inappropriate to compare Muslims to excrement," said Ibrahim Hooper, CAIR's national director for communications.

A Shiite is a person who follows Shiism, one of five schools of Islam. The majority of Muslims in the Detroit area are Shiites, said the Islamic Center's Elahi. Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, is Islam's holiest city and where the prophet Mohammed was bom. Muslim teachings require that adherents pray to- ward Mecca five times a day, and make a pilgrimage to the city once in their lifetimes as a show of their devotion to God and to their faith. "We have to do our duties, religiously," Elahi said.

"We hope they'll understand that they'll sympa- DeM 7 IfeHJiJtfl-WT!) Fraiirti0 791-4770 EMMirq7nS0tonton) 9LCar hut (taiD! 57W3 (10 MW IBiq T5S-7041 ') 776-S44 Otwwie'HOMK Boon) IBIS 661-5737 BoonMIl tOI MM I1A546-2400 hmngkaltllJI 476-0210 Wtlrtnj It Oi 67W050 Un KfcC 3 952-0122 RochMHrROI 37WW Ubo '9 739-5339 CfcttiTa CD 263-0303 Steta HHia 254-2550 UmSdmMqpi3 937-0391 phWOi3591-39J0 DMtomH 0' 3 774-2727 Wntm) pij 729-8230 CMonTp.pi39t1-3'33 LaPirt GU92M209 110 013) 284-9912 Xooftimg'i 675-5958 Am Mor fWnn1 fl'J 971-2040 taty Store Hours:.