
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, May 24, 1994                   TAG: 9405240107
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Washington Post NOTE: below
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

FOX-TV NABS 12 RIVAL AFFILIATES

Fox Broadcasting announced Monday the acquisition of 12 affiliates, mostly in major markets, in a deal that promises to vastly increase Fox's audiences, ad revenue and status in the next several years.

The acquisition continues a drive toward big-network parity that moved into high gear last December with Fox's purchase of the rights to National Football Conference games. And, once again, it was CBS, which lost the NFC rights to Fox, that took the major hit. CBS will lose affiliates to the upstart network in eight large markets.

The seven-year-old network also picked up one NBC and three ABC affiliates in the $500 million deal with New World Communications Group Inc., which Fox is calling the largest network affiliation realignment in TV history.

In all 12 markets, Fox will move from relatively low-powered UHF stations to more potent VHF stations (Channels 2 to 13), attracting bigger audiences and more ad dollars in each city.

The announcement took CBS by surprise. Tony Malara, president of CBS affiliate relations, said Monday that he learned of the deal at 9:10 a.m. in a phone call from William C. Bevins, the New World CEO, who told him, "I've got an announcement- we're switching to Fox."

Malara said he responded, "In which market?" and Bevins replied, "All of them."

Howard Stringer, president of CBS Broadcast Group, cut short a European vacation to return to New York Monday after learning the news. CBS Inc. stock closed at $288 Monday, down 151/2 points.

But Malara insisted that for the No. 1 prime-time network, "this is not Armageddon. Yes, it was a surprise, but it's also an opportunity."

Others in the industry were quick to acknowledge that Fox had made a major advance. NBC President Robert Wright, addressing affiliates in Los Angeles, said the sale "will change the landscape" of television, but "no company will chase NBC out of any landscape."

Robert A. Iger, president of ABC Television Network Group, said in a statement, "This represents a significant change, but we feel it's too soon to gauge all of its implications. It does reaffirm a confidence in network TV and local over-the-air broadcasting."

The announcement came the day before Fox unveils its prime-time schedule for next season- and begins selling advertising for the season.

by CNB