THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 15, 1995 TAG: 9502150431
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVE MAYFIELD, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
International Family Entertainment Inc. has concluded its previously announced purchase of Dorothy Hamill's Ice Capades. But don't look for the bouncy ice-skating superstar and her famous wedge haircut in Virginia Beach anytime soon.
Contrary to the original plan announced last June, Hamill won't be skating along for the ride. Hamill has left the ice show.
IFE, Beach-based parent of The Family Channel, said Tuesday it plans to hire a new producer for the Ice Capades and to revise the format of the struggling show next season.
The 56-year-old Ice Capades, the oldest and best-known of the nation's skating tours, has suffered from lackluster attendance in recent years. Hamill, her husband, Dr. Kenneth Forsythe, and another investor bought it out of bankruptcy in June 1993 and briefly re-energized it with a critically acclaimed production of ``Cinderella'' last season.
But needing more capital to keep the show going, they agreed to sell a majority stake to IFE last summer. When attendance dropped sharply for the ice show's two touring companies this season, sources said, relations between Hamill and Forsythe and IFE executivesbecame strained. IFE reportedly insisted on more of a say in the running of the skating company.
Speculation about tensions between the two camps was fueled in December when Hamill, the 1976 Olympic gold medal winner, quit skating the lead role in ``Cinderella'' and announced her retirement from performing.
IFE executives declined Tuesday to discuss relations with Hamill and Forsythe.
Contrary to previous plans, the two will not retain a small ownership stake or have executive positions in the ice show, which draws more than 2 million patrons and has revenues of about $20 million a year.
IFE disclosed, however, that it has agreed to purchase a 20 percent stake in a separate company of Hamill's and Forsythe's that operates a pair of skating rinks in San Francisco and Portland, Ore.
Terms of the deals weren't disclosed.
In a prepared statement, Hamill said that she was ``nowhere near retirement'' in spite of leaving the Ice Capades. She said she has several other skating projects under development.
IFE President Timothy B. Robertson said in a statement that company executives were ``very appreciative of the extraordinary amount of creative energy Dorothy has brought to the Ice Capades over the last two years . . .''
Company executives said that their focus now is on increasing Ice Capades' attendance and making it fit into their broadening entertainment empire.
IFE has in the past several years purchased a chain of live-music theaters and MTM Entertainment, along with MTM's library of such classic TV programs as ``The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' and ``Hill Street Blues.'' It has also launched a second cable-TV network called Cable Health Club, begun a British version of The Family Channel and is pushing programming ventures in Asia and Australia.
IFE executives are exploring the possibility of co-producing family-oriented movies for theatrical release.
David R. Humphrey, an IFE senior vice president, said in an interview that the Ice Capades purchase fits the company's pattern of ``opportunistic acquisitions that have the possibility of extending our family-brand identity.''
The Ice Capades will produce shows for airing on The Family Channel as well as for other TV networks.
And, Humphrey said, Ice Capades may become a key part of promoting IFE's programming overseas. ``We have to look bigger than what the Ice Capades was,'' he said. ``We want to think global.''
IFE already has a number of children's TV characters with universal appeal, including ``Madeline'' and ``Peter Rabbit,'' who could be incorporated into ice shows, he noted.
Humphrey said IFE will likely choose a new producer for Ice Capades within the next few months and that the producer will determine the skating show's new format.
Some industry sources have said that IFE may relocate Ice Capades' home base from Scottsdale, Ariz., to Virginia Beach. Humphrey said no decision has been made about that, however. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
TAMARA VONINSKI/Staff
LEFT: Choreographer Timothy Murphy on Tuesday directs a rehearsal of
the Ice Capades at Scope in Norfolk.
KRT
ABOVE: Dorothy Hamill as Cinderella.
by CNB