THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 2, 1995 TAG: 9508020050
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: LARRY BONKO
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
ONE WEEK AGO in Los Angeles, the president of ABC Entertainment and his boss, the president of the ABC Television Network, spent hours talking to about 185 TV reporters.
They smiled and schmoozed at parties in Southern California as part of the Television Critics Association semi-annual press tour.
Not once did Ted Harbert, head of ABC Entertainment, or David Westin, the man who runs ABC network, give even the slightest hint that their network, and the company which owns it, Capital Cities/ABC, was up for sale.
Nobody whispered a word about a deal brewing between Capital Cities/ABC and the studio in Burbank, Calif., that names its streets for cartoon characters.
They discussed the Beatles, soon to be seen in a miniseries on ABC. They talked about Roseanne and the fact she may do her sitcom for two more seasons on ABC. The network brass talked at length about Michael Jackson's videos, Dana Carvey (the comedian signed to do specials for ABC) and Ted Koppel's unsigned contract.
Nothing of merger.
Nothing of selling ABC.
Nothing of Disney buying ABC.
The CIA could take a lesson from this. By the time the announcement was made on Monday morning, the directors of both companies had already voted for the merger, subject to the shareholders approval.
Many knew, yet nobody leaked the news.
The Hollywood trade papers published not a word, not even a one-line rumor in any of their columns prior to Monday's announcement. There was a little buzz about Disney being interested in buying CBS this year, and looking to acquire NBC earlier in the 1990s, but not a mention of Disney and Capital Cities/ABC in the same breath.
So, the news Monday that Disney offered to buy Capital Cities/ABC for $19-billion rocked Southern California like one of their famous earthquakes.
``We woke up to the news on Monday morning. It just hit us like a sonic boom,'' said a spokesman for Disney's Touchstone Television which already produces three series (``Home Improvement,'' ``Ellen'' and ``Boy Meets World'') for ABC and will have a new show, ``Maybe This Time,'' on the Saturday night schedule this fall.
Even the ultimate broadcasting insider, Ted Turner, the chairman of the board and president of Turner Broadcasting, gave no indication he knew a Disney-Capital Cities/ABC merger was afoot when he addressed the TV press.
There is only one broadcast network for sale, said Turner.
``Larry Tisch at CBS wants to sell his network.''
Question: Isn't NBC also for sale?
``No, there is only one network for sale. And I am working on buying it. It is a complicated, several step process. I am working as hard as I can to make it happen.''
Only one network for sale, Ted? Only CBS? Now we know better.
If the deal sails through as expected, Capital Cities/ABC will become a subsidiary of Disney with the new company to be called Walt Disney Co.
This deal puts Disney into the broadcasting and cable TV game with both feet - in Minnie Mouse shoes. It already operates The Disney Channel on cable.
In addition to the ABC network, with 225 affiliates including WVEC in Hampton and Norfolk, Capital Cities also has an 80 percent interest in the ESPN networks, a share of the Lifetime and A&E cable networks, and owns eight TV and 21 radio stations with plans to buy more. Soon it will be all Disney's.
``We expect the companies to do better together than they've done seperately,'' said Murphy. That is saying something because both companies are on a bit of a roll with ABC the network leader in news and entertainment ratings.
How will this giant merger affect you, the couch potatoes of Hampton Roads? In about a year, you'll be able to tell your kids that ``The Wonderful World of Disney'' is back on broadcast TV. On ABC. by CNB