DATE: Thursday, April 17, 1997              TAG: 9704170064

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: LARRY BONKO

                                            LENGTH:   66 lines

FANS' APPEALS TO RETURN FULL-TIME FIT TV FALL ON DEAF EARS AT COX

``BRING BACK our FiT TV! Bring back our FiT TV!''

How many cable subscribers in Hampton Roads are saying that, now that Cox Communications has reduced FiT TV's programming to a few hours - 5:30 to 11 - in the morning?

If you read the ads that have appeared in this newspaper, you may get the impression that fitness nuts by the thousands are clamoring to again see the channel 24 hours a day. (Cox has FiT TV and Home Team Sports sharing Channel 35.)

The president of FiT TV at the network's headquarters in Virginia Beach - the channel is part of International Family Entertainment - said he's heard from about 1,000 viewers who have dialed (888) 22GetFiT to complain about Cox's limiting FiT TV's hours.

Steve Lentz intends to transcribe the complaints and then pack them off to Cox.

``They are testimonials,'' Lentz said. ``They tell us there is a real demand among consumers for this channel. They are telling us that it is a very nice thing to have on cable.''

To help keep the level of enthusiasm high, FiT TV tells callers they are eligible to win $500 worth of fitness apparel from Reebok. That enticement led one Cox executive, marketing and sales manager Larry Michel, to declarethe phone survey invalid.

Michel, who has much to say about what channels are delivered to the cable carrier's more than 200,000 Hampton Roads subscribers, is a diplomat. He says his company listens to its customers and tries to give them what they want.

That said, Michel indicated that Cox will continue to have FiT TV and Home Team Sports - where you see Baltimore Orioles baseball - sharing Channel 35.

``We feel it's the right decision and we intend to stand by it,'' Michel said.

The right decision?

No way, Lentz replied.

FiT TV became a part-timer on Cox earlier this year when the cable system shuffled its lineup of standard service channels on the Southside. When the Classic Sports Network signed on as a 24-hour channel, FiT TV was nudged over to Channel 35, and the tanned, trim bodies of Tamilee Webb and Petra Kolber now are seen sweating through step aerobics only in the a.m.

Lentz says Cox already had ample sports programming (ESPN, ESPN2, Home Team Sports, baseball on TBS and fX) before adding the Classic Sports Network. These are channels that appeal primarily to men, Lentz said.

On the other hand, FiT TV brought ``boatloads'' of women to cable, he said.

Lentz wants FiT TV back on cable around the clock for another reason. The cable channel's headquarters are here. How can he impress potential clients who visit Virginia Beach when FiT TV isn't even on after 11 a.m.?

Lentz said the channel of aerobic conditioning and tips on healthy living is available full time to 12 million U.S. households with cable.

It used to be on cable here 24 hours a day. I get the impression from Cox executives that it will take a lot more than 1,000 calls to convince them that a cable subscriber's life is incomplete without FiT TV all day long.

While it was nice to be able to see FiT TV's hard bodies any time you wanted to, I can live with a small daily dose. If I want more, I can tape the morning workouts.

What I'd like is to see Cox dump the Outdoor Life channel - not likely because Cox is one of three investors in the channel - and replace it with the new channel from CBS - CBS Eye on People.

It would be nice to see Charles Kuralt again. Last week on CBS Eye on People, he began anchoring a weekly program called ``I Remember.'' The network also has ``60 Minutes More'' and Harry Smith doing ``Travels With Harry.''

All together now. We want our CBS Eye on People!

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