ABC made a big mistake - no, a huge mistake - when it comes to 24-hour, all-news cable channels.
Not with the announcement earlier this week that it plans to start one in 1997. But with its decision to sell one more than a decade ago.Back in 1983, ABC launched the Satellite News Channel. (Ironically, its partner in SNC was Westinghouse, which just last week completed its purchase of CBS.)
The cable channel struggled along for some 16 months until ABC gave up on it and sold it to Ted Turner's CNN - which promptly closed down its competitor. CNN has had the all-news competition all to itself ever since.
Even ABC News President Roone Arledge admitted at a news conference announcing the new service that selling off SNC was "a move we've regretted."
One can only wonder what would have happened had ABC, instead of selling out, decided to make a big investment in that early effort. It's entirely possible that ABC would have a viable competitor to CNN today, instead of plans to try to compete with the cable giant a couple of years from now.
The big difference between SNC and the as-yet unnamed new cable channel is that the new one will actually involve ABC News. The network plans to use the resources of its network news department, its owned stations and its affiliates this time around.
But the fact is that the field is going to get crowded. NBC had already announced that it was planning an all-news channel of its own, and has confirmed that those plans are going ahead.
And last week, Fox's Rupert Murdoch said he was considering an all-news cable network of his own.
To which CNN's Turner responded, "We'll squash him like a bug."
A formal statement from CNN on the competition from ABC was considerably more circumspect. That competition "will only make us better," the statement said, and "while we respect our colleagues at ABC, we are confident our record of excellence . . . will enable us to compete successfully."
Stay tuned . . . .
SUDDENLY CANCELED: CBS has axed its Thursday night drama "New York News." As of immediately.
The fact that this low-rated, disappointing series has been dumped is no shocker. The timing, however, comes as somewhat of a surprise.
CBS made the announcement this week and dropped the show at once. Instead of "News," the network will air a second repeat episode of "Murder, She Wrote" tonight at 8 p.m.
The change came too late to make many newspaper and television listings, and after the network's hype machine had begun promoting a three-episode arc that featured George C. Scott.
There's some speculation that it had something to do with series star Mary Tyler Moore bad-mouthing the series (with a good deal of justification) in various interviews.
But whatever the reason for the timing, three facts remain. First, the ratings were lousy - "New York News" ranks 89th out of 121 series to air on the various networks so far this season.
Second - the show was pretty lousy, too.
And third - since "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" went off the air in 1977, our Mary has appeared in five weekly series (two variety shows, two sitcoms and one drama, all on CBS) and all have bombed.
FALL FUTILITY: The cancellation of "New York News" is just one more sign of what a truly dreadful season CBS is having.
Of the 11 shows the network introduced at the start of the fall season, four ("New York News," "Courthouse," "Dweebs" and "If Not for You") have already been canceled.
Three more ("American Gothic," "Bonnie Hunt" and "Central Park West") are currently on hiatus.
Another three ("Almost Perfect," "Bless This House" and "The Client") are struggling mightily in the ratings.
Only one ("Can't Hurry Love") looks like a moderate success.
A batting average like that would get you cut from any baseball team.
NEW SHOW: ABC has announced that it will add the new sitcom "Champs" to its Tuesday lineup on Jan. 9 at 9 p.m.
Created and produced by Gary David Goldberg ("Family Ties") and starring Timothy Busfield ("thirtysomething"), "Champs" is about a guy, his family and his old buddies from his high school basketball team.
The show is notable because it's the first TV project from Dream-Works SKG (as in Speil-berg, Katzenberg and Geffen) to make it on the air.
It's less notable for its quality. The pilot, which was screened for critics last summer, was mundane at best.
By the way, the addition of "Champs" means that "Coach" is getting the short end of the stick from ABC once again. This still-funny half hour - which has been bounced all over the schedule in the past couple of years - is getting bounced off Tuesday nights once again.
Its last Tuesday airing is scheduled for Dec. 19, and ABC promises it will return in a new time slot at some point.
TRADING PLACES: Fox, which hasn't been able to drum up much of an audience for its Monday-night sitcoms, is going to try flipping them on the schedule.
As of Monday, Dec. 18, "Partners" moves from 8 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and "Ned and Stacey" goes in the other direction, from 8:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Fox deserves a lot of credit for ordering a full season's worth of both comedies, given their low ratings. They're both of superior quality - superior to at least half those huge hits NBC airs on Thursday nights.
And the danger is that if people won't watch well-written comedy on Fox, the network might decide to go back to the drawing board and come back at us with more shows along the lines of the dreadful "Married . . . With Children."
PRIME-TIME REUNION: Speaking of "Partners," this very clever show has come up with some very clever casting for its Christmas episode, scheduled to air Monday at 8 p.m.
Alex Rocco will appear as the father of Jon Cryer's character, Bob. You TV trivialists may recall that Rocco and Cryer co-starred on the 1989-90 CBS sitcom "The Famous Teddy Z." (Rocco won an Emmy for his portrayal of obnoxious agent Al Floss on that show.)
Delving even further into TV trivia, this will be Rocco's second fatherly TV reunion this season. He recently appeared as Nancy McKeon's father in an episode of "Can't Hurry Love" - after having played McKeon's father several times during the run of "Facts of Life."
VIDBITS: "60 Minutes" has landed the elusive Bruce Spring-steen for his first extensive network interview. When exactly the segment will air has yet to be determined.
- Howard Stern, the utterly tasteless shock jock who caused so much trouble on Jay Leno's "Tonight Show," is scheduled to appear on David Letterman's "Late Show" on Dec. 20 and Conan O'Brien's "Late Night" on Dec. 22. Letterman has always managed to keep Stern under control in his past appearances, so we'll see what happens.
- Mime Marcel Marceau will appear on Michael Jackson's HBO special on Sunday. No word on whether he'll sing.
- According to Daily Variety, "The Stephanie Miller Show" is on the verge of cancellation. The show's distributor denies it, but the ratings are bad - and so is this late-night talk show, which airs weeknights at 11 p.m. on KJZZ-Ch. 14 locally.
- Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf has switched sides. After spending the last few years as a consultant to CBS News, he's just signed on for similar duties with NBC News.