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No sooner did ABC grudgingly patch up its differences with Time Warner Cable late last week than CBS chief Mel Karmazin announced he was going to use his network's retransmission agreement talks to muscle more MTV channels onto the nation's cable systems.

Whether Karmazin is willing to go as far as ABC and Hearst (the latter still doesn't have a deal with Time Warner or Comcast) is unclear. But he told Multichannel News he has no intention of getting into a highly-publicized butter battle with any cable company. That said, he added it was a shame that MTV's all-music spinoff channel MTV2 was only seen in about 12 million homes, mostly via satellite.

But MTV2 is just the tip. In 1998 MTV launched "The Suite," a gaggle of cable channels you've likely never seen. They're up on a transponder somewhere, piped through the MTV offices and maybe a few million homes. The Suite includes MTV "S" (Spanish-language videos), MTV "X" (hard rock and heavy metal), Nick GAS (games and sports), NICK Too, NOGGIN (educational), VH1 Soul, VH1 Country and VH1 Smooth (new age). Karmazin would love to get at least some of those specialty channels in your home.

On the other hand, cable doesn't want to cede too much competitive advantage to satellite companies. CBS said Friday it had a new deal with dish provider DirecTV to carry the CBS-owned stations — in exchange for greater carriage of the MTV networks.

RELATED:

  • Time Warner does long-term deal with NBC
  • AT&T Cable re-upped last year w/MTV
  • Karmazin: "The most dynamic collection of branded entertainment networks in the industry"


    • Jessica Alba is the alluring star of "Dark Angel," from "Titanic" director James Cameron. (Fox Photo)

    Fall TV schedule is time well spent

    If one axiom held true during the TV networks' annual unveiling of their fall schedules last week, it was that sometimes you've got to spend money to make money.

    And we're not just talking about the decision by ABC to expand "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" to a fourth night. On nearly every network, the trend was toward forking over big bucks for new TV series with spectacular production values and big-name Hollywood talent. Meanwhile, the low-rent staples of recent years — reality specials, game shows not named "Millionaire" and newsmagazines — will be much less of a presence in the fall.

    The pilot episode of "The Fugitive," based on the 1960s TV series, cost a cool $6 million to make. And neither James Cameron, the "Titanic" director who's behind the new Fox series "Dark Angel," nor Joel Silver, whose 1999 hit "The Matrix" was the inspiration for his new UPN series "Freedom," appear to have spared any expense with their pilots.

    (continued)

    Pick to click

    Tonight are the season finales for the two UPN sitcoms that will be back next fall, "Moesha" (8 p.m.) and "The Parkers" (8:30 p.m.). ("Malcolm & Eddie," "Dilbert" and "The Grown Ups" are no more.) Unlike a lot of comedies, "Moesha" is good at tackling serious topics without melodrama or awkwardness. Tonight's episode is a case in point: Moesha's cousin Dorian (Brandy's real-life brother Ray J) is unrepentant even though he seems to be sinking deeper into trouble on the street. So Moesha's dad (William Allen Young) takes a drastic measure, and if you were him, you might too.

    "Moesha's" sillier spinoff, "The Parkers," will finish its first season as the No. 1-rated show among African-American viewers. As is customary for finales, tonight's episode will see the ongoing romantic intrigues of both daughter (Countess Vaughn) and mother (Mo'Nique) take sudden twists.<

    On this date...

    in 1966, the gavel finally falls for "Perry Mason." Doomed by a final season opposite "Bonanza," the courtroom series ends with "The Case of the Final Fadeout," involving a murder on the set of a TV western. The finale features a number of the show's production company making cameo appearances, and Mason creator Erle Stanley Gardner as courtroom judge. Dick Clark confesses as the show's final villain, "Leif Early." -- Tom Heald

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