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Some industry observers charge that ABC has relied too heavily on a few producers, notably Spelling, who started this season with a hefty seven hours of programming on the network. The audience, perhaps suffering from an overdose of Spelling's brand of glossy escapism, was notably cool to his new shows (like the disastrous Glitter), as well as to some former hits (Matt Houston). While NBC was having success with such novelties as The Cosby Show and Miami Vice, ABC seemed unable to extricate itself from its deepening...
Network TV is a notoriously cyclical business, and few industry observers expect ABC's troubles to last. "What ABC has done this past season is what NBC did the season before--make a lot of bad choices," says NBC Chairman Grant Tinker. "It'll take time to turn that ocean liner of bad choices around, but they'll do it." ABC has announced plans to introduce a spin-off of Dynasty next fall, and it has several major mini-series in the works, including a ten-hour dramatization of John Jakes' best seller North and South and a 20-hour...
...ABC's new owners, who will not take charge until next season at the earliest, are not likely to make any sudden, drastic programming switches in the game plan to get ABC back on top. Though Capital Cities Chairman Thomas Murphy is described as a man of old-fashioned values, an attitude that could influence the selection of shows, the company also has a strong tradition of not meddling in the program decisions or editorial content of its media properties. Says Murphy: "If you think I know enough about scripts that I'm going to make changes in network programming...
...probably get killed? What the hell do you mean, I 'owe it to the country'? It would destroy me. I couldn't survive. I would shoot myself first. I don't want to be President. I'm not going to run. I couldn't take four years of (ABC White House Correspondent) Sam Donaldson. I just don't have the desire. I don't want to climb another mountain." Maybe not. But when Lia Iacocca, 20, is asked for a single word to describe her father, she does not first suggest "easygoing" or "content." Her word: "ambitious...
...media company that is buying ABC is remarkable for its low profile. Unlike the three networks, whose highrise towers constitute a kind of Broadcast Row along midtown Manhattan's Sixth Avenue, Capital Cities Communications occupies a small building a few blocks away. Its corporate headquarters is home base < for only 33 employees, from the mail clerk to Chairman Thomas Murphy. In an industry where pizazz often seems as important as performance, Capital Cities does not even have a public relations department, let alone an organizational chart. Says Murphy: "I've never believed in a lot of reports and memos...