No Plans to Buy More Stations, Murdoch Says

Rupert Murdoch, new owner of 20th Century Fox Film Corp. as well as six Metromedia television stations, said Sunday that he has no immediate plans to buy more American television stations but that he does intend to make the most of those he has to purvey original programming.

Murdoch, delivering the keynote speech before the Assn. of Independent Television Stations at the Century Plaza, said Fox will assume control of the Metromedia station group “within 60 days.” The six stations, including KTTV Channel 11 in Los Angeles, will then become the Fox Television Broadcasting division, he said.

Following the speech, the Australian-born and recently naturalized media magnate, asked if he would be buying more American TV stations, responded: “No, not right now.”

Programming Seen as Key

Murdoch’s speech, witnessed by Fox Chairman Barry Diller and other Fox executives amid the lunchtime crowd of about 1,100, adhered largely to the theme of the 13th annual convention, “Independents--Coming of Age.”

He cited programming as the single most important concern of non-network stations and, noting that he is “the new boy on the block” in American broadcasting, observed that independent stations for too long have relied on “off-network” shows, reruns of former NBC, ABC and CBS series.

But that, he said, “is not enough in itself” to ensure quality and diversity. Fox, he said, “is deeply involved” in creating original programs “that will have no fences, no outer perimeters. The only rule we will enforce is (that) the program must have taste, must be engaging, must be entertaining (and) must be original.”

Those shows will be broadcast not only by the Fox stations but also by other independents that will be part of a programming service he said will be called “The Fox Network.”

Murdoch acknowledged his triple role as broadcaster, producer and seller of the shows via Fox and its television division. But he confirmed that Fox’s station group will purchase shows “from the whole universe of suppliers,” not just his movie studio, and will also “seek program partnerships with other broadcasters.”

Murdoch’s remarks, made during his first American public appearance since assuming control of Fox, echoed the sentiments of the TV industry as expressed in recent months by representatives of cable TV, networks and independents. Each has embraced high-quality original programming as the primary objective in remaining viable while facing competition from the others as well as from the growing home video market.

Murdoch praised deregulation of the broadcasting industry for “giving all of us here today great opportunities.” In 1984, federal regulators relaxed rules limiting the number of stations that one owner may hold, thus paving the way for informal “fourth networks” that link program producers and groups of independent stations.

‘Must-Carry’ Rules

But he also decried elimination of the “must-carry” rules that until now have required cable operators to carry locally broadcast signals. With the lapse of that rule, cable operators will be able to charge stations such as Murdoch’s for carrying their signals to cable subscribers.

Other problems facing independents, noted by Murdoch: the 15-second commercial, which could double the number of commercials the Big Three networks will carry, and the skyrocketing cost of programming.

“It is ridiculous for a program supplier to charge five or six times the original cost of an old program, long written off, for playing sometime in the future, when tastes may have changed,” Murdoch said. “The only hope for the syndicator and the broadcaster is a saner and more reasonable marketplace.”