ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT NETWORK IN A PARTY MOOD

Having reached the age of 3, the Arts & Entertainment Cable Network is a survivor from cable-TV’s cultural wars.

After the cable programming rush of the early 1980s, which saw such elegant experiments as CBS Cable, ABC’s Arts and RCA’s Entertainment Channel come and go, the Arts & Entertainment Network celebrates its third anniversary this weekend offering a dizzying array of performing arts and discerning drama, comedy and variety programs--all for free to cable subscribers.

“By maintaining our program standards for quality entertainment and information, we have retained our unique niche in the cable universe,” said Arts & Entertainment President Nickolas Davatzes, in a recent address before the New York chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

“We’re still stalking the elusive viewers who haven’t tuned in, but the news this year is that those who do tune in like what they see.”

Cable viewers will have the opportunity to sample from the network’s 20-hour daily schedule (5 a.m.-12:30 a.m.) on Saturday and Sunday during an “anniversary weekend” mixing popular programs from the past with new offerings.

Among those scheduled over the weekend are John Schlesinger’s 1983 film “An Englishman Abroad”; the British suspense series “Lovejoy”; “The Mozart Miracle,” a performance of a recently discovered “lost” Mozart symphony; a profile of architect Frank Lloyd Wright; “The Twentieth Century,” a documentary series with a segment on the Spanish Civil War; an interview with actress Colleen Dewhurst; “Amanda’s,” a situation comedy series starring Bea Arthur; and the “Golden Age of Television,” from the vintage television dramas of the 1950s.

Launched in February, 1984, as a joint venture by the Hearst Corp., ABC Video Enterprises and RCA Cable Inc., the advertiser-supported network is offered free to cable subscribers on 2,300 cable systems around the country.

According to A.C. Nielsen audience ratings, the network could be seen in 22 million homes in 1986, a dramatic increase from the 7 million homes reached during its first year of operation.

Also last year, according to the trade publication Cablevision, increased revenues from “upscale” advertisers combined with cable subscription fees to produce the network’s first “break-even” annual operating budget.

Cablevision called the network “unique among ad-supported TV networks” in its ability to attract an affluent, well-educated audience, age 25 and over.

Considering that the network was born out of two failed cultural cable ventures, ABC’s Arts and RCA’s Entertainment Channel (CBS Cable fell by the wayside even earlier), the A&E; success story is even more astounding.

The reason for the success, according to both network officials and industry observers, rests with the good business decision to operate more economically as an acquisition-based network rather than as a production-based network, and with its determination to, in the words of Davatzes, “take a stand” behind a mix of quality arts and entertainment programming.

“There is an appetite for this kind of programming, at least among enough people to support it,” Peter E. Hansen, A&E;’s vice president for programming, said during a recent interview at the network’s cozy Fifth Avenue headquarters here.

“What’s happened more recently is that, first, people are beginning to be aware we exist, and, secondly, we have broadened our programming from a very narrow, frankly boring schedule into a more rich, populist one.”

Hansen acknowledged that the network was becoming aware of audience ratings, and recently decided to monitor them through Nielsen. He said that the number of documentary, comedy and variety programs, which “research and analysis” show to be popular among A&E; viewers, will increase.

However, he said there were no plans at the network to cut back on the number of stage productions, despite the fact that they “have never performed well in the ratings.”

“They are a part of what we are,” said Hansen, citing what he called A&E;’s charter to provide alternative kinds of programs.

“Likewise,” he added, “we have been offered and rejected off-network series that might have resulted in high ratings but which were not of high quality.”

Hansen said that the network will continue to rely heavily on a library of programs inherited from ABC’s Arts cable venture, as well as the continuing agreement with the British Broadcasting Corp., initiated by RCA’s Entertainment Channel, to acquire at least 200 hours of programming annually, including 30 to 40 hours to be co-produced with A&E.;

However, Hansen said the amount of BBC programming in A&E;’s schedule has diminished steadily, from 50% to what he estimated to be a “stable” 35%.

Hansen said the network also will continue to purchase programming from American independent producers “on a one-by-one basis,” as well as from distributors, ranging from small independents to major film libraries such as RKO. Hansen declined to comment on A&E;’s acquisition budget.

The network recently inaugurated a series of films through an agreement reached with Samuel Goldwyn Studios, and soon will launch a new series consisting of student films and videos, under a recently announced agreement with the American Film Institute in Los Angeles.

Hansen said that the channel’s programming mix has stabilized for now, but he held out the possibility that it may at some point increase the quantity of original programming it offers--presently less than 5%. “If and when there is sufficient subscription and advertising revenue, perhaps,” he said.

The effort to sign on more cable viewers continues, with an ambitious outreach program to local community and arts organizations. For instance, the network recently took advantage of a series of awards to the 16 “most livable and innovative” American cities by setting up a competition among cable companies within each city to make documentaries detailing the reasons their cities were good places to live.

And starting this month, the network has entered into an agreement with the Library of Congress to promote reading tie-ins to A&E; programming at the local level.

Both Davatzes and Hansen spoke about the need for specialized, quality programming and wider audiences.

“It’s a balancing act, between creating a certain kind of environment, which both our local cable operators and our advertisers want, and yet making sure people don’t stop watching. But if you are going to claim to serve the arts, then you really have to serve them.”