NETWORK CHIEFS DISCUSS FALL SEASON

Bud agreed with Brandon and Brandon, Brandon agreed with Bud and Brandon, and Brandon certainly agreed with Brandon and Bud.

Unanimity was the order of the day as the three network entertainment chiefs--Brandon Stoddard of ABC, Brandon Tartikoff of NBC and B. Donald (Bud) Grant of CBS--appeared together at the Hollywood Radio and Television Society’s jovial Newsmaker Luncheon Thursday at the Beverly Wilshire.

Although the three programming executives spent much of last summer discussing network issues with the press, advertisers and representatives of their affiliated stations, the luncheon was the first opportunity for them to address questions about the new fall season together.

There was some good-natured ribbing. Tartikoff, who recently appeared on “Hollywood Squares,” began his remarks with “I’ll take Brandon Stoddard to block, please.”

Stoddard replied pleasantly: “I think it’s thrilling that Brandon could be with us today, because he is supposed to be doing a supermarket opening in Reseda,” adding apologetically: “They couldn’t get ALF.”

Grant, in a fit of mock petulance, responded to a question asked of Stoddard because few of the questions the audience had previously submitted on cards were addressed to Grant.

Tartikoff, not limiting himself to blasting the competition, even took a shot at his own network. When he was asked whether he felt bad about taking work away from “qualified actors” by occasionally appearing on TV shows such as “Hollywood Squares” and “Night Court,” he replied: “All of the salary I earn is donated to the actors’ home. And that actor is Valerie Harper.” (Harper recently parted company with NBC’s “Valerie” series and was replaced by Sandy Duncan.)

The three, known for having differing levels of accessibility to the press (Tartikoff: high; Grant: medium; Stoddard: low), acknowledged that their attitudes will probably stay the same, with Tartikoff pledging to go public with NBC’s “triumphs and defeats,” the reticent Stoddard protesting that “presidents of network entertainment divisions are not elected officials” and Grant hovering in the middle with this statement: “I frankly feel that we should be judged by what we do, not necessarily by what we say to the press, because sometimes the quotes can be embarrassing, but the role of the press is very important.”

Still, the executives spoke with one voice in defending their companies against criticism that their respective new corporate owners could lead to budget cutting and inferior network programming.

Said Tartikoff of NBC’s parent company, General Electric: “They bring a different mentality and a real smart business sense at exactly the time that we need it.”

Grant, in turn, praised CBS Inc. president Laurence A. Tisch: “Frankly, accurately, truthfully, since Larry has been our big boss, he has been very interested in the process of what we are doing, and has inserted himself properly into our business.”

Stoddard said that ABC’s merger with Capital Cities was a benefit to his company as well. “It’s nice to know where you are, where you’re going and what’s expected of you as a business,” he said. “They hire the people they believe in, then leave them alone. I couldn’t be more thrilled with them.”

And all three were consistently vague but uniformly hopeful about the prognosis for network television this fall in what Tartikoff called a “watershed time” for the industry as it faces ratings by the new and controversial People Meter system and continuing competition from alternative viewing sources. “I think it’s going to be an interesting next six to eight weeks,” Tartikoff said.

“I agree with Brandon,” Stoddard said.

In speaking of the increased competition, Tartikoff noted that the networks must continue to remain at the forefront of “event” programming, citing Sunday’s Emmy Awards, which have gone from the networks to Fox Broadcasting Co. for the next three years, as an example of the networks’ losing ground in that area.

“I think (Emmy producer) Don Ohlmeyer is doing the right things in producing the show, but I also think there is possibility of it being the lowest-rated Emmy broadcast in history,” Tartikoff said. “I don’t know if it’s good for our industry.”

Somewhat off the subject, Tartikoff was asked what he would do if he were entertainment president at Fox Broadcasting instead of NBC.

While acknowledging Fox’s achievements, Tartikoff said, “I would be taking more chances (than Fox does). I would probably be trying to put on more forms of programming that would be different than what is on the other three networks. . . . I’d probably be doing things in a much more bizarre and wild way than they currently are.”