Geraldo Rivera’s ‘Murder’ Special Tops TV Ratings

Geraldo Rivera’s TV special about murderers hit the ratings jackpot in Los Angeles, figures from the A. C. Nielsen Co. showed Thursday.

“Murder: Live From Death Row,” which aired from 8-10 p.m. Wednesday on KTLA Channel 5, attracted nearly as many viewers as the three network-owned stations combined. The program garnered a 22.9 rating and a 34 share--meaning it was seen in more than 1 million homes in the Los Angeles area, and by one of every three homes that had the TV set on during those two hours.

For the same period, KABC-TV Channel 7 averaged an 11.4 rating, KNBC-TV Channel 4 a 7.9 and KCBS-TV Channel 2 a 6.9. The latter two stations also were beaten by another independent Wednesday, as KTTV Channel 11 averaged an 11 rating from 8-10 p.m. with its coverage of the Dodgers’ cliffhanger against San Diego. (Each rating point represents 46,527 homes.)

The local ratings performance by Rivera’s show was the best for his prime-time specials since the one about the opening of Al Capone’s empty vault. It was also the best among the 12 “Murder” markets that received overnight ratings Thursday. Among those dozen cities, the show averaged a 15.7 rating and a 25 share.

NBC GOES CABLE: In what it described as a first for one of the three commercial networks, NBC said Thursday it will produce programming for a national cable service, the Disney Channel.

The company, whose NBC network affiliates compete against cable programming, said its NBC Productions arm will produce a half-hour comedy series, “Good Morning, Miss Bliss,” for the Disney Channel.

The series, based on a 1987 NBC special, is about “a warmhearted, revered grade school teacher in a city in Middle America,” the network said. The series will premiere in September.

After that, an NBC statement said, the show may be aired on the NBC television network as part of its Saturday morning childrens’ program lineup, or in the daytime during next summer.

NEW NAME: The NBC comedy “Valerie’s Family,” which underwent a title change after Valerie Harper left the show, is getting yet another new name as a bitter dispute between the actress and the producers continues.

Beginning June 6, immediately following the conclusion of the May ratings sweeps, the show will be called “The Hogan Family.”

In a statement issued Thursday, Harper said, “I am relieved that my name will no longer be associated with a series in which I do not appear and with respect to which I have no creative input.”

The show was called “Valerie” when it premiered but was changed to “Valerie’s Family” this season after Harper and Lorimar parted company with a flurry of charges and countercharges about who instigated the dispute. Sandy Duncan was hired in Harper’s place and the show has been a hit for NBC, ranking 19th among all series in the season-to-date ratings.

Harper said the latest title change was required under an agreement in which Lorimar had said it would delete the name Valerie if it requested a continuance for the trial date of their breach-of-contract battle, which had been scheduled to begin April 20. Lorimar did seek such a continuance and the trial is now sheduled for July 5, she said.

“I look forward to the truth about this entire matter being brought out during trial,” the Emmy Award-winning actress said.

NO DICTATOR: CBS confirmed Thursday that it has shelved “The Dictator,” a comedy series that had been scheduled to premiere March 15 but was put on hold when the Writers Guild of America went on strike March 7. Three episodes were completed, with Christopher Lloyd in the starring role as a former dictator now running a Laundromat in New York.

Since then, it had been thought that production would resume on five additional episodes when the writers strike ended. But a CBS spokesman said that will not happen now, though he offered no explanation as to why the network had changed its mind about putting “The Dictator” on the air.