Murdoch Predicts Black Ink for Fox TV Network

Media baron Rupert Murdoch predicted Thursday that his Fox Broadcasting Co., which has lost more than $100 million since it began in October, 1986, will be earning money “maybe in the next six months.”

Murdoch, who estimated that Fox Broadcasting lost $90 million last year and “less than” $20 million this year, also said he “absolutely” will continue his fledgling Fox TV network.

The network, which currently programs only on Saturday and Sunday nights, plans to add a third night next spring. It says it serves 123 stations, seven of which are Fox-owned, including KTTV Channel 11 in Los Angeles.

There have been sporadic rumors that the network, which last month retreated from the late-night talk show arena by canceling “The Late Show,” might be shut down because of its financial losses.

Not so, Murdoch said: “On the contrary. We need another couple of ratings points, and we’re there.”

Here to talk up his new four-channel satellite service that will start serving British homes in February, Murdoch spoke at a combination breakfast-press conference with a small group of journalists.

He said that more “news-based” programs such as the Fox network’s “The Reporters” and its syndicated “A Current Affair” are in the works. They cost half of what entertainment programs do and tend to get better results in the ratings, he said.

Moreover, he asserted, “the things that distinguish you as a broadcaster are things that come out of your news departments. There’s no longer any loyalty to networks. People sit back with their remote control buttons and they shop. . . .”

The Australian-born Murdoch, now a U.S. citizen, was asked if the term tabloid TV bothers him.

“I think tabloid TV in this country is ‘Eyewitness News’ “--a format notably used by ABC-owned stations--”and I always thought (CBS’) ’60 Minutes’ was terrific tabloid journalism . . . great, old-fashioned, foot-in-the-door investigative journalism,” he replied.

Some critics have used the term to knock Fox’s “The Reporters” and “A Current Affair” for their fast-paced emphasis on sensational stories about sex and violence.

“Ah, they always say that,” Murdoch said. “And I say it depends on what you’re talking about.”

He said he probably would agree with criticism of “an odd episode or two” of “A Current Affair” in its early stages. But “I wouldn’t agree about ‘The Reporters,’ ” he said, or about another Fox series, “America’s Most Wanted,” which he described as “a very high quality of work.”

On another subject, Murdouch said that there will be “absolutely no use of TV Guide”--which he bought as part of a $3 billion deal with publisher Walter H. Annenberg--to promote Fox shows. The influential weekly magazine has a circulation of 17 million.

“We’re going to be talking about the shows on all the networks, and off the networks, and there’ll be absolutely no favoritism to Fox,” he said.

Murdoch’s new four-channel satellite service in England is called Sky Television. It will beam TV programs, movies, sports and a 24-hour news channel directly to homes equipped with small satellite dishes.

Murdoch said he is starting the direct-to-home system--others also are in the race--because cable TV was making such slow progress in England, with only an estimated 280,000 homes wired for cable there so far.

“There’s an appetite there” for more variety in programming, he said. “They want more choice.”

He estimated that there are about 18 million homes with television in the United Kingdom. The United States, in contrast, has 90.4 million homes with TV.

The dawning of satellite-to-home broadcasting in England has touched off new competition for American programs and, with negotiations for them beginning this month, “in the next two weeks we’ll see if there is a new lode of gold . . . for Hollywood, or not,” he said.

Britain places restrictions on the amount of American programming that can air there. As a direct-to-home satellite broadcaster, “we’re not strictly subject to the quotas” that apply to both the BBC and commercial broadcasters, Murdoch said. “But we will try to stay within the spirit of them.”

He said he has no plans to get involved in the cable TV business in the United States, even though more than 50% of the nation’s homes now are wired for cable.

Cable has had “unbelieveable growth,” he said, “but you are at a moment here at a peak of deregulation” by federal agencies. Asked if he felt re-regulation in the cable and broadcast industry could happen soon, he nodded.

“Absolutely,” Murdoch said. He didn’t elaborate.