TV & VIDEO - March 16, 1989

Linda Ellerbee and John McLaughlin are coming to cable TV, but on separate fronts. Starting Monday, Ellerbee, a registered irreverent, will be a three-times-a-week commentator on CNN. She has been an ad hoc commentator there--having covered the presidential conventions and the 1988 election--since leaving ABC News after the axing of “Our World” in 1987. “I had a wonderful time during the conventions,” Ellerbee told The Times Wednesday. “The nice part is CNN lets me say what I think, without first telling me what I think.” McLaughlin, the conservative host of “The McLaughlin Group” that gathers Sundays to bellow about matters of great import and consequence, has signed with NBC’s new consumer news and financial channel, CNBC. He will do “McLaughlin,” a one-hour weeknight interview show to be taped before studio audiences at CNBC headquarters in Ft. Lee, N.J. Like CNBC, the new show will start on April 17.