Kerkorian May Put MGM-UA Television on Auction Block

Financier Kirk Kerkorian may put MGM-UA Communications Co.’s TV unit up for sale, according to proxy material provided to shareholders voting on the planned sale of the United Artists movie studio.

MGM shareholders are to vote Sept. 23 on the $600-million planned sale of United Artists to Australian-based Qintex Entertainment Inc.

The company had indicated previously that it would hang onto its TV operations, which include rights to 1,700 hours of programming including “Fame,” “Sea Hunt,” “Bat Masterson,” “Highway Patrol” and “The Patty Duke Show.”

But the proxy material says Kerkorian may now be willing to sell all or part of the television group, which among other things produces the series “In the Heat of the Night” and “thirtysomething.”