MEDIA : If You’ve Got an Item to Sell --Even Yourself--Tune In

Turn to Cox or Southwestern cable Channel 11 at 10 p.m. Sunday, and behold the modern age of television.

If it looks like a home version of “The Dating Game,” don’t be surprised. In many ways, it is just that.

Instead of evolving into a more complex and sophisticated medium, television is de-evolving, becoming simpler and more accessible. Or, at least, that’s the positive way of looking at it.

That’s certainly the way Kenneth Gladstone looks at it. He is the president and sole operator of the Personal Advertising Channel, which buys time on the Cox, Southwestern and Daniels cable systems each week.

PAC gives everybody a chance, for a moderate fee, to pitch something on television, usually themselves. In fact, personal ads are the key to Gladstone’s program, which started last month. People have between 30 seconds to two minutes to convince someone watching at home to go out with them.

For a limited time, he’s offering the personals for free, to promote the other aspects of the program. For a fee usually ranging from $85 to $150, people can come on to sell products, show off any particular talents they might have or simply promote themselves.

“We can do anything a display or classified ad can do on television,” said Gladstone, who used to work on KGTV’s (Channel 10) “Eye on San Diego” show.

In many ways, this is what television has come to. With most homes wired for cable, the array of programming is similar to radio, in the sense that it is often aimed at a specific market niche. Now, parts of the cable television dial are resembling the back end of a newspaper, too.

“Everyone can be a celebrity, everyone can be on television,” Gladstone said. “In a way it ruins the mystique of television, but we’re trying to get more people involved.”

The PAC concept also speaks volumes about modern television in the sense that it is primarily about making money.

Gladstone is simply offering people a service, taking advantage of an opportunity. The opportunity arose because cable systems spotted a way to make a little extra change.

Selling the time is nothing new. For several years, cable systems have sold time to an array of religious groups, pseudo-religious self-help organizations and companies selling products.

What is relatively new--the reason Gladstone got into the business this year--is the decision by the cable companies to sell time on a prime dial position.

“Dimension (Cable) wanted to give me Channel 32, and I said ‘no thanks,’ ” Gladstone said, noting a theory well-accepted within the industry about people’s viewing habits. “When people watch cable, they watch Channels 2-13. After 13, most will skip to premium channels.”

The channel space is available because the same programs often run at the same time on different channels. On Sunday nights, Channel 11 is showing the same Fox Network programming as XETV (Channel 6), and Channel 6 requested that cable systems blackout Channel 11 when it is showing the same programs.

Cox usually sells a half-hour to Gladstone for $500; the other, smaller systems charge less.

Of course, cynics might wonder why the cable systems don’t use the opportunity to run more worthwhile programming on the prime channel, perhaps exposing more people to the Arts and Entertainment channel, for example, by simultaneously running it for an hour in the prime dial spot, in addition to its normal channel.

That would confuse people, cable operators say. The cable operators don’t have the time or resources to produce their own programming, and clearly they have no desire to buy new programming simply to fill a few hours each week.

A spokeswoman for Cox said the company has no intention of expanding the amount of time devoted to commercial programming. Some cable executives apparently realize that people at home are paying cable companies for programming, not advertising.

“I’m not at all sure people within the cable industry want more (commercial programming),” said Moya Gollaher , advertising sales manager for Cox. “People are paying for programming and we’re sensitive to that.”

Cox Cable treated members of the press to a steak and lobster lunch last week to solicit publicity for the long-awaited expansion of its system, due to begin in January.

The system will increase to 62 channels from 36 by the end of 1990 in some areas, with the whole system scheduled to be rewired by 1993.

The tasty lunch, er, news conference was short on details of exactly what new channels Cox’s 307,000 subscribers will get in the increase. But Cox general manager Bob McRann promised that the majority of the new channels will be part of the basic service, with perhaps as few as three new pay-per-view channels. Several of the new channels, he said, will be taken up by expansion of some services now offered on a part-time basis, such as the Arts and Entertainment channel.

McRann emphasized that the $60-million expansion, which will include new cable boxes for customers, is purely designed to better serve Cox customers, stopping just short of portraying Cox as the Mother Theresa of the cable industry. He downplayed any ulterior motive Cox might have for doing the upgrade at this time, such as threats of competition or fear of losing the franchise in the distant future.

The expansion will not “significantly” increase the value of the Cox franchise, McRann said, since it will bring the system up to quality levels established by many new systems around the country. Although no final decision had been made, McRann said there may be a “modest” increase in customer fees, declining to elaborate on his definition of “modest.”

KNSD-TV (Channel 39) staffers are nervously wondering what economic impact the financial woes of its owners will have on the station. Last week, creditors of SCI Television, a subsidiary of Gillett Communications, forced the company into Chapter 7 bankruptcy. In an on-air announcement Thursday night, station management said it would have no effect on Channel 39’s operation. However, budgets clearly will be tight. With $1.3 billion in debt, SCI, which owns six stations, is either going to have to restructure or sell stations. . . .

Speculation is rampant that Westwood One, new owner of KJQY (KJOY), will switch the station to its “Pirate Radio” rock format. But it probably won’t happen for a while, since the station ratings are relatively high, even if revenues have slipped. There is also speculation that former KCBQ owner Simon T, now vice president and general manager of Westwood’s “Pirate” flagship, KQLZ-FM in Los Angeles, might play a role in KJOY’s future. “Whatever Westwood wants is what I will do,” said Simon T., who still maintains a home in La Jolla. . . .

Fish are evil, bad creatures and they “could make you sick,” according to KNSD-TV’s (Channel 39) graphic ads for last week’s special report on the dangers of fish. To call the ads showing PCBs being poured over frying fish a little inflammatory is akin to labeling reports that the sky is falling as a little sensational. . . .

Channel 39 has hired Channel 8 photographer John DeTarsio to fill the newly created position of creative director. He will be assigned to improve the overall quality of the station’s photos. DeTarsio also is regional director for the National Press Photographers Assn. . . .

Tim Dunn is leaving Channel 10’s special projects department to do public relations for the Pittsburgh Opera.