Pick a Video: Cable’s New Jukebox Network : Music: With a $3 telephone call you can avoid rap or heavy metal or sugary pop by programming your own videos.

It’s the same old story--or, in this case, the same old music video.

You tune into MTV or VH-1 to catch your favorite video and find yourself quickly tuning out after you OD on rap, heavy metal and New Kids on the Block videos.

What if there was a cable network that allowed the viewers to program the videos?

Meet the Jukebox Network, what its backers call the first interactive cable-TV network. With a $3 phone call, you can pick the video you want to see.

First tested in 1985, the Jukebox Network--which is owned and operated by Miami-based Video Jukebox Network, Inc.--is in 94 locations across the country and hopes to be in 30 more by year’s end. It is carried locally by United Artists Cable, which serves Sherman Oaks, Van Nuys, Toluca Lake and Pacoima, Sammons Communications in Glendale and Comcast in northern Orange County.

When no video is playing, a scroll appears on the screen, listing a succession of as many as 100 videos that can be ordered, from Phil Collins to Public Enemy, from Billy Joel to Billy Idol. The viewer notes the code number that appears to the left of the title, then calls the 900 or 976 phone number shown at the top of the screen and punches in the appropriate code. If the Jukebox Network isn’t particularly busy, the video will start playing within two minutes.

The phone company puts each call on the customer’s bill and takes a small percentage of the $3 fee for itself. The balance goes to Video Jukebox Network, Inc., which in turn passes on some of the money to the cable company that generated the call--usually 5 to 7 cents per call.

That’s part of the appeal to cable operators.

“We say, ‘You won’t get rich with us, but you’ll make some money,’ ” explained John Robson, director of corporate communications for Video Jukebox Network. “They are also looking for value-added programming, and the channel is locally originated and responds specifically to their viewers.”

“It was a smart move to put it on,” said Dan MacKenzie, manager of pay-per-view entertainment services at United Artists, which has carried the Jukebox Network since December. “It’s definitely paying for itself. It’s just an additional piece of icing for the customers to enjoy.”

Sampling Jukebox on Sammons, though, one tends to see the scroll more often than videos. Sammons general manager Tom Robbins insisted, nonetheless, that Sammons is very pleased with the response from its customers. “Sometimes there is more activity than other times,” he said.

The patented technology for the Jukebox Network was developed before anyone had a good idea of how to use it.

“We tried things like classified ads, a movie guide and a real estate service,” Robson said. Finally, someone hit on the idea of a video jukebox.

The first video jukebox was launched on the TCI system in Miami on Dec. 20, 1985. Two years later, another box was added in Jacksonville. After three more years of testing in Florida, national roll-out began on March 6, 1989.

“It is one of the most researched and developed projects,” said Andy Orgell, president of Video Jukebox Network. “The product was fine-tuned while it was on the air and developed over a period of time.”

Cable companies and subscribers don’t need any extra equipment for the Jukebox channel. A box the size of a small refrigerator is placed in the cable company. It contains laser discs of the music videos and is activated by the viewer’s phone call.

“We can play something like half-a-million separate songs every month,” Robson said. “There is no entity who can play as much music as we can.”

If there are videos that the system isn’t carrying, viewers are invited to request them by calling a toll-free number. “We receive 50,000 calls a month,” Robson said.

The line is also used to lodge complaints. Les Garland, vice president of programming, maintains that only 4% of the calls find fault with the network and none complain about the cost of the videos.

“There is not such a sensitivity about the phone bill,” he said. “People seem to get their telephone bills and just pay it.”

“One of the things we have done from day one is pound the price home,” Robson said. “We put the price right in the middle of the (TV) spot and we also put the price message on the phone message.”

Ordering a video through Sammons, though, the price message was delivered after the video was ordered.

Garland believes the network will be able to predict hits very quickly. “It’s a very active audience,” he said. “It’s a 12- to 25-year-old audience. They are watching the network and telephoning in to make requests. They are also record purchasers. They are the trend-setting, on-the-cutting-edge kind of young people.”

A small number of videos are not available to the network because of the exclusivity MTV has with some record labels.

“But we have world-premiered a number of videos,” Robson said. “We have a great opportunity to show more videos than MTV because they don’t play as many songs as we do. We have shown local videos that wouldn’t fly anywhere else.”

Garland said that the network is not trying to “take on” MTV, where he formerly worked as programming vice president.

“We really see the Jukebox as a place for people to come to discover the talent of tomorrow. It’s an alternative music channel,” he said. “It’s the first alternative music channel that has come along since MTV in 1981. We can play things you are not going to hear on the radio or any of those other channels. I think the public has a desire to have a choice. It’s the wide array of music which will position us.”

Despite the fact the Jukebox Network is now seen by nearly seven million customers, Orgell admits the public company hasn’t turned a profit. “We did make an operating profit during the first quarter,” he said. “But we are still not bottom line profitable--yet.”

Video Jukebox Network sees itself primarily as an interactive company and not just a music company.

“The Jukebox Network is our first product,” Robson said. “We are committed this year to have another product line on the air. It will be nothing to do with music, but we are not 100% sure what it will be. We are looking at a lot of things.”