It’s Wise to Keep Anchors From Gulf : Television: In the past, anchors have been sent only to hype ratings and have been distractions.

TV or not TV. . . .

STRATEGY: Why did the networks reverse policy and keep anchors Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw and Peter Jennings from going to the scene during the Persian Gulf War?

A clue from an ABC spokeswoman: “With access limited in the Middle East, you could send Jennings and then have him wind up out of pocket. This is a global story. We feel he’s in the right place in New York.”

NBC says it also regards New York as “command central” for Brokaw, and CBS says that it’s “keeping its options open” for Rather.

But it’s been good judgment all around thus far because, in the past, the traveling anchors usually were distractions from stories and were sent mainly to hype ratings anyway.

CNN anchor Bernard Shaw happened to be in Baghdad when war broke out because he’d gone there in hopes of landing an interview with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

SIGN OF THE TIMES: A media-wise war protester moved in behind a KCBS Channel 2 reporter during a Westwood rally and held up a placard that included the ultimate four-letter obscenity. It was on screen for several seconds before the KCBS camera pulled back.

PRO: While some broadcasters were exulting that only one U.S. plane was lost in the early hours of the war, CBS’ Charles Kuralt was one of the few who showed human concern for that casualty. “One of our planes is missing,” he said glumly.

BENCH STRENGTH: Pretty terrific how “Larry King Live” has been integrated into CNN’s war coverage instead of just being an accompanying talk show.

ATTITUDE: Anyone who’s talked to Bernie Shaw in the past knows he meant it on King’s weekend show when he said he doesn’t like being part of the news, and doesn’t believe that reporters should be. We chatted with him several years ago, when he was just blossoming as a TV name, and he said the same thing.

A MATTER OF TIME: With Brokaw’s “NBC Nightly News” expanding from 30 minutes to an hour during the war, executive producer Steve Friedman says: “When people see it, they’ll say the networks have to do a one-hour nightly broadcast.” Fine. Now persuade station owners, who’ve long opposed it--and anything else that might hurt their profits.

PERSPECTIVE: Johnny Carson said on “The Tonight Show” that “the only reason they brought me on was to give Tom Brokaw an hour off.”

NUMBERS GAME: President Bush’s speech last Wednesday may have been the most-watched TV broadcast in history, as CBS apparently thinks. But even if it drew more viewers than the 1983 finale of “MASH,” nothing compares in total TV saturation with coverage of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, which was the only programming on ABC, CBS and NBC for several days.

LOOKING BACK: In the current war atmosphere, viewers may well be interested in a UCLA forum Saturday and Sunday, “The Expanding Vista: American Television in the Kennedy Years,” which deals with such matters as the Cuban Missile Crisis. It’s at Melnitz Theater and includes ex-CBS reporter Robert Pierpoint and documentarian Robert Drew, with his notable programs about JFK. Information: (213) 206-8013.

REFLECTIONS: In the same historic vein, Eva Marie Saint narrates next Monday’s KCET Channel 28 documentary, “Primary Colors: The Story of Corita,” about the Los Angeles artist and nun Sister Corita Kent, who emerged in the 1960s as a voice of the anti-war and civil rights movements.

TURN OF PHRASE: When the Iraqi missiles struck Israel, CBS’ Mike Wallace told Dan Rather: “If they’re not chemically tipped, they’re politically tipped.” Rather: “They were aimed at the heart of the alliance.”

UNDER FIRE: Quite a sight when CNN’s Charles Jaco, upon hearing from Saudi authorities of “imminent attack,” turned quickly to his crew, said, “Hey, guys, outta here,” and split.

COOL COOKIE: CNN’s Richard Blystone, a droll fellow, was advised by an anchor back home to watch out for an errant missile. Oh, he replied, “the world’s a big place” and he didn’t think the missile was going to get him.

ROOM AT THE TOP: It’s been pretty hard to find Vice President Dan Quayle on TV during the war coverage. He is, after all, the No. 2 guy.

A RUMOR OF WAR: A reader sends us this program listing for “Sally Jessy Raphael”: “Makeovers for the spouses of military personnel in the Persian Gulf.” Writes the reader: “For Sally and her audience, life goes on.”

THE POINT AFTER: If war developments don’t preempt the Super Bowl, it should get great ratings--in New York.

BEING THERE: Many shows, such as “Major Dad,” are taking note of the Gulf War. But “The Twilight Zone” may have been the first TV drama to mention an American casualty in Vietnam, says Marc Scott Zicree’s book, “The Twilight Zone Companion.” Rod Serling wrote the 1963 episode, “In Praise of Pip,” in which Jack Klugman played an alcoholic bookie whose son was wounded in Vietnam.