ABC-TV and Cable Channel to Share Prime-Time Series

In an unprecedented cooperative venture between rival network and cable TV concerns, the Nickelodeon channel said Wednesday that it will produce a prime-time comedy series that will air this summer on ABC and then, only days later, on its own cable service.

Even more extraordinary is that ABC and Nickelodeon have agreed to promote one another to their viewers--the television equivalent of Bullock’s telling its customers to check out deals at Broadway.

Geraldine Leybourne, president of Nickelodeon, called the arrangement “a summer programming stunt” designed to attract attention to television at a time when viewership traditionally declines. But industry executives will certainly be looking at it as more than that as they weigh the financial and ratings implications of shared programming.

There is precedent for programming moving back and forth between cable and broadcast networks, but generally with a gap of at least a few months. Each episode of “Hi Honey, I’m Home,” however, will be shown on ABC and then within a week on Nickelodeon.

ABC has ordered six installments of the series, described by Leybourne as a comedy about the clash of values when a traditional family from the 1950s is transported through time to a 1990s neighborhood. A premiere date has not been set.

Shortly before each episode airs on ABC, Leybourne said, Nickelodeon and its sister cable channels operated by MTV Networks--MTV and VH-1--will simultaneously run commercials urging viewers to turn to “Hi Honey, I’m Home” on ABC. ABC, in turn, has agreed to run a promotional spot for Nickelodeon’s “Nick at Night” service during each episode.

“To get additional exposure and promotion on ABC is quite terrific for us,” Leybourne said.

ABC executives were not available to comment on the deal, but a network spokesman confirmed the general arrangement.

Leybourne said ABC has an option to renew the series for the regular season and acknowledged that, if it does, the cross-promotional agreement probably would be renegotiated. Even if ABC does not pick up the show, Nickelodeon has ordered an additional seven episodes for its nighttime schedule.

MTV Networks is a unit of Viacom Inc.