CBS, USA Join Forces for Series

CBS and cable’s USA Network will share a new series next fall, with CBS airing “Silk Stockings” as its late-night Wednesday show and USA showing it in prime time Sundays. It’s the second deal of its kind between a Big Three broadcast network and a cable-TV program service.

The show, by veteran producer Stephen J. Cannell, is a one-hour series about two detectives--one male, the other female--who specialize in crimes of passion. Thirteen episodes have been ordered.

CBS will start the series on Oct. 30, with USA starting the same show on Nov. 3. “Stockings” will start filming this month in Southern California, but no cast has been hired yet, USA said.

USA and CBS announced the deal Friday. Other details were not immediately available.

The deal comes as networks, faced with losing viewers and revenues, are trying to cut costs in various ways, including limited alliances for programs with some cable competitors.

Cable’s USA Network is one of the nation’s largest, seen in more than 56 million homes.

Last month, ABC and cable’s Nick at Nite network began same-week showings of “Hi Honey, I’m Home,” a new sitcom commissioned for Nick at Nite but later purchased by ABC for a six-week run, with the possibility of renewal.

In that deal, described as unprecedented, ABC shows an episode of “Honey” on Friday nights. Nick at Nite, in what it playfully calls an “instant rerun,” shows the same episode on Sundays.

ABC’s July 19 premiere of “Honey” did well in the ratings. It was ranked 13th of prime-time shows that week.