Hold the Bagel

One story getting a lot of attention in Ken Auletta’s new book about the major television networks, “Three Blind Mice,” has CBS Chief Executive Laurence A. Tisch scolding former CBS record chief Walter R. Yetnikoff for wanting to order a bagel at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

Auletta says Tisch told the bagel-hungry Yetnikoff he could order half a grapefruit or orange juice. Tisch asks: “You know how much a bagel costs in this hotel?”

Granted, it’s not cheap. But the hotel seems to be getting a bum rap.

A bagel with cream cheese costs $3.50 at the hotel. An informal survey shows that that is the same price charged at the Hotel Bel-Air and less than the price charged at the nearby Four Seasons.

Still, none come close to the CBS commissary, where a bagel is less than $1.

Mega-gripes

Some things are hard to predict for “Megatrends” prognosticator John Naisbitt. Travel problems are among them.

In an interview in this month’s Frequent Flyer magazine, Naisbitt lists some of his major travel complaints. They include:

* Lack of closet space. “I really hate it when all my starched shirts are crushed in an overcrowded closet.”

* When an attendant takes his jacket, “then forgets to bring it back.”

* The people flying first class who move up from coach using frequent-flier miles. “It is annoying to pay full fare and then have first class packed with upgrades.”

Well-Timed Amendment?

A little-noticed amendment to bank reform legislation pushed by Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) just before BankAmerica and Security Pacific disclosed merger plans has independent bank lobbyists crying foul. But Senate staffers say the concerns are overblown.

Legislation moving through the Senate Banking Committee in late July included a clause restricting a single bank from having more than 30% of the bank deposits in a state. The Cranston amendment broadened that definition to include thrifts and credit unions, reflecting the position of many bankers who believe that bank competition is far broader these days.

Still, lobbyists with the Independent Bankers Assn. of America are questioning the timing of the amendment. They argue that a combined BankAmerica/Security Pacific would exceed that 30% limit in California and Arizona under the first definition but not under the amended one.

Senate staffers downplay the significance. They argue that it would not affect mergers already in the works, that the Justice Department probably will ignore any new statutes and continue to use its own antitrust guidelines anyway and, finally, that there is no guarantee that the Senate version will ever become law.

Briefly . . .

Dubious honor: California State University Chancellor Barry Munitz, a former director of a failed Texas savings and loan, is featured on one of 36 “S&L; Scandal” trading cards sold by a Northern California company . . . Bad timing: Embattled former Salomon Bros. chief John Gutfreund has bowed out as a speaker at a Washington conference this month organized by the Securities and Exchange Commission . . . Sotheby’s International Realty is offering media organizations an oceanfront house in Palm Beach for $25,000 a month during William Kennedy Smith’s upcoming trial.

How Much Dough for a Bagel? Despite CBS Chief Executive Laurence A. Tisch’s complaint that bagels are too expensive at the Beverly Hills Hotel, an informal survey shows the price is in line with other area hotels, although it is higher than at network commissaries. (Most prices do not include tax.)

Four Seasons: $3.75 Beverly Hills Hotel: $3.50 Hotel Bel-Air: $3.50 Carnegie Deli, Beverly Hills: $1.95 NBC Commissary: $1.80 Fox Commissary: $1.50 CBS Commissary: $0.85 ABC Commissary: $0.85