‘Mad About You’ Goes in Search of a New Audience : Television: Show’s switch to 9:30 p.m. on Saturdays is when much of the target audience is out on the town. ‘We’re very accessible,’ says producer-star Paul Reiser.

When NBC executives decided to reschedule “Seinfeld” and “Mad About You,” which were being trounced in the ratings Wednesday nights by ABC’s block of “Home Improvement” and “Coach,” they gave “Seinfeld” a choice time slot--cushioned at 9:30 p.m. behind the venerable “Cheers” on Thursday nights, beginning in February.

But “Mad About You” seemed to receive short shrift. The sophisticated first-year comedy series starring Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt as young urban newlyweds was moved to 9:30 p.m. on Saturdays--when network viewing is in the cellar and much of the target audience for “Mad About You” is out on the town.

Reiser, who also shares producer credit on the series, says he understands NBC’s position and doesn’t believe the new time slot is permanent.

“NBC has been completely behind the show, from inception to production to now,” he said Tuesday. “If the numbers say NBC is getting their butts kicked by ABC, and not enough people are watching these two shows, then they are right to split us up and move us.”

“The sense is that this is being done for all the right reasons,” said Jon Feltheimer, president of TriStar Television, the studio producing the show. Feltheimer believes ABC strategically put “Home Improvement” up against “Seinfeld” this season to prevent NBC from building a new night of programming.

“We certainly felt there was a synergy between us and ‘Seinfeld,’ in terms of the kinds of shows we are,” he said. “I think ABC clearly went after ‘Seinfeld’ and us. They saw our two shows together as a formidable block that they didn’t want to see built.”

NBC executives buck the common belief that younger viewers are not home on Saturday nights, pointing to the high concentration of females between the ages 18 and 49 who tune into “Sisters” on Saturday at 10 p.m. NBC hopes that “Mad About You” will provide a perfect bridge between “Empty Nest” at 9 p.m., which has a fairly solid mainstream audience, and “Sisters.”

Although they may simply be making the best of a tough situation, Feltheimer and Reiser are upbeat about the new time period, which begins in February.

“What NBC was thrilled about on Wednesday nights was the makeup of our audience,” Reiser said. “We attract the spending audience. The young, hip, demographically desirable audience, as Wall Street would say. But it’s dangerous if you think you’re limited to that audience. Our show is very accessible. It’s a relationship show, and we’re talking about universal issues. I don’t think we are limited to people under 35, urban people, or even married people.”

Feltheimer and Reiser believe that Saturday night is a temporary solution, part of NBC’s efforts to stop its overall slide in the prime-time ratings, and that next season “Mad About You” will be given a better time period. Although “Mad About You” is unlikely to break out as a hit on Saturdays, it should be safe behind “Empty Nest.”