When No News Is Bad News : Television: Oprah Winfrey’s lead-in outrageously corrupts KABC’s 11 p.m. news into a ratings-grabbing Jacksoncast.

Some important TV lessons came out of this week’s Oprah-Michael world summit.

One is that Oprah Winfrey is television’s most powerful performer when it comes to influencing programming, from news to entertainment, from daytime to prime time.

The other is that TV corrupts, and TV’s ratings sweeps corrupt completely.

Or didn’t you see the KABC-TV Channel 7 newscast that followed Winfrey’s Wednesday interview with Jackson?

Did I say newscast ?

What newscast?

In one of the most reprehensible and outrageous misuses of public responsibility by a TV station--licensed, by the way, by the Federal Communications Commission--KABC followed the interview with virtually an all-Jackson, fan-magazine half-hour parading as news and hosted by regular 11 p.m. anchors Harold Greene and Ann Martin.

Except for sports and weather, the rest of the world was discarded by KABC, and viewers who tuned in expecting to see the news at 11 were dismissed, insulted and--if some of our phone calls and letters were typical--shocked.

This was TV stripped to its essence, nakedly bottom line in its anything-for-a-buck mentality--panting at the chance to cash in on what was certainly a major prime-time happening.

A doctor on KABC’s Jacksoncast discussed Michael’s pigmentation. Winfrey was interviewed a few times. KABC even picked up an interview with the Jackson family’s parents from the Black Entertainment Television cable channel. And there was more.

Was it successful? It depends on your priorities.

It’s the February sweeps, and the pseudo-newscast was like taking candy from a baby. A phenomenal 62% of Los Angeles-area viewers watched KABC’s non-news at 11.

But for those interested in the city, the state, the nation, the world--forget it.

By comparison, “Entertainment Tonight” looked like hard-hitting news.

Don’t kid yourself. The way things are going in local news--with stations shamelessly plugging their entertainment--the other local network outlets might have done the same as KABC.

The thing is, KABC, after years of being roasted as “Eyewitless News,” had come on strong recently and had actually become the best local network station in Los Angeles.

But in one nightly 11 p.m. newscast--Wednesday--it reverted to its old form, outdoing almost anything from its worst days, and forfeited the gains it had made. It will take the station a long time to wipe out the memories of its Wednesday fiasco.

Some of KABC’s sister stations-in New York, Chicago and San Francisco, for instance--did not follow the same path in their newscasts after the 90-minute Winfrey-Jackson special, according to spokespersons for those outlets.

The spokespersons said that all three stations presented their regular news programs, including several segments about the special--which, despite being odd at times and essentially superficial, unquestionably created a genuine aura as a TV event.

That’s why a whopping 56% of the national audience tuned in the show. You can bet that even many viewers with other tastes were hooked by the look at Jackson’s colorful Santa Ynez ranch, his home and the astonishing performer himself.

But that’s entertainment--not a newscast.

At WABC-TV in New York, for instance, a spokeswoman said the station’s late news had several pieces on the special, but “led with major stories in the city.” There was a story on Arthur Ashe’s funeral, another on the crisis in Bosnia-Herzegovina, another on President Clinton.

As for the special, the ratings proved again that Jackson’s public appeal is incredible. He recently drew huge ratings with his halftime Super Bowl show. And a miniseries about him and his family, “The Jacksons: An American Dream,” was also a solid hit, helping ABC win the November sweeps.

Pair him with Winfrey, and the draw is inevitable.

ABC knows that because its association with Winfrey is an ongoing source of big profits for the network.

Winfrey, one of the richest performers in TV history, owns and produces her daily talk show, the basis of her fame and fortune. She produced this week’s special with Jackson.

But where ABC benefits most is the strategic use of her daily series on stations such as KABC, where she gives a major thrust to the news programs that follow. She is unquestionably a factor in KABC’s ratings lead over other local stations. And since successful local channels profit mightily from their news shows, her contribution is significant.

It becomes even more significant because a network’s owned-and-operated stations are generally its biggest source of income, and thus Winfrey’s impact on ABC’s local news shows are a foundation of the parent company’s overall health--and wealth.

Winfrey’s influence is also felt in her prime-time ABC interview specials, which rank with those of Barbara Walters as audience-getters. An independent operator who owns and operates her studio in Chicago, she clearly calls the shots with ABC.

She also produces the network’s children’s series “ABC Afternoon Specials.”

Several out-of-town ABC stations we talked with also had interviews with Winfrey on their newscasts after her Jackson special. The stations owe her, and it’s one of those “I’ll scratch your back and you scratch mine” situations.

You have to wonder: If you have a show that gets 56% of the national audience, how would it do as a rerun?

It was a smart piece of showmanship to do it live. Even though it was tape-delayed on the West Coast, it still had that special live feel.

So who’s next for Winfrey in a Jackson-type ratings sweeps interview?

Princess Di?

Just imagining.

And imagining the KABC newscast that would follow.

Stop the world--I want to get off.

KABC DEFENDS DECISION

The station’s news director defended the Jackson decision. F7