SIMPSON MURDER CASE : Big Screen, Small Screen View the Case From Different Angles : Movies: Motion picture studios see a transfixed audience and seize the moment by pouring money into extra ads touting their summer releases.

The O.J. Simpson saga has unexpectedly sparked a boom in advertising from major studios pushing summer blockbusters.

The relentless TV coverage of Simpson’s flight from authorities, his arrest and the preliminary hearing has changed the summer strategy that studios use to hype their movies, just as the major releases are hitting theaters.

The studios have traditionally advertised during news hours, though that time period has not been the best venue for attracting moviegoers. But the studios have found a bonanza, not only during the news hours but during gavel-to-gavel coverage of the Simpson case and during evening wrap-ups.

The advertising is reaching all age groups, both men and women--something usually difficult to achieve during the summer months when most TV fare consists of reruns and local news, the studios have found.

Studio sources would not say on the record that they have taken advantage of the Simpson coverage by playing their ads to a larger, captivated audience. They fear criticism for capitalizing on a double homicide. But, privately, they say they hope the strategy will be effective.

“This may be considered exploitative, but this kind of decision is reflective of the world we live in,” a source at Universal Studios said. “The movie business is susceptible to the same things as any other organization, including the news business. We’re just adjusting our media program to work within the bounds of what is happening.”

Local station officials agree that the studios are buying more ads because of the Simpson coverage.

“There was a significant increase in news buys that was often done on a day-by-day basis,” said Stacy Okonowski, a spokeswoman for KCAL-TV, Channel 9. “Normally the studios advertise in the early day and in the late-evening periods. But they were buying ads during our evening news, too. That was significantly up.”

John McKay, director of sales for KCBS-TV, Channel 2, said: “Yes, we’re seeing movie spots bought in places where they would not usually be bought.”

Sources said studio marketing executives have been huddled in meetings trying to figure out what Simpson-related news programs would attract the widest audience. And in at least one case, an alternative strategy has been used.

Universal Pictures came up with a Simpson-related strategy for promoting “The Shadow,” which opened July 1.

That day, as reporters skulked around the courthouse for the latest breaking news on Simpson, Universal went full throttle. An 18-wheeler truck, with “The Shadow” plastered on both sides, was driven to the media-packed courthouse so that it would be in full view of the TV cameras.

Some sources say they spotted one of the trucks parked in front of Simpson’s house. Universal does not deny the courthouse maneuver but discounts any cruise by Simpson’s Brentwood home.

An MGM source said the response among marketing executives at nearly every studio has been: “How tacky. Wish we would have thought of that!”

But most studios have limited their campaigns to TV advertising for reaching the widest audience during the Simpson coverage.

“Look, people of all ages and from all walks of life are now glued to their TV sets,” said one MGM marketing source. “You’ve got a whole audience targeted to a certain medium that you don’t usually get, especially at this time of year.”

Some studio representatives were quick to accuse 20th Century Fox for blatantly capitalizing on the sensational murders. On June 16, the studio blitzed Los Angeles airwaves by running ads for the summer hit “Speed” on apparently every TV station.

Sources say the ad buy was in anticipation of Simpson’s arrest and heavy news coverage that evening, although it turned out he was not arrested until the next day.

But Fox officials say a gamble on Simpson’s arrest was not the motivating factor. They insist that the TV ads were bought in advance because the day was considered the peak time to grab attention before another three-day weekend.

But their competitors say such a costly ad-buying spree, which can run in the neighborhood of $100,000 for one night, is usually done the Thursday night before a film opens.

Warner Brothers was pushing its next film, “The Client,” on Court TV, another critical venue for all-day coverage of the trial.

“It boils down to this,” said one MGM marketing source: “What’s a studio to do when they’ve got close to 100 million viewers watching?”