Pact Signed for Fifth TV Network by ’95 : Broadcast: Paramount’s formal agreement with Chris-Craft comes just before deadline to inform affiliates.

Paramount Pictures and Chris-Craft Industries, after weeks of tense negotiations, have concluded their joint-venture agreement to launch a fifth broadcast network by next January, sources close to the venture said Sunday.

The 120-page agreement, reached just before a deadline for notifying affiliates was to expire last week, seems for the time being to quell industry speculation that the proposed network was on shaky ground.

In the race to form a new network, the two companies face a challenge from Warner Bros., which in recent weeks has been moving swiftly ahead with programming announcements and executive appointments for a new network of its own.

The agreement between Paramount and Chris-Craft calls for their new network to be tentatively called the United Paramount Network--a reflection that Chris-Craft, the broadcast station group, may be taking on a larger role than previously planned.

One reason for the delay in reaching a formal agreement between the partners was a growing concern on the part of Paramount’s new owners, Viacom Inc., that the network would be a drain on the studio’s financial resources.

Viacom--which completed its acquisition of Paramount earlier this month--had expected a merger with Blockbuster Entertainment to provide some of the financial wherewithal for the network, but that merger now seems unlikely. As a result, Viacom has been putting pressure on Paramount executives to keep costs down.

One way Paramount may limit its financial liability is to bring aboard “third party” investors, an idea on which Viacom executives are said to be keen.

“More and more, this will become a Chris-Craft show,” said one source close to the situation who asked not to be named. “Chris-Craft can find another studio easier than Paramount can find another station group.”

While the network will air on Paramount-owned stations in such markets as Philadelphia and Washington, Chris-Craft has stations in key markets such as New York and Los Angeles--where it owns KCOP Channel 13--that are crucial in any fifth network plans.

Paramount and Chris-Craft plan to launch their network Jan. 16 with two hours of programming each on Monday and Tuesday nights. Paramount is using one of its most promising new shows, “Star Trek: Voyager,” as the network’s linchpin.

In addition, the partners are expected to pick a president within the next two weeks, having drawn up a list of four final candidates. So far, the network has 36 affiliates covering 47% of all TV homes in the country, with other affiliation agreements expected to be announced this week.