TELEVISIONOpera Goes Cable: In the largest commitment...

TELEVISION

Opera Goes Cable: In the largest commitment ever to presenting opera on cable TV, Bravo’s “Texaco Performing Arts Showcase” will feature six productions from New York’s Metropolitan Opera over the next three years. The programming starts Sept. 28 with Puccini’s “Tosca,” sung by Hildegard Behrens, Placido Domingo and Cornell MacNeil, with Giuseppe Sinopoli conducting and sets by Franco Zeffirelli. Future broadcasts include “Il Trovatore,” sung by Eva Marton, Dolora Zajick, Luciano Pavarotti and Sherrill Milnes, and “Aida” with Aprile Millo and Domingo. The showcase will also feature on Oct. 5 the U.S. TV premiere of “Cecilia Bartoli in Recital,” taped at London’s Savoy Hotel.

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Stern Wake-Up Call: Howard Stern, the self-proclaimed “King of All Media,” was boasting on radio Wednesday morning about his outstanding TV ratings on cable’s E! Entertainment. But advertisers report that “Howard Stern” averages no more than a 0.3 rating on E! in its choicest 8 p.m. slot (it runs three times a day), translating to 84,000 U.S. homes. That’s less than the numbers earned by Stern’s latest whipping boy, Comedy Central’s “Politically Incorrect” host Bill Maher. Stern criticized Maher’s TV ratings on his radio program this week, when in fact new episodes of “Incorrect” averaged 96,000 homes last season at 11:30 p.m., when fewer viewers are available. Inside word is that E! executives are concerned their hefty investment in Stern’s TV show is not paying off. The real TV talk king? David Letterman, whose top-rated “Late Show” on CBS averages 5.4 million homes a night.

MOVIES

Film Fests: Alfre Woodard and Phyllis Stickney will host the third annual Pan African Film Festival, billed as America’s largest black international cinema event, which takes place at Los Angeles’ Laemmle Sunset-5 Theatres Oct. 13-26. Festivities include a pre-opening benefit for UNICEF/L.A.; an opening night showcase featuring “Man by the Shore,” “In the Name of Christ” and “Youcef”; a sneak preview of director-producer Spike Lee’s new film “Drop Squad,” and a program on “New Directions in Black British Cinema,” held in conjunction with the UK/LA Festival. . . . The 10th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival has been set for March 3-12, with actor Michael Douglas returning for his fourth time as honorary chair.

STAGE

13th Life for ‘Cats’: Andrew Lloyd Webber may have abruptly yanked his “Sunset Boulevard” out of the Shubert Theatre, but his presence will still be felt with the Shubert’s next show: a two-week (Oct. 25-Nov. 6) engagement of that perennial favorite “Cats,” by none other than Lloyd Webber. This will be the fourth appearance of “Cats” at the Shubert and its 13th stop in Los Angeles and Orange counties.

A Night With LuPone: Actress Patti LuPone, who was Lloyd Webber’s first Norma Desmond in London, will perform numbers from her various Broadway and London stage roles in “An Evening With Patti LuPone,” an Oct. 2 benefit for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. The event, at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel, will also honor Sen. Paul D. Wellstone (D.-Minn.) for his outspoken support of gay and lesbian causes.

ART

Getty Fight Continues: Malibu’s J. Paul Getty Museum has suffered yet another loss in its fight to acquire Antonio Canova’s sculpture “The Three Graces.” On Tuesday, the museum lost a legal challenge against the British government when a London court ruled that a three-month fund-raising extension, granted by the British Heritage secretary and effectively allowing the statue to be kept in Britain, was not unreasonable. Getty director John Walsh said the museum was “naturally disappointed” by the ruling but would take its battle to the British Court of Appeals. If unsuccessful, the case would go to the European Court of Justice. The Getty is arguing that by extending the deadline, the Heritage secretary changed the rules and breached a legally enforceable legitimate expectation. After the extension, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the National Galleries of Scotland were able to match the Getty’s price of 7.6-million pounds with donations from John Paul Getty II and Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza.

QUICK TAKES

ABC News President Roone Arledge got a nice plug on rival network NBC on Wednesday night’s “Sports Illustrated 40th Anniversary.” The magazine named Arledge, who once ran ABC Sports, as the third-most significant figure in sports, behind Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan. . . . “Tonight Show” host Jay Leno pops up in a later time slot tonight when he guests on NBC’s “Later With Greg Kinnear.” . . . Oprah Winfrey has donated $3 million to Chicago’s Jane Addams Hull House Assn., which works to move poor families from subsidized housing to independent living. . . . Director Martin Scorsese has joined colleagues George Lucas and Steven Spielberg as a vice president of the Los Angeles-based Artists Rights Foundation. The group promotes public awareness of the cultural and historical significance of film as an art form.