NEWS ANALYSIS : Is ABC Opening a Pandora’s Box With Dream Team? : Television: Critics say other producers may demand a share of ad income too. But supporters say deal with new studio is unique.

Some Hollywood executives Tuesday said Capital Cities/ABC has opened a Pandora’s box in its deal with Jeffrey Katzenberg, Steven Spielberg and David Geffen by agreeing for the first time to share a portion of advertising revenue, predicting that other suppliers will demand the same terms.

“For many years, the networks have declined to give studios or even big stars any sharing in advertising revenue from their shows,” said one studio executive. “The real significance of this new deal is that a network apparently has agreed to share some ad revenue . . . . Once a network starts doing something nobody has done before, it is going to make people want it in their deals.”

But the partners and others say the deal between ABC and the three entrepreneurs to create a TV company is unique, because each side is bringing $100 million to the table in the equal partnership.

The two sides announced the deal Monday, marking the first business alignment between the one-month-old “Dream Team” and an outside partner.

Although Capital Cities/ABC would not confirm that ad revenue is included in the venture, sources close to the deal say that some sharing is one element of the unusual arrangement, along with sharing of revenue from syndication and other sources. The sharing of ad income will not begin until roughly three years after the shows begin airing and does not represent a large slice of gross advertising revenue, sources said.

*

But, with Hollywood buzzing Tuesday with speculation about details of the $200-million deal, some entertainment executives said offering to share any advertising revenues is precedent-setting.

David Londoner, an entertainment analyst with Wertheim Shroder in New York, said: “To my knowledge, this is the first time there has been any kind of ad revenue-sharing between a network and a supplier. I think it will put pressure on CBS and NBC, although that doesn’t mean they’re going to buckle.”

Apart from aligning themselves with three of the most successful entrepreneurs in Hollywood, the new deal has a very practical advantage for ABC, said Jessica Reif, an analyst with Merrill Lynch. “They’re not going to have to worry about being held up for ransom to renegotiate a license fee for a hit show from their own partners,” Reif said.

*

Executives at NBC and CBS declined to discuss the possible impact of the ABC deal, but revenue from TV shows has long been a bone of contention.

Network executives complain that they bear the burden of making a show a success and are barred from profiting from syndication sales until the lifting of financial-interest and syndication rules in November, 1995. Studios, on the other hand, say they have their own financial risk in deficit-financing programs that only make their money back if they last long enough to go into syndication.

Executives at several studios declined to comment on any plans they may have to try to renegotiate their deals with networks. Disney, where Katzenberg was studio chief until a bitter falling out two months ago, downplayed the significance of the deal.

“The day we lose a time period to a better show from the ‘Dream Team’ is the day we deserve to lose a time period,” said Dean Valentine, president of network television for Disney.

Although Geffen said in an interview that talent “will do better” financially with the new venture than with other suppliers, some executives expressed skepticism about the deal. They questioned what incentives will be offered for writers and producers and said the new venture may be good only for people involved with hit shows that last for at least three years.

Dick Wolf, executive producer of NBC’s crime drama “Law & Order,” along with other producers, bemoaned the deal in another respect, saying that the agreement will make it harder for them to develop shows for ABC since fewer time slots will be available.

*

“I can’t imagine any independent producers jumping up and down with joy over this,” Wolf said. “There’s the Steven Bochco (“NYPD Blue”) deal that guarantees that his shows will get on, and now this. There are these people standing in front of you as you try to get on the air. But complaining about that is like complaining about the weather.”

Executives at ABC declined to discuss the deal further, but sources close to the deal say its unique structure makes ad-revenue sharing and other aspects worthwhile for the network.

“This is a joint venture, with both the risks and rewards shared equally,” one source said. “The reason ABC would consider giving revenue to this partnership is that it makes sense under the deal. It’s like taking money out of one pocket and putting it into another, in one sense. ABC and Katzenberg/Spielberg/Geffen are partners--and ABC is building its asset, a studio, in this deal.”