Will New Night Affect ‘Northern Exposure’? : Television: CBS’ ‘Chicago Hope’ will take the coveted Monday spot and the citizens of Cicely will move to Wednesday at 10 p.m., leaving one of the show’s executive producers feeling out in the cold.

After 3 1/2 years of occupying the coveted Monday 10 p.m. slot on CBS, the acclaimed series “Northern Exposure” is about to get exposed on a new night.

Starting Jan. 4, “Northern Exposure” is moving to Wednesdays at 10 p.m., while “Chicago Hope,” a first-year medical drama that airs Thursdays at 9 p.m., will take up residency in the 10 p.m. Monday time slot on Jan. 2.

Although the ratings for “Northern Exposure” have declined slightly this season, it is still popular, and one of the show’s executive producers is less than pleased about the move.

“Yes, we’re disappointed,” David Chase said in an interview Friday, saying the show has been hurt this season by the popularity of ABC’s “Monday Night Football.”

“Monday at 10 p.m. was a great time slot for us,” Chase said. “I think when football is over, we would have continued to do better in that time period. It’s true that when something is not broken you don’t fix it, and our show isn’t broken. I just hope it isn’t damaged by the move.”

He added, “However, who knows? This could be the greatest thing that could happen to us. And we’re more than willing to shoot it out with any show.”

On Wednesdays, “Northern Exposure” will be up against NBC’s popular drama, “Law & Order.”

The shift is expected to be part of a schedule overhaul that CBS will announce early next week. Among other anticipated changes, sources said, is the cancellation of the low-rated “Touched By an Angel,” a first-year drama that was airing Wednesdays at 9 p.m.

In addition to “Northern Exposure,” the new Wednesday lineup is expected to include “Women of the House,” a comedy starring Delta Burke; “Double Rush,” a comedy with Robert Pastorelli (who played the house painter on “Murphy Brown”), and “Love & War,” moving over from Mondays.

Filling “Love & War’s” slot at 9:30 p.m. Mondays will be “Cybill,” a comedy starring Cybill Shepard as an actress with two daughters from different marriages.

CBS officials declined to comment Friday on their plans, or on Chase’s statements.

But one network source disputed the notion that “Northern Exposure” was being moved to make room for “Chicago Hope,” which was created and is produced by David Kelley, the Emmy Award-winning producer of “L.A. Law” and CBS’ “Picket Fences.” CBS hopes both shows will benefit.

“This is a hit show, and if we’re going to rebuild by shoring up other nights, this is the perfect show to have as a building block,” said the source. “If you build it, they will come. The show has a loyal audience that will follow it to Wednesdays. We’re taking a hit show and moving it to a night where it will perform better.”

The ratings for “Northern Exposure,” now in its sixth season, are off about 11% from last year, and the series is undergoing some revamping with the imminent departure of star Rob Morrow. It had its best rating of the season last Monday and still ranks as the 22nd most popular show on television.

“Chicago Hope,” while trounced earlier this season in its head-to-head battle with NBC’s “ER” on Thursdays at 10 p.m., has shown promise in other time periods.

Said Chase of the move: “More than anything, this indicates that CBS has more than one concern in its life. And we’re sympathetic to that. But we would just prefer not to leave.”