TELEVISIONFox, Reuters in Pact: Reuters international news...

TELEVISION

Fox, Reuters in Pact: Reuters international news agency and the Fox television network will join forces to develop a television news service. The new operation, announced Sunday by executives of both organizations at a Fox affiliates meeting in Las Vegas, will service the affiliates, stations owned and operated by Fox and other participating stations. Reuters, with 126 bureaus worldwide, will provide international news as well as assist Fox reporters with national news coverage. The service will be based in Washington, where Reuters has its American news headquarters.

Golden Touch: KCAL-TV Channel 9 was named best one-hour newscast Saturday in Universal City at the 45th annual Golden Mike Awards for outstanding broadcast news in Southern California, making it the station with the most Golden Mikes for the third year in a row. KCAL’s eight other awards for work done during the past year were announced in advance by the Radio & TV News Assn. of Southern California. The latest honor was for the station’s “Prime 9 News” at 10 p.m. KEYT-TV Channel 3 of Santa Barbara won the Golden Mike for best one-hour newscast among small stations. KABC-TV Channel 7 was named the best 30-minute or less TV news broadcast airing between 4 p.m. and midnight among large stations; KMEX-TV Channel 34 won the same award for small stations. KNBC-TV Channel 4 took the Golden Mike for best TV news broadcast between midnight and 4 p.m. In radio awards, KNX-AM (1070) won for best news broadcast over 15 minutes.

Setting Anchor for Sweeps: Jerry Dunphy, who recently ended a five-year stint at KCAL-TV Channel 9 to return to KCBS-TV Channel 2, will start co-anchoring the weekday 5 p.m. newscast Feb. 2. Not coincidentally, the date selected by KCBS for Dunphy’s debut is also the first day of a ratings sweeps month, one of those periods of intense competition for viewers that is used in establishing advertising rates. Dunphy, 73, worked at Channel 2 from 1960 to 1975.

MOVIES

What Makes a Legend: “Legends of the Fall” is becoming a legend in January. The TriStar film starring Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins was the No. 1 movie at the box office for the second weekend in a row with a $9-million gross, according to early industry estimates. Columbia’s “Higher Learning,” the John Singleton film, was No. 2 with $6.5 million. In third, New Line’s comedy “Dumb and Dumber,” with $6 million. Paramount’s “Nobody’s Fool,” starring Paul Newman, was fourth with $5.1 million. In fifth place was the weekend’s only major new release, Warner Bros.’ “Murder in the First,” with $4.7 million.

THE ARTS

Joffrey Considers Chicago: The Joffrey Ballet officially confirmed Friday the reports that it may move out of Manhattan to seek a more secure fiscal environment. Chicago appeared the front-runner of the five areas (including Los Angeles and Orange County) listed as possibilities, with David A. Kipper, president of the Joffrey board, stating that negotiations are taking place regarding a merger with the Ballet Chicago company. From 1983 to 1991, the Joffrey was nominally bi-coastal as the resident dance company of the Los Angeles Music Center.

The Met Flexes Its Muscle: The Metropolitan Museum of Art will purchase Lo Scheggia’s Old Master Painting “Triumph of Fame,” celebrating the 1449 birth of Lorenzo de’ Medici, from the New York Historical Society collection. The move--reported prematurely in the New York press, leading the Met to say it had not yet taken place--blocks the sale of the work to an unidentified London dealer who bid $2.2 million at a Jan. 12 Sotheby’s auction. Under guidelines established by the New York State attorney general, any local institution could preempt a sale from the historical society collection by matching the auction price. “Triumph of Fame” was on loan to the Met from 1979 to 1990.

LEGAL FILE

Singer Faces Charge: Courtney Love has been charged with harassing people aboard an airplane down under. Police said Sunday the singer abused and intimidated the crew and passengers on a Qantas Airways flight from Brisbane to Melbourne. The pilot radioed ahead and police boarded the plane when it landed, interviewed Love and charged her with offensive behavior on an aircraft. Love, whose band Hole is touring Australia, was freed on bail. She is scheduled to appear in court today.

Managerial Problems: George Harrison sued his business manager for $25 million, accusing him of living the high life at the ex-Beatle’s expense. The Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit filed Friday claims Denis O’Brien bought “yachts and villas in various parts of the world, while Harrison suffered enormous losses.”