Company Town : Baby Bell Venture Hires TV Exec Grushow : Media: Phone alliance names former president of Fox Entertainment its chief of programming.

In its second major hiring in six weeks, the budding media venture formed by regional telephone companies Pacific Telesis, Nynex and Bell Atlantic has lured former Fox television executive Sandy Grushow to be president of its programming arm, it was announced Thursday.

Grushow, who left as president of Fox Entertainment Group in September as part of a larger management shake-up, joins former CBS Broadcast Group President Howard Stringer at the as-yet-unnamed company. Stringer made headlines in late February when he left CBS after 30 years for an opportunity to lead the venture.

One of television’s younger senior executives, Grushow had been courted by a number of broadcasting concerns as well as some feature-film companies after abruptly leaving Fox in a shake-up that also saw the departure of Fox Broadcasting chief Lucie Salhany.

Grushow, 35, helped launch such shows as “Melrose Place,” “The Simpsons” and “The X-Files” while at Fox, where he most recently was its programming chief.

Both Grushow and Stringer are said to have received as an incentive large potential bonuses if the venture meets certain goals. The venture is expected to start offering service as early as a year from now.

Grushow will be president of what is temporarily being called Media Co. The unit is the programming arm of the venture, which expects to use technology such as fiber optics to provide homes with an array of conventional entertainment as well as interactive programs such as movies on demand. Grushow will put together and market the programming.

“I can’t imagine a game that will be more fascinating or exciting than this one,” he said.

Ironically, sources said, Stringer had talked to Grushow late last year about possibly joining CBS. Creative Artists Agency Chairman Michael S. Ovitz, who is advising the phone companies on the venture, is said to have played the pivotal role in luring Grushow to the new venture.

A separate technology division, temporarily called Technology Co., is expected to name a president soon. Stringer oversees both operations.

Since it was announced last year, the new venture has frequently been rumored to be a prospective suitor for a variety of companies, including MCA and CBS, because of the deep pockets of the three partners. Officials close to the venture said that although nothing is being negotiated, an eventual network purchase isn’t out of the question as a way to give the venture an immediate programming foothold.

Grushow is expected to be based in Century City, with Stringer in New York. The technology group will work out of Reston, Va., and San Ramon in the San Francisco Bay Area.

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