TV & RADIOPBS Budget Cuts: The Public...

TV & RADIO

PBS Budget Cuts: The Public Broadcasting Service on Friday announced cuts in its planned fiscal 1996 budget that will save member stations nearly $5 million. Under the plan, described as a response to federal funding cuts proposed by Congress, PBS will cut the fees member stations pay for programming and other services by $2.7 million, as well as redistribute to stations $2 million that had been set aside as seed money for new programs and services. PBS will make up for the loss by cutting $1.5 million from the National Program Service budget, which funds some of the networks’ signature series. The cuts will also eliminate 12 PBS staff positions, curtail some planned technology developments and will force the scaling back of the educational on-line service, PBS Learning Link.

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Tight Race: Who’s the current king of late night? For the first part of 1995, it’s not Dave or Jay. From Jan. 1 through April 23, ABC’s “Nightline,” anchored by Ted Koppel, is winning the late-night wars, with an average rating of 5.6/15 share, which translates to a nightly delivery of more than 6.92 million homes. But the race is tight, with CBS’ “Late Show With David Letterman” averaging a 5.4/15, or 6.9 million homes. NBC’s “Tonight Show With Jay Leno” is also hanging close, with a 5.3/14, or 6.66 million viewing homes. A spokeswoman for “Nightline,” which has seen its ratings climb 6% over the same time period a year ago, attributes the show’s success to interest in several big news stories, including the earthquake in Kobe, Japan, the Oklahoma City bombing and, to a lesser extent, the O.J. Simpson trial. In the wake of the Oklahoma tragedy, last week’s “Nightline” garnered its strongest ratings since the week of the Los Angeles riots in 1992, averaging 19% of the audience compared to 14% for Leno and 13% for Letterman. Since “Nightline” is only 30 minutes, ratings figures for all three shows are for only the 11:30 to midnight period. For the full 11:30-12:30 hour last week, Leno ended up a tad behind Letterman (4.2 million homes versus 4.4 million homes).

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More Stern Debate: Speaking of the “Tonight Show,” two of Leno’s guests exchanged words Thursday night over the controversy surrounding shock jock Howard Stern’s derogatory comments about Mexican Americans after the death of tejano singing star Selena. First to appear on the program was Stern’s sidekick, Robin Quivers, an African American who said she chose not to argue with the radio host when he showed intolerance toward racial and ethnic groups. Then singer Linda Ronstadt came on, and told Quivers she was “deeply upset” with her comments, and accused Quivers of “shilling” for Stern, adding: “As a woman and a Mexican American I find him extremely offensive.” Quivers told Ronstadt that she had no right to comment on Stern’s program, since she was not a regular listener. After the taping, at a reception hosted by KLSX-FM (97.1), which carries Stern’s show in L.A., Quivers said of the Selena controversy: “This is not a real issue. . . . It’s what we do with every group. It has nothing to do with whether they are Italians or blacks or Hispanics; we (make fun of) everyone.”

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New on KCRW: Radio station KCRW-FM (89.9) has launched a new Friday late-night program, “Meantime,” described as an “interface of alternative pop-rock, acid jazz and ambient groove” hosted by Kevin Lincoln. It airs from 1-3 a.m. The station has also established new hours for its Saturday late-night music program, “The Red Eye,” which can now be heard from midnight to 3 a.m., followed from 3-6 a.m. Sunday mornings with “Swing Shift,” featuring a revolving group of new KCRW programmers offering what is being billed as “their own experiments in eclecticism and alternative sounds.” In other changes at the station, Tom Schnabel’s “Cafe L.A.” will be cut back from four to three hours, airing Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. starting next weekend. Liza Richardson’s “Total Eclipse,” meanwhile, will expand from two to three hours, airing from 2-5 p.m.

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After All These Years: NBC News correspondent Tom Pettit will retire Sunday after 35 years with the network. Pettit, 64, is perhaps best remembered as the reporter who announced to the world in 1963 that Lee Harvey Oswald, the man accused of assassinating President John F. Kennedy, had been fatally shot. Pettit will deliver his farewells on Sunday’s “Meet the Press.”

LEGAL FILE

Assault Accusations: Actor Jan-Michael Vincent, whose wife claimed verbal and physical abuse when obtaining a temporary restraining order against him last November, has been sued by a woman who claims that he assaulted her last month, causing her to miscarry Vincent’s child. Lisa Marie Chiafullo has filed a $5-million Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit against the former star of TV’s “Airwolf,” alleging that he pummeled her with his fists and kicked her in the abdomen on March 18, causing her to miscarry. Chiafullo claims she was six to eight weeks pregnant, and was living with the actor at the time. Vincent could not be reached for comment.

QUICK TAKES

Actress Bernadette Peters will receive UCLA’s eighth annual George and Ira Gershwin Award for Outstanding Musical Achievement during ceremonies at the campus tonight. . . . Christian singer Steven Curtis Chapman won six awards Thursday night at the Gospel Music Assn.’s annual Dove Awards in Nashville, Tenn.