Company Town : NBC and New World Strike Deal : Television: New World gets a near-prime-time outlet for its shows. NBC gets to hang onto key markets.

In an agreement that demonstrates the shifting balance of power between television networks and their affiliates, NBC on Monday agreed to carry programming developed by New World Communications Group on the six stations it owns in exchange for an ownership interest in the shows and renewal of affiliations with two New World stations.

Under the pact, New World, which is controlled by financier Ronald Perelman, would get a valuable launching pad for shows aimed at the lucrative time slot before prime time, between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. Two of the most profitable shows in history, “Jeopardy” and “Wheel of Fortune,” run during that hour, as do newer entries such as “Hard Copy,” “Entertainment Tonight,” “Current Affair” and “Extra.”

For New World, the deal is part of a patchwork of programming commitments that is essential to its strategy of building an integrated entertainment company. New World hopes to find a home for its television programs, aimed mainly at the hours during the day and late night that are off the network schedule, by putting them on its owns 12 stations, which account for 14% of the viewership nationwide, then adding to that reach by forming deals like the one with NBC.

For NBC, the arrangement helped secure affiliations in Birmingham, Ala., and San Diego, markets that it viewed as vulnerable. The traditional relations between networks and their affiliates ended last spring when New World shifted 10 stations--eight of them previously allied with CBS--to Fox Broadcasting Co. in a $500-million deal.

“This is a marriage of convenience on both sides,” said John Tinker, an analyst at Furman & Selz.

CBS has since lavished on its affiliates increased compensation in exchange for long-term commitments to the network. But New World would not accept those terms, demanding a co-production deal that would give its programs broader coverage, instead. NBC’s six stations reach 22% of the country.

“This is the fulfillment of the New World strategy,” said Neil Braun, president of NBC Television Network. “They wanted something and we wanted something, so it all worked out.”

Braun said NBC was particularly concerned about losing Birmingham, a strong station in the 50th-largest market, which he says would have cost millions of dollars to replace. And he downplayed the danger of tying up such a critical time period for such a long period, with a programmer of untested abilities.

“What we are giving them is a number of attempts to put a successful show on some of our stations in one of two time periods. If the show doesn’t perform to a certain level, we can take it off, he said, adding that the network would also live up to its current agreements.

NBC’s contracts with Warner Bros. for “Extra” and with Fox for “Current Affair” expire in September of 1996, when New World hopes to have its first show ready for the network. If the parties cannot agree to a show, the network must give New World an hour slot in the less desirable period during the late afternoon.

New World has no experience competing in the tricky prime-time run-up period. But its programming head does: Last year, New World hired Brandon Tartikoff, former head of NBC Entertainment, as chairman of New World Entertainment to develop shows for the company’s own stations, as well as the ones lined up in the Fox and NBC deals.

Fox has agreed to run New World programs developed for daytime and late night on its 12 stations, and has put its first prime-time show from New World on its fall schedule.

“With this deal and Fox, you’ve got the largest markets covered,” said Arthur Bilger, president of New World.

The latest deal, which has been anticipated for weeks, also gives NBC an important ownership stake in programming at a time when federal rules banning such relationships are falling away. The networks have been signing joint venture deals.