Company Town : Diller Seeking to Start New TV Network

Barry Diller, architect of the Fox television network and former chairman of QVC, is seeking control of Silver King Communications in order to launch a new television network, according to a New York Times report published today.

Silver King, the sixth-largest station group in the United States, is the owner of 12 UHF stations serving eight of the largest television markets, including Los Angeles and New York.

Citing unnamed sources familiar with the deal, the newspaper reported that Diller is negotiating to gain control of 75% of the voting stock in the $230-million company. Silver King shares jumped $2.50 to a 1995 high of $25.75 on Nasdaq on Thursday.

A Diller takeover of Silver King would involve the backing of Tele-Communications Inc. chief John C. Malone, who has options to buy control of the station group. In 1993 Malone controlled Silver King through Liberty Media Corp., a TCI holding company, and spoke to several Hollywood studios about using the stations as the basis of a new network. Others, including Diller and Turner Broadcasting Chairman Ted Turner, have also weighed the same possibility in recent years.

Forming a new network would require a daunting investment to acquire the programming that would appeal to viewers. Both Time Warner and Viacom are trying to form networks from scratch now.