TV/RADIO

Heading ABC News Channel: ABC News has named Jeff Gralnick vice president of ABC’s planned 24-hour cable news channel. Gralnick, currently executive producer of the “NBC Nightly News With Tom Brokaw,” will be in charge of editorial content and production on the new channel. ABC had announced that it would not begin its new service until 1997, but the network said Tuesday that it will launch by the end of this year.

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Simpson Shut Out: KABC-TV Channel 7 and KCBS-TV Channel 2 have joined Los Angeles’ other broadcast outlets--KNBC-TV Channel 4, KTLA-TV Channel 5, KCAL-TV Channel 9, KTTV-TV Channel 11 and KCOP-TV Channel 13--in turning down advertising for O.J. Simpson’s video. While Channel 2 declined to elaborate, a spokesman for Channel 7 said that the station had received “a lot of calls from our viewers asking us not to air it, and we’re going to adhere to their wishes.”

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KCRW Again Tops $1 Million: For the second straight year, KCRW-FM (89.9) has topped $1 million in its winter subscription drive--a rare fund-raising achievement for a single public radio station. The Santa Monica-based NPR affiliate raised $1.036 million from 13,000 subscribers during the Jan. 31-Feb. 9 drive, falling just short of last year’s $1.088 million. KCRW, which earlier promised to send $50,000 to National Public Radio News to help support the network’s coverage of the Bosnia peacekeeping mission, has also brought in an additional $480,000 so far through a direct-mail campaign that began in December.

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Radio Notes: KMPC-AM (710) has added the syndicated “Alan Dershowitz Show,” hosted by the high-profile attorney, on Sundays from 4-6 p.m. In other KMPC changes, conservative African American commentator Star Parker has replaced Joe Crummey in the weekday noon-3 p.m. slot. . . . Rick Dees has signed a multiyear contract to keep his morning drive slot at KIIS-FM (102.7) to the year 2000. . . . KCRW-FM (89.9) has added a new weekly, hourlong program focusing on the 1996 elections. “Campaign Connection” airs Mondays at 7 p.m. . . . Longtime on-air personality Shana, who hosted prime shifts at several local rock stations, has been hired as assistant program director at KPCC-FM (89.3), in what the public radio station termed an effort to “establish an even stronger musical presence for KPCC.” She is also expected to eventually join the on-air staff.