Arts and entertainment reports from The Times, national and international news services and the nation’s press.

POP / ROCK

Local ‘Palooza: Lollapalooza will be returning to a familiar site for its 1996 Southern California stop: Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, which hosted the alternative tour’s first-year stop in 1991, as well as the ’92 and ’95 editions. Tickets for the Aug. 3 show, headlined by Metallica and featuring Soundgarden, the Ramones and Rancid among others, go on sale Saturday. Tour organizers had been choosing between the 60,000-capacity Buttonwillow Raceway near Bakersfield and the similar-sized Glen Helen Blockbuster Pavilion in Devore as part of a plan to hold the shows in large sites outside of major markets. The move back to the 15,000-capacity Irvine facility, though, comes in the wake of slow ticket sales for some of the shows around the country.

OPERA

Arson Suspected at La Fenice: Investigators suspect arson in the fire that destroyed Venice’s historic La Fenice opera house in January, Italian media reported Tuesday. Investigators were considering arson after experts who studied the charred remains of the 18th century theater discovered several fires had broken out inside, according to preliminary findings leaked to the media. Initially, officials said the fire, which gutted the 204-year-old theater, was believed caused by an electrical short circuit related to restoration work. Considered an architectural jewel with its gilded and tiered interior, La Fenice also held priceless memories as the stage for premieres of some of Italy’s most famous operas. “If the theory of arson is confirmed, it would be terrifying,” Venice Mayor Massimo Cacciari said. The city has vowed to rebuild the opera house at a cost of at least $100 million.

TV / VIDEO

Honoring Family Fare: Universal’s “Babe” will go up against two Disney features, “James & the Giant Peach” and “Toy Story,” for outstanding comedy film in a new annual televised awards show, the “Family Film Awards,” airing Aug. 22 on CBS. Billed as the only awards show “designed and targeted specifically for the family,” the Dick Clark-produced program will salute actors, directors, producers and creators. Competing in the outstanding drama film category are Universal’s “Apollo 13,” Paramount’s “Indian in the Cupboard” and Buena Vista’s “Mr. Holland’s Opus.” Other nominees, announced Tuesday, include the Disney Channel’s “Avonlea,” CBS’ “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman” and ABC’s “Lois & Clark” (for best TV drama series), and ABC’s “Home Improvement,” Fox’s “The Simpsons” and NBC’s “3rd Rock From the Sun” (best TV comedy series). Winners will be chosen through a nationwide poll.

*

‘The West’ on Video: In an unusual move, PBS is already offering its latest Ken Burns epic, “The West,” on video, even though the eight-part TV series doesn’t premiere until September. Executive produced by Burns (“Civil War,” “Baseball”) and written by Geoffrey C. Ward and Dayton Duncan, the production features an all-star cast (Adam Arkin, John Lithgow, Jason Robards, Jimmy Smits, etc.) who give voice to the makers of American history. The video is being sold through 1-800-TIMEVID for $19.99 per episode, except the first tape, which is priced at $9.99.

RADIO

KPCC Changes: With mixed emotions, KPCC-FM (89.3) General Manager William Rod Foster announced some major programming changes beginning Monday. Gone will be the station’s daytime mix of classic American music and talk, to be replaced by an all-news/talk lineup including “Talk of the City” with Larry Marino from 9-11 a.m. and a live broadcast of National Public Radio’s “Talk of the Nation” with Ray Suarez from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. On weeknights from 8-midnight, KPCC will feature album/alternative roots music instead of the current eclectic lineup. Former KLSX-FM (97.1) personality Shana, who joined KPCC as assistant program director in April, will host a portion of that musical programming, Tuesdays through Thursdays from 8-10 p.m. Foster said that the “trigger mechanism” for the changes was the warning from the Corp. for Public Broadcasting that unless KPCC, like other public stations, increases its listener or fund-raising base, it will lose its $175,000 CPB grant in 1998. “We were gradually moving to that format,” Foster said, noting its research shows the changes will “grow the station immediately. We just don’t like to be dictated to by CPB.”

QUICK TAKES

Barbora Kohoutkova, a 17-year-old dancer from Prague, Czech Republic, won $1,500 and the only gold medal awarded at the fifth New York International Ballet Competition Monday evening. Meanwhile, the first Igor Youskevitch Award, for a one-year contract with the American Ballet Theatre, was presented to Carlos Molina of Colombia, who was not a medalist. Youskevitch was the competition’s artistic director from 1984 until his death in 1994. . . . Actors Hugh Grant and Anthony Hopkins will present the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Los Angeles’ sixth annual Britannia Award to Bob and Harvey Weinstein tonight at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel. The co-chairmen of Miramax Films will be honored for supporting the international film industry through independent films.