Home Shopping Co-Founder to Start a Seventh Network

The crowded television marketplace will soon have a seventh broadcast network--and there won’t be any need for parental warnings about sex and violence.

Promising family entertainment like “Touched By An Angel” reruns, the co-founder of Home Shopping Network said Wednesday that Pax Net will begin operating on Aug. 31, 1998, and be available in more than four-fifths of the nation’s homes.

At least initially, it will be a mixture of syndicated programming, three original shows, overnight simulcasts with a Christian cable network and infomercials during weekend days, said its owner, Florida media executive Lowell “Bud” Paxson.

“We want to try to keep it family-based and drama-oriented where you get that wholesome, feel-good [feeling] after you watch the shows,” Paxson said at a Manhattan news conference.

He paid $950,000 per show for reruns of the CBS hit “Touched By An Angel.” He said it will be his network’s flagship program, airing weeknights at 8 p.m. across the country. He has bought syndication rights to other CBS programs, “Promised Land” and “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.”

After years of domination by CBS, NBC and ABC, the number of broadcast networks has more than doubled during the last decade with the addition of Fox, UPN and the WB.

Pax Net will have an advantage over money-losing UPN and the WB because it will start with wider distribution and will largely buy established programming instead of spending more to develop its own, Paxson said.

“They don’t have 73 stations, and I’m not creating prime-time failures,” he said, vowing his network would be profitable within four months of its launch.

Paxson has quietly bought a series of independent, often weak-signaled stations across the country to pave the way for Pax Net. He now has properties in 19 of the nation’s top 20 television markets, and although these stations reach just over 60% of the television homes, he said they will be up to 83% in August.

Paxson, a born-again Christian, said the programming fits with his taste. But he believes it will also reach an underserved niche eager for more of this fare.

He may be right, said Christopher Dixon, an analyst for PaineWebber Inc. Paxson is also in a strong position with syndicators whose market has dried up with more independent stations becoming affiliated with the WB and UPN, he said.

Paxson envisions a mixture of local and national advertising support, but Dixon said his survival depends on whether advertisers see Pax Net as a viable national alternative.

“He’s in the right place at the right time,” Dixon said. “The problem is: Is he a national network or is he an affiliation of local stations?”

Pax Net is developing three programs of its own: “The Mike Levey Show,” described as a nightly “Tonight Show”-styled entertainment program; “LiveLink,” a nightly call-in show on family and lifestyle issues; and “Celebrities and Charities,” where personalities talk about their favorite causes.

Also on Paxson’s wish list: ABC’s controversial “Nothing Sacred,” a drama about a Catholic priest.

There are still huge gaps in his schedule. Paxson said he doesn’t know at this point what will be seen on Pax Net during weekdays.

Pax Net, with a logo featuring a dove, will be primarily aimed at women. That’s based upon his own experience: “My wife controls the clicker,” he said.”