What’s Up Next for UCLA--TV Land?

It was one thing when UCLA’s nonconference game against Houston last Saturday was on Fox Sports West 2, a channel not available in about 900,000 Southland cable households.

It’s yet another this Saturday when UCLA’s conference game at Oregon at 3:30 p.m. will be televised by FX, a channel not available in about 1.3 million Southland cable households.

How did the game, which could be a good one, end up on FX, a 3-year-old cable channel best known for showing “NYPD Blue” and “The X-Files” reruns?

Simply put, it’s because Fox has a six-year, $50-million cable deal with the Pacific 10, and with that price tag comes the right to put games on any of its cable entities.

But why FX? Because the channel is in the process of beefing up its sports inventory to make it more attractive to cable operators.

So which companies offer FX? Actually, most Century systems do, although not all. Among the few

that do not are ones in Anaheim, Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach. Also, some Time Warner systems do not offer FX.

If you’re not sure if your system offers FX, or you want to lodge a complaint with your cable company, FX has set up a special phone number: 800 FXFXFX-1.

If you have a satellite dish--big or little--you’re out of luck. FX is a cable exclusive channel, meaning satellite systems can’t carry it. It was set up that way to make it more attractive to cable companies.

If you can’t get the game, who is to blame? Try corporate America, where the almighty dollar rules.

“We’re well aware of the situation,” said Duane Lindberg, assistant commissioner of the Pac-10. “No one is trying to sneak anything past us. It’s unfortunate not everyone in L.A. will be able to see the game. We’re all going through some growing pains.

“But on the upside, putting the game on FX provides national exposure we wouldn’t otherwise get.”

FX reaches about 30 million homes nationwide.

For those who do get FX, the announcing team is a good one--Steve Physioc, David Norrie and sideline reporter Jackie Slater.

Norrie, for one, expects a good game.

“When you consider that Oregon scored 49 points against Stanford [in a 58-49 loss] and Stanford held Notre Dame to 15 points, that tells you something,” he said. “As for the Bruins, they have top-10 talent. Cade McNown has been out of his mind, he’s playing so well, and they have the No. 1 ingredient you have to have to be an outstanding team--a great offensive line.”

For those who can’t get FX, the alternative is radio, Chris Roberts and Billy Ray Smith on AM 1150. Remember, in the days before every game was televised, radio was the only option.

IRISH NO BARGAIN

This spring, NBC re-upped its $7-million-a-year deal with Notre Dame to extend through the 2005 season. With the Irish 1-4, a few people at NBC might be questioning that move.

An NBC spokesman said the network does not have an out clause based on performance. That could turn out to be unfortunate.

However, the Irish should pick up a road victory this weekend, when they play at Pittsburgh. That game will be on CBS, because the NBC deal only pertains to Notre Dame home games.

CBS can’t be very excited about the game. Pitt is coming off a loss to Temple.

MONDAY NIGHT JAM

It’s only conjecture at this point, but if the Florida Marlins were to advance to the World Series and if there’s a Game 7, it would be played in Miami on Sunday, Oct. 26, the same day the Dolphins play host to the Chicago Bears.

So what gives? The football game. It would be moved to Monday night and televised regionally by ABC.

Since Green Bay-New England, a Super Bowl encore, is the main game that night, Chicago-Miami would be televised only in Chicago and possibly Miami, if the game were to sell out in time.

An easier solution would be to have the Bears forfeit.

SHORT WAVES

Channel 4 will use Dodger Manager Bill Russell as a postgame studio analyst during the World Series. . . . Mike Piazza, who someday would like to get into broadcasting, was used by Fox as a studio analyst on its pregame show last weekend. . . . ESPN offers a half-hour Dean Smith special today at 4:30 p.m. . . . New all-sports radio station KXMG 1540 carried Smith’s news conference live Thursday and had Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski on afterward. . . . For the record: Talk show host Tom Leykis wrote to point out the “one” mistake made here last week. KXMG is owned by One-On-One, not Westwood One. . . . Good news: Vin Scully and Jeff Torborg will again announce the World Series for CBS radio. . . . Latest Arbitron rating book shows XTRA 690 got a 1.5 with men 25-54 in Los Angeles, while new sister station AM 1150 is not yet registering a blip.

Irv Kaze may not be the slickest or most provocative talk-show host, nor is he going to ask any tough questions, but at least he does meaningful radio on his KIEV shows Fridays at 6:15 p.m. Tonight, in a taped show, the topic is the downtown arena and Coliseum renovation projects. . . . Listeners are complaining about the fights, real or contrived, that Charger announcers Lee Hamilton and Bill Werndl are having during game broadcasts on XTRA. . . . The Clippers, who picked up KEZY-FM 95.9 as a radio station last week, added KLITE-FM 92.7 this week.

Near the end of Alabama’s loss to Kentucky last Saturday, some pay-per-view subscribers to Huntsville (Ala.) Cablevision were watching the overtime period when an adult film flashed on the screen, showing viewers a woman taking a bath. . . . Here’s something new for pay-per-view--legitimate wrestling. A group of U.S. Olympians takes on a group of international competitors in wrestling, judo and jujitsu in a $19.95 show Saturday at 6 p.m. on most cable and satellite dish systems. The Sioux City (Iowa) event, promoted by Donald Zuckerman of Los Angeles, is being called “The Contenders” and is licensed by the Iowa State Athletic Commission and recognized by USA Wrestling. Dan Gable will be the commentator.

IN CLOSING

All the new technology that television uses to cover baseball is generally a good thing, but do we really need to see the pock marks in the players’ faces, along with their nose hairs? Sure, directors have powerful telephoto lenses at their disposal, but they need to back off a little.

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What Los Angeles Is Watching

A sampling of L.A. Nielsen ratings for sports programs Oct. 4-6.

SATURDAY

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Event Ch. Rating Share College Football: Notre Dame at Stanford 7 5.9 17 Baseball: AL, Seattle at Baltimore 11 5.8 16 Baseball: AL, New York Yankees at Cleveland 4 5.6 13 College Football: Miami at Florida State 7 4.9 14 College Football: Mississippi at Tennessee 2 1.0 3

*--*

SUNDAY

*--*

Event Ch. Rating Share Pro Football: San Diego at Oakland 4 12.7 31 Pro Football: Tampa Bay at Green Bay 11 11.3 28 Pro Football: Kansas City at Miami 4 6.1 15 Soccer: World Cup qualifying, Mexico-El Salvador 34 4.2 10 Soccer: MLS playoffs, Columbus-Tampa Bay 34 1.2 3

*--*

MONDAY

*--*

Event Ch. Rating Share Pro Football: New England at Denver 7 18.7 29 Baseball: AL, New York Yankees at Cleveland 11 10.6 17

*--*

Note: Each rating point represents 50,092 L.A. households.