Ain’t Kathie Lee Watchers Got Fun?

“The Wonderful World of Disney” will generate a little extra attention this week, as people try to guess what the next chapter will be in Kathie Lee Gifford’s career. ABC will air the Disney presentation “Model Behavior” on Sunday, a comedy co-starring Gifford and featuring her son, Cody, in a supporting role. The timing is fortuitous, since the morning host last week announced plans to leave “Live With Regis & Kathie Lee” this summer, saying in a statement that she no longer feels comfortable sharing “innocent, everyday details of my family life, only to watch the tabloid media turn them into harmful, misleading and libelous stories.” Some have pointed to a certain hypocrisy in that remark, since Gifford chose to make her kids public figures, not only discussing them on air but also showcasing them in her TV specials and as actors. Gifford herself is currently appearing weekly in the Broadway revue “Putting It Together,” and there’s been speculation she will pursue acting--perhaps even a sitcom. Her promotion for the movie, meanwhile, includes a stop tonight on “Late Show With David Letterman.” While Dave has devoted much of his shtick to his return after heart surgery, one suspects having Kathie Lee aboard will give him something else to talk about.

Digital Summit Opens Today in Las Vegas

Thousands of movie exhibitors convene today in Las Vegas for the annual ShoWest convention to, among other things, eyeball the latest digital technology that soon will transform the way movies are distributed. Amid anxiety about the expense of converting theaters to digital projection, the convention will showcase technology that will allow studios to distribute a film globally at the touch of a button or quickly alter release plans to respond to market demand. Despite the advantages, there is not yet a consensus about whether exhibitors or studios will foot the bill, which could reach $100,000 per screen or more. Digital cinema demonstrations are scheduled for each day of the convention, which runs through Thursday, and on the last day there will be a seminar sponsored by AOL Moviefone about how the Internet might revolutionize the marketing and distribution of motion pictures. The convention, the largest of its kind, has an official registration cap of 3,600, but attendance is believed to reach as high as 12,000 when related personnel, family and friends are counted. In addition to movie exhibitors from across the United States, ShoWest attracts delegates from 45 countries. News outlets will be out in force to cover celebrities attending studio-sponsored events built around the presentation of so-called “product reels” that marketing executives hope will generate excitement for this year’s movie lineup. At Thursday night’s concluding banquet, theater owners will honor Annette Bening and Jim Carrey as female and male star of the year, Drew Barrymore as comedy star of the year and Hilary Swank and Michael Clarke Duncan as stars of tomorrow.

Pop Goes the Mouse With ‘2 Hour Tour’

Watch this week for Disney’s bid to become the mouse that rocked. Pop music videos and concert specials have become an increasing part of the Disney Channel’s offerings in recent years, and that pop emphasis escalates considerably on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. with the launch of a show that is part MTV and part “Star Search.” Each week on “2 Hour Tour,” a top young pop act visits a different part of the country to audition three local would-be stars and select one of them to become a temporary protege and opening act. In the first episode, it’s Christina Aguilera, Grammy winner for best new artist (not to mention a former “Star Search” contestant and Mouseketeer), tapping a Miami boy band to tag along with her to a radio show interview, record store appearance, the beach, etc. Why is the Disney Channel, now available in 58 million homes, shifting from ‘toons to tunes? “Market research showed us there were three pieces to the puzzle with our viewers and their interests: sports, music and friends,” says Rich Ross, the cable channel’s general manager. And the channel’s core audience of 9- to 14-year-olds spends a lot of its allowance on that music interest--explaining why the two bestselling-album artists of 1999 were the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears. The channel also learned two years ago that it could use its “In Concert” show to play a role in introducing viewers to new music, instead of featuring only established acts. In July 1998, the Backstreet Boys backed out of an “In Concert” taping, and Ross and company scrambled to replace them with a largely unknown look-alike group called ‘N Sync. The ‘N Sync concert was aired repeatedly and the group--previously a stranger to the Top 40 or the playlists of MTV and most radio stations--exploded in popularity and now rivals the Backstreeters. With that success and the youth music market so ripe, has Disney considered spinning off its own music network tailored for a pre-MTV age group? “No, music is a wonderful complement, but I don’t know if there’s enough [programming] for us to fill a whole day,” Ross said. “Right now we never find ourselves having to dig too deep.”

--Compiled by Times staff writers