Battle of Industry Giants Shapes ABC, WB Lineups

The wrestling match between Disney and Time Warner has spilled over into the scheduling of next season’s prime-time lineups, with Disney employing a novel arm-twisting tactic hoping to get the WB network to buy another season of its acclaimed drama “Felicity.”

Disney, which owns ABC, is said to have given Time Warner the following ultimatum: Agree to a full, 22-episode third season of “Felicity” on its WB network, or risk having ABC rescind its commitment to another year of “Norm,” the sitcom starring Norm Macdonald, which is produced by Warner Bros. Television.

Both shows will be represented when the two networks unveil next season’s prime-time schedules today in New York--a precursor to the period in which networks sell advertising time for the coming year. Industry sources say the WB always intended to bring back “Felicity,” which will run Wednesday nights in an experimental time-slot-sharing arrangement with another current WB drama, “Jack & Jill.”

Still, Disney’s hardball negotiating tactics underscore how these major companies are allowing larger business interests--as opposed to mere creative or scheduling strategy--to influence which programs get on the air. In addition, it continues the acrimony between the two studios, after Time Warner Cable caused a stir by briefly dropping ABC from its cable systems--including some in Los Angeles--near the outset of the current rating sweeps.

Now the top-rated network, thanks to “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” ABC will reportedly seek to spread the wealth by adding a fourth edition of the series--most likely at 9 p.m. Wednesdays, with “The Drew Carey Show” moving up an hour to 8 p.m.

According to sources, that hour of “Millionaire” would lead into “Once and Again,” the first-year romantic drama starring Sela Ward and Billy Campbell, displacing the Wednesday edition of “20/20.” In exchange, Diane Sawyer will shift to anchor Thursday’s “20/20,” where she will benefit from having “Millionaire” as her lead-in show.

Scheduling “Millionaire” at 9 p.m. (the program currently airs Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays) would address a concern of ABC’s affiliates--namely, that high ratings for the quiz show aren’t doing enough to help increase tune-in for their late newscasts, since the show’s audience at 8 p.m. has largely dissipated by then. Television stations garner most of their revenue from local news.

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To make room for “Millionaire” on Wednesdays, ABC will relocate some of its Wednesday comedies, such as “Two Guys and a Girl,” to Fridays as part of a more adult-oriented sitcom bloc, marking the death of ABC’s long-running, kid-friendly “TGIF” franchise. “Boy Meets World” has already been canceled and “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch” will move to the WB in the fall.

The danger in relying so heavily on “Millionaire” is, what happens should it begin to fade; however, the show is so highly rated relative to its production cost that the program will remain enormously profitable even if ratings experience a modest decline.

ABC had no comment regarding the changes. Overall, the network is expected to schedule four new programs, three sitcoms and the drama “Gideon’s Crossing,” a medical program starring “Homicide’s” Andre Braugher. Sources say that show will initially be seen at 10 p.m. Tuesdays, with “NYPD Blue” to premiere later in the season--a strategy ABC employed last fall as a means of launching “Once and Again.”

As for the WB, the fledgling network will lead off two nights with shows that come from other networks: “Sabrina,” which retains the Friday slot the show has occupied on ABC; and “The PJs,” a clay-animated comedy featuring the voice of producer Eddie Murphy, which has languished on the bench at Fox and will open an all-comedy Sunday lineup.

Both shows have been popular with teenagers, who compose the core component--especially girls--of the youthful audience courted by the WB. (The network is owned in part by the Tribune Co., which is buying the Los Angeles Times.)

The WB will employ a novel approach Wednesdays, playing both “Felicity” and this season’s new drama “Jack & Jill” in the hour after “Dawson’s Creek,” meaning an original episode will be offered every week from September through May. The plan is to run 11 installments of “Felicity,” switch to 13 weeks of “Jack & Jill,” then return with 11 more episodes of “Felicity” in the spring.

The network’s new series are “Grosse Point,” a spoof of the sort of youth dramas for which WB is known, from “Sex and the City” and “Beverly Hills, 90210” creator Darren Star; “Hype,” a sketch comedy; and “Nikki,” which reunites “Unhappily Ever After” bombshell Nikki Cox with the time slot she occupied in that series, playing a Las Vegas showgirl.

The only new drama is “The Gilmore Girls,” a mother-daughter concept that gets the unenviable assignment of squaring off opposite “Friends” on Thursday nights.

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Here is the WB’s fall lineup (new shows are in italics):

Sunday: “The PJs,” “The Jamie Foxx Show,” “The Steve Harvey Show,” “For Your Love,” “Hype,” “Nikki.”

Monday: “7th Heaven,” “Roswell.”

Tuesday: “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Angel.”

Wednesday: “Dawson’s Creek,” “Felicity”/”Jack & Jill.”

Thursday: “The Gilmore Girls,” “Charmed.”

Friday: “Sabrina the Teenage Witch,” “Grosse Point,” “Popular.”