ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT REPORTS FROM THE TIMES, NEWS SERVICES AND THE NATION’S PRESS.

RADIO

Minyard Proves You Can Go Home Again

Ken Minyard was fired from talk radio station KABC-AM (790) in November 1998, after hosting its morning show for more than 25 years. But station executives haven’t found anyone who could turn its low morning ratings around, so they said Wednesday they’re bringing him back.

Beginning Monday, Minyard will host “Ken & Company” weekdays from 5 to 9 a.m. Joining him will be Dan Avey, a former anchor at all-news KFWB-AM (980).

The duo will replace “The KABC Morning Show With Dave & Amy”--featuring Dave Williams and Amy Lewis, who joined the lineup a year ago. Williams will leave the station but Lewis remains under contract; her new duties have not been announced.

Minyard began his radio career at KABC in 1969 as host of his own interview and issues program, then teamed on a succession of morning shows with Bob Arthur, Roger Barkley and Peter Tilden. Most recently, he had been at KRLA-AM (1110), partnering with his son Rick on “Minyard & Minyard.” The show was yanked from the afternoon drive spot in July 2000 because of poor ratings.

TV & MOVIES

‘NYPD Blue’ Trumps ‘24’ in Tuesday Ratings

Fox’s serialized drama “24” premiered to disappointing ratings Tuesday in a fiercely competitive 9 p.m. period opposite “NYPD Blue,” “Frasier,” “The Guardian” and “Smallville.”

Despite heavy promotion and rave reviews, the Fox series, starring Kiefer Sutherland, finished fourth in its time slot in overall viewing, averaging 11.6 million viewers. More troubling, the audience fell by roughly 1 million people from the first to the second half-hour.

ABC’s “NYPD Blue,” by contrast, opened its ninth season solidly, winning from 9 to 11 p.m. with its two-hour premiere, which averaged 15.8 million viewers. Fox will repeat “24” Friday in an effort to give more people an opportunity to sample the show.

Lisa Simpson Wins Top Environmental Honor

“Dr. Dolittle 2” and episodes of two Fox TV series, “The Practice” and “King of the Hill,” were among the winners Wednesday at the 11th annual Environmental Media Awards, recognizing TV and film productions that increase awareness of ecological issues.

Two other Fox properties also were honored. The Turner Award, a $10,000 cash prize, went to writer David E. Kelley for an episode of “Boston Public” dealing with contraception and population growth. And Lisa Simpson of “The Simpsons” (an advocate of clean ecosystems and animal rights) walked off with the board of director’s award for ongoing commitment, the association’s highest honor.

In the categories for children’s programming, awards went to Fox Family’s “Braceface” and ABC’s “Lizzie McGuire.”

QUICK TAKES

Paul McCartney and Wyclef Jean will perform at the Dec. 11 Nobel Peace Prize Concert, hosted by Meryl Streep and Liam Neeson. The event, honoring this year’s Nobel laureate, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, will be held in Oslo, Norway, and broadcast internationally soon thereafter.... The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has launched “Collections Online,” a digital archive of 10,000 images of art and nearly 25,000 object records from its permanent collection. It’s on the Internet at https://www.lacma.org.