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

POP/ROCK

Osbourne Undergoes Surgery for Cancer

Sharon Osbourne, wife and manager of British metal pioneer Ozzy Osbourne and star of the MTV reality show “The Osbournes,” was scheduled to undergo surgery Wednesday for a treatable form of cancer, her publicist said.

Osbourne “is expected to make a full recovery,” according to a news release from Susan Blond Inc. in Los Angeles. “She has the loving support of her husband and three children, who are by her side at this time.”

Family spokeswoman Lisa Vega would not identify what type of cancer Osbourne has or where the surgery would take place but said it would be completed by early evening.

Because of the surgery, the first two dates of Osbourne’s Ozzfest 2002 summer music tour, in Bristol, Va., and Pittsburgh, have been postponed. Ozzfest will now begin July 10 in Scranton, Pa. The two dates will be rescheduled.

TLC Members Return to the Recording Studio

The surviving members of the band TLC--Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins and Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas--are back at work on the group’s fourth album following the death of Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes in April.

Grammy-winning producer and songwriter Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds is working with the pair on the new disc. Edmonds said in a recent interview that the women have “held up pretty well.”

“There will be ups and downs throughout,” he said of the recording process. “There will be times when they’ll feel it more than others.”

The new record is scheduled for release in the fall. Edmonds said much of it was recorded before Lopes died, so her vocals will be present.

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TELEVISION

Cable News Ratings Remain Up; Fox Still #1

Viewing of the cable news networks during the second quarter this year remained elevated compared with last year, continuing the trend since the events of Sept. 11.

Ratings for April, May and June showed that Fox News Channel is still the prime-time leader with an average of 1.1 million viewers, roughly double its average during the corresponding period a year ago.

CNN is up almost 60%, to nearly 900,000 viewers, while sister channel Headline News rose to 220,000 viewers. Third-place MSNBC is up a more modest 10%, at 330,000 viewers, and financial news network CNBC saw ratings tumble by about one-third, to a little more than 225,000 viewers on average.

Despite the gains, cable news viewing in prime time is relatively low--the combined audience for those five channels doesn’t equal viewing of either the UPN or WB networks.

THE ARTS

Kandinsky Loot Case Finally Resolved

A Swiss art gallery will be allowed to keep a Kandinsky painting looted by Nazis after reaching an out-of-court settlement with the artist’s family.

The deal ends the long-running dispute between the Ernst Beyeler Foundation and the heirs of the artist’s widow, Sophie Lissitzky-Kueppers, over Wassily Kandinsky’s “Improvisation Number 10.”

The painting had been confiscated by Nazi officials on grounds that it was degenerate, and it was later sold to Beyeler.

In a joint statement, Lissitzky-Kueppers’ son and Beyeler said the prominent Russian artist’s painting would remain in the possession of the Beyeler Foundation and its museum. Settlement terms weren’t disclosed.