'Studs' chased from time slot

By JIM BENSON, RICHARD KLEIN

Twentieth TV's new late night Chevy Chase talker will prove to be a mixed blessing for the company.

The arrival next season of the Chase show on Fox Broadcasting will force Fox affils to bump the company's other late night entry, "Studs," to later time periods -- a move that will result in lower ratings and reduced barter revenue.

Consequently, the distrib will change its "Studs" marketing plan from cash-plus-barter to straight barter, a further blow to a program that has already seen ratings erosion following Fox chairman Rupert Murdoch's mandate to tone down the series.

Twentieth syndie prez Greg Meidel confirmed yesterday "Studs" will be sold on an all-barter basis in the fall, with 2 1/2 minutes going to the distrib and 4 1 /2 to the station.

Currently, "Studs" is licensed for cash plus a minute of barter time, he noted.

With the exception of Paramount's "The Arsenio Hall Show," Twentieth's "Studs" will suffer more than any other late night entry from the arrival of Chase.

The home-grown "Studs" is airing between 11 p.m. and midnight in 17 of the top-50 markets, according to a study from George Gubert & Associates.

Once Chase arrives, "Studs" will lose its time periods in New York, Chicago and D.C. Gubert, a former research veepee for Twentieth, asserts the downgrades in the three markets will severely affect its national rating.

The combination of the three markets is worth 0.4 rating points, which would represent a 17% loss from its 2.4 season-to-date average.

"Chevy Chase is very good for us, it's very good for FBC," Meidel said. "Unfortunately, 'Studs' gets penalized."

Twentieth will continue to market "Studs" as a primary late fringe show, according to Meidel.

Meidel insists that "Studs" can follow "Nightline" in many markets despite the latter's older skew. He also indicated that Twentieth may consider pairing "Studs" with talkshows competing against Chase.

"Our goal is to upgrade those clearances if at all possible," he said.

Gubert takes a harsher view.

"It probably doesn't make for happy people within the various divisions of the company," he said.