WPIX moves up 'Seinfeld'

WB affil counterprogramming WNYW's 'Drew' debut

By JOHN DEMPSEY

WPIX-TV, the Tribune-owned WB affiliate in New York, has engineered a frontal assault on its chief rival, Fox-owned WNYW-TV, shifting reruns of the high-rated "Seinfeld" from 11 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. to blunt the debut in rerun syndication of "The Drew Carey Show" on WNYW at 7:30.

The last TV station in the New York market to announce its fall schedule, WPIX has changed the time period of another of its rerun sitcoms, "Frasier," moving it back to 11:30 p.m. after it failed to generate the expected high ratings at 7:30. The "Seinfeld" and "Frasier" changes will take effect Sept. 20.

'Friends' indeed

WPIX's workhorse "Friends" sitcom will continue to play in reruns twice a day, staying in its 7 p.m. timeslot and jumping forward a half-hour in latenight, from 11:30 to 11.

Two fresh sitcom reruns, both from the WB Network, will join WPIX's schedule next month: "The Parent 'Hood" at 5:30 p.m., replacing "Family Matters," and "The Wayans Bros." at 6 p.m. The returning "Fresh Prince of Bel Air," will relocate from 6 to 6:30 p.m., succeeding "Boy Meets World," which gets shoved up to 5.

Hourly entrants

In first-run, two new hourlong strips join WPIX's daytime schedule, Warner Bros.' "Judge Greg Mathis" at 10 a.m. and Tribune Entertainment's "Richard Simmons' Dream Maker" at noon.

On the weekend, WPIX has picked up a double run of two new syndicated action hours, New Line's "The Lost World" and Tribune Entertainment's "Beastmaster."