Chris-Craft, UPN race to beat clock
Companies to extend pact 18 months
Chris-Craft's old pact with UPN expired Monday; the station group has until 4:59 p.m. PT today before programming would potentially be interrupted with the start of primetime on the East Coast.
Sources believe that negotiations have been completed and that both sides have hammered out a tentative deal that would extend their partnership for 18 months more, through the end of the 2001-02 season (Daily Variety, Jan. 8). Deal is also not expected to include compensation; UPN has been adamant in its decision not to pay comp of any kind to stations as affil pacts are renewed.
A deal has been expected for some time and officially secures distribution in top markets in the weeks before UPN expands its lineup to include Sunday night XFL football coverage.
"The chances we won't be here (next year) are infinitesimal," UPN CEO Dean Valentine told reporters at the network's portion of the Television Critics Assn. press tour on Jan. 5. "It's fair to say we're optimistic (a deal with Chris-Craft is) going to happen."
Business as usual
UPN execs have said for some time that negotiations between the two sides could come down to the final minute. But it's unlikely that the netlet would go dark on the Chris-Craft stations, which would have to scramble to find last-minute replacements. Even this week's TV logs indicate business as usual on the Chris-Craft stations, with UPN programming still listed.
More likely, should a contract not be signed by primetime tonight, an extension would be granted to make sure the net's Tuesday night movie ("Curse of the Talisman") aired as scheduled.
Of course, anything can happen when it comes to the ongoing saga of Chris-Craft and UPN owner Viacom. The affiliation renegotiation is just the latest chapter in the volatile relationship between the two one-time joint netlet owners.
Chris-Craft fully operated UPN (through its BHC Communications subsidiary) at the netlet's launch; Viacom exercised its option to become a 50% owner a year later. The two ran the jockstrap net as partners until last year, when Viacom triggered a "buy-sell" provision with the network.
When a New York State Supreme Court panel ruled that Chris-Craft had to either sell its 50% stake in UPN or buy the half it didn't own, the station owner reluctantly agreed to sell its half to Viacom.
News Corp. steps in
News Corp. later entered into an agreement to acquire Chris-Craft's stations, leading to the latest round of questions about the netlet's future.
Once the Chris-Craft deal is finalized, attention will turn toward the netlet's long-term prospects. News Corp. topper Peter Chernin has expressed his support of the network in recent weeks and has said that News Corp. may potentially look toward partnering with Viacom to keep the network going.
"We've had nothing but positive conversations with Viacom," Chernin said earlier this month (Daily Variety, Jan. 4). "We are a supporter of and believer in UPN, and, hopefully, its biggest affiliate."
Chris-Craft owns UPN affils in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Orlando, Portland and Baltimore. (Additionally, the group owns an ABC affil in Salt Lake City and an NBC affil in San Antonio.)
