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provide an international newswire feed FOX AFFILIATES GET THE NEWS as part of the overall package. To the end of helping its stations de- velop their local news gathering, Fox's At meeting in , network -to -be outlines Saitta outlined efforts by Fox to help to help local stations affiliates purchase equipment and news national service and plan sets for much lower than normal prices. build their own news operations "We're hoping that we can get stations into the news business for about 70% less than they anticipated," said Saitta. Fox is currently being pitched by JVC News was the news coming out of of local station identity. and Sony for camera and editing equip- the Fox affiliates meeting last When the news feed becomes avail- ment. Saitta said the cost for a Sony week in Los Angeles, as Fox able, stations will, on a nightly basis, be BetaCam runs about $30,000, but ex- executives provided visiting station ex- able to pick from about an hour of pre- pects a less extravagant design and vol- ecutives the first details of the planned packaged national and international ume discounts will make the new tech- and much anticipated national news ser- news stories to incorporate into their lo- nology available for around $8,000. vice that Fox will be supplying to its cal newscasts. "Most of the stations I According to Kellner, JVC is trying to stations. have talked to want a half-hour of local interest Fox in a professional version of Station managers were told not only news and want Fox to provide the other its consumer VHS equipment. JVC is about the format of the news feed, but half-hour," said Saitta. trying to move into the broadcast indus- also about efforts by Fox to provide According to Kellner, the model for try with its line of equipment and sees a start-up help by offering low -cost equip- the service will be the Fox Entertain- volume buy by Fox as the quickest point ment and news sets to stations not al- ment News vignettes currently carried of entry. Sony already has a broadcast ready in the news business. Fox hopes on its O &O's and produced by presence with their VHS line. its efforts will encourage all 129 of its KTTV(TV), the Fox O &O in Los Angeles. In addition to the hardware, Saitta affiliates to begin producing a 10 p.m. Like the entertainment spots, the nation- said news sets would also be designed newscast within the next two years. The al news segments will be self- contained, by one producer, who would build sets plan, when it comes to fruition, will pre- packaged inserts that stations will be in a variety of sizes, and stations would alter the local news terrain, where for able to integrate into their local news- be offered the sets at a lower- than -nor- the first time a large group of UHF sta- cast. Although the inserts are pre -pack- mal cost. Saitta said Fox would also tions (which most Fox affiliates are) will aged, stations will be able to strip them provide research to stations, helping to begin producing a local newscast. Cur- down and re- package the stories. defray another cost. rently, only 16 Fox affiliates have a The news feed will contain four ele- "I'm very pleased with what they've newscast. ments: national, international, business proposed, in terms of the national and Although no business plan has been and entertainment stories. In addition to international news elements, as well as decided upon, Fox is apparently consid- the Fox O &Os' news gathering capabili- the help in providing news gathering, ering either a plan whereby they will ties, the service will put to use Rupert editing and playback equipment," said hold back an undetermined amount of Murdoch's Sky Channel, the 24 -hour Kevin O'Brien, vice president and gen- national time, or a straight cash licens- news service run by parent company eral manager, KTVU, San Francisco. ing fee to be paid on a monthly basis. . Fox also announced to affil- "What I'm impressed with is the unilat- Several Fox executives have suggested iates that Visnews has been signed to eral effort of Fox to give Fox affiliates that at least 70% of the country will need to be cleared to make the project profit- indicating that withholding of ad- able, EXPANDING vertising time will be the more likely choice. News, the 5 -7 cago and KRIV(TV) . "The In front of an enthusiastic group that minute segment that is the model problem is that most of our affiliates sounded at times during the two -day for the soon -to -be implemented Fox don't have a news show to hang a 5 -7 meeting more like a crowd attending a national news service, will expand to a minute news segment on," said Knoe- rock concert than an affiliate meeting, weekend half -hour version "hopefully delseder. In fact, the Houston station Joe Saitta, vice president, Fox affiliate by the end of the summer," said Bill runs the segment during its morning news, said Fox's intention was to get all Knoedelseder, FEN executive produc- because it doesn't have a of the affiliates "in the news business er. news' ast. within the next two years." Saitta also The once-a -week half-hour version FEN began as a result of an idea by said 27 stations have put in requests to will be in addition to the daily feed that Fox Chairman Barry Diller, who hired start immediately, and 40 others have is available now to Fox O &O's. Knoe- Knoedelseder to bring the idea to life. "expressed serious interest." delseder said the plan is for the series In addition to the half -hour version, Jamie Kellner, president, Fox Broad- to eventually grow to a daily half-hour the FEN segment will more than likely casting Co., told BROADCASTING he ex- show that stations can schedule adjoin- be expanded to about 15 minutes for pects to have between "80 and 100 affil- ing their news or when there is a need inclusion into the hour of national, in- iates on board" when the Fox nightly for programing. ternational, business and entertainment news service launches sometime in Currently, the segment is seen on news that Fox will supply to stations as 1991. He hailed the move as a big step only a few Fox stations such as part of its national news service, to toward putting the Fox stations on a par KTTV(TV) Los Angeles, WFLD(TV) Chi- debut around June 1991. with the other network stations in terms

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