Show Page lfc The Ulah Statesman Friday March 27 W31 Network viewing decreasing More Entertaining Than Humanly IVwsiblet LOS ANGELES (AP)— Viewers have been tuning into network programsl at a steadily declining rate since 1976 In five years network ratings have dropped by 7 percent often to the benefit of independent stations and ad hoc arrangements Uke Mobil Showcase Network Some industry analysts expect the decline to continue for at least apother decade though they maintain that the major commercial networks— ABC CBS and NBC— will continue their domination of commercial over the air television Tom Werner ABC senior vice president for prime time series acknowledged the decline at a recent informal meeting with reporters Werner reasoned that independent stations have siphoned off some of the audience with more sophisticated programming and promotion Cable and pay TV' also are beginning to affect the network audience he said and superstations like Atlanta's WTBS feeding their signals to the entire country by satellite are taking a toll But there is another less clearly defined cause one often ignored by network executives as they analyze their falling ratings It can be traced to the 1976-7season when ABC passed CBS as the number one network in prime time and the competition took on an entirely new character If something works imitate it if one show soars in popularity put on others like it if the ratings fall then take them o(T said Lawrence W Lkhty a professor of com- - s® sccacio eonGGi? 8:©S ffoo fjictj Lossa card DarJCG AFTER 7 “V-- n ?Sfijn rs- - V-- T p - : V' vIsfZv 'T- r) i i I - - LONGBOTTOMS RESTAURANT 7H IM DIm Iwnmlom Owtlclow Swiw iomdi A- -- Cteu SMyaill lmmt UtaK Cm SoM Kill NEW VORK (AP)— Another year another Neil Simon play coming to Broadway This one's a comk fable about a Russian village cursed by stupidity The show premieres April 6 When interviewed about it author Simon was up in Boston for its try-orun there and as is his custom playing the Rewrite Rag "Not only am I revising the play I'm alio revising the title' he says "It was called The Curse of Kulyeathtkoo But I kept hearing people call it “The Curse of Baryshnikov" "Or 'The Curse of Karamazov’ So I think the play’s going to be called Fools" The new show stars Tony r John Rubenstein acclaimed for his portrayal of a teacher of the deaf last season in Children of a Lesser God He is again playing a teacher a compas Award-winne- V i I I Get a Jump on the Quarter Study Skills Workshops M5l3:XO V ¥ Tim m I f If Dallas Supertram I I The Paper Chase universally acclaimed hfti critics never built much of an autfieactnd was canceled The senes now is in icraaia public television For a time it appeared as if realistic am edy— humor flowed from character —atsM take root Granted a few such comedies But TV comedy seems to have cd from Lota Lucy to formula comedy characterized by the inane situation and 4t sexual innuendo The picture is not entirely bleak NIC Shogun miniseries this fall was an enormom hit ABC can expect the same uipome fcrjl own Masada minnenes a multimiDioa — extravaganza to be broadcast in Aped i V ¥ sionate young man who tries to raise the trie IQs fells then villagers curse cf break the hamlet’s stupidity He also falls in love Simon S3 is not quite sure what msf” this comedy about a dorp of density bo years worked on it for "I was sitting in New York on Obwos! me apartment when this idea hit moment d it germinated way before the do with my spiral ion but maybe it has to own attitude towards stupidity rock-botto- lf see how people get stuck and limj themselves by their own inabilities don’t mean illiteracy or lack of educatx talking about people who are intdbg “I limit themselves’ "And so I wanted to do a metaphor their lives that people really do h themselves rather than being born UF1 Z9Z3 10:13 DrcfC? Limited - Cali 750--1 120 or Com to Main 102 to is a sensation grind M half a dozen copies and if those don't mrit try again The '70s didn't start that wiydlid Family was not a hit in its fust season CX was Lam Grant CBS stuck with both tC--J and they became standards for suttf f ' end of the decade the attitude was aB Developing Effective Study Habits April 2 3:30 Test Preparation April 6 3:30 S(c I Audience taste— what the largest pacLk audience will stand for — sets trleviau'l i mutable boundaries If people love The Lota Boot nenwkpa grammers reasoned they'll go baaaMMr tDOCn I ir H 'tlien Quarterly Simon makes Broadway return ut Um municatons at the University of MajCsa an analysis of network competition Broadcasters are in business not tsgxha bold innovative programs but totinas -mercials Lichty said in "Success 3y written for the Winter 1981 edition af 7b Sisn-u- j Cxxd c? cr:3-as- o -- - p t |