CBS to Delay Fall Season : Network Blames Writers’ Strike

CBS, which had intended to begin the fall TV season Sept. 5, on Thursday, moved the start time to the end of October, blaming the delay on the writers’ strike and other possible labor troubles.

With the postponement, the network also said it would not be announcing its lineup of prime-time series on May 9, as it previously had planned. CBS will instead unveil its new prime-time schedule for next season in late May, about a week before it presents the schedule to advertisers here on June 2, said Ann Morfogen, a CBS spokeswoman.

CBS’ action came as the Writers Guild of America’s walkout against the three networks, producers and major Hollywood studios continued in its eighth week, with no negotiations scheduled.

The decision to postpone the fall season “demonstrates that the strike is definitely having an impact,” said guild spokeswoman Cheryl Rhoden. “It demonstrates why the companies should return to the table and negotiate a resolution of these strike issues.”

Neither ABC nor NBC has set a date for launching its fall season. NBC has the fewest start-of-season problems because it will be televising the Summer Olympics from Sept. 17 to Oct. 2, to be followed by the World Series telecasts starting Oct. 15.

“I think that CBS announcement is a whomper,” said James Sefert, the head of NBC’s affiliates advisory board and president of Cosmos Broadcasting Co. in Greenville, S.C., which owns six NBC-affiliated stations and one each affiliated with CBS and ABC. If CBS and ABC are forced to program reruns against the Olympics in prime-time, he said, NBC’s ratings undoubtedly will be higher than anticipated.

While a 14-week strike by the Writers Guild delayed the start of the TV season in 1981 until November, a later-than-usual start this fall may cause the networks--at least CBS and ABC--greater problems than seven years ago.

At that time, all three networks were attracting about 90% of the prime-time audience on any night. In the just-ended season, they averaged 70%, and the figure is expected to continue dropping because of growing competition from cable TV, videocassette players and independent stations.

Major issues in the writers’ strike, which began March 7, include payments of residuals for hourlong shows and “creative rights.”

Meanwhile, if other contract talks now under way break down, there could be another industry-wide strike as early as July 31, when current contracts between entertainment companies and unions for craft, transportation and unskilled production workers expire.

The chief labor groups in those negotiations are the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the International Alliance of Theatrical State Employees (IATSE).

CBS’ 200-plus affiliated TV stations were notified of the delay in the network’s fall schedule in a message sent by Thomas F. Leahy, president of the CBS television network, a spokesman said.

Leahy quoted CBS Broadcast Group president Gene F. Jankowski as saying that because of the writers’ strike and “uncertainty over the IATSE/Teamsters negotiations in the film industry this month, the previously announced Sept. 5 start date for the 1988-’89 season is no longer feasible.

“We are looking toward a new season start date at the end of October, 1988. Further details and an exact start date will be forthcoming.”

Neither executive was available for comment Thursday. They were said to be at an annual international television convention in Cannes, France.