Tartikoff to Head Unit of New World : Entertainment: Production company hopes to become force in global television market.

Swiftly pushing ahead with its ambitious programming plans, New World Communications Group has tapped TV wizard Brandon Tartikoff to run the company’s growing entertainment empire.

Tartikoff, who guided NBC to the top of the ratings in the 1980s and then ran Paramount Pictures, is selling his independent production company to New World. He will lead its efforts to become a powerhouse in TV syndication and help shepherd its broad alliance with Fox Inc.

The hiring of Tartikoff comes less than a month after New World sent shock waves through the broadcasting industry by agreeing to convert up to 12 TV stations--eight from CBS--to Fox affiliates. As part of the agreement, Fox is investing $500 million for a 20% stake in New World and has agreed to join it in a number of programming ventures.

The rapid-fire deals with Tartikoff and Fox signal New World Chairman Ronald O. Perelman’s desire to fast-track his company into the front ranks of Hollywood TV studios by becoming an important supplier of programming to both Fox and the syndication marketplace.

“The intention here is to make New World a powerful force in global TV production,” Tartikoff said. “In order to accomplish that, we will be selling our wares to all the major buyers, as well as cable where appropriate. I think my actions speak louder than words.”

By acquiring Tartikoff’s company for $9 million, New World instantly beefs up its program slate and gains clout that would otherwise take years to create. One of Tartikoff’s projects, a late-night sketch comedy series titled “Last Call,” premieres in syndication this fall.

New World Entertainment President Barbara Corday, who has been heading production at the company, will now report to Tartikoff.

Tartikoff, along with former NBC Chairman Grant Tinker, helped lift NBC from third to first place in the 1980s by broadcasting such critically acclaimed and commercially successful hits as “Cheers” and “The Cosby Show.” However, Tartikoff personally prefers the action-adventure genre, once half-joking that he “never met a car crash I didn’t like.”

Tartikoff took over Paramount Pictures in 1991 but was gone by 1992. Two forces drove him out. He clashed frequently with Stanley Jaffe, then Paramount Communications’ volatile president, and he also wanted to be in New Orleans, where his daughter is undergoing therapy for injuries suffered in an automobile accident. There Tartikoff formed Moving Target Productions, which has more than half a dozen projects in development at the networks and for syndication.

New World has agreed to pay Tartikoff $9 million over six years to acquire Moving Target, which will become part of New World Entertainment. In addition, Tartikoff will buy a million shares of New World Communications Group common stock for an undisclosed price; based on current stock prices, such a block has a value of about $12 million.

Tartikoff will also have ownership stakes in various shows produced by New World.

New World Entertainment has had limited success so far in the TV program production business. Though “Wonder Years” became a critical hit on ABC, it never earned substantial rerun profits, and the soap opera “Santa Barbara” was canceled by NBC last year.

Perelman’s strategy has been to acquire smaller production and distribution companies such as game show maker Genesis Entertainment and animator Marvel Entertainment, as well as a stake in infomercial producer Gunthy-Renker. The alliance with Fox, however, calls for New World to ramp up its production by supplying TV movies and other projects to the fourth network.

New World Communications Group, which currently owns seven TV stations, is in the process by buying eight more in two separate transactions. New World said it will sell at least three stations to comply with federal regulations prohibiting ownership of more than 12 stations.