MEDIA NOTES

British actor Ben Cross has been signed to play vampire Barnabas Collins in the long-awaited return of “Dark Shadows,” a two-hour movie for NBC. The casting ends industry-wide speculation about who would ultimately land the coveted role in the nighttime version of the pop cult daytime drama which ran on ABC from 1966 to 1971. Cross is best known for his starring role in the film “Chariots of Fire.” “Dark Shadows,” to be directed by Dan Curtis (“War and Remembrance”), is a Gothic tale revolving around the residents of an isolated English manor house in the seaboard town of Collinsport. . . . Joel Cheatwood has been named vice president for news and program development at KTTV, Channel 11. In addition to his responsibility for daily supervision of the station’s news operation, Cheatwood will be involved in future program development for the Fox station.