Company Town: Disney’s Mega-Merger : The ABCs of a Deal : Cap Cities and Disney Predict Little Effect on Prime Time : PROGRAMMING

Walt Disney Co.’s planned takeover of Capital Cities/ABC would have no effect on ABC’s prime-time schedule--at least for the next few years, executives of both companies said Monday.

Disney’s penchant for family-oriented fare could eventually bring a renaissance in children’s programming and more sports to ABC.

But the network’s plans this fall to move away from family sitcoms during the 8-9 p.m. hour to mature programming that appeals to adults as well as children will not change as a result of Disney’s ownership, said David Westin, president of the ABC Television Network Group. That’s because adults are the target audience advertisers want to reach during that time slot, he explained.

“It’s a little ironic that the two sitcoms we put in on Wednesday night from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. are both Walt Disney shows: ‘Ellen’ and ‘The Drew Carey Show,’ ” Westin said. “So I’ll be surprised if Disney’s first act is to cancel either of those shows.”

Executives at other studios didn’t think that would happen, either. They were less certain about the fate of their own ABC programs, however, fearing that Disney will use the network to air a preponderance of Disney product. Disney executives downplayed the apprehension.

“A network has to take programming from everybody, and it is more important how good the show is than who owns it,” Disney Chairman Michael Eisner said. “The wished-for syndicated revenue eight years down the road is not as valuable as today’s profit on advertising. My philosophy is to take the best programming available, period.”

Westin said he expects the number of Disney shows on ABC to increase eventually, but not because Disney wants to own everything on the network.

“I can imagine, over time, there will be some effect on the schedule, simply because we will be able to have a look at some Disney product we wouldn’t otherwise have seen,” Westin said. “That’s me as a programmer hoping, rather than being told how it’s going to work.”

Others in the industry were more certain that Disney would get preferential treatment.

“I think ABC will always buy the best programming they think comes their way,” said Richard Frank, former head of Disney’s television operations. “If you’re going to put on 10 new shows in a given year, let’s say you think four are great. You will buy those four no matter who they’re from. The six others fall into a gray area. Whenever there’s a gamble in the gray areas, it will go to Disney from now on. Because, why not? Most new shows fail anyway. You might as well fail with your own, because if you have a hit it could be your own.”

In addition, Disney shows may be favored when it comes to time slot decisions. An early indication may come when a decision is reached on what midseason series will get a tryout behind the ABC hit “Home Improvement”--a sitcom from the producers of that series, made under the Disney banner, or a series from DreamWorks, with which ABC has a $100-million programming deal.

“I think there’s so much to digest that, until the dust settles, none of us here knows what this acquisition will mean for us,” said Rick Leed, president of Wind Dancer Productions, the Disney-based company that makes “Home Improvement.” “But it obviously will be monumental in its impact.”

The immediate impact of Disney’s acquisition of ABC should be more evident in animation. Two years ago, Disney quietly pulled two Saturday morning cartoons--”Darkwing Duck” and “Goof Troop”--off ABC because the network would not meet Disney’s license fee, according to sources. Disney took its business to CBS, where animated versions of the Disney blockbuster theatricals “The Little Mermaid” and “Aladdin” currently air and where a spinoff of “The Lion King” will premiere this fall.

“Based on the strength of our animated franchise, we expect to establish a market position for that Saturday morning time slot on ABC,” said John Dreyer, vice president of corporate communications for Walt Disney Co.

Disney has also been working hard to establish a presence in sports, having acquired the Anaheim Mighty Ducks hockey franchise and a portion of the California Angels baseball team. It recently used Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., as the location for a major golf tournament and a National Football League quarterback competition.

Earlier this year, ABC said it would not be interested in bidding against other networks for the rights to air professional baseball when its contract expires this year. But that could change now.

“All bets are off now,” said an executive in the sports division of another network, who expects Disney to become the front-runner in the bidding for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. “It’s a new regime. They’re not only broadcasters now, they’re the entertainment industry’s best marketers and merchandisers. They can go to anybody they want to partner up with and say: ‘We can put your products in the Disney Stores nationwide. We can merchandise them in our amusement parks.’ ”