United Artists

Let's say you are the executive of an all-sports cable network -- Home Team Sports, for instance -- and you have purchased exclusive television rights to a hot property, let's say, the Orioles.Would you, the HTS executive, be at all willing to surrender your exclusive rights to an Orioles-Toronto Blue Jays game with pennant implications in September to an over-the-air station?Of course not, and it was entirely unreasonable and more than a little naive, not to mention unfair, for anyone in Baltimore to expect that ESPN would do the same for yesterday's Grey Cup telecast for Channel 2.Though it was unfortunate that the Baltimore-B.

The verdict is in: Sunday's Grey Cup from Vancouver, British Columbia, will not be televised on Channel 2.WMAR-TV had sought to pick up the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.'s feed of the game between the CFLs and the B.C. Lions, but it was blocked from doing so yesterday when ESPN, the United States' broadcast rights holder, stepped in.The game will air live on ESPN2, the year-old all-sports network, which is not a part of the city's United Artists cable system.However, ESPN and United Artists reached agreement earlier this week to place the game feed on Channel 41, which they did two weeks ago for the Eastern Division semifinal.

ESPN2 announced yesterday that tomorrow's CFL playoff game between the Baltimore CFLs and the Toronto Argonauts at Memorial Stadium will be carried on United Artists Cable, the city's cable carrier, on an unspecified channel.The game will be seen on tape delay at 6 p.m. on both ESPN2 and United Artists Cable. The game starts at 4 p.m.Josh Krulewitz, an ESPN2 spokesman, said the network and United Artists reached agreement for the game to air in the city. The 13-month-old all-sports channel is available in the surrounding counties, but not in Baltimore City.

It appears for now that city residents who don't have tickets to Saturday's CFL playoff game between Baltimore and Toronto at Memorial Stadium may have to wait for highlights on the late news to get any televised pictures of the contest.That's because all CFL playoff games, including Saturday's, will air on ESPN2, which is unavailable on the city's cable system, which is operated by United Artists.Josh Krulewitz, an ESPN2 publicist, said the network would be amenable to allowing United Artists to carry the game telecast on a local access channel, but added that as of yet, ESPN2 officials haven't received a call.

Cable TV subscribers in Baltimore will soon be paying more each month to cover the costs of having the Federal Communications Commission keep their rates down.Coles Ruff, president of United Artists Cable of Baltimore City, said yesterday that the FCC gave the cable company permission earlier this month to charge customers 37 cents a year to cover its costs of being regulated.The charge will be spread over 10 months. Customers will first see it in the form of a 3-cent charge on their monthly bills in December, Mr. Ruff said.

Attention, city cable viewers: Your patience may soon be rewarded.United Artists cable subscribers have been without ESPN2 since the channel opened for business last Oct. 1, and sports fans have clamored (OK, asked nicely) for the new outlet."We've received lots of calls. Lots of calls," said Kathy Roberts, marketing manager for United Artists.Roberts said the company is looking into expanding its channel offering, and ESPN2 is "seriously" being considered."I can tell you that it is on my wish list," Roberts said.

"We've been doing power lunches for years, a lot of awfully big lunches," Tom Jones said the other day. The subject matter: translating to film "The Fantasticks," that small musical that became a big hit 34 years ago.The lunches involved Mr. Jones, his writing partner Harvey Schmidt and whatever power in Hollywood was excited about the project at the moment. "Paramount got really interested, with Gower Champion directing," Mr. Jones said. "We spent a lot of time touring Italy looking for locations, but it didn't happen.

United Artists Cable has filed an appeal with the Federal Communications Commission challenging Baltimore's June rate decision, including an order that the company refund subscribers at least $13 each for overcharges from Sept. 1, 1993, to July 14.The city must file a response by Monday, and United Artists will have until Aug. 22 to file a reply. An FCC decision is not expected for several months, said Joyce Jefferson Daniels, director of the city's cable office.

Cable TV rates of regulated systems in the nation's 25 largest cities have dropped by an average of 6.63 percent since last August, the Federal Communications Commission reported yesterday.According to the FCC, its "informal and preliminary assessment" found that the typical subscriber's monthly bill from those systems dropped by $1.67 in the wake of two rounds of commission-ordered rate rollbacks. Among the 15 systems that felt the full impact of regulation under the 1992 Cable Act, the average bill dropped $4.57, or 16.46 percent -- close to the FCC's target of a 17 percent rollback.

BALTIMORE -- Amid sharp criticism of cable service in Baltimore, the city's Board of Estimates approved a proposal Wednesday that would compensate subscribers by at least $13 each for overcharges from Sept. 1, 1993 through July 14.Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke and Council President Mary Pat Clarke raised concerns about service provided by United Artists Cable, including the company's failure to connect 48 schools and the fact that subscribers must go to the headquarters to have their service turned back on."