U.S. TO REVIEW THE INCENTIVE PLAN FOR NETWORKS' ANTIDRUG MESSAGES

The White House's drug-crime fighter said he will review a
controversial government program that gives television networks
financial inducements for antidrug messages in their entertainment
shows.

The major TV networks steadfastly maintained that they hadn't given
the government any control over content of their shows by submitting
scripts or finished programs to the White House drug office. But ABC
Television also said it will no longer seek government credit for
including antidrug themes in its entertainment shows.

The credits reduced the number of free public-service commercials the
broadcasters are expected to provide under a $1 billion spending plan
for antidrug advertising approved by Congress in 1997. For every paid
ad, the networks were to provide a free one, but the number of free
ads could be reduced if programs submitted to the drug office
contained antidrug messages. Networks then could profit by selling the
returned commercial time to paying customers.

While President Clinton and other White House officials initially
voiced support for the program after details were disclosed Thursday,
Barry McCaffrey, director of the White House Office of National Drug
Control Policy, or ONDCP, said over the weekend that the practice will
be reviewed. "We will re-examine the Media Campaign's processes for
assessing program content to ensure that there is absolutely no
suggestion or inference that the federal government is exercising any
control whatsoever over the creative process," he said in a statement.

Alan Levitt, manager of the drug office's National Youth Anti-Drug
Media Campaign, which oversaw the ad program, added that he wants to
"insure there is no perceived pressure" on networks to provide or
alter content in consideration for getting credit from the ONDCP.

ABC Response

Patricia Fili-Krushel, president of Walt Disney Co.'s ABC TV unit,
said her network will match the government's antidrug ads with free
public-service announcements only, rather than seeking credit for the
content of its shows. Like other network executives, she said ABC had
never asked its program suppliers to add antidrug messages to their
shows.

General Electric Co. said in a statement that it didn't plan to
re-evaluate its dealings with the ONDCP. News Corp.'s Fox, Viacom
Inc.'s UPN and Time Warner Inc.'s WB also said they had no plans to
alter their relationship with ONDCP. A CBS Corp. spokesman declined to
comment on whether the network would change its practices with the
ONDCP.

To date, the ONDCP said it has generated about $180 million in free
public-service advertising from various media outlets. Of that, $21.8
million was in the form of programming content for antidrug-abuse
messages that reduced the amount of free ad time the networks must
provide.

The debate over whether the networks had compromised themselves in the
arrangement with the ONDCP continued to swirl in the entertainment
industry and elsewhere, with vocal critics and supporters on both
sides. Though all the networks say any antidrug changes were
voluntary, some critics cited the appearance of impropriety as a problem.

Plan Called 'Wrong-Headed'

"It's inappropriate for government to participate this way in the
production of television," said Gail Berman, president of New Regency
Television, producer of "Malcolm in the Middle" for Fox. David
Kissinger, president of USA Networks Inc.'s Studios USA, which
produces "Law & Order" for NBC, said the plan to have the government
impose a value system on entertainment programming is "wrong-headed on
every level."

But WB Chief Executive Jamie Kellner, whose network took input from
the ONDCP on episodes of two WB shows -- "The Wayans Brothers" and
"Smart Guy" -- dismissed any suggestion that his network had allowed
the government to interfere with the creative process or to sign off
on scripts.

"I'm amazed that this has been made into something that it is
important, when it is not," Mr. Kellner said. On the two shows in
question, he said, the network also noted the ONDCP's input in credits
running at the end of each broadcast.

"This has nothing to do with the creative process," Mr. Kellner said
of submitting scripts to the drug office for review. "This is about
accuracy, and it's offensive to challenge the motive."

Most producers say they were unaware of the antidrug arrangement, and
many high-ranking network and studio executives also say they didn't
know about the ad-time arrangement in operation for nearly two years.
Still many entertainment executives said they didn't see it as a
problem as long as their program content hadn't been changed.

Dick Wolf, creator of "Law & Order" and a harsh critic of a government
role in content, including efforts to legislate a TV ratings system
several years ago, said his shows' content had never been altered. As
for the possibility of NBC getting commercial time back to sell as a
result of one of his shows, Mr. Wolf said: "It would be remarkably
good business."

Even how the program was supposed to work was a point of confusion
over the weekend. ABC's Ms. Fili-Krushel said Saturday that the
network stopped working with the ONCDP on using entertainment to meet
its obligations after the drug office started requesting scripts in
advance of broadcast for review. The drug office's Mr. Levitt
vehemently denied that scripts were requested, saying the apparently
contradictory statements were the result of "a legitimate
misunderstanding."

Coincidental with the drug-ad controversy, the ONDCP, as previously
scheduled, Friday issued a report stating that there is very little
depiction of illicit drugs on network prime-time TV. The study, which
the ONDCP said cost $300,000, found 3% of characters in 168 episodes
of the 42 top-rated programs used illegal drugs.
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Glenn Burkins Contributed To This Article.