Fox’s Chernin Says Networks Can Withstand Strike for Months

By Michele Greppi

News Corp. President-Chief Operating Officer Peter Chernin said he believes his company’s networks and most of the other networks are in good enough shape to withstand for a few months the writers strike, which is now more than two months old.

Making a presentation at Citigroup’s18th annual Global Entertainment Media & Telecommunications Conference in Phoenix, Ariz., Wednesday, Mr. Chernin said he takes the writers strike and its widening economic toll on workers at all levels of the entertainment industry and on peripheral businesses “really seriously, both corporately and personally.”

However, he said, he also is responsible for not making an “undefensible deal” just to get everyone back to work and churning out entertainment product as soon as possible.

“We’re in the business of providing entertainment to the American public and we shouldn’t get too much in the habit” of not doing so, the News Corp. executive said. “We are anxious to try and figure out a solution, but we are only anxious to try and figure out a viable, workable solution for the industry.”

On other subjects, Mr. Chernin also:

-Predicted that Fox Broadcasting, which is welcoming back hit “American Idol” next week, would move into first place in the ratings within a few weeks, earlier than last season, and finish a more distant first than it did last season.

-Said the reversal of fortunes Tuesday night in New Hampshire that showed Illinois Sen. Barack Obama is not the inevitable Democratic presidential candidate and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton’s candidacy is far from dead “is a tremendous positive for local television,” as the campaign trail to Super Tuesday on Feb. 5 forces candidates to spend lots of advertising money to get their messages across.