SPORTS WEEKEND : TV/Radio : Cohen, Nahan Caught in Vicious Cycle

Sometimes life stinks.

Two things happened in sports television this week that remind us of that.

Kitty Cohen, a wonderful, ethical, intelligent, well-liked and respected person, was put in a position by Corporate America that compelled her to resign as vice president and head of Fox Sports West and West 2.

Stu Nahan, a sportscaster in this town for nearly 35 years--the last 12 at Channel 5--was quietly put out to pasture with no notice, no fanfare, no anything.

Nahan, who two years ago was reduced to doing weekend commentaries, was told this week that his contract, which expired Tuesday, was not being renewed. End of chapter. See ya.

As for Cohen, they don’t come any better. Her office was empty Thursday, one day after her abrupt resignation, and gloom was in the air around the Fox Sports West offices in Century City.

It could be felt elsewhere as well.

At the Great Western Forum, Jerry West said: “Kitty was more than a wonderful business partner. She was an extended part of the Laker family. I personally loved working with her, as I’m sure all the other people in our organization did. We’ll miss her and hope to work with her again.”

From Culver City, Dick Van Kirk, president of the Southern California Special Olympics, said: “Kitty was wonderful. Under Kitty, Fox Sports West raised more than $1 million for Special Olympics [mainly through an annual golf tournament].

“The good news is Kitty is going to remain as a member of our board and do what she can to see that Fox Sports West continues to support us. No other organization has done as much.”

Cohen would not say why she resigned. But in talking with a number of sources, a picture emerges of a Good Ol’ Boys network, one that did not include Cohen.

There are good people at Fox. OK, they don’t know how to run a baseball team. But at the top of Fox’s global television sports division, David Hill is generally well-liked and respected. The same can be said about Jeff Shell, a first lieutenant on the domestic and cable side. And the public-relations people are aggressive and proficient.

But in middle management, there are some hard-living, hard-talking, tirade-throwing, step-on-anybody types. And Cohen didn’t fit in.

Apparently, the final straw came when she was passed over for a promotion. Jon Heidtke, from Dallas, was brought into Los Angeles as senior vice president in charge of Fox’s western regional networks.

It was a position Cohen was in line for, and one she had earned. Under Cohen, Fox Sports West and West 2 were, by far, the most profitable regional sports networks of the 22 in the Fox cable family.

Heidtke, by all accounts, is a fine gentleman. But he didn’t have Cohen’s seniority or her qualifications.

Didn’t matter. So what was Cohen left to do? See ya.

AND THEN THERE’S NAHAN

I’m not a huge fan of Nahan. Until recently, we barely spoke. And his commentaries were never going to break new editorial ground in sports television.

But the guy was an L.A. institution, having had long stints at Channel 7 and Channel 4 before landing at Channel 5 in 1987.

He was told over lunch his services were no longer needed.

This comes on the heels of Channel 5’s dumping of the popular Ed Arnold.

“It came as a surprise,” Nahan said, “but life goes on.”

Corporate America, don’t you love it? A guy gets to be 73, and you discard him like an old rag.

Nahan, like him or not, deserved better.

SHORT WAVES

The big event this weekend is UCLA at Ohio State, but Bruin flagship station KXTA (1150) has to farm out the game to sister station XTRA (690) because the Dodgers take precedence. But the Bruin pregame show will be on 1150, beginning at 3 p.m., and then switch over to 690 at 4:30. . . . The 5 p.m. game is a national ABC game, with Brad Nessler and Gary Danielson, the network’s best announcing team on college football, doing the honors. . . . ABC plans to put a microphone on Ohio State quarterback Austin Moherman and during breaks play back conversations he has with his coaches up in the booth. Bob Toledo might want to have someone monitor the ABC telecast.

Of course the other big thing this weekend is the beginning of the NFL season. One new thing is widespread use of the colored line marking the yardage needed for a first down. A recent survey showed a 92% approval rate from viewers. . . . Halftime of Monday night’s Miami-Denver game on ABC will be extended seven minutes because of John Elway’s retirement ceremony. . . . ESPN has the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night and tonight at 6:30 will offer a 90-minute special, “The Browns Are Back,” produced by NFL Films.

Channel 5 will become the first L.A. station to originate a local sports event in high-definition television when it shows tonight’s and Saturday night’s Dodger-New York Met games in HDTV. Only about 2,500 homes in Los Angeles have high-definition television sets, but there will be viewing parties at Circuit City stores in Buena Park and Culver City. . . . Ben Wright--remember him?--will be part of the Golf Channel’s crew working the Ryder Cup later this month. . . . An exclusive negotiating period CBS had to reach a new agreement to continue carrying the NCAA basketball tournament after 2002 has expired. The tournament, beginning in 2003, is open to ABC-ESPN, Fox-Fox Sports Net and CBS and its new cable networks now that it has merged with Viacom.

IN CLOSING

The multitalented Derrick Hall, who not too long ago was the Dodgers’ publicity director, has flourished as a morning radio personality at KXTA and will soon be breaking into television. Now that Gary Cruz has gone to the CBS station in Phoenix, Hall will serve as Channel 4’s No. 3 sportscaster, filling in at times for Fred Roggin and Carlos Del Valle. Hall has been going over to Channel 4 several times a week to practice working in front of a monitor and Teleprompter, no easy task, and should be ready in a few weeks.

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What Los Angeles Is Watching

A sampling of L.A. Nielsen ratings for Sept. 4-5, including sports on cable networks:

SATURDAY

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Over-the-air Channel Rating College football: Notre Dame at Michigan 7 6.4 Tennis: U.S. Open 2 4.1 College football: Stanford at Texas 7 3.3 Horse racing: Hopeful Stakes, Spinaway Stakes 4 2.2 Baseball: New York Yankees at Angels 11 1.9 Track and field: IAAF World Championship highlights 4 1.9 Pro basketball: WNBA finals, New York at Houston 4 1.0

Over-the-air Share College football: Notre Dame at Michigan 19 Tennis: U.S. Open 13 College football: Stanford at Texas 10 Horse racing: Hopeful Stakes, Spinaway Stakes 7 Baseball: New York Yankees at Angels 6 Track and field: IAAF World Championship highlights 6 Pro basketball: WNBA finals, New York at Houston 3

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Cable Network Rating Share College football: Boise State at UCLA FSW2 2.4 5 College football: USC at Hawaii FSW2 2.2 7 College football: Colorado State at Colorado FSW 1.3 1 Tennis: U.S. Open USA 0.8 2 Baseball: Arizona at Atlanta TBS 0.7 2 Horse racing: Ramona Handicap at Del Mar ESPN 0.7 2 College football: South Carolina ESPN 0.6 2 at North Carolina St. Golf: PGA Air Canada Championship ESPN 0.6 2 Baseball: Dodgers at Chicago Cubs WGN 0.6 2 College football: Wyoming at Tennessee ESPN2 0.6 2 Soccer: U.S. women vs. Ireland ESPN2 0.2 0 SUNDAY Over-the-air Channel Rating Share Baseball: Dodgers at Chicago Cubs 5 3.4 10 Tennis: U.S. Open 2 3.1 10 Auto racing: CART Molson Indy Vancouver 7 1.9 6 Golf: NFL/Comic Relief Celebrity Shootout 11 1.4 4 Pro basketball: WNBA finals, New York at Houston 4 1.2 3 Cable Network Rating Share Tennis: U.S. Open USA 1.8 4 Golf: Senior Waterhouse Championship ESPN 1.4 4 Auto racing: NASCAR Pepsi Southern 500 ESPN 1.2 4 College football: Arizona at Texas Christian FSW 1.1 3 College football: USC at Hawaii (replay) FSW2 1.1 3 Golf: PGA Air Canada Championship ESPN2 0.8 2 Baseball: Dodgers at Chicago Cubs WGN 0.1 0 College football: Boise State at UCLA (replay) FSW2 0.1 0 Golf: LPGA State Farm Rail Classic ESPN2 0.1 0

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Note: Each rating point represents 51,350 L.A. households. Cable ratings reflect the entire market, even though cable is in only 63% of L.A. households.