Business Notes Media

Add an extra month between June and July. Make every Thursday 19 hours long. Move television's prime time forward 60 minutes. Three equally odd ideas -- yet one is about to become reality for viewers of KCRA-TV, the Sacramento affiliate of NBC. For decades West and East Coast TV outlets have aired network prime-time programs from 8 to 11 p.m. -- but with the blessing of the Great Peacock, KCRA is planning an 8 1/2-month trial schedule that would run NBC offerings from 7 to 10, a common practice in the Central and Mountain time zones. Should the experiment succeed, the entire West Coast may follow.

The network cites viewer surveys asking for show times in keeping with earlier-to-bed-earlier-to-rise life-styles. In other words, money: affiliates stand to make more if their local late-night news programs air at an earlier hour.