THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Tuesday, May 14, 1996                  TAG: 9605140390
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY DAVE MAYFIELD, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                     LENGTH: Short :   49 lines

FAMILY CHANNEL DRIVES GAINS IN IFE'S PROFITS

Riding the strength of The Family Channel's ratings gains, International Family Entertainment Inc. said Monday that its first-quarter net profits rose 50 percent from the year before.

Virginia Beach-based IFE said its net income for the quarter totaled $4.69 million, or 10 cents a share, up from a net profit of $3.11 million, or 6 cents a share, in the same period in 1995. Revenues jumped 19 percent to $74.5 million in the latest period.

The overall profit increase came even though every other major segment of the company besides The Family Channel had a larger operating loss in the latest quarter than in the same period last year.

IFE's versions of The Family Channel in the United Kingdom and Latin America, its FiT TV health and fitness network, its MTM Entertainment unit and its chain of live-music theaters all turned in bigger money-losing performances.

IFE has agreed to sell its stake in the British version of The Family Channel to Flextech plc for more than $50 million in cash and Flextech stock.

Thanks to a 29 percent rise in ad revenues and a 23 percent jump in subscriber fees, The Family Channel in the United States had a different first-quarter story. It racked up a $22 million operating profit, up 55 percent from the year before.

The largest reason for the ad-sales gain was higher ratings. The Family Channel's average daily audience increased by 33 percent between October 1995 and March 1996, according to Nielsen Media Research.

The improvement has been largely orchestrated by IFE's Hollywood-based ``programming czar,'' Anthony D. Thomopoulos, chief executive of the MTM Entertainment subsidiary.

Thomopoulos, a former president of ABC Entertainment, joined IFE in March 1995 and has upgraded The Family Channel's slate of original movies and programmed in more ratings-grabbing reruns like ``The Three Stooges.''

He was well-compensated for his efforts, earning the distinction of being IFE's highest-paid executive in 1995. According to IFE's proxy statement for its upcoming annual shareholders' meeting, Thomopoulos earned a salary and bonus of about $774,000 last year.

IFE Chairman Pat Robertson earned $472,000.Robertson's son, IFE President Timothy B. Robertson, earned $740,000 in 1995, according to the proxy. by CNB