'02 TV RULE: STAND BY YOUR DUD NETWORKS SLOW TO DROP LOW-RATED NEW SHOWS THIS YEAR.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

Five weeks into the fall television season, only two new series have been canceled by the major broadcast networks while seven had been quickly axed by the same point last year.

Do the networks simply have more hits on their hands, or has the threshold for success been lowered?

Industry experts on Tuesday pointed to various factors feeding into why the networks have been reluctant to pull the plug on some struggling new shows. The only notable exceptions are the swift demise of the ABC bombs ``Push, Nevada'' and ``That Was Then'' and of Fox's ``Girl's Club,'' which is expected to be pulled as early as today.

``Certainly last year was a wake-up call for networks when cable viewing took on more than 50 percent in April, and that doesn't usually happen until the summer,'' said Stacey Lynn Koerner, senior vice president and director of broadcast research at Initiative Media. ``I think they realize they have to keep viewers engaged, and some of that has to do with letting them find the series.

``Most of the new shows aren't doing as well as last years' crop,'' Koerner added. ``It has to do more with the fact that they're giving shows more time.''

Among the other possible reasons for this newfound patience is that more than the usual number of new shows are at least partially owned by the networks or a corporate parent - for example, NBC's struggling ``In-Laws.'' Similarly, WB's ``Family Affair'' stays on the air despite finishing in 107th place in last week's ratings.

A quick cancellation could be more damaging to the bottom line than keeping an underperforming show on the air, experts say, and the networks are also still in the process of building up their inventory of midseason replacements.

``It's always more expensive to cancel a show, and you have to weigh those negatives to keeping a show around,'' Roy Rothstein, vice president and director of broadcast research at Zenith Media. ``If you look at CBS on Wednesday, ratings aren't sensational, but CBS has been tolerant with that night because they are doing (the) same level they were doing a year ago. They are working on other nights.''

Every network except Fox has given a full-season order to at least one new series. Leading the pack is CBS, which announced Monday that at least four of its freshman shows would be going the distance: ``CSI: Miami,'' ``Without A Trace,'' ``Still Standing'' and ``Hack.''

``I think they are just trying to keep as much stability in the schedule as possible, which I think is the smart thing to do,'' Koerner said.

CBS has the biggest new hits but also has stuck by the struggling drama ``Robbery Homicide Division,'' which is bringing in fewer viewers than ``48 Hours'' did in the same time period last season. Dismally performing new shows ``Presidio Med'' and ``Bram and Alice'' also remain on the networks' schedule.

Meanwhile, NBC's ``In-Laws'' isn't improving upon the ratings of last season's quickly-canceled ``Emeril,'' which was assigned the same Tuesday night time slot last fall. NBC has endured poor numbers not only for ``In-Laws,'' but also for ``Scrubs,'' which is pulling in similar numbers in the post-``Friends'' time slot on Thursdays that the quickly-canceled ``Inside Schwartz'' did last fall.

``NBC also picked up 'Good Morning Miami' and, in another year, it might let it pass,'' Rothstein said. ``But 'Miami' has the same producers as 'Will & Grace,' so they give it a shot.''

NBC, while reluctant to cancel its new shows, has pulled the plug on the once-popular Friday night drama ``Providence.'' The only other returning show to be hit with cancellation so far this season has been the WB's ``Off Centre.''

ABC, which has some much-needed modest hits with the sitcoms ``8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter'' and ``Life With Bonnie,'' has so far stuck with the poorly rated drama ``MDs,'' which has not capitalized on the surprisingly strong ratings of ``The Bachelor 2'' that precedes it.

Fox, which just finished airing the seven-game World Series, is still rolling out its schedule.

But the Monday night series ``Girls Club'' from ``Ally McBeal'' creator David E. Kelley has been clobbered in its first two weeks, finishing a distant fourth place in its time slot this week. The show appears headed toward a swift cancellation; Fox executives are scheduled to meet today to discuss the program's fate.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) The cast of NBC's ``In-Laws'' is finding tolerance from the network whose owner is also a partial owner of the new show.

(2) CBS' franchise drama ``CSI: Miami,'' starring David Caruso, right, was one of four new prime-time shows the network renewed for the rest of the season on Monday.