'WEST WING' ASKING PRICE COULD SOAR OVER 500 PERCENT.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

Is NBC willing to fork over a 525 percent raise to keep President Bartlet's administration in office?

As the fall TV season gets under way, a battle is brewing over ``The West Wing,'' Aaron Sorkin's Emmy-winning drama about behind-the-scenes doings in a liberal White House. Beyond its status as a top-15 hit, the John Wells Prods./Warner Bros. TV series draws far and away the most upscale audience in prime time, which in turn helps NBC pitch itself to advertisers as a haven for the affluent.

But there's tension in the Oval Office. NBC's contract for ``West Wing,'' now entering its fourth season, is up for renewal at the end of this season, and one knowledgeable source says that the studio will push the network for a license fee of more than $10 million per episode - a more than sixfold increase over the current license fee of about $1.6 million an episode.

Representatives for NBC and Warner Bros. declined to comment.

With its large ensemble cast and elaborate settings, industry sources peg the production cost on ``West Wing'' at about $3 million to $3.5 million per episode, making it one of the most expensive on television. Warner Bros. sold the rerun rights to ``West Wing'' last year to the Bravo cable network for about $1.1 million per episode - a healthy price in a depressed syndication market but shy of the $1.5 million-to-$1.6 million fees commanded around the same time by CBS' ``CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' and NBC's ``Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.''

While Warner may not get its $10 million asking price from NBC, expected rival bids from ABC (which could sorely use a ready-made hit) and CBS likely will drive the price far above its current level.

FROM TALK RADIO TO ALL-NEWS: Ex-talk host Dave Williams is the new midday anchor at news radio KFWB-AM (980).

Williams replaces longtime KFWB-er Ron Kilgore, who recently joined the Wall Street Journal Radio Network. At talker KABC-AM (790), Williams co-hosted the ``Dave & Amy Morning Show'' until last winter.

Williams, who is already on the air at KFWB, holds down the midday news anchor slot from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays.

``He fit in perfectly from day one, delivering the news with authority in a warm, conversational manner,'' KFWB news director Crys Quimby said.

POT SPOT SPAT: The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy's biggest anti-marijuana initiative is already stirring controversy, even before it launches this week.

One network has rejected two ads for offensive language, and a second has imposed time restrictions on boundary-pushing spots that link pot smoking to violence and date rape.

Two 30-second ads by Ogilvy & Mather, New York, featuring the tag, ``Responsibility is a bitch,'' were turned down by ABC. The network accepted a version without the profanity, sources said. ABC declined comment.

A CBS rep said the spots were being evaluated. NBC has restricted the spots to airing after 9 p.m. ``We realize there is a substantially larger younger audience from 8 to 9 p.m. where people might find it inappropriate,'' said Alan Wurtzel, NBC president of research and standards. ``Earlier than 9 p.m., we don't want the language in there.''

WHO SURFS WEB MOST?: Americans are accessing the Internet from work at a fairly high rate, and though men do it more, women are catching up, a report from Nielsen//NetRatings suggests.

In August, 20.4 million women went online from their workplace computers, 23 percent more than in August 2001. That's still below the 25.3 million men who surfed from work in August.

Men also spend more time online at work, go online for more sessions and view more pages than women.

In August, each man online at work spent an average 31 hours surfing, initiated 54 sessions in the month and viewed about 1,900 pages. Women spent 27 hours, initiated 50 sessions and viewed fewer than 1,700 pages.

The report indicates that 10 a.m. to noon is prime time for surfing the Web at work (86 percent of workplace Internet users surf during those hours), whereas 8 p.m. (58 percent) is the most popular hour for surfing at home.

Women still dominate away from the workplace, according to Nielsen//NetRatings. In August, 55.6 million women surfed from their home computers, compared with 50.4 million men.