BRIEFCASE PANEL: REVIEW TV QUALITY, DIVERSITY.

Byline: - From Staff and Wire Reports

Members of the television industry, expressing concern about the impact of media consolidation on programming quality and diversity, have asked for a federal study of the issue.

In a letter to FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell, TV creators called popular culture among ``our great national treasures'' and one that is under assault.

``The harm comes about as a direct result of the growing concentration of ownership. The consequences of this new factor in our industry are - and this is no exaggeration - potentially catastrophic,'' the Caucus for Television Producers, Writers & Directors said in its Friday letter.

While new technology has increased the number of radio and TV channels available ``there has also been an alarming increase in the number of corporate entities which own and control these systems,'' the caucus wrote.

``We believe the FCC needs to consider these implications and the results deregulation has had upon the public interest,'' the letter said.

A call seeking comment from the Federal Communications Commission was not immediately returned Monday.

The approximately 150-member caucus bills itself as the ``creative conscience'' of the TV industry and the only group to represent the writers, directors and producers guilds.

WellPoint raises its earnings guide

THOUSAND OAKS - WellPoint Health Networks Inc. raised its 2002 earnings guidance Monday based on expected membership growth in key markets.

WellPoint - the nation's largest Blue Cross and Blue Shield operator, with 13 million members - raised its guidance to $4.30 per diluted share from $4 - 10 cents per diluted share for each of the three remaining quarters this year.

WellPoint said earlier it expected membership growth of 5 percent to 7 percent over the previous year, but now expects growth to approach 10 percent.

Venture capital funds plunge 27%

SAN FRANCISCO - After escaping serious damage in the early stages of the high-tech wreck, venture capitalists suffered even deeper financial wounds than stock market investors last year, according to industry figures released Monday.

Venture capital funds plunged by an average of 27.8 percent in 2001, a gruesome about-face from the prior year when the average fund gained 28.6 percent, according to statistics complied by Thomson Financial/Venture Economics for the National Venture Capital Association, an industry trade group.

It marked the industry's first calendar-year loss since the trade group began tracking fund returns in 1980. Before 2001, venture capitalists' worst single-year performance came in 1984 when the average fund inched up by 1.3 percent.

BAE interested in popular TRW 

LONDON - BAE Systems PLC, one of Europe's largest defense and aviation groups, said Monday it has entered talks about possibly acquiring TRW Inc., a U.S. defense and automotive business.

Cleveland-based TRW already is the target of an unsolicited $6.7 billion takeover bid from Northrop Grumman Corp., a Los Angeles-based defense contractor. Northrop agreed last month to delay proceeding with its $53 a share bid for TRW until Sept. 30 while the companies negotiate a buyout deal.

BAE Systems said it has been following these developments and believed the situation might offer it an opportunity to extend its defense-related business in North America, where it already is an important supplier of the U.S. military.

Short-term T-bill rates trade mixed

WASHINGTON - Interest rates on short-term Treasury securities were mixed in Monday's auction.

The Treasury Department sold $17 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 1.720 percent, unchanged from last week. An additional $15 billion was sold in six-month bills at a rate of 1.850 percent, down from 1.875 percent.

The six-month rate was the lowest since Feb. 19 when the rate was 1.830 percent.

In a separate report, the Federal Reserve said Monday that the average yield for one-year constant maturity Treasury bills, the most popular index for making changes in adjustable rate mortgages, dipped to 2.32 percent last week from 2.35 percent the previous week.

Adelphia adjusts revenue figures

PHILADELPHIA - Adelphia Communications, under investigation for questionable accounting practices between the company and partnerships controlled by the family of founder John J. Rigas, said Monday it had dismissed Deloitte & Touche as its accountant and acknowledged it had overstated its revenue for the years 2001 and 2000.