CREDIBILITY CRUCIAL FOR NFL NETWORK.

Byline: TOM HOFFARTH Media

Rich Eisen, his tie loosened and a Coors Light in hand, stood in the middle of the 11,000-square-foot airplane hangarlike studio in Culver City a couple of hours after finishing his first show for the NFL Network on Tuesday night and marveled at his new surroundings.

``It's just beautiful,'' he said, then motioned toward an imposing sepia- colored photo looming near the Stage 1 door. ``And I can guarantee it's the only set in the history of television that has a 24-foot picture of Forrest Gregg covered in mud.''

Hosting the new channel's signature news show, ``NFL Total Access,'' Eisen admits there's plenty of bells and whistles at his disposal. Every element inside the giant soundstage looks cutting-edge, from the several jib cameras to the fantasy owners box to a control room visible in the background of the center-stage shot.

But the concern that the former ESPN ``SportsCenter'' anchor has isn't so visible: Will all this peripheral stuff muddy down the content and credibility of the 24-hour-a-day network that's not only owned and maintained by the league but, in all honesty, exists in large part to further promote and market the sport that already has millions of viewers committed to the product every Sunday during the fall?

``I know the viewers can smell a rat a mile away,'' Eisen said. ``Anything they think is a dog-and-pony act or a put-on won't succeed. To serve the viewers, everything needs to be discussed fairly and accurately, like any organization. A lot of people may be hung up on who owns the channel, but to be successful, things have to be covered in a high-class way.

``Since I've been on board, I've had the opportunity to meet everyone in the NFL hierarchy and not once was I given any ground rules or told what I can say or can't say. Nor would I have taken the job if that was the case.''

Based on a just a couple of days on the air, Eisen hasn't had to flinch too much about being put in a compromising position. On the first episode of the hour-long ``Total Access,'' there was a frank discussion about players who publicly rip their coaches, using regular co-hosts and former NFL players Ken Norton Jr. and Seth Joyner to cross-talk. There also have been debates about coaches on the hot seat and the pros and cons of trash-talking.

And though Eisen introduced an interview with NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue on Tuesday by humorously calling him ``my boss, and an all-around great guy,'' one of his first questions was about how soon there would be a team in the same market that this channel is emanating from.

``The sooner, the better,'' Tagliabue said, noting that five of the 10 largest crowds for an NFL game have been in Los Angeles.

Another regular Monday segment will include having NFL senior director of officiating Mike Pereira show tape of the weekend's most controversial plays to try to explain why they were made.

Gambling? It's never been anything the NFL has been comfortable addressing, and as are its rules with CBS, ABC and Fox, no spreads will be discussed, but games will be picked on Fridays with celebrity guests.

As for creating stories, there's always that chance by having Tampa Bay's Warren Sapp and the New York Giants' Michael Strahan on every Thursday for some real mudslinging on a split screen, with Eisen throwing out fodder for them to dance with.

``I'm sure like most start-ups, it'll take awhile before we find our voice, but it's really going to be about the voice of the fans and the passion people have for the NFL. I think it'll turn into a 52-week love affair.''

--Sure, but who sees it? Even though the NFL Network is given an automatic 11.8-million-home base with distribution on DirecTV, the major growing pain for this newest sports network will be cable distribution.

The NFL would seem to have the name leverage to push aside Tennis Channel, Fuel or any of the other half-dozen sports-related channels trying to establish a TV beachhead. But the fact there are no live NFL games on the channel - the NBA Channel has 95 games this season, helping it get into 44 million homes to date - and probably won't be soon can't help its clout.

Probably two-thirds of the 24 daily hours are filled with stuff from NFL Films, both old and new. But one show sure to be a winner is the ``Game of the Week'' segment, where NFL Films does its typical coverage of miked coaches and unique camera angles for games that were played the previous Sunday and present them in a consolidated story form.

``We're delivering a product to the underserved,'' is how Steve Bornstein, the former head of ESPN who has been given the keys to the NFL Network, likes to put it. ``The 256 regular-season games are ably covered by the other networks. I see no reason to challenge that.

``We know the NFL owns us, but we won't be apologetic. We'll be fair and unbiased to the consumers.''

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