DILLER, UNIVERSAL CREATE A 7TH NETWORK; PRIME TIME FOR VIEWERS.

Byline: Valerie Kuklenski Daily News Staff Writer

USA Network is already one of the most omnipresent channels in the sprawling cable universe, reaching nearly 72.5 million cable households nationwide, including most of the wired homes in the Los Angeles area.

But media mogul Barry Diller's takeover Monday of USA Network could push it to ``major network'' status thanks to a combination of easy viewer access and top-notch programming.

The deal with Seagram Co. announced Monday helps Diller in two ways become head of a major network, a position he has strived for since leading Fox's network expansion a decade ago.

First, Diller is picking up one of cable's most established franchises. It launched in 1980 and already is in a whopping 74 percent of U.S. cable households.

Second, Diller is acquiring most of Universal Television, the production company behind such hits as NBC's Emmy-winning ``Law & Order'' and the syndicated action shows ``Xena: Warrior Princess'' and ``Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.'' Universal also puts out newer fare such as NBC's ``Players,'' ABC's ``Something So Right'' and WB's ``The Tom Show.''

Universal, which also makes TV movies such as the upcoming NBC two-parter, ``The House of Frankenstein,'' can fill USA's prime-time schedule with the kind of new programming it's already selling to NBC and through syndication.

That kind of pipeline will help give USA Network the immediate perception of being in the same league as the other major networks: ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox.

USA Network also will benefit from Diller's close relationship with Tele-Communications Inc., the giant cable operator. Liberty Media Corp., the programming arm of TCI, owns 15 percent of Diller's Home Shopping Network and could boost its stake up to 25 percent.

Since that makes USA Network's success important to TCI's bottom line, the cable giant could position USA Network so it's available on TCI's basic cable packages and close to the over-the-air networks on the cable dial.

Diller said Monday that he could run new programs on his 12 television stations, which reach 39 percent of American households, as well as on USA Network. Doing so could enable the merged entity to sell national advertising.

Industry sources say it is unlikely that Diller would nab one of Universal's established productions such as ``Law & Order'' for his own network, although he would have that right in the fall of 1999 when its deal with NBC is up for renewal. That's because shows like ``Law & Order'' already make a lot of money for Universal on other outlets.

Instead, they expect he will seek out fresh material from Universal Television and other sources to augment or replace USA's current programming. The cable channel's original shows now include Wednesday movies and its Sunday night lineup of ``Pacific Blue,'' a cops-on-bikes drama; the long-running detective drama ``Silk Stalkings''; and ``La Femme Nikita,'' based on the movie about a hit woman recruited to be a government agent.

It's uncertain how quickly Diller will start changes at USA, but it's assumed it won't be like the slow rollout he led at Fox.

As head of Fox's network launch in 1986, Diller devised a strategy that called for gradual expansion of the network, with new nights of network programming introduced one at a time over a number of years.

But with Fox that tack was devised mainly to control the cash outlay and to appease affiliates who were sacrificing local advertising time in exchange for such out-of-the-ordinary and unproven shows as ``Married . . . With Children.''