ESPN WEST PLANS SHELVED BEFORE DEBUT.

Byline: Tom Hoffarth Daily News Staff Writer

Three months before its intended launch, the ESPN West mission has quietly been scrubbed.

Monday, Fox announced a 10-year cable agreement to continue regional coverage of the Angels and Mighty Ducks - the two teams that were to be the foundation of ESPN's first foray into the regional-cable business this October.

Disney, which announced the intention to create ESPN West at the Western Cable Show last December, ran into problems that many industry analysts anticipated - it had trouble making any headway with local cable operators finding space for the channel on their systems.

To date, only DDS systems DirecTV and EchoStar had committed to ESPN West because of 500-channel capacities on their small satellite dish distribution. Systems in Orange County were ones that ESPN West would have focused on most, but channel space for that has recently been given, in some cases, to Fox Sports West 2.

Sources said that several months ago, Fox received a call from Disney representatives, who run both ESPN as well as the two teams, and asked if they'd entertain an offer to continue their current contracts.

Fox, which understands the frustration of lining up cable systems considering the pains it went through the last two years to launch Fox Sports West 2 even with the Dodgers as its star attraction, was understandably ecstatic about locking in the Angels and Ducks as programming for the next decade.

Even though both the Angels and Ducks had filed suit against Fox Sports West and Fox Sports West 2 to have their contracts revoked - in both cases, agreements were reached to allow the teams to leave Fox - the Disney-owned teams are content with this new Fox alignment.

``We approach this as a long-term alliance,'' Tim Mead, vice president of communications for Anaheim Sports Inc., said of the team in a statement. ``Unique provisions ensure that both companies will be working toward a common goal in the years ahead.''

With the extended Fox deal, the Ducks will have 40 games a season (home and road) live on Fox Sports West 2 while the Angels will have 50 games (most at home) live on Fox Sports West.

Fox Sports West reaches 4.8 million viewers in Southern California, Nevada and Hawaii; Fox Sports West 2 is in 2.8 million homes in Southern California and Nevada. FSW2 has not been picked up by several cable systems in the San Fernando Valley and nearby areas.

``With this announcement, we fully expect Fox Sports West 2 to have 100 percent distribution in the coming months,'' Kitty Cohen, general manager of FSW and FSW2, said in a statement.

ESPN spokesman Chris LaPlaca said channel-capacity issues that affect all new networks were a large part of why ESPN West could not meet its October launch goal.

``On this time line, the startup needs of ESPN West didn't meet the immediate needs of the teams, and we support the decision'' said LaPlaca. ``Disney is all about doing what helps every one of its entities.''

LaPlaca did not rule out a future launch of ESPN West, although having the Angels and Ducks locked in for 10 years with the network's chief competition should preclude any movement on ESPN trying to go regional in Southern California market. ESPN continues to look into regional channels in other parts of the country, LaPlaca said.

Fox, which owns the Dodgers, also has the Lakers and Kings locked into agreements until 2010, and have three more years on a deal with the Clippers. Fox also has USC and UCLA sports rights - leaving little to no inventory for an ESPN West.