Fountain of youth: new local TV channel targets interests of key demographic.

The primetime lineup at L.A.'s Channel 23 is a wasteland of infomercial programming, including a 1 1/2-hour segment on cutlery.

Now, in the television equivalent of urban renewal, a group of investors and programmers are taking a wrecking ball to the four-hour prime time lineup--out with the forks and spoons, in with shows for L.A.'s hip, youthful masses.

Beginning Oct. 3, KVMD-TV will be the broadcast and cable home of Local Television Network (LTN), which is targeting 18- to 34-year-old Angelenos with programs on sports, fashion, travel and social activities.

LTN's creators say that the network could provide a template for others around the United States, combining the production values and youthful sensibilities of MTV with the localism of public-access cable.

"It's an area of 17 million people and it's also the television capital of the world," said Justin Mahy, chairman and chief executive of Local Television Network Inc. "Why is there no local television for younger audiences? Also, who cares more about what's going on in this city than young people?"

But LTN is entering a crowded and competitive television market. Nationally, MTV has targeted its youthful demographic since the early 1980s. In early 2004, L.A.-based Si TV went on the air catering to English-speaking younger Latinos. Earlier this summer, former Vice President Al Gore helped launched Current, a national cable network targeting people in their 20s and 30s with current-affairs programming.

LTN's closest competitor may be LATV, an around-the-clock network that debuted in 2001 targeting young Latinos with a mostly English-language mix of programming emphasizing music.

"Any cable startup is a risky endeavor," said Michael Kassan, president of the entertainment media consultancy Media Link LLC. "That being said, there's always room for a great idea. The problem with that demographic is that everyone wants to find them but you can't find them. They have to find you."

When it goes on the air, LTN is expected to reach 3.7 million of the 5 million television households in metropolitan Los Angeles. In addition to KVMD, it will be available on satellite via DirecTV and the Dish Network, and on cable through Adelphia, Charter and in some Time Warner territories.

In addition, LTN executives said they are negotiating with Cox Communications Inc. and Time Warner Inc. to serve the Cox and remaining Time Warner households in greater L.A. Malay said he expects to reach a deal with Comcast Corp. for its households, but a Comcast spokeswoman said the company is not currently negotiating with LTN.

LTN plans to launch with seven hours of programming per week in four categories: sports, fashion and shopping, socializing and music, and travel and lifestyle.

Also being developed is a Web site that initially will promote the broadcast network but is expected to offer original content in the future. Network executives said they would like to replicate LTN in the other top 10 U.S. television networks with content specific to each market.

Mahy said the nucleus of the current station came together last year. Network executives include veterans of E! Networks, the cable-advertising consortium Adlink and the investment-banking firm Lehman Brothers Inc.

The network's headquarters on the top floor of a rundown Hollywood office building hum with activity as many of the 120 LTN employees write scripts, design graphic treatments for programs and sell advertising. LTN is using new, all-digital equipment that is compatible with high-definition television. And the network has developed an extensive promotional plan that includes advertising on three radio stations. 210 bus placards and 570 movie screens.

Mahy said financing is coming from about 10 individual investors and hedge funds he refused to name. He said some of the investors have entertainment-industry backgrounds while others do not.

Mahy and Dean Waters, LTN's co-head of sales and marketing, said the network has lined up a full slate of national advertisers, including American Suzuki Motor Corp. and the Gary Group, a marketing agency representing record labels such as RCA, Universal and Warner Bros. Records. The network is not courting local advertisers, who likely would be priced out of its range.

Nancy McLachlan, vice president and regional broadcast director for the advertising firm Initiative Media, said many national advertisers are struggling to find ways to reach the elusive younger audience, but aren't necessarily gravitating toward television. Thus, LTN likely will be closely watched by advertisers and broadcasters looking to reach younger viewers.

"This is a demographic that's hard to reach by traditional media," McLachlan said. "They have so many choices and I don't think broadcast is the first place they're going to go."

Programming at the network is headed by Greg Brannan, the former executive vice president of programming for E! Networks and one of the architects of E! Networks' Style Network. A gray-haired veteran of cable programming, Brannan said he will consult with LTN's mostly 20- and 30-something segment producers on content that is relevant and interesting to L.A. youth.

"Our broader mission is really to super-serve the 18- to 34-year-old Angeleno," Brannan said. "Each program is really a local microcosm of something that 18- to 34-year-olds are already watching at the national level."

Kassan said LTN's task of attracting local youth is complicated by the short attention spans and fickle viewing habits of its target demographic, adding that he would be more excited about the network if it packaged its programming as bursts of video for cellular telephones.