By John Porretto

Associated Press

DETROIT – Add 24-hour automotive news and consumer programming to the list of cable networks hoping to find a niche among those already airing round-the-clock shopping, cooking, golfing and other interests.

Wheels TV, based in Acton, Mass., outside Boston, plans to launch in the first quarter of 2004 with a lineup of original and acquired programming focusing on cars, trucks and motorcycles – but not on competitive racing, the niche of Fox Cable Networks Group’s Speed Channel.

“Wheels TV is all about our enjoyment of the automobile,” said Wheels TV chairman and founder Jim Barisano. “That runs the gamut from the wind in your hair with the top down to safety and performance and resale value. We’re more on the road than on the track.”

The channel will cover topics such as technology, history and traffic. A sampling of shows includes Wild About Wheels, Muscle Car Crazies, Import Tuner Time and Auto-Biography.

Barisano said Wheels TV also will feature coverage from various international auto shows, classic movies, manufacturer-sponsored programming and daily news segments. The network will have field offices in New York, Detroit and Los Angeles.

Stan Soocher, an associate professor of music and entertainment industry studies at the University of Colorado at Denver, said the concept has potential but starting a new cable network is a difficult task.

“We’re a car culture, so you really have quite a vested interest in most of the audience,” Soocher said. “But you can end up in 100 million homes and still not be successful. You have to have the eyeballs on your channel, and to do that you need an attractive product.”

Wheels TV, which is privately held, aims to be in 5 million to 6 million homes when it launches early next year, but that will depend on how many cable systems decide to offer the channel.

The network is in the early stages of trying to forge relationships with cable company giants such as Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Cable, as well as satellite television providers DirecTV and EchoStar, Barisano said.

He said the idea for the network evolved over 20 years as he and others produced automotive programming for networks such as Discovery and Speedvision, the predecessor of Speed Channel.

Speed Channel, which carries primarily NASCAR programming and a variety of other racing, is in more than 58.8 million U.S homes and 4.5 million more in Canada, the network said.

Barisano declined to discuss Wheels TV’s finances, but he said it typically takes upward of $100 million to $125 million to launch a cable network and reach profitability.

Each year, a dozen or so proposals like Wheels TV make their way before cable operating companies, said Rob Stoddard, spokesman for the National Cable ‘ Telecommunications Association.

At the start of 2003, there were 308 nationally delivered cable channels, and another 40 to 50 regional channels, Stoddard said.

“Admittedly it’s a challenging environment, because there’s always more supply than demand,” Stoddard said. “But cable operators would be the first to tell you they’re more than willing to listen to new ideas. If that weren’t the case, we wouldn’t be watching channels like ESPN and CNN today.”