Station seeks to script its own success.

Leaving small market life behind, new NBC affiliate wants slice of Bay Area pie

The days of threading his Porsche through the turns at Sebring are on hold for KNTV-Channel 11 General Manager Bob Franklin.

Now the avid sports car enthusiast has a new race to run: Converting a longtime sleepy San Jose television station into the Bay Area's new NBC affiliate and, in the process, increasing its value 15-fold or more.

KNTV, formerly an ABC affiliate in San Jose but licensed to the much smaller Monterey market, is now an independent. It becomes NBC's San Francisco market affiliate in January 2002, replacing KRON, which has been the affiliate for more than a half-century and now becomes an independent.

The conversion is being watched industrywide. The rewards for KNTV corporate parent, New York-based Granite Broadcasting, could be astounding, increasing the value of the station from the $59 million Granite paid for it to as much as $750 million or more, comparable to the price KRON fetched when it was sold to Young Broadcasting several years ago.

Mr. Franklin, familiar with the split-second decisions needed to maneuver a Porsche at high speeds, feels confident he can lead Channel 11 through the twists and turns of going big time in a big way in a big hurry.

He says he gets a half-dozen calls from his boss each week.