Some international television program buyers bristled Monday at Fox's tactic of premiering its new TV series during three separate launch periods in June, November and January while scrapping the traditional fall launch.

The Fox move was spotlighted by other foreign buyers in town for the annual Los Angeles Screenings as being potentially one of the most evolutionary developments to impact the global TV business in years.

Fox's plan could certainly affect the way foreign buyers do business with the Hollywood studios in the future, but that will depend on whether the year-round launch plan is adopted by other networks, said Bart Soepnel, senior vp acquisitions at the powerful European group SBS Broadcasting.

Fox International TV sales executives were busy Monday explaining the rationale behind the network's decision to abandon the traditional September-May television timetable, largely because of Fox's commitment to carrying postseason Major League Baseball games in October.

Said Richard Sattler, CEO of Los Angeles-based RSP international, which represents foreign TV buyers: "I will say that the international buyers are very confused by Fox announcing so many schedules with summer, fall and midseason launches. It makes it all very confusing, especially when we have spent time convincing the industry that time slots are everything."

He was referring to the fact that buyers traditionally prefer to see shows that they plan on airing in their territories to have solid time slots and sufficient opportunity to grow on the U.S. networks. Early cancellations are a huge problem for foreign buyers who are often stuck with just a handful of episodes of shows to which they have committed big launch budgets.

Soepnel added that SBS makes program acquisition decisions based on the traditional U.S. fall launch schedules. A shift to year-round launches would certainly change the way business is done, he added. But the upside to the change is that if the Fox summer shows work, "you can pick (a show) up and it has already been through a test phase. You saw that last year with 'The O.C.' "

But, Soepnel added: "That does not mean that I welcome this change. It's not all negative, but we have to see if it works out because we don't know what the consequences could be. If it means that all the summer shows are canceled after five or six episodes, then we will have to see how this works out in the long term."

Other buyers also were hopeful that the change would be good for business in the long run. Ed Robinson, an executive with Canada's CTV, believes that new shows could do very well on his network in the summer. "There are a lot of viewers around in the summer," he said. Michael Taylor, vp programming at Craig Media Inc., said Canadian broadcasters are taking in stride the decision by Fox to move to a 52-week schedule. "Fox has been doing that to varying degrees in recent years. And the other guys are following suit," Taylor said.

That was exactly the point that Marion Edwards, executive vp international television at 20th Century Fox, was busy making to clients who asked about the new launch plan Monday.

Said Edwards: "A couple of clients have mentioned it, and what I am saying is that the important thing to keep in mind is that every summer viewers go to cable and don't come back to network -- that's a proven fact. Network TV is attempting to respond to that, and that looks to be happening on more than just Fox, though Fox is the most proactive. Of course, (the network) has the unique challenge of having Major League Baseball in the fall."

She added that many buyers actually welcomed the fact that some of the new Fox programming will originally air during the summer months. In foreign markets, where dubbing is not required -- such as Canada and the United Kingdom -- new summer sitcoms including "The Quintuplets" and "Method & Red" could also go on air almost day-and-date with the United States and provide a fresh lineup instead of repeats.

SBS' Soepnel agreed. Debuting programming during the summer doldrums has been something that SBS also has been discussing, he said.

Edwards appealed to buyers: "Nobody likes change, but let's live through it once, and it will all seem clear as to why this is a good idea."

Buyers Monday pointed to various shows as being standouts in the studios' lineups, including Warner Bros. TV's' "Friends" spinoff, "Joey," and Fox's "Point Pleasant," among others. But SBS' Soepnel noted, "I am not seeing any breakout hits yet, but today was just Day 1 of the Screenings."

The market closes Friday.

Etan Vlessing contributed to this report.