March 7, 1997

Cablevision Systems will acquire half of Madison Square Garden from its partner, ITT; $650-million deal will give giant Long Island cable operator near-total control of professional sports televising in New York, Cablevision will get New York Knicks and Rangers and MSG Network, nation's second-largest regional sports network; company will be able to combine MSG's rights to show Yankees, Rangers and Knicks games with rights for Mets, Nets, Devils and Islanders games on Sportschannel, which Cablevision also owns; chairman Charles F Dolan hopes to market teams in multiple cable channels; Richard Kessel is among consumer advocates voicing concern; ITT gets 81 percent gain on $360-million investment in August 1994, at time when it is fending off hostile takeover bid by Hilton Hotels (M)

ABC News Acts to Prepare A Successor to Arledge ABC said that it was creating a new position for Roone Arledge, left, the longtime president of its news division, in a move to prepare a successor to him at that operation, which has faced legal and competitive challenges. Mr. Arledge was named chairman of ABC News, while David Westin, who had been president of the ABC network, was named president of news. In an unusual reversal, Mr. Westin will now report to Mr. Arledge, who had reported to Mr. Westin. $(Page D2.$) ITT to Sell Stake in Garden ITT said it had agreed to sell its half interest in Madison Square Garden, which includes the arena, the New York Knicks, the Rangers and the MSG network, to its partner, Cablevision Systems, for $650 million. $(A1.$)

Review of intense battle for supremacy among New York City's local television news stations; NBC Channel 4 is challenging longtime overall leader, Channel 7, ABC, for overall news ratings champion; television news market in New York--biggest and most lucrative in nation--has had year of turmoil, marked by mass dismissals at one station, re-emergence of two dismissed anchors at a rival station, and a titanic battle for Nielsen ratings between two leaders; reruns for Seinfeld on Channel 11 are also challenging for top ratings in 11 to 11:30 pm slot; photos; chart (L)

A NEW SIMPSON JURY -- Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. found a tough new jury to hear the Simpson case: New York high schoolers. B3. THE CASE ON BULLETS -- The police released a report that backs hollow-point bullets. B3. AUTOS ON FRIDAY -- The weekly column examines the popularity among collectors of 30-year-old ''muscle cars.'' B13.

Federal immigration officials warn that backlog in processing citizenship applications has grown so large that many immigrants will almost certainly lose welfare benefits because they will not become citizens before cutoffs begin in August, under new welfare law; Social Security Administration is notifying 544,000 elderly and disabled aliens they will lose benefits; panicky rush to naturalize before money is cut off described; reasons for delay are large number of applicants, slow computers and more stringent rules on criminal background checks; each applicant must receive written clearance from FBI, following disclosure that 180,000 people were naturalized without checks last year (M)