By David Craig

        News Corp.'s Fox Television is grabbing headlines for its latest victory in the battle to steal market share from the Big Three networks. But the skirmish also produced a big winner in little known New World Communications.

        Shares of the Marietta, Ga.-based company - which operates TV stations, produces network programs (The Wonder Years, Santa Barbara) and owns part of an infomercial producer - have soared 43% since Friday. Monday, New World and Fox announced a deal to switch five New World TV stations in five key markets from CBS-affiliation to Fox.

        Interest in the stock, which surged 2 1/8 to $ 12 3/4 on top of Monday's 1 gain, has been intense. The stock, which usually averages daily trading volume of 61,000 shares, was fourth most active Tuesday on the Nasdaq market; 4.5 million shares were traded. The interest in New World showed investor approval of its Fox deal.

        Highlights:

        -- $ 500 million from Fox for preferred stock that could give it a 20% stake in New World. New World says it plans to use part of that to help fund its purchase of four TV stations from Great American Communications.

        -- Access to Fox's network of stations that cover more than 90% of the USA. The deal will give New World better chances of securing prime-time slots for new programs.

        -- A partner in Fox - home of hit shows Married . . . With Children and The Simpsons - to develop syndicated programming and prime-time series and TV movies.

        The value of potential benefits is hard to pin down because the company wasn't followed by securities analysts before the Fox deal. New World is controlled by New York financier Ronald Perelman. It's stock has traded only since March. The company was pieced together in part from TV stations picked up after the Chapter 11 reorganization of Storer Communications.

        Those TV stations are what attracted Ronald Baron, president of Baron Capital Management, to New World. He now owns a 1% stake.

        Baron likes the Fox deal. But so far he says he hasn't been able to get through to New World management. Still, he figures cash flow - the measure  investors use to judge TV companies - will drop 12% the first year as New World stations lose viewers when they switchfrom CBS to Fox, and then resume 10% annual growth.

        The real potential, Baron says, is in programming. Cash flow from programming now is about $ 25 million a year. That could jump to $ 50 million-$ 100 million depending on the success of new shows. "This could be terrific or it could be good for New World, but it won't be bad," he says. "This stock is going higher."