TELEVISION - May 5, 1992

Deal Makers: Former basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Laurel Entertainment said Monday they have landed the rights to produce a television movie based on the World War II exploits of the all-black 761st Tank Battalion, whose soldiers were among the first to reach and help liberate concentration camps at Buchenwald and Dachau. . . . Also Monday, Grant/Tribune Productions announced a new deal with Walt Disney Television to develop and produce television programming. B. Donald (Bud) Grant, chief executive officer of Grant/Tribune Productions, is a former president of CBS Entertainment. . . . The Kushner-Locke production company has acquired the TV rights to the best-selling book “Double Cross,” the story of Mafia boss Sam Giancana, and will turn it into a four-hour miniseries for NBC.