It's too early to pop the champagne, but there's reason to hope that the Daily News' campaign to save the Apollo Theatre is bearing fruit. Media behemoth Time Warner is looking to get involved with the legendary theater. And two bids came in this week for the rights to the popular TV program "It's Showtime at the Apollo."

Both bids offer the historic theater on 125th St. far more than it ever received under the previous contract. One promises almost a giddy amount of money.

All that remains is for the Apollo Theatre Foundation to get the most money it can next week when it meets to award the rights to the TV show for the 1998-99 season. In that case, the foundation's board of directors -- chaired by Rep. Charles Rangel -- would be hard-pressed to reject the offer submitted by Frank Mercado-Valdes.

The president of the African Heritage Network (AHN) has vaulted every hurdle put in his path by the Apollo board in its drive to give the contract back to Inner City Broadcasting honcho Percy Sutton.

Take a look at what Mercado-Valdes is offering:

• A $250,000 donation to the foundation for badly needed infrastructure repairs was raised yesterday to $500,000.
• A $1 million nonrefundable advance against 50% of "Showtime's" gross revenue.
• In addition to agreeing to pay $3,000 for each day it uses the theater for production, AHN would pay fair-market rate fees for use of the Apollo staff and building during production; it estimates these to be in the range of $500,000 to $850,000 for the year.

That's quite a breathtaking offer when you remember this: Under the five-year agreement that expired in December between Sutton and the foundation, the show generated $26 million, but the Apollo saw a paltry $200,000.

The only thing remarkable about the bid presented by Inner City and its partner Western International Syndication is that it offers a nonrefundable guarantee of $100,000 above any bid -- up to $1.5 million.

Actually, both bids are extraordinary in that they prove once and for all that "Showtime" is a profitable program. Why else would they put so much on the table for just a one-year contract?

It is also a vindication of what this page has said since April. That the Apollo foundation was due much more money than it was getting.

If the contract is awarded to Meracado-Valdes, the Apollo board will have turned a corner. It would show that the board finally has put the interests of the theater ahead of those of its chairman (Rangel) and his best friend (Sutton).

An even more hopeful sign is the talk going on that might lead to Time Warner "adopting the Apollo." It would be a dream come true to have the world's largest media company provide money and expertise to a national treasure that lacks both.

Toni Fay, Time Warner vice president for community relations, has been nominated to the board. There is even speculation that she could be the next chair of the foundation if Rangel steps aside.

For now, however, all the hope of change is just that. Next week will tell whether it was justified.