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For the latest official media Press Releases, visit the VARTV Press Room...
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Calling on ALL media outlets including radio and TV stations, personalities, sales reps, office folk around the country, VARTV is now on MySpace and Facebook and follow us on Twitter.Pad your lists at myspace.com/VARTV and facebook.com!
:// WGNT-TV wins numerous honors at Seventy-Second Annual Virginia Association of Broadcasters Station Awards
| Tuesday, June 30, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... CW 27 WGNT-TV was a big winner at the 72nd Annual Virginia Association of Broadcasters Station Awards on Friday, June 26, 2009. More than 500 broadcasters from Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee attended the prestigious Fire & Ice Reception and Awards Banquet held at the Hilton Virginia Beach Oceanfront Hotel. (read more - CW27, WGNT)
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| Tuesday, June 30, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... WGRX FM was awarded “Best Morning Show” for “More in the Morning” at the 2009 Virginia Association of Broadcasters annual awards ceremony on Friday June 25th. The show is hosted by nationally known comedian/hypnotist Denny More. More is accompanied each morning by Paul Hayden who provides local traffic information as well as veteran newscaster Sheila Quinn. (read more - Thunder 104.5, WGRX) | back to top |
Virginia Association of Broadcasters award Cox Radio
| Tuesday, June 30, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... Cox Radio Richmond (WDYL-FM, WKHK-FM, WKLR-FM & WMXB-FM) were recognized by the Virginia Association of Broadcasters during the 72nd annual awards ceremony on June 19th. Cox Radio Richmond competed in 4 categories in the state wide large market group of radio stations. (read more - Cox RadioRichmond) | back to top |
| Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Max Media CHR "Hot 100.5" WVHT Norfolk fills afternoons with Kendall Taylor beginning mid-July. She previously did middays at CBS Radio's Rhythmic AC "Movin 107-5" KWVK Dallas until being let go in December 2008 due to budget cuts (the station was blown up for Spanish AC two months later). Most recently, Kendall was doing part-time work at Citadel's Modern AC WDVD/96.3 Detroit.At the same time, PD/MD Paul McCoy announces he will handle middays for Hot.
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The budget axe hits Belo Broadcasting's WVEC/13 Hampton/Norfolk again today with more than a half-dozen folks fired (not laid off)... (6/29/2009) | back to top |
| Monday, June 29, 2009Jeff Lawson, chief meteorologist for WVEC-TV News 13, is recovering from surgery following a bicycling accident on Saturday. (read more - The Virginian-Pilot)
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| Monday, June 29, 2009Saga Communications Norfolk Operations Manager Mike Beck announced to staff late last week that part-timer Pat Banks has been upped to full-time status... beginning today. Banks will be doing news for Classic Hits "106.9 The Fox" WAFX, producing the public affairs programming for the cluster (WNOR/98.7, WAFX/106.9, WJOI/1230), helping out in the production department and filling in for vacations.
Beck said of Banks, "For more than ten years on the TCI staff, Pat has been one of our most dependable, flexible and versatile employees. We are fortunate to have someone with the work ethic, talent and experience that Pat brings."
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| Monday, June 29, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... After her show Friday night at Celebrate Virginia Live in Fredericksburg, Jo Dee Messina surprised fans with a 40 minute acoustic set at the WFLS’s after show party at Bailey’s Grille and Pub.
Club DJ’s quickly rigged a sound system for Jo Dee and her band, and approximately 400 club goers were treated to a bonus set of many of her hits.
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| Monday, June 29, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... Congratulations go out to Brian Weigand and Mari White, the dynamic duo on The MorningLine, the live, four hour morning show on NewsTalk 105.9, WLNI, in Lynchburg, VA. On June 26, 2009, The Virgina Association of Broadcasters recognized The MorningLine the Best Large Market Morning Show in Virginia.WLNI is the only 24 hour FM news and talk station in the Lynchburg market and also carries Neal Boortz, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Clark Howard, Mark Levin and George Noory, as well as weekend favorites, Glen Beck, Kim Komando, Leo LaPorte and Gary Sullivan.
WLNI is also the Lynchburg affiliate for Virginia Tech Sports and the Washington Redskins.
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| Monday, June 29, 2009Former LIN TV WAVY (10/NBC) Portsmouth and Local TV LLC "NewsChannel 3" WTKR (CBS) Norfolk anchor/reporter Les Smith was recently picked up as a reporter for "News 12 New Jersey," Cablevision's cable-only news channel in New York-New Jersey-Connecticut.
The Newport News native spent 22 years at "Wavy" before quitting the station in late April 2007. Exactly one year later, Smith was picked up at WTKR but his tenure there lasted less than two months when he abruptly quit that station.
Again, one year later, Smith is now a reporter covering the New Jersey State House for "News 12." Before "News 12," Smith did freelance anchoring for the all pets related zootoo.com website.
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| Sunday, June 28, 2009Even his harshest critics would have to admit that it's hard to imagine sports talk radio in Hampton Roads without Tony Mercurio. (read more - The Virginian-Pilot)
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| Wednesday, June 25, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... 92.9 The Wave (WVBW-FM) is saddened by the news of the passing of the legendary Michael Jackson. In order to remember and celebrate his life and the musical talents Michael shared with the world, 92.9 The Wave honors "The King of Pop" with a Michael Jackson More Music Weekend. (read more - 92-9 The Wave, WVBW) | back to top |
Pop icon Michael Jackson passed away today at the age of 50... (6/25/2009) | back to top |
| Wednesday, June 25, 2009
On April 16, 2007, photographer Alan Kim of the Roanoke Times snapped a photo of Kevin Sterne as four police officers hurriedly carried him from Virginia Tech’s Norris Hall after Seung-Hui Cho committed the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. (read more - Virginia Tech) | back to top |
ION Media changes the call letters of WPXV-DT/49 Norfolk to "WPXV-TV" and WPXR-DT/38 Roanoke to "WPXR-TV." Belo Broadcasting changes the call letters of WVEC-DT/13 Hampton to "WVEC" (6/24/2009) | back to top |
Verizon now offers up to 130 High-Def Channels depending on market
| Wednesday, June 24, 2009The game of high-definition leapfrog continues, with Verizon Communications announcing the addition of six new high-definition channels from Viacom's MTV Networks' stable to FiOS TV. (read more - Multichannel News)
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| Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Don't tell the kids, but Dora the Explorer is right here in Virginia Beach. At least her voice is. "Dora," along with shows such as "Cash Cab" and the A&E "Biography" series, video games such as "Gears of War" and some popular radio jingles are all clients and products of Studio Center: Total Production... (read more - The Virginian-Pilot) | back to top |
Centennial Broadcasting's "NewsTalk 105.9" WLNI Lynchburg added talker Rush Limbaugh to its on-air line-up today at noon... (6/22/2009) | back to top |
| Monday, June 22, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... Effective Sunday, June 28th, at 10:30 a.m., "Smart Money Solutions" is moving to WLEE NewsTalk 990 AM. Many will remember WLEE as one of Central Virginia's oldest and best known radio stations featuring national personalities like Dennis Miller, Don Imus and Dr. Laura Schlessinger.NewsTalk 990 is also the "home" of Richmond's own Harvey Hudson / Passing Parade.
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| Monday, June 22, 2009
Verizon FiOS continues creating the ultimate broadband and home-entertainment experience by introducing on Monday (June 22) new, faster broadband speeds - both downstream and upstream - for the most popular FiOS Internet services. (read more - Verizon) | back to top |
WAVY tops Virginia's biggest DMA
| Monday, June 22, 2009
The Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News market, collectively known as Hampton Roads, is comprised of distinctive cities, each with a unique history. It also has an extraordinarily large military population, with hubs such as Langley Air Force Base and Naval Station Norfolk. (read more - Broadcasting & Cable) | back to top |
Richmond is included for reception issues with NBC12
| Friday, June 19, 2009The FCC says that by the end of the week it will have engineers in Baltimore, Nashville, Raleigh, N.C.; Rochester, N.Y.; Miami, and Richmond, Va., to help stations who have asked it for assistance, either with DTV consumer outreach or technical issues with signal reception. (read more - Broadcasting & Cable)
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| Friday, June 19, 2009Cox Communications customers now have access to new HD channels, including two new family friendly high-definition channels with the addition of Disney Channel HD and ABC Family HD to Cox's lineup. (read more - FOX Business)
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| Friday, June 19, 2009WTKR News Channel 3 reporter and former anchor Pat McReynolds was fired from the station Wednesday. (read more - The Virginian-Pilot)
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| Thursday, June 18, 2009Former news anchor Pat McReynolds has left local CBS affiliate WTKR-TV 3, the station confirmed today. (read more - Daily Press)
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Local TV's "NewsChannel 3" WTKR (CBS) Norfolk shuffles reporters, shifting Blaine Stewart to mornings and Marie Coronel moving from mornings to dayside duties... (6/18/2009) | back to top |
| Thursday, June 18, 2009Clear Channel CHR "Jammin JJS" WJJS/104.9 Roanoke//WJJX/102.7 Appomattox/Lynchburg and Rock WROV/96.3 Roanoke PD Cisco has told AllAccess.com that he'll be exiting the stations next Friday, June 26. Cisqo is heading back to Pennsylvania to be closer to family.
Cisqo told AllAccess, "I'm helping with the search for my replacement. We're looking for someone to PD both WROV and WJJS. This person will also need to hold down afternoons on ROV. This is a great opportunity to work with some really first-class people."
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| Thursday, June 18, 2009Cindy Crawford, former personality on defunct Max Media Rock "100.5 MAX FM" WXMM Norfolk (now CHR "Hot 100.5" WVHT), has joined Entercom Norfolk. Cluster OM Don London said, "It is with great enthusiasm that we announce the addition of Cindy Crawford as WPTE Promotions Director and secondarily as a multi-station swing and fill in air talent."
Crawford has over 14 years of experience in radio in several formats, in television and as a talent at Studio Center. London went on to say, "Cindy is a career broadcaster and has done it all including marketing, promotion, special event planning, on air work, production, remotes, appearances, endorsements, and programming tasks."
Crawford started with Entercom on Monday.
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Vintage digital channel adds shows, partners
| Thursday, June 18, 2009
In a nod to the analog shutoff's "DTV" moniker, the digital channel Retro Television Network (RTN) has rebranded itself RTV--dropping the Network part of its name."We're Retro Television--it's what we are and what we do," says RTV principal Neal Ardman... (read more - Broadcasting & Cable)
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| Thursday, June 18, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... Star 94.1 (WXEZ-FM) launches their annual outdoor gospel music festival, Picnic at the Pavilion, on Saturday, June 20th at the nTelos Wireless Pavilion in Portsmouth. Headlining this year's event will be Integrity recording srat Israel Houghton of Israel and New Breed along with Verity recording artist Hezekiah Walker. (read more - Star 94.1, WXEZ) | back to top |
| Wednesday, June 17, 2009
We hear that reporter and former anchor Pat McReynolds at Local TV's "NewsChannel 3" WTKR (CBS) Norfolk was fired today. His bio is already gone from the station's website.
According to a cached page of his bio on the Internet, McReynolds started with Channel 3 in April 2006. He was brought in from KING/Seattle to anchor the evening newscasts with Barbara Ciara. In September 2008, WTKR shuffled its anchor line-up and McReynolds was demoted to general assignment reporter.
Pat is married to LIN TV WAVY (10/NBC) Portsmouth producer and morning reporter Allyson Blair.
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| Wednesday, June 17, 2009FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... Tidewater Parent Magazine, the news and information resource for Hampton Roads families is proud to announce a new product, targeting local moms! (read more - mytidewatermoms.com)
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Next audition set for Friday, June 19th
| Tuesday, June 16, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... Here’s another chance to audition to be the next FACE of FOX43. The new FACE of FOX43 will receive a one-year contract with the local FOX Affiliate representing the television station at local community events, on-air on FOX43 and online at FOX43tv.com. (read more - FOX43, WVBT) | back to top |
| Monday, June 15, 2009Years in the making and days into the doing, television's conversion to a digital transmission system is baffling many local viewers. (read more - Richmond Times-Dispatch)
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| Monday, June 15, 2009Local television news continues to attract a large number of Hampton Roads viewers, though cable and the Internet are eating into these numbers. (read more - Daily Press)
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WDYL-FM Y101 to change its position on the radio dial July 17th
| Monday, June 15, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... WDYL-FM Y101, Richmond’s New Rock Alternative, announced today that its frequency will officially change from 101.1 FM to 100.9 FM, on July 17th at 2pm.The dial position change will be in conjunction with the transition to a new tower. (read more - Y101, WDYL)
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| Saturday, June 13, 2009The switch to digital by 971 full-power TV stations Friday prompted hundreds of thousands of consumers to call for assistance, but caused no widespread disruption of over-the-air television broadcasts, the FCC reported this morning. (read more - TVNEWSDAY)
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| Friday, June 12, 2009FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... Hampton Roads viewers can now download a free application that will bring WAVY News 10 and FOX 43 to their iPhone and iPod Touch. This expansion will allow immediate access to local news, sports, weather, national and world news from the Station on Your Side as well as entertainment news from FOX43. (read more - WAVY, WVBT)
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For Continuing Coverage of the Suffolk Tornado
| Wednesday, June 10, 2009FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... WAVY TV 10 won a regional Emmy Award at the 51st Emmy Awards held on June 6th in Washington, D.C. The ceremony was sponsored by the National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. The station was recognized for its continuing team coverage of the Suffolk Tornado of 2008. (read more - WAVY-TV) | back to top |
| Tuesday, June 9, 2009In 2006, local television news anchor Gwen Williams Dandridge and her husband, Eric, began investing with Walkwood Properties, which offered a 50 percent return in 45 days. (read more - Richmond Times-Dispatch)
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| Tuesday, June 9, 2009The FCC has granted Liberty University a new Class B1 FM radio station, to be licensed to Amelia Court House, on 90.7. The station is planned to do 6kW (11.8 vertical) at 460 feet from an antenna located in neighboring Chesterfield County. The new station should provide listenable coverage for most of the Richmond metro, especially the futher southwest one goes.
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| Tuesday, June 9, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... WHFS, the legendary rock radio station, marks its return to DC on Wednesday, June 10 when it launches digitally on 94.7 HD2. Available to consumers with an HD Radio receiver, HFS will feature D.J. Cerphe, an original alumni of WHFS from the late seventies, hosting the station’s debut (12:00Noon-2:00PM, ET). (read more - HFS2) | back to top |
| Tuesday, June 9, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... PortFolioWeekly.com is pleased to announce the launch of our newest local online music show, The Alfredo Torres Debacle.Who is Alfredo Torres? Alfredo was most recently the popular host of ‘The Local’s Lounge’ on 100.5 Max FM and was a regular on the infamous Mike & Bob Show on 96X. (read more - PortFolioWeekly.com)
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WVBT FOX 43 searches for NEXT “Face of FOX43”
| Thursday, June 4, 2009FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... FACE of FOX43, Kelly Gaita will complete her year as FOX43 spokesperson this August. So, the search is on to find the next face to represent FOX43. The new FACE of FOX43 will receive a one-year contract with the local FOX Affiliate representing the television station... (read more - FOX43) | back to top |
| Wednesday, June 3, 2009According to R&R's Facebook page...
"The current state of affairs has left The Nielsen Company with no other alternative but to immediately cease all services, products and events related to Radio & Records. The magazine's final edition is the June 5 issue. Electronic products end today, the Web site will be taken offline soon.
Editor's note: The website is now offline...
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| Tuesday, June 2, 2009Jim Principi is the new vice president and general manager of Saga Communications Charlottesville, Va., cluster... (read more - Radio & Records)
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June 7th Webcast is first of its kind offered to Hampton Roads listeners
| Monday, June 1, 2009FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... radioNtenna (WHRV HD-3), one of the digital radio stations of public broadcaster WHRO, will offer the area’s first live video stream of a local radio show on the Internet on June 7th at 11am. (read more - WHRV-HD3)
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| Monday, June 1, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... The Hardees Latin Festival is back on the Virginia Beach Oceanfront at 24th Street Park June 5th and 6th and again this year it is free and open to the public.The event is a joint venture between Beach Events and Selecta 1050 WVXX, Hampton Roads' only Hispanic Station. Friday's headliner comes from Miami Locos Por Juana and Saturday from NYC it's La Excelencia Orchestra named as the #1 Salsa Orchestra by Latin Beat magazine.
For more info go to selecta1050.com or beachstreetusa.com
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Condolenses to friends and family of Steve Schott, a long time Broadcast RF Transmission professional, who passed away Thursday in Dallas... (6/1/2009) | back to top |
| Friday, May 29, 2009
The 106.1 signal has quite a history in eastern Virginia. Another chapter begins today when Sinclair Communications cranked up the power to its Country "US106" WUSH Poquoson/Norfolk at 11:20 this morning.The old tower location for WUSH was in Hampton with just 2.6kW. Now from a more central Hampton Roads location in Portsmouth, WUSH is pushing over 4X the power (11kW). US106 is in direct competiton with Max Media powerhouse "97-3 The Eagle" WGH. Eagle still has two big advantages over US106; it's the market's heritage Country outlet and it has a much, much stronger signal... 74kW.
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CountryFest to take place at Innsbrook Pavilion this Sunday, May 31st
| Thursday, May 28, 2009FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... WKHK-FM K95 is hosting the 9th Annual K95 Pontiac GMC CountryFest this Sunday, May 31st at the Innsbrook Pavilion. (read more - K95, WKHK)
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Cox Radio joins forces with local businesses to collect CDs for the Troops
| Wednesday, May 27, 2009FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... Cox Radio Richmond (WKHK K95, WKLR 96.5, WMXB 103.7, WDYL Y101.1) has partnered with Pearson Signature Dealerships and Ashley Furniture Home Stores for “Music for the Military” campaign. (read more - Cox Radio Richmond)
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| Tuesday, May 26, 2009On May 22, Cox customers in Hampton will have access to an additional 21 high-definition channels. With these additions, customers can now receive up to 56 HD channels. U.S. Army base Fort Monroe is included in the expansion of service. (read more - PRNewswire)
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| Friday, May 22, 2009
"The Morning Point" with Chuck Doud and WooWoo heard on Entercom Modern AC "94.9 The Point" WPTE Virginia Beach announced they are moving to afternoons.The nationally syndicated Dallas-based "Kidd Kraddick In The Morning" show was already announced to be coming to the station. The new schedule is now set starting Monday, June 1:
Barry McKay -- 5-6 a.m.A station official said, "We’re very excited about this with essentially three morning – high personality shows on The Point. There’s a huge opportunity for the Point to completely dominate afternoon drive with Chuck and Woo Woo and further strengthen our already strong position in the market.
Kidd Kraddick In The Morning -- 6-10 a.m.
Barry McKay -- 10-11 a.m.
Ryan Seacrest -- 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
The Afternoon Point -- 3-7 p.m.
Kim Iverson -- 7 p.m.-midnight
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Somar Communication's WMDM/97.7 Lexington Park, MD has flipped from Hot AC "Magic 97.7" to Mainstream CHR "97.7 The Rocket." The station was doing Hot AC for just two months... (5/21/2009)
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| Thursday, May 21, 2009FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... WTKR NewsChannel 3 finishes the May 2009 sweeps period #1 at Noon and continued its mission to be number one at 11pm. (read more - NewsChannel 3 WTKR)
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| Thursday, May 21, 2009FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... WAVY News 10, the station ON YOUR SIDE, is once again number one in Morning, Early Evening and Late Evening newscasts in Hampton Roads in the just completed May Nielsen ratings period. (read more - WAVY-TV 10)
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| Thursday, May 21, 2009Disney and ESPN Media Networks and Comcast announced an agreement to add ESPNU to its Digital Classic level of service and ESPN360.com to Comcast.net. Comcast will launch ESPNU in a majority of its cable systems in time for the start of the college football season. (read more - RBR.com)
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| Thursday, May 21, 2009FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... Since Labor Day last year, as a result of budget cuts, Mike Arlo has been pulling “double duty” on the Fox, covering the morning show in addition to his long running midday program. (read more - FM99, 106.9 The Fox)
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| Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Ion Media Networks Inc., saying it reached a restructuring agreement with a group of debt holders to convert all its debt to equity, filed for bankruptcy court protection in New York.Ion, a West Palm Beach, Florida-based owner of television stations, listed liabilities of more than $1 billion and assets of as much as $10 million in its filing yesterday... (read more - Bloomberg)
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Systems in NE NC to be affected
| Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Time Warner Cable confirmed Monday it will stop offering HDNet and HDNet Movies across all of its systems effective May 31.The move by Time Warner Cable, which has 8.7 million digital cable subscribers, is a blow to the Mark Cuban-backed HDNet, which was among the first HD services available to cable and satellite operators. (read more - Multichannel News)
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