|
 ..:: Channel 4 to be added to NC cable systems...  UPDATED: Sky Television, owners of independent 'Sky4' WSKY Manteo NC, successfully petitioned the FCC for a special relief order to be added to cable systems in several NC communities. The cable system involved is MediaCom and the affected communities are Colerain, Kelford, Lewiston, Woodville, Merry Hill, Powellsville, Roxobel, Windsor, Jamesville, Columbia, Creswell, Plymouth and Roper NC. What they argued was for those towns to be added to the WSKY TV market. Channel 4's DMA is Norfolk/Virginia Beach/Newport News. The towns listed above are in the Greenville/New Bern/Washington DMA. When Sky approached Mediacom to be added to the cable systems, they were turned down. Apparently, Mediacom chose not to oppose the FCC filing though. With this favorable decision for Sky, Mediacom will have to add WSKY to their line-up within 90 days of be notified to
so. The request will be made to Mediacom on Monday - 3/3. Essentially this gives WSKY the opportunity to pick-up more TV viewers who subscribe to cable but don't watch OTA stations (using an antenna). This adds approximately 8-10,000 cable homes to Sky's overall cable base (now over 500,000 homes). The next area for Sky to "conquer" - Virginia's Eastern Shore - it's in the works. As mentioned in another news headline, WSKY will be added to the DirecTV line-up on March 19th..... (2/28/03)..:: FOX Sports Radio drops show... Jerry Lindquist of the Times-Dispatch says that Fox Sports Radio mercifully eliminated the smarmy "Kiley and Booms" late-afternoon gabfest that occasionally polluted the local airways via Clear Channel's 'SportsRadio 910' WRNL. Late last year, FOX didn't renew the contract of Chuck Booms, who was the primary offender. Then, left on his own, Kevin Kiley lasted until he reportedly interviewed a prostitute during Super Bowl week. Now, he's gone, too..... (2/26/03) ..:: WSKY to be added to DirecTV; other station news... DirecTV has announced that independent 'Sky4' WSKY Manteo NC will be added to their local Norfolk channel line-up March 19th. Sky established a complete microwave and fiber path back to their uplink facility in LA and all is a go. Channel 4 will carry 62 Baltimore Orioles games beginning with opening day against Cleveland March 31st. The package includes games with the NY Yankees, Boston, Atlanta and St. Louis. WSKY-TV will televise the 14th Annual Kelly's St. Patrick's Day Parade from Nags Head, North Carolina, 2PM Sunday March 16th. It is the first "Live" project with their new "Live Mobile Studio" and is part of their on-going effort to produce live local programming. The Kelly Parade is the largest St. Patrick's parade in North Carolina with nearly 100 entries and nearly 1000 participants. WSKY used their live truck to produce highlights of the 99th Annual First Flight Celebration from Kill Devil Hills in December and will use the truck for a variety of First Flight events during the 2003 First Flight Centennial. Channel 4 is aiming for 10 live local events this year. Three pics of BABS - the live truck BABS 1 BABS 2 BABS 3..... (2/26/03)..:: 'Joe Millionaire' helps FOX in ratings... The final hour of "Joe Millionaire" drew a stunning audience of 40 million people last week, according to Nielsen Media Research. The top 10 shows for the week of February 17th thru 23rd according to AC Nielsen were... (show, network, rating) "Joe Millionaire," Fox, 21.8; "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 17.0; "Joe Millionaire" special, Fox, 16.6; "Grammy Awards," CBS, 14.7; "ER," NBC, 14.4; "Law & Order," NBC, 13.2; "The Bachelorette," ABC, 13.0; "Friends," NBC, 12.8; "Friends" special, NBC, 11.8; "Without a Trace," CBS, 11.6... For the week, CBS averaged 15.6 million viewers (9.8 rating/15 share), FOX 15 million viewers (8.7/13), NBC 12.3 million (8.1/13), ABC 10.3 million (6.6/ 10), The WB 3.8 million (2.4/ 4), UPN 3.5 million (2.3/ 3) and PAX 1.2 million (0.8/1). A ratings point represents 1,067,000 households, or 1% of the country's estimated 106.7 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show. The entire prime-time TV ratings list for the week can be found at the San Francisco Chronicle..... (2/26/03) ..:: Richmond LPTV changes hands... LPTV W48BI Richmond changes ownership from VVILPTV Inc to Word Of God Fellowship Inc. Channel 48 is a low-powered TV station that broadcasts ShopNBC. With the new ownership, it looks like that the shopping channel might be dropped for religious programming. W48BI uses a directional antenna and basically throws all of it's 30kW of power north in Metro Richmond. They have been on the air since 1992..... (2/26/03) ..:: Voice of Monarchs lets his versatility do the talking... There was a good article in this past Saturday's Pilot about current ODU Monarch's play-by-play commentator John Castleberry. If you remember, he was the weekend sports anchor at WAVY (10/NBC) for 10 years before jumping ship to WTKR (3/CBS) to ultimately get canned from them. The entire article can be found at pilotonline.com..... (2/26/03) ..:: Fred radio ratings: Winter 2003 Phase I... Fredericksburg Arbitrends were released earlier this afternoon. This period covers December/January/February. First was Free Lance-Star's country '93WFLS' with a 14.3 (+0.9). Second, Mid-Atlantic Network's Hot AC 'B-101.5' WBQB slips to 9.2 (-0.8). In a solid third again was Bonneville's news WTOP with a 6.3 (-0.4). 4th was Free Lance-Star's Alternative '99-3 WYSK' with a 4.4 (+0.8) just squeaking by Infinity's talker WJFK (4.1/-0.8) which finished fifth. WYSK continues to show solid ratings growth since taking the station to the Alternative direction. Other local notables... Free Lance-Star's 'Classic Rock 96.9' WWUZ finished tied at 8th place with a 2.9 (+1.1), Telemedia's country 'Thunder 104.5' WGRX (2.2/-0.5) and Mid-Atlantic Network's adult standards/talk 'The Memories Station' WFVA-A (2.2/+0.7) tied at 12th place, Piedmont's country WJMA tied at 15th place with a 1.9 (+0.1) and tied at 19th was Telemedia's "Virginia's Rockin' Oldies" WGRQ at a 1.6 (-0.5). Out of all the numbers, what has happened to oldies WGRQ? They continue to sink... The entire 12+ Arbitrends ratings can be found at radioandrecords.com..... (2/25/03) ..:: Unbelievable!  Well, Barnstable Broadcasting's 'Oldies 92-9' WWSO thought they had found the right man for their PD opening. They were all ready to welcome new PD/morning host - Michael "Mad Dog" Ovadia who is currently morning co-host at 'Oldies 96.1' WSOX York PA. Guess what? He's changed his mind! Yep. When he found out that his current station is being sold to respected radio station group Susquehanna, he changed his mind in leaving. The current owners aren't in the best financial sharp. Or was it the fact that it was a larger station group with more opportunities? Either way, he's not coming to Hampton Roads. What's so damn ironic is that this is the second person from WSOX to accept the PD position at WWSO to eventually change their mind and leave. Current WSOX PD, Dave Anthony, was the first to accept a PD position there. He lasted less than two weeks! And I thought that was short. So, WWSO is still without a Program Director since Randy Brooks left on his own to join a local advertising agency, headed by former boss Bill Whitlow, to be Director of Media and Public Relations. Current morning host Mike Allen was to move to afternoons when Ovadia arrived at the station on February 24th. I guess, for now, that's on hold..... (2/25/03)..:: The Good news...  Did you know that 4M Communications (WREJ-AM, WLEE//WHAP-AM, WVNZ-AM) produces a TV show? Yep. "Rejoice TV" is a gospel variety show and is the television version of their gospel formatted 'Rejoice Radio AM 1540' WREJ . The TV show airs on RICH-TV every Wednesday night from 10-10:30PM. Note: RICH-TV airs on AT&T Broadband channel 7 and Comcast Cable channel 8 every Monday through Friday from 7:00-11:00PM. The program is hosted by their morning radio anchor, Jamila Joy, and typically includes music videos, live in-studio performances and interviews with area leaders. One of 4M's owners, Chuck Milkis, tells VARTV "the show has been very well received so far." If you have an opportunity, check it out..... (2/25/03)..:: Goodman gets upped... Entercom's Modern AC '94.9 The Point' WPTE has added the AMD stripes to night slammer Jason Goodman's shirt. Congratulations Jason..... (2/25/03) ..:: Radio outlets rolling out TV spots...  Local radio stations want you to listen to them! If you haven't noticed, area stations have been showing up in TV commercials - some are good; some shouldn't be on-the-air. In Hampton Roads, Saga's classic hits '106.9 The Fox' WAFX Suffolk VA has rolled out a new TV spot with area radio icon Mike Arlo. Last year, he dressed up like Britney Spears. This year, he's dressed up like one of the Robert Palmer girls in a mock "Simply Irresistible" video. Funny. The spot can be viewed at 1069thefox.com..... (2/25/03)..:: Cable advertising arm changes name...  Cox Communications' advertising sales division has changed its name from CableRep Advertising to Cox Media. The change was made to more closely align the division with the Cox Communications brand and more clearly represent the variety of media services offered to clients. The company will remain a wholly owned subsidiary of Cox Communications Inc..... (2/25/03)..:: Our condolences... The Operations Manager at WTVZ-TV/DT, Randy November, lost his wife last Thursday, February 20th. Mary Ann November was a caregiver to the sick and elderly, friendly to all who knew her and loving wife of Randy (November) says her obituary. She was only 47. In addition to her husband, Mary is survived by her mother, Ruth Lucy Warren of South Hill VA; brother, Raymond Lucy Jr. of Yukon OK; and sisters, Ellen Lucy Gibson of Dolphin VA and Francis Lucy Grizzard of Emporia VA; two nieces and four nephews. She was preceded in death by her brother, Arthur Earl Lucy of Richmond. Funeral services will be held in the chapel of HD Oliver Funeral Apts on Laskin Rd in Virginia Beach today at 10AM. Interment will follow at 3PM in Dundas VA. Contributions in lieu of flowers may be sent to the Animal Assistance League, 1149 New Mill Drive, Chesapeake, or to a charity of your choice..... (2/25/03) ..:: WARV stunting... 'Cat Country 100.3' WARV Petersburg was spinning format wheel yesterday. The station, which has a fringe 6KW signal and was just taken control by MainQuad from Honolulu Broadcasting, was heard stunting 'God Bless America' by Celine Dion, 'American Pie' by Don McLean and every version of the 'Star Spangled Banner' among others. Rumors have it that the format wheel will stop on a Contemporary Christian or Oldies. Contemporary Christian is a rising format; Richmond lost their Oldies outlet back in the Summer of 2001 when CC blew up 'Cool 106.5' (WRCL) for urban '106.5 The Beat' (WBTJ)..... (2/25/03) ..:: Wicker to B103?  AllAccess.com hears rumors that former morning man Jeff Wicker of CHR 'Q94' WRVQ (Wicker In The Morning) making a "bee"-line to another station for wake-up duties. There have been rumors since late December that Wicker would be doing mornings over on Cox Radio's Hot AC 'B103' WMXB. Maybe somewhere else. Wicker left WRVQ after six years back in August 2002. PD Billy Surf replaced Wicker with himself along with Betty Bodine, Melissa Chase, and Skip Sher to become the new "Surf's Up In The Morning"..... (2/24/03)..:: Anchor picks up local music award...  Tom "TJ" Randles, an anchor at WTKR (3/CBS), picked up an award at Ninevolt Magazine's 4th Annual Local Music Awards Show. The event was held Sunday at the "Jew Mom" (Jewish Mother). Randles, who moonlights as a contemporary Jazz musician, beat out Russell Scarborough's quartet in the Jazz field by just one vote. Randles, who also has engineering experience, currently plays more than a half dozen instruments, does all of his own string and horn arrangements, and sings all vocals on his CD, "Urban Escape". The entire CD was recorded by Randles under his one-member group called "Uptown Player."..... (2/24/03)..:: Hello, Comcast Metro Richmond...  Long-time subscribers in Richmond, as well as Henrico County and other metro localities have seen bills over the years from Continental Cablevision, MediaOne, AT&T Broadband and, beginning this week, Comcast Corp. The company is nearly finished merging operations with AT&T Broadband. Comcast Metro Richmond, as the combined local entity will be called, has more than 200,000 cable TV subscribers in the Richmond area. VP and GM Kirby Brooks said one of Comcast's early goals is to convince former AT&T Broadband subscribers that Comcast can improve on customer-service issues and inconsistency that plagued its predecessors. The Comcast/AT&T Broadband merger officially closed in November. Since, the two have worked to blend operations. Some work still remains like more closely aligning channels between Comcast's Chesterfield customers and former AT&T subscribers in the area. All customer service operations will be eventually handled at the former AT&T Broadband headquarters on Staples Mill Road, where Comcast added a new call center. Also, Comcast is hoping to bring the video-on-demand (VOD) service to former AT&T customers sometime this year. Right now, only Comcast Chesterfield subscribers can use the digital service to get pay-per-view movies through their cable boxes that can be paused, rewound and restarted like a VCR. Once VOD is available, the company will try to bring high-definition (HD) programming to Richmond. Unlike AT&T Broadband, Comcast did not offer a digital phone service over its cable lines. That service won't be affected by the merger. Comcast will continue to sign up new digital phone customers who want it but the company won't aggressively market the service. Eventually, AT&T Broadband's former high-speed Internet customers will see their e-mail addresses change from "attbi.com" to "comcast.net." A transition date hasn't been set. Comcast will forward e-mails sent to the "attbi" addresses to the new Comcast addresses through the end of 2004. Updates about the Internet service transition will be posted at connect.comcast.net...... (2/24/03) Crazy weather today. It's 77° outside the VARTV HQ; 38° in Richmond... Wow..... (2/22/03) The FCC gave it's blessing today for WJMA-FM (98.9) Orange VA to be sold to Joyner Broadcasting from Piedmont
Communications..... (2/21/03)Hegwood's new 107.9 signal to put him back $1.8M...  On Top Communications' new signal - WWBR 107.9 West Point VA - is costing COO Steve Hegwood $1.8M. The papers to assign the station to them from Winner Broadcasting were filed today with the FCC. Presently, the 107.9 signal is simulcasting urban WWHV 102.1 Virginia Beach VA. The combo is now known as 'Hot 102.1 & 107.9.' WWHV's signal is
severely hampered on the Peninsula; the reason why WWBR was picked up. The WWBR signal covers the eastern parts of Richmond, down to Hampton/Newport News and the Middle Peninsula/Northern Neck. WWHV covers Hampton/Newport News down to NE North Carolina. For now, WWBR is being LMA-ed to On Top for $11,500/mo until the station is sold..... (2/21/03) Two new classified ads have come into VARTV. WFLS/WWUZ/WYSK is looking for a full-time reporter and a radio copy writer/research director. For the complete details click on "Classified Ads" on the left navigation panel..... (2/21/03)Richmond "move-in" takes another step... Piedmont Communications, owners of country WJMA-FM 98.9, filed with the FCC today a "Notice of Proposed Rule Making" - the next step for the 98.9 frequency to be moved to Midlothian VA. Eventually WJMA will be sold to Joyner Radio out of North Carolina. With this notice filed, the FCC is seeking public comment to these proposed changes to the FM Table of Allotments. The "comments window" is 60 days. To get you caught up, Piedmont wants to change the community of license of WJMA from Orange to Midlothian and reclassify the license on channel 255B1 (98.9FM). 98.9 would provide a first local service to Midlothian and in essence provide Richmond with a brand new signal. Piedmont with Old Belt Broadcasting wants to shift Old Belt's '98.9 Kiss Country' WKSK South Hill (255C3) to 101.9 (270A). Entercom's adjacent channel urban '102Jamz' WJMH (102.1) Reidsville NC has already "agreed" (probably compensated for) to be relicensed as a Class C0 from a Class C. Also, Joyner Radio recently bought adult standards WCVA-AM and country 'C103' WCUL -FM in Culpeper from Culpeper Broadcasting. Piedmont recently purchased 'Country 105' WLSA-FM Louisa from Mid-Virginia Broadcasting. Again, Piedmont already owns country WJMA-FM with oldies WVCV-AM both in Orange. With that said, the companies have worked out a deal where Piedmont would swap WJMA to Joyner Radio and Piedmont would take over WCVA-AM and WCUL-FM. At the same time, Joyner Radio would move WJMA from Orange to Midlothian..... (2/21/03) HD Radio coming to Richmond...  Gee Communications' "AM 950 All American WXGI" has announced that it will begin to broadcast digitally in the Spring of this year. The station chose Harris Corporation's Broadcast Communications Division to make the transition to digital HD Radio. Station owner David Gee says, “We are excited to be the first station in the Richmond Market to make the commitment to Digital Radio. Our investment in this system will put us on the cutting edge of the new technology, but more importantly it will allow WXGI to reach an increased number of listeners because it eliminates virtually all AM noise and fading.” The equipment at WXGI being used is Harris’ newest digital AM transmitter, the DAX-5 and DEXSTAR, an AM/FM HD Radio exciter. Gee further stated “As one of the few locally owned and producing stations,” says Gee, “we feel a deep responsibility to respond to our listeners’ needs. We must serve our long-standing audience as well as the new fans of our country and bluegrass music. We also believe digital radio will bring an enhanced value to the WXGI sports fans and our advertisers.” ..... (2/20/03)Richmond sports TV ratings... From Jerry Lindquist of the Richmond Times-Dispatch... Daytona 272½ or not, the race did a 17.1 rating (24 share) in the Richmond market (WRLH/35). That's a 14% improvement from last year on NBC (WWBT/12). Going head to head: Buick Open golf on WTVR (6/CBS) did an 8.6 rating; NBA doubleheader on WRIC (8/ABC) a 6.6; and Arena Football on WWBT (12/NBC) a 2.3. The local Daytona number was included in the Nielsen overnight composite rating (9.8) of 55 of the top markets. FOX research estimates 29.4 million viewers Sunday, making it the fifth highest for a Daytona race and most for a sports event since the Super Bowl. By the way, "The Simpsons" did an 11.9 here. (Not to be confused with "Joe Millionaire" that came in at 25.6 Monday night)..... (2/20/03) FOX poised for surprise sweeps victory...  With a week to go in the February ratings "sweeps" period, FOX is poised for its first-ever victory among television viewers ages 18 to 49. CBS is leading among all viewers during this period, where ratings are watched closely to set advertising rates, with FOX and NBC neck-and-neck for second. The "sweeps" period ends Feb. 26. The top 10 shows for the week of February 10th thru 16th according to AC Nielsen were... (show, network, rating) "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 16.7; "Joe Millionaire," Fox, 14.2; "ER," NBC, 13.8; "Friends," NBC, 13.5; "Survivor: Amazon," CBS, 13.3; "Friends" special, NBC, 12.4; "Law & Order," NBC, 12.3; "Will & Grace," NBC, 12.1; "CSI: Miami," CBS, 11.5; "American Idol-Tuesday," Fox, 11.4...For the week, CBS averaged 13.6 million viewers (8.9 rating, 14 share), NBC 12.3 million (8.0/13), FOX 11.9 million (7.0/11), ABC 9.9 million (6.2/10), The WB 4.5 million (2.8/4), UPN 3.5 million (2.3/4) and PAX had 1.2 million (0.8/1). A ratings point represents 1,067,000 households, or 1% of the country's estimated 106.7 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show. The entire prime-time TV ratings list for the week can be found at the San Francisco Chronicle..... (2/20/03) WESR-AM reimages... Eastern Shore Radio's WESR-AM 1330 recently has reimaged as 'Hot Talk & Classic Country AM 1330 WESR'. WESR was doing just country but is now using ABC's Classic Country feed. The station also has added more talkers to their line-up..... (2/20/03) Lia wins Gracie award...  Jones Radio Networks announced yesterday that Lia has been named a winner of the esteemed AWRT Gracie Allen Award in the National/Network/Syndication Program Host category. Lia will be recognized at the 28th Annual Gracie Allen Awards Gala held at the New York Hilton Hotel on June 26th. “I am thrilled to be awarded this honor along with so many remarkable women who have made such a profound impact on the industry over the past few decades,” said Lia. “I’m very surprised, but it’s exciting to be recognized for doing what I love.” Lia now has 190 affiliate stations nationwide (including Barnstable's heritage country WCMS-100.5 and Cox Radio's 'K95' WKHK) and lures three million fans to the radio each week. “Lia has grown so much in the last couple of years,“ said Jim LaMarca, VP/GM Jones Radio. “We knew the recognition would be coming her way, but this award is particularly sweet.” ..... (2/20/03)CBS to feature Robins-Starr Humane Center ... Tomorrow's broadcast of CBS News' "The Early Show" is scheduled to feature a segment on the Richmond SPCA's new facility, the Robins-Starr Humane Center. On-air contributor Dr Debbye Turner, a veterinarian, and "The Early Show" cameras visited the center in January, one of several visits by national media to the center, which features a state-of-the-art track and training room, an in-house spay-neuter clinic and pet rehabilitation rooms. "The Early Show" airs from 7 to 9AM on WTVR (6/CBS)..... (2/19/03) New Verizon plan has unlimited calls: Package costs $49.95 a month...  Verizon today begins offering unlimited local and long-distance calling for $49.95 a month in Virginia. The company is combining that package with a bundle that offers price breaks for those who also subscribe to Verizon's wireless phone and high-speed Internet services. McGregor McCance of the Richmond Times-Dispatch has the whole story..... (2/18/03)Chick chat... Larry Bonko of The Virginian-Pilot reports that FOX affiliate 'FOX 43' WVBT will carry a new talk show hosted by Ellen DeGeneres. Also offering talk shows for next fall are comedian Rita Rudner, Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York and Sharon Osbourne..... (2/17/03) Out of hock...  SpectraSite has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after its plan of reorganization was
confirmed. The Cary NC based wireless tower operator said its SpectraSite Communications unit will use net proceeds of $73.5 million from the sale of its interest in 545 towers to wireless carrier Cingular to repay debt. SpectraSite is currently developing the DTV tower site in Richmond..... (2/17/03) A new classified ad has come into VARTV. Just click "Classified Ads" on the left navigation panel..... (2/16/03)Extended period of precipitation...  VARTV is now dipping it's toes into weather. Seriously, this weekend is going to be an interesting one with a chance of "precip" all the way through Monday - President's Day. Any area outside of Hampton Roads, there's a good shot of on and off snow/sleet/freezing for the next several days. Even around these parts, beginning Saturday night, the forecast calls for rain/sleet and a temps in the mid-30's. Farther north i.e. Fredericksburg, watch out! Here's a quote from the NWS in Sterling... "The math adds up to a sig(nificant) snow event possibly cont(inuin)g Sun(day) area wide..." Whatta 3-day holiday weekend..... (2/14/03)Relax, Richmond golf fans... Just because WTVR (6/CBS) skipped the Bob Hope and Bing Crosby (Pebble Beach) tournaments, that doesn't mean this weekend's Buick Open won't be coming your way says Jerry Linquist of the Richmond Times-Dispatch. The (Richmond) CBS affiliate will pre-empt infomercials and hoops for the return of Tiger Woods. "In its entirety. One hundred percent," Channel 6 Sports Director Lane Casadante said. A scheduling conflict with the station's contract to carry the ACC's syndicated basketball package cut into network golf. It has before, it will again. And . . . "CBS now has a policy where, if you don't show golf Sunday, you can't show it Saturday," Casadonte said. "I don't know why they would think that's a good policy to have."..... (2/13/03) What's really going on at Oldies 92-9... VARTV recently reported that Randy Brooks, former PD of Barnstable's 'Oldies 92-9' WWSO, had exited the station but we didn't know why. Now we do. Director of Programming and Operations for Barnstable Norfolk, John Shomby, tells VARTV "Randy Brooks left on his own to join a local advertising agency, headed by former boss Bill Whitlow, to be Director of Media and Public Relations, thus we had to look for a PD." We also reported that they hired a new PD/morning host - Michael "Mad Dog" Ovadia who is currently morning co-host at 'Oldies 96.1' WSOX York PA. What was unsure is if Mad Dog would be teamed up with current morning host Mike Allen or would Allen get bumped. Well, Allen will be moving to the afternoon slot starting on February 26th. WWSO will now have "strength in both morning and afternoon drive(s) to go up against the 'big dogs' in the market."..... (2/12/03) A new classified ad has come into VARTV. Just click "Classified Ads" on the left navigation panel..... (2/11/03)Ex-Zoo keeper lands in Tennessee...  Troy Shannon, formerly of the Z Morning Zoo at Entercom's Rhythmic 'Z-104' WNVZ, has landed the morning gig at Clear Channel's CHR '98.1 KISS-FM' WKXJ Chattanooga TN (market #105). He'll be teamed up with Jane Dyer for "The Good Morning KISS." Shannon was fired over an incident at "The Beachouse" in Virginia Beach mid-July 2002. VARTV doesn't know what the incident was that lead to his termination. Anyone close to the story want to chime in? Shannon was with Z104 in the late 90s, left for awhile for Citadel's 'WiLD 97-9' KKLD in Oklahoma City then came back to Hampton Roads for the morning gig at Z104. After Z104, Shannon even tried for the night slot that was open at Barnstable's new country '97-3 The Eagle' WGH. That eventually went to Dee Stevens. Troy starts at KISS on Monday
February 17th..... (2/11/03)Another NE North Carolina-based station signs on...  Religious broadcaster CSN International recently signed on WGPS (88.3) Elizabeth City NC. The station simulcasts KAWZ out of Twin Falls ID. CSN broadcasts biblical teaching and praise and worship music. They are a directional (to the north) C2 with 50kW of power with a HAAT of 446'. That part of the FM band is pretty crowded especially if you live in Virginia Beach. You have Hampton University's WHOV (Hampton) at 88.1, WGPS at 88.3, WODC (Virginia Beach) at 88.5 and the Chesapeake School system's WFOS at 88.7. WGPS has been added to the Hampton Roads Market page on VARTV..... (2/11/03)The Fox scores a big one...  Alex Dahm, former Midday personality at Entercom's Modern AC '94.9 The Point' WPTE, resigned yesterday to accept the 7-12 mid / Swing position at Saga's 'Classic Hits 106.9 The Fox' WAFX. She replaces Jerry Hoyt who left in December for
opportunities in Northern Virginia. Alex was with The Point for five years, starting in nights and including a stint in Mornings before moving to middays. Prior to WPTE Alex worked at Metro Traffic and WODC after graduating from Virginia Wesleyan in 1998. She's
originally from Long Island, NY. Fox PD Mike Beck tells VARTV.com, "We're thrilled to have someone with the talent, experience and personality of Alex Dahm on the Fox staff. Alex is the whole package; she's a great air talent, an excellent production voice, and an outgoing personality for live appearances. She'll be a major asset to us, not only at night, but filling in for the three or four months of vacation our staff gets a year!" Why would she make a move from Midday's to Nights? Beck again, "Alex is also a freelance voice talent. By working nights she will be able to increase her availability to Studio Center. Plus, they don't play any Skynyrd at the Point." Alex starts Monday, February 17th. Over at the Point, they're already soliciting for a new midday jock. In an online trade ad, PD Steve McKay states that "Our midday person is leaving to dedicate her time to her voice-over career..." Hmmm..... (2/11/03)Electric Internet?... Get your broadband Internet access through your electrical outlet? It's in the works. Read the article by the AP at chicagotribune.com. You'll need to register but it's free..... (2/11/03) High-Stakes Hunt For Cable Pirates...  A cool article today in the Tech section of the Washington Post about cable piracy. Comcast and Cox Cable are cracking down
everyday on cable theft. Besides having systems in the DC area, both companies also do business in Fredericksburg, Richmond, Hampton Roads and NE North Carolina and probably have similar efforts ongoing in these areas too. The entire article is at washingtonpost.com ...... (2/10/03)106.9 The Fox and the Polar Plunge...  On Saturday, 'Classic Hits 106.9 The Fox' WAFX presented the 11th Annual Polar Plunge to benefit Special Olympics Virginia. Morning Hosts Jeff and MC led over 2000 plungers into the 37 degree waters of the Atlantic, raising over $260,000 for Special Olympics. MC's team, The Foxcicles, trounced Jeff's Polar Posse, in their "Battle of the Sexes". A man of his word, Jeff will shave his head to pay off his bet with MC - despite getting a pardon from Virginia Governor Mark Warner. Lots of freezing photos on the Fox website at 1069thefox.com...... (2/10/03)Arena Football Ratings In Richmond...  Jerry Linquist of the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that the NBA replacement games on NBC , better known as Arena football, got off to an OK if not smashing start last week. The four regional games, with Dallas-New York featured, did a 1.6 national rating after getting network suits all lathered up by a 2.2 overnight Nielsen in 55 of the largest television markets. An estimated 7.9 million people tuned in at some point during the Sunday afternoon (3-6) window, and NBC's research department was quick to mention the 1.6/4 share represents a 100% increase over ABC's 0.8/2 for the league's championship game Aug. 18, 2002. The 1.6 also tied the 1998 ArenaBowl telecast for the highest rated AFL game in its 17-year history. In Richmond, the Dallas-New York shootout did a 2.9/6 (WWBT/12). This is indoor football country, after all, with the af2 Richmond Speed. And that beat the NHL All-Star Game on ABC (WRIC/8) (2.5/5) that went head to head. Nationally, hockey came in at 1.7 after a 2.4 overnight - down 6% from last year...... (2/10/03)Local TV Personalities Taking The Big Leap... Add former WVEC (13/ABC) sports reporter Stan Verrett to the names of those who've leaped from local TV news in Hampton Roads to something bigger. He's now anchoring ESPNews. Other recent "leapers" include Christy Musumeci (Carlo) now a MSNBC anchor, Thomas Roberts a CNN Headline News anchor and Kelly Wright to the FOX News Channel...... (2/9/03) Coattail Effect: Joe Millionaire Helps "FOX 43 News At 10'...  Larry Bonko of the Virginian-Pilot reports that Evan Marriott's "Joe Millionaire" attracts more than 20 million viewers to FOX. And that's good news for local FOX affil WVBT (43) and it's 10PM newscast. Bonko says that on nights that "Joe Millionaire" ran 'FOX 43 News At 10' almost doubled their ratings. On a normal night that's around a 3.6 household rating. When it Joe Millionaire is on, it jumps to a 7.0...... (2/9/03)WRIC didn't slip hiring this second banana... Jerry Lindquist of the Richmond Times-Dispatch profiles Kevin Brandmeyer. He's WRIC's (8/ABC) new Sports Director after former SD Chip Tarkenton decided not to show up for work last September. The whole piece is online at timesdispatch.com...... (2/7/03) City, Charter reach agreement in Suffolk...  Allison Williams of the Suffolk News-Herald reports that Suffolk cable subscribers will continue to be served by Charter Communications. After more than two years of negotiations and threatened franchise revocations, the city and cable provider struck a deal that enables charter to continue serving Suffolk residents. In a move Wednesday, the Suffolk City Council voted 7-0 to approve a memorandum of understanding stating that Charter will pay the city $340,000 in fines for missed deadlines and penalties. The company will also issue regular customer service reports to the city. "The consultants said we have a first-class system and cable service has shown marked improvements," said Assistant City Manager Cindy Rohlf. "We are very satisfied with the progress that's been made... and we're looking forward to getting things behind us and moving on." Matt Favre, operations manager in Charter's Suffolk office went on to say "I'm glad we were able to work together to resolve the issue ... and reach a compromise"...... (2/6/03)Oldies 92-9 gets a new PD/morning host...  The never ending changes at Barnstable's 'Oldies 92-9' WWSO Suffolk VA continue. Randy Brooks who was WWSO's PD and afternoon jock has already exited the station. Their new PD will be Michael "Mad Dog" Ovadia who is currently morning co-host at 'Oldies 96.1' WSOX York PA. He will leave there Friday February 21st. Not only will Ovadia be the new PD he will also have morning hosting duties. So that begs the question: "What will happen to Mike Allen?" - the current morning host. Will Allen get a partner, get booted from morning duties or booted all together? What's ironic of Ovadia's arrival is that he comes from the same station that Oldies 92-9's first PD came from. About a year ago, current WSOX PD Dave Anthony was named WWSO's first PD. He was on the job here less than two weeks before going back to WSOX! Wonder if Anthony gave Ovadia any advice to coming to Hampton Roads? I also wonder if WSOX's door is open if Ovadia's PD gig doesn't work out either...... (2/6/03)Recovering from surgery “They got everything”... Frank Hammon of WFLS News is reporting that reporter Tabitha LaRue is recovering from Tuesday’s surgery in her battle against Ovarian Cancer. LaRue called the radio station news room from her hospital bed shortly after 7 am Wednesday to say “they got everything.” She also explained that in order to remove a tumor of about 2cm the team of doctors also removed the jugular vein along with part of her collarbone. Tabitha’s husband Curtis is quite happy about the news and says the doctors explained to him that the tumor had also wrapped itself around a vein that goes to her voice box and esophagus. They were surprised that she didn’t have voice problems. They added it’s a good thing the surgery was done now and Tabitha had not waited. Curtis adds that Tabitha is not in a lot of pain as a result of this latest surgical procedure. He says “she has more freedom to move without pain.” Previous surgeries were in the abdominal cavity and restricted movement. Tabitha says she expects to be released from Johns Hopkins sometime Friday with recovery at home expected to be at least two weeks..... (2/5/03) You'll be seeing and hearing more of Nathan James... Metro Networks has promoted James to a full-time traffic anchor position effective Monday. He'll be responsible for morning and afternoon traffic for Entercom sisters Rhythmic 'Z104' WNVZ and Modern AC '94.9 The Point' WPTE (both of which he continues to do part-time work--fill-in and weekends) as well as on-camera for 'NewsChannel 3' WTKR (CBS). WTKR launched on-camera traffic with James on Monday. WVEC (13/ABC) and WAVY (10/NBC) have already provided on-camera traffic from Metro for awhile now. James has been doing traffic for Z104 and 94.9 The Point for a few weeks now. He'll continue to do traffic for AC 'Xtra 99.1' WXGM Gloucester and WHRO/WHRV..... (2/5/03) Kelly Wright shows up on FOX...  ...but not WVBT (43/FOX) but on the FOX News Channel. Seems Wright has gotten himself a really great job with FOX News. He's doing headline news from Capitol Hill Wednesdays through Saturdays. He will also be on the "FOX and Friends" show doing the "Hill" News. If you remember, Wright co-anchored the 'FOX 43 News at 10' with Nicole Livas but exited the station on August 9, 2002. His contract wasn't renewed. Wright signed on WVBT's first newscast four and a half years ago on August 31, 1998. For now, he's commuting to Washington but eventually will move up there. Both, his and his wife's families are in Maryland. The Rev. Kelly Wright has interests outside TV news including his ministry and his music. He's been a reporter/anchor for more than 20 years..... (2/5/03)WCVW works to get back on air...  WCVW (57/PBS) is temporarily off the air because of equipment problems. With any luck - and a temporary fix - all will be well by today, at least for cable customers. Both Klystron tubes, the largest parts of a transmitter, failed over the weekend. Engineers hope to use a translator in Halifax County to get WCVW's signal up and running on cable channels 29 (Richmond and Henrico) and 34 (Chesterfield). Comcast is also working on possible remedies. Some non-cable and satellite customers may have their service restored, but the wait will be much longer for those who live farther from the station. The anticipated cost - as much as $60,000 - means repairs will be phased in till full power is restored. The signal for WCVE-Channel 23 (and cable channels 23 and 32) has not been affected reports the Richmond Times-Dispatch..... (2/5/03)'American Idol, 'Millionaire' Lift FOX... The success of "American Idol" and "Joe Millionaire" helped make FOX the nation's most popular network last week - the first time FOX has claimed that distinction during the traditional TV season on its entertainment programming alone, Nielsen Media Research said Tuesday. The top 10 shows for the week of January 27th thru the February 2nd according to AC Nielsen were... (show, network, rating) "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 16.6; "Friends," NBC, 16.3; "American Idol-Wednesday," Fox, 14.3; "ER," NBC, 14.3; "American Idol-Tuesday," Fox, 13.7; "Joe Millionaire," Fox, 12.1; "CSI: Miami," CBS, 11.2; "Everybody Loves Raymond," CBS, 11.1; "Scrubs," NBC, 11.1; "Without a Trace," CBS, 10.8... For the week, FOX 12.8 million viewers (7.5 rating, 12 share), NBC 12.3 million (8.1/13), CBS 12.1 million (8.0/13), ABC 10.1 million viewers (6.5/10), The WB 4.4 million (2.9/4), UPN 3 million (2.0/3) and PAX 1.2 million (0.8/1). A ratings point represents 1,067,000 households, or 1% of the country's estimated 106.7 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show. The entire prime-time TV ratings list for the week can be found at the San Francisco Chronicle..... (2/5/03) A new classified ad has come into VARTV. Just click "Classified Ads" on the left navigation panel..... (2/5/03)Saga President awarded "Broadcaster of the Year"...  President of Saga Communications, Ed Christian, has been awarded the 2003 Radio Wayne Award "Broadcaster of the Year." The award was presented by Radio Ink Magazine and the RAB. Saga based in Michigan has 43 FM and 25 AM radio stations among some other properties including three stations in Hampton Roads - classic hits '106.9 The Fox' WAFX, active rock 'FM99' WNOR and standards 'Joy' WJOI-AM 1230..... (2/3/03)WDCE Streams Audio Again: Off For 10 Months...  University of Richmond's campus radio station WDCE-FM (90.1) Richmond VA has restarted their Internet audio stream. The station blamed the original shut-down because of the Digital
Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 and stringent restrictions and fees on stations that broadcast music over the Internet. That was on March 25, 2002. Ten months later, they're back. They offer two streams - 24kbps or 56kbps. For all of the details go to the WDCE's station website ..... (2/3/03)Super ratings were similar for Richmond and nation...  Jerry Lindquist of the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that Super Bowl XXXVII did a 40.0 rating in Richmond on WRIC (8/ABC) and 40.7 nationally. In the Richmond market, that translated to about 202,000 households. Nationwide, the game (such as it was) was seen in 43.5 million homes for a total of 137.6 million viewers - second most in the game's history. The rating, however, was far down the line, like 10th from the bottom. As popular as Tampa Bay's 48-21 rout of Oakland was, interest in Richmond was down slightly from a year ago when New England vs. St. Louis did a 43.0 rating (compared to 40.4 nationally)..... (2/3/03)WODC streaming on the Net... Christian formatted 'Your Lighthouse' WODC (88.5) Virginia Beach VA recently began streaming their audio on the Internet. They're using Christian Netcast as their streaming provider. Go to wodc.com to check it out..... (2/3/03) Peninsula signal starts Hot 102.1 simulcast...  Sometime around 2PM, On Top's urban 'Hot 102.1' WWHV starting simulcasting on Winner Broadcasting's WWBR (107.9) West Point VA. WWBR was known as 'The Breeze' doing a satellite fed AC format. Hot 102.1's signal is
severely hampered on the Peninsula due to the fact they need to protect WRXL's (102.1) signal all the way up in Richmond. WWBR covers the entire Peninsula from Hampton/Newport News to all the way up to Richmond. No word yet if owner of On Top, Steve Hegwood, will buy WWBR or is currently running some kind of LMA with them. Winner Broadcasting also owns another Peninsula stick - oldies 'Surf 92.3' WSRV Deltaville VA. The new simulcast is now known as "Hot 102.1 & 107-9"..... (2/2/03)"Latino Mix" profiled in The Free Lance-Star... Free Lance-Star's WYSK-AM 1350 broke from simulcasting WYSK-FM (99.3) to Spanish in December 2002 and is now known as '1350 Latino Mix.' The station is being leased to and operated by Clara Marshall, Latino-Mix's general manager. WYSK-AM is considered to have a Spanish Variety format - playing stuff that is Merengue, Salsa and Spanish CHR but also including news reports, weather, school cancellations and several local call-in talk shows. One of the reasons for the flip, besides the fast pace growth of the Hispanic community, is that the NoVA Spanish AMers don't clearly reach Fredericksburg area. There are two articles online - one at freelancestar.com and washingtonpost.com..... (2/2/03) Space shuttle Columbia is "lost"... Space shuttle Columbia, 38 miles above Texas, exploded just after 9AM this morning as it was preparing to land at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 9:16AM. All seven astronauts, six Americans and one Israeli, were killed. All the cable news channels (FOX, MSNBC and CNN) were covering the tragedy along with ABC, NBC, CBS and Univision. WRC (4/NBC) Washington DC was the first TV outlet to secure an interview with a family/relative/friend of a lost crew member. Brian Moorah interviewed the parents of astronaut David Brown in Front Royal VA..... (2/1/03) Sinclair rolls out new website... Sinclair Broadcast Group who have an O&O in Richmond - WRLH (35/FOX) and an O&O in Hampton Roads - WTVZ (33/WB) have unveiled a new corporate website. It can be found at www.sbgi.net..... (1/31/03) Local Hispanics applaud the arrival of Univision: Spanish-language cable station helps them keep in touch...  April Taylor of The Daily Press says until recently, native Spanish-speakers in the James City County-Williamsburg area have had fewer options to see television programs in Spanish. Although offered in the majority of the Hampton Roads market by Cox Communications, Univision wasn't available in James City County or Williamsburg. That changed at the end of last year. In response to the rising Hispanic presence, Cox added its first Spanish language station for James City County subs. "The Hispanic population throughout Hampton Roads is one of the fastest-growing segments throughout our territory today," said Thomas Prevette, VP of public and government affairs at Cox. Cox Communications added Univision plus a TV Guide channel by eliminating two Richmond-based stations - WRIC (8/ABC) and WTVR (6/CBS). The move created an unusual number of complaints from residents concerned about the removal of the stations, said Jody Puckett, communications director for James City County. Puckett said more complaints are coming in. "Our community is becoming more diverse, and a lot of people aren't looking at that. Some people don't understand why these channels have been taken away." The removal of WRIC and WTVR from the line-up probably got a few smiles from the ABC (WVEC/13) and CBS (WTKR/3) affiliates down here. WWBT (12/NBC) is still seen on channel 71 (Cable MarketPlace for the Greater Hampton Roads area) and WCVE (23/PBS) is still seen on channel 6 (TBS on the Peninsula and WUND 2/PBS for the Southside). Taylor says that half of all Hispanic prime-time television viewing is for Spanish-language shows. Univision is the nation's largest Spanish-language broadcaster and the fifth-largest broadcast network. They top the list of Spanish-language networks, outperforming its biggest competitor Telemundo, 3 to 1. In fact, the top 20 program listings for Hispanic households all belong to Univision..... (1/31/03)Tabitha's Story: "Tabi, they got it all out."...  WFLS News Anchor and Reporter Tabitha LaRue's national Clarion Award winning story continues with the 11th installment. The latest segment details the days leading up to her October 14th surgery, the procedure and initial stage of recovery. Tabitha is scheduled for another surgical procedure, Tuesday, February 4 at Johns Hopkins. The entire story can be found online at wfls.com..... (1/31/03)Shaggy can drop the "part" and add "full"... Starting tomorrow the 1st, Z Morning Zoo show producer Shaggy becomes a full-timer. Special Ed, Tricia and Shaggy will all be broadcasting live from Las Vegas Monday and Tuesday mornings..... (1/31/03) Another new classified ad has come into VARTV. You know what to do - click "Classified Ads" on the left navigation panel to view it..... (1/31/03)2WD announces Cher's coming to town... Entercom's AC '2WD' WWDE announced today that recording artist Cher will be coming to Hampton Roads. She'll be at the Hampton Coliseum on Thursday June 5th. 2WD plans on giving away free tickets so stay tuned..... (1/31/03) A new classified ad has come into VARTV. Just click "Classified Ads" on the left navigation panel..... (1/30/03)Twitch to exit FM99... Night jock Twitch at Saga's active rocker 'FM99' WNOR will exit the station to join Infinity's alternative '93X' WMFS Memphis TN. He starts there on February 6th. Twitch replaces Ditch in the afternoon drive at '93X' ..... (1/29/03) FOX Has One of Its Best Weeks in Years; Super Bowl 2nd Most Watched Ever... The network, which had been having a tough season until January, had its largest weekly audience in five years for prime-time programming that did not include a major sporting event, Nielsen Media Research said Tuesday. The top 10 shows for the week of January 20th thru the 26th according to AC Nielsen were... (show, network, rating) Super Bowl XXXVII, ABC, 40.7; "Super Bowl Post Game, Part 1," ABC, 33.1; "Super Bowl Post Game, Part 2," ABC, 23.4; "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 15.2; "American Idol-Tuesday," Fox, 14.3; "American Idol-Wednesday," Fox, 13.8; "American Idol" special, Fox, 13.1; "Joe Millionaire," Fox, 11.5; "Law & Order," NBC, 11.1; "Friends," NBC, 11.0; "Law & Order: SVU," NBC, 11.0. For the week, ABC an averaged 22.5 million viewers (11.7 rating/18 share), FOX 12.2 million viewers (7.1/11), CBS 10.7 million (7.2/11), NBC 10 million (6.6/10), The WB 4 million (2.5/4), UPN 3.4 million (2.1/ 3) and PAX 1.1 million (0.8/1). NOTE: FOX's rating was lower than CBS', even though it had more viewers, because more people were watching CBS programs while alone. A ratings point represents 1,067,000 households, or 1% of the country's estimated 106.7 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show. The entire prime-time TV ratings list for the week can be found at the San Francisco Chronicle..... (1/28/03) News Reporter/Anchor Exits: Replacement Wanted... News reporter/anchor Ryan Burrow for Mid-Atlantic Network's Hot AC 'B101.5' WBQB and WFVA-AM 1230 is moving on to news/talk 'WGN Radio 720' in Chicago. Burrow will be working in their sports department covering, among other things, Baseball's Chicago Cubs. His exit leaves an opening at WBQB/WFVA. They are looking for a news reporter/anchor to replace him. Interested applicants should send tapes and resumes to: Veronica Robinson, WBQB/WFVA News Director 1914 Mimosa Street Fredericksburg, VA 22405 540-373-7721 (1/28/03) WVTF/Roanoke (NPR) Adds A Second Service... The new public radio service is a joint effort of Virginia Tech, Ferrum College, and WVTF Public Radio, which is licensed to the Virginia Tech Foundation. "Virginia Tech is excited about working with Ferrum College to bring more public service radio programming to the region," says Larry Hincker, Associate VP of University Relations at Virginia Tech. "RADIO IQ is an opportunity for both institutions to expand upon the broad educational missions of both Virginia Tech and Ferrum College." The partnership began when WVTF and Ferrum College officials met to discuss bringing more news talk programming to the region utilizing WFFC, Ferrum College's FM public radio station, along with WVTF's translators in Roanoke and Charlottesville, and WVTF's AM station in the New River Valley. "Radio is a powerful tool in Ferrum's educational endeavor to offer alternate viewpoints, expansive commentary, and a world-view understanding to the relevant issues of our time. The collaboration of Ferrum College, Virginia Tech and WVTF will transform the broadcasting voice in our region. It's a perfect marriage of mission and opportunity," says Beverly T. Fitzpatrick, Jr. Ferrum's VP for Institutional Advancement. Bringing more news and talk programs to the area was due in part to requests by WVTF listeners. Last year, when BBC and NPR programs were added to the AM 1260 radio station in the New River Valley on a test basis, the response was enthusiastic, according to WVTF GM Glenn Gleixner. "Thousands of area residents have been asking for more public radio news and information programming," says Gleixner. "More area listeners will finally have access to the variety of in-depth and substantive news, information, and talk programs that many residents have been requesting for quite a while." ...... (1/28/03) Guest Hosts Fill-in on 2WD This Week...  Over at Entercom's AC '2WD' WWDE, Angie Aresco, one-third of the "Breakfast Bunch," is on vacation this week. To make sure Dick Lamb and Paul Richardson aren't too lonely, current weekend anchor/reporter Kelly Harvey-Jones from 'NewsChannel 3' WTKR (CBS) filled in on this morning's show and will be back on Friday. Former Channel 3 anchor LeeAnn Raines, now seen doing special reports on WHRO (15/PBS), will be in tomorrow and Thursday..... (1/28/03)Changes at Hot 102.1: PD drops on-air shift... On Top's urban 'Hot 102.1' WWHV Virginia Beach has made some more on-air shifts. Parish Brown who used the on-air name "Spank-Luva" relinquishes his shift and will now focus his attention to PD duties on a full-time basis. He was heard from 3 to 6PM. Now in his slot, is late-night jock Herkules. Herk moves from the 10PM-2PM shift to afternoons from 2PM-6PM. Midday jock Burgandi gets an hour shaved off of her time and now is heard Monday thru Saturday 10AM-2PM. Weekender Smooth gets promoted to weekday late-nights from 10PM to 2AM. Lexx Coupe who was heard middays then was shifted to just Sunday mornings is no longer on the air. Gone, too, is Russ Parr Morning Show producer Ray Jeezy. Stormy takes over his duties in the mornings and has Lexx's old slot on Sundays - 10AM to 2PM. No word why the changes were made. "Hot" wasn't too hot in the Fall ratings Book..... (1/27/03)Channel 13 unveils new "WeatherLab" / Other weather dept. observations...  Belo's WVEC (13/ABC) unveiled their new weather department - "13 News WeatherLab" - during their 11PM newscast after the Super Bowl yesterday. Very impressive. I already go to Channel 13 first for weather (well really the National Weather Service - no frills but the best) while watching TV. Along with the new set, they have also been using new technology during the broadcasts - i.e. current wind speed, conditions and temperature for any location in the Hampton Roads area by moving a "cursor" over a location on an area map. Pretty cool. The new "WeatherLab" set and graphics leaves Channel 10 (WAVY/NBC) and Channel 3's (WTKR/CBS) weather departments in the dust. Here's a webcam shot of the new set. But this is just the beginning of the weather wars here in Hampton Roads. Recently, Channel 10 has been airing a very similar commercial that Channel 13 has been airing for months - that their radar (WAVY) can distinguish between snow, freezing rain and sleet. To be blunt, it's a "rip-off" of WVEC's. Over at WTKR, we now have the "Doppler Advantage" along with the only station in Hampton Roads with five weather personalities. As I said before, does it really matter if a station has 3, 4 or 5 people on their weather staff? Take WTKR - all I care about is Dave Parker and Mike Simon. They could be on-air 7 days a week - they ARE Channel 3's best. Not to be outdone by the new "WeatherLab," Channel 10 has been "threatening" us with the new "WAVY Weather Channel." There hasn't been any indication what this is. Could it be their new weather department? A makeover of their cable weather channel LWS - Local Weather Station? Stay tuned..... (1/27/03)The Super Bowl in HD... "Trolling" the various AV threads, it looks like that WVEC-DT deserves many kudos for pulling off a flawless broadcast of yesterday's Super Bowl. Viewers from 75 miles away were able to pull the broadcast in Hi-Def Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound with no reported "glitches." Up in Richmond, it looks as though WRIC-DT also did a great job with a couple a "hiccups." Reading DCRTV, folks watching WJLA-DT in NoVA weren't as lucky. In case you didn't watch or hear, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Oakland Raiders 48-21in Super Bowl "37"..... (1/27/03) NE NC gets a new radio station: Rimshot signal into Hampton Roads... Virginia Beach based Communications Systems' WFMI-FM 100.9 licensed to Southern Shores NC came to life today doing gospel as 'Rejoice 100.9.' Communications Systems is headed up by Rector Edward L Hamm Jr. 'Rejoice 100.9' is now going head-to-head with Bishop Willis' highly-rated gospel 'Love 100.1' WBXB Edenton NC plus a handful of other gospel formatted stations on the AM band in Hampton Roads and NE North Carolina. The gospel format on the FM band is a very hot format now here in the Southeast. Recent sign-ons in the last several years in major markets have done very well including Barnstable's Contemporary Inspirational 'Star 94.1' WXEZ Yorktown VA. The 100.9 frequency also puts in a rimshot signal into the Southside of Hampton Roads. It's very well received here in Virginia Beach. Will it have an impact on local stations here? Doubt it. I do think if programmed right, they could do some serious damage to 'Love 100.1' Time will tell. WFMI-FM is Class C2 licensed and is beaming out 39kW from an antenna 485' high. They are using the old 'Beach 104' WCXL tower at 109 Fisher Landing Rd. Before WFMI signed-on, Alltel, Hello Pager (based out of Richmond) and an NC two-way company were the only companies on the tower. It's eventually going to be the home WKJX (96.7) Elizabeth City NC when they upgrade (Class A to Class C2) and move their antenna. That signal too will also put in a rimshot to Hampton Roads. By the way, WFMI has been added to the Hampton Roads "Market Listings" page on VARTV..... (1/26/03) When WRVA was radio, and life... WRVA's (AM 1140) historic recordings, files and pictures are now at the Library of Virginia. The WRVA collection will open to the public Tuesday the 28th, the same day a catalog goes on the Internet - www.lva.lib.va.us. On Thursday, an overview of the collection was given by the library's private papers program manager. Ray McAllister of the Times-Dispatch looks back when WRVA was radio, and life..... (1/25/03) Vintage Furniture Auction close to goal...  Douglas Durden of the Times-Dispatch reports that Richmond's Community Idea Stations which includes WCVE (23) and WCVW (57) had hoped to raise $50,000 from the five-night "Vintage Furniture Auction" that ended Monday. "We still have not tallied everything up for the furniture auction, but once the dust settles we hope to clear about $50,000," said Sarah Bartenstein, director of communications for Community Idea Stations. That's considerably less than the nine-night Great TV Auctions used to raise for the stations back in the mid-'90s. But, according to Bartenstein, the event is being considered a success - "not only because of the infusion of additional dollars during an extremely difficult fiscal year, but also because we had so many members of the community visit our studios for the first time, and because of the wonderful response to our call for volunteers." Bartenstein said a decision would be made in the coming weeks whether to have a similar event next year..... (1/24/03)97-3 The Eagle looking for GSM...  Barnstable Broadcasting's new country '97-3 The Eagle' WGH-F is looking for a new General Sales Manager. InsideRadio.com reports... "Norfolk/Virginia Beach 97.3 The Eagle (Country) — Great market (#38), world-class facility, big signal, strong ratings, sales team in place. We expect to be the #1 local billing station in the market. . .only thing missing is you. Live at the Beach and get big comp for big results" ..... (1/22/03)Lite 98 rules in Richmond...  CC's soft AC 'Lite 98' WTVR was the #1 radio station in Richmond according to Arbitron's Fall ratings book released earlier today. They garnered a 9.9 rating. That was up 2.2 from the Summer Book. 2nd was Cox Radio's country 'K95' WKHK with 8.5 (-1.2) and 3rd was Radio One's urban 'Power 92-1 Jamz' WCDX with a 6.9 (-0.9). The entire 12+ ratings can be found at radioandrecords.com..... (1/22/03)103Jamz returns as the #1 radio station in Hampton Roads...  Clear Channel urban '103 Jamz' WOWI is the new #1 station according to Arbitron's Fall ratings book released earlier today. WOWI was tied at #1 with Saga's rocker 'FM99' WNOR in the Summer book. Fall Phase I went to 'FM99.' Fall Phase II went to Barnstable's new country '97-3 The Eagle' WGH and again the complete Fall book goes to WOWI with a 6.9 up from a 6.3 in the Summer. 2nd was Entercom's AC '2WD' WWDE with a 6.3 (+0.4 from Summer), 3rd a tie between Urban AC '95-7 R&B' WVKL (+0.1) and 'FM99' WNOR (-0.5) both with a 5.8, 5th a tie between '97-3 The Eagle' WGH (-0.5) and Entercom's rhythmic 'Z104' WNVZ (+0.2) both with a 5.6, 7th a tie between Barnstable's heritage country WCMS (-0.2) and Entercom's Modern AC '94.9 The Point' WPTE (-0.3) both with a 5.0, 9th was Sinclair's 'NewsRadio 790' WNIS with a 4.9 (+1.5), 10th was Barnstable's Contemporary Inspirational 'Star 94.1' WXEZ with a 4.3 (-1.7), 11th was sister 'Oldies 92-9' WWSO with a 4.2 (-0.2), 12th was CC's Urban AC 'Vibe 105.3' WSVY with a 4.1 (+1.2) and 13th was Saga's classic hits '106.9 The Fox' WAFX with a 3.8 (-2.2). Notes: It looks like none of the Hampton Roads stations that went all-holiday
benefited from the stunt. What happened to WXEZ and WAFX? They lost 1.7 and 2.2 points respectively. WSVY had it's best Book ever. In the "mini" hip-hop battle, Steve Hegwood's 'Hot 102.1' WWHV took a hit; down 0.6 points to a 1.1. The station suffered through several times with transmitter problems - one time broadcasting at an anemic 500 watts. CC's '92.1 The Beat' WBHH inched up just 0.3 points to a 1.6. The entire 12+ ratings can be found at radioandrecords.com (Radio & Records has this market listed as Norfolk-Virgina Beach - note the missing "a" in Virginia)..... (1/22/03)FCC daily digest...  Christian Life Center's WJRX-LP (102.5) Williamsburg VA files with the FCC for "License to cover." According to the CLC's website, WJRX-LP will sign on Monday January 27th with a Christian variety format. This is officially the fourth LPFM in Virginia. This station has also been included in the Hampton Roads "Market Listings" on VARTV...MainQuad Communications' WLGQ-FM (99.5) Emporia VA files with the FCC for "License to cover." The station took the calls WLGQ from sister station at 97.9 in Gaston NC. WLGQ (99.5) is now doing AC while WYTT is doing Urban AC 'Y97 - Today & Yesterday's Soul'... Izzo Living Trust's WVBN-LP Virginia Beach VA (channel 19 licensed/CP for channel 18) files with the FCC for a "Minor change in licensed facilities" and "Modification of construction permit." The purpose for these filings is to correct coordinates. The tower owner had recently resurveyed the tower and found an error in the geographic coordinates. The owner cancelled the previous registration and made a new one. The station is eventually going to be sold to JBS Inc. The new coordinates have been updated for WVBN-LP on the Hampton Roads market page on VARTV..... (1/22/03) Hispanics surpass blacks in US population... From the Associated Press... Hispanics have surpassed blacks as the nation's largest minority group. The Census Bureau says the Latino population grew to 37 million people in July of 2001. That's up nearly 5% from 15 months earlier. The black population grew 2% during the same period. The estimates are the Census Bureau's first statistics on race and ethnicity since results from the 2000 census were released two years ago. Census Bureau demographer Roberto Ramirez says it's long been expected that Hispanics would someday surpass blacks in population -- because their birth and immigration rates are higher. Hispanics make up almost 13% of the US population. For blacks, it's 12.7%..... (1/21/03) Viacom O&O WGNT-DT (27/UPN) Portsmouth VA files with the FCC "License to cover construction permit" for their digital TV station..... (1/21/03) NOTICE: Please note that the OLD vartv@cox.net email address is no longer valid. The main email address to VARTV for news, additions, corrections and comments is editor@vartv.com - to place free classified ads use ads@vartv.com - for paid advertising i.e. banner ads use sales@vartv.com - for material to be placed in the A/V Gallery use avgallery@vartv.com. Oh, by the way, the Bucs and Raiders in the all-pirate Super Bowl, WOW! Should be a great game..... (1/20/03)Fredericksburg gets its own Spanish outlet... Yes, it's true, Free Lance-Star has dumped the alternative simulcast of WYSK-FM/AM to do Spanish on the AM side. The folks from regional Mexican "Radio Fiesta" WPWC-AM 1480 Dumfries VA/Triangle VA are running the station..... (1/20/03) MainQuad shuffles formats & calls... MainQuad's recent sign-on WYTT-FM (99.5) Emporia VA started with an all-holiday format. After Christmas it was simulcasting sister station dance/party hits of the 70s/80s '97Q The Beat' WLGQ-FM (97.9) Gaston NC. All that was temporary. Today, "The Beat" flat-lined. The 97.9 frequency is now known as 'Y97 - Today & Yesterday's Soul' WYTT. The new 99.5 frequency swaps calls to WLGQ with an AC format. VARTV hears that both stations are using ABC Radio Network feeds..... (1/20/03) LIN TV promotes two...  Edward L Munson has been named regional vice-president of LIN TV Corp. He will oversee operations at WAVY (10/NBC) Portsmouth VA and WVBT (43/FOX) Virginia Beach VA and also take on an oversight role in other LIN East Coast markets. LIN TV and Sunrise has 26 stations in it's group including O&O's, LMA's and JV's. They also have a 20% interest in two other stations in Dallas TX and San Diego CA. Also at WAVY, David Rogers has been named the new station manager. He'll be responsible for the day to day operations and development of WAVY..... (1/18/03)Bundling services looks to be here to stay... Bundling refers to how you buy telecommunication services - local and long-distance phone, Internet, TV and wireless phone. Companies want you to buy more than one service from them. For the rest of the story, read McGregor McCance's story at timesdispatch.com..... (1/16/03) Cool new aircheck...  Many thanks to Ernest Jones for sending me this aircheck. It's the "Z Morning Zoo" on "Z104" WNVZ Norfolk VA from 1996 and 1997. The Zoo at that time was hosted by Sean Sellers now at DCs modern AC '104' WWZZ/WWVZ and Diane Letterman now the news director at Saga's classic hits '106.9 The Fox' WAFX. This show was not very good. It's so bad that even Sellers acknowledges it in his bio at the '104' website. The file is ~6.2Mb in size and 19:18 minutes in length - enjoy! By the way, VARTV will be adding a new page to the site entitled "A/V Gallery." Anything that's audio, visual and related to the VARTV coverage area will be on the page. This includes old airchecks, TV commercials,
bumper stickers, older logos etc. I think it will become a popular page on the site. If you have "stuff" around and don't mind if others seeing or hearing it, start digging them out now..... (1/16/03)Another Hampton Roads radio station turns on the RDS switch...  Within the last several days, Entercom's AC '2WD' WWDE started to use the RDS (Radio Data System) feature for car (and home) radios. With this feature, which is available on most newer cars now, allows you to read the title and artist information for the current track playing, traffic alerts, station moniker etc. 2WD, for now, is just displaying their call letters "WWDE-FM." Back in November 2002, Sinclair sisters AAA '93-7 The Coast' WKOC and alternative '96X' WROX started using RDS for the title & artist information and station moniker. There is one more station for a total of four in Hampton Roads that uses it - Entercom's 'Z104' WNVZ. They just display "Z104"..... (1/16/03)University's audio stream is back online: Down for awhile...  The University of Maryland Eastern Shore's Internet audio stream of their campus station WESM-FM (91.3) is back up. It had been down for several months. It seems that there was a small configuration problem that was causing off-campus listeners to not be able to connect and get stuck on 'Buffering.' The station claims they're the Delmarva's only full-time jazz station. Along with jazz, they also broadcast the Blues, Gospel R&B Oldies and news & information. Their website with a link to the audio stream can be found at www.umes.edu/wesm..... (1/16/03)Reality Television grabs strong ratings... The top 10 shows for the week of January 6th thru the 12th according to AC Nielsen were... (show, network, rating) "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 15.5; "Friends," NBC, 15.2; NFL Playoffs: Atlanta at Philadelphia, Fox, 14.8; "ER," NBC, 13.7; "Law & Order," NBC, 13.2; "Everybody Loves Raymond," CBS, 12.5; "60 Minutes," CBS, 12.1; "CSI: Miami," CBS, 11.6; "Scrubs," NBC, 11.3; "The Bachelorette," ABC, 11.2...For the week, CBS won last week averaging 15.3 million viewers (9.9 rating, 16 share), . NBC 12.8 million (8.4/13), FOX 11.5 million (7.0/11), ABC 8.6 million (5.5/ 9), The WB 4.2 million (2.6/4), UPN 3.9 million (2.4/4) and PAX 1.2 million (0.9/1). NBC's "Nightly News" won the evening news ratings race, averaging 11.5 million viewers (8.0/15), ABC's "World News Tonight" was second with 10.7 million viewers (7.5/14) and the "CBS Evening News' had 9.1 million (6.4/12). A ratings point represents 1,067,000 households, or 1% of the country's estimated 106.7 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show. The entire prime-time TV ratings list for the week can be found at the San Francisco Chronicle..... (1/15/03) Hampton Roads TV news: One's leaving; one's staying even longer... Reporter Antwon Lewis of 'NewsChannel 3' WTKR (CBS) has left the station. He's headed out West to Phoenix AZ, the country's 16th largest metro, to independent '3TV' KTVK. Though the station is independent, it's heavy on the news. Former WTKR morning anchor Beverly Kidd is there too. She's anchors "Good Morning Arizona"... Sports Director Bruce Rader of WAVY (10/NBC) has signed a new long term contract. He's now been with Channel 10 for over 25 years! I was looking at Tal White's (WTKR meteorologist) bio the other day and was shocked. With the exception of having no bio, that's the lamest I've ever seen. The bio also has this line "NewsChannel 3 is the only station (in Hampton Roads) with a team of 5 meteorologists!" Would it make a difference if Channel 3 had 10(!) meteorologists? (1/14/02) Fred radio ratings: 1-2 gap closes; two locals drop...  Arbitron's Fall ratings radio book was released yesterday. First was Free Lance-Star's country '93WFLS' with a 13.4, down from a 14.7 in the Summer. Second, Mid-Atlantic Network's Hot AC 'B-101.5' WBQB creeps up to 10.0 from a 9.8 to slightly close the gap between them and FLS by 3.4 ratings points. In a solid third was Bonneville's news WTOP (6.7) which surged past Infinity's talker WJFK (4.9) which finished fourth. 5th was a tie between Free Lance-Star's alternative '99-3 WYSK' and Infinity's rhythmic WPGC at 3.6. Other local notables... Telemedia's country 'Thunder 104.5' WGRX was up 0.7 to 2.7 to finish tied at 8th place, sister station "Virginia's Rockin' Oldies" WGRQ sinks to a 2.1 down from a 3.9 for 13th place - their worst showing in over 18 months, Piedmont's country WJMA had a 1.8 up 0.8 and Free Lance-Star's 'Classic Rock 96.9' WWUZ tanks to a 1.8 from a 3.3 - both tied at 18th place, Mid-Atlantic Network's adult standards/talk 'The Memories Station' WFVA-A tanks to a 19th place tie to 1.5 down from 2.9 (ouch) and Joyner Radio's country 'C103' WCUL shows up in the final book since last fall; tied at 26th place with a 0.9. Who had the best trend? WTOP (+2.4) and WBTJ (+1.2). The worst? WGRQ (-1.8), WWUZ (-1.5), WFVA (-1.5) and WFLS (-1.3). The entire 12+ ratings can be found at radioandrecords.com..... (1/14/03)Some Richmond NFL TV sports ratings: Skins still tops locally...  Jerry Lindquist of the Times-Dispatch that the Washington Redskins remains the market's biggest sports TV attraction but viewership has dropped from a season ago. 'FOX Richmond' WRLH who broadcasted the games in Richmond did a composite 13.6 rating (26.8) share - down 9% from last year. The season finale with the Dallas Cowboys did a 14.0 rating / 30 share at the same time Channel 6 (WTVR/CBS) was showing the Dolphins-Patriots
match-up that had playoff implications. Amazing, that game only garnered a 6.0/13 on WTVR. The most-watched game in Richmond in the first round of the NFL playoffs was the NFC Wild Card game in prime-time on WRIC (8/ABC). That had an 18.9 rating (28 share) in a market of about 505,000 TV households (1.2 million potential viewers.) Second was the Steelers-Browns
match-up on Channel 6 (17.9/32) then the Giants-49ers contest on Channel 35 which did a 16.7/24.8..... (1/13/03)Joe Millionaire: Does OK in Hampton Roads, Hot elsewhere... Larry Bonko of the Virginian-Pilot reported the other day that the ratings for the new FOX reality show did very well across the country. In Hampton Roads, it finished third in its time slot with an 8.1 rating/11 share on 'FOX43' WVBT behind "Third Watch" (9.5/13) on WAVY (10/NBC) and "Raymond" (8.3/11.5) on WTKR (3/CBS). Nationally, the show attracted 18.6 million viewers to win the time slot at 9PM with a 12.7. FOX won the night among the 18-49 year-olds. When the show first started at 9, its rating was 11.7 and kept going up. The show increased its lead-in from "Boston Public" by 69%. "Joe Millionaire" Evan Marriott is 28 years-old and grew up in Virginia Beach..... (1/10/03)It's official: DirecTV coming to the Richmond & Roanoke markets...  VARTV reported before Christmas that DirecTV was testing the Richmond "locals." The press release announced that DirecTV is adding additional 50 markets by the end of the year to the already 51 that they carry . Richmond will be rolled out on
January 16th and Roanoke by the end of June 2003. For the Richmond "locals" anyways, DirecTV has them on their main bird located at 101° West as...873-WTVR (6/CBS) 874-WRIC (8/ABC) 875-WWBT (12/NBC/WB) 876-WCVE (23/PBS) 877-WRLH (35/FOX) 878-WCVW (57/PBS) 879-WUPV (65/UPN) There was no word on what "locals" were going to be carried for the Roanoke market..... (1/10/03) More DirecTV news: A launch of a fourth High-Definition channel... Also announced yesterday (1/9/03) in Las Vegas at the CES, the launch of its fourth HDTV channel. The new channel is dedicated exclusively to pay-per-view movies from New Line Cinema, DreamWorks and MGM. It launched yesterday on channel 198. The new HDTV channel will offer movies for purchase on a pay-per-view basis for $4.99 each. The new HDTV pay-per-view channel joins three other HDTV channels available from DirecTV - HBO HDTV, Showtime HDTV and HDNet..... (1/10/03) VARTV received another new classified ad. As always, click on "Classified Ads" on the left navigation panel to view it..... (1/9/03)More on the Richmond move-in... The many steps in completing the move-in of WJMA-FM 98.9 to Midlothian VA from Orange were contingent on just one thing. That being Entercom's adjacent channel urban '102Jamz' WJMH (102.1) Reidsville NC - licensed as a Class C. Again, the FCC has tweaked that classification. Since Piedmont has already filed with the FCC to sell the station to Joyner Radio, is a safe to assume that maybe Entercom has been "paid" (or just agreed) to keep things as is and be reclassified as a Class C0? If an agreement has been worked out, Richmond could have a new signal this year..... (1/9/03) This is how people get sick...  This really has nothing to do with media news but what the hell. On Monday, yours truly was doing yard work including cutting the lawn around the VARTV HQs. For this time of year, it's still quite green and looks pretty good I might add. Tuesday morning it's completely covered with snow with the temperature barely getting above freezing. Now today, here in Virginia Beach, the forecast is for sunny skies and near 70° temps. This Friday night thru Sunday night the "fam" and I will be in "Picksburgh" where the forecasted highs will only be in the low 20's and overnight lows around 10° with a 50% chance of snow showers all weekend long. Augh..... (1/9/03)Oscar telecast to be broadcasted in HDTV...  ABC will broadcast the Oscars in HDTV for the first time Sunday March 23. The Academy Awards joins the Super Bowl, the NBA finals and the Stanley Cup on the list of big events that will be offered in Hi-Def format on ABC. This season, ABC will raise its prime-time HDTV offerings to more than 16 hours per week. Zenith will sponsor the programming . Monday Night Football will go Hi-Def in the 2003-04 season. ABC-HD can be seen on WVEC-DT, WRIC-DT and WJLA-DT..... (1/8/03)Public TV Board maintains money formula...  The Virginia Public Broadcasting Board has voted to maintain the existing funding formula for the state's public TV stations. Four other Public TV stations (including WETA, WNVC, WNVT) wanted a bigger piece of the budget pie at WCVE's expense. The complete details are at timesdispatch.com..... (1/8/03) Team Broadcasting's (sports?) WWDR-AM (1080) Murfreesboro NC files with the FCC to "License to cover." They had been off-the-air due to a collapsed tower. The new tower is taller and to compensate for this, the station is reducing their power to .93kW to maintain their licensed RMS. Sister station WDLZ-FM (98.3) also shares this tower. VARTV hears that they are using Sporting News Radio..... (1/8/03)Silent WLVA-AM back on the air... According to 100000watts.com, Lynchburg's WLVA-AM 590 is back on the air doing news using AP. Back in March 2002, they went dark doing standards as '590 The River'. At that time, the station was also sold to Kovas Communications from Madison Broadcasting Group. Kovas currently owns 3AMs, 3FMs and a LPTV station; all in Indiana where they are based. WLVA's signal is 5kW daytime/1kW nighttime and puts in a decent coverage area from Blacksburg, thru Lynchburg and up past Charlottesville..... (1/8/03) A step made in Richmond move-in... Piedmont Communications, owners of country WJMA-FM 98.9, filed with the FCC today to sell the station to Joyner Radio out of North Carolina. This is one step in several to eventually move 98.9 to the Richmond market. Here's the breakdown of what's going on. And it's a mouthful. Along with today's filing, Piedmont wants to change the community of license of WJMA from Orange to Midlothian and reclassify the license on channel 255B1 (98.9FM with an antenna height up to 328' and 25kW of power or any combination of those two). 98.9 would provide a first local service to Midlothian and in essence provide Richmond with a brand new signal. Piedmont with Old Belt Broadcasting Corp want to shift Old Belt's '98.9 Kiss Country' WKSK South Hill (currently 312' @ 15kW/licensed as a Class C3) to channel 270A (101.9FM). There is an obstacle. Entercom's adjacent channel urban '102Jamz' WJMH (102.1) Reidsville NC is licensed as a Class C. The FCC has since tweaked that classification making 102Jamz's antenna not high enough under the new guidelines. Piedmont and Old Belt would like to take advantage of this. Entercom does have time to respond to this proposal in either saying "OK" and WJMH-FM would be reclassified as a Class C0 or put in an application to the FCC to increase it's antenna height which would give them three years to build the CP out and would put an end to this realignment to the FM Table of Allotments for the time being. There's more... Joyner Radio recently bought adult standards WCVA-AM and country 'C103' WCUL -FM in Culpeper from Culpeper Broadcasting. Piedmont recently purchased 'Country 105' WLSA-FM Louisa from Mid-Virginia Broadcasting. Again, Piedmont already owns country WJMA-FM with oldies WVCV-AM both in Orange. With that said, the companies have worked out a deal where Piedmont would swap WJMA to Joyner Radio and Piedmont would take over WCVA-AM and WCUL-FM. At the same time, Joyner Radio would move WJMA from Orange to Midlothian and in all likelihood drop the country format already heard on 98.9. Wooosh..... (1/7/03) PD of WWSO - Randy Brooks - is out...  Back in November, VARTV reported that an ad was placed at AllAccess.com by John Shomby the Director of Operations for the Barnstable cluster for a PD position at 'Oldies 92-9' WWSO. Ironically, they already had one... Randy Brooks. Well it looks like Brooks is gone from the oldies outlet all together. They have already taken down his picture off of their website - 929oldies.com. If you remember, Brooks used to program the successful sister stations new country 'Eagle 97.3' (now known as 97-3 The Eagle) WGH and heritage country WCMS. About six months after Barnstable flipped urban oldies 'Soul Classics 92.9’ to 'Oldies 92-9' (WWSO), Randy took on the additional responsibility of PD/afternoon drive at WWSO. Shortly after that, his sole responsibility was to WWSO with John Shomby overseeing things at the country outlets. Now he's gone. Wow... WWSO has had two PDs already in their very short lifespan of just on year. Their first PD, who was very qualified, quit after just two weeks on the job. Was Brooks forced out? Is he still with the Barnstable cluster at all? ..... (1/7/03) VARTV received a new classified ad. Click on "Classified Ads" on the left navigation panel to view it..... (1/6/03)Lyn Vaughn gets married...  Larry Bonko of the Virginian-Pilot reports that Vaughn, who joined WTKR in July 1999 after 14 years with CNN Headlines News, married Wesley Sawyer Vann in Atlanta not long ago. Attending the ceremony were Vaughn's former colleagues at Channel 3 including Barbara Ciara, Kelly Harvey Jones, Portia Bruner and Tony Whitehurst. Tim Reid was best man. He and Vann are cousins. Since leaving "3" in April 2001, Vaughn has been writing and lecturing..... (1/6/03)Attention MSN/Windows Messenger users...  If you have added "VARTV" to your contacts list you might need to update it. I'm now using "editor@vartv.com" as my main email address for Microsoft's .NET Passport. To do this, open Messenger, click "Tools" then "Add a Contact..." Under "How do you want to add a contact?" make sure that "By email address or sign-in name" is checked, click "Next>" and type "editor@vartv.com," click "Next>" then "Finish" and that's it..... (1/4/03)Clear Channel starts pulling Internet audio streams...  This time it's not webcast performance royalties that are being blamed but the streaming royalties charged by BMI and ASCAP. Major CC stations around the country have dropped their streams with some exceptions. Only one CC station in the VARTV area was streaming their audio - Smooth Jazz 'CD107.7' WJCD. That's been yanked. By the way, all of the CC stations in the DC/Baltimore area (except talker WTNT-AM & business WWRC-AM) that were streaming, aren't now. Clear Channel and other broadcasters have long been in a dispute with performing-rights organizations over whether broadcasters should pay additional fees for Internet simulcasts of their over-the-air programming..... (1/3/03)Clear Channel Traffic debuts in Hampton Roads... As reported last month on VARTV, Clear Channel Traffic debuted today on the four CC stations in Hampton Roads - urban AC WSVY, urban WOWI, smooth jazz/NAC WJCD and hip-hop WBHH. They're using the name "Total Traffic Network." In size, CC Traffic falls behind another recent newcomer "Hampton Roads Traffic Network" heard on the Barnstable cluster - oldies WWSO (92.9), contemporary Inspirational WXEZ (94.1), new country WGH-F (97.3), heritage country WCMS (100.5) and sports WGH-A (1310) and the market leader Metro Networks which has 19 stations. NOTE: Barnstable's standards WFOG-A doesn't provide traffic updates..... (1/2/03) Congrats to Bonita Harris...  Anchor Bonita Billingsley-Harris of LNC5 (Local News on Cable) recently gave birth to Cheyanne Amy Harris who arrived weighing 7lbs 11oz. By the way, Dad is Elisha "Cadillac" Harris - the head football coach at Indian River High School in Chesapeake. Bonita Billingsley-Harris is expected back to work late this month..... (1/2/03)Two Virginia jocks with new voicetracking duties... Night guy Justin Wright at Mel Wheeler's CHR 'K92' WXLK Roanoke takes on additional duties cyberjocking for Cartier Communication's CHR '94-7 Hits FM' WYUL Burlington/Plattsburg NY. He's doing the afternoon drive there (2PM-6PM) which by the way also targets the Montréal market... Julian Nieh who parttimes at CC's CHR 'Hot 99-5' WIHT Washington and Entercom's rhythmic 'Z104' WNVZ Norfolk adds cyberjocking at CC's CHR outlet 'Hot 101.9' WHTE Charlottesville..... (1/2/03) A new night slammer at the B...  Clint Novak took over the 7-mid slot on Fredericksburg's popular Hot AC 'B101.5' WBQB on January 1st. Clint was most recently in Mankato MN where he was evening personality, morning show producer and production director. He got his start at KXPT in Minneapolis MN..... (1/2/03)East Carolina Radio Group in new digs...  Today is the first day that the stations of East Carolina Radio are in their new studios. All seven stations are now under one roof. They include oldies '102.5 The Shark' WERX, new country 'Dixie 105.7' WRSF, rock 'The Rock Experience' WOBR//WKJX, Hot AC '98.1 OBX' WOBX and standards WCNC//WZBO-AM. The former studios were in Edenton, Elizabeth City (2), Nags Head (2) and Wanchese (2). No word if other departments made the move to the new space..... (1/2/03)Lentz exits Channel 10...  Monday night (12/29) on the 11PM newscast, weekend anchor/reporter Mindy Lentz announced that she was leaving LIN TVs WAVY (NBC). She stated she was moving to her hometown of Austin TX to be with her family and to take a similiar position with sister TV station KXAN (36/NBC). How lucky is that? To get to go back where you were born and raised and the TV station you work for just happens to have a station there. Her tenure at WAVY was short - 18 months. Lentz started her career in TV news as the main anchor for the University of Texas newscast in Austin where she pursued her degree in Speech communications. After graduation, she went on to work for KXII-TV (12/CBS) as a reporter for their Ardmore OK bureau. A year later, she moved out to West Virginia to become the main anchor for 'NewsChannel 6' WVVA-TV (NBC) in Bluefield. She was there for three years before arriving at WAVY..... (1/1/03)News Archives.....  |
|
