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 :// Radio station owner indicted  | Tuesday, September 4, 2007Jamie Thomas Clark, the owner of (Country) WHEO Radio (1270) in Stuart, was indicted Tuesday on charges of possession and distribution of child pornography. (read more - Martinsville Bulletin)
Agreement with Bonneville brings the nation’s capital back into the No Spin Zone | Tuesday, September 4, 2007  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... Westwood One announced today an agreement with Bonneville Communications for The Radio Factor with Bill O’Reilly to air in Washington DC and surrounding areas. Beginning Thursday, September 20th, The Radio Factor with Bill O’Reilly will air on WWWT Monday-Friday 1pm-3pm ET. WWWT can be heard on 1500AM, 820AM and 107.7FM. (read more - VARTV Press Room)
 Dick Broadcasting's CHR WKZL/Greensboro APD/MD/middayer Mike Klein leaves the station after two years, to pursue other programming and on-air options within Top 40, Top 40/Rhythm Crossover, Hot AC and Rock/Alternative. Reach him at (757) 572-5543 or kleinkzl@gmail.com Mike will be working weekends at Clear Channel CHR "Hot 99-5" WIHT in DC until he finds his next job..... (9/4/2007)
| Tuesday, September 4, 2007  Gray Television's "CBS19" WCAV Charlottesville (simulcast on sister ABC16 WVAW-LP Charlottesville) "Good Morning Charlottesville" anchor Whitney Holmes is exiting the station after three years this Friday. She has accepted a reporting/anchoring position with Young Broadcasting's WATE (6/ABC) Knoxville TN. Holmes helped launch the station's morning show just over two years ago. In the same breath, Autria Godfrey has been named the new anchor for "Good Morning Charlottesville." She's been CBS19's weekend anchor since last year.
| Tuesday, September 4, 2007 FOR RELEASE... Virginia Beach, VA – 97-3 the Eagle (WGH-FM) has been nominated by the Country Music Association as Large Market Radio Station of the Year. The CMA nominees were announced today (August 30, 2007) on WVEC-TV from New York on “Good Morning America” and on CMT during a special “CMT Insider.” (read more - VARTV Press Room)
Red Zebra Broadcasting recently applied for the "WXTG-FM" call letters for its Sports "102.1FM The Game" Virginia Beach. It wants to move the current 102.1 "WXTG" call letters to the soon to be acquired WLRT/1490 Hampton..... (9/4/2007)
| Tuesday, September 4, 2007 Royal Broadcasting's 60s-70 Hits "Oldies Radio 95.3" WZRV Front Royal/Winchester drops "Oldies" from its name but stays in the format.The station, "Your Greatest Hits, The River 95.3" as its called now, is the same format musically, but have switched to Dial Global's satellite-fed "The Oldies Channel" format service (minus all the generic bumpers) from ABC Radio Networks' "Oldies Radio" format. The change was made this morning at 5 a.m.
| Tuesday, September 4, 2007Local TV LLC "NewsChannel 3" WTKR (CBS) Norfolk reporter Rick Holmes is leaving the station at the end of the month. Holmes moves much closer to home (Franklin MA) by accepting a reporter/anchor job at Cablevision's cable-only "News 12" based in Edison NJ., 25 miles outside of New York City.
| Monday, September 3, 2007 Starting this past Labor Day weekend, the MY 80's format that runs on Clear Channel's WRVQ/94.5 Richmond HD2 channel will feature a different 1980's Casey Kasem Countdown... every weekend. These restored shows count down from around number 30 to number one. This past weekend, "My 80's" featured the countdown from August 28, 1982. Next weekend, from that same week in 1985.The countdowns can be heard Saturdays noon to 2:30 p.m. and Sundays 9 a.m. to 11:30am. If you don't have an HD radio, these shows can be heard on the stream at Q94Radio.com, at the HD link.
| Sunday, September 2, 2007Sheriff Tex Davis, a one-time Norfolk disc jockey who altered rock 'n' roll and country music history, died Wednesday in Nashville after a long period of declining health. He was 93. (read more - The Virginian-Pilot)
| Friday, August 31, 2007More news; less Bill Bevins. WTVR-TV's "Virginia This Morning" is marking its first anniversary by moving to 9 a.m. weekdays and revamping its anchor team Sept. 10. (read more - Richmond Times-Dispatch)
| Thursday, August 30, 2007 WDBJ (Channel 7) has hired a news director, the latest in a string of new faces in top offices at Roanoke media companies.Amy Morris, a former WDBJ reporter-producer who is now an executive producer for WLS-TV, Chicago's ABC affiliate, will lead the newsroom at Roanoke's ratings leader beginning in October, she said. (read more - The Roanoke Times)
Is Sinclair Communications really done with tweaking the format on 106.1? Stay tuned..... (8/29/2007)
| Tuesday, August 28, 2007Starting Monday, WTKR - NewsChannel 3 - will no longer dedicate a specific amount of time to sports coverage during its nightly newscasts. News director Shane Moreland clarifies, however, that the station is not dropping sports altogether. (read more - The Virginian-Pilot)
| Tuesday, August 28, 2007Mike Vincent, who has served as Assistant Program Director and afternoon personality since January of 2000 is about to say goodbye to The Star Radio Group's WFLS come November. Word on the street is that Mike is heading out to the West Coast, ready to take on a new opportunity at a radio station in San Francisco. More details are coming soon...
Gary Voss was recently named Market Manager for Red Zebra Broadcasting's Sports "102.1FM The Game" WXTG Virginia Beach//WLRT (1490) Hampton. Voss comes to Hampton Roads via Saga Communications' cluster in Champaign IL..... (8/28/2007)
| Tuesday, August 28, 2007  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... The WAVY-TV and FOX-43 family announce that they have partnered with the Citizen’s Committee to Protect the Elderly and has participated in parent company LIN Television’s national Day of Caring.LIN TV's Day of Caring is a day when employees from 30 television stations in 18 markets will take a break from day-to-day operations and help make a difference in the community. (read more - VARTV Press Room)
| Tuesday, August 28, 2007Sinclair Communications' 106.1/Poquoson signal has a very busy but short history. For those of you keeping track: Since the frequency signed on from Poquoson 42 months ago, it's been averaging a new format every seven months... wow.
| Tuesday, August 28, 2007Michael Vick canceled his highly touted live radio interview with Tom Joyner this morning. Joyner, the popular and influential host, was in Norfolk to broadcast live from Clear Channel, but at 6 a.m. he announced that Vick had backed out on the advice of his attorneys. (read more - Daily Press)
| Tuesday, August 28, 2007Starting next week, local CBS affiliate WTKR-TV channel 3 will drop the sportscast from its nightly news shows. Shane Moreland, who became the station's news director a month ago, said the newscasts will still show football highlights on the weekends this fall... (read more - Daily Press)
| Tuesday, August 28, 2007Former Breakfast Bunch co-host Ted Alexander on Entercom AC "2WD" WWDE/101.3 Hampton/Norfolk has landed at Max Media Classic Hits/AC "92-9 The Wave" WVBW Suffolk/Norfolk for weekends. Alexander was recently renamed the Sports Director at Local TV's "NewsChannel 3" WTKR Norfolk. Two years ago, Alexander was the SD for Channel 3 and doing weekends at 2WD.
| Monday, August 27, 2007 Earlier this morning (8/27), Sinclair Communications quietly spins the format wheel again at WNRJ/106.1 Poquoson. It appears the Rhythmic CHR format has been dumped for Hot AC. The Energy 106-1 name stays for now but the station is jockless. We also hear all the jocks have been let go. You can reach out to Energy's former night jock, Showtime at Showtime757@gmail.com or 757.572.5061.The current music being played will be the new format. Sinclair dumped a similar formatted station in California for the same Hot AC sound. That station is now known as "Y98-7." It has been a very long time since Hampton Roads has had a station sounding like the current WNRJ. Max Media's Hot AC "Beach 104" WCXL/104.1 Kill Devil Hills is a good example of a Hot AC but the signal rimshots south Hampton Roads. More to come...
| Monday, August 27, 2007According to NewsBlues, Schurz Communications' WDBJ (7/CBS) Roanoke announced Friday that it has hired Amy Morris as the station's new news director. Currently, she's the executive producer (EP) at ABC O&O "ABC7" WLS Chicago. Morris will replace Jim Kent, who left the station in July after nearly 30 years at the station.
| Monday, August 27, 2007 Main Line Broadcasting has reimaged WBBT/107.3 Powhatan/Richmond and WARV/100.3 Petersburg as "107.3 BBT - The Greatest Hits of the '60s and '70s." The change occurred at 12:01 this morning. The station was previous known as "Motown, Soul and Great Rock 'n Roll, Oldies 107.3."We hear there'll be a new imaging voice, and a shift in the musical focus to add more '70s (and some early '80s). Middayer Matt Nicholls resigns and leaves the radio business, morning host Ozone will be on vacation this week.
Former LIN TV (WAVY/WVBT) and current "NBC10" WCAU Philadelphia reporter Monique Braxton gets an eyeful in this report... MSN Video..... (8/25/2007)
| Friday, August 24, 2007Although it launched less than a year ago and hired its DJs only 10 months ago, a new Charlottesville radio station has already become nothing short of an airwaves-eating behemoth. Spinning current college rock hits and favorites of the recent past, stitched together by the mantra "different is good..." (read more - The Hook)
Hampton Roads stays put again, Richmond climbs two  | Thursday, August 23, 2007Nielsen Media Research just announced a new list of Designated Market Area (DMA®) TV rankings for the 2007-2008 television season. The research company says the total number of television households within the US is now estimated at 112.8 million, an increase of 1.3% since last year...
| Thursday, August 23, 2007 Main Line Variety Hits "98-9 Liberty" WWLB Midlothian/Richmond General Sales Manager (GSM), Mike Young, is exiting the station after two years to return to Tampa FL.We hear in his two years at Liberty, Young and his staff put Liberty "sales on the map, taking the Arbitron 8th ranked station from 11th to 4th in local revenue." His last day at WWLB is Friday, August 31. The search for a new GSM is already underway.
| Wednesday, August 22, 2007WTKR news anchor Barbara Ciara is busy these days, but her visibility at the station is being reduced a bit. On Tuesday, Ciara shifted away from her role as anchor of the station's evening and 11 p.m. newscasts; she will now anchor WTKR's noon newscast and co-anchor the 5 p.m. news. (read more - The Virginian-Pilot)
| Wednesday, August 22, 2007Big Jim O’Brien jumps back into the Harrisonburg radio scene, after working for Clear Channel and Verstandig Broadcasting. O’Brien picks up weekends on Vox Communications' "Real Country & Bluegrass" WSIG/96.9 Mt Jackson and Oldies "Magic 95.5" WBOP Buffalo Gap... Clear Channel Harrisonburg long time Sales Manager, Susie Smith is out, as she has decided to pursue a career outside of radio...
Liberty University's recently acquired translator in Charlottesville is now on the air. W244BP is doing 10 watts on 96.7, rebroadcasting Liberty's Christian Contemporary "Victory FM" WRVL/88.3 Lynchburg..... (8/22/2007)
| Tuesday, August 21, 2007Entercom Rhythmic "Z104" WNVZ/104.5 Norfolk MD Shaggy has been nominated for Rhythmic Music Director of the Year by Radio & Records magazine. The 2007 R&R Convention will be held in Charlotte September 26-28. A list of all nominees can be found on R&R's website at radioandrecords.com.
WAVY/10 and WVBT/43 will participate | Tuesday, August 21, 2007LIN TV Corp. announced today that "LIN TV's Day of Caring" will be held on Aug. 28, when employees from 30 television stations in 18 markets will roll up their sleeves to clean, paint, repair and volunteer their time to help people in need. (read more - TVNEWSDAY)
| Tuesday, August 21, 2007The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) has granted Prince William Broadcasting LLC (PWB) a CP (construction permit) for a brand new AM radio station on 920 to be licensed to Quantico, VA. The CP calls for the station to do 2,000 watts during the day and 970 watts at night. The new AM station is considered part of the Washington DC Arbitron Metro. PWB consists of six media companies including Mike Powell's Bay Broadcasting the licensee of WBEY/97.9 Crisfield MD and runs Birach's WGOP/540 and Great Scott's WKHW/106.5, both Pocomoke City MD.
| Tuesday, August 21, 2007615 Music, a Nashville-based production music company and provider of library and production music, has acquired music library company Metro Music Inc. 615 Music President and CEO Randy Wachtler, and Mitch Coodley, Owner/Composer of Metro Music Inc., jointly made the announcement. (read more - TVNEWSDAY)
| Tuesday, August 21, 2007WTKR-TV News Anchor Barbara Ciara will cut back her on-air duties to allow more time for her new role as president of the National Association of Black Journalists. Ciara was elected to the two-year position at the organization's annual meeting earlier this month. (read more - Daily Press)
| Tuesday, August 21, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... It is time to take a stand and take back our streets!! Join the citizens of Richmond, VA for a radio first! Good vs Evil! Good must prevail! Richmond's citizens are already hot under the collar! Join WLEE AM 990 & CRIME TALK L.L.C. with the debut of CRIME TALK w/Mark Majors on AM 990 WLEE Monday-Friday, 1PM - 2PM; & Saturday 11AM - 12PM. The STREETFIGHT begins Monday August 27, 2007.
| Tuesday, August 21, 2007 Cumulus New River Valley has named Don Walker the new program director for CHR "Hot 100" WFNR Christiansburg/Radford. He replaces Gizmo who exited several months ago.Walker previously programmed Federated Media's rocker "The Bear" WBYR/98.9 Van Wert/Ft Wayne IN and did afternoons at sister Hot AC WMEE/97.3 Ft Wayne IN.
Sports director Ted Alexander and | Monday, August 20, 2007The changes keep on coming at Local TV LLC's "NewsChannel 3" WTKR (CBS) Norfolk. After a meeting this afternoon at the station, management shuffles the on-air talent on all newscasts. The morning show (5-7 a.m.) remains nearly intact (Bianca Martinez and Matt Keller anchoring, Patrick Rockey weather) with the exception at traffic. A new traffic reporter will debut soon replacing Ricardo Major. The new Traffic Reporter was hired from a recent talent search the station aired. The noon newscast has Barbara Ciara going solo with Patrick Rockey doing weather. Ciara previously anchored with Kurt Williams at noon. At 5 p.m., it's Ciara with Pat McReynolds at the anchor desk, Mike Harvey with weather and no sports from 5-6 p.m. At 5:30, it's Kurt Williams going solo with Harvey doing weather. Martinez was co-anchoring with Williams. And at 6 and 11, Pat McReynolds goes solo anchoring (for now), Harvey with weather and the station promotes Ted Alexander as its new Sports Director. Current Sports Director Cory Curtis exits next week. Weekend morning shows (Saturday and Sunday) will be anchored by Domonique Benn and the station welcomes back meteorologist Dave Parker for weather. The weekend evening and late night newscasts will be anchored by Bob Matthews, Vanessa Murdock with weather and Jason Barr doing sports.
| Monday, August 20, 2007It was reported last week that non-profit Praise Communications agreed to sell its Christian Contemporary "Praise Radio" WPRZ/1250 Warrenton to Metro Radio for $1.1M. Metro already owns two Spanish/Spanish Brokered stations -- "La Campeona 1420 AM" WKCW/1420 Warrenton and "Radio Universal" WKDV/1460 Manassas. Not part of that deal was the intellectual property of the station. To make more profit for the non-profit group, Praise has put up the "WPRZ" call letters for sale. How much would a Clear Channel, Radio One, etc station fork out for those "cool" call letters?
LIN TV's WAVY (10/NBC) Portsmouth/Norfolk debuted their made over website today at WAVY.com..... (8/17/2007)
| Thursday, August 16, 2007Former Cumulus "Continuous Country 99.9" KEKB Fruita/Grand Junction CO PD Kris Richards is named the new programmer for East Carolina Radio Group's Country "Dixie 105.7" WRSF Columbia/Outer Banks NC. Richards will also co-host The Breakfast Table morning show with Rick Chamberlain. Richards also says that Scotty Banks (Campbell) was added to the staff last Monday as the station's afternoon drive host. Banks was previously with South Central Communications' Soft AC "Mix 92-9" Nashville (as a Producer/Writer) and on air at Bristol Broadcasting's Country WXBQ/96.9 Bristol TN.
WVBT/43 Virginia Beach/Norfolk is already onboard | Wednesday, August 15, 2007 The Fox affiliates’ board of governors has endorsed the MyFox platform, developed by Fox Interactive Media (FIM) in summer 2006 for Fox’s 24 owned-and-operated stations. The board agreed to allow FIM to pitch the MyFox platform to the stations in the broader Fox affiliate body. (read more - TVWeek)
| Wednesday, August 15, 2007Clear Channel Country WMZQ/98.7 Washington names Jeffrey T Mason as Assistant Program Director and afternoons. Mason leaves sunny Florida and Beasley's "99.9 Kiss Country" WKIS Boca Raton/Miami for WMZQ on September 4. Jeffro also recently ran the now defunct 80sNow.com website.
| Wednesday, August 15, 2007Barbara Ciara has been elected president of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ). Ciara was appointed president at the NABJ's 32nd Annual Convention and Career Fair in Las Vegas on August 11. She will serve for a two-year term. (read more - Editor & Publisher)
| Tuesday, August 14, 2007Lockwood Broadcast Group is trying to put together a duopoly in Huntsville-Decatur-Florence, Ala., by buying a second station there to go along with its CW affiliate, WHDF. (read more - TVNEWSDAY)
| Tuesday, August 14, 2007Despite rules that generally prohibit the assignment or transfer of a low power FM (LPFM) authorization, the FCC today (8/8) granted a waiver of its rules and allowed Shenandoah County (Virginia) Public Schools (SCPS) to assign an unbuilt LPFM construction permit to Christian Leadership Ministries (CLM). (read more - Broadcast Blog Law)
| Monday, August 13, 2007WTTG FOX 5 will launch a new early evening newscast, “FOX 5 News Edge at 6.,” announced Duffy Dyer, the station’s Vice President and General Manager. Scheduled to begin on September 10, 2007, the program will air Monday-Friday from 6:00-6:30 p.m. (read more - FOX5)
| Monday, August 13, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... The Association for Women in Communications has announced that the news staff of WFLS-FM is the recipient of this year’s National Clarion Award for Radio Newscast. This is the second year the station has won the prestigious award in this category having also won it in 2006. (read more - VARTV Press Room)
What Hampton Roads TV personality just couldn't stay away from the camera? Hmmm..... (8/13/2007)
| Saturday, August 11, 2007 You weren't seeing things tonight if you only saw one anchor reading the news on Local TV LLC's WTKR (CBS) Norfolk 11 p.m. newscast. The station has decided to use a solo anchor for its weekend newscasts, with Bob Matthews getting the anchor seat and Stacy Davis is back to reporting weekdays.
| Saturday, August 11, 2007FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... WAVY TV 10 and WVBT FOX-43 are pleased to announce even further ratings growth in the just completed July 2007 Nielsen rating period. This comes on the heels of record-setting ratings in May’s Nielsen survey just two months ago. WAVY is in its 15th year being number one in morning news and WAVY News 10 Today at 6:00AM grew 24% over July 2006. (read more - VARTV Press Room)
| Friday, August 10, 2007FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... WAVY-TV and Partners On Your Side announce that the annual Operation School Supplies campaign for the 2007-2008 school year will conclude a week from Sunday.Operation School Supplies is an annual fundraiser aimed at collecting school supplies for the needy children in the Hampton Roads community. (read more - VARTV Press Room)
Tim Stone, Program Director for Telemedia's Country "Thunder 104.5" WGRX Falmouth/Fredericksburg, has left the building (yesterday) for undisclosed reasons. Stone was the station's PD since April 2003..... (8/9/2007)
| Thursday, August 9, 2007We've learned thru a FCC filing that Sinclair Communications' upgrade of WNRJ/106.1 Poquoson is going to cost the company extra $225,000. The original upgrade was contingent on Clear Channel moving WRDU/106.1 Wilson NC to Knightdale NC and Hispanic Target Media's moving its new, not yet on-the-air signal, in Nassawadox VA from 105.9 to 96.9. All was well until WRDU could not locate its signal from the new location (tower). Eventually, WRDU did find a new spot in Garner NC where Capitol Broadcasting's TV and radio stations (both WRAL) broadcast from. One problem. That spot would put the signal too close to WWGP Broadcasting's WFJA/105.5 Sanford NC. Solution? Sinclair Communications is willing to pay the owner of WFJA to move his signal a bit farther west to where it doesn't interfere with WRDU's new coverage area. The cost, to be paid in phases, comes out to $225,000 (and probably more). The agreement between the three parties calls for a quick process and could all be set in place in three to four months. By WRDU and WFJA moving a bit farther west in North Carolina, WNRJ will now be able to broadcast its higher power from a new tower location in Portsmouth and give the station a full-market signal. This likely will happen in less than six months. WNRJ is currently doing a Rhythmic CHR format and is known as "Energy 106-1."
Former PAX repositions to more mainstream programming | Thursday, August 9, 2007 For the network now known as ION, the road to becoming a viable broadcast network has been more than just bumpy. For the longest time, it seemed to run into a ditch as the network went through a series of rebirths... (read more - Media Life)
Hampton Roads isn't the kind of place where sports talk makes a huge impact... | Wednesday, August 8, 2007In case you missed it, John Castleberry's 14-year run as the radio voice of Old Dominion men's basketball has come to an end. If there was any doubt, it was erased when ODU recently posted an Internet ad (on VARTV)... (read more - The Virginian-Pilot)
| Wednesday, August 8, 2007Naval Academy Director of Athletics Chet Gladchuk announced Monday that the Naval Academy Athletic Association has added Red Zebra radio stations 102.1 FM The Game in Virginia Beach, Va. and 1490 AM in Hampton Roads, Va. to the Navy Football Radio Network. (read more - NavySports.com)
| Wednesday, August 8, 2007
| Tuesday, August 7, 2007Local TV LLC's WTKR (CBS) Norfolk continues to tweak things. This time, they blow up the short-lived "5 p.m. Interactive Newscast" with Bianca Martinez. That half hour will now feature a traditional newscast with Martinez and Pat McReynolds...Kurt Williams is no longer making the trek from Boush St to Virginia Beach's Town Center to anchor newscasts. He's now anchoring the noon and 5:30 p.m. shows from the Norfolk studios... Say goodbye to the "10-day Forecast" at the end of the station's weather segments. It's now called (7-day) "Planning Forecast."
| Tuesday, August 7, 2007Greg Roberts is switching radio stations. Roberts, who has hosted a sports call-in talk show on WGMN-AM 1240 in Roanoke since 1999, said Monday he is moving to WFIR-AM 960 beginning Aug. 27. (read more - The Roanoke Times)
The price for Red Zebra Broadcasting's announced purchase agreement for Hampton Radio II, LLC's WLRT/1490 Hampton is $950,000 according to a FCC filing. The station is already simulcasting sister FOX Sports/Redskins "102.1FM The Game" WXTG Virginia Beach. (8/7/2007)
| Tuesday, August 7, 2007 Preston T. Brown has double reason to celebrate this summer.Brown, the owner of WCLM-AM, has acquired his second radio station, WHAP-AM. (read more - Richmond Times-Dispatch)
| Monday, August 6, 2007Targeted Publications + Media, a Virginian-Pilot Media Company, will launch MIX magazine on August 23. MIX is a multicultural publication covering the personalities, issues, trends and happenings among the Hampton Roads area's minority communities - African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans and Native Americans. (read more - BlackNews.com)
| Monday, August 6, 2007Randy Hahn always possessed the prime attribute of any radio talk show host - he loved to talk. “He was amazing,” said WZZU-FM station manager Bob Abbott... (read more - Lynchburg The News & Advance)
Christian Spanish station in the Richmond area celebrates one year on the air | Monday, August 6, 2007 Israel Miranda left home and his father's church as a teenager, but years later, he found God again through his father in a prison cell. (read more - Richmond Times-Dispatch)
| Sunday, August 5, 2007When Hurricane Isabel struck in September 2003, most of St. Mary’s lost electricity — including the local radio stations. Emergency messages had no way of getting out over the airwaves. (read more - Southern Maryland's The Enterprise)
| Friday, August 3, 2007Removed at the request of Nielsen Media...
| Friday, August 3, 2007Shawn Matthews, mornings for CapSan Media "Classic Hits 104-9" WFMZ Hertford NC and PD/afternoons for Country "Wilbur 92.3 & Orville 97.1" WZPR Nags Head//WYND Hatteras, has left the building. Reach out to Matthews at 919-601-3703.
| Thursday, August 2, 2007Clear Channel CHR "Q94" WRVQ/94.5 Richmond night slammer T-Bag adds weekend duties at sister CHR "Hot 99-5" WIHT Washington DC. Bag starts at Hot on Saturday, September 1.
| Wednesday, August 1, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... Mix 96, WKJX-FM 96.7, has reached an agreement with Learfield Sports, Inc. to broadcast University of North Carolina Tar Heels sports for the next three seasons. Mix 96 has also renewed its agreement as an affiliate of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers Radio Network in 2007. (read more - VARTV Press Room)
Sinclair Communications' Alternative "96X" WROX/96.1 Exmore/Norfolk redos their website at 96x.fm..... (7/31/2007)
| Tuesday, July 31, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... Red Zebra Broadcasting today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Hampton, Va. radio station WLRT 1490 AM from Hampton Radio Inc. The acquisition is subject to the approval of the Federal Communications Commission.Red Zebra has also entered into a Local Marketing Agreement with the current owners of WLRT... (read more - VARTV Press Room)
| Tuesday, July 31, 2007A Christian radio station employee and Bristol pastor has been charged with indecent exposure as well as DUI and violation of the open container law. WZAP-AM 690's owner, Al Morris has issued a brief statement Monday afternoon... (read more - Kingsport Times-News)
Sinclair Communications has dropped the Internet audio streams of Talk WTAR/850 Norfolk and Rhythmic CHR "Energy 106-1" WNRJ Poquoson/Norfolk..... (7/31/2007)
Our condolences go out to Metro Networks' Don DeIulio whose mother in-law passed away Sunday morning..... (7/31/2007)
| Monday, July 30, 2007Local TV LLC's WTKR (CBS) Norfolk has dropped the silly "Your" in "Your NewsChannel 3" and will simply be known as "NewsChannel 3" beginning today with the station's 5 p.m. newscast. This change is from new News Director Shane Moreland who starts on the job today. Back in February, one of the first acts of business for previous ND Nancy Nydam, was axing the silly "LIVE in the (community) Mobile Newsroom..." that reporters were ending their news pieces with. Reporters now say "LIVE from (community)..."
| Friday, July 27, 2007Cavalier Communications - one of the few telecommunications companies that has survived to compete with Cox and Verizon - wants to spread its television, phone and high-speed Internet services from Williamsburg to the rest of the market. (read more - Daily Press)
CW 27’S “America's Next Top Model” holds open casting call in Hampton Roads... | Friday, July 27, 2007Think you’ve got what it takes to be America’s Next Top Model? An open casting call for The CW Network’s hit reality series “America’s Next Top Model” (ANTM) will be held at The Gallery at Military Circle, 880 North Military Highway, Norfolk on Saturday, August 11, 2007 from Noon until 3:30 PM. (read more - VARTV Press Room)
| Thursday, July 26, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... Steve Batton has joined Metro Networks as Director of Operations for the Norfolk and Richmond markets. He comes to the position after three-plus years in the Outer Banks as Operations Manager for Max Media's WCMS-FM (94.5 Water Country) and NewsRadio 560 WGAI. (read more - VARTV Press Room)
| Thursday, July 26, 2007Minnie Roh, formerly with "NBC12" WWBT Richmond, can now be seen on weekends anchoring Raycom Media "CBS6" WTVR Richmond 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts. She replaces the departed Deborah Cox... NBC12 anchor/reporter TaRhonda Thomas announced her departure from the station Saturday, May 26. She left WWBT for Gannett Broadcasting's "9NEWS" KUSA (NBC) Denver to become a reporter. Her husband, a former assistant basketball coach at the University of Richmond, took a coaching position at the University of Denver. NBC12's Saturday morning newscast is now anchored by Terrell Brown... New to NBC12 are reporters Sunni Blevins, who comes from Bonten Media Group's WCYB (5/NBC) Bristol VA and Jola Szubielski, who comes from Time Warner's cable-only "Capital News 9" Albany NY. Blevins is originally from West Jefferson NC. At WCYB, Blevins was a producer, assignment editor and reporter. Jola Szubielski was born in Poland but grew up in Lancaster PA. After graduating from NYU, she worked at Time Warner's cable-only "NY1 News" New York as a producer then moved on to Capital News 9 before joining the NBC12 news team...
| Thursday, July 26, 2007 (Media General-owned) "NewsChannel 10" WSLS (NBC) Roanoke viewers may have noticed something a little different this past week. The station's newscasts are temporarily broadcasting from WSLS' newsroom while the main studio undergoes a transformation.Crews are tearing apart the current set, in use since January 1999, and are gutting the entire studio. A brand new set will be installed to coincide with the planned transformation to high definition newscasts this fall. The set itself isn't the only upgrade. Technicians began converting the station's control room to HD in April.
| Thursday, July 26, 2007 Frances Scott has joined Allbritton Communications' "ABC13" WSET Lynchburg/Roanoke as an anchor for the station's 7 p.m. newscast, "Virginia News Tonight." Scott is a very well-known face in the Roanoke area. She was the original anchor of the "Fox 10 O'Clock News" on WFXR/WWCW from 1996-1999. Scott also worked as a weekend anchor and reporter for WSLS from 1995-1996. Scott was most recently the primary news anchor for ABC O&O "ABC11" WTVD Durham/Raleigh NC, where her work earned an Emmy. She made her debut on Monday night's newscast.
| Thursday, July 26, 2007We're hearing that Young Broadcasting's "8NEWS" WRIC (ABC) Petersburg/Richmond will launch a new 4:30 p.m. newscast this fall. The news will be wrapped around the new celebrity gossip show "TMZ.com" at 4 p.m. with Oprah following the news at 5 p.m.
Tribune's Daily Press newspaper rolled out a revamped website today for the paper at dailypress.com..... (7/25/2007)
Belo WVEC (13/ABC) Hampton/Norfolk anchor/reporter Sandra Parker returns to the anchor seat tonight after being on maternity leave. Parker had a baby boy - "Parker Michael" in late May..... (7/25/2007)
| Wednesday, July 25, 2007 Jim Kent, news director and longtime staff member at WDBJ (Channel 7), was ousted from the Roanoke station Tuesday.Mike Bell was named interim news director... (read more - The Roanoke Times)
| Tuesday, July 24, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... Adams Outdoor Advertising of Norfolk has hired Adam McGinty as Sales Manager . Adam spent the past five years as the Sales Manager for Clear Channel Outdoor in Portland, Oregon. Prior to that, Adam was a successful salesperson for the San Francisco division of Clear Channel Outdoor from 1993 to 2002.Adams Communications is a privately held media company with 14 divisions across the US.
| Tuesday, July 24, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... WCAV-TV, CBS19 will hold an open casting call for the second season of the CBS reality television series Kid Nation. Kid Nation begins this fall and promises to be one of the most unique and family-friendly shows to hit the airwaves in years. The pilot has been generating incredible buzz.... (read more - VARTV Press Room)
| Monday, July 23, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... Richmond, VA – July 23, 2007: WMXB Richmond, “The New Mix 103-7” is proud to welcome Madison James to “The New Mix 103-7” air staff, holding down the Monday through Friday 10a – 2p air shift and Music Director position. She will begin her on air position starting Monday, July 30th. (read more - VARTV Press Room)
Announcement includes Cumulus' New River Valley cluster | Monday, July 23, 2007 Cumulus Media Inc.’s Lewis W. Dickey Jr., chairman, president and CEO of Cumulus, and Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity announced Monday (July 23) the execution of a definitive merger agreement... (read more - BusinessWire)
| Saturday, July 21, 2007 Is Entercom Norfolk ready to dump the heritage Adult Contemporary format on WWDE/101.3, known as 2WD? Are they just waiting for the Spring radio ratings book to come out on August 6 to make the decision? If they do, what direction will they go? The general consensus is... hands-down... Country.Radio executives at crosstown Max Media which has the top rated station in the market -- Country "97-3 The Eagle" WGH -- is prepared for a format battle with Entercom. As a kind gesture to Entercom, Max Media has already taken out a handful of domain names for the possible new country outlet on 101.3, i.e. "1013thewolf.com," "thewolf1013.com," "1013wolf.com," etc. If WWDE does go country, area radio suits are waiting to see how the station executes itself in the market. Sinclair Communications tried Country on their 93.7 (KICK-FM) in December 2003 with less than favorable results. Nine months later, it was kicked off of the blowtorch signal at 93.7 for 106.1. Four months after that, Hampton Roads had just one country station again when 106.1 went Mainstream Contemporary Hit Radio as The Zone.
| Saturday, July 21, 2007Smyth County, Va., authorities arrested Jeff Raynor, 45, of Glade Spring, on one count of using electronic communication to solicit sexual activity with a child and one count of possession of child pornography after executing a search warrant on his classic country AM radio station, WXMY, on Valley Road. (read more - Kingsport Times-News)
| Friday, July 20, 2007A WFIR radio personality who kept many Roanokers company for more than three decades died Thursday morning at his Cave Spring home. Ted Rogers, 79, was respected as a fixture and pioneer in local radio, mostly for his morning call-in show "Ask Your Neighbor." (read more - The Roanoke Times)
| Wednesday, July 18, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and TrafficLand, Inc., the largest, authorized aggregator of live traffic video, announced today an expansion of their traffic camera network video content and distribution agreement to add 29 traffic cameras in the Hampton Roads area. (read more - VARTV Press Room)
| Wednesday, July 18, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... (Clear Channel) WRVA (1140) Richmond has been nominated for a prestigious Marconi Award, the radio industries equivalent to an Academy Award or Emmy, as "Legendary Station" for 2007.The award is presented yearly by the National Association of Broadcasters and is named for Nobel Prize winner and radio patron Guglielmo Marconi. (read more - VARTV Press Room)
| Wednesday, July 18, 2007 It's been confirmed that the Washington Redskins' broadcasting radio group -- Red Zebra Broadcasting -- is thisclose to announcing that it will acquire another signal in Hampton Roads to help its FOX Sports/Redskins "102.1FM The Game" WXTG Virginia Beach.WXTG's coverage is, for lack of better words, lousy on the Peninsula (Hampton, Newport News, Poquoson). The new signal, on the AM side, will correct this problem and will also help with listeners in Suffolk and as far north as Williamsburg. The official announcement will come soon.
Cox Radio Richmond and its Market Manager (MM) Steve McCall have come to a mutual agreement for McCall to exit the cluster. McCall's last day was Friday with the formal announcement coming on Monday (7/16). He oversaw Country "K95" WKHK/95.3, Classic Rock "96.5 The Planet" WKLR, Alternative "Y101" WDYL/101.1 and Hot AC "Mix 103.7" WMXB..... (7/16/2007)
| Monday, July 16, 2007Zac Choate paced around the WHSV-TV newsroom Saturday, restlessly reading the script he’d just finished writing. The 11 o’clock news had begun through the studio window in front of him. (read more - Harrisonburg The Daily News Record)
| Friday, July 13, 2007 ... from wife to husband. Chesapeake-Portsmouth Broadcasting Corp (CPBC), headed up by Nancy Epperson, has agreed to sell "The Truth" WLES/580 Bon Air/Richmond to Truth Broadcasting Corp (Stuart Epperson) for $125K. WLES currently simulcasts Christian Talk WTRU/830 Kernersville/Greensboro NC.CPBC returned WLES/580 to the air from its new COL (community of license) of Bon Air this past January. The station had been off the air nearly eleven months while it moved from Lawrenceville to the Richmond area.
| Friday, July 13, 2007Belo Broadcasting's "13NEWS" WVEC (ABC) Hampton/Norfolk debuted a new set for its morning show -- 13NEWS at Daybreak -- on Wednesday. For now, the set will only be used for the morning program.
| Wednesday, July 11, 2007 More residents of Fredericksburg are a step closer to having choice for their cable television services, thanks to a vote by the Fredericksburg City Council Tuesday night (July 10) authorizing Verizon to offer its fiber-optic-powered FiOS TV. (read more - Verizon)
| Wednesday, July 11, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... American Family Radio’s new 88.1 FM, the “Love” Station, is proud to announce that radio veteran Jim Herring has joined the staff as Program Director in Richmond."We’ve been on the air about 6 weeks now and the response to this new Adult Contemporary Christian station has been tremendous... (read more - VARTV Press Room)
| Tuesday, July 10, 2007More than 15,000 additional households now can drop their cable provider for good, as Verizon expands its industry-leading FiOS TV service in Newport News and Virginia Beach. (read more - Verizon FiOS)
| Tuesday, July 10, 2007We reported here in the end of June that Kalil and Company Inc announced that it brokered a deal for Clear Channel to sell its entire Charlottesville cluster to George Reed's Sistema 102 LLC. We now know the price -- $7.75M. Sistema 102 is getting "Country 99.7" WCYK, CHR "Hot 101.9" WHTE Ruckersville, 60-70s Hits "SuperHits 102.3" WSUH Crozet, Hot AC "Mix 107.5" WCJZ Charlottesville, News/Talk WCHV/1260 Charlottesville, Sports "The Ticket" WKAV/1400 Charlottesville and two translators W231AD/94.1 Charlottesville (primary station is WSUH) and W285EF/104.9 Charlottesville (WHTE). Reed, based in Ponte Verda FL, will continue to be Managing Director for Media Services Group.
| Monday, July 9, 2007WSLS (Channel 10) has launched a new 24-hour weather channel featuring the station's four-person meteorological team and giving regular updates on local forecasts. (read more - The Roanoke Times)
It is with great sadness to report that my mom-in-law, Anna Mary Neff, passed away this afternoon. She did so with her daughter, Brenda Lee Corbin, in her arms. Nana was just 61..... (7/6/2007)
| Friday, July 6, 2007Local TV LLC's "Your NewsChannel 3" WTKR (CBS) Norfolk has hired a new news director. It's Shane Moreland, the current ND at Media General's "NewsChannel 10" WSLS (NBC) Roanoke. He replaces Nancy Nydam who departed after just six months being with the station for personal reasons. Moreland starts at WTKR at the end of this month.
Hampton Roads’ best known female radio personality teams up with John Reynolds starting Monday, July 9th | Friday, July 6, 2007FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... After 13 years on FM99’s Tommy & Rumble Morning Show, Nikki Reed is leaving the WNOR news chair and moving, a few steps down the hall. Starting, Monday July 9th, Reed will partner with John Reynolds for the “John and Nikki Show” on 106.9 The Fox (WAFX). Tidewater Communications Inc. owns both stations. (read more - VARTV Press Room)
| Friday, July 6, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... 92.9 The Wave (WVBW-FM) is excited to announce the return of Hampton Roads radio icon Paul McCoy to the airwaves. Paul will be heard live and local weekdays between 10:00 AM and 3:00 PM beginning on Monday, July 9th. Paul McCoy is a familiar voice to the at-work audience... (read more - VARTV Press Room)
| Thursday, July 5, 2007The Star Radio Group (Fredericksburg) has announced that cluster (WFLS/93.3, WWUZ/96.9, WYSK/99.3) Operations Manager Paul Johnson gets the programming duties at Country WFLS. He replaces Jon Reed who retired in April.
| Thursday, July 5, 2007David Glenn Blevins, 49, of Shipman, died Sunday, July 1, 2007, at Martha Jefferson Hospital, after a long courageous battle with cancer. (read more - Charlottesville's The Daily Progress)
| Tuesday, July 3, 2007FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... WAVY-TV 10’s Sports Director Bruce Rader was presented with the 2007 George A. Bowles, Jr. Broadcast Journalism Award at the Virginia Association of Broadcasters’ 70th Annual Convention. This convention was held in Virginia Beach on June 15th. The George A. Bowles, Jr. Broadcast Journalism Award is presented to a broadcast reporter, or news director who is distinguished in the field of broadcast news, and who has longevity in the state of Virginia’s broadcasting. (read more - VARTV Press Room)
| Monday, July 2, 2007Cox Communications announced today that it's now offering digital subscribers even more high definition (HD) content with the availability of HD movies in its On DEMAND library. The service is currently available in Cox's San Diego operation with the company's Northern Virginia and Oklahoma City markets slated to launch next. Additional markets are expected to launch this summer. (read more - Cox Communications)
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