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  :// All seems quieter (on Hampton Roads TV and radio) on political front  | Thursday, June 30, 2011All politics ain't local. Blame the economy, budget cuts or misguided program ideology, but locally-produced politics on the air is getting thinner by the day. The Daily Press frequently focuses on state and local politics, but TV and radio are another story. (read more - The Daily Press)
| Wednesday, June 29, 2011Jim Gilchriest, who has served as news director for Belo’s KTVB since 2007, is set to join WAVY-WVBT, a LIN Media duopoly serving the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. (read more - TVSpy)
| Tuesday, June 28, 2011Conservative talk radio is returning to the Fredericksburg-area market a week from today. Starting July 5, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity’s three-hour shows will air on 1350 AM and 96.5 FM. Those stations are part of The Star Radio Group... (read more - fredericksburg.com)
| Tuesday, June 28, 2011  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... Charlottesville Newsplex stations WCAV CBS19 and WAHU FOX27 received top honors at the 74th Annual Virginia Association of Broadcasters Awards Banquet in Virginia Beach, Friday, June 24.(read more - Charlottesville Newsplex)
| Tuesday, June 28, 2011 Max Media Classic Hits "92-9The Wave" WVBW Suffolk middayer Paul Richardson hit 35 years in radio last week. Max Media Hampton Roads GM Dave Paulus told staffers, "This week, we acknowledge a broadcasting legend who's not named Dick! :) Paul Richardson celebrates his 35th YEAR in broadcasting and I felt like that deserved a BIG well done from everyone at MAX Media today. Paul has been with MAX Media since day one here….along with those "other stations". Paul's a star for us and I know you join me in wishing him congrats on his 35 years!. Paulus went on to say that a
| Monday, June 27, 2011 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... WTKR NewsChannel 3 Anchor Bianca Martinez and Chief Photographer Wayne Pellenberg received an Emmy in the category of Military – Single Story or Series at the 53rd Emmy Awards Gala held this weekend in Washington, DC. They won for their continuing special reports titled Do My Military Job, highlighting Hampton Roads local military. (read more - NewsChannel 3, WTKR)
| Monday, June 27, 2011 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... WVEC 13News has garnered several industry awards in recent weeks, including awards from the Virginia Association of Broadcasters, the National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (EMMY Awards) and the International PromaxBDA. (read more - 13NEWS, WVEC)
| Monday, June 27, 2011 Congratulations to AC "Xtra 99.1" WXGM Gloucester for picking up two 1st place awards in the Small Market Radio Category on Friday night at the VAB Awards. The station was awarded for Best Morning Show and Best Commercial (CP3O - Revere Gas).
| Monday, June 27, 2011 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... An award-winning weekend for WAVY-TV 10! The station On Your Side won four Emmy awards at the 53rd Annual National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter Emmy Awards. WAVY-TV 10 was also a winner at the 74th Annual Virginia Association Broadcasting Awards. (read more - WAVY-TV10)
| Monday, June 27, 2011 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... WVEC 13News is pleased to announce that news veteran Joe Flanagan has been named the permanent anchor of the newscast ‘Weekend Daybreak,’ which airs every Saturday and Sunday from 6am to 8am. Flanagan, an integral part of the WVEC newsroom for more than 26 years, has served many key roles during his tenure. (read more - 13NEWS, WVEC)
| Monday, June 27, 2011 Charlottesville-based independent music station WNRN is expanding its signal in an attempt to reach more listeners.Officials with WNRN, 91.9 FM in Charlottesville, will soon serve all of south-central Virginia. Once the expansion project is complete the station will reach listeners from Lynchburg to Farmville. (read more - Charlottesville Newsplex)
| Thursday, June 23, 2011 “The furlough program will cause financial disruption for employees and scheduling challenges for our operations,” CEO Marshall Morton writes in a memo sent to Media General staff this afternoon. (read more - Poynter)
| Thursday, June 23, 2011 The Goochland County School Board has been offered an unusual gift by Jay Hoffman of Hoffman Communications, and now the board and county have to figure out whether or not they can accept it.Hoffman has offered to give radio station WZEZ and its tower to the School board and county. (read more - The Goochland Gazette)
Curt Autry and Sabrina Squire at 5 & 6; Ryan Nobles and Sabrina Squire at 5:30 | Wednesday, June 22, 2011 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... WWBT NBC12 News announces new anchor teams for their afternoon news line up. Curt Autry, Emmy Award winning journalist and anchor, joins Sabrina Squire for 5 and 6pm newscasts and Ryan Nobles adds 5:30 co-anchor to his duties. (read more - NBC12, WWBT)
| Wednesday, June 22, 2011Richmond men's basketball coach Chris Mooney served as a guest host on Red Zebra Sports "ESPN 950" WXGI Richmond Hardly Workin' on Tuesday from 3-6 p.m says a station spokesman. A regular guest on the show, Mooney filled a different role Tuesday as the co-host with Richmond alum Matt Smith. "While Richmond basketball was obviously a topic of conversation, Mooney gave his opinion on the designated hitter, read one of the sports updates and interviewed the guests," says WXGI. Video clips from the day are available at NBC12 and WRIC's Sports Facebook page.
| Monday, June 20, 2011 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... Introducing "Funny 850"...WTAR, Virginia's first radio station, is first again. The 50,000 watt powerhouse will change format on Monday, June 20th to Comedy 24/7. Now, Sinclair Communications will offer 5 distinct formats in the Hampton Roads Market! (read more - Funny 850, WTAR)
 Without any fanfare, Sinclair Communications debuts Comedy "Funny 850" WTAR Norfolk at noon right after the top-of-the-hour legal ID... (6/20/2011)
| Sunday, June 19, 2011 Viewers are grumbling about big rate hikes by Cox, the wake of 10-year contract extensions with the county and the city.“Here we go again, Cox is increasing cable TV rates,” a reader recently submitted to the Last Word. “We need another cable provider.” (read more - The Virginia Gazette)
| Friday, June 17, 2011 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... Premiere Radio Networks and K Talk 1650 (WHKT) are pleased to announce that The Glenn Beck Program will join the station's lineup Monday, June 20, at 9:00 AM Eastern time. Beck, the third most listened to talk program in the nation, will join a lineup already packed with top ten talkers Laura Ingraham, Dennis Miller, Dave Ramsey, Mark Levin, and others. (read more - K-Talk 1650, WHKT)
Hampton Roads included | Thursday, June 16, 2011 Today, T-Mobile operates America's largest 4G network and delivers a compelling 4G experience across a broad lineup of leading devices in more places than competing 4G services. (read more - T-Mobile)
| Thursday, June 16, 2011 Today is Gene Cox's last day at the anchor desk at Raycom Media's "NBC12" WWBT Richmond. After 33 years there, Channel 12 has a big send off tonight at 6 p.m. Clips and well wishes can be found on NBC12.com with a photo album on WWBT's Facebook page.
| Thursday, June 16, 2011Saga Communications has named Wayne Leland as the new VP/GM for Rock (FM99) WNOR(/98.7), Classic Hits (106.9 The Fox) WAFX and Adult Standards WJOI-A effective Tuesday, JULY 5th. (read more - AllAccess)
| Wednesday, June 15, 2011Richmond, VA home girl Melissa Chase, most recently APD/MD at Cox Hot AC/Alternative hybrid WURV (103.7 The River) and at Top 40/Rhythmic WHTI (Hot 100.9), has been upped to PD. (read more - AllAccess)
| Wednesday, June 15, 2011Gray Television "CBS19" WCAV Charlottesville ("ABC16" WVAW-LD, "FOX27" WAHU-CD) Sports Director Marc Davis has exited the "Newsplex" for a similar position at Raycom Media's "NBC12" WWBT Richmond. His last on-air day at CBS19 was this past Friday. At the same time, Newsplex announced that Damon Dillman will be the cluster's new Sports Director in from sister "TV3" WHSV (ABC) Harrisonburg. Dillman was with Channel 3 for eight years.
| Wednesday, June 15, 2011 The Radio Television Digital News Association has announced the 2011 National Edward R. Murrow Award winners. The awards honor excellence in electronic journalism. (read more - RTDNA)
| Monday, June 13, 2011 Budget cuts have forced WHRO to lay off several employees and discontinue TV news shows, according to the CEO of the public broadcasting network.Cathy Lewis’ Friday night, half-hour public-affairs show “What Matters” will be discontinued this summer... (read more - The Virginian-Pilot)
| Friday, June 10, 2011 Rumors are swirling that Sinclair Communications will drop the long time Talk format on WTAR/850 Norfolk (50kW day, 25kW night) for Comedy sometime next week. The owners took out the funny850.com domain name on Wednesday, June 8.Also not clear is what network "Funny 850" will use... Our guess is the 24/7 Comedy Network where several stations use the "Funny" moniker. An affiliate station in Kansas City doing just 250 watts is in the Top 5 (Men 25-54) of all stations there.A Hampton Roads radio "higher up" says the cluster could be trying to pick up the younger male demo it lost when sister "96X" WROX/96.1 was tweaked in April to become more female friendly. Hampton Roads market already has another all-comedy network heard on Entercom's WNVZ/104.5-HD2 called All Comedy Radio (though as of this post it's not on).
| Friday, June 10, 2011 WHAN Radio in Ashland announced today they have launched their new FM radio station broadcasting on 102.9 FM.After almost 20 years as an AM radio station, WHAN has now added 102.9 FM to their broadcast range. (read more - Hanover Herald-Progress)
 WDBJ/7 Roanoke anchor Holly Pietrzak drops F-BOMB during noon newscast. (WDBJ has video yanked off of YouTube)... (6/10/21011)
| Friday, June 10, 2011 Cox's "Unbelievably Fair" advertising campaign will begin this week in Roanoke and Northern Virginia, officially signaling the next Cox markets to receive Cox Wireless and furthering its plans to bring wireless to more than 50 percent of its footprint by the end of this year. In the state of Virginia, Cox Wireless is currently available in Hampton Roads. (read more - COX)
| Thursday, June 9, 2011FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... ESPN 950 AM is proud to announce that Greg Burton was voted Best Local Sports Radio Host or TV Sports Reporter in Style Weekly’s Best of Richmond 2011 annual edition. (read more - ESPN950, WXGI)
| Wednesday, June 8, 2011 Continuing with its ongoing arrangement with XM to offer a few channels due to its original investment stake in the company, Clear Channel Radio is now offering up (as of Noon 6/8) five of its top stations, covering five different formats. They replace current Clear Channel programming on XM, although only one involves a change in format. (read more - RBR)
| Wednesday, June 8, 2011Veteran programmer Mark Lindow is the new PD/morning personality at Max Media Country (Water Country 94.5) WCMS/(Hatteras)Nags Head, NC. (read more - AllAccess)
| Wednesday, June 8, 2011We hear that Local Sales Manager, Nadine Paniccia, was let go this past Friday at Max Media. The cluster is looking for their next star. Click "Classified Ads" on the left navigation panel for complete details... Saga Communications (WNOR/98.7, WAFX/106.9, WJOI/1230) GM Diane Hubel turned in her resignation last week. She's staying with the cluster through the end of the month. She's out to explore other "opportunities..."
| Tuesday, June 7, 2011FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... In a move expected since the March launch of the program, veteran talker Brian Holland announced today that he was prepping his "Face to Face" program for a national launch. The program, which airs from 9 until 11 pm Eastern time, Monday through Friday, is interview intense, and highly interactive. (read more - Face to Face)
| Monday, June 6, 2011 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... Max Radio of the Carolinas is happy to announce the addition of John Harper to the air staff. John is a 30 year broadcast veteran who was the Program Director for Beach 95.3, WOBR FM in the 1980s and early 1990s. John is currently a popular Outer Banks wedding disk jockey. He’s also an entertainment writer for the Coast... (read more - Max Radio of the Carolinas)
| Friday, June 3, 2011 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... Do you have what it takes to be the next Face of FOX43? The fourth search kicks off on Saturday June 4 at MacArthur Center in Norfolk. LIVE auditions will take place from Noon – 4 pm at the Cox Wireless kiosk in Grand Court. (read more - FOX43, WVBT)
| Wednesday, June 1, 2011FOR decades, the uninterrupted programming on PBS has been one of its most distinctive selling points to audiences and philanthropic and corporate supporters alike. (read more - The New York Times)
| Wednesday, June 1, 2011Cox Communications is raising prices.The extra costs could be between $5 and $20 depending on what package you have. The main reason for the hike is that operation costs have gone up, according to Cox. (read more - WVEC)
| Tuesday, May 31, 2011Keith Humphry co-anchored his final newscast Wednesday, ending a 31-year career at WDBJ (Channel 7) in typical low-key style as family and co-workers watched from off-set. His sons Pierce and Lincoln were on hand, as was his longtime partner, Anna Goodwin. (read more - The Roanoke Times)
| Friday, May 27, 2011 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... With attendance rising at the major annual Hispanic music festival in Virginia Beach, organizers have moved the two-day show onto the sand at the Oceanfront. They say the new location for Hardee’s Latin Fest, presented by La Selecta WVXX Radio and Beach Events, reflects the surging popularity of Latino culture and the increasing Hispanic population in Hampton Roads. (read more - Selecta 1050, WVXX)
| Friday, May 27, 2011After ten years with Clear Channel Alternative "102-1 The X" WRXL Richmond, PD/middays Casey Krukowski moves to sister Rock WEBN/102.7 Cincinnati, OH as that station's new Program Director. Krukowski's last day at The X is June 10 and starts his new gig on June 15.
| Thursday, May 26, 2011 On the side of the K92 van it reads “Today's Hit Music.” But several weeks ago, the van was hit from behind by a tractor trailer on Route 221 in Bedford County.Weekend K92 DJ Brandon Kincer was on his way back from a station appearance. (read more - WSLS)
| Thursday, May 26, 2011FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... WAVY-TV 10 and WVBT remain the number one choice for morning and late evening news in Hampton Roads. WAVY-TV 10 was number one during the 5am, 6am, 6pm and 11pm newscasts according to Nielsen Media Research for the May 2011 sweeps ratings period. (read more - WAVY-TV10)
| Thursday, May 26, 2011Congratulations to Sinclair Modern AC/Alternative "96X" WROX/96.1 Exmore/Norfolk APD/Imaging Director James Steele who, for the 2nd year in a row, swept the Radio Station Promo category in the Virginia Association of Broadcaster Awards. Steele's 96X "Top 20 of 2010" and Country "US106" WUSH/106.1 Poquoson/Norfolk "Patriotic Festival" promos were picked as the State's best pieces of Promo Production.
Former The Virginian-Pilot entertainment reporter Larry Bonko pens "Local TV at its Best and Worst" in this weeks VEER Magazine... (5/26/2011)
Hampton Roads market (WVEC) had 4th best finale rating across the country | Thursday, May 26, 2011Wednesday's finale of The Oprah Winfrey Show was the highest-rated episode in more than 17 years, according to preliminary Nielsen num(b)ers. (read more - TVNewsCheck)
| Thursday, May 26, 2011FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... WTKR NewsChannel 3, powered by a dramatic win on the final night of the sweep, pulled ahead of WVEC to place 2nd in households for the May 2011 rating period. Unlike a year ago, when the CBS network provided the highest rated primetime shows and NBC was programming to fill the void left by Jay Leno, NewsChannel 3 at 11 overcame a 2 point share drop... (read more - NewsChannel 3 WTKR, CW27 WGNT)
| Thursday, May 26, 2011 Young Broadcasting Sports Director for WRIC (8/ABC) Petersburg/Richmond signed-off for good yesterday. He had been with the station since September 1988, nearly 23 years. WRIC has video of his exit online. Tarkenton joins Owens & Minor, a Richmond-based company that distributes medical and surgical supplies and provides healthcare supply-chain management solutions.
| Wednesday, May 25, 2011 Belo WVEC (13/ABC) Hampton/Norfolk general assignment reporter Shannon Sims announced on air Sunday morning that she is leaving the station for an evening anchoring job in the Dayton OH market. Sims has been with the station since October 2006 where she arrived from sister KREM (2/CBS) Spokane, WA.
| Wednesday, May 25, 2011Clear Channel Top 40/Rhythmic WJJS and Rock WROV/Roanoke PD Greg Travis has resigned to take a position outside of radio. (read more - AllAccess)
Service will continue using Sprint network | Wednesday, May 25, 2011Cox Communications, America's third-largest cable company, says it will shut down the wireless network it has started building. The network is one more false start for a cable company in the wireless world. (read more - ABC News)
| Monday, May 23, 2011Clear Channel's WBIG-FM/100.3 HD2 Washington DC has pushed the Cool Oldies format to sister WASH/97.1 HD2 Washington DC. That move displaces a Hot AC format that WASH HD2 was running. Back at WBIG HD2, it's now running "Vietnamese DC Radio;" a simulcast of VNDC Radio. The format changes happened on Friday, May 20.
New diginet to be on WAVY-TV10 or "FOX43" WVBT | Monday, May 23, 2011 LIN TV Corp. will carry Bounce TV, the first over-the-air broadcast television network designed exclusively for African-American audiences, in five markets when the network launches this fall, it will be announced Tuesday. As part of the multi-year agreement, Bounce TV will be seen on LIN stations in Indianapolis (DMA 27); Hartford-New Haven, Conn. (DMA 30); Norfolk, Va. (DMA 43)... (read more - TVNewsCheck)
| Friday, May 20, 2011 BT's Saturday Night Disco Party is back. It had been on Q-99 for nearly 17 years. Q-99 canceled the show in April. Both sides agreed host Bill Thomas wasn't fired but they disagree as to the reasons why he left. (read more - WDBJ)
| Thursday, May 19, 2011April Samp, News Director for Lin Media's WAVY (10/NBC) Portsmouth and "FOX43" WVBT Virginia Beach, is leaving the duopoly. She joined the stations this past July from a similar position with Sinclair Broadcast Group's "CBS2" KGAN and "FOX28" KFXA Cedar Rapids IA. Samp is leaving the media business for a marketing director position with an art auction house back in Iowa -- Cedar Falls. Her last day is tomorrow.
| Monday, May 16, 2011“Why are you eating my hair?” WWBT general assignment reporter Tara Morgan asked a camel who had just attacked her during a stand-up shot (video above). Maybe the camel was trying to get famous. (read more - TVSpy)
| Sunday, May 15, 2011 The current trend in the trading of noncommercial FM CP trading has featured a large number of deals in which only nominal or no compensation was involved, usually in order to procure an 18-month CP extension. What makes the sale of WHMM-FM CP in Spotsylvania VA exceptional, then, is a six-figure price tag. (read more - RBR)
| Friday, May 13, 2011The arrival of new morning man Steve Waters at Star Radio Group Country WFLS/Fredericksburg, VA follows the exit of Geoff Moore from the station... (read more - AllAccess)
Dan Dennison, a native of Colorado, comes to Roanoke from Honolulu | Friday, May 13, 2011Television news was a stronger pull for Dan Dennison than the sun and surf of Hawaii. Dennison, a 37-year broadcast veteran who lost another TV job in a round of corporate downsizing, will become news director at WDBJ-TV (Channel 7) on June 20. (read more - The Roanoke Times)
| Tuesday, May 10, 2011 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... Charleston, SC morning vet Steve Waters signs on for mornings with the Star Radio Group’s country station WFLS in Fredericksburg VA."I'm thrilled to be returning to VA where I grew up, and to the station where I had my very first air-shift over 15 years ago.“ (read more - 93.3 WFLS)
| Tuesday, May 10, 2011 It's Internet speculation that when Sinclair Communications tweaked "96X" WROX/96.1 Exmore/Norfolk from Alternative to an Alternative/Modern AC format, the cluster had to take down the Facebook page of 96X for a pile of negative comments being posted about the format adjustment.Well, nothing has changed in a month. The 96X station page returned today with all entries after the format tweak scrubbed away. A post today by the station to promote it's Top 5 countdown at 9 got hammered with over two dozen negative comments... NONE of the replies had anything to do with the countdown.
| Tuesday, May 10, 2011NEWS7 reporter, Chris Hurst, will take over the anchor chair from retiring anchor, Keith Humphry, at the end of May. He will be co-anchoring with Jean Jadhon and Hollani Davis. (read more - WDBJ)
Thousands of TV shows and movies now available to view at cox.com/tv | Tuesday, May 10, 2011Cox Communications announced today that it has once again increased the viewing choice and flexibility available to its TV customers by introducing TV Online. Now customers have the choice to view favorite shows: on TV, On DEMAND and now Online via the cox.com/tv site... (read more - COX.com)
Microsoft confirms it will buy Skype for $8.5B... (5/10/2011)
| Monday, May 9, 2011Star Radio (Group) Top 40/Rhythmic WVBX (99.3 The Vibe)/Fredericksburg, VA part-timer Lil' Mike goes full-time as the station's night jock, while also serving as Promotions Assistant for the cluster. (read more - AllAccess)
| Monday, May 9, 2011FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... WTVR TV, in partnership with the Personal Injury Law Firm of Emroch & Kilduff, LLP, launches W82TEXT, a public service effort to combat the dangers associated with texting while driving. (read more - CBS6, WTVR-TV)
| Thursday, May 5, 2011 Ted Alexander, technically a general assignment reporter for Local TV's "NewsChannel 3" WTKR (CBS) Norfolk, has again decided to leave the station. In a Facebook page posting, he wrote, "This just in.....I will be leaving WTKR-TV at the end of June to become Director of Broadcasting at Old Dominion University....The adventure continues...." Alexander arrived at Channel 3 in the summer of 1996 as the weekend sports anchor, moving up to Sports Director in 1998. He left the station in 2001 but came back in 2002 as Sports Director. Three years later, he left again, for radio, at Entercom's "2WD" WWDE/101.3 Hampton/Norfolk. Coming back for the third time in August 2007 as a general assignment reporter but mostly covering sports.
| Wednesday, May 4, 2011FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... WAVY-TV 10 is the proud recipient of two prestigious 2011 Regional Television Digital News Association Edward R. Murrow Awards. The top honors were awarded to WAVY-TV 10 Reporters Andy Fox and Jason Marks for their compelling journalistic efforts. (read more - WAVY-TV 10)
| Monday, May 2, 2011 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... 92.9 The Wave (WVBW-FM) has streamlined its musical presentation to become the “Greatest Hits of the 60’s, 70’s and 80”s” beginning today. The station just completed a countdown of the top one-thousand songs from the 1960’s, 1970’s, and 1980’s.“Hampton Roads has many radio options, but we realized that there was an opportunity to target music fans of all ages” says Michele Williams, 92.9 The Wave’s Operations Manager. (read more - 92-9 The Wave, WVBW)
| Sunday, May 1, 2011FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... Chesapeake Portsmouth Broadcasting is pleased to announce that WHKT 1650, Norfolk, VA, is undergoing a total reimaging. Until now the 10k talker has been simply branded “Conservative Talk Radio”. As of midnight on April 27, the station is now “K Talk 1650: This Is Not Your Father’s Talk Station”. (read more - K Talk 1650, WHKT)
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