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For the latest official media Press Releases, visit the VARTV Press Room...
:// We had to go there
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Calling on ALL media outlets including radio and TV stations, personalities, sales reps, office folk around the country, VARTV is now on MySpace. To pad your friends list, go to www.myspace.com/VARTV!
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| Friday, May 9, 2008"Tom Taylor on Radio-Info.com" says "(t)he Michigan-based group ... first quarter revenues for Norfolk slipped 18%..." Saga's cluster includes Active Rock "FM99" WNOR/98.7, Classic Rock "106.9 The Fox" WAFX and Standards WJOI/1230. The company's chief financial officer, Sam Bush, says that’s for two reasons; “internal issues” and the large-market blues. CEO Ed Christian raises at least one eyebrow about the diary placement in Hampton Roads. Taylor speculates Christian's comment refers to the fact that out of the Top 6 stations in the market, five were Rhythmic/Urban based.
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| Thursday, May 8, 2008
The Eagle has been wounded.In its Arbitron rating performance debut – for the winter period – upstart radio station WUSH-FM US106, America’s Country, did more than make inroads against well-established country music format competitor WGH-FM 97.3 The Eagle. (read more - The Virginian-Pilot)
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| Thursday, May 8, 2008News station WTKR is dropping its lawsuit against the city for the restrictions placed on the media following last week’s tornado. (read more - The Virginian-Pilot)
Editor's comment: Whatever WTKR's intentions were, this lawsuit has made their credibility sink even more...
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| Thursday, May 8, 2008Clear Channel Soft AC "Lite 98" WTVR/98.1 garnered the most listeners (12+ demo) in Richmond this past Winter followed by Clear Channel Urban "106-5 The Beat" WBTJ, Radio One Urban AC "KISS-FM" WKJS/99.3//WKJM/105.7, Clear Channel News/Talk "NewsRadio 1140" WRVA and Radio One Urban "iPower 92-1" WCDX...
In Hampton Roads, Entercom Urban AC "95-7 R&B" WVKL continues to be the top-rated station as it has been for the past year and a half. No station has been on top that long in the market for over 15 years. WVKL was followed by another market Urban AC, Clear Channel's "105-3 KISS FM" WKUS. Third was Entercom Rhythmic "Z104" WNVZ/104.5, fourth Max Media Country "97-3 The Eagle" WGH and fifth Clear Channel Urban "103Jamz" WOWI/102.9...
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| Thursday, May 8, 2008FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... The search for the replacement for 31 year market legend Brian Strobel ends on May 12th, when Geoff Moore joins Jessica Cash on the WFLS morning show. WFLS PD Paul Johnson says, “Geoff is the perfect fit. He has a natural style, relevant ideas for content, and a keen awareness of the importance of community involvement. Brian was loved in this town because he tried to make a difference in people’s lives. Geoff will do the same.”
Brian Strobel retired at the beginning of 2008. Most recently, Moore was the morning co-host at Clear Channel Hot AC "Mix 100.7" WMTX Tampa FL.
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| Tuesday, May 6, 2008Manassas residents are a major step closer to having an innovative, reliable and competitive alternative for their cable television services, thanks to a unanimous vote by the City Council Monday evening (May 5) authorizing Verizon to offer its fiber-optic-powered FiOS TV. (read more - Verizon)
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| Tuesday, May 6, 2008Verizon is ramping up its all-fiber-optic network upgrade in the Hampton Roads area, bringing the benefits of the fastest Internet speeds on the market and superior picture quality to more consumers. (read more - Verizon)
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| Tuesday, May 6, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... Richmond VA Davidson Media Group is pleased to announce the appointment of Jim Jacobs as General Manager of its four station radio cluster in Richmond, Va. effective April 28, 2008. (read more - VARTV Press Room) | back to top |
| Monday, May 5, 2008
A local (Hampton Roads) television station filed a lawsuit today against the city for its restrictions against the media in areas hit by last week’s tornado. (read more - The Virginian-Pilot)News Director Shane Moreland comments about the lawsuit on WTKR.com...
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Cox Media Hampton Roads has tapped Cy Prince as its new GSM... (5/5/2008) | back to top |
| Monday, May 5, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... Are you the FACE of FOX43? The search has begun for the local FOX affiliate’s very first spokesperson. The selected winner will be the face, the voice and the personality that is FOX43. (read more - VARTV Press Room) | back to top |
| Monday, May 5, 2008FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... The Hampton Roads Sports Hall of Fame is proud to announce its first seven inductees, an inaugural class that includes coaches, players and administrators who left a lasting impact on their sports and their community. The inductees were selected by a 19-person committee along with input from fans in online surveys. (read more - VARTV Press Room)
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CW 27 presents “Storm Aid 2008” on Saturday, May 3, 2008 from 8 – 10 p.m.
| Friday, May 2, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... CW 27, WGNT-TV is committed to the Greater Hampton Roads area. The tornados that touched down on Monday, April 28 ripped the houses but not the heart of our community. People and organizations have shown their support in so many ways and CW 27 is pleased to announce its contribution to the storm’s victims. (read more - VARTV Press Room) | back to top |
| Thursday, May 1, 2008FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... The McDaniel Group, LLC is has officially launched MYTRACKSHACK.COM, a collaborative effort with Route 5 Records, LLC. MYTRACKSHACK.COM is a royalty free music download site for commercial, film, podcast, and website production. (read more - VARTV Press Room)
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We hear that Steve Shaw, the Interactive Media Manager for CBS O&O's "CW27" WGNT Portsmouth, "CW44" WTOG St Petersburg/Tampa and "CW Atlanta" WUPA (69), has resigned and is on his way to a new venture in Hampton Roads. Stay tuned... (5/1/2008) | back to top |
| Thursday, May 1, 2008
VIRGINIA BEACH, VA * Star 94.1 (WXEZ-FM) launches their annual outdoor gospel music festival, Picnic at the Pavilion, on Saturday, May 3rd at the nTelos Wireless Pavilion in Portsmouth.This year's event includes some of gospel music's biggest and brightest musicians. (read more - VARTV Press Room)
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No details on price increase for ‘certain products and bundles’
| Wednesday, April 30, 2008Verizon Communications will raise prices on certain FiOS services sometime this quarter—its third such increase within the last 18 months—but the telco isn't yet providing specifics. (read more - Multichannel News)
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| Wednesday, April 30, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... As licensees of the public airwaves, broadcasters have an obligation to further “localism” by serving the needs and interests of the specific local communities that they are licensed to serve. The Virginia Association of Broadcasters and WCAV-TV CBS 19, WVAW-TV ABC 16, WAHU Fox 27, WVIR-TV NBC 29 and the radio stations of Monticello Media believe that new localism rules being proposed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will hinder local stations. (read more - VARTV Press Room) | back to top |
Congrats to Max Media Hampton Roads Country "97-3 The Eagle" WGH Marketing Director Renee Fonner on the birth of her baby boy, Keagan Kojo. Fonner returns to the cluster late May/early June... (4/30/2008) | back to top |
Business class Internet cervice boosted to 16.2 mbps downstream, 2 mbps upstream
| Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Cable giant Comcast is stepping up its effort in the commercial market by doubling the speed of the high-speed-data service it sells to small business owners. (read more - Broadcasting & Cable) | back to top |
| Tuesday, April 29, 2008If you've ever met disc jockey Mike Arlo, one thing is immediately obvious, aside from his trademark handlebar mustache: The Mike Arlo you hear from 10 to 3, mid-days on WAFX–FM 106.9 The Fox is the same upbeat Arlo off the air and in real life. (read more - Lifestyle Magazine)
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| Tuesday, April 29, 2008FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... Richmond’s Clear Channel Cluster responded quickly by immediately donating thousands of dollars of airtime for Public Service messages by Bill Harrison from the Greater Richmond American Red Cross. "The messages are running through this weekend and are designed to raise funds to help those affected by these terrible storms."
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| Tuesday, April 29, 2008Hampton Roads viewers tuned-in bigtime to the severe weather coverage, including a tornado in Suffolk, that hit the area and Northeast North Carolina yesterday afternoon.
WVEC (13/ABC) had the highest viewership of the evening, peaking 5:30 to 7 p.m. doing a 16.8/25.2, 16.7/25.5 and 16.1/24.1 for each half hour. During the 5:30 half hour, more viewers were actually tuned in to WTKR (3/CBS) 9.4/14.1 than WAVY (10/NBC) 8.0/12.0. Note that WVBT (43/FOX) was simulcasting WAVY's newscast most of the evening, up to 7 p.m. WVBT was averaging 3.2~3.4 during that time.
When WAVY's "Chopper 10" started beaming pictures from Suffolk just after 6:30, viewers started tuning in. Viewership slipped on WVEC and WTKR during this time with WAVY peaking at a 15.0/21.3 during the 7:30 p.m. half hour.
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| Monday, April 28, 2008
Verizon Communications is now within shouting distance of Mediacom and Suddenlink Communications as one of the biggest video providers -- and stands to soon surpass them -- as the telecommunications giant continues to add FiOS TV customers by the thousands. (read more - Multichannel News) | back to top |
| Monday, April 28, 2008After a year of looking, Roanoke's Fox station has chosen a new anchor for the 10 p.m. news.
Becky Freemal, who was most recently a reporter for Cincinnati's ABC station, signed on to WFXR/WWCW (Channel 21/27) on April 17. (read more - The Roanoke Times)
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| Friday, April 25, 2008Les Smith, a familiar face on the local television scene for 22 years on WAVY, returned to the airwaves Friday as anchorman for rival station WTKR’s daily 5:30 p.m. newscast. (read more - The Virginian-Pilot)
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| Friday, April 25, 2008
Four more channels have left Comcast analog cable television for the greener - and more expensive - pastures of Comcast digital cable. (read more - Richmond Times-Dispatch) | back to top |
| Friday, April 25, 2008Former WAVY news anchor Les Smith is returning to local television and will anchor a 5:30 p.m. newscast at local CBS affiliate WTKR, channel 3. (read more - Daily Press)
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| Friday, April 25, 2008Cox Communications added WSKY TV-4 on Thursday to its lineup of high-definition channels. (read more - Daily Press)
Editor's note: Connections at Charter Communications, whose largest system is Suffolk, and Verizon FiOS TV, tell me both are working on getting WSKY-DT added for its subscribers in the near future...
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| Friday, April 25, 2008
It was one year and one day ago that VARTV reported that looongtime LIN TV WAVY (10/NBC) Anchor Les Smith quit the station after an afternoon meeting in the WAVY/WVBT newsroom. Smith will quietly debut on-air on Local TV's "NewsChannel 3" WTKR (CBS) Norfolk for the station's 5:30 p.m. newscast today with Domonique Benn. He will also report for the station's 11 p.m. newscast.
Smith joined WAVY in 1985, but quickly moved to the weekend anchor chair. In 1992, he joined the anchor team on "WAVY News 10 at Five," and in 1993 assumed his then current duties as 5:30 p.m., 6:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. co-anchor.
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| Thursday, April 24, 2008Arbitron has released ratings for satellite radio for the fall of 2007 and Howard Stern's Sirius channels are still the most-listened to stations on either service. (read more - FMQB)
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WTVR (6/CBS) Richmond celebrates it's 60th anniversary on the air... (4/24/2008) | back to top |
A second TV station in the Roanoke market started doing its newscasts in HD (behind WSLS/10). Schurz Communications' WDBJ (7CBS) flipped on the HD switch for its 5 p.m. newscast... For those of you keeping score, Richmond - 0 and Hampton Roads - 0 for stations doing HD news... (4/22/2008) | back to top |
| Tuesday, April 22, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... WAVY-TV is the proud recipient of two 2008 RTNDA Edward R. Murrow Awards. The stations won in the categories of Continuing Coverage for “The Michael Vick Investigation” and in the Feature: Hard News Category for “Growing Up Behind Bars.” (read more - VARTV Press Room) | back to top |
| Monday, April 21, 2008FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... The complete list of the 2008 Virginia Associated Press Broadcaster Awards: (read more - VARTV Press Room)
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| Sunday, April 20, 2008A compromise of three competing LPFM applications for the frequency, CFC and Glen Allen Community Church (GACC) will operate on 93.7 where "each station will operate from separate facilities specified in each application. Each station will pay it's own construction and operating expenses." CFC operating hours will be from 5AM to 5PM and GACC's hours will be from 5PM to 5AM. The third party withdrew its application...
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| Saturday, April 19, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... WVIR-TV today announced that, effective Saturday, April 19, at 6 p.m., NBC29 News is available in high definition. This is the Charlottesville station’s first live, locally-produced, HD broadcast, and is the result of more than five years of planning and construction and an expenditure of more than 3 million dollars. (read more - VARTV Press Room) | back to top |
“Richmond Radio Station Aids American Cancer Society”
| Friday, April 18, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... WMXB/The New Mix 103.7’s Morning Show host’s Jack and Jen, with the help of their listeners, replaced fundraising money stolen from a group of UVA students. The money was being collected for the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life. (read more - VARTV Press Room) | back to top |
| Friday, April 18, 2008
WFXR FOX 21/27 is proud to announce that Becky Freemal is the new anchor for the FOX 21/27 Ten O'Clock News! Becky comes to FOX 21/27 with a wide and extensive list of accomplishments, including thirteen years working as a reporter and anchor, most recently at WCPO... (read more - FOX21/27) | back to top |
| Friday, April 18, 2008Cox Communications Inc. plans to open two new service and retail stores where cable customers can pay their bills, drop off or pick up equipment, and ask questions. (read more - The Virginian-Pilot)
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Licensee of a Charlottesville and Salisbury low-power TV station
| Thursday, April 17, 2008John Richard Powley, 72, Altoona, died Sunday at Altoona Regional Health System, Bon Secours Hospital Campus.
He was born in Altoona, son of the late Clyde Calvin and Helen Grace (Nancarrow) Powley. He was married to Sandra B. Beasom Nov. 20, 1965, in Altoona. (read more - The Altoona Mirror)
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| Thursday, April 17, 2008It just won't matter. If you're watching over-the-air television in North Carolina -- anywhere in North Carolina -- at 7:30 PM on Saturday 4/19/08, you're going to find out just about everything you need to know about the DTV transition. (read more - TVBR.com)
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The Retro Television Network, seen in several parts of Virginia, has just launched their website at RTNville.com... (4/16/2008) | back to top |
Facebook users can interact with over 6,000 live traffic cameras worldwide and share live views of traffic, weather or event conditions with their friends
| Wednesday, April 16, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... TrafficLand®, the largest, authorized aggregator of live traffic video, announced today the release of the TrafficLand Facebook application. Users of the popular social networking Web site can use the application’s features to share live images from the TrafficLand camera network. (read more - VARTV Press Room) | back to top |
| Wednesday, April 16, 2008FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... RaceTalkLive the radio show hosted by Chuck Hall and presented by Virginia Motor Speedway is coming to Red Zebra's Sports "The Game" WXTG (102.1//1490) Virginia Beach//Hampton. Saturdays from 10-11 a.m. starting April 19, RaceTalkLive features race tracks, drivers and different racing divisions.
LIVE updates from NASCAR Sprint Cup Tracks with Hall of Fame Sports Writer Al Pearce, updates with Dave Seay, drivers from Virginia Motor Speedway and Langley Speedway, and much more!
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Richmond included... (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC)
| Tuesday, April 15, 2008Dish Network added the HD signals of local TV stations in four more markets where it carries local-TV-station signals. (read more - Broadcasting & Cable)
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Zak Tyler, former APD/MD/mornings on Max Media Rock "100.5 MAX FM" WXMM Norfolk, is off the beach. Tyler has accepted the PD position at New South Radio's CHR "Y101.7" WYOY Gluckstadt/Jackson MS. He takes the PD reins and afternoons effective Monday, April 21... (4/15/2008) | back to top |
WVEC/13's parent company signs up but doesn't list the station to air the diginet
| Tuesday, April 15, 2008
The upstart .2 Network has taken its first big strides toward becoming a viable digital network, landing stations belonging to three major TV groups—Post-Newsweek, Belo and Meredith—as charter digital affiliates.“These are some of the finest group television broadcasters in America and we are deeply honored to be affiliating and partnering with them,” said Richard Schilg, CEO of Guardian Enterprise Group, the parent of the movie-laden .2 Network... (read more - .2Network)
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| Tuesday, April 15, 2008Listeners to local radio stations have noticed a change in the format of one of them. WOLD, created and owned by Bob and Ann Dix, was known for its light music programming. Now, fans of classic rock, Alice Cooper and bluegrass are tuning in. (read more - SW VA Today)
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| Monday, April 14, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... Eight candidates for Portsmouth’s City Council seats will speak at a forum tonight, Monday, April 14, 2008 at the CW 27 Studios in Portsmouth beginning at 7 p.m.The forum will be moderated by Kafi Rouse, public affairs director at WGNT-TV and host of "Here and Now on The CW”. Each candidate will have time to address the audience and answer questions.
Doors will be open to the public at 6 p.m. and the forum will begin at 7 p.m. A portion of the forum will also be featured as a special episode of “Here and Now on The CW” which will air on Saturday, April 19 at 6:30 a.m. on WGNT-TV. Organizers have said all eight candidates plan to attend.
The forum will be from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the studios of CW 27, 1318 Spratley Street, Portsmouth.
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| Monday, April 14, 2008FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... The Hampton Roads Sports Hall of Fame, presented by ESPN Radio 1310, has announced it's committee...There are 18 members comprising the Hall of Fame... (read more - VARTV Press Room)
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| Monday, April 14, 2008
Hot on the heels of signing KBCS in Washington state, WRN, the international London-headquartered TV and radio transmission company has partnered with WHRV 89.5 FM, a public radio station in Norfolk, Virginia, USA, to re-broadcast its 24 hour news and current affairs channel overnight. (read more - VARTV Press Room) | back to top |
| Monday, April 14, 2008Blockbuster today announced that it has offered to acquire Circuit City Stores for at least $6 per share in cash, subject to due diligence. The offer was made in a letter sent to Circuit City chairman/CEO Phil Schoonover on Feb. 17 on behalf of Blockbuster’s board... (read more - TWICE)
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| Monday, April 14, 2008The Radio-Television News Directors Association has been honoring outstanding achievements in electronic journalism with the Edward R. Murrow Awards since 1971. Murrow's pursuit of excellence in journalism embodies the spirit of the awards that carry his name. Murrow Award recipients demonstrate the spirit of excellence that Edward R. Murrow made a standard for the broadcast news profession. (Region 12 winners)
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| Monday, April 14, 2008
Cumulus Media on Monday (April 14) announced the invitation for qualified vendors to submit proposals to the Atlanta-based broadcaster for a new service designed to measure both quantitative and qualitative audience characteristics for its stations in markets 100+. (read more - Radio & Records)Editor's note: Cumulus has a 6-station cluster (WFNR/100.7, WWBU/101.7, WBRW/105.3, WPSK/107.1, WFNR/710, WRAD/1460) in The New River Valley.
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| Monday, April 14, 2008COUNTRY BOY MAY BE pushing 90, but he is still at the console every Friday night, bringing listeners on the Eastern Shore his special blend of big band nostalgia. (read more - The Virginian-Pilot)
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Preston Brown's Urban Oldies "Richmond Soul Network" WCLM/1450 Highland Springs/Richmond is now simulcasting "Chocolate Chip" (11 a.m.-2 p.m.) and Kirby Carmichael (2-6 p.m.) on sister station WHAP/1340 Hopewell/Petersburg Monday thru Friday... (4/12/2008) | back to top |
Former Clear Channel Urban "103Jamz" WOWI/102.9 Norfolk jock EJ Greig gets picked up for afternoons on McDonald Broadcasting's Urban "Power 96-5" WQHH DeWitt/Lansing MI. Greig's broadcast career path includes other stops in Michigan (Battle Creek, Ann Arbor), Detroit, Chicago, Hampton Roads and most recently Atlanta... (4/11/2008) | back to top |
| Thursday, April 10, 2008With the federal mandate to phase out analog television broadcasts approaching in early 2009, many consumers remain uncertain of what the change means for them. However, Verizon FiOS TV customers are ahead of the game. (read more - Verizon) | back to top |
| Thursday, April 10, 2008No, this isn't another Local TV LLC "NewsChannel 3" WTKR (CBS) Norfolk bashing but... Here are the 5-5:30 p.m. ratings for all the over the air stations in Hampton Roads for Wednesday, April 9:
WVEC (13/ABC) 7.84 (news)
WAVY (10/NBC) 6.30 (news)
WVBT (43/FOX) ~4.65 (Maury)
WGNT (27/CW) ~4.29 (Dr Phil)
WTVZ (33/MNT) 0.95 (The Simpsons)
WTKR (3/CBS) 0.59 (news)
WSKY (4/Ind) 0.58 (A Different World)
WHRO (15/PBS) 0.48 (Maya & Miguel)
WHRE (21/TBN) and WUND (2/PBS) didn't register
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| Monday, April 7, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... Kristen Nash, 8-year midday host on Star Radio Group's Country WFLS/93.3 in Fredericksburg took over the midday slot on WGRQ/95.9 Colonial Beach/Fredericksburg today. Nash will follow Dave Adler on the Super Hits station owned by Telemedia Broadcasting.
In addition to her midday duties on WGRQ, which will rotate voice track and live shifts throughout the week, Nash will also be featured on Telemedia's Country station - WGRX Thunder 104.5. Director of Programming Jerome Hruska said, "Kristen's style and the way she connects with her listeners is a perfect match to our philosophy of presenting hometown radio. Her experience and knowledge of our community is a great asset to our company."
Nash joins Penny Wack, another former WFLS'er at the Telemedia group. Wack has been doing mid-days on WGRX since the start of 2008.
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| Friday, April 4, 2008WVEC-TV is celebrating its wins in the February ratings by moving two familiar on-air personalities into anchor roles.
The 5:30 p.m. news slot will have an anchor team, as Janet Roach joins David Alan, who has been solo anchor. (read more - The Virginian-Pilot)
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| Friday, April 4, 2008
Equity Media Holdings Corp., the Little Rock-Ark.-based TV station group and owner of the upstart Retro Television Network, is in financial hot water, according to its annual report released Monday and amended yesterday (4/3). (read more - TVNEWSDAY) | back to top |
| Thursday, April 3, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... Starting April 14th, the best evening news team in Hampton Roads is about to get better! 13NEWS anchor Janet Roach joins David Alan on 13NEWS at 5:30pm. (read more - VARTV Press Room) | back to top |
| Thursday, April 3, 2008Roanoke's NBC affiliate, WSLS (Channel 10), has won a Peabody Award for its coverage of the Virginia Tech shootings. The winning segment collected the station's first response to the shooting and aired April 16 and 17, 2007. (read more - The Roanoke Times)
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| Thursday, April 3, 2008FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... On April 1, 2008, Birach Broadcasting Corporation of Southfield, Michigan closed on its Bankruptcy Court acquisition of the licenses and assets of Virginia Beach, Virginia AM Radio Stations WVAB-1550 & WBVA-1450 [Bayside] for $345,000 cash. (read more - VARTV Press Room)
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| Thursday, April 3, 2008Star Radio Group midday Country announcer Kristin Nash heard on WFLS/93.3 Fredericksburg left the station on April 1. Cluster OM/PD Paul Johnson steps in for the long-term interim.
Expect an announcement on the WFLS co-host position vacated by the retirement of 31-year morning man Brian Strobel within the next few weeks.
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WSLS/10 Roanoke among winners
| Wednesday, April 2, 2008In a repeat of last year, four commercial TV stations were among the 35 winners of 2008 Peabody Awards announced via Webcast this morning. (read more - TVNEWSDAY)
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| Wednesday, April 2, 2008Entercom syndicates Kim Iverson's night show heard on Modern AC "Mix 94.7" KAMX Luling/Austin TX to the rest of the Modern/Hot AC it programs including Modern AC "94.9 The Point" WPTE Virginia Beach.
The show -- “Your Time with Kim Iverson” carries this description: “Women will find a welcoming oasis of relationship advice, celebrities, self-help experts, psychics and dream interpreters, fashionistas, therapists, and a peek into somebody else’s bedroom.” There’s even something for guys: “It’s like getting a look inside the other team’s playbook.”
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Ala. company gets Richmond's WWBT and will sell WTVR
| Wednesday, April 2, 2008With the sale of WWBT completed yesterday, the Richmond area now has two television stations with the same owner. But it will be only temporary. (read more - Richmond Times-Dispatch)
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| Tuesday, April 1, 2008Effective today (4/1/2008), K2 afternoon drive host and MD for Country "93-1 The Wolf" WLFV Ettrick has been upped to PD. Mike Murphy has been upped to OM for the cluster and PD for Variety Hits "98-9 Liberty" WWLB Midlothian and 70s-60s Hits "107-3 BBT" WBBT//(WARV/100.3 Petersburg).
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| Tuesday, April 1, 2008Richmond, VA Morning Hosts Jack Indigo and Jen Towner from Cox Radio’s WMXB/MIX 103-7 delve into the theatre of the mind and pulled off the “Spring into Spring Parade” kicking off on First and Monthfour Street (April is the 4th month…get it?)The parade featured 103 entries including: a Marching Band that Marched backward, The Mounted Miniature Horse Brigade, the World’s longest dachshund (4 feet long). Plus, special “guests” along the parade route including Virginia Governor Tim Kaine. Here is a link for audio and photos of the “parade.” (mix1037.com/mornings/springspring.html)
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| Tuesday, April 1, 2008
VerStandig's "Rock 105.1" WBHB Bridgewater/Harrisonburg goes in a new direction today for the sixth time in six years. This time, the format knob is turned to Classic Country as "Country Legends 105.1." WBHB's Rock battle with Clear Channel's "98 Rock" WACL/98.5 Elkton/Harrisonburg lasted just six months.The station returns doing Country that it did six years ago, back in 2002. Since then, the frequency has seen Soft AC, Oldies, Classic Hits, Classic Rock, Rock and now Classic Country.
An official from another station cluster says "Country Legends 105.1" makes the sixth Country station that is in or serves the market. Vox Communications' flip of WBOP Buffalo Gap/Staunton VA to New Country "Rebel 95-5" this past weekend was the area's fifth Country station. By the way, Bill Phipps will continue as the station's Program Director.
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| Monday, March 31, 2008
The HD Digital Radio Alliance rolled out new messaging, logos and radio ads today. The Alliance says now is the time to convert consumer awareness into purchasing action using the tagline "It's Time To Upgrade." Their website says consumer awareness of HD Radio stands at 77%, according to a survey of radio listeners from Critical Mass Media. JD Powers says 31% of current or likely auto buyers say they want HD Radio in their next vehicle.We get a lot emails seeking advice on getting HD Radio or satellite radio. I hear things like all the hidden channels and iTunes tagging with HD Radio commercials on the air. Does any station do this right now? The most I've seen with HD Radio around here is the station's call letters... that's it. Also, there's a good chunk of stations in this market not even doing HD Radio let alone additional subchannels. So, for a listener in Hampton Roads or Richmond, why should I steer them towards HD Radio?
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| Monday, March 31, 2008Today is Kat Simons' 10th anniversary as midday host at Clear Channel Soft AC "Lite 98" WTVR/98.1 Richmond. She is also heard via similarcast (at the same time LIVE) on sister stations Soft AC "Sunny FM" WSNV/93.5 Salem/Roanoke//WSNZ/101.7 Lynchburg and Soft AC "98.7 The River" WYKZ Beaufort SC/Savannah GA. Simons takes calls and emails from listeners in all three markets every weekday.
On an additional note, Simons was also recently named Program Director of Clear Channel Format Lab's Love Songs Channel> She's also the channel's voice.
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| Monday, March 31, 2008
Tony Mercurio, Program Director of Max Media Sports "ESPN Radio 1310" WGH Newport News/Norfolk, announced that five Norfolk Admirals hockey games were being moved from 1310 to sister station Rock "100.5 MAX-FM" WXMM Norfolk."We had to move the games due to conflicts with the Triple A Norfolk Tides baseball team being on ESPN Radio 1310," noted Mercurio. "The Admirals, who also own the Tides, elected to move the Admirals games and leave the Tides on ESPN Radio 1310."
The five games being moved to 100.5 MAX-FM are: Friday, April 4, Admirals vs Albany at 7 p.m.; Saturday, April 5, Admirals vs Albany at 7 p.m.; Wednesday, April 9, Admirals at Albany at 6:45 p.m.; Friday, April 11, Admirals at Binghampton at 6:50 p.m. and Saturday, April 12, Admirals at Wilkes Barre at 6:50 p.m.
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