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 Tommy & Rumble to mark September 11th anniversary with “Living Flag” — 8/29 — A press release from Saga Communications heard first here on VARTV... In 1991, thousands of members of our community left their families and friends to proudly serve their country in the Gulf War. To show support for those brave men and women, FM99 invited our listeners to gather at Mt. Trashmore and form a “Living Flag”. The brainchild of morning man Tommy Griffiths, the “Living Flag” drew thousands and galvanized the community. It remains one of the most memorable events in which the station has ever been involved. Recently, FM99 conducted a massive web poll to determine the best way to acknowledge the anniversary of 9/11. The single most popular suggestion was to recreate the “Living Flag” — and that’s exactly what we’re going to do! The event will take place Wednesday morning, September 11, 2002 at the Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheater. (Mt. Trashmore is unavailable due to recapping.) The amphitheater parking lot will open at 5am, and listeners are urged to arrive as early as possible. Plans are to have everyone in place by 8:46am. We’ll observe a moment of silence followed by the Pledge Of Allegiance and a performance by FM99’s renowned singer Chrystall Laurie. Members of the armed forces, police, firefighters, and emergency services will all be on hand. Overhead photos will be taken, and a poster will be created to commemorate the event.New classified — 8/29 — A new "help wanted" ad was placed today. Click on "Classified Ads" on the navigation panel to the left..... Hampton Roads Summer Book Phase I — 8/29 —  Arbitron's Summer Phase 1 trends for Hampton Roads were released yesterday. Entercom's AC '2WD' WWDE holds a razor-thin lead over CC's urban '103 Jamz' WOWI... 7.0 vs 6.9. Urban AC '95-7 R&B' WVKL continues to rise but slips to 3rd with a bigger increase coming from WOWI. The feeling over at the Barnstable HQ must be mixed. Heritage country WCMS, contemporary inspirational 'Star 94.1' WXEZ and new country 'Eagle 97.3' WGH-F all saw good increases. But on the flipside, 'Oldies 92-9' WWSO continues its slide downward. One of the problems... JOCKS! They only have two... yes TWO and they're not suited for the oldies format. The rest of the time, it's the computer playing music. There's no 'fun' coming out of the 92.9 frequency. Other notables... Entercom's rhythmic 'Z-104' WNVZ continues to slowly slide. They have an urbanish playlist and all white jocks. Problem? I think so. These jocks with maybe the exception of Mike Klein at night can't even relate to their targeted audience. One night, I heard Mike Klein state he was going to play a "hot new joint" and I almost died of laughter. It's just not natural. If CC would pull the plug on hip-hop '92.1 The Beat' WBHH (which is only there for 'Hot 102.1' WWHV to toy with) and flip it to a rhythmic CHR or something a la Hot 99-5 WIHT in DC watch out "Z". It could be a battle. It looks like so far that Barnstable’s flip of WFOG-A (AM 1050 The Fog) to adult standards has had no effect on Saga's adult standards formatted WJOI-A - "Hampton Roads' Joy". 'Hot 102.1' , what's the problem? Signal or lack of? Just an overcrowded urban formatted market? Jocks? It's not the music - it sounds great! WWHV holds steady at a 1.0. For the most complete and detailed 12+ rankings anywhere (Yes, better than R&R's), click here.....New classified — 8/30 — A new "help wanted" ad was placed today for a position at Channel 3 in Hampton Roads. Click on "Classified Ads" on the navigation panel to the left..... Richmond starts 'Amber' alert — 8/29 —  Twenty area police agencies are banding together with local radio stations to put out alerts starting today in confirmed abduction cases. The alerts will include suspect and child descriptions, certain specifics of the case and the phone hotline numbers. The joint effort comes at a time of heightened national attention on child abductions and just a couple weeks after the announcement that three Spotsylvania girls died in 1996 and 1997 at the hands of Richard Marc Evonitz. AMBER stands for "America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response." Companies representing more than 30 area radio stations are participating. Joining them are law-enforcement agencies as far north and south as Caroline and Dinwiddie counties and as far east and west as New Kent and Goochland counties.....Richmond Summer Book Phase I — 8/28 —  Arbitron's Summer Phase 1 trends for Richmond were released earlier today. Thanks in part to large leads during the morning and afternoon drive times, CC's AC 'Lite 98' WTVR easily placed No. 1 again with Cox's country 'K-95' WKHK shooting up to 2nd place with a 9.8 rating. The top three stations in the key morning and afternoon drive times mirrored the overall ratings: WTVR, WKHK and WCDX in the first, second and third spots, respectively. WCVE-FM (88.9 FM), a noncommercial station that isn't included in the report released to commercial stations, garnered a 6.0 share. For the most complete and detailed 12+ rankings anywhere (Yes, better than R&R's), click here.....Segal to be heard in Richmond? — 8/28 — VARTV hears from several sources that Clear Channel's Elliot Segal based on DC rocker 'DC-101' WWDC will be filling the morning airwaves on 'XL-102' WRXL in the weeks to come. Dee Snider's last day was last Friday. CC did not renew his contract. His now former station WMRQ is filling their mornings with WTXB's (Tampa Bay FL) shock-jock Bubba The Love Sponge. WRXL was looking for something 'softer' for their mainstream rocker a la Hampton Roads' 'Tommy & Rumble' on WNOR (which yours truly thinks is an outstanding show but not a listerner of WNOR). The Bob & Tom Show has also been talked about..... Heather Gooze moves on — 8/28 — Former new country 'Eagle 97.3' WGH, all-sports 'ESPN RADIO 1310' WGH-A and 'Oldies 92-9' WWSO Promotions/Marketing Director Heather Gooze heads to the Metroplex of Dallas/Ft Worth. She landed at Susquehanna's Talk 'TalkRadio 570' KLIF-A/DALLAS for similar duties. She has her hands full. KLIF barely registers a 1.0 in a very crowded Dallas market with three other news/talk stations..... Primetime TV ratings — 8/27 — CBS has the Top 2 spots in last week's TV ratings. Tops is "Everybody Loves Raymond" then CSI's Monday edition, NBC's "Law & Order", FOX's American Idol-Tuesday then CBS' "Becker." Click on the following link for the complete prime-time TV ratings compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of August 19 to August 25, 2002..... Partial partial TV ratings — 8/27 — In Hampton Roads, No. 1 at 6 o'clock was WAVY (10/NBC) with an 8.5 followed very closely by WVEC (13/ABC) with an 8.2 and WTKR (3/CBS) far behind with a 4.2. I'm sure Judge Judy seen on 'UPN27' WGNT at 6 also beat the news on Channel 3. At 5PM, with a lead-in from Oprah, WVEC is No. 1 with a razor-thin lead of 7.8 over WAVY's showing of 7.7. Channel 10's lead-in is Montel Williams. WAVY also was tops at 5:30 and 11PM. More than likely, WTKR (3/CBS) was again No. 1 at noon with The Price Is Right lead-in..... 
Hampton Roads locals on DirecTV starting tomorrow — 8/27 — Starting tomorrow, DirecTV will do something it promised a coupled of months ago - to beam Hampton Roads' local free OTA TV stations to its customers. What was surprising is that eight(!) stations will be offered. They are...
WTKR 3/CBSI was a little surprised that the PAX affil was included in this line-up since DirecTV carries the national feed. And in another surprise where's independent 'Sky4' WSKY? Recent surveys indicate that 10% of the TV households in Hampton Roads have a DBS service. To add the locals, DirecTV customers will pay an additional $6 a month as part as the 'Total Choice' package. If you already own a DirecTV system, you'll need an 18x24 elliptical dish instead of the 18" pizza pie dish. Music in the mornings for XL-102... for now — 8/27 —  This is an update from yesterday. See below. Dee Snider is gone from mornings. He still has other gigs like voice work for MSNBC. Anyways, Snider's 'old' station WMRQ is staying alternative but bringing in Bubba The Love Sponge from Tampa's WXTB for mornings. No word yet on what PD John Lassman will do in mornings. I was listening online (WMRQ) to the sweepers of Bubba and thought I was listening to Mancow out of Chicago. Will WRXL follow WMRQ's direction or go a separate way? Right now it's Casey playing music.....Barnstable fills spot — 8/26 — Barnstable Broadcasting names John Shomby as Director of Programming for the Hampton Roads cluster starting Sept 16th. Shomby is expected to personally handle PD duties for new country 'Eagle 97.3' (Randy Brooks shifted from WGH to WWSO as their new PD) and oversee programming at all-sports 'ESPN Radio 1310' WGH-AM, heritage country WCMS, adult standards 'AM 1050 The Fog' WFOG, contemporary inspirational 'Star 94.1' WXEZ and 60s-70s oldies 'Oldies 92-9' WWSO. Shomby leaves as Operations Director for the Cumulus cluster in Flint/Kalamazoo MI on September 12th. Shomby told All Access, "I leave Cumulus with mixed emotions. I am genuinely excited about the opportunity to work with the great staff led by market manager Andy Graham in a radio market as strong as Norfolk for a company with the reputation of Barnstable. Cumulus ranks up there as one of the best, if not the best company I've worked for to date. John Dickey is one of the smartest radio people I've ever met. I'll miss everyone associated with Fliny and Kalamazoo and Cumulus-corporate. Thanks for a great two years!" 
Dee Snider off the air — 8/26 — If you're a regular listener of the Dee Snider Morning Show on CC's rocker 'XL-102' WRXL, you didn't hear him this morning. His 'home-base' station, modern rocker WMRQ, is stunting towards a new format. At 'New Rock Radio 104', all the jocks including Snider have been pulled off the air. No word yet what WRXL will do for mornings. The following statement is posted on their website wrxl.com...Dee Snider Radio is no longer with XL102. Keep listening for further developments. Thanks for your patience!WRVA site sale near? — 8/23 — It looks as if the former WRVA radio building perched atop Church Hill may be sold soon. Real estate sources say the building, which has been vacant since early 2001, is under contract. A deal could be completed in the next month or so. The 20,000-square-foot building, which has a commanding view of the city from 22nd and East Grace streets, was designed by internationally known architect Philip Johnson. Clear Channel Communications owns the building. The original asking price was $1.4 million; the current asking price is $975,000..... Hot 102.1 turns 1 — 8/23 —  On Top Communication's urban 'Hot 102.1' WWHV turned one year-old on Monday the 18th. It's been quiet as far as any celebrating is concerned. Early in 2001, the President of On Top, Steve Hegwood, bought the CP for 102.1 from religious broadcaster Willis Broadcasting for $3M. The Bishop was and still is starving for cash. Anyways, 'Hot 102.1' signed on into a very crowded urban radio market. Since their sign-on, one station already threw in the towel that was urban oriented - urban oldies 'Soul Classics 92.9' WWSO (now 60s-70s oldies 'Oldies92-9'). WWHV's PD Parrish Brown came from that now defunct station. WWHV hasn't made an impact on Hampton Roads radio... yet... Steve Hegwood, from what I hear, is a smart man. I see them only moving up. Speaking of birthdays, it's Herkules birthday today. He's on-air Sunday thru Thursday nights 10PM-2AM and also is their Promotion's Director. Happy B-day Herk.....
You've Got Comcast — 8/22 — Looks like area AT&T Broadband & Comcast subscribers will soon be able to get high-speed AOL via their cable modems. Their concentration of cable services including the Internet by far is the Richmond market. Details from USA Today..... 
Here we go again — 8/22 — Hampton Roads' digital stations can't get a break. First, it was CBS affil WBOC-TV Salisbury on channel 16 complaining about interference from WHRO-DT - also on channel 16. That issue has NOT been resolved yet. Now comes a new battle. VARTV hears recently that New York Times' CBS affil WTKR-DT on channel 40 has had to reduce their power to 40% in the evenings because of
complaints from a TV station in Atlantic City. Tiny NBC affiliate WMGM-TV (grade B coverage extends just 24 miles from their tower) has complained to the FCC that its signal is being interfered with by WTKR-DT's. The FCC "told" WTKR-DT to power down in the evenings until this is worked out. The distance between these two stations is beyond 180km but there's not much of anything, just water, to block WTKR-DT's signal from interfering with WMGM's - so says WMGM. Field tests are being conducted as of right now at both stations. Now operating at 290kW from 725kW; WTKR-DT has lost a chunk of audience (Williamsburg, Eastern Shore, Outer Banks...) and they can't be happy about it. With the new fall season just a month away plus NFL football on Sunday's and the CBS network as a whole the most committed to HDTV, this is BAD timing! I'm sure Ted Hand is pulling his hair out over this one.....Changes at WRVA — 8/22 — Josh Johnson, Producer of the Allen Price Show heard from 3PM to 7PM, is leaving Clear Channel's 'NewsRadio 1140' to persue other oppurtunities - school. Taking his place is former 'Q-94 Wicker in The Morning' Producer Mikenna. Good luck Josh! WB will air some fall shows in HD — 8/22 —  The WB network is getting into high-definition broadcasting for the first time. Five hours of The WB's 2002-03 lineup will be broadcast in high-definition digital format. The shows are: "Family Affair" (debuts Sept. 12), "Everwood" (Sept. 16), "Reba" (Sept. 20) and "Smallville" (Sept. 24). "Everwood," the much hyped family drama starring Treat Williams and sophomore hit "Smallville" will repeat Sundays in HDTV. "The cinematic scope of our programs lends itself to this vibrant format," WB President Jed Petrick said. "We look forward to expanding high-definition delivery in the future." The high definition broadcasts will be available in more than 30 markets, which represents nearly half of the country, including WTVZ-DT in Hampton Roads? and WBDC-DT in NoVA. Unfortunately though, word has it that WTVZ-DT might not have the equipment to "pass-through" the HD network signal. That equipment is very expensive and to top that WTVZ is looking for a new Chief Engineer. They are broadcasting a digital signal but its SD - Standard Definition.....
Entercom plans anniversary tribute — 8/22 — On the morning of September 11, all 101 radio stations of Entercom Communications Corp will pay tribute to the nation and the victims and heroes of last year's terrorist attacks by playing America the Beautiful at 8:45AM EST. In addition, the stations will broadcast special programming, including interviews with community leaders and recording artists and renditions of The Star Spangled Banner and God Bless America. Entercom stations raised more than $3 million for 9/11 victim-relief funds. The Entercom cluster in Hampton Roads includes modern AC '94.9 The Point' WPTE, AC '2WD' WWDE, urban AC '95-7 R&B' WVKL and rhythmic 'Z-104' WNVZ.....AP buys Capitol News — 8/22 — The four-year-old web-based Capitol Wire is a new media company specializing in news about government, politics and business from the state capitals of Pennsylvania (Harrisburg), New York (Albany), New Jersey (Trenton), Ohio (Columbus) and Virginia — on a subscription basis. For AP, it’s a chance to expand its content offerings in regional markets, and will be marketed through the AP’s Information Services Department..... Jimmy Barrett on TV — 8/21 — Look for Clear Channel's news/talk 'NewsRadio 1140' WRVA morning man Jimmy Barrett on CNN with a new weekly local news and topics segment. Every Thursday at 5:36AM he'll do a 3-minute simulcast with CNN's early morning show, hosted by Carol Costello and Chad Myers..... Top cable nets — 8/21 — For the week of Aug 12 through 18, according to Nielsen, here are the Top 5 prime-time cable networks... 1- Lifetime - 2.0 ratingTNT's coverage of the NASCAR's Pepsi 400 on the Aug 18 scored a 5.3 rating, making it last week's highest-rated cable show..... Updated maps — 8/21 — The transmitter maps for the VARTV area have been updated. Many many thanks to Parris Wood for putting them together for us! CMT truck to visit Richmond — 8/21 —  The CMT: Country Music Television promotional truck, a 53-foot fifth wheel mobile unit, will be at two Richmond locations this week, featuring a video wall with two private viewing stations where fans can watch CMT programs. In addition, CMT staff members will conduct several games and giveaways, helping to publicize the fact that CMT was recently added to AT&T Broadband's cable lineup in the Richmond area on channel 79. Today (8/21) from 4-8PM, the truck will be at the Circuit City store at 9900 W Broad and tomorrow from4-8PM it will be at Virginia Center Commons mall near the food court..... 
Fredericksburg Summer Book Phase I — 8/20 — Arbitron's Summer Phase I trends for Fredericksburg were released earlier today. WFLS stays on top but its audience share slips 15% to a 15.2. Second is Hot AC 'B-101.5' and talker JFK slips into third just ahead of WTOP. Telemedia's 'Virginia's Rockin' Oldies' WGRQ continues to rise among the 'locals' - now up to a 4.3 in this Trend but sister station rock country 'Thunder 104.5' WGRX slips to a 3.0 after their best ever Book in the Spring (4.4). Another notable is Piedmont's country WJMA in Orange County. They had a good book for the Winter (2.4) but have continue to slide since then - now down to just a blip on the radar - 0.7. Free Lance-Star's '99-3 WYSK' bounces back after a disappointing Spring since shifting to alternative in March. It looks like the format shift was a good move for them. Washington's 'DC-101' WWDC usually placed in the Top 10 here but no more since the new WYSK came along. They're now 20th in the Trend. For the most complete and detailed 12+ rankings anywhere (Yes, better than R&R's), click here.....Primetime TV ratings — 8/20 — CBS takes three out of the Top 5 spots in last week's TV ratings. Tops is "CSI", "Everybody Loves Raymond", NBC's "Dateline NBC - Tuesday" then "Law & Order" and "60 Minutes". Click on the following link for the complete prime-time TV ratings compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of August 12 to August 18, 2002..... Nielsen to update estimates — 8/20 — Nielsen Media Research will release updated national universe estimates for the 2001-2002 season on September 1. Those estimates are derived from new US Census Bureau data, compiled in the 2000 census but only released last March, as the season was drawing to a close. Those estimates are expected to include increases in certain crucial younger demos, according to an insider, and, in certain cases, might prompt the re-opening of make-good negotiations between agencies and networks. Certain networks could use the updated data to claim they did not under-deliver in the promised younger demos. Nielsen, of course, is only the messenger when it comes to demographic and other data and would not itself be a party to any network-advertiser negotiations or re-negotiations. Nielsen also will issue universe estimates for the upcoming 2002-2003 season based on the new Census Bureau data. Those estimates are scheduled to be released later this month..... Charter cable's future in Suffolk still in the air — 8/20 —  The deadline on Charter Communication's cable TV franchise in Suffolk ran out Monday, but the company's future in the city is still unclear. Two months ago, the Suffolk City Council revoked Charter's franchise - the agreement that lets the company operate in the city - pending a 60-day period during which Charter would have to show that the company is improving its service. Mayor E. Dana Dickens said City Council members will discuss Charter's future during a closed-door meeting before Wednesday night's regular council meeting. If Charter's franchise remains revoked, service will continue, said Charter spokeswoman Deb Seidel. There are about 9,000 subscribers in Suffolk. Charter seems to think they have met all of the demands of the City Council with the exception on how much the company owes the city in fines for not properly letting the city know about several things, including progress on the system upgrade, picture quality and customer-service response time. Suffolk officials say the company owes Suffolk $340,000. Company officials have agreed to pay $145,000 in fines for reporting problems in fiscal year 2000-2001.....Barnstable dumps Metro Traffic — 8/19 — The Barnstable cluster which includes heritage country WCMS, new country 'Eagle 97.3' WGH, 60s-70s oldies 'Oldies 92-9' WWSO, all-sports 'ESPN Radio 1310' WGH and standards 'AM 1050 The Fog' WFOG pulled the plug on Metro's services. VARTV hears that they now are doing traffic in house. Dee Stevens (who worked in Richmond, etc) heads up the Hampton Roads Traffic Network which will do traffic for all of the Barnstable stations including the AMs. I don't think Metro Traffic was heard on their AMs but don't quote me on that one. This is a loss for Metro but how big? Will jobs be lost because of this 'lost' work? Barnstable's three FMers are solid performers. VARTV also hears that Clear Channel's contract with Metro is up this December. Could there be more bleeding if CC doesn't renew? Clear Channel does have their own traffic company. In fact, they just opened an office in Baltimore. But, they still use Metro in DC for their reports. Why? Who knows. The company was traffic.com but is now known as Traffic Pulse Networks..... Who's No. 1? — 8/19 — Have you ever wondered what local TV channel is the most watched? The following are the rankings for the local Hampton Roads TV stations from "sign-on to sign-off" (6AM-midnight). These were as of February 2002...  TV numbers — 8/19 — VARTV is looking for the recently wrapped up July Nielsen ratings for the local TV news outlets. If your in Richmond or Hampton Roads AND kind enough, please email any information you have to vartv@cox.net or IM (instant message) me at VARTV Mobile. No names or sources will be mentioned. I'm really just looking for general numbers... All households for 5AM-7AM, 12N, 5PM, 5:30PM, 6PM 10PM and 11PM. Anything would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! 
WNVZ news continues — 8/17 — Was that Chris Roth formerly the night slammer on ABC's Hot AC 'Mix 107.3' WRQX Washington heard on Entercom's 'Z-104' Saturday afternoon? Could he be learning the ropes for a permanent position on the Z Morning Zoo? For the time being, nighttime guru Mike Klein was filling in on the Zoo with Tricia and Shaggy. Stay tuned.....News in for Imus on MSNBC — 8/17 — Rather than repeat old installments of "Imus in the Morning" when Don Imus is on vacation next week, MSNBC will fill the 7AM to 8AM hour with news anchored by new MSNBC anchor Christy Musumeci, who has been Imus' anchor and news director for nearly two years. She's the same Christy (Carlo) that work at WAVY - anchoring their early news programs in the late 90s. Musumeci continues to be the No. 1 search term for Internet surfers visiting VARTV.com..... Hardcore tennis fans listen up! — 8/16 —  If you love tennis and digitial television, you're in heaven in the up coming weeks! The CBS network announced the other day that the US Open Tennis Championship will be broadcasted in HDTV. The series is played up in New York at the National Tennis Center from August 26th to September 8th. The matches will also be broadcasted on USA Network. The entire US Open TV sked can be found at usopen.org. Both WTKR-DT in Hampton Roads (at full power during the daylight hours and at a FCC mandated 40% of power in the evening) and WUSA-DT (NoVA) will carry the event.....
More changes at Z-104 — 8/16 — The revolving jock door at Entercom's churban 'Z-104' WNVZ continues. Several weeks ago Troy Shannon, one-half of the Z Morning Zoo, was fired over an incident at the Beachouse here in Virginia Beach and now Michael Byran exits. He's still with Entercom but now in New Orleans as APD of CHR 'B-97' WEZB. With the exception of Mike Klein AND APD/MD Jay West, no one at the "Z" has really any "time" over there.....
Website remodeled — 8/16 — Independent 'SKY4' WSKY has done a little website remodeling; more like dressing up. Located at wsky4.com, you can check out some of the Fall shows that SKY is programming including the talker "The Other Half" weeknights at 5PM and new syndie "The Weakest Link" at 6.....WTKR-DT update — 8/14 — New York Times' WTKR-DT (40/CBS) will be operating at 40% of its full power. Now operating at 290kW from 725kW; it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that WTKR-DT just lost a chunk of audience (Williamsburg, Eastern Shore, Outer Banks...) and they can't be happy about it. With the new Fall season just a month away plus NFL football on Sunday's and the CBS network as-a-whole the most committed to HDTV, this is BAD timing! Chief Engineer Ted Hand tells me that it will be this way until further notice. Oh, by the way, for folks in Williamsburg, maybe as early as next month Richmond's CBS affil WTVR-DT could be signing on (sorry Ted). "Stay tuned".....Former '95-7 RnB' PD now in Nashville — 8/14 — Former Entercom urban AC '95-7' WVKL PD Derrick Corbett is the new PD for Cumulus' urban AC '92Q' WQQK. Corbett replaces Kevin Fox who left after the station changed directions to urban AC. In Nashville, Clear Channel flipped contemporary Christian '101.1 The Light' to urban '101.1 The Beat' WUBT and shot up to second place. Heritage urban '92Q' knew they couldn't battle back and flipped to an urban AC a couple of months ago. As far as WVKL is concerned, Corbett is the one responsible for WVKL skyrocketing to seconfd place in the Spring 2002 Arbitron Book for Hampton Roads. No one is sure why he left WVKL in the first place..... WCUL and WCVA-AM to be sold — 8/13 —  Tom Joyner of Joyner Radio Inc, a Raliegh NC based radio station owner, has purchased Culpeper's country 'C-103' WCUL (a Class A) and nostalgic/talk WCVA-AM 1490 (a 1kW full-time) from Culpeper Broadcasting for $1.2 million. No word yet on format changes - too early in the stage of the game. Joyner Radio has five other stations here in Virginia including a country, oldies and gospel outlets. Culpeper Broadcasting has no other broadcast interests.....Primetime TV ratings — 8/13 — CBS takes four out of the Top 5 spots in last week's TV ratings - again. Tops is "CSI", then "60 Minutes", "Everybody Loves Raymond", NBC's "Law & Order" and Monday's "48 Hours." Click on the following link for the complete prime-time TV ratings compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of August 5 to August 11, 2002..... Virginia's radio call-in show changes days — 8/13 —  UVA’s Greg Waters hopes you'll note his "CavTalk", Virginia’s radio call-in talk show, is moving to Wednesdays (from Tuesdays) on WXGI-AM 950 from 7-9PM. Actually, the season's first "CavTalk", a special preseason show, will be Thursday Aug 22 from 5-7PM on location from Scott Stadium, site of the season opener. Waters is counting on coaches Al Groh (UVA) and Sonny Lubick (Colorado State) to be his featured guests with recruiting analyst Mike Farrell. This will be the third consecutive season on WXGI. "We're going to be changing our focus a little bit this year," Waters said. "We used to spend a lot of time rehashing the last game, but our listeners are telling us they'd rather concentrate on who's coming next." By the way, if you can't receive WXGI, go to the CavTalk radio page on CavTalk.com to listen online. Speaking of State football... The dueling Virginia Tech Hokie shows continue. On CC’s ‘SportsRadio 910’ WRNL there’s "Tech Talk Tuesday" and on WXGI there’s "Tech Sports Tonight"....Harrisonburg & Charlottesville Arbrition ratings — 8/12 — These two markets are out of the VARTV coverage area but I have posted them here because... Anyways, both markets are measured twice a year. In Harrisonburg, VerStandig takes the No.1 and 2 spots with news/talk 'NewsRadio 550' WSVA and CHR 'Q-101' WQPO. 3rd is CC's classic hits '98 Rock' WACL, 4th is sister country '104.3 Country KCY' WKCY and 5th is VerStandig's 50s-70s oldies 'Magic 96.1' WBHB. For the complete 12+ listing check it out at Radio & Records - Harrisonburg. In Charlottesville, CC's country outlet 'Country 99.7' WCYK takes over the No. 1 spot from Eure's rocker '3WV" WWWV which drops to fourth. 2nd is UVA's urban AC '92.7 KISS FM' WUVA, 3rd is Eure's Soft AC 'Lite Rock Z95' WQMZ and CC's CHR 'Hot 101.9' WHTE rounds out the Top 5. For the complete 12+ listing check it out at Radio & Records - Charlottesville..... 
Jude Redfield moving on — 8/12 — VARTV hears that Jude Redfield, the No. 4 out of four meteorologists at the '13 News WeatherLab,' is going back home. He's returning to his hometown of Cincinnati OH to be a meteorologist for Clear Channel's powerhouse WKRC (12/CBS). He'll be part of their 'Doppler 12 Weather Center.' In Hampton Roads for just over a year, Redfield came to Belo's WVEC (13/ABC) from WSIL-TV (3/ABC) in Southern Illinois. No word yet if Channel 13 will replace him or just leave the "Team" at three forecasters...."Oh, that Larry Bonko" — 8/12 —  I had to take a page out of Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com's book. Any time The (Washington) Post would run a story late - days or weeks after posted on DCRTV.com - Dave will use the expression "Oh, that (Washington) Post." Well, I find it appropriate now to use it on VARTV. Larry Bonko of the Virginian-Pilot usually runs little news blurbs in the Sunday paper about the media. This past Sunday was no exception. In one of the blurbs, he writes that the Hampton Roads TV market has "slipped" to No. 42 (from #41) in size. I stopped and thought, "I have written about this on VARTV". I couldn't remember when so I started to go through my 2002 News Archives for this year. Nothing. Then I started going through the "2001 News Archives" and finally I found it. It was my very first news article I ever wrote for VARTV! There it was at the very bottom of the page - Hampton Roads drops a notch from #41 to #42 - 14 months(!) before Larry Bonko reports it. Dave, The Post can't beat that.....American... er... Richmond Idol — 8/10 — Borrowing a note from Fox's "American Idol" competition, 'FOX Richmond' WRLH and CC's CHR 'Q-94' WRVQ are holding a "Richmond Idol" contest. The winner will sing the national anthem at the Funai 250 NASCAR Busch Series race at Richmond International Raceway on Sept. 6th. Starting Monday, folks between the ages 16 and 34 can preregister for the competition at Southpark Mall or by listening to 'Q-94' for a cue to call in and register. The auditions, being held the morning of Aug 27, will require participants to sing the following part of the national anthem a cappella: "And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night, that our flag was still there." Five semifinalists will compete by singing the entire national anthem live on Q-94's "Wicker in the Morning" between 7:30 and 8:30AM Aug 28th. Listeners will then have the chance to call in or vote online for their favorite. The winner will be announced on that night's "Fox News at Ten." LPTV gets new calls — 8/9 —  National Minority TV's recent Richmond LPTV sign-on on channel 39 has new calls of W39CO. They were known as W40BP. You may recall that Channel 39 signed on in June. The original CP for the station was applied for in March 1993 and granted in March 1994; over nine years! Originally, they were going to be located on channel 40 until the FCC modified the DTV table of allotments for WTKR-DT to change from channel 58 to 40 in Hampton Roads (September 2000). Remember, LPTVs are the low-man on the totem pole so they applied for channel 39. W39CO carries the religious network TBN (Trinity Broadcasting Network) 24/7. Channel 39 is best seen in the immediate Richmond Metro area.....Do topless drivers cross over the line? — 8/9 —  Recently every Wednesday on Cox's modern rocker 'Y-101' WDYL, DJ Keith Dakin asked for women to drive topless down Broad St or Midlothian Turnpike. It was during the five-week "In the Buff for Free Stuff" contest. "The response was overwhelming," Dakin said. "Everybody was calling in. Guys. Girls. It was amazing." It ended up being pulled two weeks ago after many listeners and advertisers complained. WDYL is now No. 2 up from No. 4 among young adults, especially young men, in local afternoon drive-time ratings. Ray McAllister of the Richmond Times-Dispatch has the whole story.....Happy birthday to me — 8/9 — Yep! It's my birthday today. All of the VARTV offices are closed today for this observence and will reopen Monday morning. I share my birthday with three knuckle-head celebrities that I really don't care for - Whitney Houston, Melanie Griffith and Gillian Anderson... woo-hoo! 70% of Richmonders have Internet access — 8/8 — A new VCU poll shows that seven of every 10 people in Richmond have access to the Internet or a commercial online service. That’s up from 38% five years ago. The poll of 763 randomly-selected adults also suggests that the Richmond area does have a digital divide, a term ‘coined’ to describe a gap between those who do and don't have Internet access. The divide is based on level of education and income. This year's poll, which they have done since 1997, shows that more than 90% of college graduates have Internet access, compared to 32% of those with no high school diploma. In addition, 87% of those from families with income above $50,000 a year have Net access. Just 28 % have access from families with income of less than $20,000..... 
More DTV choices coming to Richmond... soon — 8/8 — VARTV hears the tower that will hold WRIC-DT (22/ABC), WTVR-DT (25/CBS) and WRLH-DT (26/FOX) antennas is complete; the transmitter is in place and things are moving along. WRIC-DT was recently working on the bridgework between the studio and the transmitter. They also have to install two combiners and some other minor work. After completed, there will be some tweaking and testing. Daryl Cheney, the chief engineer at WRIC, says that he really thinks that all of the major delays are behind them, and he expects that both WRIC-DT and WTVR-DT will go live sometime in September. No word on when WRLH-DT will go live or for that matter any of the other full-time TV outlets (WUPV-DT 47, WCVE-DT 42, WCVW-DT 44). WRIC-DT will be upconverting the SD broadcasts (just as WWBT-DT is now doing) during the times when no HD is available. WWBT-DT is the only station in Richmond beaming out a digital signal. If you punch in channel 54 on your STB, it will remap to channel 12-1. 12-1 is WWBT’s DTV channel, 12-2 is First Warning Doppler radar and 12-3 is SkyCam..... 
Channel 12 to add 4PM newscast — 8/8 — This seems to be a new trend going around the country - stations adding a 4PM newscast to their skeds. Welcome, Richmond to this trend. Beginning on August 19th, Jefferson-Pilot's 'NBC12' WWBT fires up their 4PM newscast with Gene Cox and Julie Bragg. The newscast, plus Inside Edition at 4:30, will replace Oprah Winfrey's show" which will shift to Channel 8 (WRIC/ABC) at 5PM starting September 3rd. 'First @ 4', as it will be called, will follow Dr Phil, the new syndicated series from Oprah guest Dr Phillip McGraw, which will air at 3. Channel 12's GM, Don Richards, was faced with an Oprah Winfrey who was either retiring or cutting back on her schedule (as it turned out, Winfrey will produce her show through 2006, but with fewer new episodes), WWBT decided to go ahead with its plan to add the newscast. Richards went on to say that "We also looked at the other syndication available at 4 o'clock and didn't see anything that would match up with our 5 o'clock news".....Primetime TV ratings — 8/7 — CBS takes four out of the Top 5 spots in last week's TV ratings. Click on the following link for the complete prime-time TV ratings compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of July 29 to August 4, 2002..... WSKY segues ownership to SKY Television LLC — 8/6 —  Independent 'Sky4' WSKY Manteo NC files with the FCC to shift control from DanBeth Communications to SKY Television LLC. The name DanBeth as you may have already figured out was the first name of the original owners. The CP for channel 4 was originally awarded to DanBeth as the high bidder at auction #25. Prior to the auction, it was determined and agreed that certain investors would receive shares of a newly-created Class B Common Stock in DanBeth in exchange for providing financial resources to DanBeth, and DanBeth’s original application was amended to reflect this agreement. The Class B Common Stock in DanBeth has never been issued. Instead, the parties agreed, for tax and other business reasons, to form SKY Television LLC as a new company, and that DanBeth would contribute the station’s FCC licenses and other assets to SKY. WSKY's website is at wsky4.com.....Local legend Dr Madblood comes to prime-time on WSKY — 8/5 —  Independent ‘Sky4’ WSKY brings local legend Dr Madblood to prime-time starting Friday, September 27th at 8PM. Dr Madblood, the lovable resident mad scientist of Pungo, brings his offbeat humor and wacky cast of characters to Sky4 to host classic episodes of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" and "Boris Karloff’s Thriller.” Joining Dr. Madblood (award winning producer and director Jerry Harrell), will be Count LaCudra, Dusty the Crop Duster, and Toulouse Latrine (all portrayed by Mike Arlo, well-known radio personality on ‘Classic Hits 106.9 The Fox’); Nurse Patience Dream (Penny Palen); Brain, Dr. Roach, and Waldo Monster (Craig T. Adams of Fuzz and Stuffing Puppets); and a host of other characters. Glenn Holterhaus, president of WSKY, made the announcement at the opening of the Dr Madblood Exhibition at the Chesapeake Museum on Saturday August 3rd. While Dr Madblood’s TV set moves from the ‘WB33’ WTVZ studios to WSKY’s, the show will originate from the Museum.....On Top Communications enter New Orleans — 8/5 — Seven months after the rumor surfaced, Steve Hegwood expands into New Orleans. The former Radio One chief programmer’s On Top Communications, which signed-on urban 'Hot 102.1' WWHV Virginia Beach back in August 2001 buys urban 'U104' KNOU-FM (104.5) from JP Broadcasting. KNOU was purchased in December 2000 for $3.5M. On Top pays $8.5M. KNOU is a class C2 licensed to Empire LA. On Top enters another market with a large share of Black residents. Hampton Roads is #14 out of the Top 25 MSAs and New Orleans is #15. Unlike the Hampton Roads market, which is oversaturated with urban formatted stations, KNOU has a good chance to fill a niche in that market. They are going up against CC's urban 'Q93' WQUE, CC's urban AC 'FM98' WYLD and Wilks urban oldies 'Old School 102.9' KMEZ. By the way, those happen to be the Top 3 stations there. KNOU was doing - and not very well ratings wise - CHR/Rhythmic until January (the same time that the rumors started). VARTV hears KNOU will be rebranded 'Hot 104.5'..... Dixie 105.7 still number 1 — 8/2 —   Arbitron released it's biannual radio ratings for NE North Carolina (Elizabeth City-Nags Head) today with East Carolina Radio's country 'Dixie 105.7' WRSF still on top. Ray-D-O-Biz's Hot AC 'Beach 104' WCXL surged to second with a strong 7.8 rating. Third was heritage country WCMS (5.6), 4th... 50s-70s oldies '102.5 the Shark' WERX (4.4) and rounding out the Top 5 is a tied between adult standards simulcast sisters WCNC-A/WZBO-A and urban '103 Jamz' WOWI with a 3.9. East Carolina Radio by far was the cluster winner. For the most complete and detailed 12+ rankings anywhere (can't find it on R&R) click here.....Happy birthday 2WD — 8/1 — It was yesterday (7/31) 24 years ago on July 31, 1978 that Entercom's AC '2WD' WWDE signed-on with their current format. Amazingly, they're still going strong. They just unseated CC's urban '103 Jamz' WOWI as the No 1 rated station in Hampton Roads. WOWI had been there since 1990! What's going on at Clear Channel Richmond? — 8/1 — From All Access... "Is the format wheel gonna spin in RICHMOND? Is a CLEAR CHANNEL station about to go Country, or Christian?". There were rumors before that a station in Richmond was going to flip to country or Christian (see VARTV news headline April 19, 2002). Here we go again. Last time it was MAYBE rocker 'XL-102' WRXL. CC's Richmond properties are soft AC 'Lite 98' WTVR, 'NewsRadio 1140' WRVA, heritage CHR 'Q-94' WRVQ, urban '106-5 The Beat' WBTJ, WRXL and sports 'SportRadio 910' WRNL. Who's a candidate for a format switch? Can we all just get along — 8/1 — On July 3, 2001, the Free Lance-Star filed a complaint against Telemedia (WGRQ-FM 95.9 Colonial Beach) and Rappahannock River Broadcasting (WGRX-FM 104.5 Falmouth), both headed by Carl Hurlebaus. Free Lance-star alleged that Telemedia failed to maintain a proper main studio for WGRQ, failed to maintain and provide public access to a complete local public inspection file for WGRQ and that Rappahannock filed a frivolous pleading to delay another FCC item Rappahannock filed against Free Lance-Star. The outcome is that Telemedia is reprimanded for not providing access to the entire local public inspection file and the FCC throws out the other two complaints. Read the entire ruling from the FCC here..... 
Entercom goes 1,2 & 4 in Spring Book! — 8/1 — Entercom's AC '2WD' WWDE captures the Spring Book with sister urban AC '95-7 R&B' WVKL taking second - up from 8th place. CC's '103 Jamz' WOWI slips to third(!) with another Entercom property at 4th... Hot AC '94.9 The Point' WPTE! I hear they were having a party at the TRC Office Park on Clearfield Ave here at the Beach! Other notables... CC's rising star continues to be urban AC 'Vibe 105' WSVY. Now at a 3.9, they have doubled their audience from just one year ago. Who would have ever thought... not me. The Coast (WKOC) finishes with a 3.0. Wow. It wasn't looking too good just 3 to 6 months ago. But for their sister AM stations, the news is not so good. Both 'NewsRadio' 790 WNIS and 'TalkRadio 850' WTAR fell. WNIS was down 24% and WTAR was down 37%. Ouch!  For the two newest urbans - CC's hip-hop '92.1 The Beat' WBHH and On Top's 'Hot 102.1' WWHV continue to struggle. Steve Hegwood came into this market that was overcrowded with urban formatted stations and still decided to sign-on as an Urban. They really sound much better than a 1.0 station. Maybe it's their lousy signal or lack of something unique that couldn't already be found elsewhere on the dial. How long do you continue to run a station around a 1.0 share? And The Beat - their heads are just above the water. Here's my armchair suggestion on the Beat - pull the plug - no need to worry about Hot 102.1... put the best of the Beat back on WOWI and bring back the glory days of '103Jamz' - that was just 18 months ago! For the most complete and detailed 12+ rankings anywhere (Yes, better than R&R's) plus some breakout demos, click here.....
Audio trouble at Praise 105 — 7/31 — Many thanks to Ernest Jones at WRCS-AM 970 for passing this along to me. Maranatha's contemporary Christian 'Praise 105' WFMZ Hertford has been experiencing some audio problems this afternoon. Left channel audio is fine but the right is totally distorted. A person at Praise 105 was blaming the heat which was affecting their equipment. They're working on cooling the equipment. WFMZ puts in a 'rimshot' signal here in Hampton Roads. It's listenable here at the VARTV World HQs. Ernest was kind enough to pass along a clip of their broadcast... enjoy!That didn't take long — 7/31 — Thank you for the several inquiries I have already received about asking for break-out demos from Arbitron. You guys do have GUTS! Anyways, it's very appreciated and again no names will be mentioned. Please keep them coming at vartv@cox.net or using AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) VARTV Mobile. Thanks! All in the family — 7/31 — A couple of days ago, 4M Communications filed with the FCC to shift (‘voluntary control’) its radio stations from each station being its own entity to all under the 4M Communications umbrella.  4M owns Hot Talk simulcast WHAP-AM 1340 Hopewell (listed as China Cat Communications) & WLEE-AM 990 Richmond (already listed as 4M of Richmond), black gospel ‘Rejoice Radio’ WREJ-AM 1540 Richmond (listed as Radio Richmond 1540), adult standards ‘Unforgettable 1320’ WVNZ-AM Richmond (listed as Radio Richmond 1320) and a new AM-er at 1480kHz Glen Allen (listed as Radio Richmond 1480). A note: WLEE will be changing their community of license to Short Pump with an increased coverage area soon. Speaking of the new AM-er, when is sign-on and what will it be… Jim.....Hampton Roads' Arbitron numbers — 7/31 — The Spring Book for Hampton Roads' will be released shortly and will be posted here on VARTV. Can Entercom's AC '2WD' WWDE hold its lead that it had in the Phase II trends or will CC's urban '103 Jamz' WOWI pull out a huge victory with a very strong Phase III. Remember, even though ‘103Jamz’ was unseated as the 12+ No. 1 last month, it's the complete Book that really matters. It combines the two Phases’ that were posted here on VARTV earlier and a third Phase that really is never posted just the final numbers. Help… VARTV has developed a nice little network of 'contacts' and 'moles' and now is asking for a huge favor. If anyone out there has access to the break down of all of the demos (18-34, 25-54, morning drive etc), it would be greatly appreciated if those could be passed along to me. You name will NOT be listed. I’m looking for three markets… Fredericksburg, Richmond and Hampton Roads. If anyone has the GUTS, please email me at vartv@cox.net or using AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) VARTV Mobile..... Richmond’s Arbitron numbers — 7/30 —  Richmond's Spring book was released today. Clear Channel's AC 'Lite 98' WTVR solidifies its lead in Richmond up 2.1 points (21%) to a commanding lead over Cox's country 'K-95' WKHK by 3.6 ratings points. Spring was good to WKHK who saw their numbers increase by 25%. Radio One's 'Power 92 Jamz' WCDX cracks the Top 3 with a 7.0 rating... up 8%. For the most part, things remain the same with a few exceptions. CC's 'NewsRadio 1140' WRVA took a dive from a 7.0 to 5.5... a drop of 22%. Another notable was Cox's Hot AC 'B103' WMXB. They, too, saw their audience shrink from 4.5 to 3.4 - a loss of 24%. For the most complete and detailed 12+ rankings anywhere (Yes, better than R&R's), click here.....Primetime TV ratings — 7/30 — CSI on CBS is again the top ranked prime-time show. Click on the following link for the complete prime-time TV ratings compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of July 22 to July 28, 2002..... New radio station coming to VA's Eastern Shore — 7/29 —  The original CP for 90.1 Nassawadox was awarded on 4/17/02 to non-profit Nassawadox FM Inc in Florida headed up by William R Lacy. Lacy turns around and sells the CP to CSN International... Calvary Satellite Network. Price? Cheap... $80,000. Founded in 1993, CSN is a non-profit organization, an outreach of Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa CA and Calvary Chapel of Twin Falls ID. They broadcast biblical teaching and praise & worship music. Since '93, CSN has expanded rapidly with over two-dozen full-power radio stations across the country. They recently acquired the Virginia religious "Joy-FM" network in Fredericksburg; adding three full-power stations and a handful of translators to their portfolio. CSN kept this network together by renaming it "Praise-FM" and tweaking the format to their taste. There's no word yet if this frequency will join this statewide network or simulcast KAWZ-FM in Twin Falls ID like all other CSN properties do. This station will be on 90.1 with 25kW of power with an antenna height of 436'. This will cover the entire Virginia portion of the Eastern Shore.....
ESPN Radio launches a website... again — 7/29 — I just stumbled on this one. Barnstable's all-sports 'ESPN Radio 1310' WGH-AM recently relaunched their website... espnradio1310.com. Several years ago, they had one but just took it down. This is the third station in this cluster of five that the web-design company NetTek has done for Barnstable. The others are contemporary inspirational 'Star 94.1' WXEZ (star941.com) and 60s-70s oldies 'Oldies 92-9' WWSO (929oldies.com). All of these websites get a "D" for creativity. I'm available for the right salary?!....Ironic! — 7/28 — A couple of weeks ago VARTV and a TV engineer were shooting the breeze about some things when the conversation turn to the on going battle between CBS affil WBOC-TV 16 in Salisbury and PBS WHRO-DT 16 in Hampton Roads. WBOC is alleging interference from WHRO's digital signal. Here's a new twist. Virginia Beach has been allotted a new analog TV channel on 21. Originally awarded to Winstar Broadcasting until they filed for bankruptcy. Therefore, the FCC awarded channel 21 to runner-up Robert O Copeland and can possibly be on the air by early next year. Anyways... guess what channel WBOC's digital station is on? Yep! 21..... WTKR-DT update — 7/26 — After being down for two nights, WTKR-DT will be back on the air tonight beginning at 6 o'clock. The transmitter wasn't the problem but the output board on their flexcoder. Unfortunately, CBS isn't offering any true HDTV programming tonight (cbs.com/hdtv). But that's OK... The picture is still way better than analog..... WBOC vs WHRO-DT continues — 7/26 — The Daily Press has their take on the 'battle' between the two stations. The article stated that WHRO-DT is now running at only 25% of it's power (until a solution is found) but that probably hasn't affected viewers in the immediate Hampton Roads area with DTV sets. Read the article online from The Daily Press..... Richmond TV sports events ratings — 7/25 — Some tidbits from Jerry Lindquist of RTD. From the British Open and the worst day in Tiger Woods' professional career, local ratings were slightly behind the overnight national curve for that Saturday - a 4.2 nationally, 4.1 on WRIC (8/ABC). Sunday, when ABC did a 4.9, the metered Richmond market turned in a 5.0 that included a spike of an 8.4 during the five-hole playoff. Several people called Channel 8 to complain about the work of Curtis Strange, ABC's lead golf analyst who is from Virginia. What was WRIC going to do about that? In MLB, ratings are up about 12% for the 'Saturday Game of the Week' on Fox. Through the first half of the network's schedule, it averaged a 2.8. Last Saturday's Yankees-Red Sox game did a 4.5 in Richmond, beating the British Open (and Woods) over on 8. Last year, 'FOX Richmond' WRLH (35) averaged a 1.0 rating (7 share) for four baseball games in July. No wonder Fox suits are nervous about the likelihood of a major-league players' strike. By the way, WRLH usually tries to carry an Atlanta Braves' game, if it's available - that is, unless there's a compelling marquee matchup - like the Yankees and Red Sox..... 
WCTV-48 now available on the Internet — 7/25 — Wednesday evening at 6:30, Chesapeake's municipal cable channel, WCTV-48, was available on the Internet as part of the city's newly launched, upgraded website, CityOfChesapeake.net. This live video feed brings coverage of city council, planning commission and school board meetings. Channel 48 programming also includes news, public affairs and informational telecasts produced locally for Chesapeake residents. In addition, WCTV airs a variety of regional and national programs, along with a community bulletin board, highlighting upcoming events in Chesapeake.....
WTKR-DT off the air... — 7/24 — for tonight (7/24) and tomorrow (7/25). Seems that when the transmitter came on at 6 tonight there was no video, no 'NewsChannel 3 at 6'. The transmitter is OK though. WTKR-DT broadcasts daily from 6PM to 11PM.....Randy Brooks to take helm at WWSO — 7/24 —  VARTV hears that more than likely Randy Brooks, the acting PD at 60s-70s oldies 'Oldies 92-9' WWSO and full-time PD of new country 'Eagle 97.3' WGH and heritage country WCMS, will get to drop the "acting" from his title at WWSO. With his segue, Barnstable Broadcasting has decided to have Brooks concentrate only on 'Oldies 92-9' and will relinquish his posts from the country outlets. Neither of the two have had a good Spring Arbitrend so far - relatively speaking anyways. Brooks will continue to program the country twins while Barnstable looks for someone to fill a newly created position billed as Director/Market Programming. With this new position not only will this person be PD/MD for the country outlets they will oversee all programming in the 5-station cluster. Anyone interested?
Hot 102.1 is looking for a GSM — 7/23 — Steve Hegwood's outlet urban 'Hot 102.1' WWHV first was Bill Reed. He had 30 years of media advertising experience, having worked at WNWV in Cleveland OH, WAPE & WHJX in Jacksonville FL and WTMP Tampa FL to name a few. Apparently he's left the building or will be leaving. Yours truly stumbled across an ad in a radio trade publication for an opening for a GSM. WWHV has very small spot loads with two stop-sets an hour. Is this due to hard ad sale times? A small signal reach? Crappy sales staff?.....Primetime TV ratings — 7/23 — Click on the following link for the complete prime-time TV ratings compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of July 15 to July 21 2002..... No ABC HDTV for a couple of days — 7/23 — Due to maintenance work in New York, the ABC network will not be offering HDTV feeds of network programs today, tomorrow (7/24) or Thursday (7/25) of this week. As far as WVEC-DT is concerned, they will be broadcasting on those dates but the broadcasts will be upconverted from SD (Standard Definition) feeds. Oh well, 'The Mole' in SDTV will be fine..... 
Troy Shannon exits — 7/23 — VARTV hears that Troy Shannon, one-third of the Z Morning Zoo at Entercom's 'Z-104' WNVZ, was fired over an incident at The BeacHouse in Virginia Beach last Friday. His 'pic' is already gone from the z104.com website. Troy and side-kick Tricia also have their own webpage at troyandtricia.com and that's still up. Shannon was with 'Z-104' in the late 90s, left for awhile for Citadel's 'WiLD 97-9' KKLD in Oklahoma City then came back to Hampton Roads for the morning gig at 'Z-104'.....Fredericksburg Spring Book — 7/22 —  Arbitron's Spring Book for Fredericksburg was released earlier today. The Top 3 stations remain the same from the Fall. The big surprise is Telemedia's rockish country 'Thunder 104.5' WGRX. They saw their 12+ demo increase 109% to place them now 4th among all radio stations listened to. Their increase though apparently had no affect on WFLS' numbers. They remained the same as Winter - a 17.9 share. WGRX's increase could have come from the expense of smaller country outlets in the area like WJMA (down 1.1) or WCUL (failed to get the 'nod'). Free Lance-Star's recently realigned 'Classic Rock 96.9' WWUZ (formerly classic hits) also saw a hugh increase from a dismal 1.0 in the Winter to a 2.8 this Spring. The Top 5 stations are country WFLS, Hot AC WBQB, news WTOP, country WGRX and hot talker WJFK. For the most complete and detailed 12+ rankings anywhere (Yes, better than R&R's), click here.....New classified — 7/22 — A new classified ad was placed today. Click on "Classified Ads" on the navigation panel to the left..... Bankruptcy filed — 7/22 — JBS Inc owners of two LPTVs on the Peninsula declared Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy on July 15th. Their assets and liabilities were unavailable. The two stations, W31BG (channel 19) Yorktown and W39BW Newport News broadcast the home shopping channel ShopNBC and local religious programming. Several years ago they had a third station in Williamsburg - WHTV-LP (formerly W19BX). No word yet if the stations will fall victim to their reorganization plans..... WFLS/WYSK/WWUZ owners expanding — 7/21 — ...but not in the radio business. The Free Lance-Star already has three radio properties, an Internet presence - fredericksburg.com and of course the newspaper. Now they want to publish a telephone directory starting next spring. They cited customer concerns that it was hard to reach Verizon sales reps and higher advertising rates for some of the reasons why they have jump into the directory publishing business. You can read the entire article online at fredericksburg.com..... 
Happy Birthday! — 7/19 — Contemporary Christian '89.9 WPER - Christian Music Radio' Culpeper celebrates their third year of broadcasting on August 9th, same as yours truly by the way. The station is having their 3rd birthday party along side the Summer Jam Tour on July 24th at the Christian Fellowship Church in Ashburn. The Summer Jam Tour features Christian artists Newsong, Rachael Lampa (being compared to Amy Grant), Freddie Colloca, True Vibe and Brother's Keeper.....
Ntelos won't add more wireless-cable customers — 7/19 — Ntelos announced that it is not adding more customers to its wireless cable TV system in the four markets it serves...
the Roanoke Valley, the Shenandoah Valley, Charlottesville and Richmond. They said it wants to concentrate its resources in its three core areas: wireless PCS (personal communications service), Internet, and local telephone service to businesses. The company said that if the right sales opportunity presented itself, it would consider selling its wireless cable TV business, the Roanoke Times reported. The company has 7,000 wireless-cable customers.....New classified — 7/18 — A new classified ad was placed today. Click on "Classified Ads" on the navigation panel to the left..... Primetime TV ratings — 7/16 — Click on the following link for the complete prime-time TV ratings compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of July 8 to July 14 2002..... Lex & Terry news — 7/16 —  Cox Radio's syndicated morning team Lex & Terry heard in Hampton Roads on hot talk 'AM 1450 The Buzz' WBVA get slapped with a cease and desist letter from lawyers for Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen for selling T-shirts declaring "open season" on the "Full House" twins on the occasion of their 18th birthday. The letter claims that the shirts infringe on the actresses' trademarked name "Olsen Twins" and threatens “civil damage and penalties.” As of this writing, the links and photos for the T-shirts have already been taken down at lexandterry.com. Lex Staley & Terry Jaymes have for three years been counting down the days until the twins reach adulthood. Lex says “I never thought they would get legal before they got legal.”.....
Hot 102.1 expanding coverage? — 7/16 — That's what was being said on-air today at urban 'Hot 102.1' WWHV. Some time after 10 o'clock this morning the emails to VARTV started to come in, a statment was made to this affect "We know we are experiencing technical difficulties, our engineers are working to fix it and expand our coverage area..." I don't think so. They are already broadcasting at full-power with their directional antenna which they can NOT move. Probably some kind of problem at their tower or studio. Sorry Newport News.....
Lee Mahaffey has left the building — 7/16 — Lee Mahaffey's just over two-year career as reporter and recent morning co-anchor ended at 'NewsChannel 3' WTKR (CBS) last week. Soon she'll be joining 'News 6' WTVR (CBS) up I-64 in Richmond. Also on October 19th of this year, Mahaffey palns to get married in her hometown of Atlanta GA. She will be most remembered here when she isolated herself in a Portsmouth apartment where a computer was her only link to the outside world. She lived solely using the Internet for two weeks.....Congratulations! — 7/16 — Metro Networks-Norfolk/Virginia Beach's traffic anchor Kristen Bishop is a new mom. She gave birth to Nicholas Joseph Sunday afternoon (7/14) at 4:20PM. He weighed in at 7 pounds 9 ounces. Both mom and baby are doing just fine. Since she is now on maternity leave for the next 3 months, and TV sweeps are on, Nathan James will be filling her shoes at Metro doing her radio and TV reports for Channel 13 (WVEC/ABC) until her return in mid-October..... CC brings streaming to Hampton Roads — 7/15 —  Clear Channel - a while back - made a statement about bringing Internet audio streaming from their stations into the Top 50 markets. Well they're finally getting around to Hampton Roads. CC has four properties here... Smooth Jazz 'CD107.7' WJCD, urban '103 Jamz' WOWI, hip-hop '92.1 The Beat' WBHH and urban AC 'Vibe 105.3' WSVY. Right now, only WJCD's audio stream is up and running with a "listen live" link on their homepage. WOWI (http://www.103jamz.com/jacor-common/streaming_disclaimer.html), WBHH (http://www.921thebeat.com/jacor-common/streaming_disclaimer.html) and WSVY (http://www.vibezone.com/jacor-common/streaming_disclaimer.html) are not ready yet.....WCKO sold — 7/15 — Following the August 2000 death of founder Gary Acker, Metropolitan Radio group sells big-wattage daytime AMs in two more markets. Metropolitan’s getting $1,250,000 for two black gospel AMs that bill themselves as “The Power Company.” The first is WCKO here in Hampton Roads, a 50-kw daytimer at 1110. The other one is WOBS, Jacksonville, a 50-kw daytimer at 1530. The buyer of both is Louisville-based Word Broadcasting Network (WBN). No word yet if there is going to be any format realignment..... Kelly Wright will exit — 7/15 —  Larry Bonko of The Virginian-Pilot is reporting that Kelly Wright of WVBT (43/FOX) will be leaving the station. Co-anchor of 'Fox 43 News at 10', Wright will exit on August 9th. Wright, who signed on WVBT's first newscast four years ago on August 31, 1998, leaves with no successor in sight. That will leave co-anchor Nicole Livas to go it alone. There's no comment coming from WAVY/WVBT except Wright saying "We just decided to part company". VARTV has learned that his contact too expires August 9th. His bio has already been taken down at fox43tv.com... Ouch! The Rev. Kelly Wright has interests outside TV news including his ministry and his music. He's been a reporter/anchor for more than 20 years.....
Tracey Lewis shows up in Charlotte — 7/15 — I received an email from a VARTV reader last month informing me that meteorologist Tracey Lewis of 'News 6' (WTVR-TV) was leaving the station and headed for North Carolina. Well the email was saved but in a different folder in my Outlook program and was lost... until now. So better late than never, Lewis did leave the Raycom Media owned CBS outlet early last month and landed a job at Cox owned 'Eyewitness News 9' WSOC (ABC) in Charlotte. She has a short bio on their station's website. Not a bad move at all for her. She moves from market #56 (Richmond) to #27 (Charlotte). And by the way, WSOC-TV is the No. 1 news outlet in Charlotte.....
Strretcchhinng the truth — 7/13 — Larry Bonko of the Virginian-Pilot says "WVEC's new news promo - "More viewers watch 13 News a 5, 5:30 and 6" - stretches the truth just a little. Bonko says if you add the household numbers for Channel 13 during the 90 minutes from 5 to 6:30PM, WVEC (ABC) has the edge (22.8) over NBC affiliate WAVY-TV 10 (22.2). However, WAVY is No. 1 at 6 o'clock by 0.2 of a percentage point.....Expanding — 7/13 — Undaunted by LNC5's (Local News on Cable) anemic ratings, Belo Broadcasting is about to venture into another cable news operation. This one is the second one Texas - their home state - to be called "News 24 Houston." Belo-owned WVEC, Cox Communications and The Virginian-Pilot partnered up to create LNC. Belo's two 24-hour regional cable channels appear to get a lot more attention. TXCN (Texas Cable News) in Dallas and NWCN (Northwest Cable News) in Seattle have very informative, interactive and attractive websites. LNC's... well see for yourself. They're considered a local cable news outlet not regional. In the latest Neilsens, LNC's 10PM newscasts was seen by less than 1% of Hampton Roads' TV households. They compete with WVBT's "Fox 43 News at 10". There's no contest. WVBT's newscasts win hands-down. They usually garner around 3.1% of households..... 
Star 94.1 adjusts on-air line-up — 7/12 — Barnstable's black gospel, they call it contemporary inspirational, 'Star 94.1' WXEZ has made some minor jock adjustments. Carla Isaac gets a shorter shift starting now at 5:30AM-10AM (was 6AM-12N). Mark Rawlinson, too gets a shorter shift. He can now be heard at 10AM to 3PM. New PD Dale Murray who had a brief stay as an afternooner at sister 60s-70s oldies outlet 'Oldies 92-9' WWSO is on the air at 3PM to 7PM. If you thought Clear Channel was bad about voice-tracking, you won't hear ANY jocks on 'Star 94.1' or 'Oldies 92-9' for that matter later in the evenings, through the overnights or weekends - just songs and sweepers. Maybe their thinking at Barnstable is why fill the spots - look at our ratings. But I'm not going to go there. That'll open up a new can of worms. An additional note, 'Star' has now added Metro Traffic to their afternoons....
Autry's novel experience — 7/12 — Cory Autry who co-anchors the "Fox 35 News at 10" on WRLH and is 'NBC12' WWBT's medical reporter is now a first-time novelist. His book 'The Reunion' is due in bookstores this week. He says he spent three years writing the book - mostly at night at home after his newscasts. Douglas Durden of the Richmond Times-Dispatch has the entire story online.....3rd time's a charm — 7/12 —  GM Ed Munson of WAVY (10/NBC) has named a replacement for ND Jim Turpin. Turpin who left the station abruptly on April 15th of this year moved from market #42 to market #41 by accepting a new gig at 'ABC24 News' WPTY Memphis TN. The 'new ' guy isn't new to WAVY. This is his third there. Who is he? Gary Stokes and will start his new position this coming Monday. Stokes first worked for WAVY as an executive producer from '89 to '91. He then left for WJZ in Baltimore, moved on to KTRK in Houston and made full circle coming back to WAVY in August 1994 to become their ND. After leaving WAVY again in 1995, Stokes was ND for WIVB in Buffalo NY. He didn't say long. In 1996, he moved to 'NBC13' WVTM in Birmingham AL and quickly rose from ND to GM. After leaving WVTM, Stokes, who's 44 and with a degree in criminal justice at the University of Dayton, became a professional volunteer he says. He served on the executive committee of the United Way of Central Alabama and was president of the Birmingham Big Brothers and Sisters. It's interesting to note when Stokes left WVTM in November, his station was third in the hours that there were newscasts broadcasted (5-5:30, 6-6:30 and 10-10:30); feeling pressure from the fouth place WB affiliate (WTTO). At 6, WVTM had just a 0.2(!) rating share edge over WTTO. In that market, the FOX affiliate (WBRC) is the news leader followed closely by the ABC affil (WBMA combo). The CBS affiliate (WIAT) there has some serious problems; placing FIFTH when their newscast are on. At 6, they lead the PAX affiliate (WPXH) by just one point and seventh place UPN WABM by only 1.4... ouch!A new radio syndie program? — 7/12 —  Clear Channels' "SportsTalk 980" WTEM Washington is starting up a new show on Friday nights which it hopes to take into syndication later this year. It is called "X-treme Gaming Radio," and will be making its debut today on WTEM following its scheduled broadcast of a Baltimore Orioles baseball game. It will also be heard on sister station "SportsRadio 910" WRNL in Richmond. The show, hosted by Robert "Paligap" Kirschenbaum, will feature talk about all aspects of video games and will include call-ins.....Hampton Roads DTV update — 7/11 — Last week WTKR-DT was the first DTV station in Hampton Roads to broadcast Closed Captioning of its digital signal... WGNT-DT began testing their signal today. Punch in channel 50 on your HDTV tuner and it will remap to 27-1. WGNT-DT was granted by the FCC for a six-month extension to the May 1st deadline. Expect them to be broadcasting on a regular basis shortly..... Cox to replace boxes that may shock users — 7/11 —  Reported here last month, Cox has made the decision to personally visit all the homes that have been determined to have defective digital cable boxes - Motorola DCT-2000. "We have identified roughly 3,000 boxes in Hampton Roads installed in customers' homes," said Cox Communications VP Thom Prevette. "We will call and direct mail and visit each of those 3,000 homes." He went on to say, “This is a very small percentage of our digital cable customers. Even though there are 3,000 boxes, only 2-3 percent of those are going to fail the test when the representative comes out there - maybe 60 of the 3,000 boxes." Motorola suits have said "normal operation" of the boxes should pose no safety risk for customers. Motorola will pay for the cost of swapping boxes - it's their recall. Customers have no way of knowing whether their set-top box has one of the faulty parts until a Cox representative inspects the unit. The defective units were delivered to cable companies in 15 states from March 1 to June 19 this year. Phone calls to affected customers began Monday the 8th. Folks wanting more information can log on to www.cox.com/digitalcable/motorola or call 1-888-830-9528.....WPTX spins the format wheel — 7/11 — WPTX-AM 1690 in Lexington Park MD has switched from all sports using SNN (Sporting News Network) to news/talk with CNN Headline News and G Gordan Liddy 10AM to 2PM. 1690 puts in a good signal on the Northern Neck. WPTX is owned by Somar Communications who have a handful of stations in Southern Maryland..... Cable merger approved — 7/11 — The AT&T/Comcast cable merger is approved. There was never any doubt. Brian Roberts and his family control 86.7% of Comcast's stock. Read the Associated Press' story in the Richmond Times-Dispatch..... Jeff McKee returns to radio... — 7/11 — ...for only a day. Last September Clear Channel gave him the ax from rocker 'XL102' WRXL and replaced him with 80s band leader Dee Synder (Twisted Sister) out of Connecticut. In a twist of irony, Jeff will return tomorrow afternoon as a one-day substitute on the Allen Price Show heard on 'NewsRadio 1140' WRVA... another Clear Channel property. Yesterday, the guest host was 'Cooter' from the popular 80s show The Dukes Of Hazzard... By the way, The Allen Price Show is heard weekdays from 3PM to 7PM with WRVA easily received in Hampton Roads too. Ray McAllister of the Times-Dispatch has a two-part story on Jeff McKee... Part I which ran on July 11th and Part II which ran on the 12th.....
Finally! — 7/10 — National Minority TV which owns over two dozen TV stations around the country (all but one are LPTVs) signed on W40BP last month in Richmond on channel 39. The original CP for the station was applied for in March 1993 and granted in March 1994; over nine years! Originally, they were going to be located on channel 40 until the FCC modified the DTV table of allotments for WTKR-DT to change from channel 58 to 40 in Hampton Roads (September 2000). Remember, LPTVs are the low-man on the totem pole so they applied for channel 39. After that, they went through several modifications and interference studies. W40BP will carry the religious network TBN (Trinity Broadcasting Network) 24/7. All of National Minority's properties carry some sort of religious programming including the other outlet they have here in Virginia... W18BS in Hampton.....Primetime TV ratings — 7/9 — Click on the following link for the complete prime-time TV ratings compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of July 1 to July 7 2002..... WBOC fires back in DTV-interference battle — 7/8 —  CBS affil WBOC-TV (16) Salisbury MD that brought the original complaint to the FCC filed a reply July 3 to the June 21 reply of WHRO-DT (16/PBS). WHRO had told the FCC that it had complied with the agency’s regulations, that WBOC hadn’t demonstrated a reception problem that required FCC intervention and that even if it had, 'there is no legal basis for the FCC to declared WHRO-DT to be ‘at fault’... so long as WHRO’s facilities are in compliance with FCC rules.' In a 98-page (!) document, WBOC’s attorneys argued that WHRO’s response is wrong 'as a matter of policy and law' and 'does not make sense.' WBOC submitted additional evidence of harm, including interference reports, electronic mails, charts and a sworn statement from a Comcast exec saying that the MSO 'has observed significant levels of interference with WBOC-TV’s signal from late April through the present' and that 'over 2,000 complaints regarding WBOC’s picture' have been received from cable viewers.....Broadcasting awards announced CONTINUED — 7/8 — To expand on the awards given out at the the VAB (Virginia Association of Broadcasters) annual awards banquet held in Virginia Beach last week, here is a more complete list of winners throughout the Commonwealth. I have to thank the NOW imfamous "No name, no source". How can this person be in several places at once? Hmmm..... AT&T, Comcast deal just waiting on votes — 7/8 — The Richmond Times-Dispatch ran a story from the Associated Press this weekend about the AT&T/Comcast mega-merger. AT&T Broadband has about 150,000 customers in the Richmond area and Comcast has roughly 75,000..... Broadcasting awards announced — 7/7 — Country ‘93 WFLS’ and other Fredericksburg area stations won big last weekend. WFLS received two awards at the VAB (Virginia Association of Broadcasters) annual awards banquet held in Virginia Beach. In the medium market category, for stations outside of metropolitan districts, WFLS news reporter Tabitha LaRue won the Best Documentary or Public Affairs Award for "Focus: Ovarian Cancer Causes and Detection." This program is now a four-time winner. WFLS will also be presented with a national Clarion award from the Association for Women in Communications in October for the program. WFLS-FM production director Shelly Bynum won the award for Best Commercial for a series of commercials for Ledo Pizza. Also in the medium market category, 50s-70s oldies WGRQ and ‘Thunder 104.5’ WGRX received Best Station/Contest for their "Happy Harley Days." Orange County station country ’98.9 WJMA’ took home the award for outstanding news operation in the small market category. Since the Free Lance-Star was first to report these awards, only Fredericksburg area stations were mentioned in the article.....
Fort Lee event on Food Network — 7/6 — 'Army Cook-Off' airing at 9PM tomorrow on the Food Network will focus on the US Army Culinary Arts Competition held at Fort Lee back in March. The show includes profiles of competitors, judges and teams and a history of food service in the Army. Most cable systems now carry Food Network - check it out.....Softball tournament to benefit charity — 7/6 — Local law-enforcement officers will square off against TV personalities from WAVY, WVEC and WTKR on tomorrow (7/7) in a softball tournament at War Memorial Stadium on Pembroke Ave in Hampton to raise money for Special Olympics of Virginia. The winner will play against the winner of a game between Carquest Auto Parts employees and radio celebrities from 'FM99' WNOR, '106.9 The Fox' WAFX and 'Eagle 97' WGH. The public is invited to watch the games which take place at 11AM and 1PM. The championship will be played at 3:30PM. Admission is only a buck. A Carquest rep (the sponsor of the games) said their goal is to raise $2,000..... Greensboro is #1 — 7/5 — I received an email the other day from "Egghead" and they were wondering what are the top NASCAR markets were as far as TV was concerned. Well I did find that Greensboro NC is the number 1 TV market with a 15.6 share up from 14.4 last year; an increase of 8.3%. Charlotte has seen an increase of 22%(!) in viewership from this time last year..... 
Hill retires as king of Cox cable — 7/5 — Last week, Larry Bonko of the Virginian-Pilot profiled a VERY familiar face to Hampton Roads residents... Irving B Hill. Hill was Norfolk's mayor for 22 months (Sept 74-June 76). He was president and GM of WCMS-FM/AM for 16 years. Later he was consultant for radio stations here and in Petersburg as president of Irvine B Hill Inc. In 1983, he joined Cox Communications and was there ever since. Read the article online by Larry Bonko.....Who was first — 7/4 — As far as the breaking news was concerned with the deadly shooting at LAX, MSNBC was first to air the incident. Followed closely by CNN. Fox News Channel was a distant third - several minutes behind 'America's News Channel' MSNBC..... 
WGNT-DT on the air by July 15th? — 7/4 — Sources tell me that WGNT-DT, Hampton Roads' last TV station to go digital, could be on the air by next weekend. Their antenna/transmission line is up and working. Test signals should start on Tuesday or Wednesday with regular broadcasting by that weekend. Since independent 'Sky4' WSKY signed on after the DTV table of allotments was formed, they would have to turn their analog signal off to start broadcasting in digital. WGNT's digital channel is 50 and will remap to 27-1.....Weather on Sky4? — 7/4 — At first, I thought I had the wrong channel on. Maybe I was watching WTKR (3/CBS) or a recycled newscast on LNC5. Nope... my Cox converter box was on channel 4. Several VARTV readers and yours truly have seen short weather segments starting to pop up on the independent station. They're a 30-seconds long and put together well. They're using the same graphics as NewsChannel 3 was using last year in their "Triple Doppler 3D" forecast days. They're using WeatherVision who cater to stations with no newscast and offer several different types of weather packages from 30 seconds to 5 minutes long. I was very curious and l had to find out more from the "mole" over there at WSKY. He told me... "we started local weather Monday (7/1/02) … as with the rest of our projects, we have started it with little fanfare until we can get bugs worked out … Right now we are doing weather updates at 6:58p and 8:58p and will expand to run weather at the top of the primetime hours 7 days by the end of the month. Plans are to add it to our website once our other changes are made to our website in the next month or so. So far, they have been right on the money on forecasts but we will see if it catches on. So far, the response has been good." I asked the "mole" if maybe a newscast was in the future. He said, "…not in our immediate plans but this does start our effort to develop more original and locally related programming. We will have a couple of announcements along that line in the next month or so." That'll make Larry Bonko at the Virginian-Pilot happy. He can be a little critical. He expects WSKY to be like WTBS (TBS Superstation) overnight. For competitive reasons, the "mole" couldn't tell me exactly who they are using but did say, "...we are using a service/relationship that has a 24 hour satellite feed backhall." Oh by the way, my mole at WSKY is the President and managing partner... Glenn Holterhaus. Glenn, thanks for you very quick response to my inquiries.....Primetime TV ratings — 7/3 — Click on the following link for the complete prime-time TV ratings compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of June 24 to June 30 2002..... From the "How about that?" file — 7/2 — Averaging an 8.8 rating on WRLH (35/FOX), Richmond is the ninth highest-rated market for NASCAR Winston Cup races on FOX this season. Darrell Waltrip, Larry McReynolds and the gang complete their second season on FOX with Saturday night's Pepsi 400 from Daytona Beach..... Trammell complaint dismissed — 7/2 — A charge was dismissed today against Allen Price a 'NewsRadio 1140' WRVA radio talk show host who had been accused of making annoying phone calls to Richmond City Councilwoman Reva Trammell. Richmond General District Court Judge Coy Kiser Jr dismissed the charge against Price but admonished him not to call Trammell's home again. Both Trammell and Price claimed victory based on the judge's ruling. UPDATE: Read the article online from the Times-Dispatch..... 
Melvin Moore passed away — 7/1 — Kirby Carmichael passed this along to me... I'm sad to report the promo man of all promo men is gone. Melvin Moore passed away Thursday, June 27, 2002, after a brief stay in the hospital. Melvin will long be remembered from his days getting the Chilites, Tyrone Davis, Barbara Acklin, the Lost Generation to name a few artist on Brunswick Records he worked to get played. Melvin Moore will be missed by his wife Irene of 54 years and the many lives he touched in the record industry. Uncle Mel as some called him was 84 years old. Melvin's wake and funeral will be July 2nd from 4-7PM at Lance's Funeral Home on 109th and West 132nd St NY NY 10451... 212-281-7070.....News Archives.....  |
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