Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, July 16, 1990 TAG: 9007160115
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Chuck Milteer
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But in a couple of weeks, WSLS weather anchor Cindy Farmer will hear a new question "Hey Cindy, how's the weather in Greensboro?"
Farmer, arguably Channel 10's best-known personality is leaving for a job at Greensboro station WFMY (Channel 2). She will be the co-host of "Good Evening," an evening magazine show Farmer described as "a mixture of `P.M. Magazine' and `Entertainment Tonight.' "
She said the show is broadcast from a different location every night, "I think I'm better suited for [that type of show]. I like to be out on location. I'm more at ease when I'm out among the public."
The move has lots of other advantages.
"It's a big step up - in terms of market size and salary," said Farmer. The Greensboro-Winston Salem area is the 48th-largest market in the country. Roanoke-Lynchburg is No. 70.
Farmer, a Pulaski County native, has been with Channel 10 since a 1984 internship while she was attending Virginia Tech. "I love the the station, but it's time for a change," she said.
Farmer said she wasn't really looking to leave WSLS but got a call from the manager of WFMY after he saw her do a remote broadcast from the Roanoke Valley Horse Show in June. "He asked me if I wanted to come to Greensboro to host their magazine show," Farmer said. "It's a great opportunity."
\ The news department at Channel 10 will get a new boss today in Bill Foy, who comes to the station from CBS affiliate WBTV in Charlotte, N.C.
Foy, 34, replaces Jim Labranche, who left the WSLS in April to take a job with a station in Tampa, Fla.
Labranche was one of a brief flurry of departures in the spring that also saw reporter Duane Pohlman and weekend anchor Jeff Gillen leave the station.
Pohlman won the Associated Press reporting award that Channel 10 has featured prominently in its promotional ads recently.
Foy, a 1977 graduate of Virginia Tech, had been WBTV's news director since being promoted to the post in 1986. He joined WBTV in 1983 as assistant news director after stints with stations in Spartanburg, S.C., and Richmond.
"We're delighted to be able to attract such an fine talent to our station," said WSLS general manager Jim Deschepper. "I'm sure he'll make a big difference."
Foy, a Richmond native, left WBTV after the station slipped to the No. 2 position in the Charlotte market after being No. 1 all of its previous 33 years.
In a recent story in the Charlotte Observer, Foy said that he was not forced to leave WBTV, but that the ratings may have influenced his decision to resign.
WSLS has consistently struggled in the Roanoke-Lynchburg ratings, and after briefly overtaking Lynchburg-based WSET (Channel 13) for second place, was back in third place in the most recent Nielsen survey taken in May.
DeSchepper said that he didn't have any specific plans about how to change the station's news shows, adding that he expected Foy to make those decisions after he gets a chance to get familiar with the station and the market. "When you hire someone as talented as Bill, you let him get on board and then he makes the calls."
The Virginia Association of Broadcasters gave 6 1 AIRWAVES Airwaves out its annual awards recently and a couple went to Roanoke's WDBJ (Channel 7).
WDBJ was honored for having the best programming aimed at curbing substance abuse of any TV station in the state. The VAB also gave former Channel 7 president and general manager Charles McKeever its W.T. Lucy Distinguished Service Award for his special contributions to the industry.
The award for TV News Operation of the Year, which WSLS recieved last year, went to Richmond ABC affiliate WRIC (Channel 8).
\ If you've watched WSET (Channel 13) recently, you've probably seen network ads for a new late-night show starring Los Angeles disc jockey Rick Dees.
The show, which starts tonight on ABC, will not be seen in the Roanoke-Lynchburg market because WSET airs the syndicated "Arsenio Hall Show" at midnight.
by CNB