Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 5, 1993 TAG: 9306050700
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: ROBERT RIVENBARK SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
WBNK-FM, known to listeners as KOOL 100.7, features adult-contemporary music, meaning pop and rock music of the late 1970s and the '80s and '90s, with DJ commentary slanted to an adult audience.
WFNR-AM, 710 on the dial, retains its traditional bluegrass format.
WFNR-AM's Monday through Friday lineup features Billy Bluegrass from 6 to 10 a.m. Cuzin' Nelson DJs 10 a.m.-2 p.m. and hosts "It's Your Time," a call-in program, from 11 to 1 p.m.
Uncle Eddie takes over the mike 2-5 p.m. Dandy Don DJs from 6 p.m. until signoff at sunset, and Bashfull Bobby fills in on weekends.
The station airs Winston Cup and Grand National NASCAR racing Saturdays and Sundays, and "Let's Talk NASCAR" Sundays at 11 a.m. Listeners can tune in to the CBS Baseball Game of the Week from April through September, and the baseball playoffs and World Series in October.
The station also airs Washington Redskins Football (simulcast with KOOL 100.7) from August through December, and the NFL playoffs and Superbowl in January.
WBNK/KOOL 100's Monday-Friday lineup features Dave Hunter from 6-11 a.m., Lew Jones from 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Dennis Harrington from 2-6 p.m., J.J. McKay from 6-10 p.m., Scott Barry from 10 p.m.-2 a.m., and Mark Allen from 2 a.m-6 a.m. Robert Sharkey and Vic Roberts are weekend DJs.
Karen and Bob Travis have worked in radio all their adult lives. Bob Travis, a New York City native, was a disk jockey at station WLEE in Richmond when he and Karen met in 1977.
Both later worked for a Philadelphia affiliate radio station of General Cinema Corp., which owns radio stations and movie theaters in a number of cities, and in several other cities before they decided to slow down.
"I had traveled myself silly for eight years," Karen Travis said. "I couldn't face getting on one more airplane or staying in one more hotel by myself at night. I had a family I was trying to take care of long distance. I was teaching my daughter ABCs and singing her lullabies over the phone. It was too much."
The couple began scouting for stations to buy in the Southwest Virginia area. After an unsuccessful approach to WFNR/WBNK's previous management in 1988, the Travises eventually persuaded them to sell in 1991.
Bob Travis, who has an engineering background, runs the technical and programming ends of WFNR/WBNK. Karen Travis handles sales and promotions.
This year, the couple also bought WNRV-AM (990 on the dial) in Narrows. They plan to put it on the the air by August.
What's it like to leave the fast track behind for the old home town?
"Had I been transferred by a company into such a different pace it may not have been quite as good," Karen Travis said. "But I grew up here, so I know most of the people I work and live with. This is the pace of life I want my children to grow up with."
Karen Travis' parents still live in Christiansburg. She is the daughter of Dr. James Hal Smith, a general practitioner, and Ruth Smith.
by CNB