THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 28, 1994 TAG: 9410280116
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Larry Bonko
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
I'VE BEEN CHANNEL surfing like mad lately, looking for the Pick 3, Pick 4, Cash 5 and Lotto drawings.
Why didn't somebody warn me that the Virginia Lottery was switching stations in Hampton Roads? Moving from WVEC to WTKR? And that the drawings would no longer pop up on the screen as they had in the past - at 7:28 and 11:20 p.m.?
With a new director (Penny Kyle) in place, the Virginia Lottery recently made sweeping changes in how it shows the drawings on television.
More changes are coming.
The first thing to know is that you no longer see the drawings live.
They are taped at a Richmond station nightly at 10:58 p.m., beamed to a station in Washington, D.C., then transmitted to Norfolk, where Channel 3 shows them early in its 11 p.m. newscast - soon after co-anchors Tom Randles and Jane Gardner go through their breathless ``Eleven at Eleven'' drill.
The early-evening televised drawings at 7:28, which fit in so nicely with WVEC's hour of game shows, are history. From now on, the Virginia Lottery will show you all the drawings at the 11 o'clock hour, all at once in an assembly line fashion. Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam.
Starting on Nov. 2, when the Cash 5 joins the lineup of drawings on Wednesdays and Saturdays, you'll see four drawings, one after another. Pick 3. Pick 4. Cash 5. Lotto. (Cash 5 is still in the picture on Monday and Friday. Pick 3 and Pick 4 continue Monday through Saturday.)
On Wednesdays and Saturdays starting Nov. 2, it will be one host, four machines with bouncing balls in them, 18 winning numbers.
Can you stand the thrill?
``We'll line up all the machines and do it,'' said Virginia Lottery spokeswoman Paula Otto about the new quick-draw televised drawings.
The Virginia Lottery drawings have evolved into a miniseries.
Why the changes?
Channel 13 is out as Hampton Roads' official lottery station because WTKR outbid WVEC for the rights to show you the bouncing balls, said Otto. The live on-air drawings were dropped to save money, she said.
By cutting back on air time and transmission fees, the Virginia Lottery expects to pocket $500,000 in the next year, said Lotto.
Who needs a live drawing anyway? Can anybody tell the difference between live TV and TV on tape? The Virginia Lottery spiffed up the set at WRIC in Richmond where the drawings take place.
No way anyone can run a scam here, said Lotto. No way a station employee in Richmond who sees the winning numbers popping up at 11:58 p.m. can phone an accomplice and get the winning play in. Sales of the tickets for Pick 3, Pick 4, Cash 5 and Lotto stop at 11:53, according to Otto.
I figure that WTKR bid for the lottery drawings to punch up the local news ratings at 11 p.m. Now there is more for Channel 3's viewers to see at 11 than Randles' new boot camp haircut.
When the Lotto drawings were carried by WVEC, the Virginia Lottery polled 1,600 viewers in Hampton Roads and discovered that almost 19 percent tuned in just to see the winning numbers come up. A solid rating.
A statewide survey told the Virginia Lottery that between 11 and 16 percent of the adult viewers stopped playing with the remote control long enough to check out the Pick 3 and Pick 4 drawings.
We're hooked on the bouncing balls. Or do we watch only to check out the manicure on the hosts?
The lottery has generated $1.47 billion for the state's general fund since 1989. Players have won $2.1 billion, including approximately 200 who become instant millionaires thanks to Lotto.
This could be your Saturday to join the rich and famous. Don't forget that the TV drawings come on earlier than they used to, and that WTKR is now the home of Pick 3, Pick 4, Cash 5 and Lotto in Hampton Roads. You've been warned. by CNB