THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 9, 1994 TAG: 9412090127
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Bonko
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
JUST AS THE BOSSES at Fox affiliate WTVZ were gearing up to start a Monday through Friday 10 p.m. newscast, the Norfolk station was sold to a Baltimore company. That happened last week.
The announcement was a total surprise. A bombshell.
Now it's anybody's guess as to if, and when, this market will finally have a prime time newscast, which is the hallmark of virtually every station owned by or affiliated with Fox Broadcasting.
Whatever plans the new owners have for Channel 33 is known only to the executives of the Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. They haven't returned phone calls.
WTVZ's plans to start a half-hour, 10 p.m. newscast early next year had been on a fast track. Employees were organizing focus groups to get an idea of what viewers think of a prime time newscast.
The broadcast was expected to appeal to the audience of 18-to-49-year-olds who have been drawn to Fox's offbeat, irreverent and sexy programming. As one executive put it, ``You would have seen a newscast that moves.''
Channel 33 were already shopping around for talent to anchor the newscast.
Now the project is on hold, awaiting the new management team that Sinclair will send here in early 1995 after the Federal Communications Commission approves the $47 million sale by a local group, Max Television Co.
``The staff was shaken,'' said a WTVZ employee, recalling the meeting at which the sale was announced.
``The representatives from Sinclair wore all black to the meeting, including black shirts. Can you believe it? It was an incredibly insensitive of them to dress like that. Those of us who work at the station feel a housecleaning is in the offing. It might not be a complete housecleaning, but you can bet that several heads will surely roll.''
It was a shocking development, the sale of a station that had been soaring on the wings of highly rated Fox programming that included National Football League games. Station executives were expecting their best ratings' book ever after the November sweeps.
The last thing anybody at Channel 33 expected was for the station to be sold.
Broadcasters here did anticipate the sale of a station in this market soon. But not WTVZ. Insiders expected WTKR to change hands, and in the last few days, the out-of-state owners of Hampton Roads' CBS affiliate said they are entertaining offers for Channel 3.
Starting in May, when Fox Broadcasting joined New World Communications in a $360 million deal to buy stations in Phoenix, Kansas City and Birmingham, Ala., Fox has been aggressive in the TV marketplace. By buying stations outright, or negotiating with other stations to switch affiliations, Fox put itself at a better position on the dial in 16 major markets.
A grand total of 21 stations that were affiliated either with NBC, CBS or ABC a year ago have now joined the Fox family since it landed the NFL games.
With the NFL package in hand, Fox broke out the checkbook and began making deals to put the games on VHF stations which have stronger signals than UHF outlets. WTVZ is UHF. WTKR is VHF.
Might Fox make a move in this market to buy WTKR and switch its programming - NFL football, Al Bundy, Homer Simpson and all - to Channel 3's stronger signal? During a recent gathering of TV writers in Los Angeles, I asked Fox executives if they had any interest in acquiring a VHF station in Hampton Roads. They didn't say yes or no.
``We're looking everywhere.''
Fox and WTKR? Now that's a possibility. The wheeling and dealing in TV stations in 1994 has moved past the $1 billion figure. And it isn't over yet, said a Fox official.
At about the same time Sinclair was negotiating for the sale of WTVZ in Norfolk, two TV stations in Richmond were sold as part of a $711 million deal. Fasten your seatbelts. by CNB