THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, January 10, 1995 TAG: 9501100346
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY GREG SCHNEIDER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
From a hilltop broadcasting booth looking down on the State Capitol, with a theme song that declares ``you make everything groovy,'' former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder will cement his place in the minds of Virginians Wednesday by kicking off his new career as a radio host.
``The Doug Wilder Show'' will air Mondays through Fridays from 9-11 a.m. on WRVA 1140. The AM station broadcasts from Richmond but reaches a good portion of the state, including Hampton Roads.
The nation's first elected black governor insisted Monday that he is not trying to compete with another famous Virginian going into the talk radio business: Iran-Contra figure and failed U.S. Senate candidate Oliver L. North.
``I tried briefly to compete with him during the last election and he beat me by a whole lotta bucks and a lot of votes,'' Wilder said, referring to his own short-lived bid for the Senate.
``Nor would I consider myself in competition with a person as luminous as a Rush Limbaugh,'' Wilder added, noting that most of the biggest names in talk radio today are vehemently conservative.
Wilder, who governed as a Democrat, said his show will provide a ``voice of moderation that isn't extreme . . . and doesn't belong to any ideology or any group.''
Wilder's show also won't reach anything near the audience that Limbaugh's reaches, though the Virginian hopes to achieve national syndication by the end of the year. He plans to book guests from the long list of celebrities and political leaders that he considers friends. Just last week, Wilder said, he ran into former New York Mayor David Dinkins and entertainers Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis, and all agreed to make appearances.
The always quotable former governor, who has been interviewed by Larry King and Tom Snyder and has filled in for Richmond talk radio hosts, said he will shoot for a mix of politics, current events and humor. His theme music: ``Wild Thing,'' a '60s frat-party song by the Troggs.
A few other details remain to be settled, such as what Wilder will call his following of fans, as soon as one develops. Rush Limbaugh has ``Dittoheads;'' Wilder tried ``Doug's Thugs,'' but then thought better of it.
``How about Wild Things?'' someone suggested.
``Hey, how about that? Wild Things,'' the former governor said with a carnivorous grin. ``Wild Things. That sounds pretty good, doesn't it?'' by CNB