THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, April 24, 1995 TAG: 9504220036
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Bonko
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
AND SHE THOUGHT the TV business was tough.
Elise Kennett recently became general manager of two local radio stations, WNVZ-FM and WWDE-FM, after a decade in television with Fox affiliate WTVZ in Norfolk. As general manager at Channel 33, she competed with four other stations for the eyes, ears and hearts of the TV audience.
In radio, Elise has 32 competitors.
Same griddle. More heat.
``I just switched frying pans,'' she said, settling into the executive suite at Radio Central on Greenwich Road. Her clothes are smartly tailored. Her makeup is perfect. Her hair is done in a short 'do that says she's all business.
Meet the crisp and cordial Elise Kennett, executive for the 1990s.
While she has been working in television for a long time, first with WTKR and then WTVZ, it isn't like she never met a disc jockey before. Kennett started her career in radio, selling spots on WCMS for $15.
Now she's back in radio at a time when sweeping changes are taking place.
Government regulators said it's OK for a company to own more than one station in a market. The Age of Duopoly has arrived. And because it has, the owners of 2WD and Z-104 (Max Radio) needed somebody to look after those stations while they are off on a shopping spree.
Max Radio, which is locally owned, recently bought two FM stations in Greensboro, and another in Las Vegas. That's five stations in all.
And the executives still have itchy feet.
With all of that going on, could Daytime Dick Lamb be expected to continue as the anchor of WWDE-FM's Breakfast Bunch, general manager of WWDE-FM and WNVZ-FM, and be a mover and shaker in Max Radio?
When WTVZ was sold to a Baltimore company that elected to operate Channel 33 without a local general manager, Kennett was available. ``We invited her to walk right in,'' said Lamb. It's the least they could do for her at Max Radio.
The company's TV branch sold Channel 33 out from under Kennett just as she was preparing to shake up the market by starting a 10 p.m. newscast.
A local newscast brings a TV station closer to the people in the community. It shapes a station's image and gives a station its identity. And it generally makes money. Kennett is aware of all this. The new owners at Channel 33 haven't said if they are as passionate about a 10 p.m. newscast.
Would you like to see local news at 10 on WTVZ?
Vote by calling me on Infoline (640-5555, press 2486). Or use e-mail to reach me at RSUE30A&Prodigy.com.
A prediction from former TV executive Kennett: The local picture will change sharply in the next few months because two new corporate players are in the market, a new general manager on the way to WAVY and two stations known to only a few viewers in the past, WPEN and WVBT, are getting wide exposure on Cox Cable.
Sinclair Broadcasting, which purchased WTVZ from Max, will soon be joined in this market by The New York Times Co. as WTKR's new owner.
``We're all competing for the same advertising dollars,'' said Kennett.
TV is no longer her passion or her worry. Now she's Radio Woman.
``I see no problems here that need fixing,'' she said of 2WD and Z-104, stations that claim 10.6 percent of the listeners here.
Just a liitle fine tuning, she said.
Over at Channel 33, there were no on-air personalities to deal with. The radio stations are loaded with them - Lamb, Paul Richardson, Scott Brady, Jeff Morreau, April Kelly, Dan Reese.
Radio. TV. Is there any difference in running these operations?
Not much, said Kennett. Hire good people. Motivate them. Bring out their best. Stay out of their way and let them do their jobs.
And sweat the ratings. by CNB