THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 30, 1995 TAG: 9506290114
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: LARRY BONKO
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
LOCAL TV NEWS and views to ponder while you wait for the baton twirling to begin on Saturday night's Miss Virginia pageant telecast:
What next? A visit from ``Hard Copy?'' - A crew from ``Sightings,'' a bargain-basement version of ``Unsolved Mysteries,'' dropped in on the Association for Research and Enlightenment in Virginia Beach earlier this week to tape a segment about the late psychic Edgar Cayce and how his ``readings'' evolved into miracle cures.
Among the interviewees was Harmon H. Bro, who saw Cayce slip into a trance and deliver dozens of these readings in the 1940s. ``Sightings'' looks into the story of a Phoenix woman who says she recovered from injuries sustained in an automobile accident after a doctor treated her using material in the Cayce readings.
The segment is scheduled to air in the fall on ``Sightings,'' which is seen Sunday night at 8 on WGNT.
Not long before the ``Sightings'' crew arrived at the Oceanfront, producer Susan Bloomstone of the PBS series ``Frontline'' visited Norfolk to film part of an episode in the works for early 1996. It's a study of John Salvi, the one-man assault team who tore up a Norfolk abortion clinic not long ago. And in recent months, highly paid TV newsies Sam Donaldson, Jane Pauley, Tom Brokaw, Mike Wallace and David Frost have tip-toed in and out of Norfolk while working on stories. Any day now, I expect to see Andy Rooney hanging out at Waterside.
This would be a great time for a vote of confidence - WTKR changed hands recently before anchorman Ed Hughes was signed to a new contract. Looks like the new owner, The New York Times Co., isn't making Hughes' contract a priority.
Channel 3 news director Barbara L. Hamm this week said nice things about Hughes (``He's very valuable to us.'') but did not announce that Hughes has been re-signed.
In a little Infoline poll I am conducting to determine who among the male and female anchors in this market is the most popular with readers of this column, Hughes is doing well.
(To vote, dial 640-5555 and press 3333.)
Somebody has to work weekends - After beating out the opposition in the local news ratings at 5 and 6 p.m., WVEC also scored big in the weekend Nielsens. Channel 13's news at 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday finished No. 1, which should convince the WVEC bosses that weekend anchor Regina Mobley is ready for better things.
If not here, how about with some other station in the A.H. Belo family? How about Houston, Dallas, Seattle or New Orleans, Regina?
The story on the weekends at 11 p.m. is the same as it is Monday through Friday. WAVY is first, helped no doubt by the fact NBC is on a roll in prime time. Channel 10's weekend team is one man short now that co-anchor Kelly Wright is headed for Raleigh, N.C.
And you thought music videos exploited women - Just when I think MTV is growing up by scheduling programs about how to cope with drug abuse, teen violence, the influence of cults and other pressing social issues, the cable channel slips back into the muck. MTV's new game show seen nightly at 7 and11 p.m., ``Singled Out,'' gives both young men and women a chance to make fools of themselves while looking for hot dates.
MTV is exporting the tasteless show to Kings Dominion tonight at 6 and 8 p.m. and again on Saturday and Sunday. MTV will re-create ``Singled Out'' and ``The Grind'' at the theme park.
These are not tapings, so you don't have to worry about making a fool of yourself on TV. Only a few hundred spectators in Doswell will see you play the dating game.
And one more thing. The Miss Virginia pageant I mentioned in the first paragraph will be seen Saturday at 9 p.m. on WAVY with 31 contestants in Roanoke hoping to win a crown, sash and trip to Atlantic City in September.
Only once has a contestant from Virginia made it to Miss America. by CNB