THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 17, 1995 TAG: 9507150040
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CRAIG SHAPIRO, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
WHAT'S THE No. 1 station in Hampton Roads? No question - 103 JAMZ rules the radio ratings.
What's the No. 1 medium-market R&B station in the entire country? The staff at WOWI will know in three months.
For the fourth year running, WOWI is a finalist for station of the year in the Billboard/Airplay Monitor Radio Awards. Not only that but program director Steve Crumbley, music director Heart Attack and marketing director Toni Bailey are up for top honors in their respective categories.
Heart Attack - Michael Mauzone when he's not on the air - is going for a repeat, having copped top music director honors last year.
``Having all your hard work and your talent recognized by your peers in the industry makes you feel good about yourselves,'' Crumbley said. ``It makes you feel good about working hard.''
The nominees were determined by readers of Airplay Monitor, Billboard's sister publication devoted solely to the radio industry. The final ballots were included in both magazines earlier this month. Winners will be announced during a mid-October seminar in New York.
WOWI is up against WPEG in Charlotte, WQUE in New Orleans, WKKV in Milwaukee and KPRS in Kansas City, Mo., for station of the year. Medium markets are those ranked 20th through 50th in size; Hampton Roads is the nation's 32nd largest.
``Clearly, we're the No. 1 station of today's generation,'' Crumbley said. ``What's made it a leader in this market is because it's a trend-setter.''
He added, though, that making the Billboard/Airplay Monitor Top 5 is an honor in itself. And not just for 103 JAMZ.
``It makes the city feel good,'' he said. ``For Norfolk to be recognized is as important to us as winning. It says a lot for the market.''
Something old is something new. WCKO-1110 AM has brought an oldies format to the place on the band occupied long ago by WZAM.
Make that classic oldies, a difference that could be a decided plus in a crowded field, said Cookie Johnson, general manager of the Norfolk station.
WCKO is into music of the '50s, '60s and '70s, but instead of featuring only the hits of Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, the Supremes, the Temptations and the Manhattans, the play list goes deep into the catalogs.
``It's music that takes you back to that time when you could leave your doors open, when you could have house parties,'' Johnson said. ``There were no guns or drugs. Things were different.''
The station, which takes a satellite feed from WCIN in Cincinnati, is on the air from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Jazz at the Half, at the bottom of the hour, features a track by Theolonius Monk, Miles Davis and other greats.
Gospel music is played Sunday mornings; the remainder of the day, from noon to sign-off, is given over to traditional jazz.
KROX, the new station in Austin, Texas, owned by Sinclair Communications, which runs WROX here, continues to make waves in Texas' musical hotbed. Gibby Haynes, frontman for veteran punkers the Butthole Surfers, has been signed to host the morning show.
Benchmark Communications has purchased Roanoke/Lynchburg-based WROV-AM/FM and will exercise a purchase option for WLNI-FM in Lynchburg. The Baltimore company paid $5.8 million for the stations. Benchmark operates WLTY-FM, WKOC-FM and WTAR-AM in Hampton Roads. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by Beth Bergman
Making WOWI the No. 1 station in Hampton Roads are from left,
program director Steve Crumbley, marketing chief Toni Bailey and
Music director Heart Attack.
by CNB