THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 1, 1995 TAG: 9508010036
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Bonko
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
HERE IS WHAT'S been happening in local TV while your humble columnist was cruising the freeways and munching on avocados in Southern California:
This will surely lead his fan club to revolt. Tom Randles' 4:30 p.m. newscast on WTKR disappeared. One day it was there. The next day it was gone.
Poof! Just weeks after Randles won a regional Emmy for his smooth delivery, Channel 3 dropped his late-afternoon newscast in favor of ``Family Feud.''
That move came in the wake of the CBS affiliate's decision to start a 6 a.m. newscast on Saturday and Sunday.
When is the new owner, The New York Times Co., going to pump some bucks into Channel 3's news operation? When is Randles' anchor desk buddy on the 6 p.m. newscast, Ed Hughes, getting a new contract? When are the painters coming to the studio to cover up the orange on the news' set? And when they come, make sure they don't use any purple paint left over from WAVY's set.
Well, hello, Suffolk. WVBT, the television station in Virginia Beach that grew up fast when it changed from a home shopping network to Rerun City, the home of classic TV such as ``Cheers,'' sprouted a bit more when Falcon Cable in Suffolk announced it will also carry the Warner Brothers network affiliate.
This move sends WVBT into another 8,500 TV households. WVBT has been available to Cox Cable's 200,000-plus subscribers for some time.
Michael A. Mastrullo announced the deal. He's promotions manager for WAVY and WVBT. Both stations have what the FCC calls a local marketing agreement. Mastrullo also let it be known that Channel 10's entertainment guy, Derrick Borte, will move over to WVBT to introduce ``Prime Talk'' on weeknights.
It's Mastrullo's way of dressing up second runs of the Jenny Jones, Montel Williams and, soon, the Sally Jessy Raphael talk shows. The man is a regular P.T. Barnum.
WVBT also carries gavel-to-gavel coverage of the O.J. Simpson murder trial. And at 7:30 weeknights on WVBT, you can catch a rerun of WAVY's 6 p.m. local newscast.
Come fall, the Warner Brothers network expands its prime-time programming by three hours. Don't tell me you never heard of the Warner Brothers network.
Now here is equal space for another little station that could. WPEN, the TV station somewhere over yonder on the Peninsula that nobody ever heard about until Cox Cable started carrying it, is also making moves.
The station's general manager, Dave Hanna, said WPEN will carry Big East football starting Sept. 2. That means you'll get to see some Virginia Tech games.
Go Hokies!
The other day on WPEN, Hanna launched ``Viewer's Choice,'' a short burst of local prime-time programming during which the people watching are invited to call in and tell host Eric Kidwell what shows they want to see. Kidwell reels off three clips of, say, ``WKRP in Cincinnati,'' and then asks viewers to call in with their requests.
Let's have the pilot episode! The frozen turkey episode!
``We've been swamped,'' said Hanna. Spring for more phone lines, Dave. Eight isn't nearly enough. And while you're at it, throw in a can of hair spray for Kidwell. He's 24, looks 17.
Maybe she'll bring some hair spray for Kidwell. The invasion of the soap opera stars continues Aug. 12 when an actress with the perfectly lyrically name of Sonia Satra sets up at Hills new department store in Virginia Beach to autograph pictures.
Satra plays Lucy Cooper on the CBS soap ``Guiding Light,'' and, according to her publicist, Bridget Patrella, she has been very concerned about date rape, sexual abuse and incest since her TV alter ego was abused sexually. When? During the May sweeps, of course. Patrella says her client has her eyes on a career in movies. She's the next Meg Ryan, I hear. by CNB