THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 19, 1995 TAG: 9510190071
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Bonko
LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
THE TV NEWS junkies in Hampton Roads want to know: Will ``13 News at Ten on WPEN'' be more than a preview of WVEC's local newscast at 11?
ABC affiliate WVEC announced that beginning Nov. 8, it will produce a 10 p.m. newscast for WPEN of Gloucester. Until a few months ago, WPEN was a station in the sticks striving to be seen on UHF channels 51 and 68.
When four local cable systems, including Cox with its 207,000 subscribers, added WPEN to basic cable packages, the Peninsula station was reborn as a major player in this market. Not long after CBS affiliate WTKR began supplying WGNT (of the United Paramount Network) with a 10 p.m. local newscast, WVEC struck a deal to produce ``13 News at Ten on WPEN.''
In a little dig at WTKR's 10 p.m. newscast on WGNT, the WVEC brass said that ``13 News at Ten on WPEN'' will be more than a dress rehearsal for its 11 p.m. broadcast. There will be no cheating the viewer on WPEN, said WVEC news director David Cassidy.
``This will be a different newscast,'' he said.
Different? How?
Unlike WTKR, which uses the same co-anchors (Tom Randles and LeAnne Rains) on both WGNT's 10 p.m. newscast and the 11 p.m. local news on Channel 3, WVEC will not stretch its talent so thin. Mike Lewis and Velma Scaife will be working on WPEN at 10 while Terry Zahn and Barbara Ciara continue to co-anchor at 11 on WVEC.
In addition, there will be a twist to the Lewis-Scaife anchor team.
Lewis will report from Norfolk, Scaife from the Peninsula. Why not? It works for Diane Sawyer and Sam Donaldson on ABC's ``PrimeTime Live.''
``Plans call for different local stories with a fresh viewpoint,'' the WVEC brass said when its affiliation with WPEN was made public. However, WVEC won't be bringing in a new weather reporter or sports guy for WPEN's 10 o'clock broadcast.
Meteorologist Jeff Lawson and Scott Cash will add 30 minutes to their work day by appearing on WPEN.
You will also be able to see these two at 8 p.m. on WPEN. That is when WVEC will rebroadcast its 6 p.m. newscast on the Peninsula station.
Just weeks ago, there was no local news in primetime; today you'll find news, weather and sports focusing on Hampton Roads at 10 on WGNT with more to come at 8 and 10 p.m. on WPEN in November.
That makes local news at 5, 5:30 and 6 a.m., noon, 5, 5:30 6, 8, 10 and 11 p.m.
Jeff Lawson is everywhere!
As WVEC's general manager, Lee R. Salzberger, was making the announcement about the alliance, WPEN's general manager, Dave Hanna, was saying he had acquired a new batch of primetime programming. The shows include ``Baywatch'' nightly at 7, ``Rescue 911'' at 10:30 and ``Murphy Brown'' at 11:30.
Hanna also announced that a new and higher antenna in Gloucester will be installed within the next 60 days.
And the outbreak of local news in the Hampton Roads market may not be over. The owners of Fox affiliate WTVZ haven't abandoned plans for a 10 p.m. local newscast. by CNB