THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, November 20, 1995 TAG: 9511180084
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Larry Bonko
LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines
LOCAL ABC affiliate WVEC launches a 10 p.m. newscast on Peninsula independent station WPEN tonight, giving America's 40th largest TV market its second nightly newscast at 10.
And there could be a third 10 p.m. newscast in Hampton Roads' future.
The owners of Fox affiliate WTVZ say they have not chucked plans for a local 10 p.m. Monday- through-Friday newscast just because the competition beat them to the punch. ``Being first at 10 doesn't necessarily mean being the best,'' said Steve Marx of the Sinclair group of Baltimore. The company operates WBFF in that city, which has had a 10 p.m. local newscast up and running since 1990.
He gave no timetable for starting the 10 p.m. newscast on Channel 33 here.
``The timing isn't right,'' said Marx. He estimates the cost of starting a news department from scratch in Norfolk to be $2 million.
At WVEC, they believe the timing is absolutely perfect to begin ``13 News at Ten on WPEN.'' It rhymes!
The deal with WPEN will add another 2 1/2 hours of local news to the TV schedules here that already include more than 60 hours of Hampton Roads news, weather and sports per week.
Too, too much?
You can never have enough local news, said local news director Gary Stokes of WAVY.
The WPEN newscast was delayed by two weeks or so - something about trouble installing fiber optic lines - but tonight it is a go with Mike Lewis anchoring in Norfolk and Velma Scaife doing the job on the Peninsula. Linda Wenners will direct the 10 p.m. newscast.
She promises a newscast different from what WVEC beams out at 6 p.m. and 11. How different?
``A lighter touch on sports. Weather with a homespun feel,'' she said. ``It'll be a heck of a newscast.''
With Lewis and Scaife aboard, ``13 News at Ten on WPEN'' will have a co-anchor team all its own unlike WTKR's early news on United Paramount affiliate WGNT. It is anchored by the station's co-anchor team at 6 and 11 - Tom Randles and LeAnne Rains.
When and if the Sinclair people start a 10 p.m. newscast on WTVZ, it will be done without help from anyone else locally, said Marx. ``We're not interested in sharing,'' he said. ``When we do it, we'll do it right.''
(The only other local news operation in the market, NBC affiliate WAVY, lines up programming for Warner Brothers affiliate WVBT in Virginia Beach. But there are no plans for WAVY to do a local newscast on WVBT.)
``13 News at Ten on WPEN'' will raise the profile of Lewis and Scaife, two of the best news readers in this market who have been on the second team for years. There is no moving up at Channel 13 where anchor teams that include Jim Kincaid, Terry Zahn, Barbara Ciara and Cynthia Lima dominate the ratings.
``I welcome the opportunity,'' said Lewis, who came to this market 10 years ago from Chatanooga, Tenn. He's good, and others know it. Stations in Atlanta and other markets larger than Hampton Roads have offered him work.
But bachelor Lewis stays put here. Why? ``Because it feels right at WVEC.''
He will be an Ed Hughes-style anchorman, which is to say Lewis will do more than sit behind a desk and read copy. He plans to be out in the field, doing investigative reports and long-form pieces, such as his recent series on how firefighters are being shortchanged on money for training and equipment.
(In contrast to the Ed Hughes-style anchorman, there is the Tom Randles-style anchorman who almost never leaves the studio).
Scaife, too, said she will continue to be a reporter on the streets, covering events on the Peninsula before she takes a chair next to Lewis at 10. Scaife, who came to Channel 13 nine years ago from Bristol, says she is an Air Force brat with family and roots on the Peninsula.
Her goal for ``13 News at Ten on WPEN'': To make it fresh, she said. That's not easy in a market that begins its local newscasts at 5 a.m.
When Stokes became WAVY's news director 14 months ago, there were no 10 p.m. newscasts here. As Stokes leaves to become general manager of a station in Buffalo, N.Y. the market has two 10 p.m. newscasts with another in the talking stage.
Too much news at 10? Not at all, said Stokes who leaves WAVY on Dec. 15. ``I believe that you can never have too much local news on television if it is done well, if it entertains as it informs,'' he said.
If his successor shares that thought, perhaps he or she will crank up a 10 p.m. newscast for WGNT with whom WAVY has a local marketing agreement. Or will that be one 10 p.m. newscast too many?
Here is the local news breakdown: WAVY (weekdays) - 5 to 7 a.m., noon to 12:30 p.m., 5 to 6:30 p.m., 11 to 11:30 p.m. WAVY (weekends) 6:30 to 8 a.m. Saturday; 6 to 6:30 p.m., 11 to 11:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
WTKR (weekdays) - 5:30 to 7 a.m., noon to 12:30 p.m., 5 to 5:30 p.m., 6 to 6:30 p.m., 11 to 11:30 p.m. WTKR (weekends) 6 to 9 a.m, Saturday and Sunday; 6 to 6:30 p.m. and 11 to 11:30 p.m. Saturday; 6:30 to 7 p.m., 11 to 11:30 p.m. Sunday. Also weeknights 10 p.m. to 10:30 on WGNT.
WVEC (weekdays) - 5:30 to 7 a.m., noon to 12:30 p.m., 5 to 5:30 p.m., 6 to 6:30 p.m., 11 to 11:30 p.m. And starting today, 10 to 10:30 p.m. weeknights on WPEN. by CNB