THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, March 11, 1996 TAG: 9603090070
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Bonko
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
MONTEL, JENNY and Sally Jessy will be pleased to hear that workers in hard hats with absolutely no fear of heights are building a 1,026-foot-tall television tower in Driver for them.
And for Aaron Spelling, who produces ``Savannah'' on the Warner Brothers network.
And for Norfolk State U.'s actor-producer-director mega-talent Tim Reid, who has a sitcom on the same network.
And for producer Steven Spielberg, who does ``Pinky & The Brain'' for Warner Brothers television.
The tower is going up, one 60,000-pound, 100-foot-long piece at a time, to provide UHF channel WVBT with a signal five times stronger than it has today. When the last piece is in place, two antennae will top off the tower - one 60-foot antenna to beam out WVBT's signal and a 73-foot antenna from which WAVY's signal will originate.
It's been almost 40 years since WAVY first built its tower and transmitter on a woodsy site in Driver, where four other TV towers soar above the Suffolk landscape. Now it is time to replace it with a new one that is rooted in concrete 70 feet deep.
When LIN Broadcasting Inc., the owners of WAVY, entered into a partnership or local marketing agreement with WVBT in December 1994, it was decided that a new tower was needed to better serve viewers of both stations.
WVBT, sending out a comparatively weak signal today from Chesapeake, will soon have the most powerful UHF transmitter in this market, said WAVY general manager Ed Munson Jr. when he showed off the new tower and transmitters a few days ago.
Before long, you should be able to get WVBT without having to wrap tin foil around your rabbit ears. Rainy weather is slowing down the hard hats.
The new tower and transmitter will enable WVBT to get what Munson calls ``full cable coverage.'' WVBT's signal has been too weak for some cable systems to pick it up and pass along to subscribers. (All cable systems in Southside Hampton Roads carry WVBT, however).
Come 1998, WVBT will join Fox Broadcasting, the network of ``Melrose Place,'' ``The X-Files,'' ``The Simpsons'' and Washington Redskins' football.
In about six weeks, WVBT goes FULL POWER!
It means the Montel Williams, Jenny Jones and Sally Jessy Raphael talk shows will be easier to get on WVBT. More viewers will see Reid in his Sunday night sitcom, ``Sister, Sister.'' And ``Savannah,'' Spelling's new soap opera that's better than ``Melrose Place,'' won't be a secret in this market any longer.
WAVY's signal will also improve, said Munson. Not that there's been anything wrong with it lately. I've been seeing ``Seinfeld'' OK. How about you?
A new tower and transmitter should make a good picture better, said Munson. ``Some folks who live in what we call fringe areas and receive a poor signal today will receive WAVY better from the new tower and transmitter,'' he added.
That's what 5 million watts and something called a circularly polarized signal will do for you.
When the new transmitters are up and running for both WAVY and WVBT, the monthly electric bill will be around $30,000. TV transmitters are big, bulky, boxy things that are trucked to Driver in pieces and assembled in the shadow of the tower. The towers are built to withstand earthquakes and constant winds of 100 mph.
LIN's new tower will have an elevator in it. ``Makes it easier to change the light bulbs,'' said the stations' director of engineering, Les Garrenton.
The view from 1,026 feet up must be terrific.
When the new tower is up, the old one, which is also 1,026 feet high, is to be torn down and put to use elsewhere. Do I hear any bids for a 40-year-old galvanized steel tower that's withstood some fierce winds in the past 40 years? by CNB