THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 22, 1996 TAG: 9605220143
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CRAIG SHAPIRO, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 61 lines
Three of Hampton Roads' highest-profile radio stations changed owners Tuesday.
WKOC-FM and WTAR-AM were sold to Sinclair Communications for $8.1 million. WLTY-FM was purchased by the Susquehanna Radio Corp. for $6.5 million.
Benchmark Communications had paid $7.5 million for the stations, in two separate transactions, in 1993. But stiff competition pushed the Baltimore-based company out of Hampton Roads, the nation's 32nd-largest market.
``We operate in 12 markets and had to decide which we can really dominate and which we can't,'' Benchmark general partner Bruce Spector said Tuesday. ``It made sense for us to pull out and concentrate our resources elsewhere.''
Norfolk-based Sinclair operates two local stations, WROX-FM and WNIS-AM. Susquehanna, based in York, Pa., owns WGH-AM/FM. Both companies will run the stations under lease-management agreements while awaiting FCC approval of the sales. The process normally takes three to four months.
WROX features a modern-rock format; WNIS' is news-talk. WKOC dropped its morning-drive team last October, picked up Howard Stern's syndicated show and switched from an adult album alternative playlist to modern rock the rest of the day. WTAR, News Talk 790, is Virginia's oldest station, on the air since 1923.
``From a business standpoint, I would much rather compete with myself than someone else,'' said general manager Bob Sinclair. ``It gives us a nice complement of stations to sell to advertisers.''
The WROX and WNIS formats will remain the same, he said. WTAR listeners will notice animmediate change this morning when Don Imus returns from 6 to 10.
WTAR picked up the nationally syndicated ``Imus in the Morning'' in April 1995, but, citing poor ratings, dropped it in January.
``In my opinion, they never should have let Imus go,'' Sinclair said. ``It takes a while for a program like that to kick in.''
WTAR and WNIS will still feature a news-talk format, but with Imus on board, WTAR's will have a broader platform, allowing WNIS to concentrate on local news, weather and sports, Sinclair said. Tony Macrini and Bill Bishop anchor the 6-9 morning show. Macrini hosts a talk show from 9 to 11; a one-hour medical advice show with Dr. Dean Edell follows.
G. Gordon Liddy, who follows Imus on WTAR, will air in two blocks - 10 to noon and 3 to 6 p.m. - so as not to compete with Rush Limbaugh from noon to 3 on WNIS. Dr. Laura Schlessinger, a nationally-syndicated psychologist, is on WTAR from noon to 3 p.m.
Last week, WNIS picked up a syndicated talk-show hosted by Gary Burbank for the 3-to-6 p.m. slot. Local jock Perry Stone, whose afternoon talk-show aired for 2 1/2 years, signed off to concentrate on his duties as program manager and morning-show co-host on WROX.
Stone will also be program director at WKOC. As for The Coast, Sinclair would only say ``the format is going to change completely.'' An announcement will be made on WROX at 7:20 this morning, and on WKOC throughout the day.
WLTY-FM features pop music from the '50s, '60s and early '70s.
``We wanted to buy an oldies station, so we don't plan to make any changes,'' said Bill Whitlow, general manager at WGH-AM/FM.
He added that WLTY complements The Score's (WGH-AM) all-sports lineup and Eagle 97's (WGH-FM) contemporary country-music format.
KEYWORDS: RADIO STATIONS HAMPTON ROADS by CNB