THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 23, 1996 TAG: 9605230052
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CRAIG SHAPIRO, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 68 lines
THE GAUNTLET has been thrown down; a line carved in the sand.
Modern-rocker 96X, the brand-new sister station of The Coast, put program director Perry Stone on the air early Wednesday morning with an ultimatum for FM99, Hampton Roads' longtime rock leader:
Pay up or put 'em up.
The Coast, Stone said, will change formats in one week. The playlist will be either the cheatin'-heart variety of country music or a rock 'n' roll mix to rival WNOR's bread and butter.
The decision, however, is FM99's.
``From Day 1,'' he said, ``WNOR has tried to prevent 96X from giving you a modern-rock station in Hampton Roads. It was WNOR that tried to stop 96X from obtaining our second transmitter at 106.1 (its downtown Norfolk frequency).
``Enough is enough . . .
``Unless I receive $1 million in cash by noon Wednesday from (WNOR parent company) Saga Communications, we will compete with you guys head-to-head.
``It's your choice. The clock is ticking. What will happen next? Stay tuned.''
96X interrupted the Cranberries' hit single ``Salvation'' to run the pre-recorded announcement, one Stone, with his usual bravado, promised would turn Hampton Roads radio upside down. It included George Strait singing ``All My Ex's Live in Texas'' and Van Halen's ``Dreams.''
A half-hour later, he was at the station's Virginia Beach studio, where he broke into ``The Howard Stern Show'' to air the announcement.
``Am I serious?'' said Stone. ``Of course. Why would we do something we're not serious about?'' The money, he said, should be in $10s and $20s, and delivered in a Pierre Cardin briefcase. The last point, though, is negotiable.
Should WKOC get in the ring with WNOR, the station will counter with ``a rock format of some kind,'' said Stone, who has taken over as program director at The Coast, too.
``Obviously, it's not going to be alternative or we would have kept The Coast. We're just sitting back. The ball's in their court.
WNOR program director Harvey Kojan wasn't even nibbling at the bait.
``This is one of the oldest, lamest radio stunts in the business,'' he said. ``It's been done many times before in many other markets for the last 10 or 20 years. There's nothing really more to say after that.''
After months of rumors, Benchmark Communications sold its three Hampton Roads stations Tuesday for $14.6 million. Susquehanna Radio Corp., which operates WGH-AM/FM locally, purchased oldies WLTY-FM for $6.5 million. Sinclair Communications paid $8.1 million for WKOC-FM and news-talk WTAR-AM.
In the winter Arbitrons, said general manager Bob Sinclair, WNOR had a 5.5 audience share among listeners 12 and up. WROX was right behind at 5.0; The Coast had a 2.8 share.
``When I first signed on with 96X, everybody wrote us off,'' said Stone, who co-hosts the morning show with Henry ``The Bull'' Del Toro and Holly Williams. ``We were a little zit based in Cape Charles, a stick broadcast to fish.''
He said that he could empathize with The Coast staffers.
``No question, something like this is a shock. I'm here to tell you that I've been fired seven times, so I know what it's like to be on the receiving end. But we didn't go in with some militaristic attitude. We tried to be above-board. We said we would analyze the situation, then go from there.''
``Eventually, they'll be moving up here (Norfolk's Dominion Tower) with us. Everyone will be one happy family.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color File Photo
Perry Stone, shown here in the WROX studio in 1993, is program
director at both 96X and The Coast. by CNB