THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 30, 1996 TAG: 9605300061
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Bonko
LENGTH: 68 lines
LOCAL NEWS and views to consider while it dawns on you that John Tesh is leaving ``Entertainment Tonight'':
The tower of power - It took longer than planned, but WVBT is finally on the air with a signal that's 500 percent stronger than before.
That means the Warner Brothers network is reaching more viewers in this market. In the fall of 1998, WVBT becomes a Fox affiliate, all the more reason for boosting its signal.
You wouldn't want Peg and Al Bundy coming in fuzzy, would you? I predict the Bundys will still be on the Fox airwaves come 1998. But will Fox in 1998 again outbid CBS for the National Football League games?
A few days ago, WVBT (Channel 43) began broadcasting from a new 1,000-foot tower in Driver with 5 million-plus watts. WVBT's signal now delivers a clear picture from the Oceanfront to Waverly in the west, from northeastern North Carolina to the Eastern Shore.
The announcement was made by Edward L. Munson Jr., president and general manager of WAVY, with whom WVBT has a local marketing agreement. WAVY arranges WVBT's programming. ``We've made WVBT the most powerful UHF station in Hampton Roads,'' Munson said.
It will be coming to you live - Terry Zahn, who recently took over as WVEC's 6 p.m. co-anchor when Jim Kincaid retired, will be among Channel 13 personalities on the 14th annual Children's Miracle Network telethon starting Saturday at 11 p.m.
Zahn, Sherri Brennen, Joe Flanagan and the other WVEC familiar faces will do local live broadcasts from the lobby of the Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters in downtown Norfolk.
Newsies who do telethons, no matter how worthy the cause, cross a line that should never be crossed - shilling for a charity that you may have to report on in the future.
Yes, let us not forget Ol' Iron Pants - Mike Moss in Norfolk called to ask if WTKR's Ed Hughes is the dean of local anchormen now that Kincaid has retired and packed off to Elam. The short answer is, yes.
In fact, Hughes deserved that title even when Kincaid was working. He's been on TV here more than 20 years, Kincaid a bit less than 18. Twenty-plus years at one station is a l-o-n-g time.
And that's the way it wasn't - The CBS version of Iron Pants Hughes, Walter Cronkite, had a dandy special on the other night called ``Cronkite Remembers.'' Trouble is, WTKR didn't run it in prime time as scheduled, bouncing Uncle Walter for a minor league baseball telecast.
That upset Judy Barton in Virginia Beach, who called to say: ``Channel 3 finally got something good to watch, and what happens? They replace Walter Cronkite with a game that's slower than grass growing. WTKR blew it.'' The station aired ``Cronkite Remembers'' at 1 a.m. last Sunday.
If you missed the two-hour special, I have the tape. Call (640-5555, Category 3333) to borrow it.
Surf's up in Chesapeake - Starting June 1, channel surfers who subscribe to TCI of Virginia expanded basic cable will have two new channels to visit - Home and Garden Television (Channel 51) and ESPN2 (Channel 50).
No need to panic - After Lucy Schultz in Virginia Beach saw the season finale of ``Homicide: Life in the Street,'' in which Andre Braugher, as the intense Lt. Frank Pembleton, had a stroke and fell into a coma, she called to ask if this is Braugher's exit from the excellent cop series.
NBC says no cast changes are planned for ``Homicide.'' So, I guess Pembleton recovers. But will he be the same Frank?
The bacteria thing - Twelve-year-old Aaron Peele in Norfolk, after hearing WAVY report on the threat of unhealthy bacteria in some iced tea, asks, ``Isn't the station going a bit too far to get ratings when it says you better watch us to learn about germs on your soap? This is not information. It's absurd scare tactics.'' by CNB