THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 23, 1996 TAG: 9610230648
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: 29 lines
Lockwood Broadcasting Inc., owner of Hampton-based independent television station WPEN-TV, has signed an agreement to buy WJCB-TV, a full-power TV station licensed in Norfolk, the companies said Tuesday.
``This fulfills something we've been wanting to become for a long time - a full-power station,'' said WPEN General Manager Dave Hanna.
WJCB owner, Tidewater Christian Communications Corp., found the suitor it wanted in WPEN, because it wanted to make sure the station continued to be run by local owners, the companies said. WJCB went on the air on Memorial Day 1989, mixing infomercials with local and national religious broadcasts and home-shopping shows. The station's ownership is looking toward Lockwood Broadcasting to bring WJCB to the ``next level of being a powerhouse independent,'' a WJCB spokesman said.
Details of the transaction were not disclosed.
Since taking over a tiny Gloucester station in 1992, Lockwood has made WPEN into a player in the local TV market. The company did it first by winning exclusive rights to Baltimore Oriole games, then by nailing down marketwide rights to re-run ``Hill Street Blues'' and ``M*A*S*H'' shows.
The one thing missing had been a full-power signal, which Lockwood and WPEN seemed to secure with Tuesday's deal.
LON WAGNER, STAFF WRITER
KEYWORDS: TELEVISION by CNB