DATE: Thursday, June 26, 1997               TAG: 9706260070

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ADAM BERNSTEIN, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   85 lines

WKOC GETS STERN RESPONSE LOYAL LISTENERS COMPLAIN THAT STATION DUMPED HOWARD STERN

EXPECTING THE worst, WKOC-FM braced itself for a deluge of protest after announcing last week that it was booting Howard Stern from his morning broadcast slot.

Station general manager Jerry Del Core said the calls, faxes and e-mails have been coming in by the hundreds. ``Right now, about 90 percent are unhappy,'' Del Core said.

``His audience is known for being very loyal, and that's what we're seeing,'' Del Core added.

To mollify Stern fans, Del Core spent an hour on the air last Thursday morning telling Stern devotees of WKOC's reasoning.

The on-air chat did not totally defuse the criticism.

Irv Friedman, 65, a retired fireman who lives in Virginia Beach, said he used to spend his morning walk at First Landing State Park listening to Stern.

``I was shocked, because when I take my morning walk, it's the only thing that keeps me alive,'' Friedman said. ``You hear a show like Stern, you can't believe you've walked four miles.''

Laura Reagan, 25, a secretary who lives in Virginia Beach, said she will boycott the station in protest.

``They're pretty stupid to cancel it, because a lot of people around here like it,'' Reagan said.

But she added that she believes Stern's local audience, because it is not as large as it is in the North, will not join her in solidarity.

Del Core was apologetic to Stern fans but added that the show has not been a boon to WKOC.

Sinclair Communications Inc. bought the station 13 months ago from Benchmark Communications of Baltimore, inheriting the Stern show in the process. Sinclair canceled Stern because of disappointing ratings, Del Core said.

He also said lower-than-expected ratings were hurting potential advertising revenues.

``In lots of markets, (Stern) was No. 1 in town,'' Del Core said. ``Here, he was No. 6'' for the coveted audience of 25- to 54-year-olds as well as the 18-34 target-audience range.

In fact, Stern has risen in popularity since he first appeared on the radio in Norfolk in October 1995. But his sixth-place position, coupled with a stagnant 1996-97 advertising market, made the decision easy for WROC from a pocketbook perspective - Stern's annual syndication pricetag is said to be in the $400,000 range.

Indefinitely filling Stern's spot are Perry Stone and Holly Williams, two morning jockeys formerly on Sinclair's sister station WROX-FM.

Moving Stone and Williams to WKOC consolidates the core audiences of WKOC and WROX, Del Core said. (Sinclair Communications also owns WNIS-AM and WTAR-AM.)

Before this week's change, Stern's morning show competed with that of Stone and Williams. Now, Stone and Williams have changed their format.

Aiming to attract the crowd aged 25 to 54, their show will feature less raunchy talk and more music, Del Core said. ``Perry is not going to be blue at all,'' he added. ``It'll be more issue-oriented for adults.''

Over on WROX, the station has replaced Stone and Williams with Mancow Muller, a 30-year-old Chicago-based shock jock. Muller will target the younger set with his prank calls and similar antics.

``Our goal is for him to be top three in the morning with the 18-34'' crowd, Del Core said, adding that there is no date by which to judge the show's success.

Neither, he said, is there a ``defined, specific goal'' for Stone and Williams in the ratings.

Muller is best known for a 1994 stunt in San Francisco, just after President Clinton's so-called ``hairgate'' affair, when Clinton reportedly held up air traffic while having his hair cut aboard Air Force One.

Muller halted traffic on the Bay Bridge to simulate Clinton's runway haircut. Muller garnered national attention and wound up paying $1.5 million in fines.

Norfolk is the sixth market Muller has tackled since he went into syndication in mid-March. He is also heard in Des Moines, Iowa; Fort Wayne, Ind.; Kansas City, Mo.; Las Vegas; and Providence, R.I.

Nationally, Norfolk has the 33rd largest market for radio, Del Core said.

Although he did not divulge dollar figures, Del Core laughed when asked about Muller's asking price compared with Stern's and said it was ``significantly less.''

Some Stern fans, such as Friedman, said the change was too much, too soon.

``It sounds legitimate, but it has not been done the right way for the fans,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: Color FILE PHOTO

WROX has picked up shock jock Mancow Muller's syndicated show.

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