DATE: Saturday, August 30, 1997             TAG: 9708290082

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E1   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Column 

SOURCE: Larry Bonko 

                                            LENGTH:   75 lines

ZAHN KEEPS AN OPTIMISTIC ATTITUDE WHILE BATTLING CANCER

LOCAL NEWS and notes to ponder while you wait for WAVY's 40th birthday celebration to begin:

Medical update - WVEC anchorman Terry Zahn this week begins what he calls high-dose chemotherapy to combat cancer found in his bone marrow not long ago. Zahn said he expects the treatment to keep him off the air for at least a month.

You've not seen Zahn at the Channel 13 anchor desk lately, but cancer is not to blame. He was hospitalized with a mild case of pneumonia.

You can say the man's been through hell, what with pneumonia, the side effects of chemotherapy - Zahn's hair is history - and the pain that Zahn experienced as his bones grew brittle. He's entitled to gripe, but he doesn't.

Zahn is upbeat.

``I see a lot of reasons to be optimistic,'' said Zahn who has been willing to share the story of his illness with WVEC viewers.

It's habit, I guess - Who says fewer people watch TV in the summer? Ratings in July indicate the three local newscasts at 6 p.m. captured 33 percent of viewers here - just three percentage points below figures when it's cold, dark and wintry, which is peak TV-watching time.

No. 1 at the dinner hour this summer is WVEC (13 rating, 26 share) with WAVY (10-21) and WTKR (10-20) in a virtual tie for second. WAVY leads at 11. Is news of crime and crashes keeping viewers watching through a long, dry summer?

WTKR's Rosie future - When WAVY didn't come up with the cash to keep Emmy Award winner Rosie O'Donnell's talk show on its afternoon schedule, Warner Brothers happily moved O'Donnell to Channel 3 weekdays at 4 p.m. starting Sept. 8.

With no Rosie, how will WAVY fill an hour on its daytime schedule? With ``The People's Court'' starting at 3 p.m. It's the 1997 version featuring former New York City mayor Ed Koch as the new Judge Wapner, who stepped down after 2,340 episodes.

Why is there less of Les? - WAVY's No. 1 anchor guy, Les Smith, hasn't been on camera much of late. Has he been on strike, holding out for more money? A softer pillow on his anchor chair?

None of the above, says Channel 10 brass. His bosses say he's had a long-overdue vacation.

Movin' on up - It didn't take long for newcomers Lisa Godley and Stacy Baca to impress the people in charge of local news at WTKR. After being on the payroll for what seems like a day and half, Godley and Baca have bagged big jobs at Channel 3.

Godley, a Norfolk State grad, soon joins Ed Hughes and Pete Grigsby at the anchor desk for the 5 p.m. newscast. Baca is part of WTKR's Saturday and Sunday wake-up gang along with Bob Matthews and Greg Padgett.

And what becomes of Jane Gardner, who's been Hughes' co-anchor at 5? She'll do the noon newscast with Glenn Corey and Dave Parker, a meteorologist who is also newly arrived at WTKR. Gardner continues as co-host of Channel 3's weekday TV magazine at 9 a.m.

More new faces - WAVY has chosen Candice Hunter of a local traffic-reporting network to deliver the weather on its Saturday morning newscast. Blustery Andy Fox is the anchor. Jeff Taylor does sports. Lots of luck in getting a word in edgewise, Candice.

Question of the day - If the new owners of The Family Channel plan to cut costs by laying off workers in Virginia Beach, what justifies keeping the FAM blimp?

Think of it as ``edu-tainment'' - Come tonight at 4:30 p.m., WPEN premieres ``Talk That Talk,'' a half hour program aimed at teens and their families. Kym Bernette hosts. Marlene Montague is the series creator and producer. First topic: ``Don't Get Played by the Dating Game.'' MEMO: (If you have any comments or questions about local TV, I'm all

ears. Call me on Infoline 640-5555, press 2486 or 3333 for the TV

tidbit). ILLUSTRATION: Color staff photo

MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN

WVEC news anchor Terry A sideline him for at least a month

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