Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 18, 1995 TAG: 9508180092
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CODY LOWE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The award is presented by the Virginia High School Coaches Association. It honors long-time Associated Press writer Marshall Johnson.
Stevens has been with WDBJ since 1985 and began hosting "Friday Football Extra" in 1988. The program, which follows the late-night news broadcast during the high-school football season, highlights the evening's contests.
Stevens became sports director at WDBJ in 1991. He is a Staunton native and a 1983 graduate of Virginia Tech.
"I have had the opportunity to interview everyone from Dale Earnhardt to Joe Montana to Jesse Jackson, but I still get the most pleasure out of promoting and covering high school athletics where the games and the participants are driven by competition rather than money," Stevens said.
\ West Virginia University football fans will get to hear Mountaineer football this season on WFIR (960 AM).
Coverage begins Sept. 2 with a game against Purdue.
Jack Fleming, who has been the voice of Mountaineer football for more than 40 years, will again handle the play-by-play.
\ WJPR (Channel 21) the Lynchburg side of the Fox 21-Fox 27 television combination recently was upgraded to provide a "cleaner, sharper, more powerful picture," according to station General Manager Stan Marinoff.
The station's Thaxton Mountain antenna was reconfigured by the manufacturer, Marinoff said, to generate an improved signal to "people in hilly, mountainous areas east of Roanoke who previously had problems receiving any TV signal."
Marinoff encouraged viewers to call the station with comments about the signal at 344-2127.
\ Danville TV station WDRG (Channel 24) will celebrate its first anniversary with live entertainment at its offices Saturday and Sunday.
The station, affiliated with the new Warner Brothers Television Network, was recently added to the Cox Cable line-up in Roanoke. There is currently only one night of network programming aired, with the rest of the week filled with a mixture of syndicated and local programs.
The anniversary party runs from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. Saturday and from 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday at the Piney Forest Shopping Center, 713 Piney Forest Road, Danville.
\ Park Broadcasting Inc., which owns and operates WSLS (Channel 10) in Roanoke and eight other television stations, this week announced plans to produce a series of children's programs in 1996.
The programs will be titled "VideoKids 2000" and targeted to ages 2 through 11. Research is still under way to determine program topics, the company said in a news release.
All the stations in the group will participate in the production, contributing features using local children as talent. Individual stations also will produce specials for their own markets based on local needs, the release said.
by CNB