THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, January 16, 1995 TAG: 9501160056
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NAGS HEAD LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
Every day this week, more than 22 million people will visit the Outer Banks without leaving their living rooms.
New cable channel fX is bringing its ``Breakfast Time'' camera crew to scan the Carolina coast. Between 7 and 9 a.m., reporters will broadcast live, covering stories from Oregon Inlet through Duck.
``We take our morning show crew to two live remote locations every week. The Outer Banks will share its shows with Oklahoma City,'' fX spokeswoman Maureen Fearon said Friday from her New York office.
``The idea is to cross the country, visiting big and small towns, coastal and heartland regions. We want to make our viewers feel like they're there with us.''
Launched June 1 by Fox Inc. cable television, fX network combines seven hours a day of live original programming with TV classics since the 1970s. ``Breakfast Time'' opens with a fitness workout, shows the day's headlines and weather, and covers other topics, including nutrition, health, fashion, gardening and celebrities. At 7:30 and 8:30 a.m., reporters broadcast live six-minute segments from their locations of the week.
``We pretty much go everywhere. It's only a matter of time before we hit every area of the country,'' said fX Producer Larry Hochberg, who arrived on the Outer Banks early Friday. Hochberg said he was not sure who chose the Outer Banks for this week, or why. But after spending fewer than 12 hours on the barrier islands, he declared, ``I love it here.''
``We try to give people in other parts of the country some really interesting information about a place they might never get to visit - or they might like to seek out,'' Hochberg said.
``Maybe it's stuff they can use, or at least relate to their own lives. It's not just news. It's more fluffy topics, entertaining.''
On Monday, fX host Spencer Garbett will take his audience to Davis Boat Works in Wanchese, to see how yachts are built.
Tuesday, he visits the Senior Games in Kill Devil Hills, interviewing an 80-year-old archery expert and elderly aerobics class members.
Wednesday, the fX crew will travel to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Duck Research Pier to learn about beach erosion and wave patterns.
Thursday, they'll broadcast from Oregon Inlet, where the U.S. Coast Guard will simulate an air rescue of endangered boaters.
Friday brings the television show to Jockey's Ridge State Park in Nags Head, to watch hang gliders and kite fliers on the East Coast's tallest sand dune.
``We've been talking to the fX producers for about 10 days now, and we're very excited that they chose the Outer Banks for this week,'' Dare County spokesman Charlie Hartig said Friday. ``You can't put a price tag on this kind of public exposure.'' by CNB