THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, June 26, 1995 TAG: 9506240030
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Bonko
LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines
It's the station with ``Baywatch'' and ``Star Trek: Voyager,'' but no local newscast.
It's the station with a network behind it, but nothing much in the way of local programming except for that little ``On Cue'' show seen Sunday mornings at 11:30.
When will Channel 27 of the United Paramount Network come out and play with the big boys in this market? When will WGNT in Portsmouth put more locally produced stuff on the air to go with the reruns, syndicated programming (from ``Sightings'' to ``Soul Train''), and the two-nights-a-week UPN schedule?
WGNT won't change overnight, but don't be surprised if Channel 27 puts on a new face in a year or two. W. Howard Jernigan Jr., who retires next month as WGNT's general manager after 38 years in broadcasting, said there will be some movin' and shakin' going on at the station in the next few months.
He did not get specific.
``We are considering additional local programming for the future. But I don't want to talk about it now.''
Are there plans for a local newscast, possibly at 10 p.m.? Is WGNT planning to launch such a primetime newscast before Fox affiliate WTVZ does it?
The man won't talk even if you threaten to torture him with bamboo shoots under his nails or something worse, like forcing him to watch Ricki Lake and her panel discuss moms who dress sexier than their daughters.
All Jernigan will say about the future of local programming on WGNT is this: ``We'll continue to be aggressive in looking for ways to increase our share of the local television market.''
Although Jernigan will retire to the golf course, where he hopes to shave strokes off his 18 handicap, he is not saying adieu to the company that owns WGNT.
Far from it.
As part of the original group of 27 investors who bought the station from the Christian Broadcasting Network in the 1980s, Jernigan will remain on the board of directors of Centennial Communications. When Jernigan isn't working on his putting, he'll have a lot to say about what happens at the station on Spratley Street.
Chris Pike, who had the job of general manager of WTKR shot out from under him when the New York Times Co. bought Channel 3, moves into Jernigan's executive suite at WGNT in July.
Pike was the board's first and only choice, said Jernigan.
Is that because the man knows what it takes to put on a local newscast? Pike brought Emmy award-winning anchor Tom Randles to this market when he was in charge at WTKR. He gave us the ``Eleven at Eleven'' newscast.
Is a sharp operator like this going to be content to show reruns of ``Coach'' at 6 p.m. when there's a local newcast waiting to be born?
We'll see.
In the 42 years I've been around here, I don't know anyone who has a better idea of what people in this market want to hear or see than Jernigan. He's headed up radio stations (WGH and WNOR) during the rock 'n' roll revolution, helped light the fuse in the cable TV explosion (Newport News Cablevision) and even spread Muzak into our lives.
OK. He's not perfect.
He came out of his retirement mainly to help Raymond Bottom Jr. put the group together that bought WGNT, the station famous for giving Jim and Tammy Bakker their first big break.
Jernigan says the purchase price was in the neighborhood of $10 million.
And what is WGNT worth today, less than a decade since Centennial Communications bought it from Pat Robertson?
``Double that figure at least,'' said Jernigan.
By signing on with Paramount, and bringing ``Star Trek: Voyager'' to the station, Jernigan increased the number of households watching on Monday night by 150 percent. Viewership among the young increased by 100 percent. (UPN next March expands to a third night of programming).
For all of that, shouldn't the board pay Jernigan's greens fees for the next five years or so?
In his 38 years in broadcasting and telecommunications, Jernigan has seen growth he calls ``astounding.'' Before Centennial Communications purchased WGNT, the group hired a consulting firm to assess the Hampton Roads TV market.
``The experts said there would be a nice growth pattern here for the next 10 years, and there has been except for a glich in 1991 that was otherwise known as the recession,'' said Jernigan. The growth continues, he said, with advertising dollars up by about 15 percent for local TV stations last year.
Jernigan estimates that TV revenues in this, the 40th largest market in the U.S., will be between $85 and $95 million this year. It is a pie that WGNT has a nice-sized piece of in 1995.
Jernigan leaves WGNT wanting more on the board's plate - pie ala mode, perhaps. It will be interesting to see how he and Pike achieve that.
Run the wildly popular Ricki Lake talk show three times a day, maybe? by CNB