THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 2, 1996 TAG: 9602020054
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: LARRY BONKO
LENGTH: Long : 123 lines
LOCAL TV NEWS and views:
It's the story that won't die - Readers continue to call to protest the recent firing of WTKR meteorologist Duane Harding.
The score so far: Duane 609, WTKR management 4. He's put up better numbers than Michael Jordan.
All my mail is pro-Duane.
Dozens of callers, including Brian Bell and Harry Cotsimopoulos of Virginia Beach, and Serah Ray in Norfolk, made this request: Call the boss of bosses at The New York Times Co., owner of Channel 3, and ask if he'd consider giving Harding his job back.
I made the call. Trouble is, Frank Roberts in Memphis won't call me back. It's OK to reverse the charges, Frank.
Ray was so touched by Harding's dismissal that she wrote a poem about it with a word of caution for the 5 p.m. co-anchors, Ed Hughes and Jane Gardner.
``Watch out, Ed. Look out, Jane. Now that they've dumped poor ol' Duane, you could be the next ones down the drain.''
Not Hughes. He recently signed a new three-year contract.
Cotsimopoulous summed up Harding's firing this way: ``A boo-boo.'' Fred Gibson in Chesapeake wonders why WAVY and WVEC didn't carry the story of Harding being forced to walk the plank at Channel 3. It had people buzzing for days.
The local stations, fierce rivals, wouldn't dare give a second of air time to a competitor.
Will WTKR's ratings suffer during the February sweeps because Harding is no longer on the air - a Dr. Duane backlash? Possibly.
Just in case viewers are thinking about switching channels, WTKR is using the I-saw-my-lucky-number $10,000 giveaway to keep them watching at 6 p.m. And to bring back viewers who tuned out when Harding was let go.
No surprise here - During the time Dave Strickland has been interim news director, WAVY's local newscasts at 5, 6 and 11 p.m. finished first in the Nielsens. With that record, is it any wonder that Strickland was given the job permanently earlier this week?
Strickland, only 34, said he'll stick with the ``10 on your side'' approach to covering local news. Strickland came to WAVY from Houston's KTRK just 15 months ago. He succeeds Gary Stokes, now general manager of a station in Buffalo, N.Y.
Heck. Fifteen months is scarcely long enough to learn Pungo from Poquoson, and already Strickland is boss of the Channel 10 newsroom. How about if you hire Dr. Duane, Dave? He's available, you know.
They'll have to dress up and wear a tuxedo - Andrea Arceneaux and Leon Harris, who work for the Cable News Network in Atlanta, will host the seventh annual Echoes of Excellence Awards at 5 p.m. Feb. 10, at the Harrison Opera House in Norfolk.
The Hampton Roads Black Media Professionals put on the dressy affair in which the firefighters in the Seatack community of Virginia Beach will be among those honored.
Here's a guy who should be getting one of the awards - When I was in Los Angeles recently, I crossed paths with Norfolk State U. grad and Chesapeake native Tim Reid who said he was most happy with the reviews for the film he produced and directed, ``Once Upon a Time . . . . When We Were Colored.''
More than 600 guests attended the Los Angeles premiere of the movie about coming of age in the segregated South, including Virginia. The film had a limited opening in 10 cities. Let's hope we see it here soon. A labor of love, Reid calls it.L OCAL TV NEWS and views:
It's the story that won't die - Readers continue to call to protest the recent firing of WTKR meteorologist Duane Harding.
The score so far: Duane 609, WTKR management 4. He's put up better numbers than Michael Jordan.
All my mail is pro-Duane.
Dozens of callers, including Brian Bell and Harry Cotsimopoulos of Virginia Beach, and Serah Ray in Norfolk, made this request: Call the boss of bosses at The New York Times Co., owner of Channel 3, and ask if he'd consider giving Harding his job back.
I made the call. Trouble is, Frank Roberts in Memphis won't call me back. It's OK to reverse the charges, Frank.
Ray was so touched by Harding's dismissal that she wrote a poem about it with a word of caution for the 5 p.m. co-anchors, Ed Hughes and Jane Gardner.
``Watch out, Ed. Look out, Jane. Now that they've dumped poor ol' Duane, you could be the next ones down the drain.''
Not Hughes. He recently signed a new three-year contract.
Cotsimopoulos summed up Harding's firing this way: ``A boo-boo.'' Fred Gibson in Chesapeake wonders why WAVY and WVEC didn't carry the story of Harding being forced to walk the plank at Channel 3. It had people buzzing for days.
The local stations, fierce rivals, wouldn't dare give a second of air time to a competitor.
Will WTKR's ratings suffer during the February sweeps because Harding is no longer on the air - a Dr. Duane backlash? Possibly.
Just in case viewers are thinking about switching channels, WTKR is using the I-saw-my-lucky-number $10,000 giveaway to keep them watching at 6 p.m. And to bring back viewers who tuned out when Harding was let go.
No surprise here - During the time Dave Strickland has been interim news director, WAVY's local newscasts at 5, 6 and 11 p.m. finished first in the Nielsens. With that record, is it any wonder that Strickland was given the job permanently earlier this week?
Strickland, only 34, said he'll stick with the ``10 on your side'' approach to covering local news. Strickland came to WAVY from Houston's KTRK just 15 months ago. He succeeds Gary Stokes, now general manager of a station in Buffalo, N.Y.
Heck. Fifteen months is scarcely long enough to learn Pungo from Poquoson, and already Strickland is boss of the Channel 10 newsroom. How about if you hire Dr. Duane, Dave? He's available, you know.
They'll have to dress up and wear a tuxedo - Andrea Arceneaux and Leon Harris, who work for the Cable News Network in Atlanta, will host the seventh annual Echoes of Excellence Awards at 5 p.m. Feb. 10, at the Harrison Opera House in Norfolk.
The Hampton Roads Black Media Professionals put on the dressy affair in which the firefighters in the Seatack community of Virginia Beach will be among those honored.
Here's a guy who should be getting one of the awards - When I was in Los Angeles recently, I crossed paths with Norfolk State U. grad and Chesapeake native Tim Reid who said he was most happy with the reviews for the film he produced and directed, ``Once Upon a Time . . . . When We Were Colored.''
More than 600 guests attended the Los Angeles premiere of the movie about coming of age in the segregated South, including Virginia. The film had a limited opening in 10 cities. Let's hope we see it here soon. A labor of love, Reid calls it. MEMO: Call me on Infoline 640-5555, press 2486, with your questions or
comments about local television.Call me on Infoline 640-5555, press
2486, with your questions or comments about local television. by CNB