DATE: Thursday, July 17, 1997               TAG: 9707170520

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LON WAGNER, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   37 lines

RADIO STATIONS' OWNERSHIP KEEPS ON CHANGING - 3 TIMES JUST THIS YEAR

Pardon the employees of Norfolk radio stations WGH-AM/FM and WVCL-FM if they can't figure out where their next paychecks are coming from.

The stations on Wednesday learned of their third ownership change this year when Baltimore-based Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. agreed to buy a group of radio and television stations from Dallas-based Heritage Media Group. That is, as soon as Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. buys Heritage.

Sinclair will pay News Corp. $630 million in cash for Heritage's six TV and 24 radio stations, Sinclair said. Those include the three Norfolk radio stations, WVCL which plays oldies, WGH-AM which focuses on sports and WGH-FM (The Eagle), which plays country. Sinclair Broadcasting's Hampton Roads presence also includes Fox TV station WTVZ.

Bill Whitlow, general manager of the three local radio stations, said their employees knew they were for sale - they were just waiting to learn the name of their new owner. He said he didn't expect many changes.

``All three stations are profitable,'' Whitlow said, ``and usually when it's like that, they leave things alone.''

Heritage acquired the Norfolk stations in February when York, Pa.-based Susquehanna Radio Corp. swapped them for a station in Cincinnati.

When News Corp. bought Heritage, it said it planned to sell the radio and TV stations. News Corp., parent of Fox Broadcasting and a slew of other media properties, wanted Heritage for its supermarket coupon business. A News Corp. subsidiary, Fox Kids Worldwide, recently bought Virginia Beach-based International Family Entertainment.

Sinclair Broadcast Group either owns or provides programming to 29 television stations in 21 markets, reaching about 15 percent of U.S. households. It now owns, provides programming to, or has options to buy 34 radio stations in eight markets. KEYWORDS: MEDIA RADIO

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