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A BIDDING WAR FOR NEWPORT NEWS SHIPBUILDING, THE GIANT MANUFACTURER OF nuclear-powered warships for the U.S. military, is commanding the attention of many local media outlets in the Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News-Virginia Beach, Va., market this year. General Dynamics Corp. and
Northrop Grumman Corp. are battling to acquire Newport News, the largest commercial employer in the market with about 19,000 employees. While the U.S. Justice Department continues its scrutiny of the competing bids on antitrust issues, residents and the local media are watching the proceedings carefully because a new owner may elect to trim jobs, potentially creating a ripple effect on the market.
Norfolk area media outlets got an unexpected revenue boost in March when a special election was held to fill the seat of the late U.S. Rep. Norman Sisisky (D). Randy Forbes, a Republican, won the congressional slot following a contentious race that generated significant local advertising spending. This fall, Virginia will elect a new governor, lieutenant governor and representatives for all of the state's House of Delegates seats. The races are expected to generate considerable incremental ad revenue for local media in the Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News-- Virginia Beach DMA, which covers the Hampton Roads area and stretches into northeastern North Carolina.
WAVY-TV, LIN Television's NBC affiliate, plans to capitalize on the upcoming elections by hosting a debate featuring the gubernatorial candidates in late October. Ed Munson, WAVY vp and general manager, says the station plans to feed the program to all the other NBC affiliates in Virginia.
WAVY is the overall news leader in the DMA, which ranks 41st in the country, with 638,190 TV households, according to Nielsen Media Research. Last month, WAVY launched a joint sales agreement with local Pax TV outlet WPXV-TV, through which WAVY's sales department now also sells for WPXV As part of the deal, WPXV rebroadcasts WAVY's 6 p.m. newscast at 7 p.m. and its 11 p.m. news at 11:30. WAVY also has longstanding news partnerships with Tribune Co.'s newspaper in Newport News, The Daily Press, and with two local radio stations.
WAVY recently signed a multiyear contract to carry four preseason games of the NFL's Washington Redskins. The station has had one-year deals to carry the exhibition games for the past two seasons.
In addition to WAVY,...