January - September 1997

I anchored afternoon drive newscasts for the Virginia News Network, which was heard on 55 affiliate stations across the state and was the Friday evening anchor for WRVA-AM 1140. The legendary 50,000-watt station was one of the top rated stations in Richmond and at night the signal could be heard in states throughout the region.

I had been talking with WRVA for more than a year before I was finally hired. My friend Mike Frontiero, who I had worked with at KARN in Little Rock, had been hired by WRVA in 1994. I stopped by Richmond for a visit in December 1995 and Mike took me with him as he covered a Toys For Tots giveaway just before Christmas. Seeing the equipment he was supplied, his company van and later the facilities back at the station, mixed with the good impression that I had gotten about Richmond, made WRVA seem like an appealing place to work. He introduced me to News Director Deanna Malone, who I contacted several times over the following year reminding her of my interest.

In August 1996 I stopped through Richmond again. This time Mike introduced me to Kevin Hall, news director of the Virginia News Network, a statewide operation similar to what KARN had with the Arkansas Radio Network. It operated in a separate newsroom downstairs from WRVA and was heard on 55 stations throughout Virginia. Five months later I would move to Richmond, even though I had not been offered a definite job at that point, but did have a very promising lead. I was so tired of Little Rock, which I felt did not offer much career growth, that I was willing to move, knowing that if I couldn't get a radio job I might have to work as a waiter or whatever I could find. But I was willing to take that chance. Also, my buddy Mike had offered to let me stay with he and his wife until I found a job and got settled.

I met with Kevin a day after arriving in Richmond in January 1997 and he did offer me a part-time position anchoring afternoon newscasts on VNN four days a week. It was only about 24 hours a week, not enough to make much of a living on, but I figured it was a foot in the door and that I would be able to work my way up from there.

I anchored two newscasts an hour, a five-minute cast of state news at :30 after the hour, and a one-minute cast including both state and national news at :53 after the hour. In between newscasts I would chase stories over the phone, taping interviews and putting together reports. It was enjoyable, but I wasn't making enough money to survive, so I would regularly go upstairs to the WRVA newsroom and pester Deanna Malone about any work I could do for the station. Eventually when a shift came open, I started anchoring on Friday nights for WRVA, 6 to 11 pm.

One of my favorite things about anchoring on WRVA was that the broadcast booths had large windows looking out on Richmond. The station was located on one of the highest spots in the city and provided an incredible view. Waiting for my newscasts to begin I could look out at traffic on I-95 and activity on all the side streets and really get a sense of who I was broadcasting to. VNN on the other hand was essentially located in the basement of the building with no windows. It felt sort of like working in a bunker. Being one floor above gave me a totally different perspective. It really was a cool old building that had been designed by renowned architect Phillip Johnson and had housed the station since 1968. It also had a brick tower behind the building with a spiral staircase inside that held the microwave antennas that sent the signals of WRVA and sister station WRNL, an all sports station, to the transmitters.

I was crushed to learn after I left that Clear Channel moved out of the incredible building so that it could combine all of its stations in a large building elsewhere in Richmond. That's part of what has bothered me about Clear Channel and is endemic to corporate radio. It's willing to abandon the history of so many stations to save a buck. The last I heard the building was still empty. A competing radio station apparently contemplated buying the building, but because of its prime location, it was too expensive. It'll probably end up housing an attorney's office or may even be torn down with a larger building that could house more offices being built in its place.

You can read more about the rich history of WRVA, which first hit the air in 1925, on Wikipedia and look at details of an exhibit on the station hosted by the Library of Virginia.