The Greenville News from Greenville, South Carolina • Page 152

WLOS-TV expands Greenville bureau By Tom Harrison TV Spotlight Editor It's a change that had to come. The folks in Asheville knew it all along. WLOS-TV, an also-ran in the fragmented Upstate television market, is expanding its Greenville operation in hopes of improving its third-place standing in the Nielsen and Arbi-tron market surveys. Sometime in January 1985, the News 13 Greenville bureau and sales offices will move into a building at Laurens and Woodruff roads. Construction is under way on the facility, 1 8 1 which will house a production studio, newsroom and sales office.

Everything else will be based in Asheville. News 13's Greenville bureau will remain in the Bankers Trust Building until the move. "We're expanding our sales force and the news operation," said Bruce "Buz" Buzogany, TV-13 program director. "We're going to have twice as many people in South Carolina as we did six months ago," he said. "I'm just thrilled about it." Zedell also is pleased with TV-13's signing of weatherman Ken Bostic.

Bostic, previously a mainstay at Channel 7, was a casualty of the escalating "weather wars" between TV-4 and TV-7. Bostic became expendable when Channel 7 hired meteorologist Tim Chuey. (Channel 4 subsequently hired another meteorologist to back up Charlie Gertz.) Bostic signed with Channel 13, but a non-compete clause kept him off the air for several weeks. Now he's on the air, and Zedell couldn't be happier. "We think getting Ken Bostic was a coup," he said.

"He's extremely popular in this area." Buzogany said the expanded Greenville operation does not mean a diminished presence in Asheville. "People in Asheville feel like we're their station," Buzogany said. "Our (primary) job is to try to cover western North Carolina." Nevertheless, station management recognizes the need for a presence in South Carolina. The Greenville-Spartanburg-Asheville television market is a logistical puzzle for a news director: three cities spread over two states, comprising hundreds of communities and Buzogany Buzogany said the move will enable News 13 to provide "ongoing live reports from Greenville" on the nightly newscast. "There'll be more extensive coverage, simply because there are more bodies available," he said.

We also hope to use our microwave facilities on an everyday basis." Karl Zedell, TV-13 news director, said he has transferred reporter Sherrill Barber and photographer Robert Meikle to Greenville. They join Dale Weiss, Melanie Woods, Carol Gable, Reuben Mayfield and Harold Ludwig in the bureau. "The intention is to cover our share of South Carolina news," Zedell said. WLOS-TV earlier this year opened a two-person bureau in Spartanburg, with Debbie Potter and Jim Craven. Zedell said that with "about evenly distributed" forces in Asheville and Greenville, News 13 will have "more than parity" with its competitors, WYFF-TV and WSPA-TV.

small luwiis. iiiai uuesn i uiciuue uie nuiLiieni counties of Georgia. WLOS-TV, which is 60 miles from Greenville, has a distinct disadvantage asa news operation. Western North Carolina must be covered, but at what price? Buzogany admitted that the market is unique. "For an NBC station (WYFF-TV) to be No.

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