Sioux City Journal from Sioux City, Iowa • 102

110 -The Sioux City Journal, Sunday, Waitt gathers radio, recording Sf TV under entertainment banner mi ira mil (diUigy Broadcaster plans more local programming two more television stations, one in Dothan, and one in Albany, Waitt is the principal owner oi Waitt Radio a company 'thai owns nine radio stations. Holdings include KOLK in Sioux City KOTD in Omaha. Earlier this montlf he announced the purchase of seveq more stations, all from the Hedbefg Broadcasting Group of Spirit Lake, Iowa: KUOO and KUQQ-FM at-Spirit LakeMilford, KAYL at Storm Lake and KSOU AM-FM" and KIHK-FM at Sioux CenterRock Rapids. a-j Waitt Radio is scheduled to. assume operation of those seven stations Thursday.

The company is also." in the process of acquiring four star tions in Panama City. "Norm has always had a passion1 for music and got into broadcasting-as a result," Pelletier said. He added that KMEG and seven new Iowa radio stations wilt, enhance the company's Siouxland presence. Norman Waitt a co-founder of the Gateway computer company, has forged a separate business niche in music and broadcasting. Waitt's Omaha-based Gold Circle Entertainment owns two recording companies, one in Omaha, and the other in California, according to George-Pelletier, vice president for broadcast operations for Waitt Radio, a Gold Circle Entertainment affiliated company.

Recently, Waitt has been acquiring television and radio stations, branching into broadcasting. The television stations are owned by Waitt Broadcasting name, also an affiliate of Gold Circle. Waitt acquired his first television station with the purchase last summer of KMEG, the CBS affiliate in his hometown of Sioux City. He then bought two more stations, KYOU-TV in the Ottumwa, IowaKirksville, market and WPGX in Panama City, Fla. He is in the process of acquiring 7 id use Perkins Office Solutions for all your office supplies, office furniture, equipment jM a- 71 PuR ri yr iwi jt naMHMNHI 4- Brian Goetz Keith Goetz Brent Goetz ii tJk Li' By Michele Linck Journal staff writer KMEG-TV's new general manager, Rob Dean, is planning a lot of surprises for Siouxland, but he's not tipping his hand on all of them.

Yet. Dean began working just three months ago to implement the commitments made by Norman Waitt when he bought the CBS affiliate from the Maine Radio and Television last August. "It's our intention to combine the very talented staff at KMEG with the substantial creative and financial resources of our entertainment and media group to create the premier broadcast property in the market to take the station to a new level of quality, emphasizing community service," Waitt said when the deal had closed. The CBS affiliate is the only station in town owned by a native Sioux Cityan. It is the first of three television stations bought by the Waitt Broadcasting Co.

Two more, in Georgia and Alabama, are in the process of being purchased. Other Waitt companies own recording studios and radio stations. While Dean is reluctant to detail the coming changes, he will say they include a new transmitter, new tower, new studio, lots of new equipment, and a doubling of the staff from 30 to 60, beginning with a news director, reporters and production people. A state-of-the-art studio is currently being designed by an architect. A site has not yet been cemented, and because real estate negotiations are under way, Dean declined to identify potential locations.

KMEG is not waiting for a new studio to deliver on the promise of local news, however. Local news programming will be on the air this summer from the existing facility, Dean said in a recent interview from his Floyd Boulevard office. Whether the broadcasts will have the conservative look of CBS, be flamboyant like CNN or project a style all their own, Dean declined to tell. "I don't want to give away all our plans at this point," Dean said. "We will be innovative, do some things differently.

We will have a credible news product. We want to make sure we do it well, that the information we provide is accurate. "People want to watch news and they want to watch local news. If you look at markets all over the United States, the highest rated shows day in, day out, are news programs," he emphasized. Dean would not say what time KMEG's local news would air or how long the shows would be, but he more than hinted at "a significant number of local newscasts." The new transmitter and tower will make the station's UHF signal stronger and carry farther than it does now, expanding its potential audience from 250,000 to more than 400,000 viewers.

The transmitter will be five times more powerful than its predecessor. It will be installed at the foot of the new tower in rural Hinton. KMEG will soon share space on the tower being constructed by Pappas Telecasting for its new FOX-TV affiliate. I tctQt M( IMSV Tom Blair Jomi Anderson Ellen Livingston Kirk Wurscher iv I i 1 1 Janet McCarthy Mel Finken Brad Blair Blaine Baldwin MarlinVoss CheriWoolery Ralph Petrick Jeff Jensen and a new tower will expand the station's reception area. (Staff photo by Jim Lee) Rob Dean talks about the future of KMEG.

Numerous changes are planned for later this year Waitt Kind World Foundation. Other surprises are still in. the works. "We prefer to do our planning properly and reveal those things at a proper time," Dean said. by national park wildlife, for example.

The exhibition will also offer hands-on arts experience for school children, Dean said. Art in the Parks will be underwritten by Norman i i mm ii win mi jinn i. gjnummmmmm 3 is A If I 1 nn: KMEG's current tower is just 1,000 feet high. Both transmitter and tower are expected to be on line this summer." Dean would not divulge the cost of the upgrades, saying only that the company is "investing significant resources" and that it is a "multi-million dollar project." Along with its commitment to local news, KMEG is making a commitment to more local programming, Dean said. However, he said, there is no guarantee that programs already on the air will be continued.

"We also have a serious commitment to the community and will be very involved with non-profit organizations in a way we haven't been before," Dean said. For example, KMEG and Star 102.3 radio, also owned by Waitt, will co-sponsor Art in the Parks in April and May at the Sioux City Art Center. The traveling exhibition features artworks inspired by various U.S. National Parks. Some of the artists will offer performances inspired Kris Brunkhorst John Johnson Kay Wagner Marilee Goethals t.

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