The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida • 291

BROWARD Broward to get its very own TV station are saying about time Broward had its own station Other stations serve Miami first Broward is a Rodger Skinner WFUN WFUN goes on with local news By RHONDA BERGMAN Herald Writer A Hollywood vision of a hometown television station for Broward will appear this spring on UHF dials WFUN Channel 27 a low-power station will go on the air in April said General Manager Rodger Skinner are saying about time Broward had its own said Skinner of Hollywood stations serve Miami first Broward is a stepchild see a lot of Broward faces and places on the Broward has specialty stations with Spanish shopping and religious programming but Skinner said his station will target a wider audience He said the station will reach about 12 million viewers and be on most cable systems County news and public service will be an important part of the new 20-hour broadcast day Skinner also plans to air rerun movies and series first-run programs stock market reports computer shows music videos wrestling and perhaps a talk show want people to say you see that last he said want the station to be interesting entertaining and In January Skinner received his Federal Communications Commission license for Channel 27 designated as a low-power station Low- the air in April movies music power stations have transmitters of up to 1000 watts WFUN will boost its signal to 70300 watts through its antenna letting it broadcast north to Boca Raton and south to Miami Beach The antenna will sit atop a Pompano Beach condominium Because of the number of watts Skinner considers WFUN a medium-power station rather than a low-power one are trying to stay away from the label of low power because with 70000 watts we are more like a full-power he said The FCC proposed low-power television in 1980 The first low-power station went on the air in 1981 but the FCC officially established the service in 1982 said Keith Larson chief of the low-power television branch television is a lower-cost alternative for construction and Larson said broadcaster is able to target a population and find a programming Channel 27 is one of 1300 low-power stations with FCC construction permits About 350 stations are already on the air in 48 states and Skinner said about a dozen go on the air each month Skinner expects to complete a 4000-square-foot studio and office at 5601 Powerline Rd in Fort Lauderdale by February He plans to attract advertisers with a sales pitch of advertising at radio Thirty- Miami Herald will depend on the wattage the height of the tower and the Skinner bought $60000 worth of station equipment including a transmitter and the antenna But he needs another $1 million to pay for construction and $500000 worth of equipment such as two satellite dishes To raise money Skinner is starting a private stock offering in the next few weeks He is looking for about 20 investors to give up to $50000 each He already has a board of direc tors Skinner will serve as chairman and president of Skinner Broadcasting Inc He appointed Neil Murphy a former comptroller from Channel 7 in Miami and William Doyle a Fort Lauderdale attorney to the board Before working at Channel 7 from 1965 to 1987 Murphy held administrative and financial roles at NBC stations and the network for more than 20 years Skinner has also obtained licenses for Orlando Cocoa Melbourne and Fort Myers He plans to launch the others over the next two years Skinner has always wanted to run his own station He started 25 years ago as a disc jockey at WQAM in Miami became an advertising account executive then created Tunnel Radio in the late 1970s Tunnel Radio runs short commercials and public service messages in tunnels in Boston Baltimore and Montreal It once operated in Fort Lauderdale For the last eight years Skinner has run TRA Communications a Hollywood consulting firm that helps clients nationwide obtain radio and television licenses But Skinner said the firm will slowly be phased out He expects to hire 15 to 20 employees Skinner will not be interviewing applicants until February but he is accepting resumes To name the station Skinner recalled a competitor from his days in Miami radio more than 20 years ago WFUN were the call letters of a radio station in South Miami now WNWS 790 AM Skinner said the name has a nice connotation and should be easily remembered going to have he said LEASE $17995 PerMo DADE: ANGEL VALENTIN second spots on Channel 27 will cost as little as $30 Broward advertiser want to spend money to talk to viewers in Skinner said want to communicate with viewers who come into their store or Skinner expects the station to break even during its first year the growth in Broward it makes a lot of sense to have a more community-oriented said Frank Martin media director of Harris and Drury Advertising in Fort Lauderdale the success ms 1989 MODEL irATSEfA'IIIJi(DlBErATSTNG IXIiO IXIsM UasldilsMU Friday Dec 9th is Country-Western Day at Crazy Country Music 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