NEW TELEVISION STATION TO AIR IN CAPE

A new, local television station is expected to begin broadcasting in March.

It will share facilities with Cape Girardeau television station KBSI and serve parts of Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee.

WDKA-TV, channel 49, will be an affiliate of United Paramount Network. It will carry both UPN and local programming, including 30 to 40 St. Louis Cardinal baseball games this year.

The shows it will carry include "Star Trek: Voyager" and "Cheers."

As a must-carry station, it will be on all cable systems in the Cape Girardeau, Paducah, Ky. and Harrisburg, Ill., region. The region includes nearly 200,000 cable subscribers.

As a broadcast station, it also can be received over the air with TV antennas. Its market area will cover some 400,000 television households.

UPN was started in January 1995 by a group of investors, including Paramount Studio.

KBSI is a Fox network affiliate.

UPN is beginning with limited programming much as the Fox network did a few years ago, said KBSI's Joe Mazza.

It is a lot of work, but it is exciting," said Mazza, vice president of Max Media Properties and general manager of KBSI. Max Media, based in Virginia Beach, Va., owns seven radio stations and six television stations, including KBSI, channel 23, in Cape Girardeau.

Max Media will operate the new TV station under an agreement with WDKA owner Paul Lucci of Norfolk, Va.

Federal Communications Commission regulations bar a company from owning two TV stations in the same market. But a company can operate a second station for another owner, Mazza said.

Lucci in December 1995 bought the construction permit or license for the new station from the previous owner, who hadn't proceeded past the planning stage.

Since then, Lucci has been busy gaining regulatory approval.

The station is licensed in Paducah. Construction has begun on the transmitter and antenna tower at Vienna, Ill.

The station's programming and much of its studio production work will be handled at the KBSI station. The facility at 806 Enterprise is being expanded to accommodate the second station, Mazza said.

KBSI currently operates with a staff of about 35. The staff will be expanded to about 50 to handle the operation of the second station.

Max Media purchased the Auto Trim Design building on Enterprise. That building is being renovated and a new addition will be constructed that will connect to the existing station, he said.

The existing station will be renovated too. New equipment will be purchased.

The new, larger facility will have a new master-control area and an expanded production studio to serve both stations.

There is more work involved in operating two stations, Mazza said. "It means twice the amount of promotional spots, twice the amount of everything really."

WDKA will open a sales office in Paducah this week. The station also will have a production facility there. Mazza said another person probably will be added to KBSI's sales office in Carterville, Ill.

WDKA probably will broadcast 20 hours a day from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m.

Initially, UPN will offer three nights of prime-time programming, some children's programming, and a weekend afternoon movie. WDKA's local programming will include movies, syndicated shows and sports.

Lucci said there are few TV signals available anymore. "Most potential stations that could be licensed have been and are on the air."

Lucci said there are operating advantages to letting an existing station run WDKA. He said a number of stations across the country have similar operating arrangements.

Lucci said he hopes UPN ultimately will become as successful as the Fox network. "Anytime there is another choice on TV, I think that is a good move," he said.