NEW TELEVISION STATION AIRS IN CAPE

UPN 9/24 Television, serving Southeast Missouri, West Kentucky and Southern Illinois, is on the air.

"We hope to be on cable here next month," said Steven B. Engles, president of Engles Communications Inc. of Santa Barbara, Calif.

Engles was in Cape Girardeau this week to announce his newest communications endeavor, which includes WQWQ 9 and WQTV 24.

"People with an outside antennae, or possibly rabbit ears antennae, can pick us up now on Channel 9," he said.

Engles is a familiar name in the area. He owned KBSI-TV six years, from 1989 to 1995, building up its revenues and audience share before selling to Max Media Properties.

Max Media later sold the station to Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc.

"We're looking forward to getting on Charter Cable here," said Engles. "We'll be Channel 33 then."

UPN is already on cable in the Murray, Ky., area, and is looking at cable systems in the Harrisburg and Carbondale areas in Southern Illinois and Western Kentucky, which includes Paducah.

The UPN office at Paducah is in the Paducah Information Park.

"We're still looking for office space in Cape Girardeau," he said.

Jean Turnbough, who previously worked for Engles at KBSI, has been hired as station manager.

Engles has transferred his marketing manager, London Fields, from California to this area.

Engles has owned four radio stations in the Santa Barbara area since selling KBSI in 1995.

"We have two now," said Engles. "We recently sold two of the stations, to open the television station."

Engles has spent a lot of time in the market areas for WQWQ and WQTV.

Local games planned

UPN, owned by Via Com CBS, offers family programming, said Engles. The station will also offer reruns of "ER," "Family Feud," "Star Trek," "NYPD Blue," family weekend movies and sports.

"We'll be doing a lot of local sports," said Engles. "We're in negotiations now to air some basketball games for Southeast Missouri State University here; Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and Murray State."

UPN also carries XFL football games for the new spring football season and WWF wrestling.

Engles' motto for the new station is "Committed to the Community."

When he was in Cape Girdeau, Engles served on the fair board, was a member of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce and helped in many local projects.

"We'll be doing that again," said Engles.

WQWQ 9 is involved in a community project this weekend -- "2001, A Family Odyssey," a Sunday afternoon of activities specifically designed with young children and parents together as a family.

The event, from 1 to 4:30 p.m., is sponsored by the Community Counseling Center Foundation and will take place at the A.C. Brase Arena Building.

Events will feature a scooter contest, arts and crafts projects, book fair, and stage entertainment by local groups.

Engles acquired KBSI-TV in Cape Girardeau in 1989.

In 1994, KBSI, with almost 40 employees, received the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's Small Business of the Year Award.