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Local figure

Jim Heavner

Jim Heavner began running Chapel Hill's WCHL radio in 1961 and became its majority owner in the 1970s. Through the Village Companies he made the station the flagship of a sports broadcasting network and added a cable TV company, an advertising circular and a university phone book publisher.

Source: Chapel Hill-Carrboro Business Hall of Fame: Jim Heavner

2 works about Jim Heavner are indexed here.

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Life and Orange County connections

Storylines this person is part of, in date order. Each opens its own page, with its events date by date.

StorylineCable television in Orange County, 1972–19941972–1994 · 46 events · Chapel Hill adopted a cable television ordinance in 1972, and Alert Cable TV began serving Hillsborough in 1974. Carrboro's aldermen first approved an Alert franchise in 1975, but after delays over utility poles and sites refused for its equipment, service there began only in August 1979. That November Chapel Hill gave its franchise to Village Cable, and the county moved toward a cable ordinance and advisory committee of its own. Village Cable began serving Chapel Hill in 1980 and won the franchise for most of rural Orange County, and in the years after the town disputed its rates, its adult channels and its stock gift to its foundation. In 1984 Carrboro gave Alert Cable a 15-year franchise with a ban on obscene programs. In 1985 Chapel Hill let Village Cable raise its rates 10 percent a year, and in 1986 the Village Companies sold it to Carolina Cable. In 1992 Chapel Hill named a cable advisory committee and opened its review of Carolina Cable's franchise, which ran to 1994, with a hearing on residents' complaints. Cablevision took over Chapel Hill's service in 1992; in 1993 and 1994 both towns sought federal authority over its rates while Chapel Hill bargained over a franchise renewal amid residents' complaints.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 12 dated events in the chronology →

  1. WCHL declines to publicize the Walk Against Hunger during the Community Chest drive General manager Jim Heavner, that year's chairman of the local Community Chest, said WCHL would not give public service time to the Walk Against Hunger because the station gave all its spots to the Community Chest during its campaign. Place: Chapel Hill · Also mentions: WCHLSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, November 21, 1969, p. 1 (WCHL Won't Publicize Walk)
  2. Village Cable begins cable television service in Chapel Hill Village Cable, holder of Chapel Hill's cable franchise, began connecting homes in Carol Woods, North Forest Hills and Timberlyne to a 35-channel system that its president said might be the first of its size in North Carolina, and about 500 homes had service by early July. Construction, begun in January, was about half done, with the whole town to be wired by December 1; Alert Cable already served Carrboro. People: Jim Heavner Place: Carol Woods and North Forest Hills, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, July 10, 1980, p. 4
  3. Village Cable begins carrying the Escapades movie channel Village Cable, Chapel Hill's cable company, began carrying "Escapades," a channel of R-rated movies, in January 1982. By mid-February residents had complained to Town Council members that nonsubscribers, children among them, could pick it up through insecure converter boxes, which the company was replacing, while Village Cable asked the council to release it from keeping channels for University and town government use. People: Jim Heavner, Jonathan Howes, Joe Straley Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, February 16, 1982, p. 1
  4. Village Cable raises its rates after the Chapel Hill franchise's two-year freeze ends Early in January 1982 Village Cable raised the monthly charges for five of its nine cable television services, by as much as $7.05 a month in all, for about 4,700 subscribers in Chapel Hill and 860 in the rest of Orange County. Jim Heavner, president of Village Companies, said the Chapel Hill franchise ordinance had held the original rates for two years and left them to the market after that. People: Jim Heavner Place: Chapel Hill and Orange CountySearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, January 15, 1982, p. 3
  5. Village Cable begins charging new subscribers for its basic 12-channel service Village Cable, which had offered its 12-channel basic service in Chapel Hill free, began charging new basic customers a minimum $8.50 a month and raised 17-channel service from $6 to $8.50 and 35-channel service from $9.45 to $11.95; existing basic customers kept free service. Town Attorney Emery Denny Jr. advised the Town Council that the company could set its own rates during the current two-year period of the franchise, leaving the council no say until a rate review between September 1 and November 30, 1983. People: Jim Heavner Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Emery Denny Jr.Search the index · The Daily Tar Heel, August 23, 1982, p. 8
  6. Chapel Hill Town Council takes power to regulate Village Cable rate increases On November 14, 1983, the Chapel Hill Town Council voted 5 to 3 for a resolution giving the town two years' authority to regulate Village Cable's rates whenever increases topped 10 percent a year; Mayor Joe Nassif switched his vote after the town attorney warned that a deadlock would leave the matter to the new council. Village Productions owner Jim Heavner said a recent Federal Communications Commission action barred towns from regulating anything but the 12-channel basic service. People: Jim Heavner Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Joe NassifSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, November 16, 1983, p. 3
  7. An Orange County judge orders Village Cable and Alert Cable to show the ACC "Season Ticket" games to all ESPN subscribers On January 11, 1984, District Court Judge Patricia Hunt issued a temporary restraining order, on complaints by two local subscribers, forcing Village Cable and Alert Cable to show ESPN's pay "Season Ticket" ACC basketball games, which cost $75 inside the ACC states but were free elsewhere, to every ESPN customer. After similar orders across the state, ESPN and Raycom dropped the package on January 17, and Village Cable began refunding subscribers. People: Jim Heavner Place: Orange County District Court, Chapel Hill · Also named: Patricia HuntSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, January 12, 1984, p. 1
  8. Jim Heavner urges limits on sales at the UNC Student Stores In a Village Advocate column, Heavner, president of the Village Companies, asked the university to take a hard look at the Student Stores under the Umstead Act, calling them Orange County's largest retail store. Student body president Paul Parker and university officials defended the stores, which funded financial aid. Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Paul Parker · Also mentions: Student StoresSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, December 4, 1984, p. 1 (Heavner item on the Student Stores)
  9. The Village Companies gives Chapel Hill police $30,000 for downtown security assistants At a Town Hall press conference on October 4, The Village Companies, owner of WCHL and The Village Advocate, gave the town $30,000 to hire and train up to 20 unarmed civilian security assistants to watch downtown and radio police on weekend nights. The Town Council approved the plan on October 13; Police Chief Ralph Pendergraph said the assistants, paid $6 to $6.50 an hour, would have no power of arrest. People: Jim Heavner Place: Town Hall, Chapel Hill · Also named: Ralph Pendergraph · Also mentions: WCHLSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, October 5, 1993, p. 3
  10. Chapel Hill's civilian patrol unit begins walking downtown streets Unarmed civilian patrollers carrying radios first walked downtown Chapel Hill on the night of November 12, serving as extra eyes for police in high-crime areas and hours, in positions paid for by a $30,000 donation from The Village Companies. Lt. Tony Oakley headed the program, which Village Companies president Jim Heavner criticized two days later after a group assault on West Franklin Street. People: Jim Heavner Place: Franklin Street, Chapel Hill · Also named: Tony OakleySearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, November 16, 1993, p. 1 · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, December 6, 1993, p. 3
  11. The Village Companies sells WCHL to Curtis Media Group The Village Companies sold WCHL, then the smallest of its dozen or so media outlets, to Curtis Media Group, which paired it with Durham's WDNC and moved it out of Chapel Hill. Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Don Curtis · Also mentions: WCHLSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, September 10, 2002, p. 9 (WCHL to Reconnect With Chapel Hill)
  12. VilCom takes over WCHL's operations and brings the station back to Chapel Hill Curtis Media kept ownership, but Heavner's VilCom took charge of the station's operations, planned a move to VilCom Circle in Chapel Hill by November 1 and an all-news and talk format, and aimed to make WCHL again the reference point for news of Chapel Hill and Carrboro. Place: Chapel Hill · Also mentions: WCHLSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, September 10, 2002, p. 9 (WCHL to Reconnect With Chapel Hill)

People named in the same events

People named in the same dated entries as Jim Heavner, those sharing the most entries first. Each line links one of the shared entries in the chronology, where its source is cited. A shared entry shows these people in the same event, not how well they knew each other.

Indexed works

Works about or by Jim Heavner. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it. Background reading appears below.

Oral history interview with James Heavner, 2002 (Chapel Hill Historical Society cassette)

2002

Jim Heavner recounts growing up in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, his student days at UNC and how the Village Companies holding company grew in Chapel Hill. Interviewed by Doug Eyre in 2002; oral history cassette in the Chapel Hill Historical Society's Audiovisual Materials Collection, CHHS.012.

Included because: Their name appears in the record.

CH Historical Society

Woody Durham Roast, January 25, 1986

Morton, Hugh M. · 1986

Sports broadcaster Woody Durham speaks at a roast in his honor on 25 January 1986, probably in Chapel Hill. Seated beside him is Jim Heavner, at the time head of The Village Company in Chapel Hill. Hugh Morton photograph.

Included because: Their name appears in the record.

DPLA

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  • WCHL radio Libraries, museums and media · Chapel Hill · 3 events here

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