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Start Free Trial NowTitle: Big Men At Little TV Station: Two Mavericks Out To Save Channel 45
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o o o Bluebonnet Bowl One Victory For Tim McDonald, Left, And John Trider > Big Men At Little TY Station Two Mavericks Out To Save Channel 45 BY JERRY KENION Daily News Television Writer « ho are the quick Hunkers * I y / who brought you the Blue- l/y/ bonnet Bowl on that little * * UHF independent WJTM- TV in Winston-Salem? They call themselves the “Missouri Street Fighter” and the “Boston Flash.” And Tim McDonald and John Trinder make quite a hard-driving, fast-talking team. They took over Channel 45 last October, as president and vice president of Television Cor poration of North Carolina, a group of Tidewater Virginia investors. The Street Fighter is bearded Tim McDonald, 37, who says he wouldn’t be in television “if it wasn’t fun.” De spite his self-given nickname, McDon ald isn’t a slick-talking, big-city guy. He grew up on a Springfield, Mo., farm, where he had his own basketball court in a bam. He graduated from high school at age 15, after setting basketball scoring records. A short stint in college, and McDonald jumped right into broadcasting, because the college coach had kept him on the bench too long. McDonald isn’t the kind of guy to sit quietly on a bench. He went right into broadcast action in Springfield, fight ing his way up through the ranks of radio and TV stations there. He moved through several stations there, and in Oklahoma, Boston, San Fran cisco, New York and Washington. Along the way, he was married and divorced. In 1978, McDonald was making $50,000 a year as program manager of the Washington independent, WTOP. He was a busy man. No time for phone calls from people he’d never heard of. When a Mr. Cooper called from Norfolk, McDonald told his sec retary to get rid of the caller. Joel Cooper (whom McDonald says was a millionaire at age 25) was not used to being ignored. Cooper sent a message to the reluctant McDonald: “Tell him to pick up the phone and I’ll make him a million dollars in a year.” That got McDonald’s attention. “Cooper said he was looking for the best independent television guy in the country — me,” said McDonald, “and the brat sales manager in Tidewater Virginia, which turned out to be . John.”. McDonald said Cooper had teamed with Gene Loving, another Norfolk millionaire, with the idea of investing in independent television stations. McDonald said he negotiated with Cooper and Loving for six months, meanwhile becoming vice president and director of broadcasting at Metro media Television’s WTTC (Channel 5 in Washington). McDonald wanted to own “a big piece of the company” and the promise that the company would continue to expand — because, he said, “I have a short attention span.” By May, 1979, McDonald came to terms with the corporation and moved to Norfolk to get WTVZ on the air the following September. Meanwhile, Cooper was negotiating with the Boston Flash, John Trinder, who moved to the new independent from WTAR in Norfolk, where he was local/regional sales manager. Trinder, 39, took a more conven tional route to success. A native of Shrewsbury, Mass., he earned a de gree from the University of Bridge port and did graduate work at Assumption College and Old Dominion University. Moving through the ranks of advertising and sales, Trinder joined the sales staff of WTAR-TV in Norfolk, and was promoted to lo cal/regional sales manager in 1976. Reared in a Catholic family, Trinder is very much the family man, and he still lives in Virginia Beach with his wife, Priscilla, and their two sons. It was McDonald who dubbed Trin der the “Boston Flash.” Trinder is a runner — and a mover and shaker as well. > The first station prospered under when Carolina accepted the Houston bid, guaranteeing viewer interest in ‘this area. Just on the heels of the Heels’ victo ry came the start of Channel 45’s col lege basketball schedule. Last week’s Miehigan-Purdue and Notre Dame- Villanova games tipped off the inde pendent’s lineup, which so far includes 11 games. Coming up are Monday’s 8 p.m. Texas-Arkanasas game, Ford- ham vs. Notre Dame on Jan. 19, Notre Dame vs. San Francisco on Jan. 21, Providence vs. Louisville on Jan. 27, Notre Dame vs. South Carolina on Jan. 31, a wild-card game on Feb. 2, Kansas vs. Missouri on Feb. 9, Louis ville vs. Marquette on Feb. 14, and Marquette vs. DePaul on Feb. 21. Trinder also nabbed “World Cup Tennis,” to begin its 26-week schedule of Saturday 9 p.m. telecasts on Jan. 31 In November Channel 45 didn’t exactly scare the established stations. But it did show np in the book, averaging 2 percent of all the view ers from sign-on to sign-off. From zero to two is up. McDonald and Trinder. And then there were two. In October, 1980, the same investors bought Channel 45 in Winston-Salem, then WGNN, owned by Piece Goods and operated by the Simms brothers. They also have purchased WHCT in Hartford, Conn., and applied for FCC approval of new stations in Richmond, Va., Austin, Tex., Nashville, Tenn., and Jackson, Miss. When the FCC approved the sale of Channel 45 last September, McDonald and Trinder took advantage of the re quired 30-day waiting period to plan and buy programs. First on the McDonald-Trinder agenda was a new program schedule, along the lines of what had worked in Norfolk. Channel 45 went to “block” programming (several joining pro grams aimed at the same audience segment), mixed with lots of movie classics and sports. AH, SPORTS. A TV subject dear to the eyeballs of Triad TV viewers. Trinder’s eyes light up at the mention of sports, too. He remembers every sports program he’s bought for the Norfolk station. “In Norfolk we carried 65 live sports events in one year,” Trinder said, proclaiming himself a sports ad dict. So, Trinder’s programming pre judices (and his proven ability to sell advertisers on sports) brought you several December bowl games. Chan nel 45. carried the Holiday Bowl, Tan gerine Bowl, Garden State Bowl and — the real lucky break — the Blue bonnet Bowl, where North Carolina licked Texas. Trinder hadn’t the slightest inkling which teams would be playing in those bowls when he bought the package — but he^certainly wasn’t disappointed on Channel 45. Trinder promises to add more events as the year moves along. When Trinder isn’t ticking off sportscasts bought and to be bought, he flips through his slick sales book. Using statistics about the fast rise of WTVZ, the smiling Trinder could sell commercial time to a kid with a lemon ade stand — assuming the kid had the bucks to buy. But, then, Trinder will tailor a com mercial program for anyone. “We also , offer rates for smaller clients; it’s part of the role of an independent station,” he said, flashing his boyish smile. After the Boston Flash has done his convincing sports-and-sales number, the Missouri Street Fighter gets in an other punch or two. There are all those wonderful old movies he’s bought — because he’s an old-movie fan. And, he’s bought “The Baxters” as Channel 45’s public affairs pro gram, to join a local kids’ news fea ture. Add Operation Prime Time, to start in February, the syndicated “Welcome Back, Kotter” and “Rung Fu,” both to begin in 1981, and the future syndicated rights for “Taxi,” to begin in 1983. With such fast buying and schedul ing, you’d think the little independent was aiming at being the market’s No. 1 station. Not so. “We don’t want to be No. 1; we never will be. We want to be fun and entertaining,” McDonald said. And, unsaid, was every implica tion that McDonald and Trinder will do everything within reason to make Channel 45 quite profitable to boot A new station general manager also will arrive Monday. Charles A. Mc- Fadden, 48, a Denver, Colo., native with 30 years’ experience in televi sion, will be a vice president and gen eral manager. He has been Eastern Division Manager of the Syndication Division of Paramount Television, headquarterd in New York. Before joining Paramount, McFad- den worked for five years in Philadel phia, where he was vice president and director of sales for WPHL-TV, one of three independent UHF stations in that market. McFadden also had top sales and sales management jobs in Dayton, Cleveland, Indianapolis and Albany, in addition to having been vice presi dent and general manager of WJRT- TV in Flint, Mich. McFadden will move to Winston- Salem with his wife, Pat, and the- youngest of their five children. With all the positive changes, there is, however, a large stumbling block to the station’s building viewsershipl WJTM’s signal ranges from weak to non-existent in parts of Greensboro and the over-all viewing area. Never fear. McDonald promises that by April Channel 45 will be sending its signal loud and clear. WJTM’s new 765-foot tower (to reach a total antenna height of 2,000 feet (atop Sauratown Moun-’ tain) is about to start climbing. Mc Donald reported last week that the footings are poured and the tower will be operating by April 1. Even with a weak signal, Channel 45 improved in the November, 1980, Nielsen rating book. Anything would: have been an improvement. Under the previous owners the station didn’t register in the Dominant Market Area ratings, getting less than 1 percent of the areas’ potential TV households for any of its programs. With Television Corporation of N.C. in control for less than a month before the November rating period, Channel 45 didn’t exactly scare the established stations. But it did show up in the book, averaging 2 percent of all the viewers from sign-on to sign- off. From zero to two is up. AND, IN one lone half-hour, Chan nel 45 even claimed the most-watched show for the time — 11 a.m. Sundays — when “Superman” attracted 28 per cent of the TV sets in use. “This company has never had a rat ing book that wasn’t better than the last one,” said McDonald. “I’d better say that while I can,” he said, laugh ing and noting that his group of inves tors have been in TV only two years and have climbed from zero ratings in each case. So much for McDonald’s demand that the company would expand. It is expanding as fast as Federal Commu nications Commission red tape will al low. And, you can bet McDonald and Trinder both got a sizable chunk of the corporations. McDonald hemmed and hawed a bit about his current income. “I’m in a pretty high tax bracket,” said McDon ald, “but money’s only how you keep score, my Dadfly always told me.” So what’s the score with McDonalc and Trinder, the two go-getters whi were promised a cool million? “Yes. On paper, at least, we bot are millionaires,” McDonald saidj>-
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Clipped 1 day ago
- Greensboro Daily News
- Greensboro, North Carolina
- Jan, 11 1981 - Page 66