Station Break Gateway Communications Newsletter Vol1 No 2

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GATEWAY GROUP MEETS LAWMAKERS IN WASHINGTON:
NEWS REPORTERS GRAB EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS
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On the left above, West Virginia Senator Jennings Randolph addresses the Gateway group at a
special luncheon in Washington. On the right, WOWK-TV's Jacqui Mullen quizzes Senate
Majority Leader Robert C. Byrd.
he genius behind
.ity Communicaue indoor elecystem. A Kent
ied WLYH-TV
tnd became
restoring a
omobile and
touring car. He
t TV 15's annual
summer.
's Mr. Fix-It,
'named.
Gateway Communications, Inc., President George A. Koehler (on the left) poses with
Pennsylvania U. S. Senator Richard Schweiker and WTAJ-TV News Director Eric Rabe.
ILMS IT!
"V's news staff did just
e Country a few weeks
rsection and see what
· "Action News." For·
New York State Senator Daniel Patrick
Moynihan (right, top photo) chats with
WBNG-TV Vice President and General
Manager Donald Snyder. In lower photo,
WL YH-TV News Director Wes Maley
films a report from the White House in
Washington.
TOP D. C. PO l ITI CA l
FIGURES PART OF
TWO-DAY NEWS TOUR
During a whirlwind, two-day
junket to Washington, D.C., last
month, news reporters from the
four Gateway television outlets
walked away with exclusive interviews and programs with many of
the nation's most powerful and
prestigious lawmakers.
During the two-day visit,
Gateway news reporters quizzed
the likes of Senate Majority
Leader Robert Byrd of West
Virginia, Senator Richard
Schweiker of Pennsylvania, U.S.
Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan
of New York, Senators Wendel I
Ford and Walter Huddleston of
Kentucky, Senator Jennings .
Randolph of West Virginia, plus
other congressional figures from
Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky,
New York and West Virginia.
Gateway news reporters
making the trip included Jim
Morgan, Jacqui Mullen, Bob
Smith and Cliff Jernigan of
WOWK-TV, Eric Rabe of WTAJTV, Wes Maley of WL YH-TV
and Larry Estepa of WBNG-TV.
The contingent was headed
by Gateway President George A.
Koehler and Executive Vice Presi dent Lew Klein.
Cornorate
rcorner.
•
BINGHAMTON'S
. DICK KLINE BASKETBALLERS
RAISE FUNDS
FOR CHARITY
In this rare photograph, Gateway's Chief Engineer Dick Kline is seen "seated" at his desk in
Altoona.
Dick Kline is Gateway's Corporate Chief Engineer, holds down the
"chief's" slot at WTAJ-TV in Altoona, is a granddaddy four times now,
and refers to himself as "half-a-century" old!
The bespectacled Kline is a 1951 grad of Philly's Temple University
and joined Altoona's WFBG-TV (now WTAJ-TV) in 1959. Prior to his
Altoona tenure, Dick worked at WEEU-TV in Reading, Pa.;WARD-TV
in Johnstown; the RCA Service Group; and the Electric Storage Battery
Company in Philadelphia. (No, not "The Electric Company" on TV!)
He is a member of the Technical Advisory Committee at the Vo Tech
School in Altoona and serves on the State Advisory Committee for the
Emergency Broadcast System.
He and his wife, Violet, have two children and four grandchildren.
And while Dick calls himself "half-a-century" old, he only looks 50.
"ROOTS WEEK" CELEBRATED
IN HUNTINGTON BY WOWK-TV
"Roots," the highly-acclaimed
blockbuster series on ABC-TV
based on Alex Haley's best-seller,
got the "proclamation" treatment
from Huntington, W. Va., Mayor
William Evans.
Through a "nudge" by
WOWK-TV, Evans issued a formal
proclamation last January making
the week of January 23 "Roots
Week" in the city.
The unusual proclamation
issued by Mayor Evans urged all
people of the Tri-State area to
watch "Roots" on WOWK-TV
and recognized Haley's saga of an
American family as a "classic of
American literature."
The bouncing basketballers
from Binghamton's WBNG-TV
are back.in rare form raising
money for charitable organizations and having a ball to boot.
Last year, the Channel 12
bombers managed to raise more
than $7,000 for various charities,
and they' re wel I on their way
this season to an even better
effort.
The scarlet-white-and-black
dribblers are led by Associate
"Action News" Director Roy
Sova; backed up by engineers
Ron Shoemaker and John
"Perky" Quick, directors Rick
Sands, Chuck Woodruff and Mark
Zani, "Action News" Reporters
Wendy Hammerle and Susan Jo
Candiotti, Kim Downs, traffic
coordinator, and her husband
Dave, photographer Mark
Loomis, salesman Monty Pinker
and Linda Woodruff, Chuck's
wife.
DOTTIE'S "ALEXANDER" NEW STAR AT WTAJ-TV
"Alexander" has become a star! The two·month·old St. Bernard pet of WTAJ-TV receptionist
Dottie Steele will "grow up" on the station's "John Riley Show." The question is, will he. grow
as big as John?
"T
WL YH-TV'~
When is a firesible for generati1
When he's Roger
tion manager at ~
Lancaster, Pa.
A good part o
is spent warming
newspapers and a
with sizzling cop1
WL YH-TV's grea·
schedule.
But Roger's al
the Elizabethtow
Fi re Department.
ity, Roger serves
ENERGY SA
WBNG-TV Et
FOR INGENl
1
Who says broa
live with their he<
pile of resistors?
years, WBNG-TV'
engineers Jim Ste
Finkelman have k
WBNG-TV 12 tra
thermostat at 60 ,
in below zero we;;
to an ingenious h1
which they devise
Despite being ·
experts that it cot
Steffen and Finke
in using the dissip
AM, FM and TV 1
housed atop Bing!
Ingram Hill to wa
Simplified, the sy
the heat into pipe
through a cold air
bui !ding. This pre
WOWK-TV'S MARK YOUNG
COLLECTS RARE MOTION
PICTURES
nTON'S
iALLERS
JNDS
1RITY
basketballers
i's WBNG-TV
orm raising
able organizaa ball to boot.
Channel 12
j to raise more
rarious charities,
Jn their way
even better
lite-and-black
JV Associate
>i rector Roy
by engineers
md John
Jirectors Rick
odruff and Mark
!WS" Reporters
! and Susan Jo
owns, traffic
her husband
1er Mark
Monty Pinker
uff, Chuck's
rWTAJ-TV
VTAJ-TV receptionist
estiun is, will he, grow
"The Hot Ones" has a double meaning to promoter Hipple.
WL YH-TV'S ROGER HIPPLE WEARS TWO HATS
When is a firefighter responsible for generating a lot of heat?
When he's Roger Hipple, promotion manager at WL YH -TV in
Lancaster, Pa.
A good part of Roger's time
is spent warming up the airways,
newspapers and area billboards
with sizzling copy concerning
WL YH-TV's great programming
schedule.
But Roger's also active in
the Elizabethtown Volunteer
Fire Department. In that capacity, Roger serves in the Fire Pre-
vention Division, as assistant hose
director at the scene of a fire, and
as trustee of the fire department's
relief organization.
When he's not wearing his
smoke eater's hat or his promotion manager's cap, Roger also
does I ive remote work for
WL YH-TV, and occasionally
handles the direction of live
,.Action News" reports for the
station. And that's Roger Hipple,
doing a bang-up job for the
Elizabethtown Volunteer Fire
Department and WL YH-TV.
ENERGY SAVERS AT
WBNG-TV EARN BONDS
FOR INGENUITY
ample heat to supplement the
conventional system, thus
allowing for the low thermostat
setting.
Both Finkelman and Steffen
received $200 bonds from
WBNG-TV for their energy-saving
efforts.
Who says broadcast engineers
live with their heads buried in a
pile of resistors? For the last two
years, WBNG-TV's transmitter
engineers Jim Steffen and Allen
Finkelman have kept the
WBNG-TV 12 transmitter plant's
thermostat at 60 degrees, even
in below zero weather, thanks
to an ingenious heating system
which they devised.
Despite being told by heating
experts that it couldn't be done,
Steffen and Finkelman succeeded
in using the dissipated heat from
AM, FM and TV transmitters
housed atop Binghamton's
Ingram Hill to warm the building.
Simplified, the system gathers
the heat into pipes and feeds it
through a cold air return in the
building. This process provides
Do you remember a movie
cal led "The Kiss?"
Don't fret too much because
it was made in 1896. You may
have missed it.
But, Mark Young didn't. It's
part of his unique collection of
fi Im classics. Mark is a member
of WOWK-TV's promotion staff
in Huntington-Charleston, W. Va.,
and has been collecting film for
the past four years. He now has
200,000 feet of priceless material.
The guy has 300 films,mostly
comedies. He has twenty of
those Laurel and Hardy classics,
plus others featuring Buster
Keaton, W. C. Fields, the Three
Stooges, the Marx Brothers, Our
Gang, Will Rogers, Harold Lloyd
and scores of others.
He has the first cartoon ever
made - "Gertie the Dinosaur" filmed in 1909 and W.C. Fields'
first film, "Pool Sharks," made
in 1915.
No, he will not part with
his 38 miles of footage. He also
will not shave off his Mark Spitztype moustache, with which he
hopes to out-fuzz Altoona's
Don Cossitor!
CAN YOU TOP THIS?
"WE THE PEOPLE"
GIVES PODIUM TO
TV15 VIEWERS
"We the People," a new feature
currently running on Gateway's
WL YH-TV in Lancaster-Lebanon,
Pa., gives viewers a TV podium to
air their own views on a wide
variety of topics.
The unusual commentaries
delivered by citizens throughout
the Central Pennsylvania area are
aired three times each day,
according to Program Manager
Henry Urick of TV 15.
WTAJ-TV director Don Cossitor challenge:,
any Gateway staffer to sprout a more handsome moustache. Any takers? Somehow,
Don, it just doesn't seem sporting to
transplant hair from your head to your
upper lip.
Donna Munn, secretary to
WT AJ-TV's Vice President and
General Manager Ian Harrower,
is a featured singer on the
station's monthly "Sister Bernice
Shaw Show" ... Michael Drake
has joined WOWK-TV's "Action
News" staff from Jacksonville,
Florida ... WBNG-TV "Morning
Show" Host Paul Orlousky will
tie the knot this June to Kim
Allen ... John Riley has celebrated his 20th year at WT AJ-TV
... WL YH-TV flies three flags
in front of its building in
Lebanon - the American flag, a
Bicentennial flag and a speciallydesigned Gateway Communications banner ... Lew Klein,
Gateway's executive vice president, was honored by the
Philadelphia Television, Radio
and Advertising Club ... the
stork visited the homes of
WT AJ-TV Program Manager Jeff
Hark and Account Executive
Bob Eger. Jeff's son is named
Jason and Bob's new baby was
named Scott ... Ohio State
Football Coach Woody Hayes
paid a visit to WOWK -TV to address a Boy Scout Leadership
Gifts Dinner headed by the
station's VP and General Manager Leo MacCourtney ... Ron
Shoemaker, the assistant chief
engineer at WBNG -TV, was a
professional trumpet player for
the U.S. Air Force Band ...
another trumpet player with
Gateway is Sports Director Ron
Winders of Channel 13 in
Huntington ... WT AJ-TV programming gal -Friday Annette
Shiappa is a pre-law grad ...
WBNG-TV Chief Engineer Mike
LaMonica is celebrating his 28th
year with Triangle/Gateway.
Mike is an avid golfer and boasts
an eight handicap (but on the
course he'll ask for ten)!
GATEWAY PROGRAM
NOMINATED FOR
NATPE SPECIAL AWARDS
BOB GOOD FIXES CARS,
REMODELS TV 15
FACILITIES
"The Bicentennial in Keystone
Country," produced by WTAJTV's Jon McClintock,and WOWKTV's "Mock Political Convention"
were nominated for special
awards at the National Association of Television Program Executives annual confab last month.
WT AJ-TV' s program was
nominated for a citation under
the" Bicentennial Programming"
category while WOWK-TV's entry
received a nomination under
"I nstructi ona I Programming."
Meet Mr. Fix-It. His real name
is Bob Good and he"s the chief engineer at WL YH-TV in LancasterLebanon. An expert carpenter,
plumber and electrician, Good
handles all the remodeling chores
at Channel 15.
FOUCHEUX NEW HOST
OF "THE MORNING SHOW"
Rick Foucheux is the new host
of "The Morning Show" at
WOWK-TV. A Louisiana native,
Rick joined the Huntington
station from KA LB-TV in
Alexandria, La.
A former weathercaster, actor
and look-alike of David Groh of
the "Rhoda" series, Foucheux is
a political science buff and once
wanted to be governor of
Louisiana.
GATEWP
NEW~
MR. FIX-IT!
On the left above, W1
special luncheon in
Majority Leader Robe
Bob Good is the genius behind
Gateway's Park City Communications and its unique indoor electronic billboard system. A Kent
State grad, he joined WL YH-TV
in the early 60's and became
"chief" in 1967.
He's currently restoring a
1928 Hudson automobile and
has a 1920 Essex touring car. He
even plays chef at TV 15's annual
"steak out" each summer.
As WL YH-TV's Mr. Fix-It,
Bob is most aptly named.
Gateway Communica
Pennsylvania U. S. ~
GREG GUISE WAITS ON WRECK -THEN FILMS IT!
Ever wait around for a wreck - and then film it? Greg Guise of WTAJ-TV's news staff did just
that this Winter. Following one of the numerous snowstorms in Keystone Country a few weeks
back, Guise decided he wanted to position himself at a slippery intersection and see what
happened. It happened. Two cars collided and Greg got his footage for "Action News. " Fortunately, no one was injured.
New York State St.
Moynihan (right, to,
WBNG· TV Vice Pr
Manager Donald Sn~
WL YH-TV News l
films a report from
Washington.