I’m angrier than a fly stuck in honey over a story involving a local television station, the first station in the world, and the first NBC affiliate. Full disclosure: the station that I’m writing about here is owned by Sinclair Broadcast, for whom I worked 24 years ago as a master control operator at their what was then an NBC affiliate in Dayton, Ohio.
What many people don’t know about me is that, many years ago, I was in the television industry. I started off, again, as a master control operator, literally running the station, i.e. the shows and commercials. Then, I became a program director, responsible for obtaining programming for the station. I also worked in the management of what was then a small station, also in Dayton.
Even though I never worked in the news department, I know how anchors
and reporters are supposed to behave on the air. You can, then,
appreciate my rage over Albany’s local CBS affiliate, WRGB, channel 6 little recent stunt.
It seems that the station’s morning crew of anchors, reporters and weather guessers took it upon themselves to have themselves a little Nerf war. That is not how true professionals behave. If I were the general manager, I’d fire each and every one of the stunt-pullers.
It must be nice to pull stunts like this while pretending to be a professional. Hell, it’s nice work, if you can get it, and you can get it if you try, by working for WRGB. The station has a storied history and as such, they should be dignified on the air. Pulling the Nerf war stunt does not accomplish that goal.
I’ve reached out to the station for a comment, but they have not immediately responded. I’d love to hear their excuse, I really would. If they choose to comment, I will update this article.