December 27th, 2009 
joel That’s the first time I’ve written “2010.” It took me months to not start my dates with a “19″, but that was so 10 years ago.
And so this week we mark the end of the most tumultuous media decade since the 1940’s, with its the coverage of World War II and the total affect on media, concluding with the advent of commercial broadcast television.
We’ll be doing lots of reminiscing and soul searching in the next several days, so join us with your comments. If you’d rather, e-mail me at joel@nataliemedia.com or tweet @pressandtower. By the way, recently I seperated my personal and other professional tweets (via @JoelNatalie) from my media tweets, so if you haven’t been getting updates, please be sure you are following @pressandtower.
Embrace the ball-dropping chaos!
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I realize Joel is getting tired of the negativity on this board as of late. However, after watching the WICU 60th Anniversary I just don’t care if I get labeled a “disgruntled former employee.” After watching that piece of garbage that mas masquerading as an Anniversary show I AM a disgruntled former employee!
It was crap! Pure and simple! Who the hell told them to put in about WICU12.com? And if “you want to know when Law & Order is on just go to WICU12.com?”
Very bitterly disappointed in the program. It could have been done a whole lot better. I will be signing my name and identity as I watched the show with my Uncle, former WICU Chief Engineer Michael Csop who was not happy with how the program turned out.
Phil Fatica was barely at WICU for 3 years and he got all that airtime? Locke Roberts? A.J. Colby? Dylan Dreyer? Yes, they are all legends – aren’t they?
Just as I was fearful – the show was nothing but a newscast style infomercial program for the current team. Sad
Timothy Reed
WICU Employee (News & Operations) 1992-1994
P.S. I have the stones to sign my real name to this posting!
I thought it was “ok”…nowhere near as good as the one in 1989…but given the constraints that Lilly placed on the production staff…had to get that 7:30 infomercial on after all, so keep it at 30:00…they did alright. At least they didn’t break for commercials or promos.
It’s unfortunate that most of the major players back in the day are no longer with us. I wonder if they were able (or even attempted) to make contact with Hyle Richmond out in Arizona.
It was also sad to see the amount of local programming that was done even into the 90’s…that no longer is being done today.
All in all, somewhat of a bittersweet tribute.
I doubt that Hyle wants anything to do with the Lilly’s. After all he sued the station for age discrimination and won a settlement. He’s probably glad to be rid of BL, his old man, and the screwed up management of WICU.
It was, in my humble opinion, as a local tv director for 26 years, a piece of, ummm, well, let’s just use a more acceptable term, crap. The video quality was typically abysmal (you’d think for a 60th Anniversary show, they would have tweaked the cameras to make them , at least, look, acceptable… oh, that’s right, that’s probably the best they could have gotten from the closed-circuit quality cameras they have at 35th & State, along with the “professional” lighting on that “set”.) My favorite portion was the interview with Chief Engineer John Wilkocz talking about how great HD was, with the video quality not quite up to the standards I accepted as a student at Gannon in 1982. I’m not going to put any blame on the technicians who worked on this program – they only worked within the parameters of the equipment and technology (and time-frame) that Lilly Broadcasting has allowed them to have.
It was a disservice to even mention Ollie and Lennie and Mike Csop’s names during the program – they NEVER would have allowed that technically deficient program on the air in their days! The great people who have worked at WICU over the last 60 years deserved a lot more than THAT!
And, George and Wayne! And Tom Heise, and Rick, and all the others who work in the “bowels” of the WICU/WSEE master control room. I’m not dissing you, you guys have to work with what you’re given. And what you’re given isn’t much!
Bob,
I have to agree…it was kind of shocking to see the distorted and stretched out portraits of the newscasters on my standard def TV. I make photos work on video screens every day…it’s called Photoshop, and you put some nice background underneath the photos that don’t perfectly fit the 720×480 aspect ratio.
They had at least three months to produce…I guess I expected higher production values and more stories of “remember when.”
Of course, in defense of the producers, these projects are generally “no win” situations, where your priorities and efforts are always questioned by somebody. You overcome that with a “wow” factor in content, which was a bit lacking.
It was, sad to say, what was expected
For the record, Lisa Adams conversed with former WICU engineer Mike Csop this weekend and Michael was very appreciate of Lisa’s efforts in making the 60th Anniversary show happen and he “had tears in his eyes.” Csop provided much of the early archive footage show on the special.
Whatever Joel! I WATCHED the program with my Uncle and I was there to hear his reactions. I can assure you he did not “have tears in his eyes” as you were told. Did Mike Csop tell you that? If not I suggest you email me and i will give you his home number and you can verify that FALSE story that he had tears in his eyes.
You really need to verify second hand comments before posting them as gospel.
I”m done trying to care about what has happened to Erie TV. I am too busy with my own business to get into juvenile “he said this/no he didn’t” arguments.
For the record – I am not surprised this has come back to bite me in the butt the way it has. Merely the Modus Opperandi of Lilly Broadcasting: discredit ANYONE who dares speak against the evil empire. Congratulations Joel on doing their dirty work.
Go ahead and delete my IP and please make it so I can no longer comment – I don’t like being indirectly called a liar. I know what I heard.
I feel sorry for those who still have to work for that individual.
Hello?!? Since when is it doing somebody’s “dirty work” when offering contrasting views? Just reporting what Lisa, a 30-year colleague, told me directly; that’s all.
If Mike Csop had tears it was because he was crying over the fiasco that Lilly called a tribute. As for Lisa, there is no way she will tell you that Mike was unhappy…its not Lisa’s style. You can’t compress 60 years into 30 minutes. Lilly doesn’t care about 12’s history…all he wants is the money. SJL has shown that they don’t care about the Erie viewers, or quality, all they want to do is bleed 12/35 until they break the unions and the stations are nothing but automated pass-throughs for the network, with no local commitment.
Whoever is posting all the negative things about my dad had better quit it and grow up. Speak for yourself and not for others. Appreciate the things people do for others. Hostility should be off the web.
Who’s your daddy?
Who are you????
Michelle…
You said don’t post negative things about your dad…so who’s your dad?
Happy New Year to all the P&T contributors. Here’s to the memory of Ned McGrath, Vance McBryde and Bill Knupp in tuxedos doing the New Years eve 11:00 o’clock news. That was class.
PR,
I was remembering those guys and Shirley holding champagne glasses, toasting their viewers at New Years, but never taking a drink on camera.
It was mentioned in the show that WICU had no networks to rely on when it first came along. NBC has indeed had programming on Channel 12 since March 15, 1949. The Erie Dispatch of that day lists “Kukla, Fran & Ollie” and “Philco Television Playhouse” as scheduled shows. Network shows such as “Meet The Press” and “Howdy Doody” (both 1947) on NBC, and Ed Sullivan’s “Toast of the Town” (1948) on CBS, pre-date Channel 12’s sign-on.
It was actually 1989 when Hyle Richmond sued WICU. This was 2 years after “NewsCenter 12″ premiered, and still under Lamb-owned Great Lakes Comminucations.