Oh, the stories he can tell!
George Vogel, who retires as sports director Friday, has worked at WLWT-TV for more than half of its 75 year history with some of Channel 5's best known personalities. And, he seems to have an anecdote about every anchor and anybody else he worked with over nearly 43 years.
The 1975 Georgetown High School graduate started in 1980 in historic Crosley Square at Ninth and Elm streets Downtown, when the daily Bob Braun Show was still on the air, as a sports department intern while attending the University of Cincinnati. That led to a part-time job as morning news writer, and a two-year stint on the news assignment desk, before moving back to sports to work with on-air personalities Steve Physioc and Steve Shapiro.
Vogel, who turned 65 in September, was there for the Braun Show cancellation in 1984; replacing iconic meteorologist Tony Sands with Q102 DJ Pat Barry; the revolving door of news anchors before and after former mayor Jerry Springer was the star co-anchor (1984-92) with Norma Rashid; for three Bengals Super Bowls and a Reds World Series; and the move from Crosley Square in 1999 to the former Taft Broadcasting headquarters building in Mount Auburn.
And he loved every wild and wacky minute. I'll let him tell you about it:
FULL CIRCLE: The WLWT-TV sports director wraps up his career by coming full circle. His first road assignment for Channel 5 was covering Xavier University's NCAA tournament game against Kansas in Nebraska 35 years ago, and his last road trip was covering Xavier's NCAA tournament game in Kansas City last weekend.
He finishes his career broadcasting the Opening Day parade from Fifth and Race streets live on Channel 5. On his first Opening Day at WLWT-TV in the early 1980s, when Vogel was a University of Cincinnati intern, he shuttled Braun Show stars —include Bob — from Crosley Square to Riverfront Stadium, where the popular live noon variety show was being broadcast.
SEEING RED: Don't expect to see Vogel wearing a Hunter Greene jersey when he's broadcasting on Opening Day. He refused to wear Bengals garb covering the playoffs in January, while many TV reporters, anchors and meteorologists in townwere decked out in orange and black.(But not the TV sports journalists.) Some people questioned if Vogel was a Bengals fan because he wasn't wearing the team colors on TV.
"You've got to keep your integrity," Vogel says. "If we came into the clubhouse wearing a Joe Mixon jersey, they'd laugh us out of there."
CRAZY BUSINESS: A few months into his internship, in December 1980, Vogel learned how volatile the business could be the day Channel 5's main anchorman, Scott Osborne, parked in one of the station executive parking spots at Crosley Square.
"They towed his car! He came out and learned his car had been towed, went and found his car, and never came back! That's when I knew this business was crazy."
In early 1984, the station fired main anchor Richard Hull after only nine months. Channel 5 bosses dumped the former CNN anchor to promote mayor-turned-nightly commentator Jerry Springer to anchor after top-rated Nick Clooney announced he was going to KNBC-TV in Los Angeles in March 1984.
"Hull came back from vacation to find the news director parked in his driveway. He told him not to come back. Springer taking over as anchor," Vogel recalls.
BRAUN CANCELED: Five months later, Vogel witnessed how disposable everyone was in television, even the biggest stars, when the station fired Braun in August 1984 after 24 years, and canceled theBob Braun Show.That ended WLWT-TV's 35-year tradition of airing a live noon variety show dating back to Ruth Lyons' show in 1949. Braun took over the show in 1967 when she retired.
"I saw him in the parking lot and I told him, 'Mr. Braun, I'm sorry about what's going on.' And he couldn't have been more gracious. He said, 'I've had such a great time, and a great run, and I appreciate everything.' And I thought, 'That is a class act.' Because he could have been bitter as all get out. There wasn't a bitter bone in that man's body, and that stuck with me."
LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON: In the early 1980s, Bob's son Rob — who later would become the top-rated anchor at WKRC-TV — started his TV career interning in the WLWT-TV newsroom after managing some local restaurants. However, the station refused to hire him because of his famous father, citing nepotism, so he started his on-air career in Knoxville before being hired by Channel 12 in 1984. Vogel was not surprised by his success.
"Coming in as Bob Braun's son, you figured he'd be Mr. Hotshot. I remember thinking: OK, this spoiled brat is coming in and he's got the path greased. But no, that kid worked! Whatever he got, he earned. He was a good dude."
PERFECT WEATHER: Along with the Braun cancellation in 1984, and pairing Springer with co-anchor Norma Rashid, WLWT-TV made another key move — replacing respected meteorologist Sands with DJ Pat Barry. Springer had suggested hiring the DJ, saying he could be "our Willard Scott," referring to the popular Today show weatherman.
"I loved Tony Sands. I grew up watching Tony Sands and (sports anchor) Phil Samp all the time — but if you were going to build a weatherman, you'd probably buildPat Barry. Big gregarious guy.Fun to watch. Funny dude. Always upbeat. When you had Pat Barry and Springer and all those characters in that newsroom, the place was crazy. And a lot of fun."
SPRINGING INTO FIRST: WLWT-TV's gambit worked. Pairing Springer with Rashid and Barry, plus adding sports anchor Ken Broo, vaulted Channel 5's news from third to first place in three years. Springer both anchored and continued delivering his Emmy-winning nightly commentaries in the 11 p.m. news.
"Jerry would walk around the hallway outside the newsroom (in the basement of Crosley Square) smoking a cigar with a legal pad in his hand. He was sketching out his commentary. He was really loved and respected in that building. Whatever he did in the past, or whatever his politics were, he was beloved in that building and a real leader."
UP IN SMOKE: The news ratings fell in 1991-92 after station owner Multimedia Entertainment (Donahue, Sally Jessy Raphael) launched the Jerry Springer daytime talk show in September 1991, while Springer continued to anchor the evening news. After the show moved to Chicago, Springer commuted daily for more than a year to anchor the news and read his commentary. He quit in January 1993, which allowed him to do the "trash TV" topics that made the Springer show so popular it beat Oprah Winfrey in the daytime ratings.
Vogel says Springer was conflicted by his talk show success because it precluded him from returning to politics and being seen as a serious voice on national issues.
"I'd think there'd have to be a part of him that said, 'Do you really think it's good for society to have this crap on the air?' And at the same time, I can't blame Jerry. This stream of money is coming in. Someone in sales told me that that show made more money for more people in television than any syndicated show ever. Yes, it was garbage and trash — but on the other hand that was a big money-maker for television stations all around the country. I don't know. That's a tough one."
SOLD ON THE JOB: Vogel questioned his future at WLWT-TV while working as an off-air sports producer in the mid-1980s. "I was producing, and I saw a ceiling there. I had a wife and two kids. The sales people had all the nice cars in the parking lot. I was looking at other sales jobs in other business when I met with (General Manager) Tony Kiernan. Tony said, 'You ever thought of doing sports reporting? I'll give you a shot at sales, but first you're going to take a shot at reporting.' He's the reason I got into reporting.
"I started covering high school football. Thom Brennaman and I did these head-to-head reports, and it worked. Sponsors loved it. People loved it. Coaches loved it. It worked for a long time. Now with Twitter, and the scores and highlights everywhere, it's cooled somewhat. But that's one thing local news and local sports can do. You don't get that stuff anywhere else. You can have every cable channel in the world — ESPN, FS1, and CBS Sports — and they're not going to care about high school games in Cincinnati. That has been one way we've kind of have been able to survive. But it takes manpower to go out and get all those games."
LONESOME GEORGE: Vogel became indispensable when Brennaman and Broo quit a month apart. Brennaman left his dual role as weekend sports anchor and Reds TV play-by-play announcer to do Chicago Cubs games for the 1990 season. Then Broo jumped to Channel 12.
"And I'm the only guy left on the air in the sports department. Sometimes you've got to be at the right place at the right time. I was very fortunate. I worked with a lot of good people, and they were looking out for me. Some people who were a little bit older than me might say, 'Hey kid, you'd better check yourself on that.' Even when I was in my 30s, I had people who'd say to me, 'You might not want to do it that way the next time.' "
Vogel did the main sports anchor job for several years until WLWT-TV hired former sportswriter Greg Hoard. When Broo returned to WLWT-TV in 2000, Vogel anchored weekends and the Sunday night Sports Rock show. In the late 1980s, they'd help produce the Pete & Johnny Show starring Pete Rose and Johnny Bench, when WLWT-TV held the Reds TV rights (through 1995).
"What a time it was! Ken Broo and I went through a lot together and have millions of laughs when we talk about those times," Vogel says.
TV SURVIVOR: According to Vogel, "I probably should have been fired five or six times." In the early 1990s, when Channel 5's Reds game pre-empted the NBA Finals, station management convinced WSTR-TV to air the basketball games.
"That's when Channel 64 was just starting out. And I talked (on air) about holding the rabbit ears (antenna) out the window to get this station. The general manager got mad at me. I guess 64 b*tched at him saying, 'Look, we're doing you a favor and your sports guy is making fun of us that we're some rinky-dink station.' "
JUST SHOOT ME: "Another time my cigar got in the live shot. I was covering the NCAAs (basketball) in Kentucky. Someone gave me a nice cigar. I lit it up, and it started raining. I didn't want to throw this good cigar down, so the photographer says, 'No, I'll shoot you tight, they'll never see it.' So I just held it down by my side. Well, somehow it got in the shot. The GM (general manager) went ballistic."
BYE GEORGE: First on his agenda is surgery next week to relieve a pinched nerve in his neck which causes numbness in his right hand, arm and leg. In December he had a tumor removed from a kidney.
Retirement plans include traveling with his wife Lisa; playing with their grandchildren (ages 4 and 1); and playing more golf with his Georgetown buddies.
A DIFFERENT WORLD: "It's a totally different media world today. I want local television to thrive. I just don't know how it will, but I want it to. I was so lucky to get in when I did. For the young people in the business, I just hope it's that gratifying for them. I hope they have as much fun as I had."
