by Paul Pakusch
Near the end of my junior year in college at SUNY Geneseo in
the spring of 1982, I was looking for a summer job. My friend, Brad Smith at Geneseo, was working
at WROC Channel 8 at the time and told me about vacation summer relief
jobs. I figured I didn’t have anything
to lose by applying, so I sent in a job application and resume. In the meantime, I was offered a job as s
security guard for a security company (I don’t remember which one). When I got home from accepting my new job, my
sister told me there was a phone message from Channel 8. Chief Engineer John Coon wanted me to come in
for a job interview. I think I went the
next day and was hired on the spot. So I
called back the security company and told them I got another job.
My job at Channel 8 was to work in the control room and
studio. It was a temporary job for the
summer with full time hours. My WeMoCo
training came in handy here. I started
out on studio camera, then added audio and master control. My hours were 2:45 to 11:45 PM; I was involved
in daily late afternoon production of commercials and interview shows. Then we got ready for and produced the 6:00
PM newscast. In the evening we did the
11:00 news.
Master control was a lot like running a radio station except
with video. I found I really enjoyed
that, and it remained my favorite control room position through my entire
32-year television career. The times we had to scramble for special reports,
breaking news, or other quick program changes were invigorating for me. I prided myself in quick, smooth changes.
I also learned how to edit video for news. We were using ¾” U-Matic videocassettes at
the time. I was often assigned to edit
some news stories in the evening.
It was just a few short months for me at WROC Channel
8. As my temporary job was coming to an
end in August, I started thinking about continuing my career in television
instead of radio. I recognized that
control room TV jobs were a lot more secure than pretty much any job in a radio
station. There were no permanent openings at WROC, so a longtime employee and
supervisor at WROC, Joe Mazzaferro, offered to call his friend, Jerry Evans, chief
engineer at WHEC Channel 10. I stood right
in the office while he made the phone call to Jerry. He told Jerry that if any openings came up,
he had a guy he could recommend.
My last evening on the job at Channel 8 was a Sunday. The crew wished me well. The following Wednesday, I got a phone call
from Jerry Evans. I was interviewed on
Thursday and offered a weekend part time job on the spot. It was perfect! I could go to school for my senior year at
Geneseo during the week and work weekend evenings at Channel 10. I started the following Saturday, so I didn’t
miss a weekend!
You get familiar with certain places and routines. The weekend I started at Channel 10 I was
badly missing being at Channel 8. But I
got over it quickly enough. I continued
working studio camera, master control, audio, and editing news at Channel 10.
In 1982, it was still common for TV stations to sign off
during the overnight hours, and channel 10 signed off around 1:30 or 2:00
AM. While I was working there during my
senior year, Jerry told me they were going to start staying on 24 hours a day
during the week. He offered me a
full-time job for the overnight hours.
It was tempting, but since I was trying to graduate from college, I
turned it down.
Towards the end of my school year and graduation, I was once
again offered a full time vacation relief job.
I did that for the summer of 1983 at Channel 10; in August, a full-time
position opened up and I was offered the job. My part-time college job turned
into my full-time career. There I would
stay for the next 31 years.
In my next chapter, I will have memorable highlights from 32
years at WHEC Channel 10.
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