JimBenedict6

Jim finally got his chance to come to WTVT. "Six months after I'd started at WEDU, Ken Smith called me on a Friday and said that Fred Keating was called out to the reserves for six months active duty, and there was an opening if I liked it. He said I'd be coming over as a page, which included a mail run and training on camera for the morning show. Then there was a bank run and more camera training and so on."

But Jim had to ask Ken for a few minutes to think it over. "WTVT was offering $50 a week but I was already making $65 a week at WEDU. I was still living at home in my old room and wondered if I'd ever get my own place. I finally figured I could take the $15 hit and took the job at WTVT and started the following Wednesday morning on March 15^th,1964. I didn't want to be late so I got there before dawn, sat in the back parking lot in my V.W. and waited for the morning shift to begin."

For Jim Benedict, the magic of WTVT occurred as he strolled under the tower and made his way to the employee entrance. "The first time I walked in the door I liked everything about the place," he beams. "I liked the people, I liked the atmosphere, I liked the job. There was nothing I did not like. It was my first impression, first day…and it's been that way ever since. As soon as I got in there, I knew that's what I was going to do."

WTVT had only been on the air nine years when Jim joined the staff. Many of the station's original employees were still there and served for years to come. Dan Boger was assistant production manager; Dave Togie, Jerry Prater, Jim Hillier, and Joe Wiezycki were directors, while Jim's boyhood pals Bob West and Doug Jones were on the crew along with Nick Stratman, John Sherry, Marvin Wynn, and Fred Hoedt. Ken Smith, who had come to WTVT from WKY in Oklahoma City, ruled production. Jim observed Smith's deft handling of equipment and people and seems to have inherited some of his boss' style. "I don't think I ever saw Ken Smith get mad," Jim observes. "He gave you an assignment and he expected you to do it. I didn't want to disappoint him. My biggest fear was disappointing Ken or Dan."

The on-air staff at WTVT included many Channel 13 legends. Weather Service Director Roy Leep, sportscasters 'Salty Sol' Fleischman and Andy Hardy, reporter/Anchor Hugh Smith, Pulse Extra host Don Harris, and the staff announcer/sportscaster who also portrayed the station's Bozo The Clown and 'Shock' Armstrong...the great Paul Reynolds.

In management, the station was under the firm guidance of General Manager Gene Dodson and Operations Supervisor Bob Olson.

Superior talent before and behind the camera made WTVT the market's BIG 13...towering above the competition. Jim Benedict was about to add his name to the 'legends' roster.

Jim favored camera operating over lighting and set building and admired Joe Wiezycki's ability to dolly on tight lens. "It was very difficult to dolly on an 8-inch lens and stay in focus," he explains. "I practiced hours on that."


Doug Ibold lines up a shot	Bob West was one of Jim's school pals and later a fellow crewmember at BIG 13

Newcomers on the crew were often the target of hazing or pranks, and Jim was no exception. "I got pranked early on. I'd be running camera on the morning show and John Sherry would come up and whisper something to me. When I turned my head around Bob West would sneak over and turn up the brightness on my viewfinder! I'd be shaking the camera trying to get the brightness down and the directors would be yelling…it was a little tough that first month and I thought the guys didn't like me. But I figured they were just trying to scare me like an initiation kind of thing and once you did it back to them things worked out. It was a lot different then. Doug Jones pranked Pat Wilson one day while he was doing the weather. Doug snaked along the floor and tied Pat's shoelaces together. So Wilson couldn't walk to the radar. Of course, you don't do those things now…you just don't do them."

Jim's closest crew pals were Fred Keating and Jim Langham, who is a Godparent to Jim's daughter, Kim. "At 11:30 the crew would go the Seven Seas, which at the time was a decent bar and restaurant and they had pool tables. Tom Kelly was there along with Billy Largay and Bob West. They could run all night but I couldn't….I needed my beauty sleep. It was my shot to make something of myself. I was getting pretty good at it and it wasn't that difficult if you paid attention and learned from the people around you, which is what I did. I sat around and kept my mouth shut, which is hard for some people to believe, and listened to those who knew."

WTVT was a much smaller operation in the 60's and often held company get-togethers such as picnics and holiday banquets. Jim enjoyed these moments away from the studio and used his off-time to develop outside interests in skiing and scuba diving. Over the years, however, his hobbies faded further into the background as his work schedule developed.

Left - Director Larry Renault barbeques at a Ch. 13 picnic.
GM Gene Dodson is seen in background