jimbenedict7

It was during his first weeks on the crew that Jim was anointed with the nickname that would stick with him the rest of his life: PEAKER. People commonly assume that 'Peaker' has something to do with electronics, i.e. the 'peak' or 'peaking' on a waveform monitor. Not so! In his own words, Jim Benedict tells once and for all how he got his nickname:

"I was there about a month and I was talking to Don Harris, who was quite an inspiration. He was gung-ho and probably one of the most talented television people I ever met. He was not only a reporter and anchor, but Don could write the script, light, shoot and edit film. There's not a thing he couldn't do. We were standing in a hallway near promotion and he was giving me a pep talk. He said 'You owe it to this TV station to give it 100%. If you're working eight hours give 100%, if you're working past eight hours give 110% because that extra 10% will be just for you. You can't come in here feeling tired and not give that 100%; you're cheating the company and you're cheating you. You're on the ground floor and you can go as far as you want to. I can equate working here to climbing a mountain. You start at the base camp and start working your way up. Sometimes you fall, then you get up and keep moving forward. Your aim is to get to the top, the peak…' and just as he said that John Sherry was walking through and heard Don say 'peak' and that's all it took. And that nickname has been with me more than forty years."

Don Harris, whose pep talk resulted in Jim's
nickname 'Peaker'

Jim ran camera on live commercials, the Ernie Lee morning show and Pulse Midday news. In September of 1964, a new program was added to the Channel 13 lineup on Friday nights at 11:30…Shock Theatre. The popular ghoul 'Shock Armstrong' became one of WTVT's most well-known personalities with his anti-social rants and roughneck antics. Jim helped build the Shock set every week from props and rugs stored in the character's coffin. "We once did a 'Shock' that involved him collecting hundreds of pop bottle caps. For years after that we were finding the bottle caps around the studio."

Right - Paul Reynolds as Channel 13's classic character
'Shock' Armstrong

Jim operated camera for the daily editorials recorded prior to the 6pm Pulse newscast. At the time the Pulse newsroom was adjacent to Studio A and visible through a window angled at 45 degrees to eliminate glare. Jim pointed his RCA TK-11 through the window and into the newsroom where the editorial was delivered by then-news director Tom Wright, and later Ray Dantzler. WTVT on-air legends 'Salty' Sol Fleischman, Roy Leep, Andy Hardy, Paul Reynolds, and Hugh Smith were all in their heyday during Jim's time at Channel 13, and despite the shenanigans, there was camaraderie. "Our talent always seemed to understand the crew was there to help them. We took pride in what we did. I don't think we ever had any serious problems with talent."

WTVT constantly made broadcast history with innovations such as the first local ninety minute newscasts, a satellite studio in St. Petersburg and by operating the most sophisticated radar-equipped weather department of any station in the country. Jim was there for another historical moment the night of May 30, 1966, when Channel 13 premiered local, live color. "I remember going live with Hugh Smith using the new RCA TK-42 color camera. The camera was huge with built-in zoom with handles on the back. It was a big deal because we were in a race to beat Channel 8. We put the camera on a crate to rush it on the air. From that point on, there were just constant improvements in television technology."