R.I.P.: Former TV Exec, Metromedia President Bob Bennett

Bob Bennett

Bob Bennett, the founding general manager of WCVB-TV in Boston, died Tuesday in California after a prolonged illness.

“Bob was beloved by all, with an infectious personality and unparalleled leadership ability. In launching WCVB in 1972, Bob’s vision was one of a truly local television station, a blueprint which has been dutifully followed for 45 years. He was a genuine broadcasting pioneer and legend, respected equally by his staff and competitors. His impact on local broadcasting, nationwide, is his legacy,” said Bill Fine, WCVB President and General Manager.

Bennett, born in Altoona PA,  ranked among the nation’s most accomplished broadcasters over a 50-year career that was capped by induction to the prestigious Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame.

At the pinnacle of his tenure in the industry in the early to mid 1980’s, Bob Bennett, 89, guided the nation’s then-largest broadcast station group as President of Metromedia Broadcasting.

He championed and captained the launch of such nationally successful shows as “Fame,” “Three’s Company," “Small Wonder,” and “Star Search.”

Bennett began his broadcasting career in 1952 as a salesman at KTTV-TV, Los Angeles. Rising through Metromedia’s broadcast division, he served as Vice President and General Manager of its TV station (WTTG-TV) in Washington, D.C., and, from 1969 to 1971, the country’s largest and most successful independent station, WNEW-TV, New York.

In 1972, the Federal Communications Commission, for the first time in its history, awarded a television license to a new group of operators in Boston. Bennett was selected to lead the group.

He emerged as the station’s principal architect, builder, manager and owner. From the start, WCVB was conceived as a model of what local television broadcasting could be in America. It produced more than 60 hours of locally produced programming at a time when most stations were content simply to run local news and occasional documentaries.

In 1985, Bennett arranged and directed the sale of WCVB-TV to the Hearst Corporation for $450 million, which was then cited as the new high watermark for any television station sale in the U.S.