On the Tube
Pergament: Syndicated reports tread new ground
One of the more popular periodic features in sports, entertainment or business answers the question “Where Are They Now?”
In the case of quirky former Channel 7 feature reporter Don Polec, the answer is, he is on Channel 2. How and why Polec’s oddball, syndicated features have landed on WGRZTV’s “Daybreak” and other newscasts speaks to the state of broadcasting.
The Buffalo native and his former employer in Philadelphia, WPVI-TV, parted ways in April, 27 years after he left WKBW-TV. He was paid a small fortune ($200,000 to $250,000 a year is conservatively in the ballpark) to provide the Philadelphia stories. And these being strange—make that tough—economic times in broadcasting, Polec wasn’t exactly an in-demand commodity when his contract ran out.
“Advertising revenue in [Philadelphia] is down 30 percent,” said Polec. “Any business that loses 30 percent of its income in one year is going to go into panic mode, so there was talk about salary reductions and cutting back everywhere. I looked at that and said it’s a good time to try and get out from under this situation and try something independently.”
He said the parting was by mutual agreement. “They said they weren’t going to be able to continue paying me what they were paying me,” said Polec.
At 57, Polec “retired” from the station. He joined the fledging video production company Sunblossom Entertainment, started by his wife, Ann Marie.
WPVI was on board, enjoying Polec’s efforts without having to pay him health care and other benefits. Polec, who recently was named to the Buffalo Broadcasting Hall of Fame, approached Channel 7 before any other local stations. After all, he made his name there. He never heard back, which didn’t surprise him because of the station’s high-profile financial issues.
Channel 4 didn’t respond, either. That left Channel 2, which has been running the feature “Don Polec’s World” since Oct. 1.
It also carries the stories on its Web site.
The features—such as one about an electronic music instrument called the Theramin used in science fiction and scary films—could run anywhere.
Polec is offering eight pieces a month. One of the more amusing was on hippopotamus sweat, which is supposed to work as a chemical-free sunscreen, insecticide and antiseptic. And then there was the one about the world’s only museum devoted to The Three Stooges called the Stoogeum.
So far, the features only run in Philadelphia and Buffalo, though Polec said stations in Phoenix, Cleveland and Atlanta appear to be interested. He and his wife also are looking for sponsors, which could make the features more attractive to stations by reducing their costs.
He believes what he does is ideal for the new world of broadcasting, which is so scary these days that the Theramin should be playing in the background.
“[Stations] are understandably panicking because they saw their audience eroding and they don’t know quite what to do,” said Polec. “They are trying to cut costs by hiring tons of journalism and communication students right out of college. . . . While many of them do a good job, they are going to be lacking something from a measure of quality that comes from years of experience and knowledge of the market and of doing what you are doing.”
In other words, if Polec were doing a feature on the scary times in broadcasting he would show a shot of a high school TV operation and juxtapose it with actual newsrooms.
“And I’d say you’re not going to be able to tell the difference between this group of people and this group of people,” said Polec. “They would be exactly the same, but one is just getting out of high school and one is working professionally at a TV station.
“It is like ‘No Country for Old Men,’ it is like ‘New Career for Old Men,’ ” added Polec. “It is like the wisdom, the experience that comes with the . . . incremently rising salaries over the years is not now economically feasible for the stations to afford.”
He added that he believes the business is turning to On Demand, with viewers less willing to wait until 11 p. m. to see weather and sports when the information is immediately available on the Internet, cell phones and cable channels.
“The type of things that I have been doing for years lends itself to that,” said Polec, whose reports also are available on the stations’ Web sites.
“Where news has faltered is that everything has become so specific these days,” said Polec. “Everything is about how your life will be made better, what is lurking out there and is dangerous to your children, what is out there that you can use to save money. All very valid subjects. But there is no opportunity anymore it seems to be exposed to something that you know nothing about it and previously had cared nothing about.”
That’s where Polec comes in with his features.
“I have always approached them as sort of an introductory course to a subject you may never have thought about, have never have cared about, would never independently seek out. But if you are exposed to them, it might lead to an interest you never knew you had, and you might go on to pursue it.”
At 57, Polec didn’t expect to be pursuing a new career himself.
“Not really,” said Polec. “But to be honest, it’s kind of invigorating and lit a spark in my enthusiasm again . . . It was getting to the point that it was absurd. I wasn’t able to do the stories that I liked. Everything was a promotionally serving, promotionally driven subject. It was getting not fun.”
And everyone knows that Don Polec’s World has always been about fun.
Log into MyBuffalo to post a comment
MyBuffalo is the new social network from Buffalo.com. Your MyBuffalo account lets you comment on and rate stories at buffalonews.com. You can also head over to mybuffalo.com to share your blog posts, stories, photos, and videos with the community. Join now or learn more.
Reader comments