Tracy Rowlett, a fixture on local TV news in the Dallas market for 34 years, came out of retirement for a day to talk about his favorite news anchor now that he’s ‘just a news viewer’. “The spot was totally ad-libbed, no script,” said Rowlett. Rowlett says the new spot for KTVT, the CBS affiliate […]
Tracy Rowlett, a fixture on local TV news in the Dallas market for 34 years, came out of retirement for a day to talk about his favorite news anchor now that he’s ‘just a news viewer’.
“The spot was totally ad-libbed, no script,” said Rowlett.
Rowlett says the new spot for KTVT, the CBS affiliate in Dallas, was shot in an intimate setting at the station by creative services director David Hershey. According to Rowlett, Hershey asked him some questions and the spot emerged from his answers.
Rowlett was the main news anchor on WFAA, the Dallas ABC affiliate, from 1974 until he jumped to KTVT in 1999. Rowlett retired from KTVT in 2008.
“Karen Borta and I co-anchored the news on KTVT for 9 years”, said Rowlett.
Rowlett says he likes “the honest sense and presence to the spot”.
Hershey says he knew that Rowlett and Borta remained close.
“They have a mutual respect for each other,” said Hershey.
“I knew they kept in touch, and I thought there’s not a better person to talk about Karen Borta than Tracy Rowlett.”
Hershey says the spot was easy to do.
“Honest spots are the easiest to put together. When you use a lot of special effects, it’s like you’re trying to gloss over something. I wanted to do a spot that speaks for itself.”
When I asked Rowlett if he had any advice for local TV news marketers, he said, “sometimes news promo spots are over-produced. Keep the spots informative and talk directly to viewers and don’t always make the spots a sell job.”
Something to consider from a 34-year TV news veteran.
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