Signing off

When WNWO-TV, Channel 24’s newscast signed off in Toledo for the final time Friday night, it marked the end of an era filled with plenty of odd quirks and good work.

A station founded in 1966 as WDHO — using the initials of irascible owner Daniel H. Overmyer, who ended up in prison seven years after bankrupting the station — began a half-century run in 1972 with newscasts that could be counted upon for three things:

■ Ranking third in the ratings war behind WTOL-TV, Channel 11, and WTVG-TV, Channel 13.

■ Developing big-time talent that moved on: Future Atlanta Braves TV play-by-play man Pete Van Wieren; long-time WTVG anchor Diane Larson; former Dateline NBC reporter and current Houston TV anchor Len Cannon; WJR-AM Detroit icon Paul W. Smith; Philadelphia radio fixture John Ostapkovich; award-winning reporter Rebecca Aguilar, who has worked in Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, and Phoenix, and Baltimore Orioles and Cleveland Cavaliers announcer Michael Reghi.

■ Having staffs that worked hard, had fun, and developed outstanding camaraderie despite being the perpetual “gritty underdogs” in town.

They worked out of a warehouse (Overmyer owned as many as 350 of them), out of a double-wide trailer (which was repossessed), out of a garage, and even out of South Bend, Ind. — where, oddly enough, newscasts had been done since 2017 because owner Sinclair Broadcasting saw that as economizing their operation.

Never mind that the “local” newscast was done on the other side of another state.

“The station has not been as much of a factor since they basically moved their operation tosuffered from the fact that everyone knew their anchors were no longer in town, even though they had a couple talented people doing local stories.

“The perception was that they were not a local station anymore.”

Jim Foust, a professor in the school of media and communication at Bowling Green State University, noted that moving broadcasts to South Bend “telegraphed the future” and affected “commitment to the community” as a “diminished news operation.”

Foust said it’s part of an overall trend, noting that other cities have lost local network newscasts or merged them such as two stations in Youngstown, Ohio, where he worked in television news.

“It’s problematic any time a community loses a news source,” Foust said. “To lose one of the three news sources on the three local channels is a significant blow, and I think it’s going to hurt people’s ability to know what’s going on in the community from a variety of sources.

“It’s definitely bad news for Toledo and the surrounding area. Unfortunately, Channel 24 has always been seen as an also-ran in the local news business here in Toledo.”

Through it all — well, almost all of it — was the guy most identified with the station. Jim Tichy, 74 and retired in Monclova, set the record for the longest stint and most airtime at WDHO/​WNWO.

“I was really fortunate to get there in 1972, right at the time WDHO, Channel 24 was just starting a news department,’’ Tichy said. “There was Brian Kahle, the news director/​anchor and another guy by the name of Pete Van Wieren, who did sports and weather, and I was the news reporter.

“Our newsroom was the size of a large closet. Three months later, they moved us into a garage. And it was not connected to the studio, which was in a warehouse. So, when if it was raining or snowing, you still had to walk outside to do your newscast in the warehouse.”

He said Van Wieren was thrilled about potentially following Genoa to the state basketball tournament at Ohio State’s St. John Arena in the early years. However, Tichy said general manager Art Dorfner told Van Wieren “he couldn’t handle it,” and that he’d hired a freelancer.

“That was the impetus for Pete Van Wieren to get so pissed off that he decided to leave,’’ Tichy said, “and that opened the door for me. I just really lucked out.”

Tichy, a Bowling Green State University graduate, said covering the 1974-75 Toledo Goaldiggers Turner Cup championship was the highlight of 35 years at the station.

“I worked with some highly talented individuals,” he said, “and we got along great. And I’m proud of the fact that even though we didn’t get ratings, we didn’t let it affect our mindset. The other stations had better equipment, more promotion, better support from their management team. But we did the job as best we could — professionally and accurately.”

He cherished doing the newscast with anchor Larson and Dave Carlson doing weather before going to WTOL. He mentioned a weekend sports anchor “dream team” of Dan DeCrow, Eric Haubert (now at WTVG), Reghi, Bob Trimble, and Steve Violetta.

Current WTVG reporter Lissa Guyton also came from WNWO.

Tichy said Overmyer “cut corners” whenever possible, and added, “We were always a step behind. That was the story of Channel 24.”

And now it’s over.

“It’s really a shame that Toledo doesn’t have more options for its local news,” Tichy said, “but business is business.’’

However, Tichy noted: “Toledo has two great stations in WTVG and WTOL. Now, if the same thing happened to one of them, yeah, it would be devastating. Now, because of how the news operation was handled, it’s really not that big of a deal.”

Larson has co-anchored with Lee Conklin since 1999 at WTVG, and they are the longest-running anchor team in Ohio.

She recalled her 1981-84 stay at WDHO, where she was an anchor at age 23.

“Our newsroom was the size of a galley kitchen,” Larson said. “We were the gritty underdogs, always clawing, and we had great reporters. Some of them went to Detroit stations and we lost them to bigger markets. Paul W. Smith worked there for a while and we did an Easter Seals Telethon.

“We were taken seriously even though 11 and 13 weren’t threatened by us. Community leaders realized we were a legitimate news organization with respectable news journalists who were hard working and accurate. I’ll always have warm and fond memories because that was where my career started.

“There was some real talent there. John Ostapkovich, a producer who has been in Philly forever, was one of them.”

Ostapkovich, 71, was at WDHO from 1978 to 1983 — the year he left for KYW-TV, Channel 3, in his hometown of Philadelphia before moving over to KYW “all news radio all the time,” and he remains there. He also was a reporter, weekend anchor, and news director at WDHO.

Ostapkovich said: “It was always news on a shoestring. After all, our newsroom was in a double-wide trailer outside the station … until it was repossessed. That’s the kind of place it was. We got a memo one day that the bankruptcy judge in Cleveland had taken the station from Overmyer and given it to one of his creditors.”

Ostapkovich still has a copy of that Sept. 27, 1982 memo. It stated that Overmyer and his “various affiliates” were indebted to First National Bank of Boston for $22.4 million.

After the trailer was repossessed, Ostapkovich took his desk, electric typewriter, and coffee cup and placed his work station “amid the supports for the [repossessed] newsroom,” and had a photographer take a shot.

Tichy noted: “WNWO was the only station in the history of broadcasting to have a deaf audio man. He sat in front of the dials and regulated the sound based on what the meters did in front of him.

“People would laugh and say, ‘Only at Channel 24.’ But Milt Mason did a great job and was a sweet guy.”

Tichy said “the running joke in the newsroom was that we were No. 4 in a three-station market,” before adding: “There was some truth to that because Fox 36 [WUPW] was airing re-runs of some comedy show, and they would beat us in the ratings! But the beauty of working in the 24 newsroom was that it kept everyone humble, and we never had a problem with egos!”

Celso Rodriguez, who worked at the station between 1977 and ‘85, said his wife would make dinners “of tacos, enchiladas, and burritos” for the whole newsroom. He said he was hired “to be the Geraldo Rivera” of the station’s new morning show upon the recommendation of Toledo mayor Harry Kessler to general manager Dorfner.

“It was good to work there,” said Rodriguez, who went onto become a reporter and the news director, promoting Larson to evening anchor and hiring Cannon. “We had to fight for everything we got, and didn’t have the kinds of toys the big boys had at Channel 11 and Channel 13.

“But Channel 24 was a training ground, and it was some interesting days back then. Many of us still stay in touch.”

Now, they’re all grieving the loss.

“It’s as disappointing as hell,” said Rodriguez, 78, who also was a circulation department district manager at The Blade. “It’s heartbreaking. We had an owner who was a gambler and lost his bet, and the future owners just used [the station] to suck it dry for as much revenue as they could.

“It had a bad stretch of luck and could never catch a break. All of us were tough birds, though. We just made it like water on a duck’s back. You ignored the negativity and we enjoyed the camaraderie. We ate together, played softball together.’’

He paused before continuing: “And now this is just sad to see.”

Contact Steve Kornacki at skornacki@theblade.com or on Twitter @SKORNACKI.