WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. (AP) - Harold Wright, who is credited with bringing broadcast television decades ago to the Charlottesville, Virginia, area, is the recipient of The Associated Press’ Robert Gallimore Distinguished Service Award.
Wright, vice president and general manager of WVIR-TV in Charlottesville, was honored Saturday by the Virginias Associated Press Broadcasters, a group of more than 30 radio and television stations across Virginia and West Virginia.
He has been running the NBC affiliate for nearly five decades. NBC29 began broadcasting on March 11, 1973, when Richard Nixon was president and the country was embroiled in the Vietnam War.
Richmond, Roanoke and Harrisonburg already had stations. Wright, who started in radio as a college student at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, felt it was time to bring television that focused on local news to Thomas Jefferson’s hometown.
With about $500,000 in capital and some old broadcast equipment salvaged from a North Carolina television station, WVIR hit the airwaves.
For the first few years, “I signed us on every morning,” Wright said in a recent interview with The Daily Progress in Charlottesville for a story celebrating the station’s 40th anniversary. “I came in, turned on the transmitter, did the ’Today’ show, then at 9 o’clock, someone else took over. I put my manager’s hat on and went out and sold TV advertising.”
Now in his mid-70s, Wright continues to be a daily presence as a broadcaster, engineer, benefactor and mentor.
In 2007, Wright received the Paul Goodloe McIntire Citizenship Award. The Charlottesville Chamber of Commerce’s highest honor is presented each year to an individual who gives back to the community.
His efforts to help others include years of support for the University of Virginia Medical Center and a variety of other activities.
The Gallimore Award was presented by the broadcasters’ group at its awards lunch and annual meeting at The Greenbrier Resort.
It is named after the AP chief of bureau in Richmond between 1967 and 1985 and honors a Virginia broadcaster for outstanding service in the public interest, who exemplifies a commitment to journalism and reflects honorably on the news profession.
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