Robert Bennett, Broadcaster Who Charted a New Course at WCVB
Robert Bennett, who guided the transformation of a Boston television station into an uncommon font of original programming and went on to run the nation’s largest broadcast station group, died on Nov 29 in Newport Beach CA. He was 89.
In 1971, Bennett was overseeing WNEW-TV, a successful local station in New York City, but, as he later recalled, he was getting bored. “I was very anxious to do more live television.” And a new opportunity arose. A group in Boston was trying to gain control of the license for Channel 5, which was then WHDH, and promised to create 50 hours of original programming each week. Mr. Bennett joined the group, Boston Broadcasters Inc., after securing a guarantee of creative control and an ownership stake in the station should it be granted the license. In 1972, Boston Broadcasters acquired the station, WHDH became WCVB and Mr. Bennett began work to make good on the group’s promise of original programming. While other local stations were making big profits carrying reruns, Mr. Bennett turned to homegrown content. Although it was an ABC affiliate, the station far surpassed its promise on original programming, broadcasting as much as 62 hours each week — about 30 percent of its content — at a time when most local stations devoted less than 10 percent of their airtime to shows produced in-house.