Milt Grant Signs Off

Old broadcasters never die, they just play the national anthem, then sign off.

TV broadcaster Milt Grant signed off for the last time Saturday in his home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Milt had quite the career in TV. He was there at the beginning - in the 1950's Washington, D.C. he hosted THE MILT GRANT SHOW, a local version of Phildelphia's BANDSTAND.

If I remember the story correctly, Milt's show was so huge, when WTTG tried to raise his rates, not only did he take the show to the competition, he BOUGHT the competition - WDCA.

Eventually, Milt built a fairly substantial TV group, with stations in Miami, Chicago, and Philadelphia. But Milt made a fatal error, he paid way too much cash for his programming in a time when barter syndication deals became the norm.

(Barter syndication means the syndicating studio, say Paramount receives commercial time within the program to sell instead of cash payments. TV stations get less commercial time in these shows, but don't have to lay out any cash.)

I remember, reading Electronic Media in my college library, following the story of Grant Broadcasting impending bankruptcy. The group owed so much money to Paramount, they had to give the license to the Chicago TV station to the studio in lieu of payment. It was something like $93 million - in 1984 - when money was money. I had no idea, I'd eventually wind up working for the man.

Milt eventually lost his other stations as well, but in 1990, he was back for another round. He acquired WZDX-TV in Huntsville, Alabama from the bankrupt Media Central group, and began rebuilding his empire - on a smaller, but profitable, scale.

(Somehow, my career has taken down a path that intersected with not one but THREE former Media Central stations, WDBD, Jackson, MS, WXTX in Ciolumbus, GA and WZDX - but I think that's another column for another day.)

Other Grant stations can be found in Davenport, IA, La Crosse, WI and Roanoke, VA.

I worked for Milt. Milt was a pioneer. He was a determined man, who had it all, lost it all, and rebuilt it. He was a hard man to please and because of that we had more than our share of differences.

I don't think he ever got over the bankruptcy. The broadcasting industry was hit particularly hard in the post 9/11 economy. It must have been a very nervous time for him.

It seemed to me that he never quite adjusted to the 500 channel universe and dismissed the impact of basic cable and an ever diminishing audience for syndicated re-runs. His sense of design and on-air composition never quite evolved out of the early '80s. He tended to prefer what he must have seen as safe, proven marketing campaigns in a time that required innovation and a degree of risk taking.

Nonetheless, the man carved a path. A path that was wide and clear, and enabled hundreds of people to join him on the fantastic journey that is broadcast television.

He told great stories. He served in the OSS in North Africa. He was instrumental in the success of Link Wray and His Ray Men. Most of all, he never gave up.

Without a doubt, there will never be another one like him.