Back in January 2000, I was 24 and dreaming of working in television. It seemed like one of those things that might never happen… until one night, it actually did, and all because of a $1 bid.
I had recently ditched cable and was using an antenna, so I had reprogrammed my TV channels. While flipping through them one evening, I stumbled across something weird and unexpected: a brand new low-power station called WONT-LP Channel 35, branded as “WANT-TV.” It had just launched a week earlier.
This wasn’t exactly polished television. It was a one-camera setup with poor lighting, no graphics, and zero commercials. But every night from 6 p.m. to midnight, they ran a live auction selling salvage merchandise. It was the kind of weird, wonderful mess that instantly caught my attention.
Naturally, I had to know more.
My $1 Stereo and a Shot at Television
I placed a bid on a stereo receiver marked “As-Is”, and won it for a single dollar. To claim it, I drove to the station’s studio, which at the time was located in the Eastland Mall in North Versailles, PA. The mall was in its decline, which made the whole thing feel even more surreal.
When I arrived, the auction manager was working the front desk. After I paid for the stereo, I asked if they were hiring. Turns out, they were looking for a part-time camera operator two nights a week. It was perfect for me, since I already had a full-time job but wanted some extra work on the side.
He asked if I could come in the next night and give it a try. It would be both an audition and a much-needed night off for their only other camera operator.
I had operated studio cameras in college, so I was comfortable behind the lens. I jumped in and passed the test. Just like that, I was officially working in television.
Wearing All the Hats
Running the camera was fun, but I quickly wanted to do more. Within a few weeks, I started upgrading the station’s outdated equipment. I hooked up a computer so we could finally add graphics to the broadcast. I connected old U-Matic 3/4″ tape decks to the video switcher so we could run pre-recorded shows and commercials. The owners were thrilled.
Pretty soon, I was doing everything: directing, announcing, managing the auctions, even hosting from time to time. It was chaotic, unpredictable, and totally addictive.
Around this time, the station’s owner, Abacus Television, decided to change the call letters for all his stations and let me choose the new ones.
Channel 35 became WBYD, replacing the unfortunate WONT call sign. I also renamed Channel 29 to WIIC, bringing back heritage letters that were once used by WPXI-TV, and renamed Channel 69 to WPTG, a nod to Pittsburgh.
In a bit of a side story, Abacus also owned a station in Greensburg. As a joke, I suggested renaming it to WQVC, a clear spoof of the shopping network QVC. I didn’t think they’d actually go for it, but they did. And years later, the station ended up running QVC-over-the-air programming for real. Go figure.
The Joy of Live TV (and the Chaos That Comes With It)
When you produce a live, unscripted, six-hour show every night, you’re going to make mistakes. Plenty of them. One moment that sticks with me involved me announcing in the beginning of the show, and combining the words “permanently” and “suspended” into something, uh… highly inappropriate for live TV. I’ll let your imagination fill in the blanks. It was not my finest moment.
Despite the mishaps, or maybe because of them, the show gained a cult following, especially among college students in Pittsburgh. Our broadcast tower was located near the University of Pittsburgh, and to this day, I still run into people who remember the auctions fondly.
Eventually, like many low-power TV stations, we ran into the issue of not being picked up by cable providers. That lack of reach spelled the end of the auction programming.
By 2003, I had moved on to a more traditional TV station. I stayed there for four years before shifting back into the IT world, where I still work today.
Looking Back
While I’ve had other broadcasting gigs since then, nothing will ever match the experience I had at that scrappy little station inside a fading shopping mall. It was weird, exciting, frustrating, and unforgettable.
And that stereo receiver I won for a dollar? It worked great for a few years and then quietly died. Still, it was the best dollar I ever spent.