Richard Dyer – President and General Manager WUSA – TV Washington DC

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Richard Dyer on the most important personal lesson he learned from his time away from Our Town~

“. . .how special it was growing up here in Washington DC. At a time where the country was going through tremendous amount of change with the Civil Rights Movement and my parents were able to get a little bit more opportunity as a result of that, which allowed us to have a slightly better opportunity because we had a better education. That . . .expanded my vision of what my life could be. . .I was gifted with as a result of growing up here in Washington, a diverse international city where people have contributed from all walks of life, all cultures, all races for decades, was confidence.”

Andy Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen and this Our Town, and we have a re-visitor to Our Town, a man who was born here, who appeared and left for a while. But he came back, and we’re so happy that Richer Dyer who is the President and General Manager of WUSA TV. Unfortunately, Richard, I sometimes call it WTOP, but CBS and Channel 9, there’s a reason they call it the Tiffany Network because it’s such a class organization. And WUSA is a model … what I grew up with, is the Washington Post, a class organization. Thank God you came back.

Back to Our Town from WLWT, NBC affiliate, in Cincinnati, OH

Richard Dyer Well, I’m really happy. I’m blessed because when I left 15 and a half years ago, I wasn’t sure this would happen. The circle completing itself for me has been an amazing gift. I’m so happy about it. I went off and left and joined the Hearst Television Company for 15 and a half years as a General Manager, and I’m able to take that great experience and come back to my home town, where my parents are. My dad just turned 82 on Saturday. So we celebrated with family and friends and that something that we weren’t able to do when we lived in Cincinnati.
Andy Ockershausen: He’s got to be extremely fond of you, I mean.
Richard Dyer Extremely, yeah I really-
Andy Ockershausen: It’s a fact. He wasted all that money sending you to college, I know that. And Richard, but you learned while you were away, and now I want to talk about that. What did you learn while you were away that you brought back with you, that you think is the most important lesson.

Lessons Learned While Away from Our Town

Richard Dyer I think there are a couple of things. There’s a lot of professional lessons. But the most important personal lesson for me is how special it was growing up here in Washington DC. At a time where the country was going through tremendous amount of change with the Civil Rights Movement and my parents were able to get a little bit more opportunity as a result of that, which allowed us to have a slightly better opportunity because we had a better education. That better education expanded my vision of what my life could be. So the one thing I really understand that I was gifted with as a result of growing up here in Washington, a diverse international city where people have contributed from all walks of life, all cultures, all races for decades, was confidence. That’s the one thing that I saw models of people, for example, Walter Washington as a mayor in the seventies.
Andy Ockershausen: Our Town. Walter. Absolutely.
Richard Dyer We saw-
Andy Ockershausen: Bennetta. I mean, they were Washingtonians.
Richard Dyer Entertainment coming through in the 70’s with WHUR as a new voice in the 70’s.
Andy Ockershausen: Absolutely. Radio, I know it well.
Richard Dyer My parents are native Washingtonians, they grew up-
Andy Ockershausen: Riggs Park you said?
Richard Dyer No. My dad grew up at 12th and U.
Andy Ockershausen: Oh, wow!
Richard Dyer And my mom grew up at 4th and W.
Andy Ockershausen: I know those neighborhoods.

Richard Dyer’s Early Years and Memories of Ben’s Chili Bowl

Richard Dyer And I was born at Freedmen’s Hospital. And they walked me home in a carriage from the hospital. And my grandparents grew up … they lived on 12th and U. That neighborhood is completely different. I just drove through there today.
Andy Ockershausen: It blows my mind. I can’t believe how great U Street is now.
Richard Dyer Oh, man. It’s a-
Andy Ockershausen: It’s full of young people.
Richard Dyer Full of young people. Ben’s Chili Bowl is still there.
Andy Ockershausen: Oh yeah. That’ll always be there.
Richard Dyer Yeah. My dad used to drive a cab and he would bring us home a treat from Ben’s Chili Bowl. And we would sweat-
Andy Ockershausen: It’s still a treat. It’s still a treat.
Richard Dyer We would sweat-
Andy Ockershausen: If you want to get one, get one.
Richard Dyer It is so hot.
Andy Ockershausen: I love them.
Richard Dyer We would sweat it out.

Bishop Carroll High School

Andy Ockershausen: But Richard this experience that you had out of the city enabled you to come back to, what I consider probably, the number one TV job in Washington at CBS. This is big, big, big time. But you went to high school here. You went to Bishop Carroll.
Richard Dyer Yes, sir.
Andy Ockershausen: And you played football for Bishop Carroll.
Richard Dyer Yes.
Andy Ockershausen: And that is a very, very, very good school as we all know.
Richard Dyer Yes.
Andy Ockershausen: I mean, the people that have graduated from there are worldwide.
Richard Dyer Mm-hmm (affirmative)-
Andy Ockershausen: What is John Thompson’s school?
Richard Dyer Carroll. Archbishop Carroll High School.
Andy Ockershausen: Right. And-
Richard Dyer Mark Malloy
Andy Ockershausen: President of the University of Notre Dame.
Richard Dyer Yes.
Andy Ockershausen: The Monk.
Richard Dyer Yes. Mm-hmm (affirmative)-
Andy Ockershausen: But then you deserted Notre Dame and decided to go to BC.

The Road to Boston College

Richard Dyer Well, my dad gave me some great advice when I was pursuing a young woman in high school that was a little bit beyond me at the time. And I was frustrated and I was talking to my dad about it and he says why are you bothering chasing that girl that doesn’t want to pay you any attention? He says sometimes you got to like who likes you. So, those-
Andy Ockershausen: That’s a good lesson from your dad.
Richard Dyer It’s a great lesson and that lesson applied when I was going through my recruiting process coming out of high school. Boston College liked me; I liked them. And that’s how we got it together. So, it was great having that as a choice. There was a line of-
Andy Ockershausen: You were a defensive back in high school?

On College Recruitment and Decision to Change Player Position After High School

Richard Dyer No. As a matter of fact I was a tight-end and defensive end in high school. And at my size, when I went on my recruiting trip, at 6 foot 1, about 190 at the time, I was able to look up at the tight-end that played in college and it scared me. And I also met some of the defensive and offensive linemen and that really, really clarified for me that I had to play a position as far away from those people as possible. These are grown men with full beards and chest hair and I was 17 years old visiting that campus-
Andy Ockershausen: It’s another world.
Richard Dyer And I said I know what I’m going to do is get away from these people as much as I can.
Andy Ockershausen: And who was your coach?
Richard Dyer We started out … we had a very interesting transition. So, we had a guy … they fired a guy named Joe Yukica during my-
Andy Ockershausen: I remember that name.
Richard Dyer Recruiting period. I was going to go to either Boston College or Wake Forest. Both coaches got fired on the morning of my recruiting trip to Wake Forest. And so I went down to Wake Forest. I love that campus; small campus.
Andy Ockershausen: Winston-Salem. Gorgeous.
Richard Dyer Beautiful. But they were going through a coaching change. Boston College was as well, but the decision point was we had 12 years in a row, at that time, we had a player from Archbishop Carroll at Boston College. So, it was a family decision.
Andy Ockershausen: Right.
Richard Dyer So, I knew guys that I had played with who were already there. And that felt the most-
Andy Ockershausen: Heavily recruited, obviously, by BC.
Richard Dyer Yes. Yeah. The … really good fit for me. It really was.
Andy Ockershausen: And who ended up as your head coach?

BC Football Game in Tokyo and the Firing and Rehiring of Coach Ed Chlebek

Richard Dyer So, we had this guy named Ed Chlebek who had gotten hired in late spring of 1978. He became the coach from Eastern Michigan or something like that. And he came in and put in this whole new system that was not a fit for the big, you know, we had the big lumbering linemen and he put in this Veer offense. So its-
Andy Ockershausen: Movement.
Richard Dyer Yeah. Nothing but movement and speed. Wasn’t a good fit, right? So, fortunately, I was able to have enough injuries in front of me as a Freshman to start and play the whole season. I started all four years, but we went 0-11. So I went from being a champion at Archbishop Carroll-
Andy Ockershausen: Oh, great school Carroll.
Richard Dyer And going right down to the bottom of the pile the next year. So the funny thing about that story and I … a guy who was writing a book about Boston College football and I shared this story … so we … our final game was against Temple in Tokyo, Japan. And we flew over there-
Andy Ockershausen: Everybody went on the same plane?
Richard Dyer Yeah. Along with the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders. That’s the most memorable part of that trip. At that time-
Andy Ockershausen: Wow.
Richard Dyer As an 18 year old going to Tokyo. That’s pretty memorable.
Andy Ockershausen: One huge airplane, right?
Richard Dyer That was one huge airplane. So, we lost to Temple. We get back. We drive the bus from Kennedy Airport. Also, the day we left to go to Japan was the Lufthansa bank robbery that was centered at JFK. It was the biggest bank robbery at the time. We pulled in there … anyway so they fired Ed Chlebek as we’re getting off the bus at Boston College. But as emotionally attached young teenagers and men in their 20s, we got him re-hired, because-
Andy Ockershausen: Wow. Protest.
Richard Dyer Yeah. It was kind of a emotional thing and a … so we get the guy re-hired. We improve. He makes adjustments. We get better. My junior year we were pretty good. We were 7-4. And then he left. So, after that Jack Bicknell came on. And he was fantastic. I was a senior when Doug Flutie was a freshman.
Andy Ockershausen: Wow.

Coach Jack Bicknell | Playing Penn State Senior Year | Doug Flutie

Richard Dyer And Jack Bicknell was our coach my senior year. And I switched positions from cornerback to-
Andy Ockershausen: That was the early 80s, right?
Richard Dyer It was 1981 was the last time … that was my senior year in college. And we were in Penn State in State College playing Penn State at a time when they had Todd Blackledge as quarterback. And we were getting smoked out there.
Andy Ockershausen: That sounds like Penn State.
Richard Dyer Yeah. We were getting in … as a matter of fact, I saw a highlight from Penn State. They were playing Pitt last week-
Andy Ockershausen: Yeah.
Richard Dyer And every time they score they have that Nittany Lion go “rarr-rarr”, right? So, they were beating us so bad that the-
Andy Ockershausen: Lion got hoarse.
Richard Dyer Lion got hoarse.
Andy Ockershausen: That’s a great story.
Richard Dyer So, it’s 31 nothing. Third quarter. And Doug Flutie is like this young freshman, “Coach put me in. Coach put me in”. And they never intended on him playing quarterback because he had a goofy number 22 number. Right. So they finally put him in. Boom. Boom. Boom. Takes us right down the field. We score. All of a sudden guys start paying attention. The senior quarterback never played again after that.
Andy Ockershausen: Yeah. Right.
Richard Dyer Yeah. That was it.
Andy Ockershausen: Flutie took over.
Richard Dyer That was it. Mm-hmm (affirmative)-
Andy Ockershausen: Well, you know, we love the Boston College story. Why you would pick a school to go there and freeze your butt off, but that was your decision. Because everybody that went there says the same thing.
Richard Dyer Yes.
Andy Ockershausen: But we love BC and we love the school and Janice’s niece and we attended a couple of football games . It’s a great little college town. It’s really important and it’s important … it’s a great Jesuit school incidentally.
Richard Dyer Yes.
Andy Ockershausen: Notre Dame is not Jesuit. I found that out. So, I’m always rooting for Boston College.
Richard Dyer Well, good. We appreciate that. I think a-
Andy Ockershausen: BC
Richard Dyer It really was just a outstanding educational experience. And going to school in Boston where you have a hundred other schools-
Andy Ockershausen: Oh my, what a wonderful opportunity.
Richard Dyer It was amazing. And I had a roommate with a car. That really … we did a lot of damage, not just to the car.
Ken Hunter: Yeah, but you can’t drive in Boston.
Richard Dyer Oh, we drove.
Andy Ockershausen: Richard, you know, talking to you about your life is why you’re here. Because this is Our Town and you’re important to Our Town. And we’re going to take a break and we’re going to talk about your professional career because we know that you had a bad football team. You got a great team with Hearst and you got a great, great team with the Washington television market and you got a great team with Channel 9. This is Our Town, Andy Ockershausen, we’ll be right back.
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Announcer: You’re listening to Our Town.
Andy Ockershausen: Hi. I’m Andy Ockershausen. This is Our Town. I should have said we thanked GEICO. GEICO has helped us along the way here, Richard. We’re talking to Rich Dyer, President and General Manager of WUSA TV. And what a great impact you’re having on Our Town and what you’re doing at WUSA.

WUSA – A Labor of Love

Richard Dyer Well, we got a lot of work to do. I thank you for that in advance. We haven’t really checked all the boxes that we intend to check. We have a lot of work to do. But this is a labor of love, I mean-
Andy Ockershausen: Oh my, for you to come back.
Richard Dyer To have the … to come back home … to my home. To be at my home station is a tremendous blessing and is one that I embrace with … I just can’t think of a better fit for me.
Andy Ockershausen: Oh, boy.
Richard Dyer And a better blessing. There’s a lot of heavy lifting to do, but it is not heavy because it’s a labor of love that my journey has led me back to. So.
Andy Ockershausen: And your facility is as good as it is in the whole broadcast world. Has been for years. I guess that’s getting old now though. What is it 25 years old?

Fourth Time for Dyer at WUSA | WUSA 25 Years at “New” Location

Richard Dyer You make a very, very good point. Unbelievably, I don’t know too many people … for me this is the fourth time that I’ve come back and worked at WUSA9. And I haven’t heard of too many people … I have heard of people going back a place two times, maybe even three times, never four. So, apparently, keeping those compromising pictures pays off. If … You can return.
Andy Ockershausen: It does in broadcasting.
Richard Dyer Yes. It does. But our building has such a mixed blessing for all of us who have a legacy with the station because we moved in in January of 1992, so we have been in the facility 25 years.
Andy Ockershausen: Right.
Richard Dyer And one of the things that always … Glenn Brenner never made it to the new facility
Andy Ockershausen: I know. He died in early 92.
Richard Dyer because he passed away. It was 1991, he ran a Marine Corp marathon-
Andy Ockershausen: Yes.
Richard Dyer On October 1991. And that was it.
Janice Iacona OckershausenHe died January 14th.
Richard Dyer Yep. Never made it over to the new building.
Andy Ockershausen: Janice’s birthday.
Richard Dyer Yep. 1992. And so, we started off and Janice and I were talking about our history-
Andy Ockershausen: You were there in 92?
Richard Dyer I was there. Yeah. I was a sales manager.
Andy Ockershausen: To lose Brenner. Oh my God.

Big, Bold Personalities – WUSA Legacy

Richard Dyer No, that was a pretty big hit. I mean that was … he was a hard … one of the things that we know about our legacy is that in addition to serving with great journalism we had big, bold personalities. We did great work, but we had big personalities that mattered to this town. And living up to that legacy in today’s world is obviously a lot more difficult because so many voices are out there. But, that’s the pride that we have and that’s the legacy that we have.
Andy Ockershausen: But your anchors and the people you had on there and the females that somebody at the Post said we got to have more females on the air.
Richard Dyer Yes. Mm-hmm (affirmative)-
Andy Ockershausen: And they were superstars.
Richard Dyer Yes.
Andy Ockershausen: And to this day and … I was looking for Gordon Peterson yesterday at the ceremony-
Richard Dyer Okay.
Andy Ockershausen: I wanted to talk to him. He’s going to do Our Town.
Richard Dyer Okay.
Andy Ockershausen: Gordon is an old friend, but-
Richard Dyer Yeah. Sure.
Andy Ockershausen: Those characters were so important to Our Town.
Richard Dyer Well, we just said goodbye to Jim Vance. Of all the people who came through of that legacy and were trailblazers, pioneers and what you find when you say and celebrate a life of somebody like Jim Vance or Gordon Peterson, is it’s not just what they did on-air, but it’s all the lives and all the people that they touched along the way whose lives would be different if they had not had interactions or mentoring or relationships with those folks and that’s what makes them exceptionally special.

Great Ownership, Beautiful Facility and Free Parking

Andy Ockershausen: And it’s all due to the ownership of Channel 9 that pushed that and it really worked for them and they had a lot of very, very talented females on the air.
Richard Dyer Yes.
Andy Ockershausen: I think maybe the first TV’s they … you know, i grew up at Channel 7 and WMAL radio-
Richard Dyer Mm-hmm (affirmative)- Yes.
Andy Ockershausen: We used that as always a guide because they were the Tiffany, because of CBS.
Richard Dyer Mm-hmm (affirmative)-
Andy Ockershausen: And that building I thought was a big statement; to build that beautiful building in a very high rent neighborhood at the time.
Richard Dyer Yes. Very high rent. Even more higher rent now.
Andy Ockershausen: Oh, yeah. But you get your own McDonalds.
Richard Dyer Yeah.
Andy Ockershausen: How many companies have that?
Richard Dyer Well, the best thing about it are two levels of free parking.
Andy Ockershausen: Yes. It is. Undercover.
Richard Dyer You cannot park on the street around there for extended periods of time. But it’s a beautiful facility. Obviously after 25 years we’re making some upgrades as we go along.
Andy Ockershausen: Absolutely. It happens.
Richard Dyer But it is a lovely facility. We have a couple of other clients that share the building with us. But it is great. And having parking eliminates one of the biggest complaints employees will have.
Andy Ockershausen: Always. Number one.
Richard Dyer If you don’t have parking you got a big complaint.
Andy Ockershausen: Whenever we’d have a company meeting the comments were two: parking and child care. You know.
Richard Dyer Yes.
Andy Ockershausen: And when 7 moved to that building-
Richard Dyer Yep.
Andy Ockershausen: That was a huge problem they had. They had to have child care down there. That’s the way the new world is.
Richard Dyer Are you talking about Intelsat?
Andy Ockershausen: Yeah. What is that building that channel 7 went into?
Richard Dyer Intelsat.
Janice Iacona OckershausenIntelsat.
Andy Ockershausen: Yeah. Intelsat.

Short Stopover at WJLA

Richard Dyer I worked there for two years.
Andy Ockershausen: Oh, you did? At 7?
Richard Dyer Yep.
Andy Ockershausen: No way.
Richard Dyer I called my mentor-
Andy Ockershausen: Well, your predecessor worked there too.
Richard Dyer Mark?
Andy Ockershausen: Yeah.
Richard Dyer Yeah.
Andy Ockershausen: He worked at Channel 7.
Richard Dyer Yeah. We did not work there at the same time. But the story of my leaving and returning and ping-ponging back between other locations and Washington included a two year stint at WJLA as national sales manager.
Andy Ockershausen: Wow.
Richard Dyer So, a guy named Joe Delgrosso recruited me way back-
Janice Iacona OckershausenI know Joe.
Andy Ockershausen: Who?
Janice Iacona OckershausenJoe Delgrosso.
Andy Ockershausen: Oh.

On Dyer’s Mentor Hank Yagi – “Hank was seminal to my career.”

Richard Dyer Yeah. He recruited me, but WUSA was my home. So I called Hank Yagi, who was a general manager at the time-
Andy Ockershausen: Yeah. I love Yagi.
Richard Dyer I said Hank what … I’m ready to come home. That’s not my home station.
Andy Ockershausen: Got to get back to 9.
Richard Dyer So, Hank was like I don’t have anything right now. You can go over and make a difference there. Because they had a little bit of a problem that needed to get fixed. So, I trusted Joe and Hank said you put in two years, I got my eye on you, no problem. So, worked there from 1989-1991-
Andy Ockershausen: Wow.
Richard Dyer And then I went over and came back to WUSA as local sales manager. So, Hank was seminal in my career. He was the one that identified that I was somebody to keep on the radar as a college senior. And I did a year in radio. I worked in Philadelphia. And then he said we have a job.
Andy Ockershausen: You paid your dues.
Janice Iacona OckershausenYou did pay your dues.
Richard Dyer Yeah. Been around a little bit. I love having a dream. Accomplish a dream. And people say wow that’s just like an overnight thing. I was like yeah, 20 years. If 20 years is kind of-
Andy Ockershausen: Well, Yagi got involved in the community. I just-
Richard Dyer Big time.
Andy Ockershausen: Get him. Well, I go back with all those guys.
Richard Dyer Yes.
Andy Ockershausen: Way big … what we did for the Police Boys & Girls Clubs-
Richard Dyer Yes.
Andy Ockershausen: what we did for so many charity things and I tried to help Yagi’s son was a diver of some
Richard Dyer Chris. Chris.
Andy Ockershausen: Yeah. Did he make the Olympic team? I know he was trying.
Richard Dyer No, he didn’t do that but his daughter, Hillary, was also a very accomplished swimmer.
Andy Ockershausen: I see. That’s great athletes.
Richard Dyer Yep. And when I worked in Columbus, Ohio, Hank and I spent a day watching Hillary at a swim meet. He was a tremendous mentor for me.
Andy Ockershausen: Great guy. Absolutely.

Benefits of a Good Mentor

Richard Dyer Tremendous mentor for me.
Andy Ockershausen: Yeah. Latch on to a good one. I latched on to a good one when I married Janice. I know.
Richard Dyer It’s very good, and it works, especially since you’re sitting there. And you would be a fool to have it any other way.
Andy Ockershausen: Oh my God. We-
Richard Dyer I know you’re right and sincere, but-
Andy Ockershausen: We have a great relationship.
Richard Dyer Yes.
Andy Ockershausen: Tell me about something … I asked Janice about. She explained it to me and you explain it to me. I said to Janice what in the world is TEGNA? It sounds like a light bulb. Is that part of General Electric Company? She said No, that is Gannett.

TEGNA – Gannett Spinoff Broadcast Division

Richard Dyer Yeah.
Andy Ockershausen: It’s always been Gannett because they bought the station. I can remember the whole thing.
Richard Dyer Yes.
Andy Ockershausen: You know, they had to sell the station. I remember that. To post out to divest.
Richard Dyer Yeah, because we … evening news association, was scared that the FCC wouldn’t allow the new ownership.
Andy Ockershausen: They were going to take it over. Right.
Richard Dyer Yeah. Yeah.
Andy Ockershausen: That created WHUR too.
Richard Dyer Yes.
Andy Ockershausen: I lived through all that. I know what-
Richard Dyer Well, you are a big time name through all that.
Andy Ockershausen: When we were 7, we shared the transmitter. Remember that?
Richard Dyer Yes. We still do.
Andy Ockershausen: Channel 9. We couldn’t have built it without that.
Richard Dyer Yeah. Still do.
Andy Ockershausen: I know. Isn’t that great?
Richard Dyer I see the bills come through every week. Yeah.
Andy Ockershausen: So, tell me TEGNA is a Gannett.
Richard Dyer Ultimately, it’s the broadcast division that was spun-off when Gannett split into two companies: a newspaper division and a broadcast-
Andy Ockershausen: And it started as a newspaper company; Gannett did.
Richard Dyer Absolutely. Yeah.
Andy Ockershausen: Great journalists.
Richard Dyer Great journalists. The innovative USA Today, in 1982, I was at the sta … actually, no it wasn’t 82, it was 86 or 7 something like that because I remember Gannett bought this station from Evening News-
Andy Ockershausen: Right.

A Little History – WUSA’s Previous Call Letters

Richard Dyer in 1985. The call letter change was on July 4th, 1986. And right after that, that summer I left at Hank’s urging to get ready and build my base to become a, be qualified to become a general manager. He encouraged me to spend some time in New York City.
Andy Ockershausen: Whoa. That’s so true.
Richard Dyer And that’s what I did-
Andy Ockershausen: That’s a different world.
Richard Dyer At the time. Yeah. I went on to become a national sales rep in New York City. The station call letters changed.
Andy Ockershausen: DVM.
Richard Dyer Yeah. It was DVM.
Andy Ockershausen: District, Virginia and Maryland. I remember it well.
Richard Dyer Yeah. Which when you think about obviously USA, great call letters, but DVM, great call letters too. Yeah. So.
Andy Ockershausen: Yeah.
Janice Iacona OckershausenAnd DVM’s back in the marketplace. Did you see that?
Richard Dyer You’re correct. Within the last month.
Andy Ockershausen: It is?
Richard Dyer Hagerstown.
Janice Iacona OckershausenYep.
Richard Dyer A station in Hagerstown.
Andy Ockershausen: How about that?
Richard Dyer Yeah. So-
Andy Ockershausen: What comes around goes around Rich.
Richard Dyer Yeah.
Andy Ockershausen: This is Our Town. Andy Ockershausen and we’re having a delightful conversation with Rich Dyer the President and General Manager of WUSA Channel 9.
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What’s in a Rating? | Technology Shifted Power from Supplier to Audience

Andy Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen with Rich Dyer. And I wanted to explore some thoughts with Rich as his experience with broadcasting is extensive and he knows a lot about it, but what I am seeing and hearing is that the days of big ratings don’t exist anymore, number one. Because I’ve seen numbers down and people are happy about a 3 rating. I would die if I had a 3 rating in my days in TV.
Richard Dyer A 3 rating? Was that after the Superbowl? Or-
Andy Ockershausen: I mean it’s just incredible what has happened and I’ve been told that a lot of viewing is driven by social media now.
Richard Dyer Yeah. People-
Andy Ockershausen: It’s a different world.
Richard Dyer There’s a book, a guy named Alvin Toffler, wrote a book in 1993 called Powershift. And it was about how technology would change every aspect of our lives. Everything from how we go to the grocery store to how we consume media and we’ve seen it all play out. The power has shifted to the audience as opposed to the supplier. So, what we have to do because the viewers and listeners have control over what they can … what they expose themselves to and when, and it primarily starts on the phone, digitally. We have to earn our way into their lives. So, from that standpoint the ratings have been more dispersed. And we have more opportunities to engage with people. We’re on all those platforms, but you gotta have a strong brand that’s relevant to the audience to earn their engagement now more than ever.
Andy Ockershausen: So, the world … we knew the world was going to change, but we’re involved with a guy named Ric Edelman that’s written a book about the future, but his point is the future was yesterday. I mean that’s how fast things are going.
Richard Dyer Yes.
Andy Ockershausen: And that’s what’s true in your business-
Richard Dyer Yes.
Andy Ockershausen: And that’s what’s true in all kind of broadcasts. It’s going so fast.
Richard Dyer Well, I was … we were talking about history, but we were also talking about the future. 2018 will represent 20 years that wusa9.com has been in existence.
Janice Iacona OckershausenNo kidding?
Richard Dyer Yes.
Andy Ockershausen: 20-
Richard Dyer 20 years already.
Andy Ockershausen: Seems like yesterday.

WUSA’s First Website Launched in 1998 | TEGNA Innovation | Commodity Content

Richard Dyer We started a website in 1998. So, 20 years already. And what we did you know 20 days ago is being challenged because things are changing that fast. I’m very happy with joining. . .TEGNA is probably the most innovative local broadcasting company in the country. The innovation that we have in terms of content. Creating original content, engaging in audiences in ways that go above and beyond the content … the commodity content that we have to give people. That’s what we’re driving to do is create original content.
Janice Iacona OckershausenI am so … as an advertising agency, a communications company, I personally experience your Great Day Washington program-
Richard Dyer Mm-hmm (affirmative)-
Janice Iacona OckershausenWith one of my clients and I got to tell you, from my perspective, even as a salesperson at WMAL, having the opportunity to explain your services or your products and you allow us to do that on Great Day Washington, is invaluable. And we are, my clients, really take advantage of your very loyal audience and we’re getting great results from Great Day Washington. So, I’m very happy with you, Richard, and I’m very happy with WUSA.

On Creating Results | Aggressive Thinking | Adding New Products

Richard Dyer Well, we’re happy. Creating results is ultimately what we’re all after. There’s different ways to do it. All media has value. What we know is we are everywhere our audiences are. And what we have done with TEGNA is create a suite of products that allow us to use all the technology and innovation to engage our customers and make that available to help your businesses grow. That’s the essence of what it is we do and you got to have a lot of resources but you got to have the thinking, you’ve got to be aggressive in the thinking to make sure that you’re adding new products. That you’re exploring and making sure that you’re always at the leading edge of what’s available. Because advertisers know. They get bombarded with all kinds of-
Andy Ockershausen: Oh boy. They’re the ones who’ve got to spend the money.
Richard Dyer Yes.
Andy Ockershausen: You’ve got to make it worthwhile to them.
Richard Dyer Yes. Yeah. Yeah.
Andy Ockershausen: Rich, but all the things that I know about television are all different now, but I don’t know if it’s better or worse. But I love what you guys do at 9. I love that.
Richard Dyer Well, we appreciate it. We have a lot more on … we have a lot more surprises. We have a lot more to do but it’s a station that has a wonderful legacy as we talk about the future that legacy has to be relevant in today’s world. And that’s what we’re working to do.
Andy Ockershausen: Well, as I said to you off the air WTOP TV. It’s always one of my favorites-
Richard Dyer I’m really happy that I’m old enough to know what you’re talking about.
Andy Ockershausen: Look, I went through a lot with WTOP when we were growing up at 7. And they built that transmitter-
Richard Dyer Yes.
Andy Ockershausen: To serve both stations. The relationship was with the Washington Post and we were owned by the Star-
Richard Dyer Yes.
Andy Ockershausen: And they were two newspapers cooperating-
Richard Dyer Yes. Mm-hmm (affirmative)-
Andy Ockershausen: I don’t know if that exists. The Star is gone, which is kind of sad.
Richard Dyer Yeah.
Andy Ockershausen: But the Post is going strong. And you don’t need them. They need you desperately now.

Good Relationship with The Post

Richard Dyer Well, we actually have an editorial partnership with the Washington Post. So we continue to have good relationships with them.
Andy Ockershausen: I can’t get along without the paper. I still have to read the ball scores.
Richard Dyer The actual paper?
Andy Ockershausen: The newspaper.
Richard Dyer The physical newspaper.
Andy Ockershausen: I read it. I want to see the ball scores. I want to see how many hits Zimmerman got last night. I want to know-
Richard Dyer You know, they built this thing called the Internet, where you can-
Andy Ockershausen: That’s my wife runs that-
Rich, I’m just lucky to be here. I work with it. But you are such a bright light and an important part of Our Town.
Richard Dyer Well, I appreciate it.
Andy Ockershausen: You bring history back to us and that’s important. And you’ve learned in other markets what a great place this is. And I appreciate you saying that.
Richard Dyer I love this town. It is such a unique, diverse, international, vibrant … everybody comes here to make their mark. And the amount of capacity for all of us to do our own things and make our own mark while not tearing anybody else down. There’s enough room at the table.
Andy Ockershausen: Plenty of room.
Richard Dyer For all of us. So, and it goes far beyond the iconic political, the Capitol. All the seat of power. The presidency. These are great neighborhoods.
Andy Ockershausen: Absolutely. Bigger and better every day Rich.
Richard Dyer Bigger and better. A hundred year old facades and-
Janice Iacona OckershausenIt’s all a small town.
Richard Dyer It’s a small town in the biggest powerful city.
Andy Ockershausen: You know, Rich, we see in everything in our signal and this new signal is unlimited around the world. But WUSA is important in Fredericksburg. It’s important in Roanoke. It’s important in Pennsylvania. You know, that’s where the signal is. And that’s where our signal is with WMAL. But we’re so happy you’re back in Our Town. Happy and grateful for what you do for Channel 9. And we’re happy and grateful that GEICO spent some money with us this week.
Richard Dyer I remember GEICO when it was the Government Employees Insurance Company.
Andy Ockershausen: You are old, brother.
Richard Dyer Yeah. Thank you, Andy for that. I appreciate it.
Andy Ockershausen: That’s what it was. Government Employees Insurance Company. Now they own the government. This has been GEICO day. And thanks to our producer Ken Hunter even though he is from Oklahoma he’s still a great guy.
Richard Dyer Yeah. He’s still got a little dust on that shirt.
Andy Ockershausen: But, Rich, you are a great, great addition to Our Town. I’m so glad you’re back and I hope you listen to Our Town. I mean we got a hundred people up there now. You’ll know all of them some way or another. And that we appreciate you and what you’ve done for us.
Richard Dyer Well thank you.
Andy Ockershausen: Channel 9, baby.
Richard Dyer I love being here. This is home for me.
Andy Ockershausen: Thank you.
Richard Dyer Thank you.
Andy Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen and this is Our Town and we’ll be back with some more interesting people. Stay tuned.
Announcer: You’ve been listening to Our Town: Season 3, presented by GEICO, our hometown favorite, with your host Andy Ockershausen. New Our Town episodes are released each Tuesday and Thursday. Drop us a line with your comments or suggestions. See us on Facebook, or visit our website at ourtowndc.com. Our special thanks to Ken Hunter, our technical director, and WMAL radio, in Washington, D.C. for hosting our podcast. And thanks to GEICO, 15 minutes can save you 15% or more on car insurance.