Mike Wright is VP/General Manager of ABC Affiliate WAAY-31 TV in Huntsville, Alabama. Wright previously served 15-years as VP/GM of CBS Affiliates KBTX (Bryan-College Station), adding KWTX (Waco-Temple-Killeen) to his duties in 2014. He spent 27-years with KBTX starting as an on-air co-anchor KBTX Morning News. For many years, Wright served as radio play–by–play for Texas A&M Women’s Basketball and later for ESPN’s SEC+ network. Prior to his move to Huntsville, Wright was the “Voice At Kyle Field” for Texas A&M Football.Wright has served local communities through participation in hundreds of civic events and fundraisers. He was honored to be named as one of four “Educators of the Year” from the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum for his work with Former First Lady Barbara Bush’s “Reading Literacy” initiative. While General Manager of KBTX, Wright was named Texas Broadcaster of the Year. Earlier this year, WAAY-TV was honored to be named the Alabama Station of the Year by the Alabama Broadcasters Association for the second year in a row, a first by any television station in Alabama.Mike and his wife Bethany have been married 28 years and are proud parents of 23-year old twins Macy, Texas A&M graduate class of ‘22, and Mason, class of ’23 at Stephen F. Austin University. A native of Mexia, Texas, Mike holds an Associate of Arts from Blinn College and a Bachelor of Arts in Telecommunications from Baylor University.
Host/Interviewer: M. Troy Bye, Owner, Our Town Podcast
Website: https://ourtownpodcast.net
Spotify Channel: https://spoti.fi/3QtpT8z
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Episode Timeline:
00:00 Start
01:39 Award Winning Station
04:30 Staff/Personnel
07:03 Getting the Job at WAAY-31
13:17 Phases of Buy-In
17:20 Revenue Model
20:20 People Management
26:42 Philosophical Politics
31:32 The Best Decade
34:41 Getting the SEC
38:45 Sports
42:38 What Motivates
46:50 Nay Sayers
49:17 What Worries
51:07 Construction
57:30 Demographic/Programming
01:06:28 Reversion
01:10:15 Advertisers/Sponsors
01:11:37 Fun Questions
01:21:00 Final Thoughts/Shoutouts
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