In 1991, Chris William wanted to promote his fledgling financial advisory practice, so he conceived the idea for a television show featuring Charlotte’s top business executives. He got a nudge from a fellow Rotarian who was then a top local Time Warner Cable executive.
Chris quickly learned that the community leaders were more interested in sharing wisdom than moving their investments to the young broker.
Fortunately, PBS Charlotte leader Hal Bouton liked Chris’ idea, resulting in about 1,700 broadcasts featuring CEOs, university and chamber of commerce presidents and other leaders focused on business issues in North Carolina and South Carolina.
After one year on Charlotte’s public TV station, “Carolina Business Review” became a weekly staple of the statewide public TV networks in North Carolina and South Carolina. Now, William is taking a break, unsure whether he will resurrect the show down the road.
With the exception of former UNC System President Bill Friday’s interview show on PBS North Carolina, Chris isn’t aware of any other continuously airing TV broadcast program in our state that lasted 34 years. (Friday’s show aired for 41 years before his death in 2012.)
The key to longevity is that Chris handled the fundraising and paid for production. To be sure, he praises PBS Charlotte general managers Bouton, Elsie Garner and Amy Burkett for lots of support.
He says he treated it as a small business and never posted an annual deficit. “I realized early on that we could call the shots if we were paying for it,” he says.
Having solid production quality was important, which Chris credits to his initial partner on the show, Gary Morris, a former producer at Jim and Tammy Bakker’s PTL network. Chris had been a radio DJ, but didn’t have TV experience.
The show’s first sponsor was his employer, the Interstate Johnson Lane brokerage that was acquired by Wachovia in 1998. Interstate CEO Jim Morgan approved the adviser’s plan for the show, a classy move that seemed natural then, but would probably be verboten today.
Over the decades, few, if anyone, have spent more time talking to a broad range of Carolinas’ CEOs than Chris. “We figured that if we could get the biggest business names on there, it would draw viewers and we could leverage that,” he says. Sure enough, the show attracted Hugh McColl, Ed Crutchfield, Bill Lee, Harvey Gantt, Jim Hunt and many others.
Picking favorite guests is a dangerous idea, but Chris offered up some top contenders. Former Nucor CEO Ken Iverson, who built from scratch what has become the biggest U.S. steel company, was the show’s first featured guest. Former Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers was a brilliant communicator. Former Spartanburg Mayor Bill Barnet, who was also a real estate developer and corporate director, impressed Chris by mastering the business and government realms.
As for the most difficult interviews, they were with politicians, who were often very guarded in their comments. He cites former North Carolina U.S. Sen. John Edwards, who had the political gift of answering questions without responding to the actual query.
Today’s public affairs broadcasts mostly feature fiery debates. That was never Chris’ goal. The CEOs and pols accepted invites for 15-20 minute chats because “they knew the dialogue was more about analysis than headlines. Then they could drop their defenses. It worked, by and large.” ■
David Mildenberg is editor of Business North Carolina. Reach him at dmildenberg@businessnc.com.