CHANNEL SURFING
From paperboy to news director

Former Bucks County Courier Times paperboy Rich Scott is now news director for WB17 news.

By LAURA NACHMAN
Courier Times
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Former Bucks County Courier Times paperboy Rich Scott has come a long way from his delivery days, as he is currently running the show as news director for WB17 news.

For the graduate of Neshaminy High, Bucks County Community College and Rutgers University, it's the culmination of a 30-year career in radio and television. Always interested in news, Scott worked in the circulation department of the Courier Times while in high school.

"In my free time, I would wander down the hall to the news department or photo department, and just watch the people there work. It was that exposure to the process that first got me interested in news.''

While doing a radio show at Neshaminy, Scott badgered the program director at WBCB-AM in Levittown until he was given the midnight to 8 a.m. shift on the weekends. Scott moved to WBUX-AM in Doylestown as a big band disc jockey, becoming the program director in the early '70s. From 1974-'76, he spun tunes at a rock station in Atlantic City.

Scott relocated to Charlotte, N.C., to become a host on an all-news radio station, then returned to the area in 1978 to join WIP-AM's legendary lineup that included Ken Garland, Tom Moran, Tom Lamaine and Gordon Thomas.

"I sent WIP tapes all the time when I worked in the area and never got a call back. But when I left town, they finally gave me a chance,'' he said.

Scott was a newsman at WIP until 1984, then moved to the New Jersey Network where he worked as a news, sports and weather anchor. Then in 1990, Scott made a very unusual choice for a television professional, opting to move from being in front of the camera to behind the camera.

"In radio, you can be on the air, but still be anonymous. However, I was never comfortable being on television, so when there was a chance to become a producer, I took it.

"Plus, I felt there was more opportunity for advancement as a producer,'' he said.

He continued at NJN while doing news on the weekends for KYW-AM until he was hired by KYW-3 as a producer in 1993.

After winning an Emmy at the 1995 awards ceremony, Scott was introduced to the people who ran the former Inquirer News Tonight on Channel 17. He was offered a job as a news producer, and when the Inquirer ended its affiliation with the television show, Scott became news director in December 1996.

He is currently the news director with the longest tenure in town. Overseeing a staff of 42 people, Scott said, this is not a 9 to 5 job.

"The day starts by watching the morning news shows, then reading five newspapers. I'm usually in the office from 8:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m., and have a postmortem with the producers after every (10 p.m.) newscast. I never go anywhere without my pager.

"It's an exciting way to make a living, to be where the action is. Since I've covered news here most of my career, I have a nice perspective.''

Although Scott, wife Pat (another Neshaminy High grad) and son John live in New Jersey, his parents (Dick and Madeline) and siblings remain in Bucks County.

His father is a former Middletown supervisor. Brother Tom works for the police department, and sister Geri works for the Neshaminy School District. Scott's son John is a college student majoring in computers, after dad talked him out of becoming a weatherman (evidently not as many highs and lows in the computer field).

"I'm extremely lucky to have spent most of my career working in my hometown.

"I've been on the other side knocking on the door. I always remember that and to try to help people,'' said the former paperboy, now trying to deliver higher ratings for WB17.