C O M M E N TA R Y
MY “SWAN SONG” ATWTVT
Channel 13 is history now.
It was probably the easiest
MY SON,
THE ANCHOR
transition of prime-time news anchors
in the history of television since seldom,
if ever, does a father get to see that
mantle passed on to his son. Mark
Wilson worked hard paying his dues
before he came to WTVT seventeen
years ago as an anchor, reporter, and
producer; and, despite what some
may think, Mark did not need me to
pull strings for him. He started at WTSP,
Channel 10, as an intern when I worked
there more than two decades ago. He
never told management he was related
to me when he applied for the job at
Channel 10, since he wanted to know that
he could get the job on his own merits.
He went on to produce and anchor the
first newscasts on Channel 50, the Home
Shopping Network in Clearwater, and
NBC was so impressed by him that they
hired him as prime-time news anchor at
the NBC-owned station in Raleigh, North
Carolina, WNCT. Coincidentally, that
station in Raleigh was bought recently
by Media General which owns WFLA
that was ready to hire Mark 17 years ago
when he was in Raleigh.
My general manager at WTVT came to
me one day and asked, “Do you mind if
we hire your son?” Being a proud father,
I said, “No, of course not...which one?”
I then felt I had to tell my management
that our competitor, WFLA
was ready to make Mark an offer
and that there was a good chance my
son would wind up anchoring the
news on Channel 8 opposite Kelly
Ring and me on Channel 13, which
would create an interesting family
dynamic. WTVT quickly hired him
and the rest, as they say is history.
There have been a few related TV
news anchor teams in the country.
One was two brothers and the other was
a father and daughter. However, I don’t
think there has ever been a case where
a son followed his father into the primetime
anchor chair. It was always a great
joy for me to co-anchor with Mark when
Kelly had the night off. Now that Mark
has replaced “Papa John” as Kelly’s partner,
the Wilson family couldn’t be prouder,
and now Mark is the man.
EDITOR’S NOTE: John Wilson ended 50
plus years of radio and television news broadcasting
with his final goodbye on WTVT
FOX 13 on November 26, 2014, the day before
Thanksgiving.
By John Wilson
My general manager took a step back and
said, “Which one?” I told him I had three
talented sons, and that is when my station
first heard the whole story about Paul,
Mark and Patrick Wilson.
They were interested in Mark since a TV
“head-hunter’ had recorded him anchoring
the news in Raleigh and WTVT was
prepared to make him an offer. I told
the manager we would all be happy,
especially his mother, Mary K., because it
would mean Mark, Angela and his family
would be moving back to Saint Petersburg;
and I would love working with Mark.
However, I knew there was a “hitch,”
because another ‘head-hunter’ in Houston
had just told me that WFLA was ready to
hire Mark, and she wanted me to know
they were not aware he was related to
me. She said she had taken his name off
the audition tape to make sure they didn’t
make a family connection.
9
John Wilson
152 TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE MAY/JUNE 2015