Lunch at Michael’s with Scripps Networks’ Burton Jablin

amp8220He might as well have told me that if I wanted to go into politics I should speak to the presidentamp8221 Burton laughed during a recent lunch at Michaelamp8217s restaurant with Jack Myers and meamp160 As it happened Stanton was on the universityamp8217s Board of Overseers and came to the Kennedy School of Government a couple of months later for a conferenceamp160 Burton pictured top right with Myers happened to see him come through a door and took his shotamp160 To his surprise Stanton amp8220set down his briefcase pulled out his appointment book and said amp8220Meet me tomorrow morning for breakfast at the Faculty Club at 7 amamp8217amp8221amp160 Burton didnamp8217t know it at the time but he had just taken his first step on the career path that led him to where he is todayMonths later after hearing back from Stanton Burton found himself traveling to New York City for an interview with Eric Ober who was then Vice President of News for CBSamp8217 owned and operated stations Many years later Ober would eventually work for Scripps amp160Ober advised him to write to executives at every small TV station around the country amp160One of them was Frank Gardner the news director at WBBM in Chicago Burtonamp8217s home townThe late Frank Stanton may have started the ball rolling but Frank Gardner who is now retired was amp8220directly or indirectly responsible for the three jobs Iamp8217ve had at my careeramp8221 Burton said amp160Those jobs included positions at WBBM Fox station KTTV in Los Angeles and ultimately EW Scrippsamp160Scripps Networks Interactive would eventually be spun out of the latterBurton started at WBBM as a research assistant for anchorman Walter Jacobson a celebrity in Chicagoamp160 amp8220To start at that level in the No 2 market in the country was beyond my dreamsamp8221 he saidamp160 amp8220I probably was out of my depth but I learned really fastamp8221During the next two years Burton rose through the ranks at WBBM to become a political field producer covering the national presidential election in 1984amp160 amp8220I was very ill equipped to be a field produceramp8221 he admitted amp160amp8220Iamp8217m a little shy To just go up and talk to people thatamp8217s hardamp8221amp160 He then became a producer working on the overnight shift preparing local fiveminute cutins for CBSamp8217 national morning news program amp160Then it was on to weekend producer the 5 oamp8217clock news producer and finally the 10 oamp8217clock producerAfter nine years at WBBM Burton decided to take a break and left the station opting to spend a few months in Colorado visiting his sisteramp160 Enter Frank Gardner once againamp160 Burton hadnamp8217t seen him in eight years amp160amp8220He said amp8216Iamp8217m out in LA at the Fox station and Iamp8217m putting together a team here amp160Would you be interestedamp160 It got me closer to the entertainment industry even though it was still TV news amp160I ended up as executive producer of the 10 oamp8217clock news at KTTV which was a really struggling station back then in the summer of 1991amp160 It proved to be a baptism of fireamp8220I loved living in LA but it was a very fraught time thereamp8221 Burton continued amp160amp8220Crime was really high There was a rash of people being held up at gunpoint when they got money out of ATMs amp160There were carjackings amp160The Rodney King trial amp160Then the riots amp160And before the riots it hadnamp8217t rained in 5 years amp160There were terrible floods and mudslidesamp8221Burton looks back on it as a amp8220momentous period in the newsamp8221 amp8211 especially the riots noting that because the station was located in Hollywood amp8220the conflict was raging right around usamp8221 amp160KTTV was producing live amp8216roundtheclock coverage for several days amp160amp8220We took shifts to sleep in the basementamp160 We were there all night amp160We couldnamp8217t really get food inamp8221And then one morning amid the madness something extraordinary happenedamp160 amp8220In walked Fox owner Rupert Murdoch and his daughter Elisabeth who was working in programming at the station at the timeamp8221 Burton recalled amp8220Somehow they got in and they brought a spread of breakfast food and laid it all out amp160I just said amp8216Thank you How did you even get hereamp8217 He said amp8216Donamp8217t worry about thatamp8217amp160 That was the last time I saw him amp160Itamp8217s a lasting memoryamp8221amp8220The other person I met then was Barry Dilleramp8221 he told usamp160 amp8220Barry had hired Frank Gardneramp160 At the time Barry was in charge of the stations divisionamp160 He wanted to do a more elevated news castamp160 When I got interviewed for the job I had to meet amp8216Mr Dilleramp8217amp160 He was big into motorcycles at the timeamp160 He came on his motorcycle amp160He was very gracious He hired me and then leftamp160 I never saw him again eitheramp8221By the fall of 1992 Burton was ready to leave KTTVamp160 amp8220I was done with TV newsamp8221 he said amp160He spent most of 1993 traveling to such places as New Zealand Nepal Europe Bali and Thailand and taking driving trips around the USAnd then Frank Gardner came calling once againamp160 amp8220He was at Scrippsamp8221 Burton explainedamp160 amp8220We had stayed in touch amp160He said that I had to meet this guy Ken Lowe who had an idea for a TV network about homes and gardensamp160 I ended up taking the job there in Knoxville amp160At the time I was still living in LA amp160I figured Iamp8217d stay at Scripps five years learn something new amp160Maybe that would help me get into entertainment programming which I still wanted to doamp160 Well 23 years later Iamp8217m still thereamp8221Another reason Burton stayed in Tennessee is that he met his husband Barron Pattersonamp160 amp8220Weamp8217ve been together for a little over 12 yearsamp8221 Burton told us amp8220We got married about a year and a half ago when it became legal nationallyamp160 It was expressly not legal in Tennessee until thenamp160 Tennessee had a referendum unfortunately a few years back and banned gay marriageamp8221 amp160Barron is a pediatrician at Vanderbilt Childrenamp8217s Hospital in Nashville about three hours from Knoxville where he serves as Vice Chair of Pediatrics and is also an Associate Professor amp160amp8220Barron as we say in the south bless his heart spends his days treating sick kidsamp8221 Burton said with a smileOf necessity the couple maintains homes in both citiesamp160 In true HGTV style they also have a weekend homeamp160 Itamp8217s in a rural area outside of Nashvilleamp8220Iamp8217ve lived the HGTV life a little bit because we together have built two housesamp8221 Burton laughedamp160 amp8220Weamp8217ve lived the dream and the hassles that sometimes come with itamp160 Three homes Iamp8217m a person who never thought he would own any homesamp8221Living in three different areas of Tennessee has exposed Burton to people on all economic levelsamp160 He is struck by amp8220the contrast between what we see in Nashville which is a truly vibrant energetic city and what we see in rural areasamp160 We see why people are so angryamp8221Asked if he sees a difference in the way gay couples are accepted in urban centers as opposed to Tennessee he replied amp8220I think broadly culturally places like New York Chicago and LA and many other big cities are matteroffact about gay couples or gay people in general amp160I think the bigger cities of Tennessee are pretty matteroffact as well these days amp160Certainly Nashville is amp160But Tennessee is a fairly conservative state with liberal partsamp160 My experience over a long period of time has been good people get to know you as a person and the rest doesnamp8217t seem to matter amp160Iamp8217ll just accept that and be happy about itamp8220Our state did vote to ban gay marriage and there are still efforts today to create what amount to restrictions on gay lesbian and transgendered peopleamp8221 he addedamp160 amp8220The business community in Tennessee for the most part tries to lobby for diversity and inclusion Hopefully those efforts will prevailamp8221Burton said he and Barron are amp8220an unlikely pairamp8221 in terms of their backgroundsamp160 amp8220My husbandamp8217s family is from a small town in Alabama amp160Iamp8217m from a Jewish family in the suburbs of Chicago amp160In terms of temperament weamp8217re very well matched amp160I go visit his family in Talladega Alabama and we have a great time amp160His family comes and visits us they love our weekend place amp160People there are friendly amp160We live our lives amp160Knock on wood weamp8217ve had no problemsamp8221Through conversations with Barronamp8217s students most of them in their early to mid20s Burton is able to gain insights into the changing tastes and priorities of younger generationsamp160 amp8220Ten years ago everything was about Food Network they were so fascinated that I worked for the company that had Food Networkamp8221 he laughed amp8220But within the last five years or so it has shifted to HGTV amp160The guys and the gals thatamp8217s what they want to ask about amp160I think the Millennials are beginning to fill up the 2554 demo which is our target amp160They are getting into that life stage where these things are of interest to themamp8220Our median age tends to be in the middle to older range of all cable networksamp8221 he continuedamp160 amp8220When we look at Millennials watching our networks we look at adults 2534 that will of course change every year as 34 year olds become 35 amp8230 but that Millennial audience has grown for us over the last couple of years amp160The reason the median age keeps going up is because the Baby Boomers are such a large group of people and so many turn 55 every year that it is hard for us to bring in enough younger viewers amp160We just have a math issue amp160If you look within the 2454 demo itself which is an interesting way to look at stability among our audience the median age has remained absolutely rock solidamp8221Click the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writersamp160

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Lunch at Michael’s with Scripps Networks’ Burton Jablin

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Lunch at Michael’s with Scripps Networks’ Burton Jablin

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