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Doug Mayes substituting on WBTV

V

vchimpanzee

He was the station's anchor for its first twenty years on the air. I remember him being on WBTV, the station my family watched, when I was a child.

We moved out of the area, and when we moved back, he was on Channel 9 and no longer an anchor.

He's 91 years old!

I just saw this when I went out for my newspaper. I'm not posting a link because I get charged enough for the paper without also using their web site.
 
ncradioeng said:
Is Exxon sponsoring his segment?
Click to expand...

If I recall correctly, in the early 60s, Doug would deliver the news wearing an Esso (now Exxon) logo. If I recall correctly, Esso had a big regional office on Woodlawn Road overlooking Park Road Shopping Center. That site now has a Jason's Deli, Mama Fus, Charlotte Yoga, and other stores.
 
Doug Mayes was the Esso Reporter on WBTV for the first few years as Esso sponsored newscasts in the early days of TV news. He was the Carolinas' first anchorman on WBTV and a fixture on local TV news as the Dean of Carolina newscasters. All TV dials were "glued" to Channel 3 for news and programming in that era. When WBTV moved younger talent into the anchor chair, Mayes moved to WSOC-TV Channel 9 in 1982, where he anchored Midday with Mayes at noon, and was one of 3 anchors on the evening news. He helped WSOC overtake WBTV for the first time in the ratings. So it was indeed great and very special to see him return to WBTV to guest host the 11pm news last Friday where he was well received and presented a plague of appreciation as Anchor Emeritus. He looked good for 91 and still had his warm but strong and sincere delivery.
 
Doug is an amazing individual. I have covered Doug when I owned and operated The Carolina Scoop in Lincolnton, NC, for several years. I asked him what advice he could give me since I was the only Internet news site in the county. His response was "just do the news." Doug is a true pro and I miss speaking with him. His appearance on WBTV was absolutely amazing.
 
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