10 questions for Houston’s soon-to-be senior anchor
Next week, anchorman Dave Ward will, at long, long, long last, say “Goodnight, friends” and leave Channel 13 after 50 years on the air.
Tucked under his arm will be a proclamation from Guinness World Records.
“The longest career as a television broadcaster, achieved by Dave Ward (USA), who began working on 9, November 1964 and continues anchoring at KTRK-TV in Houston, Texas USA.”
Once Ward exits, the new dean of Houston TV news will be … Bill Balleza of Channel 2 (KPRC). Amazingly, Balleza has a contract with Channel 2 that will take him past the half-century mark, too. Long live the new king! “My current contract expires in 2021, 50 years after my first job as a TV news reporter in 1971,” Balleza said. “I comfort myself with the knowledge that I never expected to do this well in life; neither did any of my teachers in school. Several of them did mention that my voice carries, although I’m not sure they were suggesting it might lead to gainful employment.”
Here we go: 10 odd questions for Bill Balleza, Houston’s new longestrunning television newsman.
1. How does it feel to be the dean of Houston anchors?
“When Steve Smith (former anchor at Channel 11 KHOU-TV) and I co-anchored in the 1970s, I asked him what he thought about my chances of one day becoming a main anchor. He wasn’t optimistic. Dave Ward told me, without me asking him, that it would never happen.
“Ron Stone (former Channel 2 anchor) knew I wanted his job, so I didn’t dare ask him. But when Stone retired 27 years ago, I became the main anchor at Channel 2. Now that Ward has retired, I feel like the star of ‘Survivor.’ ”
2. What is it about Houston that makes TV anchors stick around so long?
“You have to wonder why Houston has had only a handful of main anchors over the past 50 years. Both Stone and Smith left for eastern markets but only briefly. Both returned within two years. Stone used to joke that in Houston, he had reached the peak of a mediocre career. As a group we all clawed our way to the middle and decided this was far enough.”
3. Did you ever want to leave Houston and move on up like the Jeffersons to New York, Los Angeles or Chicago?
“I actually did have a few offers to leave. Paula Zahn tried to get me to join her in Los Angeles, but when I went to interview for the job, the news director told me he drank four Wink sodas in less than an hour. When I told him I decided to stay in Houston, he said, ‘OK, see you on another planet someday.’
“I also had a job offer from CNN in 1981, but I was actually making more money at Channel 2 than they were willing to pay.”
4. Were you, Ron Stone, Dave Ward and Steve Smith buddies or dreaded enemies with old-fashioned showbusiness feuds?
“We always got along pretty well, but we were all very competitive. Keep in mind I actually coanchored with both Stone and Ward for a time, but we didn’t hang out. It wasn’t like the movies. It was like television, if you know what I mean.”
5. Do you owe it to young reporters to be a teacher and role model?
“I don’t think I’ve ever had, nor been, a role model in this business. But I have mentored quite a few students who wanted to become reporters. It’s been rewarding to see those who stuck with it and actually launched careers, which is one of the toughest things in the world to do.”
6. You will hit 50 years in TV news at the end of your current contract. Do you stick around after that and pass Dave Ward for longevity?
“I will not be able to surpass Dave Ward’s longevity in one regard. He spent 50 years at one station. I will have worked at Channel 2 only 41 years when I retire in 2021. But I will have 50 years in the business, and I am the longest-running anchor at Channel 2.”
7. If you didn’t get into TV news, what do you think you would have done with your life, except for the obvious — rodeo clown?
“Had I not gotten into television news, I don’t know what I would have become since I have no marketable skills other than reading out loud. I thought about staying in the Marines, but the first Mrs. Balleza wasn’t having it. So I got out and went to college. I majored in broadcasting because there was no math requirement.”
8. How long have you and Dominique Sachse been anchoring together? Have you ever slipped up and called your wife “Dominique?”
“Dominque and I have been working together longer (23 years) than any anchor team in Houston television history. Right now I hold the record as her longest male relationship, too. We do hang out, but Frank (weatherman Frank Billingsley) is usually right there in the middle.”
9. Do you talk in your anchorman’s voice in real life?
“I don’t have your traditional anchorman voice and could never compete with the pipes of Stone, Ward and Smith. Still, people usually say they recognize my voice before they recognize my face. The only difference between my voice on air and my voice in person is that I’m much more dynamic and energetic on air. After all, authenticity is 90 percent of this business, and once you can fake that …”
10. What’s the most embarrassing thing you’ve done or said on the air — that made you want to duck down behind the desk and never come up?
“I killed Lady Bird Johnson on air. Reporting on the death of Ann Richards in 2006, I said the former governor’s death had come as Texans were still mourning the recent passing of Lady Bird Johnson. I had meant to say Nellie Connally, the former first lady of Texas, who had passed away seven days earlier. Several people immediately let me know I should apologize to Lady Bird, which I did.”