Reuters asked five morning show hosts about the first jobs they had before broadcasting.
Since three of those asked were network anchors and we don’t over the networks, we’ll show you what Rosanna Scotto from New York Fox-owned station WNYW and Steve Edwards from Los Angeles Fox-owned station KTTV had to say.
Scotto gets respect for working behind the scenes. Nothing better than an anchor who understands how the whole cake is baked.
Rosanna Scotto, Good Day NY
First job: Chyron operator
“My first job out of college was working for WTBS Superstation, which was at the same location as CNN. We used to call it the ‘Ted Turner School of Broadcasting’.
“When you see words scrolling across a TV screen, that is being run by someone called the ‘chyron operator,’ and that is what I was doing. I was okay with names, but with sports scores, I had a real problem. I couldn’t decipher the different teams, I was doing it on the fly while the show was in progress, and I was screwing up left and right. I felt so bad for the sportscaster. Whenever I see him, I still apologize profusely.
“This was in Atlanta in 1980, and at that time and in that place, blond-haired and blue-eyed people ruled the world. There I was with dark hair and dark eyes, coming from Brooklyn, and I stuck out like a sore thumb. I even tried to pick up a southern drawl, just to fit in.”
Edwards’ quote at the end sounds like he’s describing the format of most morning shows.
Steve Edwards, Good Day LA
First job: Drummer
“I was in high school, playing drums in a band, and got hired by a small hotel in the Catskill Mountains. We were supposed to be their house band for the summer.
“We had a fantasy of what it would be like: Seeing lots of beautiful young girls, eating wonderful food, hanging out and just being cool musicians. It lasted three weeks. I don’t remember if they fired us, or if we quit.
“In those days there were some famous hotels in the Catskills, but this one was really third-tier. We slept in the same tiny room with all our instruments. We ate leftovers or rejected food from the dining room.
“We wanted to meet girls, but it turned out the average age of our audience was about 87. At 7:30 we would play waltzes and other slow songs, by 8:15 we would switch to rock-and-roll, and by 8:30 the place emptied out. Each night we went to bed earlier.”
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