Hilliard Gates

Hilliard Gates (December 14, 1915 - November 21, 1996) was an American sportscaster who was widely regarded as the founding father of Indiana sports broadcasting and the leading sportscaster in Indiana for decades.

Early days

Born Hilliard Gates Gudelsky, Hilliard used his middle name, Gates, as he entered broadcasting at a station in Muskegon, Michigan. Gates moved his career to WOWO radio, at that time a 10,000-watt clear channel radio station in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1940. During World War II he entered the Army Air Corps and was stationed at near-by Baer Field, which allowed him to continue his career at WOWO part-time. After the war he supervised the construction of WKJG radio which went on the air in November 1947 with Gates as General Manager and part owner. The station was largely owned by the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, which in turn was owned by William Kunkle. An acronym of this combination provided the station call letters. He put WKJG-FM on the air in June 1948 and in November 1953, was the first person to appear live on Fort Wayne television when he signed WKJG-TV onto the air. His segment Gatesway to Sports was very popular with Fort Wayne viewers.

Sports announcing

Gates was highly respected as a sports announcer well outside northern Indiana. When tiny Milan High School won the state basketball championship at Butler University's Hinkle Fieldhouse in 1954, Hilliard Gates was at the microphone - and his delivery was so powerful and distinctive that he was also used as the announcer in the 1986 movie, Hoosiers, a fictionalized story based on the Milan team's accomplishments.

Hilliard was the announcer who first introduced many sports to Fort Wayne television. He appeared on more network broadcasts than any other announcer in Indiana history, and in 1967 and 1968, he broadcast the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California for NBC radio. Hilliard was named Indiana Sportscaster of the Year seven times and was nominated for the honor 20 consecutive years. He was the first broadcaster to be inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame (1969). In 1977, the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association cited him for his long contribution to Indiana basketball.

Station management

During his tenure as vice-president and general manager of WKJG-TV, the station was proud of having hired many talented beginners who eventually moved on to larger markets and bigger paychecks. However, this was probably a consequence of their low budgets. For years, WKJG's news broadcasts were assured good ratings simply on the basis of their sports coverage. In the 1980s, competitors fought aggressively for the news viewer with upgraded sets, larger staffs, personable newscasters, and enhanced production graphics, with WPTA, youngest of the three major network affiliates, highest in the ratings.

Retirement

Gates retired as vice president and general manager of WKJG-TV in 1990 and served as a consultant to the station until May 1993 before his death 1996. After Gates' death, WKJG-TV fared even more poorly. New station management attempted a facelift, even changing the call letters to WISE-TV, but without much success.

Community leadership and honors

Gates held office in many community and state organizations. He was on the original Jaycees committee that got the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum built in 1951. He was twice elected president of the Fort Wayne Press Club.

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