Captain Paul Hallenbeck

The revolving door continues at KTNV TV-13 in Las Vegas after it was learned that talented helicopter pilot and journalist Captain Paul Hollenbeck is no longer on the team.

 Hollenbeck and his ‘copter were parked the week of Jan. 4, and the timing could not have been worse. On the first day without Hollenbeck, the station was also without coverage from the air during a shooting at the U.S. Federal Court House in downtown Las Vegas.

Be it economic reasons or whatever, KTNV’s latest move like many others have left its followers, fellow employees and competitors scratching their heads.

Surely, there must be another reason for KTNV missing the coverage of the siege at the court house. Hollenbeck has not missed a day since 2003, and apparently a breakdown in both communications and the ending of the two-year contract were the reasons.

We can only imagine the looks on those in the newsroom at the Journal Broadcasting Company affiliate when news broke that a crazed gunman entered the court house and unloaded on employees with a shotgun.

For some very odd reason, Las Vegas has become a graveyard of talented journalists especially lately. Usually, the talent picks itself up, tries to understand the sudden loss of employment and moves on to open arms in another market which appreciates good journalists.

Even more important with KTNV’s decision is the fact that Hollenbeck has a sparkling history and in fact, you would think the station would count its lucky stars to have the former Los Angeles cop whose resume’ has included flying combat missions for the Air Force in Vietnam.

As a captain in the Air Force, Hollenbeck was in Vietnam before there was a war. When he switched to covering news in Los Angeles in 1988, he was the go-to guy covering events like the Rodney King riots along with the North Hollywood Bank shooting giving invaluable live reports in the process.

As KTNV has continued to lag behind the competition in Southern Nevada, it has been Capitan Paul who has given the station hope. When the rest of the station’s news was sub-par at best, viewers still waited through the nonsense for Hollenbeck’s reports.

You see, what has made Hollenbeck so valuable to a news team is that he’s both a journalist and a helicopter pilot. Corporate bean counters should understand that Hollenbeck’s double duty means his combination eliminates the need for both a pilot and a reporter because he handles both chores.

And if it’s an issue with money – and in this case, I’m sure it is – how about getting a sponsor for the side of the helicopter? I’d start with Taco Bell, In-N-Out Burger or for that matter, attorneys Ed Bernstein or Glenn Lerner whose marketing budgets are sizeable, to say the least.

In a tight economy, that’s a big cha-ching. From traffic accidents to shootings at a court house and the rest, Captain Paul was to a news team what Bart Starr was to the Green Bay Packers. In today’s competitive news business, sending someone as talented as Hollenbeck to the sidelines makes one wonder if things are so bad at KTNV that the doors are about to close, for god’s sakes.

Even more interesting is the fact that the new vendor which was to supply another helicopter apparently ruled that at 67 years of age, Captain Paul was one year too old to fly their helicopters. I mean, are we kidding that the one year difference offsets his more than 40 years of experience?

You see, if it’s a talking head you want, any young kid can fill the bill for the most part. But when you’re talking about a helicopter pilot who joined your team after first working a hot spot like Los Angeles, that’s another story.

Ron Futrell, who spent 25 years before being wrongfully terminated by the station in 2008, measured Hollenbeck’s value with a classic quote.

“Captain Paul, a former police officer, knew what was happening on the ground because he had been there,” analyzed Futrell. “He could analyze fires, accident and shootouts with first-hand knowledge. No other chopper reporter could do that.”

In fact, KTNV has hired another pilot to replace Hollenbeck although the new pilot will do so for far less money (here we go again tripping over dollars to get to pennies, or however the phrase goes).

“I’m not sure what I’m going to do now,” said Hollenbeck, who was born in Yuma, Ariz., before growing up in Los Angeles. “I have an off-ramp spotted and I think I’ll hang out there with a cardboard sign.”
Just me, but I think if I was one of the other television stations, I would have my staff invite Hollenbeck to be a guest on my own helicopter news team. From a marketing standpoint, I think it would most definitely draw attention as every station attempts to secure ratings.

In the meantime, Journal Broadcasting spent millions constructing a new building to house its news team. The problem now is that everyone is starting to wonder why the impressive architecture is without the necessary ingredients that include a prominent helicopter pilot who just happens to be a quality journalist.

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