Colleen Brown's Country Roots
A scary number of local TV people are industry brats–a parent (typically a father) worked in television, and the kid never really doubted that they’d follow in their parent’s footsteps.
Fisher Communications President/CEO Colleen Brown is a different story. Her dad was a career Navy man, who then got into promoting country music acts. Brown, who’s from rural Iowa, happily recalls accompanying her dad to the various state and county fairs–and cattle shows!–and watching the acts he promoted.
Brown says she probably would’ve gone into some form of entertainment if she hadn’t chosen a TV career. But she says local television is a perfect match for her interests. “I’m fortunate to serve on boards with peers [from other industries] which are just not as fun as television,” she says. “The creative element, the unknown, always chasing the efficiency, what’s gonna make a hit show, what’s going to make your news more successful, what will make a difference to your community…
“Where else are you going to work,” she adds, “and have all those things going for you?”
I got to profile Brown and her innovative local strategy in our new issue. It turned out to be something of the KUSA Denver issue; Brown got her start at Gannett’s Denver station, and met some real mentors there; as luck would have it, I also did the new Market Eye on Denver, where KUSA is the leader.
The Denver profile–DMA No. 16 is a terrific news town–can be read here.