Veteran Broadcaster Mel Cooper
remembers the late
Bob Hutton


Letter to the Editor
Printed in the May 2008 issue of Broadcast Dialogue magazine
Pictures courtesy of VancouverBroadcasters.com


Thanks to you and SIGN-OFFS for recognizing the recent loss of Bob Hutton. For 28 years, he ruled the mornings in Vancouver Radio, first at CKWX (1945-1955); then at CKNW (1955-1973).

I was a young “cub" newsman when I first worked with upbeat, fun-loving Bob. He not only woke up Vancouverites with his good-humour but also hosted popular afternoon kids’ programs before a live audience at the station's in-house theatre (yes, kiddies, some stations had theatres for live programming in those days).

In 1954, when I was lassoed by
Bill Rea's

cowboy music CKNW New Westminster, the dynamic owner-manager said, "We need someone who can take us to number one in the mornings, someone like a Bob Hutton. How do we get a Bob Hutton?"

I suggested, "I know how to get Bob Hutton. All you have to do is offer him what you’re paying me!" (I had confided my salary under pressure to a quizzical Bob.)

I don't know what NW98 paid Bob to make the move but it wasn't enough.

As the new Promotion/Marketing Manager, I phoned Bob to congratulate him on the decision to join CKNW. I asked how Tiny took the news (Tiny Elphicke was the likable and respected gentleman GM of CKWX.)

Bob laughed and said, "Tiny wished me luck but added ‘you are leaving a radio station and joining a circus’", a reference to NW's reputation for outlandish promotional and programming stunts.

Then it was my turn to laugh. "Bob, on your last day at CKWX, I'm sending an elephant over to the station to pick you up as you make the "Big Move" across town to CKNW."

Alberta Slim’s (he kept it in his backyard!) lumbered along Vancouver streets, through Burnaby to New Westminster with Bob on top waving for some four hours. He may have had the sorest bum in town but smiled all the way!

It was  the start of Bob's 18 great years with "Top Dog". Getting Bob was a coup and shot the station to #1 in Elliott Haynes ratings, a position he never relinquished in his lengthy "Rise and Shine" career. Bob was a pro. He built his own extensive personal library of quips, jokes and one-liners borrowed from a myriad of sources. He stored fun stories in his head and drew liberally from his impressive memory. (It's called a lifetime of preparation, folks.)

Bob Hutton was a broadcaster who loved entertaining, second only to his endearing love of wife, Verna, and his family.


Mel Cooper,
Chair
TELUS Victoria Community Board
Victoria

Mel Cooper - Announcer CJAV Port Alberni 1951 & CKMO Vancouver 1952; News Editor CKWX Vancouver; National Sales Manager CKNW New Westminster 1955 and General Sales Manager 1957; GM CKNW 1970; VP Western Broadcasting 1967-73; President Western Broadcast Sales; 1970-73 President Western Productions Ltd; majority owner Seacoast Communications, owner of CFAX Victoria 1974 and CFEX-FM/CHBE-FM Victoria 2000-04 and Chair of Community Affairs 2004-current; President Seacoast Sound 1980-2004; past Director Radio Bureau of Canada/Bureau of Broadcast Measurement/BC Association of Broadcasters; BCAB Broadcast Citizen of the Year 1979 and Broadcaster of the Year 2000; Order of British Columbia award 1992.  CCF biography  OBC biography

http://members.shaw.ca/vancouverbroadcasters/

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