Hilliard Gates

Hilliard Gates (1910- November 21, 1996) was a founding father of Indiana broadcasting and the leading sportscaster in Indiana for decades.

Early days

Gates began his career with WOWO radio, a 100,000-watt clear channel radio station in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1940. He supervised the construction of WKJG-AM radio which went on the air in November, 1947.

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.

Sports announcing

Gates was highly respected as a sports announcer well outside the northern Indiana city of Fort Wayne. 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 announcer that 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 7 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 dying in 1996.

Without the bright and shining star of Hilliard Gates, WKJG-TV fared even more poorly. New station management attempted a facelife, even changing the call letters to WISE-TV, but without much success.

In March, 2005, after an ownership shuffle in which Granite Broadcasting ended up with WISE-TV instead of WPTA, the news operations of the two stations were merged, with 57 staffers from WISE getting the axe, including all anchors but Linda Jackson.

Community leadership and honors

Gates held office in many various 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.

Indiana Governor Roger D. Branigan named Gates a Sagamore of the Wabash.

Fort Wayne Sports Corporation annually awards the Hilliard Gates Achievement Award for contributions to athletics in Fort Wayne.

Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) named its on-campus sports arena the Hilliard Gates Sports Center in his honor.