John Fetzer
Encyclopedia
John Earl Fetzer was a radio and television executive who was best known as the owner of the Detroit Tigers
from 1961 through the early 1980s.
Radio was still in its infancy, but Fetzer took it seriously and built his first transmitter-receiver in 1917 and began communicating from his home in Indiana with a man in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1923 he came to Michigan, to build a radio station for Emmanuel Missionary College, now known as Andrews University, in Berrien Springs. He built and operated the station, and also met Rhea Yeager. They would stay married until his death, for 65 years.
Fetzer toured Europe in the late 1920s, studying radio operations, and recalled being repulsed by government monopolies on radio there. He returned to the United States at the beginnings of the Great Depression and would remain a staunch advocate of a "hands off" policy by the government in the communications industry. Emmanuel Missionary College was running out of money to operate its radio station and offered to sell it to Fetzer. He bought it and, in 1930, moved the station to Kalamazoo because of his wife's area ties. Kalamazoo was also the last major city in Michigan without its own radio station. He named the station WKZO and started broadcasting in 1931. The station began its broadcasts in the Burdick Hotel. Mr. and Mrs. Fetzer worked side by side. She served as program director and secretary. He sold advertising and kept track of the technology. He said of these early beginnings, "It was a mixture of pride, stubbornness and stupidity that kept me in the business. If I knew then what I know now about economics, I would have shut down."
His innovations in radio led to the development of a directional antenna for broadcasting at night. This, in turn, led to a lawsuit by a station in Omaha, Nebraska, that said it would interfere with their signal if allowed. The case went through the Supreme Court twice and was finally settled in Fetzer's favor on the floor of the United States Senate. This led to some 3,000 stations getting their licenses granted by the FCC and put Fetzer in the position of pioneer and confidante of many in Washington.
During World War II, he was appointed the national radio censor for the U.S. Office of Censorship and created voluntary censorship of more than 900 radio stations so that they would not broadcast information that would be beneficial to the enemy. When the war started to wind down, Fetzer began asking for smaller and smaller budgets to run the office and began firing the 15,000 people employed by the office. When the war ended, he closed up shop and stored all the information in the basement of the National Archives. He said, "I'm convinced if we hadn't, the Office of Censorship would still be with us today, and I shudder to think how powerful it might be."
Fetzer's own broadcasting empire grew during the war and spread from Kalamazoo to Grand Rapids, Nebraska and Peoria. He formed the Fetzer Music Corporation and acquired the Muzak franchise for out-state Michigan in 1958. Inevitably, he would get into the new medium, television, and established Fetzer Cablevision, eventually, in Kalamazoo. That has since become Charter Communications providing cable television service to the Kalamazoo area.
After purchasing his Nebraska broadcast property in 1954, Fetzer did something unique for a broadcaster at the time. By erecting a 1000 foot tower outside of town and pushing the powerful signal to the west, rather than to the more populated and established TV market in Omaha, KOLN-TV created a near monopoly on a rural area previously ignored by broadcasters. He later acquired a second Nebraska station, KGIN, in Grand Island, further expanding both the coverage area, and the profitability. According to Steve Smethers, professor of journalism and mass communications at Kansas State University,"The old 10/11 strong model is just an incredible idea in terms of serving a very rural part of the state."
Long time KOLN/KGIN television personality Leta Powell Drake noted that "KOLN used to have in their news an 85 share of the audience. That means for all the sets that are tuned into television, 85 percent of the viewers were watching 10/11 News."
In 1956
he bought part ownership in the Tigers and became full owner in 1961
. He was active in negotiating broadcast packages
for Major League Baseball.
In the early 1980s he began to divest himself of his business holdings and sold the Tigers to pizza entrepreneur Tom Monaghan
after the 1983
season. Monaghan himself followed Fetzer's footsteps into broadcasting and now holds a significant stake in a number of broadcast properties airing mostly religious programming, through entities owned or controlled. Much of Fetzer's wealth was used to establish the Fetzer Institute.
He founded the Fetzer Institute "Our mission, to foster awareness of the power of love and forgiveness in the emerging global community, rests on our conviction that efforts to address the world's critical issues must go beyond political, social, and economic strategies to their psychological and spiritual roots." Approximate endowment = $400 000 000 in 2006.
Bio from the Fetzer Institute website:
Radio stations he was involved with:
TV Stations
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...
from 1961 through the early 1980s.
Biography
Born in 1901 in Decatur, Indiana, Fetzer moved with his mother to Lafayette, Indiana, after his father died when Fetzer was 2 years old. There his brother-in-law, a telegraph operator for the Wabash Railroad, introduced young John to the early workings of wireless communication. Via telegraph reports they would track the baseball games of the Detroit Tigers, which he would later own.Radio was still in its infancy, but Fetzer took it seriously and built his first transmitter-receiver in 1917 and began communicating from his home in Indiana with a man in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1923 he came to Michigan, to build a radio station for Emmanuel Missionary College, now known as Andrews University, in Berrien Springs. He built and operated the station, and also met Rhea Yeager. They would stay married until his death, for 65 years.
Fetzer toured Europe in the late 1920s, studying radio operations, and recalled being repulsed by government monopolies on radio there. He returned to the United States at the beginnings of the Great Depression and would remain a staunch advocate of a "hands off" policy by the government in the communications industry. Emmanuel Missionary College was running out of money to operate its radio station and offered to sell it to Fetzer. He bought it and, in 1930, moved the station to Kalamazoo because of his wife's area ties. Kalamazoo was also the last major city in Michigan without its own radio station. He named the station WKZO and started broadcasting in 1931. The station began its broadcasts in the Burdick Hotel. Mr. and Mrs. Fetzer worked side by side. She served as program director and secretary. He sold advertising and kept track of the technology. He said of these early beginnings, "It was a mixture of pride, stubbornness and stupidity that kept me in the business. If I knew then what I know now about economics, I would have shut down."
His innovations in radio led to the development of a directional antenna for broadcasting at night. This, in turn, led to a lawsuit by a station in Omaha, Nebraska, that said it would interfere with their signal if allowed. The case went through the Supreme Court twice and was finally settled in Fetzer's favor on the floor of the United States Senate. This led to some 3,000 stations getting their licenses granted by the FCC and put Fetzer in the position of pioneer and confidante of many in Washington.
During World War II, he was appointed the national radio censor for the U.S. Office of Censorship and created voluntary censorship of more than 900 radio stations so that they would not broadcast information that would be beneficial to the enemy. When the war started to wind down, Fetzer began asking for smaller and smaller budgets to run the office and began firing the 15,000 people employed by the office. When the war ended, he closed up shop and stored all the information in the basement of the National Archives. He said, "I'm convinced if we hadn't, the Office of Censorship would still be with us today, and I shudder to think how powerful it might be."
Fetzer's own broadcasting empire grew during the war and spread from Kalamazoo to Grand Rapids, Nebraska and Peoria. He formed the Fetzer Music Corporation and acquired the Muzak franchise for out-state Michigan in 1958. Inevitably, he would get into the new medium, television, and established Fetzer Cablevision, eventually, in Kalamazoo. That has since become Charter Communications providing cable television service to the Kalamazoo area.
After purchasing his Nebraska broadcast property in 1954, Fetzer did something unique for a broadcaster at the time. By erecting a 1000 foot tower outside of town and pushing the powerful signal to the west, rather than to the more populated and established TV market in Omaha, KOLN-TV created a near monopoly on a rural area previously ignored by broadcasters. He later acquired a second Nebraska station, KGIN, in Grand Island, further expanding both the coverage area, and the profitability. According to Steve Smethers, professor of journalism and mass communications at Kansas State University,"The old 10/11 strong model is just an incredible idea in terms of serving a very rural part of the state."
Long time KOLN/KGIN television personality Leta Powell Drake noted that "KOLN used to have in their news an 85 share of the audience. That means for all the sets that are tuned into television, 85 percent of the viewers were watching 10/11 News."
In 1956
1956 in baseball
-Major League Baseball:*World Series: New York Yankees over Brooklyn Dodgers ; Don Larsen, MVP*All-Star Game, July 10 at Griffith Stadium: National League, 7-3-Other champions:*Caribbean World Series: Cienfuegos *College World Series: Minnesota...
he bought part ownership in the Tigers and became full owner in 1961
1961 in baseball
-Major League Baseball:*World Series: New York Yankees over Cincinnati Reds ; Whitey Ford, MVP*All-Star Game , July 11 at Candlestick Park: National League, 5-4 *All-Star Game , July 31 at Fenway Park: 1–1 tie...
. He was active in negotiating broadcast packages
Major League Baseball television contracts
The following is a detailed description of the various television networks , rights fees, and announcers who have called Major League Baseball games throughout the years .-United States:...
for Major League Baseball.
In the early 1980s he began to divest himself of his business holdings and sold the Tigers to pizza entrepreneur Tom Monaghan
Tom Monaghan
Thomas Stephen "Tom" Monaghan is an entrepreneur and Catholic philanthropist and activist who founded Domino's Pizza in 1960. He owned the Detroit Tigers from 1983-1992....
after the 1983
1983 in baseball
-Major League Baseball:*World Series: Baltimore Orioles over Philadelphia Phillies ; Rick Dempsey, MVP*American League Championship Series MVP: Mike Boddicker*National League Championship Series MVP: Gary Matthews...
season. Monaghan himself followed Fetzer's footsteps into broadcasting and now holds a significant stake in a number of broadcast properties airing mostly religious programming, through entities owned or controlled. Much of Fetzer's wealth was used to establish the Fetzer Institute.
He founded the Fetzer Institute "Our mission, to foster awareness of the power of love and forgiveness in the emerging global community, rests on our conviction that efforts to address the world's critical issues must go beyond political, social, and economic strategies to their psychological and spiritual roots." Approximate endowment = $400 000 000 in 2006.
Bio from the Fetzer Institute website:
The founder of the Fetzer Institute, (John Earl Fetzer), was familiar with the call of the sacred within the secular. Trained as an electrical engineer, John E. Fetzer began his career in 1931 by designing, building, and operating his own radio station that he then expanded into a Michigan-based, multistate broadcasting empire including radio, television, cable, and closed-circuit music transmission.
In his private life, John Fetzer had an intense intellectual curiosity about the "unseen elements" of life. He studied various forms of meditation, prayer, philosophy, and positive thinking, and explored other ways of healing. Throughout his life he was also passionately interested in baseball, an enthusiasm that led him to purchase the Detroit Tigers baseball club. In his later years, the sale of the team and his media holdings resulted in the endowment of the Fetzer Institute.
The interests that shaped John Fetzer's life can be seen as the seedbed for the questions that define the work of the Fetzer Institute: How can the secular and sacred elements of life be better integrated? How can the insights of science and the powers of technological innovation be utilized to explore the capacities of the mind and spirit? How can the wisdom and insight gained through inner exploration be used to better our individual and collective health? And how can the entrepreneurial spirit and financial resources gained from the American business sector be used in the service of creating a better world?
Radio stations he was involved with:
- [8AZ} AM station in Berrien Springs MI, became WEMC "The Radio Lighthouse"
- WKJFWJZQWJZQ 92.9 Cadillac/Traverse City is a 100,000-watt radio station broadcasting a Top 40 format as Z93. It is owned by Ross Biederman's Midwestern Broadcasting, who also owns WTCM-AM/FM and WCCW-AM/FM, all in Traverse City, MI.-WWTV-FM and WKJF-FM:...
AM and FM stations in Cadillac MI (now WJZQ-FM and WLJW-AM) - WKZO and WKZO-FM in Kalamazoo, MichiganKalamazoo, MichiganThe area on which the modern city stands was once home to Native Americans of the Hopewell culture, who migrated into the area sometime before the first millennium. Evidence of their early residency remains in the form of a small mound in downtown's Bronson Park. The Hopewell civilization began to...
- KOLN-AMKLINKLIN is a radio station broadcasting a News Talk Information format. Licensed to Lincoln, Nebraska, USA, the station serves the Lincoln area. The station is currently owned by NRG Media and features programing from ABC Radio , Premiere Radio Networks and Fox News Radio.KLIN was founded in 1946...
, Lincoln, NebraskaLincoln, NebraskaThe City of Lincoln is the capital and the second-most populous city of the US state of Nebraska. Lincoln is also the county seat of Lancaster County and the home of the University of Nebraska. Lincoln's 2010 Census population was 258,379.... - WJFM - Grand Rapids, Michigan (now WBCT)
TV Stations
- KMEGKMEGKMEG is the CBS-affiliated television station for the Southern Siouxland licensed to Sioux City, Iowa. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 39 from a transmitter in unincorporated Plymouth County, Iowa east of James and US 75 along the Woodbury county line...
-channel 14, Sioux City, IowaSioux City, IowaSioux City is a city in Plymouth and Woodbury counties in the western part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 82,684 in the 2010 census, a decline from 85,013 in the 2000 census, which makes it currently the fourth largest city in the state.... - KOLN / KGINKOLNKOLN, digital channel 10, is the CBS affiliate in Lincoln, Nebraska. It operates a satellite station, KGIN, on digital channel 11 in Grand Island. KGIN repeats all KOLN programming, but airs separate commercials...
-channels 10 and 11, LincolnLincoln, NebraskaThe City of Lincoln is the capital and the second-most populous city of the US state of Nebraska. Lincoln is also the county seat of Lancaster County and the home of the University of Nebraska. Lincoln's 2010 Census population was 258,379....
/ Grand Island, NebraskaGrand Island, NebraskaGrand Island is a city in and the county seat of Hall County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 48,520 at the 2010 census.Grand Island is home to the Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Center which is the sole agency responsible for training law enforcement officers throughout the state,... - WKZO - channel 3, Kalamazoo, MichiganKalamazoo, MichiganThe area on which the modern city stands was once home to Native Americans of the Hopewell culture, who migrated into the area sometime before the first millennium. Evidence of their early residency remains in the form of a small mound in downtown's Bronson Park. The Hopewell civilization began to...
(now WWMTWWMTWWMT is the CBS-affiliated television station for West Michigan licensed to Kalamazoo. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 8 from a transmitter on Chief Noonday Road/M-179, northwest of Yankee Springs Township, along the Barry and Allegan County line. The station can also...
) - WWTVWWTVWWTV is the CBS-affiliated television station for the northern Lower and eastern Upper Peninsulas of Michigan. Licensed to Cadillac, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 9 from a transmitter at its studios on 130th Avenue, northeast of Tustin, in Osceola County. At 1,631...
/WWUP - channels 9 and 10, Cadillac, MichiganCadillac, MichiganCadillac is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is the county seat of Wexford County. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 10,000. The city is situated at the junction of US 131, M-55 and M-115...
/Sault Ste Marie, Michigan