Stanley
E. Hubbard, Sr.
Stanley
E. Hubbard got his first radio operation underway
in April 1924, with a small studio, a transmitter,
a couple of pole antennas and a string of dance
bands that played five nights a week at the Marigold
Ballroom.
He
was proud of the music. But it was his fledgling
news show that really excited him. He later would
tell interviewers he started the first daily news
broadcast in the country - on WAMD radio at six
o'clock every night.
From
the very beginning in radio, Stanley Hubbard was
a pioneer: an innovative programmer, a news enthusiast,
a technical innovator and a 14-carat maverick.
No surprise then that Hubbard Broadcasting was
experimenting with a television camera as early
as 1938, almost 10 years before KSTP-TV went on
the air.
Along
with his son, Stanley S., Hubbard always stayed
a step ahead of the competition. KSTP was the
first station to broadcast exclusively in color
and developed a weather center that was the envy
of the U.S. Weather Service. Prior to his death
in 1992, Hubbard was involved with his son in
the company's most ambitious venture, the Direct
Broadcast Satellite operation, which set up a
network to feed programs by satellite directly
to homes and independent stations.
Hubbard
also brought his can-do spirit and enthusiasm
to civic ventures. He helped revive St. Paul's
Winter Carnival, save the Como Park Zoo and create
the Metropolitan Airport Commission to oversee
the development of an international airport for
the Twin Cities.
At
the age of 84, Hubbard was asked by a magazine
reporter the secret of his broadcasting success.
The answer came quickly: "Showmanship, good
news, good management, and integrity."
