Don
Swartz has a history in broadcasting of turning
losers into winners and finding the advantage
in an apparent disadvantage. He began in the
1930s booking and selling movies with Warner
Bros. Pictures. In the '40s he started his own
company with his brother.
By
the 1950s, Swartz became one of televisions
first syndicators, selling programming to stations
throughout the Midwest. One of the companies
for which he was distributing bought KMSP-TV
in the Twin Cities and asked him to run the
station, which was losing more than $30,000
a week. Within a year the station was sold to
20th Century Fox - on the condition that Swartz
come along with the deal.
Under
Swartz's guidance, KMSP became an ABC affiliate.
When the station lost its affiliation in 1979,
he continue business as usual and KMSP went
on to become the number 1 independent television
station in the country.
Prior
to retiring, Swartz bought television properties
for United Television in Salt Lake City, San
Antonio, and San Francisco. With his help, United
and its parent company, Christ Craft, became
the fourth largest television broadcasting company
in the United States.
It
was in the Twin Cities, however, where Swartz
left his mark as a community citizen. He was
a member of the St. Paul Arts and Sciences Institute,
president of the University of Minnesota Heart
Hospital, founder of a scholarship program for
minorities, and director of the United Jewish
Fund and Council.
Former
Vice President Walter Mondale once described
Swartz as a man who helped make his community
a better place to live, and an example broadcasters
should strive to follow.
