(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) - My guest tonight needs no introduction, but I'll give him one anyway.

Chuck Collins has brought us news and weather on radio and TV in Central Illinois for 50 years, and he is now retired.

How does it feel to be unemployed?

- (laughs) Well, not too bad, Mark.

So far, so good.

I've got a list of things to do, but nothing in concrete, but just the feeling of getting up.

If I wanna do something, I can, if I don't wanna do it, I don't have to.

- Freedom.

- Yeah, exactly.

- Have you looked into this at all, your 50 years?

Is this a record for this area?

- Lee Ranson was close to 51.

- [Mark] Okay.

- And I'm just shy of 50, so.

But there's not very many.

And Bob Larson, if you count him doing the Santa parade since 1971, I mean, he's up there too, but yeah.

But yeah, continuous, you know, full time, it's been almost 50 years now.

- Yeah, I knew Bob and Tom McIntyre had a little over 40 years, I think.

And currently, we have Kurt Pegler and Jim Mattson, who I think are above 30, but below 40.

So, I mean, 50 years, man.

That's a lot.

- Yeah, and Kurt is coming up on 40, yeah, so they're both coming up on 40.

And unfortunately, that's the... I hate to use this terminology, but it's a dying breed, you know?

I'm a dinosaur now, you're not going to see that once Kurt and Jim Mattson retire.

You're not going to see that longevity just because of the way the business is going.

- Sure.

Well, let's talk about the business.

As a young man growing up, what made you want to get into radio and TV?

- Yeah.

I, like a lot of baby boomer kids, I think, but especially me, I found it fascinating.

I had my transistor radio on at night, and I'd pull in stations from Cleveland, from Denver, because AM, you know, transistor radio waves go farther at night.

They bounce off the atmosphere.

And I found that fascinating.

I love that.

And then I just loved radio and TV.

And I think the biggest thing, my parents, they were the original channel surfers.

We had, you know, three TV stations, and they wanted to see the weather over here with Houli, weather with Rollie, weather with John Day.

And of course, they would tell me to, you know, go and change the channel, so I was the first remote of the family.

But I got it from them because they were, even for them, they were the original channel surfers and loved local news and weather, and the personalities, and radio, too, because, you know, grew up with a handful of AM stations.

FM was in its infancy when I was growing up.

And they loved radio too, so, I got it from them, because they loved local radio, and especially TV.

- What were you like as a kid?

Were you outgoing?

Were you just destined to be in this business?

- I think I was, I knew from an early age what I wanted to do, and I always wanted to be on Peoria radio and TV, because I grew up watching Houli, Rollie, John Day, Stretch Miller early, and sports, and I knew all the personalities, so I became kind of a junkie.

And when I got into high school, all my curriculum was geared towards speech and debate, so I had an idea from an early age what I wanted to do.

And I've done just about everything, except engineering, I'm no good at that.

But I've done just about everything.

And I ended up doing weather the longest because I was always fascinated by weather, growing up as a kid.

But I wasn't good in math or science, which doesn't make any sense.

You know, and that's what meteorology is, math and science.

So I had to catch up on that in later years when I went back to college for meteorology.

But I always knew at an early age what I wanted to do, and I wanted to do it here.

I've had the opportunities to go elsewhere.

I've had opportunities to be signed by talent agencies all across the country over the years, but I didn't wanna do that, I wanted to stay here, especially when we started having a family.

I didn't wanna move my family all the way around, and I wanted to stay here.

- Well, the TV business is hard in that respect, because you usually start off somewhere you don't wanna be, and then try and work your way up to a larger market or a nicer area, whatever.

- Right.

- And you decided to stay here.

Now, I wanna talk about your first TV job.

Well, your first radio job was your first job in the business.

Was that your typical small town, awful pay, awful hours kind of job?

- Yeah, and just to show you how crazy it is, my first job I got paid was a weekend announcing job at a radio station in Sullivan, Illinois, between Mattoon and Decatur.

And I'd went to Lake Land College of Mattoon, so I was familiar with it.

But it was only a weekend gig.

It wasn't full time.

Well, during the first summer I was working there, I would drive from Peoria down to Sullivan, stay with friends, work the entire weekend, and I was pumping gas, you know, in Peoria, Monday through Friday.

We'd go down there for the weekend, and then come back Sunday night and start pumping gas Monday through Friday, do it all again.

And it didn't turn out to be a full-time position, so my first full-time job, I was in Danville at WDAN Radio, and then I got my first job in Peoria Radio a few months after that.

- [Mark] And that had to be exciting for you.

- Yeah, and that's all I wanted to do, and I wanted to make sure, because, you know at that time, Peoria, you know, before the Caterpillar loss of jobs and loss of population, we were a solid, medium sized television and radio market, and you just didn't start working in Peoria right outta college, even in radio and TV.

So it took me a while to get to, you know, get back up there.

So I went to Sullivan, Danville.

Got my first job at 94.3, which is licensed to Chillicothe.

It's now the Catholic station, I think.

WCLL.

And then I started changing jobs about every year, moving up to finally getting to WMBD, and then eventually, WEEK.

- And tell us about that transition from radio to TV, how that worked.

- I found it... The only difference, I thought, when you're in radio, you are basically running the controls.

You're in charge of your own destiny.

Well, when you're on TV, you just have a microphone and a camera, but there are people in the control room here controlling our destiny.

They can make us look good or they can make us look bad, or sound good or sound bad.

So, that was one of the... And I always wore headphones and I didn't get to hear myself, so that was one thing.

But it came naturally for me because I was on radio 10 years before I went, stood in front of a camera, 'cause I really didn't, wasn't that interested in TV.

But I went to WMBD in 1986, and I was working mainly for the AM WMBD, AM, I was doing news, I was a news anchor.

And then I got a chance to do weather part-time across the hall on the TV side, and I got bitten by the bug there.

So, I really never was that interested in TV, because I had long hair, I had a beard, my hair was down to my shoulders, you know, didn't have to dress up, but then once I got in front of the camera and got in front of the green wall, I got bitten by the bug.

- And why did you decide to go the weather route as opposed to just staying?

'Cause you could have done news on TV, easily.

Why did you decide to go with weather?

- Well, I always loved weather, and one of the... I don't wanna say fun, but when we had severe weather in the '80s and '90s before social media, severe weather radio coverage, or severe weather coverage on radio, was so exciting because people would call in and tell us what they see.

You didn't have posts on social media to say somebody saw a tornado here, you know?

So we'd have full coverage with radio.

And I loved radio weather aspect of it, and severe weather on radio.

And then, like I said, the news director at the time, Dwayne Wallace, asked me, "I've got a Sunday night opening for weather.

Late show.

It's only one show.

I know you love weather on radio."

And he was my boss on radio and TV.

And he said, "Why don't you get in front of the green screen and give it a shot if you want to?"

And I did, and then I got hooked by that.

And I think there's a little bit more longevity, too, in weather, as opposed to news.

I could have been a news anchor, but I was, and still a news nut, and a journalist at heart, but weather, to be honest with you, everybody talked about the weather.

It was a popular subject.

And Houli and Rollie were some of the most popular personalities in the market, and they were weather people.

Lee Ranson, weather people.

So, that kind of got me hooked as, yeah, a little ego involved there.

- Well, weather's the one thing that affects everyone.

Sports doesn't affect everyone.

Certain news stories don't affect everyone.

But the weather affects everyone.

So tell us, and I think the audience may be interested to know, to a certain extent, anyone can do weather, but to do weather well and to become an expert on it, you need higher education.

- Right.

- So tell us about the transition between just being the weather guy and being a meteorologist.

- Yeah, for years and years, we were a market, and it was most markets of, you had the person on the staff who had the most personality and most well known would be doing weather, and they weren't meteorologists.

Then in the '90s, it started turning because several meteorology programs started popping up, and the trend was going towards staff of meteorologist.

So if you weren't a meteorologist, unless you were a long time person like Lee Ranson or Bill Houlihan, or Rollie, even, once that generation went away, then we were talking about a whole, a glut or generation of meteorologists.

And so I figured, in the early '90s, I was doing weather, still part-time weather, I figured I needed to go get some credentials to know what I was talking about and have credibility.

Plus, that was the way they were going.

And Peoria was, since we had such long time weathercasters, wasn't affected by it, but when that started to change, then we saw, you know, the meteorology aspect of it, so meteorologists were coming into the market, because you could get meteorologists at, you know, there were so many meteorologists wannabes.

Well, not wannabes, but meteorologists, looking for jobs.

You had a lot to choose from.

So, you could keep the salaries down and hire meteorologists and have a full staff.

So, we started making that turn in the mid '90s, late '90s, in Peoria.

- So you were at WMBD for about 23 years, I think.

- [Chuck] Yeah, 1986 to 2009.

- [Mark] So tell us about the decision to go to the competition, WEEK, and how hard of a decision was that?

Or was it hard at all?

- Yeah.

Oh, it was hard, because, you know, WMBD gave me my first shot at doing weather.

And when I went to WMBD, I realized that I had, you know, gone to the most powerful call letters of the market, WMBD.

And I'd been in Peoria Radio, but not to the extent of going to WMBD, even going to WMBD Radio and working with John Williams and legends like that.

So, the situation was, I had spent my entire life growing up here, and WMBD was always a solid number two, but WMBD TV, WEEK was always the heritage station of the market, and I always wanted to work there.

And so we had contracts were ending at the same time or coming close to the same time, and we had this covert operation to bring me over.

And to be honest, a pretty good pay increase didn't hurt the situation either, because that was, you know, I didn't want to make a lateral transition, but I always wanted to work for the heritage station of the market, and I got to work for, you know, WMBD and WEEK for a combined 23 plus 16 years, yeah.

- So, I wanna know, what is your, for yourself, what is your definition of success, and when did you realize, "I'm successful, I feel successful"?

- Yeah.

That's a great question.

I knew that I was getting successful when I went to WMBD and I was working on radio, WMBD AM, for, you know, two years solid before I started getting into weather, and I did both for a while.

But in the early '90s, I was doing news, anchoring morning news on WMBD with John Williams, and that was during the early '90s Caterpillar conflict, when workers were locked out, and it pitted families versus families.

Very ugly.

And the ratings on the morning show of people wanting that information just skyrocketed.

And there were times when, actually, I was more recognized because of my work on WMBD Radio than I was on TV early on, because the radio stations were just gangbusters, and KZ-93 at the time, too, and I did some stuff on KZ-93.

Between those two radio stations, the ratings were humongous, and I started getting recognition there, and I kind of knew then that, yeah, maybe even bigger things were coming down the line.

- Sure.

What do you think makes a successful, we'll stick with meteorologist.

I mean, obviously, you have to know what you're talking about.

But how much of it is personality and being different?

- Right.

There are meteorologists out there who are solid in their education, who know the atmosphere up and down, but they don't have the personality per se, they just present the weather, and that's it.

If you get a combination of the two, knowing what you're talking about, and then having a personality.

So, one minute, I can say, "I saw a few flakes out there today, but that was only in my neighborhood."

I can say that and people like that.

But then on the other hand, when we have severe weather and tornado warnings, they know I can be serious and it's down to business and, you know, I roll up my sleeves and get going.

So, I think it's a combination of both, because you have weathercasters who are just personality driven but may not have the knowledge, but then you have some meteorologists who are just strictly straightforward and don't think weather should be joked about.

I was kind of in between because I think there needs to be personality at times, but other times, you have to get real serious.

- Yeah, you gotta know when to turn it on and off.

- [Chuck] Right, yeah.

- I wanna find out from you, I know advances in technology have been incredible over when you started until now, but just the state of the business, how has that change in 50 years?

- It's everything.

Technology, ownership, FCC rules and regulations.

I mean, we used to have three local owners of three TV stations.

We had three local owners of the top three or four radio stations.

Now we're pretty much corporately owned.

I mean, I remember a time, I was on my first channel 47 auction in 1979.

It went on two weeks at Exposition Gardens.

And we had a chalkboard to write down the items and the bids, and look where we've come since then.

Even this television station and the set we're on.

So, it's been a remarkable, remarkable transition.

Technology, yeah, obviously, but even as ownership and things like that, I'm not saying it's a good or a bad thing, but, you know, WEEK has 106 stations in its group, and Nexstar, which owns WMBD, has more than that.

And that's where we are, we're in a corporate situation.

So, I miss the local ownership, because it feels like there is a little bit more being invested in the community.

- Well, and it seems like you could actually make a career out of staying in Peoria.

You know, when I was going through some of the video that we're showing right now of some of the good, old days, I look at the news room and I'm like, "Wow, it's full of adults."

- Yeah.

- People in their 30s, their 40s, on up, and now it's mostly kids.

But I think that's part of the negative aspect of having a big ownership group, is that, you know, they have all these stations, they have to populate them, they have to sell certain amount of advertising, and so they're only gonna pay people a certain amount of money.

- Right, and all of them have salary ceilings.

So, once again, if you have a producer, or even anchors or reporters come in, they're only here for a couple of years because they've reached the ceiling, you know, the salary ceiling.

And I tell people, it's like for me, a teacher, yeah, I started out, it was tough starting out, no doubt about it, but I achieved tenure, was allowed to achieve tenure, and made a good living.

But now, because of the setup, you're not allowed to even reach that much tenure anymore.

So that's why there's just a ceiling over everything.

- I've got a lot of kids here in Central Illinois maybe going to ICC, Bradley, ISU, that want to do what you and I do.

What kind of advice would you give them?

What have you learned over all of your time here in the business?

- Yeah, and they have such an advantage of showing their work because of social media, YouTube and Facebook and everything else.

When I would be looking for a job, I had to wait for Thursdays for Broadcasting Magazine to come to the Peoria Public Library.

I had to go look to see the job ads, send out a resume.

Well, now that's instant.

So, that's a big advantage.

Plus, you can put your work out there.

We don't get resume tapes anymore, we get links to, you know, their video work.

So, that's a great thing.

So, do anything you can.

I mean, if you get a chance to sweep the floor at the radio station or TV station, do it.

Get inside the door.

That's my biggest thing.

If you have an internship possibility, go for it.

Because strange things have happened, interns have gotten hired because of, you know, somebody leaving right away, or two or three people leaving at the same time, so just do everything you can to get your foot in the door.

And it's a lot easier to get your stuff out there, just make sure your stuff is good stuff, and put it out there.

And so that's a big advantage, I think.

It's still competitive.

I mean, the beginning salary for a reporter in Peoria is not much over $20.

So, you know, if you're a family person, that might be a little bit tough.

So, you know, you're not making a lot of money at the beginning.

And that was the first thing I was told at Lake Land College in Mattoon.

Our instructor, his name was Ken Bino, and he said, "Here's what you're going to make when you graduate here, because you're not gonna go to Chicago right away.

You're not going to go to even Peoria.

You're going to a small local radio station.

Here's what you're going to make in a couple of years when you get out."

Three or four people didn't come back to class after that day because of that.

So, it's still, you know, the salaries aren't exorbitant at the local level, but if you continue to grow and get some tenure.

- Sure.

Any regrets in your 50 years, anything you wish you would've done differently?

Every once in a while, do you have that little voice that says, "Ah, what if I went to Chicago or St.

Louis?"

- Yeah, I always think about that, but I feel really grounded on where I am, because I'm not the type of person who wants to spend an hour drive going into work in a big metropolitan area.

But not very many.

The only thing is I have an associate's in broadcasting.

I sometimes wish I would've gotten my bachelor's or master's in broadcasting or journalism or communications.

And I have that in meteorology.

It's called a Certificate of Broadcast Meteorology.

But I went to meteorology at Mississippi State for four years.

So, maybe more education, but then I think, well... - You'd still be paying off the loans.

- Yeah.

Plus, it would probably mean public relations or marketing, and there are a lot of PR jobs out there that I probably wouldn't feel comfortable doing.

This is what I've always wanted to do.

So, I think about that from time to time, nut really, no main regrets, because I've gotten to do what I've wanted to do, everything I've wanted to do.

- Yeah, you're a lucky man.

Well, speaking of things that you really love, tell us about your fascination with James Bond and when that started.

- I saw my first James Bond movie at the Beverly Theater on Knoxville and McClure in Peoria, and that was... Well, I had to catch up, because when James Bond first came out in the early '60s, I was in second grade, and my mom and dad would not let me go see James Bond until I was probably in junior high.

So, I've had a fascination with Bond growing up and throughout my life, and then I've had a chance to, for the past 30 years, I've been part of an organization, it's called the Ian Fleming Foundation, and we buy, sell, and trade vehicles that have been used in James Bond movies.

And we lease them out to museums and auto shows.

So I'll spend more time with that.

We have a warehouse near Chicago where we keep all of our stuff.

And it's a nonprofit.

But that's been my main hobby over these years.

I mean, who wouldn't wanna be James Bond as far as the guy is concerned, you know?

Debonaire, wine, women, you know?

And then the women, who doesn't wanna be with James Bond, you know?

So, it was a win all the way around.

- [Mark] Well, recently, you got as close to being James Bond as maybe a person could.

Creative Services at WEEK did a great video of you as James Bond, and I encourage everybody to find this on YouTube.

It was awesome.

Okay, here's what I want to ask you.

Who is the best James Bond?

- Well, since I'm a, you know, middle-aged baby boomer and I grew up with Connery, you know, Connery is the definitive Bond.

But if you're a true Bond fan, you realize the contributions all of those actors made to the franchise, you know?

Roger Moore rescued the franchise after Connery quit the second time, and then, you know, Pierce Brosnan reinvigorated the franchise after a several year absence from the screen.

So, all of 'em had their... And then Daniel Craig did another reboot of it.

So, you know, all of 'em did a great job.

But Connery is mine.

He's definitive.

- Who do you think should be the next Bond?

Have you thought about that?

- I haven't because... Well, I have, but the folks at Amazon, which now control James Bond and the casting... I like Henry Cavill myself, but he played Superman, and usually the producers of James Bond don't want their character playing a superhero and taking over James Bond, so.

A lot of names out there, but we're still probably another year away from naming a new Bond, and probably another three years away from another movie, because as I mentioned, Amazon just took over creative control, and now they have a director and they have screenwriters, and so it's coming together, but, you know.

Who I want has never really been (chuckles), never been a concern of the producers.

- Never asked you?

- Yeah.

- We don't have much time left, but I want to ask you, you were born Charlie Early.

- [Chuck] Yeah.

(laughs) - Is there a difference between Charlie Early and Chuck Collins?

- Yeah.

You know, it's like all of us, just like you, you have a television personality and you have a personality at home.

I grew up as Charlie in Marquette Heights.

I hated Chuck.

I never liked to be called Chuck.

Well, I had a program director in 1984, I was wanting a job at WXCL, WKQA, his name is Lee Malcolm, he's still around.

He says, "I don't like your name.

You change your name, you got the job."

He goes, "I like Chuck.

It's short and to the point."

There was a Phil Collins song on the air in the office at the time.

He says, "Chuck Collins.

Change your name to Chuck Collins, you got the job."

Well, I needed the job, and that was 1984, so I went almost 10 years using my real name, so.

- Well, it turned out pretty well for you.

- Well, I've been blessed.

Really have.

- Yeah, well, I'm glad I've gotten to know you over my almost 20 years here in town, and you've gotten us through a lot of bad weather incidents, and we appreciate that, plus your sense of humor.

- Well, I kinda like to balance everything out, and I just hope... I know there are a few people out there that may not like me, but hey, it's very few.

Most people have been great, and the public has been great.

- As long as 51% like you, you're fine.

- Yeah, exactly.

- That's all that matters.

(Chuck laughs) All right, my friend.

- Thanks, Mark.

- Thanks for talking with us, I appreciate it.

- Appreciate it.

- Yep.

We'll talk again soon.

Thank you for joining us.

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