The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia

Mel Kampmann

Born in Santa Monica, California, Melvin (Mel) John Kampmann joined the Air Force and served in the Korean War as an air traffic controller and, for the rest of his life, could not stand the smell of kimchee. After his service, Mel became a radio announcer and late-night television movie host in Fresno, California, before moving to Los Angeles, where he began his TV news career. Mel’s consummate professionalism and on-air personality led to his first News Director job in San Francisco.

Mel continued his news director career in Denver, before moving to Philadelphia, where he coined the term and introduced the “Action News” format which emphasized a fast pace, tight writing and high story count, with the goal of covering more stories in the same amount of time as competitors. The format was developed as a direct response to rival KYW-TV’s “Eyewitness News” format, which shifted television news’ reliance on anchors sitting in studios to an emphasis on more “on the scene” footage of news stories.

The new format worked. It enabled WPVI-TV to gain and maintain a ratings lead that continues to this day. Before introducing the change, it was joked that the station was number four in a three station market.

Action News continues to be a popular news brand today as well; Mel’s ideas have continued to live on throughout the industry with faster paced newscasts and on-scene video.

After his monumental Action News success, Mel went on to Washington, DC (by way of Fargo, ND, gaining Station Manager status) where he earned an Emmy Award for Outstanding Newscast during his tenure at WJLA as their Vice President of News and Public Affairs.

Given his career successes, Mel hung up his news director hat to become a TV news consultant helping numerous stations across the country improve their format, resulting in higher ratings. In addition, he formed International Communications Group, which trained business professionals how to speak to the media, by sticking to their agenda, in multiple interview situations.

The e-mail address of the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia is pioneers@broadcastpioneers.com