WAVE-3’s Scott Reynolds is a natural born competitor. This serves him well in the ongoing “news war” in the Louisville TV market. Having survived 17 years here is a testimony that the ruggedly handsome Reynolds is a popular “battle-scarred” veteran.
“I like the deadlines and the competitiveness to get things done; kind of has that sports analogy to it,” said Reynolds. “It gets your adrenaline pumping.”
Reynolds, who grew up on a dairy farm in Zumbrota, Minn., played football, basketball and baseball in high school, which honed his competitiveness. From his Dad and Mom, Bernard and Eunice, he learned a work ethic and more.
“My Dad always taught me to work really hard and earn what you get,” said Reynolds. “And to treat people kindly. I saw Dad and Mom do that their whole lives.”
I asked Reynolds what he liked best about his job.
“I like to go hard and then rest,” said Reynolds. “I don’t like constant, the same thing for eight hours, and we don’t. . . . I kind of like doing it in sprints.”
I then asked Reynolds what he liked least about his job.
“Probably what I like least about the job is the hours,” said Reynolds. “You know, anchoring until almost midnight, it’s pretty good when you’re single, but when you’ve got a family, it’s hard.”
Speaking of family, Reynolds has been married for 21 years. He chose not to reveal his wife’s name, but he did reveal his children’s. They are: daughter Haley, 20; sons Connor, 15, Tyler 12, and the twins, Matthew and Logan, both 8
For hobbies, Reynolds likes to watch any sport.
“I can watch just about any sport on TV because I love competition,” said Reynolds. “I still play basketball. I do the Insanity Workouts. P-90x Workouts. I love to go run at Tom Sawyer Park.”
Reynolds said that he has played organized baseball on a team, almost every year since he left high school. Last year, he played for the Louisville Colonels “over 38 year old” team, doing some pitching and playing some in the outfield.
He also likes to play basketball with his sons, either at church or at the YMCA. Indicating once again, that Reynolds loves to compete, either individually or in team sports
I next asked Reynolds about the “celebrity” nature of his job and if it ever “got old.”
“No,” said Reynolds. “It is part of the job and it’s a nice way to meet people. You can either look at it as an annoyance or an opportunity. And I look at it as an opportunity!”
Reynolds knows he must maintain a certain standard of appearance whenever he goes out.
“So I definitely look pretty good when I go out,” said Reynolds. “I don’t want to look too haggard because I’m representing the station.”
I asked Reynolds if he had ever considered going out into public in “disguise” to avoid “fan detection” and he answered with an emphatic “NO.” He did admit that it can be a peaceful benefit of an out-of-town vacation, is the relative anonymity of a distant town. But that even in towns as close as Chicago, Ill., or as far away as Destin, Fla., vacationing Louisvillians will find you out with a “Hey, how are you doing? We watch you all the time!”
After graduating from Zumbrota High School, Reynolds attended the Brown Institute in Minneapolis, Minn. When he graduated from there, Reynolds started his career in media in radio. Not surprising considering the strength, quality and melodic, resonating nature of his voice.
He was a sports director at KWAL in northern Idaho, Osburn to be exact. He revealed that he covered five cities and five high schools and was also an announcer. His second job was at KRPL in Moscow, Idaho, home of the University of Idaho where “I was an announcer there and did some play-by-play, as well.”
Reynolds left there and became a Top 40 jock at WSAM at Saginaw, Michigan. It was here, that a news slot opened and Reynolds filled it and fell in love with doing the news. Next he was hired by WJON in St. Cloud, Minn., about 90 minutes north of the twin cities.
“And I was covering a lot of news with TV people from Minneapolis and I thought: ‘I can do what they’re doing.’” said Reynolds. “‘And I think I report maybe better than some of them.’”
So Reynolds returned to his college, the Brown Institute, and “put together some “on-camera” work to go with my radio work” and began looking for his first television job.
He was rewarded when KCRG-TV in Cedar Rapids, Ia., hired him. Within 6 months he was the weekend anchor. Reynolds did some investigative reporting and then got hired at KVBC in Las Vegas as a weekday anchor. He did that for three years and then an additional four years as sports director, before he ultimately arrived at WAVE-3, in 1996, replacing Allan Denton.
I next asked Reynolds how he defined “success” and if he considered himself successful by that definition.
“To me success is really are you happy and are you content.” said Reynolds. “It’s not in salary. I’ve been blessed in my career to have advanced really well and end up in a wonderful position like this at WAVE, and I am so thankful for that. But successful to me is, I mean, I see people who make pretty small salaries and have a comfortable life and are there for their children, and they’re successful.”
Reynolds added that success means “enjoying what you do, so I’ve been successful in that I love what I do.”
Reynolds and I concluded interview with a short discussion of the human frailties of people in his line of work. The fact that anchors are human, that they make mistakes on the air, and that people in the audience may get upset with them from time to time. Reynolds says that the people in his business try “to be balanced and fair, especially at WAVE -3” and he likes to hear from angry viewers, especially when they say things like “I’m not gonna ever watch them again.”
“No, I appreciate the emails and the criticism, and often they are right.” said Reynolds. “And then I’ll have to explain to them how it happened and how’ll we will try to correct it at that moment….
And so I love having that connection with the public. I love viewer feedback. . . . I think that that is what we should be about. We should be responsive to those out there who have legitimate concerns.”
Photo by: Bobby Densford
