What’s your DPTV story? Here’s mine.

One of the things that constantly amazes me about public television is how much people are touched by our programming. Nearly every day someone tells me how our programming has changed their lives or given it new meaning.

Me, too. A little history might be helpful.

I’ve always been interested in media, entertainment, culture and news. School plays, talent shows, public speaking, I tried it all. I sang “Gary, Indiana” (poorly) in the “The Music Man,” worked as a gofer in summer stock, and made “Super 8” movies with pals. I can still recite the lines from my kindergarden debut.

Before college, filmmaking and a new generation of television captured my attention. I loved every minute of American Graffiti and The Godfather. Movies like The Graduate and Easy Rider revolutionized film in the late '60s and early '70s; I studied them all. I stayed up late watching Dick Cavett devote entire shows to subjects that The Tonight Show would never tackle.

In 1973, my local PBS station aired a series titled The Men Who Made Movies, written by film critic Richard Schickel. It celebrated some of Hollywood’s greatest directors, including Frank Capra and Alfred Hitchcock. I was mesmerized, watched every single episode and sent away for the materials that were offered with the show. Today, all these years later, I remember getting the materials from the station and reading every word.

In 1974, I went off to Temple University, hoping to follow Francis Ford Coppola or George Lucas. Somewhere along the way, television production and, later, radio took over and I found a career. To this day I shoot a little video, take a ton of still pictures, and try to find a way to turn meetings into entertainment. Someday I’ll show you the video from the talent show I produced for my wife’s 50th birthday.

There's a lot of television on television these days. We constantly talk about a “300 channel universe.” One of the reasons I came to work here is my certainty that one channel plays an incredible role in our lives, Detroit Public Television.

We change lives. That’s pretty cool.

So, that’s my story about public television. I’m looking for yours.









- Rich Homberg, Detroit Public TV President & General Manager