Programmed For Success

Marla Drutz leads WXYZ-TV to metro Detroit's highest ratings.

BILL CARROLL
Special to the Jewish News

I

n 1988, on her first day work-
ing at WXYZ-TV (Channel 7),
Marla Drutz passed a colleague
in the hall who greeted her with
these words: "Welcome to the NFL."
Referring to the rough-and-tumble
National Football League, his assess-
ment was pretty much correct. But
Drutz was ready — she said she "came
to play."
.
Now, she holds the high-profile job
of director of programming for the
52-year-old Southfield-based station,
rated No 1 in the Detroit-area televi-
sion market, based on year-end A.C.
Nielsen ratings surveys.
And she's held this prestigious job
for almost seven years.
That's not bad for the Jewish native
of Louisville, Ky., who's caught up in
the dog-eat-dog world of intense news
and programming competition where
TV performers and directors often last
only as long as their ratings stay on
top of the charts.

Working Hard

As director of programming for
WXYZ-TV and programming director
for special projects, Drutz is responsi-
ble for the production, purchasing and
scheduling of all local and syndicated
programming, as well as overseeing the
station's public relations and commu-
nity affairs departments.
"I keep a fierce pace; there's no
doubt about it," she declares. "But I
have a strong support team of very
professional, high-caliber on-air per-
formers and technicians, and some
great network programs and syndicat-
ed shows.
"I feel that Channel 7 is a trusted
source ofnews and entertainment in
this community — very informative
and very appropriate for audiences."
Drutz, in her 40s and a resident of
Bloomfield Township, balances her 10-
to 12-hour-a-day job — including some
weekends — with her other roles. She is
the wife of attorney Ron Kaplovitz; the
mother of a 7-year-old son, David, who
attends Hillel Day School; and a mem-
ber of Shaarey Zedek West Bloomfield,
B'nai Israel Center.

•

Drutz checks out locations for live broadcasts from this year's auto show. Under Drutz's
supervision, Channel 7 is in its sixth year as the official TV sponsor of the show.

"We had only about 4,000 Jewish
people in my hometown of Louisville,
but it was an active Jewish community
and most of us were on a first-name
basis," she recalls. "It's not as personal
the Detroit area, but a lot of people
at the station wish me a good yontif on
the High Holidays."

Louisville Slugger

Drutz spent her youth in Louisville
because her late father, David, now
deceased, opened a podiatry practice
there after attending school in Iowa
and Chicago. Her mother, Clarice, is a
retired medical technologist.
After receiving a bachelor's degree in
communications from Ohio
University and attending graduate
school at Cleveland State University,
Drutz worked at Cleveland's CBS TV
affiliate as a research analyst and
account executive in sales.
She came to the Detroit area in
1986 to join old WJBK-TV (Channel
2 before it became a FOX outlet) as
marketing director, before moving to
Channel 7 as head of research. "When
the program director left, I took over
some programming duties, and that
evolved into the program direr or job,

[which I took over] in 1995," she says.
She supervises six employees, several
freelance producers and maintains a
daily liaison with the ABC network.
"My job is like a recipe with many
ingredients," she muses.
Two of her major responsibilities are
the TV coverage of the annual
Woodward Dream Cruise in August
and January's North American
International Auto Show, now in full
force at Detroit's Cobo Center, where
it continues through Monday, Jan. 21.

Airing The Auto Show

Under Drutz's supervision, Channel 7
is in its sixth year as the official TV
sponsor of the auto show. The station
wrestled the exclusive rights away from
WKBD-TV, Channel 50, with a
strong presentation to the Detroit
Auto Dealers Association.
Channel 50 had devoted its coverage
mainly to the annual Charity Preview
on the eve of the public opening of
the show.
This year's Channel 7 auto show cov-
erage included a half-hour primetime
special on Dec. 26, highlighting the
magnitude of the 2002 show, and four
auto show "sneak peeks" during press

week, Jan. 6-9, focusing on each day's
new model introductions, news confer-
ences, newsmaker interviews, in-depth
features and behind-the-scenes news.
In addition, a two-hour special aired
live statewide from the Charity
Preview on Jan. 11, and an hour-long
special edition of the station's Spotlight
on the News public affairs program
highlighted the show on Jan. 13.
During Channel 7's reign, the auto
show has set all-time high attendance
records and achieved the highest TV
ratings in the history of the Charity
Preview.
Now in its 14th year as an interna-
tional show, the automotive gathering
attracted more than 6,000 journalists
from 59 countries around the world to
this year's press days, and usually gets
more than 800,000 visitors during the
public days.
"The contractors start setting up the
show at the end of October each year,
and we hold our planning meetings at
the same time," Drutz explained. "By
the end of November, we're at Cobo
making the physical arrangements for
Channel 7's coverage.
"We have a control area in the cen-
ter of the floor, 20 cameras and almost
our entire on-air staff of anchor people
and reporters."
Drutz also coordinated the appear-
ances during press week of weather-
man Tony Perkins from ABC's Good
Morning America and Bob Goen, one
of the hosts of ABC's evening
Entertainment Tonight show.
"We have about 4.2 million viewers
in the Detroit area, and we want to
. make sure they benefit from complete
coverage of everything we put on the
air," says Drutz. "We always strive to
leave a positive mark on the commu-
nity."

Decisions, Decisions

Drutz maintains a hectic pace during
the auto show, but her schedule does-
n't really diminish during the rest of
the year. She makes decisions about
which syndicated and network shows
to keep on the air, and tries to "take
the pulse" of viewers to determine
their tastes and interests before making
those purchasing choices, often a few
years in advance.
Channel 7's syndicated programs
include Live With Regis and Kelly,
Martha Stewart, Oprah and
Entertainment Tonight.
One of Drutz's biggest challenges
comes from the fickleness of viewer
tastes and interests, which shift on a
regular basis. "There's constant change
0

1/18
2002

62

s at