In today’s Friday Finale, we have a very recognizable figure dating back to 1983. Back in 1975, Orlando Wilson’s “fun” fishing hobby became his business. According to a story in the Atlanta Journal, “For four years he followed the National Bass Association professional fishing circuit and published a newsletter out of his home called ‘Outdoor Press.’ In his four years on the professional fishing tour, Wilson’s ranking was no lower than 6th, including a 2nd place finish in 1976. He averaged about $25,000 a year in money winnings. ‘I wouldn’t call it a living, but you could break even,’ said Wilson.”
In 1979 he approached local television stations about the prospects of doing fishing reports. He found a receptive ear with a local station, doing “a brief fishing report on the 6:30 a.m. news five days a week for eight months before expanding that into a 30-minute weekly show.
But in 1981, according to the article, “Wilson started his own local cable television show, ‘Fishing With Orlando Wilson.’ The show had previously been distributed to a half-dozen Southeastern television markets. But just a couple years later, the show was set to go nationwide into 25 million cable households.”
“When he heard that outdoorsman and WTBS president Ted Turner was thinking of adding a fishing show, Wilson shot a pilot with Braves pitcher Phil Niekro on Florida’s Lake Okeechobee and the Turner folks bought a 26-show package for 1984.”
And the rest, as they say, is history.
