After nearly four collective decades at KSBY, Chief Engineer, Bill Ingram, retired at year's end. You’ve probably never met him like you would an anchor or reporter walking down the street, but Bill had a hand in keeping this place up and running for the past 18 years as Chief Engineer. Here's a look back at what he contributed to KSBY.
From KSBY's previous location on Hill Street to the station on the hill off Los Osos Valley Road, few folks have been with us longer than engineer and fix-it extraordinaire Bill Ingram. Let's take a quick stroll down memory lane, or should we say through the halls of KSBY, where Bill’s expertise touched nearly every aspect of a newscast, except the news gathering or presenting side, for 36-plus years.
Bill started in August of 1982 as a master control operator and technical director; in other words, he called the camera shots during newscasts. Bill left KSBY in the mid-90s for a short period, but when he learned KSBY planned to make the move to its current location, he wanted to use his engineering-focused mind to help design and build what you now see driving south past San Luis Obispo on the 101.
And that, he did. Bill was essential in the transition and construction.
If you ever worked for KSBY, there's no question you heard his signature keychain, with a key for every nook and cranny at KSBY, clinking and clanking down the hallway, always alerting you of his whereabouts. You knew something needed fixing.
Needed help? We called Bill. The audio went out during a 6pm newscast? We called Bill, the "on-the-call 24/7, 365" guy. Few and far between were the lack of solutions in his time at Channel 6. Bill is a "no BS" kind of guy, and that attitude got things done.
Bill would pitch in all over; help with demolition projects, welding, framework of sets for KSBY's live broadcasts at the Midstate Fair, and even digging trenches to save the station a few bucks, to making countless trips up the Cuesta Grade over the past few years to install a new transmitter we use for newscasts today, which turned out to be his last, big project.
As he leaves the station for the last time, other than visiting old colleagues, Bill, an engineer and handyman at heart, leaves with countless ideas for projects he may or may not have started over the years but just never had the time for. Now, the time is all yours, Bill.
From all of us here at the station, we're sending a collective thank you for everything you have contributed to Channel 6. Congratulations on your retirement!
