The History of Capitol Broadcasting Company

Jesse Helms was a newspaperman-turned-broadcaster whose fiery editorials on WRAL-TV helped propel him to a 30-year career in the United States Senate.

Born in Monroe, NC in 1921, Helms’ first job was sweeping the floor of the Monroe Enquirer at age nine. He wrote a column for the same newspaper in high school and by 1939 was writing freelance sports articles for other papers in the region.

Helms studied journalism at Wingate Junior College and later at Wake Forest College, where he also wrote sports publicity material for the school. A chance meeting with the managing editor of the Raleigh News & Observer led to a job as overnight proofreader for the paper. When the N&O promoted him to sportswriter, Helms dropped out of Wake Forest to devote all his time and energy to his newspaper career.

Helms’ first fulltime job was as a sports reporter with Raleigh’s afternoon paper, the Raleigh Times. He rose to the position of Assistant City Editor before joining the Navy in 1942.

Before leaving for naval duty, Helms married Dorothy “Dot” Coble, who was also working in the newspaper business. Coble was editor of the society page at the News & Observer. The marriage would last until Helms’ death 66 years later.

Helms served stateside as a naval recruiter from 1942-1945. When he returned to Raleigh, he was offered a job as News Director of WCBT Radio in Roanoke Rapids. While working there, he met Capitol Broadcasting Company founder A.J. Fletcher, and the two struck up a friendship that would last a lifetime.

A.J. Fletcher liked the young newsman and saw to it that he would eventually join his company. In 1948, WRAL Radio President Fred Fletcher hired Helms as the News Director for WRAL-AM, WRAL-FM and the company’s two growing networks—the Tobacco Radio Network and the Tobacco Sports Network.

During the next few years Helms ran CBC’s radio news department and developed an intense interest in politics. He began spending spare time working on the 1950 U.S. Senate campaign of Willis Smith, who beat Frank Porter Graham in a hotly-contested election.

After the successful campaign, Senator Smith hired Helms away from WRAL and brought him to Washington as his Administrative Assistant. Helms served capably in that capacity until Smith died suddenly in 1953. He then worked briefly for Alton Lennon—Smith’s successor, but returned to Raleigh before the year ended.

When Jesse Helms came back to Raleigh, he took the job of Executive Director of the North Carolina Bankers Association. He held that title for the next seven years, but also found time to win election to the Raleigh City Council (1957-1961) and keep a hand in broadcasting– hosting a short Sunday program called “Facts of the Matter.”

But by 1960, the time was right for a reunion between Jesse Helms and his old friend, A.J. Fletcher. In a move that would change his life and career, Helms joined Capitol Broadcasting Company as its Executive Vice President, Vice Chairman of the Board, and Assistant Executive Officer.

In his new role at CBC, Jesse Helms’ chief responsibility was to write and express the views and positions of the company on a variety of topics. He communicated those positions in daily editorials on WRAL-TV and Capitol Broadcasting’s radio outlets. The commentaries were called “Viewpoint,” and the segment title became synonymous with Jesse Helms.

From the beginning, Jesse Helms’ Viewpoint editorials were designed to stir passionate debate. A WRAL-TV promotional flier described Viewpoint as “…easily the most provocative five minutes on television anywhere in the South. By taking a stand ourselves, Channel Five hopes that it may spark a willingness in others also to take a stand, either with us or against us, pro or con. Viewpoint is designed to make people think, and to register with Channel Five’s viewers this station’s position on matters of urgent public concern.”

Helms argued for free enterprise and states’ rights and against a host of issues that were familiar targets for conservatives, including abortion, civil rights and Medicaid. Helms spiced his commentaries with folksy anecdotes and biting sarcasm that won him legions of fans, but also made enemies.

The Viewpoint editorials made the controversial commentator a household name in North Carolina and after twelve years on the air—Helms decided to use his popularity among conservative voters as a springboard to Washington.

In early 1972, Jesse Helms filed as a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, and the Viewpoint editorials that had made him famous came to an end. Helms left Capitol Broadcasting Company and that fall won the bellwether election that would send him to Washington for the next thirty years.

Helms’ political career is well-chronicled, but it’s generally agreed that he became one of the country’s most powerful and controversial conservatives during his three decades in office. His political stands were much like his Viewpoint editorials; there was no middle ground. The Almanac of American Politics once wrote that “no American politician is more controversial; beloved in some quarters and hated in others, than Jesse Helms.”

As his health began to fail, however, Helms decided to leave politics and say goodbye to the national stage. In August 2001, Senator Jesse Helms returned to the once-familiar studios of WRAL-TV to videotape one final message—a statement officially announcing that he would not run for reelection.

Jesse Helms died July 4, 2008. He was 86.

He may have been legally blind, but Paul Montgomery saw what it took to make people happy. With a gap-tooth grin and tattered top-hat, “Uncle Paul” endeared himself to children and adults alike as host of the legendary “Time for Uncle Paul” show on WRAL-TV.

Every weekday from 1961-1981, Uncle Paul entered Triangle living rooms with “Crawford the Lion” and a host of puppet sidekicks. He worked without a script, without a budget and without rehearsal, but Paul Montgomery knew the simple truth that laughter and a big grin is all we really need.

Kids felt famous and special getting to march around the studio behind Uncle Paul, and the daily routine became a staple of his program. He saw entertainment as the number one goal and did all he could to help kids have fun. Using a variety of puppets such as “Stripes the Skunk” and a “hepcat” named “Zoot,” Uncle Paul delighted studio audiences filled with wide-eyed children.

Paul Montgomery’s career began on radio; in the early ‘40s he joined WRAL-AM as an announcer and record librarian and made a name as a sharp-witted, humorous performer. He later moved across town to WNAO-AM, where he hosted a morning program. In 1956, Montgomery made the transition to television when he joined the staff at Raleigh’s WNAO-TV.

In 1958 he joined WRAL-TV, where he appeared as “Heinrich von Stuplebaum” on the “Cap’n Five” show. Wearing a straw hat and his trademark grin, Montgomery provided music and comic relief on the children’s program hosted by Herb Marks.

During this era Montgomery also played organ and piano for WRAL’s version of “Romper Room” and in 1960 became “Bozo the Clown” on WRAL’s local version of the popular cartoon show.

Then in 1961, Montgomery traded in his red nose and clown makeup for a tattered coat and top hat to become “Uncle Paul,” the studio ringmaster of what would become one of the longest running children’s shows in the Southeast.

Montgomery’s talents stretched far beyond broadcasting. Despite being legally blind his entire life, he became a highly-acclaimed jazz musician and composer.

Montgomery regularly performed with some of the biggest names in jazz as well as local artists. His collaborations with jazz vocalist Carol Sloane were legendary and included the album “Subway Tokens,” which was recorded live at Raleigh’s renowned Frog & Nightgown nightclub.

Montgomery was best known as a jazz pianist, but he also played the violin and served as organist at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Raleigh.

Paul Montgomery’s kindness and sense of humor endeared him to scores of North Carolineans, from tykes to the young at heart. As one fan and friend noted, “He made everyone feel good inside.”

Uncle Paul Montgomery died December 24, 2002. He was 78.

Ray Wilkinson was a pioneering farm broadcaster who almost single-handedly changed the way agricultural news was reported in the Southeast. Ray spent more than three decades at Capitol Broadcasting Company, winning countless friends and earning a spot in the National Farm Broadcasting Hall of Fame.

Born in Chicago, Ray Wilkinson moved to Eastern North Carolina in 1948 to take a job as Program Director for WFMA/WCEC Radio in Rocky Mount. He started producing regular agricultural reports and feature stories that were picked up by the fledgling Tobacco Radio Network, a division of Capitol Broadcasting Company. Wilkinson’s reports became so popular that CBC eventually hired him as its Farm News Director in 1963.

At CBC, Wilkinson was responsible for covering all things agricultural on radio and television. He anchored daily farm news reports on WRAL-TV and became a fixture on the station’s morning and midday newscasts.

But it was Wilkinson’s in-depth coverage of agricultural markets that truly set him apart from other farm broadcasters. Wilkinson reported on commodity prices not only in North Carolina — but throughout the Southeast. Colleagues described him as a walking encyclopedia of farm facts, lore and knowledge. Farmers recognized him as “Uncle Ray”– their voice, their friend and champion.

Ray was a savvy businessman; as General Manager of the Tobacco Radio Network, Wilkinson was instrumental in developing a multi-state, commodity-oriented radio network. He’s credited with expanding TRN from a handful of radio stations in Eastern North Carolina into a regional chain stretching from Virginia to Florida.

Wilkinson didn’t stop there, either–he took CBC’s farm reporting global. Wilkinson organized and produced the first World Tobacco Teleconference in 1991. He also produced market development reports from Europe, Asia, Africa, the former Soviet Union and the Middle East.

For many North Carolinians, it was the “other” Ray Wilkinson that they remember, the one who made them laugh. Early in his career, Ray began telling jokes about two fictitious country bumpkins, “Cecil and Leonard,” and the tales endeared him to fans far and wide, young and old. Ray was invited to speak at conventions throughout the country, and before long, his hayseed duo was almost as famous as the farm reporter himself.

When Ray Wilkinson retired as a CBC Vice President in 1995, he passed the broadcasting torch to his son, Dan, who at the time was a rising WRAL farm reporter. Eight years later, Dan died suddenly at the age of 45, and the death took a toll on his father’s boundless optimism. But as Ray would say later, life is about change, and that means accepting the bad with the good.

And as for the change he saw through the years in broadcasting — Ray summed it up as only a farm reporter would: “You just learn to make the transition — just like mules to horses and horses to tractors.”

Ray Wilkinson blazed a trail for other farm broadcasters and his influence was felt far beyond the borders of North Carolina. Fittingly he was inducted into the National Association of Farm Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1996. In bestowing the honor, the association recognized Ray for more than 45 years of service to farmers, farm families and the entire agribusiness community.

Ray was the recipient of numerous other major awards, including the “Oscar in Agriculture” in 1965; “Farm Broadcaster of the Year” by the National Association of Farm Broadcasters in 1975, “Agricultural Communicator of the Year” by the National AgriMarketing Association in 1991, “NCDA Friend of Agriculture Award” in 1990, and the “Governor’s Award for Service to Agriculture” in 1990.

In 1990 Wilkinson became the first fulltime farm broadcaster inducted into the North Carolina Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame. The NCAB honored Ray for his significant contributions to broadcasting in North Carolina.

Wilkinson loved history and was well-known for his dedication to the revitalization of historic Halifax, NC. In honor of those efforts he received the prestigious “Old North State Award” at the State Capitol in 2004.

Ray Wilkinson died on December 4, 2004 from complications of Parkinson’s disease. He was 79.

CBC television and radio stations have employed hundreds of on-air performers during the company’s long history.  Many followed their careers to other stations in other cities; others stayed put and made a home at CBC.

Here are the stories of some of those on-air performers from days gone by:

Adele Arakawa was a popular weekday evening news anchor at WRAL-TV in the 1980s.

Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, Arakawa grew up in Hawaii. She began her broadcasting career at the age of 16 as a radio disc jockey at a small station in East Tennessee. Two years later she became the first female disc jockey in Knoxville at WRJZ-AM.

Arakawa moved to television news at WRVK-TV in Knoxville, Tennessee, where she filled numerous roles, including reporter, producer and news anchor.

In 1983, Adele moved to Raleigh, and for the next six years she teamed with Charlie Gaddy, Bob DeBardelaben and Tom Suiter as anchor of WRAL-TV’s 6:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. newscasts. She was also the host of the station’s “Wednesday’s Child” adoption series.

In early 1989, Arakawa left WRAL for an anchor position at WBBM-TV in Chicago, a position she held for five years before departing for a similar job in Denver. Arakawa joined KUSA-TV in Denver as a weekday evening anchor and she continues in that role today.

During her two decades in Denver television she has received seven regional Emmy nominations. She won the Outstanding News Anchor Emmy in 1997 for coverage of the Oklahoma City bombing trial.

In 2013 Adele Arakawa was inducted into the regional Emmy organization’s prestigious Silver Circle—an honor reserved for journalists who have spent more than 25 years in the broadcast industry and made lasting contributions to the region and craft.

She attended Tennessee Tech University and the University of Tennessee.