Crutchfield leaves an indelible mark on broadcast journalism

Beginning in 1935, radio announcer Charles Crutchfield rode his success with WBT’s string band named the “Briarhoppers” to leapfrog into the management ranks at the Charlotte radio station. He ascended to program director, then to general manager and eventually to president in 1945.

Later that same year, WBT was acquired by Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Company of Greensboro. Crutchfield spearheaded the transition from radio into television. In 1949, WBTV began broadcasting as North Carolina’s first commercial television station.

 

Crutchfield commented: “It amazed me the way our people adapted to television.” (One of the former Briarhopper musicians, “Fiddlin’ Hank” Warren, laid down his instrument to become chief photographer for WBTV.)

 

Over the years, the Jefferson Standard and Pilot Life insurance companies merged. Out of that partnership, the Jefferson-Pilot Broadcasting Company was formed. Crutchfield became executive vice president in 1952 and president in 1963. He was elected to the parent company’s board of directors in 1970.

 

He retired in 1977 and was showered with accolades from the likes of the Rev. Billy Graham, North Carolina Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. and former U.S. Sen. Sam J. Ervin Jr.

Crutchfield always felt his best work occurred when he was behind the microphone. Or at least, that’s when he had the most fun.

 

Journalist Jim McAllister wrote that Crutchfield was proud of the fact that “he was the first sports announcer at WBT. In 1936, Crutchfield went to the Southern Conference football meeting in Richmond (Va.) to plead the case of broadcasting football games on radio.”

“Crutchfield got Wallace Wade (head coach at Duke University) to run a little interference for him, and the conference voted to experiment with the broadcasts for one year.”

Coach Wade

“That season, Crutchfield broadcast all of Duke’s football games,” McAllister said.

 

Duke won the Southern Conference title in 1936 with a perfect 7-0 record. Duke finished at 9-1 overall. The team’s lone loss was suffered at Tennessee.

Crutchfield continued to broadcast Duke football games for the next eight years. Coach Wade won three more league titles (1938, 1939 and 1941). In the broadcast booth, Crutchfield called two Rose Bowl games during that period.

Duke played in the 1939 Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., but lost a heartbreaker to Southern California, 7-3.

Duke qualified again for the 1942 Rose Bowl to oppose Oregon State. However, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt nixed the idea of playing in Pasadena. He urged extra caution on the West Coast, fearing the threat of a second Japanese attack. (The bombing of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii had occurred less than one month prior.)

Rather than cancel the game, Duke agreed to host the Beavers at Duke Stadium. The Blue Devils lost 20-16.

 

In 1942, at age 49, Coach Wade took a leave; he enlisted in the U.S. Army to perform his patriotic duty.

During World War II, Lt. Col. Wade was deployed to Europe where he led a field artillery battalion, participating historic campaigns at the Battle of Normandy, the Siegfried Line Break, the Battle of the Bulge and the Crossing of the Rhine. He was awarded a Bronze Star and four battle stars. The French government awarded him the Croix de Guerre (Cross of War) with Palm for extreme heroism.

After the war, Wade returned to his coaching job at Duke in 1946. He coached the Blue Devils through the 1950 season and then was appointed commissioner of the Southern Conference, a position he held until 1960.

Duke’s football stadium was renamed in his honor as Wallace Wade Stadium in 1967.

 

That story was well-covered by WBTV.