WLOS-13 ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA
Late 1960s - Early 1970s
For some period of time in the 1960s and early 1970s (it's unclear for exactly how long), the wrestling show taped in High Point, NC at the studios of WGHP aired on WLOS television in Asheville. Championship Wrestling was one of two Crockett Promotions shows that aired in the market, along with All-Star Wrestling (later Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling) which was taped at WRAL in Raleigh.
When WGHP host Charlie Harville would break away to do local spots for his home market of Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point, WLOS would break away simultaneously and air their own local spots for the upcoming shows at the Asheville City Auditorium. These spots were taped at the studios of WLOS-TV. The host for these segments was Munsey Millaway, who was the sports director at WLOS in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He sat at a desk with a wall behind him which was full of 8x10" black and white photographs of various wrestlers taken by Gene Gordon. Millaway would often be joined by Paul Winkhaus, the local promoter for Asheville and Greenville (SC) and surrounding areas for Jim Crockett, Sr. He and Millaway would announce and discuss the upcoming matches for Asheville.
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| WLOS Sports Director Munsey Millaway in a publicity/promotional photograph from the late 1960s. |
Millaway also attended the matches on Wednesday nights at the Asheville City Auditorium and would occasionally take a WLOS cameraman with him to record some of the matches, highlights of which he would show on the 11:00 news that night. Millaway told us in an interview for this feature that Mr. Winkhaus also would occasionally bring wrestlers by the studio to tape interviews that would be shown both during the Championship Wrestling cutaways and on the evening sportscast.
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| Promoter Paul Winkhaus |
Millaway, now making his home in Boone NC, looks back fondly on his days working with promoter Paul Winkhaus promoting wrestling on WLOS. "Those were just wonderful times, and I loved Mr. Winkhaus, my wife and I both did. There was no finer gentleman than this man. A class act. He treated me wonderfully and treated fans the same way."
When Millaway left WLOS in the early 1970s, the sports director who replaced him was not as enthusiastic about wrestling, and despite the ratings success of the produced segments for the news, emphasis on wrestling at the station waned.
In the summer of 1974, the WGHP show was replaced by the "B"show taping of Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling in Raleigh which was hosted by Les Thatcher. While it isn't clear when WLOS ceased doing their locally produced promotional spots for WLOS, they certainly ended at this point if they had not already. Thatcher did the voice over promotional spots for Asheville and studio promos with the wrestlers were taped at WRAL in Raleigh as well.
| BASIC
INFORMATION | |
| Call Letters: | WLOS |
| Channel Number: | 13 |
| Network
Affiliate: | ABC |
| Aired: | Late 1960s - Early 1970s |
| Local Host | Munsey Millaway |
