Mauldin's turnaround strategy: Reflect the energy of the community

Steve Mauldin had been on the job at WFOR-TV about six weeks in November '98, when Miami's new American Airlines Arena caught fire--a major story by any estimation. "I sat here in my office with about six TVs," he recalls, and watched crews from several competitors show up before WFOR-TV's. "A West Palm Beach station beat us there. The next day, I called a meeting."

Mauldin was determined that the station work its way toward the top spot in the market. Since that time, "I'm not saying we win them all, but we're definitely in the hunt every day."

WFOR has gone from ratings disappointment to contender and frequent winner in what is perhaps the nation's tightest large market for English-language stations, It has become a bright spot in the CBS station group, whose top-market stations are mired in low ratings.

"The job he did was incredible," says Patrick McGinley, vice president and general manager at CBS-owned KEYE-TV Austin, Texas, and former WFOR-TV director of sales.

"You don't see a station turn...