Q-and-A with FLW host Carlton Wing, Part 1

Wal-Mart FLW Tour television host Carlton Wing Photo by Jeff Schroeder.

December 4, 2001 • Jeff Schroeder • Archives

The Wal-Mart FLW Tour television show is undergoing some major changes for the 2002 season. FLW fans will be greeted by a new network, a whole new look and a bunch of new faces, including the show’s new host, Carlton Wing.

Wing comes from Little Rock, Ark., which he described as “a major hub of the bass fishing world.” A 15-year veteran of television sports broadcasting, he is stepping out from behind the anchor’s desk at Little Rock’s KARK-TV to tour the nation’s bass fisheries with the Wal-Mart FLW Tour. While he admits his shortcomings as an angler, the enthusiastic Wing is confident about the prospect of making an exciting FLW show.

Wing and his cohorts at Little Rock-based Dempsey Film Group, the FLW’s new TV production crew, are an energetic bunch looking to breathe even more life into the FLW program. The show’s move to PAX TV allows them much more room for innovation, the largest of which will be the introduction of live television coverage from the tournaments throughout the 2002 season. Additionally, they will produce “FLW Outdoors,” a weekly sports magazine show based on the world of the FLW inside and out.

Undoubtedly, it’s a stimulating time for the Wal-Mart FLW Tour and the pro bass fishing industry as a whole. Some 55 million Americans enjoy fishing in some form or another. Live television represents a big step forward in expanding that enthusiasm – a point that is not lost on the show’s new host.

“We are really on the cusp of something potentially huge,” says Wing. “We really feel like, as big as it has been, it’s the proverbial tip of the iceberg. What’s around the corner is well within reach when you’ve got a 55-million-person head start.

“This is such an exciting project to be involved with. I find myself wanting to pinch myself periodically.”

We sat down with Wing shortly after the EverStart Series Championship in November, where he and his crew spent the week scouting the pro bass tournament world.

Q: First off, what’s the biggest bass you’ve ever caught?

A: Let’s see, about a month ago I went fishing with Mike Wurm and I was pretty excited about one of the fish that I pulled into the boat. I asked him how big he thought it was. He kind of laughed and said he hoped it would be a pound. … My ancestors, however, were whalers. It was the J and WR Wing Company in New Bedford, Mass. They owned 25 whaling ships in the 1700s and 1800s. So we caught the big fish. To my ancestors a 10-pounder is nothing but bait. Also, my grandfather, Albert Wing, won a bass tournament in Florida in the `50s. He’s got a picture in the sports page of him holding up an 11-pound, 4-ounce bass. So it’s in my genetic structure, I guess, but I haven’t quite learned how to do it as well.

Q: Who is the Dempsey Film Group?

A: The Dempsey group is fun. This is just a group of creative people that truly have a passion about the work that they do. When I first got on board and started seeing some of the work that they had done – they’ve done a lot of local commercials, just real high-end, high-quality type productions – I thought, wow, those are some of the things that I remember seeing on TV and thinking that it was very well put together. I came to find out it was all done here at the Dempsey Film Group. These people are amazing with their creativity and how they approach things from unique perspectives. These guys can pull it off and make what would otherwise be a humdrum affair very entertaining. It’s just a fun place to come and work. I mean, I come into work and in order for me to get to where my office is I walk past a pinball machine and an air hockey table. You know you’re in a good place when you have to go around arcade games to get to your office.

Q: How will the show be different from what we’ve seen over the last several years?

A: Live TV, that’s the biggest difference. But also, we’re tripling the number of shows that we’ve done from the previous year. We’re going from 10 to almost 30 shows a year. That’s significant. We are also going to cover not just the tournaments themselves when we’re live on location, but in all the shows between the tournaments we’re going to bring to you the world of fishing and, really, the world of the outdoors. We want to be able to show you all that is going on. So it becomes a show about a lot of different things, not just tournament fishing.

Q: How will it look different?

A: New set, new graphics. It will have a decidedly new feel. We’re putting those together now. I’ve seen the new mock-ups of the set. We’ve got an architect and a set designer working on the set, and our graphics people have been working around the clock putting those elements together. And it is exciting. A lot of creative people are putting in a lot of creative time.

Q: What challenges will the live production present?

A: Timing is crucial. We’ve got to make sure to announce a winner by the end of the show. We don’t want to have to say, “Stay tuned next week.” That’s a big deal. Remember the old Saturday Night Live promos when they first started back in the mid-`70s? The guy that was introducing this new show that was going to start in the fall, he says, “It’s live TV. You never know what’ll happen.” And right about the time he said that, a huge light drops from the ceiling and crashes on the floor behind him. We hope to avoid that, but it is live TV and you never know what’s going to happen. Every one of our shows will be live, whether it’s in the studios here in Little Rock or out on location with each of the tournaments. Live TV not only presents the unplanned as a possibility, it also brings the spontaneity. It makes things real. You get the actual emotions. You get to see what’s happening as it happens, and that’s what can bring the excitement right into the viewer’s living room.

Q: Most high-profile sports – like baseball and football – already have time-tested live television formats. How will bass fishing, as a sport, translate into live television?

A: Our playing field is maybe 60 miles long. It’s a much less-controlled environment. Obviously, what we’ll be focusing on is the weigh-in. We’ll have one hour each Saturday. We will bring the weigh-in live and capture the drama and the excitement of actually weighing in the fish. But what we’ll be able to do is still bring in some elements from earlier in that day to see what was happening with the anglers as they’re catching the fish. That’s one of the beauties of this sport is that you’re able to talk to the angler as he is performing his craft. To be able to talk to Randy Johnson while he’s on the mound or to talk to the quarterback while he’s on the field, you just don’t really do that. Here, we can. And we can capture that moment when you see what it took, why he did what he did and then what was the result. Then, of course, for the actual live weigh-in, that’s where the drama can unfold rather quickly.

Tomorrow, in part two of the interview, Wing discusses the FLW’s move to PAX TV and what’s in store for the new, expanded television program.