Dick Heidt - City Magazine

| COVER STORY
But Dick Heidt,
general manager
of KFYR-TV, has
stayed around for
40 years. According to Heidt,
it’s all about finding a pursuit
that excites you each and
every day.
Heidt began his television
career with Meyer Broadcasting
and KFYR-TV in 1969.
He’s been with the station ever
since, with the exception of a
four-year tour of duty in the
U.S. Navy during the Vietnam
War.
Dick Heidt:
from newsman to gm
Not many
individuals,
especially nowadays
and especially in
the mass media,
stay with the same
employer for long.
By Tom Regan
Heidt, a Mandan native,
began at KFYR-TV as a
reporter-photographer, was
promoted to assignment editor
in 1977, then news director in
1979. He was named general
manager in 2004.
During Heidt’s tenure as
news director, the staff grew
from 9 to 22 and the amount
of news produced more than
doubled to three and one-half
hours a day.
Under Heidt’s guidance,
the station won Emmy awards
for Best Newscast in 2002
and 2007 and was nominated
every year in between.
Awards recognizing Heidt’s
contributions to broadcasting
and broadcast journalism
continue to stack up, but his
ascendency to the top of the
local television ladder hasn’t
inflated his ego a bit.
He admits his own amazement
at where he’s ended up.
“All I am is just a kid from
Mandan,” he reflects.
–Staff
6 thecitymag.com