Randall Carlisle has been around.
From the little town of Worcester, Ohio, where he grew up, Carlisle went to Columbus to attend Ohio State University, then worked at radio stations in Akron and Detroit.Later, he switched to television and worked in Colorado Springs, Dayton and KUTV/Ch. 2 in Salt Lake City.
Even though he enjoyed his Utah stint, Carlisle wanted to prove to himself that he could succeed in a bigger market, so he left to become a main anchor, first in Minneapolis, then in Dallas. By the time KTVX/Ch. 4 offered him a main anchor position back in Salt Lake City, he was ready to return for good.
He's been back now for eight years, and has no plans to go anywhere else. "I really missed this place after I left it. I just like it here. It's the first place I've ever considered home. I know I'm going to stay here until I retire."
The 50-year-old Carlisle has come a long way from the 14-year-old kid who won an Ohio radio announcing contest, leading to a part-time radio job while he was still in high school. When he took a radio job in Detroit, his boss took him to the roof and said, "Every morning you're going to wake up the Motor City."
Terrified, Carlisle was physically sick when he went on the air the first time. "I got through the newscast and thought I'd done a real good job for the first time. The newsroom was on a separate floor from the DJs, and we had an intercom system. When I got off the air, a DJ called on the intercom and said, 'Who the hell was that?' Someone said, 'Randall Carlisle.' He said, 'He sucks! I never want him on my show again.' That was my start."
Carlisle is happy with both his Utah job and lifestyle. "I don't live extravagantly. I drive a 10-year-old car. The only clothes I buy are with a clothing allowance from the station. I walk all over downtown. The golf courses are wonderful. I have great friends. Happiness is more important to me than being another Peter Jennings. Where is it nicer than Salt Lake City?"
Currently divorced without children, Carlisle lives alone in a sophisticated loft warehouse just west of downtown Salt Lake City. It is a penthouse apartment on top of the old Firestone Building, and it has been creatively renovated while retaining the original walls and ceilings.
Carlisle believes his profession is hard on marriages and family life, and so he has decided not to marry again, even though he has had a significant other for five years.
The late hours are a major downside to his job, says Carlisle. "I feel like a vampire. My only normal day of the week is Saturday. I leave the house every day at 1:30 p.m. and get home at 11 p.m."
Frequently, he stays up until 2 or 3 a.m., then he sleeps until 9 or 10 a.m. "That kind of life doesn't fit with almost anyone else in the world."
In off hours, Carlisle enjoys skiing, traveling and reading horror stories by Stephen King and Anne Rice. "I like being scared when I read. I like scary movies, too."
Even though Carlisle is not LDS, he understands the LDS religion and knows the culture so well that he can recognize most prominent Utahns. "I'm TV smart. I have tons of experience. I can produce a newscast, I'm a hard worker and I'm reliable."
He especially enjoys breaking news stories that allow him to "fly by the seat of my pants, and I'm pretty good at that."
One day when the computer system went down, he and Kimberly Perkins completed an entire newscast without scripts. "We got through it, and I don't think the viewer would have known we were in such dire straits. Actually, that's what makes it fun."
Carlisle candidly points to Michelle King, his former co-anchor at Ch. 2, and Perkins, his current co-anchor, as the best TV partners he has ever had. "I divide anchors into selfish and unselfish anchors. Michelle and Kimberly are unselfish anchors. You have to realize you're a team and not two individual stars. You have good interplay with each other, and you don't step on each other."
Most consultants now say an important part of interaction is for each anchor to glance frequently at the other on the air. "In Dallas," says Carlisle, "my co-anchor refused to look at me. When the consultant came in and said, 'Why won't you look at him?' she said, 'Because I'm talking to MY people.' "
Even though Carlisle is frequently recognized in public, he likes being accessible.
"I'm listed in the phone book. Who are the celebrities that paparazzi are always out to get? The ones who are the hardest to get. Besides, Utah people are more gentle. If people come and talk to me, I try to be as gracious as I can, because those are my customers."