By Jeremy Lasek, a journalist and news director at WIN from 1988-2000
Described by our new Lord Mayor as "a champion of Wollongong", there's possibly no individual in the Illawarra who's had a greater influence over our lives in the past 50 years than Bruce Gordon. Yet many people have never heard of him – and that's just the way he likes it.
It's hard to believe, having helped launch the careers of dozens of Australia's best-known television personalities, Bruce Gordon, owner of the WIN Television network since 1979, remains largely hidden from the public eye. But it wasn't always like that.
In what Susie Elelman – one of Bruce's favourite on-air presenters – describes as a "classic rags to riches story" he started his young life in suburban Sydney juggling fruit to attract customers to his father's street-side fruit stall. That was just the beginning of the entertainment bug that has guided his entire working life and led to him creating a regional television juggernaut from a very humble beginning in Wollongong (but more on that later).
In his 20s, Bruce honed his magic skills, performing on stage at Sydney's famous Tivoli Theatre, later taking on a management role there. In the process, he began rubbing shoulders with many of the heaviest hitters in the Australian media landscape, including Rupert Murdoch and the Packer family.
While he may be publicity shy, Bruce was never lacking in ambition. In the early 1960s he was a senior television sales executive in Australia before heading overseas where he joined Paramount in Hollywood, selling programs and films across the globe in a jet-setting lifestyle.
While the world was his oyster, Bruce always had an eye on new opportunities to invest in and be a part of the lucrative and largely untapped Australian media landscape.
The new owner of Channel 4 (WIN)
In 1979, only a few years after colour television arrived in Australia, and over a lunch with Rupert Murdoch, Bruce seized an opportunity and became the proud owner of Wollongong's Channel 4 – later to be rebranded WIN Television.
According to Susie Elelman, what he was able to achieve with WIN was his proudest achievement. She remains a close friend of Bruce and Judith Gordon and still catches up regularly with them. "When he took over in 1979, let's face it, the station was in dire straits, and he completely turned it around," Susie said. "After everything that he's done in his life, that's what he's proudest of."
A former WIN TV news director, Terry Moore recalls the sweeping changes introduced when Bruce Gordon took charge. "A major change instigated by Gordon was to begin a duel newsreader presentation, Michael McRae and myself. At the time I recall Gordon saying WIN will be the first station in Australia to use two readers – and jokingly added perhaps the first in the world to have two male readers. Male/female combinations were just beginning in the USA."
In the 1980s, when Terry took on the news editor role at 2 Double 0 (now i98), Susie Elelman was promoted to the news anchor role with Michael McRae.
The importance of nightly news
Long before the internet, social media and 24/7 news channels, TV news was watched in massive numbers as a primary source of information.
"When Bruce arrived, he made it very clear he was pro news, and he understood how important the early evening news was as a lead-in for the whole evening's viewing. He also strongly believed it was important for local people to be informed with a strong local news service," Susie said.
Many who worked at WIN in those early days were bemused by how he divided his time between Los Angeles and Bermuda where he lived with occasional trips to Australia to check in on how the station was performing.
"Gordon visited Wollongong on an irregular basis from the US, as he was still employed by Paramount Movie Studios as world sales manager of television programs," said Terry. "During these times he was always very approachable and had regular meetings, social gatherings and dinners for executive staff."
This author recalls a memorable dinner many decades ago at the Scarborough Hotel, soon after Bruce Gordon acquired the iconic historic property in Wollongong's north, expressing his pride at another significant investment in the Illawarra (six months ago, he sold the pub to a Sydney hotelier for $9.5 million).
Another former WIN news anchor, Mary Papakosmas (nee Franks), also shared fond memories, saying, "Dinner with Bruce always included remarkable stories of people and deals around the globe."
Mary paid tribute to the billionaire's willingness to keep WIN at the forefront as the television business went through rapid change over the years. "His amazing career has spanned decades of incredible technological and social change," she said.
Expanding WIN TV's footprint
One of those big changes came in the late 1980s when the federal government (despite opposition from WIN at the time) introduced aggregation. "We called it aggravation," quipped Susie Elelman. Aggregation required the three regional commercial networks to broadcast into each other's territory (Wollongong, Wagga Wagga, Canberra and Orange).
"There was much discussion about how or if WIN Wollongong should provide local news services in Canberra, Wagga Wagga and Orange regions," Terry said. "As with everything needing excessive financial input, I believe it was Gordon who gave it the green light – and mini studios were established in these centres, news journalists, camera operators and editors appointed and half-hour bulletins introduced."
Over the years that followed, the WIN network grew steadily across the nation to become the largest regional television network in the world and the Bruce Gordon success story continued to go from strength to strength.
Susie said he was handsome and, at well over six foot, he had an enormous presence and was full of entertaining stories, having travelled the world. "You'd hang on to every word he said. His stories were, and still are, truly incredible."
In the industry they call Bruce Gordon 'the General'. For the staff at WIN, he was often referred to as 'God'. Even when he wasn't in Australia, he had that omnipotent presence.
Terry said, "He was very personable to those employees he considered were doing a good job – but didn't stand for inefficiency and there were quite a few who felt the consequences.
"Senior management feared his arrivals if performance and especially revenue was down. He did not, however, allow any interference with news content, for which I was perhaps surprised, but grateful."
Making big decisions
While Bruce Gordon may not have used his influence in his many newsrooms, he was always involved when big decisions had to be made.
"I remember in 2006, and I pitched a national variety lifestyle show to Bruce which he liked," Susie said. "I had a different idea for the name of the show, but Bruce said let's just call it Susie. I said to Bruce, 'Well, if it's good enough for Oprah and Ellen, why not'."
The show went on to deliver more than 300 episodes across WIN and much of the Nine network nationally.
Investment in property, especially in the Illawarra, has always interested Bruce. He has set up a potential city-changing development in the heart of Wollongong 's CBD with his $500 million 'WIN Grand' project. It remains a work in progress despite Bruce selling the huge Crown Street block earlier this year to Sydney-based developers Level 33 for $70 million.
Investing in the Illawarra
Over the past 40 years or so, Bruce Gordon has put his money where his heart is in Australia by investing generously in the arts and sport in the Illawarra.
He was there when the then Prince Charles and Lady Diana officially opened Wollongong's new performing arts centre in January 1988, and due to Bruce's generosity, the Bruce Gordon Theatre still carries his name.
Former Illawarra Steelers chief executive Bob Millward is full of praise for Bruce's support of sport in the Illawarra, especially rugby league.
"His sponsorship of Wollongong Showground, now WIN stadium, has benefited not just rugby league but also soccer and rugby which play their finals there," Bob said.
In 2018, ABC radio reported that "support from the head of WIN, media mogul Bruce Gordon sees the Illawarra region's longstanding ties to the Dragons kept alive."
WIN Corporation took on a 50 per cent stake in the St George Illawarra Dragons, in the process taking on debts of $6 million owed to the Illawarra Steelers Club, the former joint owner.
"By doing that, Bruce allowed us to continue to bring world-class rugby league to the Illawarra," Bob said.
Taking a lesser role
In keeping with his low-profile persona, there was no fanfare and no publicity when Bruce Gordon quietly decided to step down from the board of WIN Television recently So does this signal, as he approaches his 96th year, that Bruce Gordon might finally be ready to retire?
In a July 2000 article for The Australian, former WIN senior journalist Dr Neryl East interviewed Bruce, then aged 72, about the growth of his network and any succession plans he might have.
Neryl wrote that he was "legendary in the industry for his energy " but "dismisses talk of retirement and succession plans".
"I'm a great believer in not retiring – I believe people who lead active lives and retire just fade away," Bruce told Neryl. "The key to ageing is to stay mentally active as well as physically active."
A champion of Wollongong
Whether Bruce Gordon chooses to retire or not, Lord Mayor Tania Brown said, "Bruce has long been a champion of Wollongong and his commitment to the city has been ongoing for many years, with WIN Corporation's head office still located here."
Tania said the Gordon family had also been huge supporters of the arts, including IPAC, the BlueScopeWIN Youth Orchestra and Wollongong Eisteddfod. "Bruce's support for the region's sporting teams from the grassroots to the elite is well known.
"On behalf of the residents of Wollongong I extend our appreciation to Bruce Gordon for his significant contribution and support for the betterment of the city he loves," the Lord Mayor said.
"We thank him and the Gordon family for their generosity and passion to see Wollongong prosper and thrive."
About the writer
Jeremy Lasek has many decades of experience in media, marketing, events and PR. His career began in the Illawarra with the Lake Times, ABC Radio and WIN-TV. For eight years Jeremy was news director for WIN in Canberra and was national news director before joining the National Capital Authority as head of media and events. Jeremy was executive director of ACT Government Communications, Events, Arts, Heritage and Protocol for many years, was Chief of Staff to the ACT Chief Minister and had responsibility for the Centenary of Canberra celebrations in 2013. Before returning to Wollongong, Jeremy was CEO of the National Australia Day Council (including the Australian of the Year Awards) and head of communications for the Australian Federal Police. Jeremy is a member of the Friends of Woolyungah Indigenous Centre at UOW and a regular llawarra Flame contributor.
