Last month the National Association of Broadcasters recognized something that TV Tech readers have known for decades: Doug Lung, long-time columnist for this brand and a member of the team that helped build the Telemundo network, has achieved the kind of career excellence that is worthy of this year’s NAB Television Engineering Achievement Award.
When I arrived at TV Tech more than 20 years ago, Doug had already established himself as an expert on broadcast television, and in particular, RF technology through his monthly columns. As the fortunes of free over-the-air TV broadcasting have ebbed and waned over the years, Doug recently wrote in his 300th column that, despite all of this, “the good news is over-the-air TV broadcasting is still going strong.”
It’s hard to believe then, that Doug’s career path was not so certain when he started out nearly 50 years ago. As a practitioner of Transcendental Meditation, which was popularized in the late 1960’s by the Maharishi Yogi and the Beatles, Doug was in line to become a teacher of “TM.” When that didn’t work out, he chose another passion of his: broadcasting.
Doug had gotten his start in radio and had gained a wealth of experience in the technical side of things. When there was an opening in 1974 for an engineer at the TM video facility in Livingston Manor, NY, Doug left Easton Pa., where he had just finished his third year at Lafayette College to take the job.
From there, he moved to Los Angeles where he helped put KSCI-TV—which at the time was a non-profit TV station owned by the TM organization—on the air. “That was the first TV broadcast station I worked at,” Doug said.
Eventually Doug ended up at the place he has called home for decades—Hawaii—when he helped fellow TV Tech writer Bill Hayes build out the transmission facility for KSHO, the state’s first full-powered UHF TV station. Doug fell in love with the area, partly because who wouldn’t, but also for the natural beauty of its volcanoes.
In 1985, he led the engineering department for what was to become the Telemundo network and station group, assisting in the design, construction and installation of the company’s broadcast and cable facilities. Telemundo was acquired by NBC in 2002, where Doug eventually was appointed vice president of Broadcast Technology for NBCUniversal Local.
Over nearly five decades of experience, Doug has witnessed a great deal of TV history and when I asked him what project he was proudest of, I expected him to mention the transition to DTV that took place over several decades. But it was the return of broadcasting to New York after 9/11 that affected him the most.
“Working with engineers, manufacturers and the MTVA to get broadcasting up on the Empire State Building and eventually onto One World Trade Center—that was an incredible effort,” he said. “I just really feel honored to have been able to be a part of that.”
So congratulations Doug on this well-deserved recognition! Doug will receive his award along with Radio award winner Michael Cooney with the Beasley Media Group at the “We Are Broadcasters Awards,” April 18 at 10 a.m. at the NAB Show in Las Vegas.
