(Ric Harris is donated one hour of his time to the winning bidder)


Ric Harris is vice president and general manager of WEWS-NewsChannel 5 in Cleveland, Ohio.

Since September 2000, Harris has been the person with ultimate responsibility for the operations of one of the city's premier television news and programming businesses.

This is nothing new for Harris, a Cleveland native, who has deep roots in the city's media communities. He has worked in radio, newspapers, television and advertising before rising to lead WEWS's news, information and entertainment operations.

His position at the station has marked him as one of Cleveland's business leaders, placing him on several community and non-profit boards such as The Cleveland Foundation, Greater Cleveland Growth Association, Greater Cleveland Roundtable, the Urban League of Greater Cleveland, John Carroll University, and many more.

"I'm a simple guy," he says. "I like winning and having fun. Usually, when you're doing one, the other follows. I'm also a big believer in the collaborative process; a process that empowers everyone on the team."

Prior to his current role at the station, Harris served as general sales manager, supervising a staff of 20 employees and responsible for a revenue budget of nearly $50 million. His leadership was marked by an energetic desire to sell ideas instead of simply selling television advertising time.

Harris remembers the idea of his working in communications wasn't initially his own. Noting his personality and willingness to engage anyone in conversation, his mother suggested a career in the media might be just the thing for her son. He was about 14 at the time.

That germ of an idea led to his delivering the morning announcements while a student at Shaker Heights High School, his first -- but not last -- broadcasting job. Before graduating from high school in 1982, Harris gained distinction as senior class president and captain of the Red Raiders varsity basketball team.

Next came John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio, where he continued to be a leader on two PAC championship basketball teams. Once again, he was captain of the team before graduating in 1986 with a degree in communications and a minor in English.

His first professional broadcasting job came as a personality -- disc jockey, in the old days -- at WJMO. The job required not only on-air broadcasting, but also production of programming, maintaining talent logs and public appearances at community meetings.

Harris spent a year as a classified advertising executive at The Plain Dealer, where he sold automotive and real estate advertising for the daily newspaper. There, he discovered a talent as well as a love of selling. Moreover, Harris came to understand that business is the vital ingredient in the media mix.

Harris returned to television -- WEWS -- from December 1987 to May 1994 as an account executive. A brief stint at Petry Television in Beverly Hills, California, introduced him to national television sales. In particular, he excelled at selling special programming and event television packages to a variety of national clients.

But Cleveland was home. He returned in 1994 to become national sales manager at WOIO. In turn, he moved up to the progressively more demanding role of local sales manager at WUAB, managing a multi-million dollar budget and developing new business for the station.

Harris was born in 1964. He lives in Highland Heights with his wife and two sons.

While no longer an avid basketball player, he enjoys shooting hoops, playing golf, and roughhousing with the kids. He says a personal goal, as yet unfulfilled, is to learn to play a musical instrument. "I can see myself playing jazz guitar in a smoky club with my sons just for fun." he says.

If Harris has a personal motto, it would be the label on his favorite golfing cap: THINK BIG. He says big ideas lead to big success whether in his business or in his personal life.

"Life is a gift. Thinking big raises the bar in all aspects of my life," he says.