COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) – A piece of WIS News 10 is headed to a national show in the Big Apple!
The famous late-night news show “Late Night with Seth Meyers” features mugs from various local NBC affiliate news stations.
On Monday, the WIS News 10 mug will be presented on the desk during the show. Guests during this show include Jeremy Strong, Amber Ruffin and the 8G Band with Fred Armisen.
The WIS News 10 mug is one of four mugs from various news stations that will sit next to the television host this month.
But, do you know the history of how the mugs made it to the show?
WIS News 10 Vice President and General Manager Robby Thomas said it all started in 2013 with an idea.
Thomas, who was the director of marketing at a news station in Raleigh, North Carolina at the time, said he pitched the idea to the executive producer of the show when it was getting ready to launch.
“NBC sent Seth and his executive producer Mike Shoemaker around to several local NBC affiliates on a publicity tour and one of the stops was Charlotte, NC. So, Sean Maroney, CFRE & I drove over to WCNC Charlotte to interview him and shoot a few promos,” said Thomas in a LinkedIn post.
“While we were there, I pitched Seth an idea. Every local station in the country has their own coffee mug. It’s the one piece of brand swag that seems to be universal. I recommended putting a different affiliate mug on the desk each night as an homage to the hundreds of local affiliates around the country helping his new show succeed.”
He said Meyers was onboard and used the mug of the station Thomas was working at on his first episode.
The mug is part of television history, now tied to the Capital City’s No. 1 station.
“Seth and his executive producer Michael Shoemaker were immediately enthusiastic about the idea, but I chalked it up in the moment to them being kind. I’ve since learned that they went back to NBC and advocated to make it happen, and the NBC Affiliate Marketing team had multiple meetings to finalize the details. It’s an honor to have played a small part in TV history and see the idea last as long as it has.”
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