Maury Povich on How to Succeed in Television

Dan Bova (0:00)

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Maury Povich (1:59)

Jerry gave me one of the great complements, and I'll never forget it.

We were such contemporaries and friends. Told an interviewer, he says, they said, well, what's the difference between you and Maury? He says, the difference is Maury is the real deal. His show is the real deal. And my show is wrestling.

Dan Bova (2:29)

I'm Dan Bova, writer and editor at entrepreneur.com. You know, there is a very small, selective group of super successful people who are known by one name. You've got Madonna, you've got LeBron, and you've got today's guest, Maury.

Povich is a legendary TV host and journalist who has received countless awards, including the Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award. But let me tell you, people, he is just getting started. So please welcome the real father of daytime television, Maury Povich.

Maury Povich (3:06)

Thanks, Dan. Thank you very much. Wow.

Yeah, I never thought of myself as just one name, but I guess it's come to that.

Dan Bova (3:17)

Yeah, it has. I'm sorry to report to you, sir. When someone says, Maury, your face is what everyone's mental picture is.

So, Maury, I have so many questions to ask you. But let's just start. So you stopped doing the TV show, but now you're hosting your podcast On Par. I know your dad, the legendary sports writer, Shirley Povich kept at it for a very long time. So my question is, are Poviches genetically engineered to just never stop?

Maury Povich (3:52)

Well, maybe.

I'll tell you this, Dan. I probably in my, I don't know, 60 some years of this business starting as a teenager, but my father worked at the Washington Post for 75 years.

I don't think I'm gonna match that. And I don't think any writer of any print journalism ever worked 75 years for the same time.

Dan Bova (4:18)

Yeah. That is absolutely incredible. And yeah, as you just said there, you started really, you were 16 when you started, right?

Maury Povich (4:28)

Yeah. I was an assistant to the broadcaster for the then Washington Senator's baseball team in about 1955 when I was 16

Dan Bova (4:38)

So was there ever any other plan? Were you ever going to do anything but be a broadcaster?

Maury Povich (4:46)

You know, I don't think so.

I did want to go into print journalism because of my father. But the problem was that the only other newspaper in town, The Washington Star, wasn't going to hire me because of my last name because the competitor was my father. And The Washington Post had an nepotism policy. So I, and then at a very young age, I gravitated the television because I worked for this Hall of Fame broadcaster named Bob Wolf.

And, you know, as my father said, you know, he asked me one time, you know, I was a gopher. I carried equipment. I was his assistant. I was his statistic guide during the game. And so my father asked me, so what is your title, son? And I said, I'm an associate producer. He said, you've got such big, big shot itis you're in the right profession.

Dan Bova (5:48)

That is fantastic. Well, I'm glad there's there's no cure for big shot itis. It worked out well for you. So you were at the forefront of so many major shifts in TV. You went from traditional journalism to current affair to, of course, the Maury Povich show.