Ali Ghanbari, from WJW-TV in Cleveland, had one second place win in the final quarter and held on to win the 2012 ONPA Quarterly Television Clip Contest by three points over Jeff Ritter, from WBNS-TV in Columbus. Like Ghanbari, Ritter, the 2010 title holder, had one second place win in the quarter.
ONPA television vice president Chris Reece stated at the annual business meeting that he has been unable to find someone to chair the contest which will bring an end to the competition which began in 1999.
Kris Sproles, from WDTN-TV in Dayton came in third. The win for Ghanbari was just his second in the quarterly contest which has been dominated in recent years by co-worker David Bradford, who has won six of the past nine years.
While its no secret that Ghanbari is a great storyteller, he proved he’s an uqually gifted speaker filling in at the ONPA educational seminar for Darren Durlach, who was a last minute cancellation. He has a back pocket full of stories and a great gift for presenting them. Below is Ghabari’s second place win in the final quarter, a story about a crossing guard at University Circle in Cleveland. The story placed third in Personality Profile in the year end contest.
2012 Final Top 10 Standings
1st – Ali Ghanbari, WJW-TV – 69
2nd – Jeff Ritter, WBNS-TV – 66
3rd – Kris Sproles, WDTN-TV – 55
4th – Matthew Pawuk, WTOL-TV – 28
5th – Joshua Ames, WDTN-TV – 25
6th – Byron Stirsman, WHIO-TV – 24
7th – Billy Muhammed, WJW-TV – 18
8th – Steve Maguire, WBNS-TV – 15
9th – Annette Lawless, WJW-TV – 15
10th – Jon Monk, WTOL-TV – 9