It wasn’t often you’d find him in front of a camera — but he’ll be remembered for his instrumental contributions to television news and broadcasting in Hamilton.
Cable 14’s Bill Custers died this past Sunday at 63, leaving behind a career dedicated to local politics, culture and charities.
Custers retired after 41 years in the business last year, and those who knew him well remember him as a man with relentless passion, brand vision, and great teamwork.
Brendan Nickolau, a colleague of Custers, said he never took a day off.
“There’s a running joke that if Bill took a week off, we’d all be wondering if he’ll be coming in on Tuesday, or Wednesday,” Nickolau recalled. “He cared that much.”
The St. Catharines native grew up with TV in his blood. After graduating from Niagara College’s broadcasting program in 1983, he went on to work at Cable 14 for nine years. He then branched off into several different leadership roles in programming at other networks.
“He was a key guy, promotional-wise,” said Greg Oliver, a former colleague.
“At the time, WWF really wanted to promote the wrestlers, and Bill wanted to sell pay-per-views, so a synergy was there.”
He said that Bill was a genius who really understood media. “He understood what it took to sell, whether it was getting in the photographers, the writers like me, he knew what it took.”
After working for Viewers Choice Canada, a pay-per-view service, he returned to Cable 14 to manage the station’s broadcast operations in 2012.
Custers wasn’t just passionate about broadcasting though, he was passionate about broadcasting in his community — so when times started to change and stations began transitioning to high-definition, he played a helping hand guiding in helping CHCH News find its way.
“Going high-def was very costly, but Bill, being very good at relationships and building relationships, took us to the next level,” CHCH News’ Dave Mydlo said.
Custers entered retirement last year and his contributions did not go unnoticed.
Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath said he did a lot to help the city, too, and awarded Custers the Order of Hamilton last year, noting his work during the pandemic and the help he provided various charities.
“He made himself available to the City of Hamilton around the clock, and produced 125 media briefings and when the city went virtual, Bill was there to deliver for our city,” she said.
Custers is survived by his wife, Sue, his daughter Heather and his grandchildren.
