H EADLINES
Former 6abc GM Larry Pollock Dies at 86
O B I TUA RY
SELAH MAYA ZIGHELBOIM | JE STAFF
LARRY POLLOCK, the former
general manager of 6abc whose
leadership helped make it the
market’s dominant news chan-
nel, died Jan. 31. He was 86.

In Philadelphia, he was “the
architect of the modern Channel
6,” Action News anchor Jim
Gardner said in 6abc’s video of
his passing. Pollock arrived at
WPVI-TV in 1975 and trans-
formed Channel 6 and Action
News. He knew that audiences
responded best to people, so he
brought on the right talent and
put them in the right places.

“He did very well, but he
genuinely enjoyed it,” daughter
Jackie Kane said. “He liked the
challenges.” Pollock grew up in the Bronx,
Larry Pollock
Photo provided
N.Y. He attended Th e City College
of New York and started his
45-year career at ABC in 1956,
serving as manager of research for
ABC Radio and director of adver-
tising and research for WABC-TV,
ABC’s television network in New
York City.

He met his wife, Carol
Pollock, at the Catskills. (“Ours
was a ‘mixed’ marriage,”
Lawrence joked in 2013. Carol
Pollock was from Brooklyn.)
Th e two married in 1959. Carol
Pollock died in 2013.

In 1963, he moved to Albany,
N.Y. to join Capital Cities.

Leaving New York City, espe-
cially for a job at a smaller media
company, was an eyebrow-raiser,
but that small media company
bought ABC in 1985 and then
was bought, in turn, by Th e Walt
Disney Co., which rebranded it
as the Disney-ABC Television
Group in 1996.

At ABC, Pollock worked his
way up through the ranks. He
moved to Buff alo, where he
was vice president and general
manager of WKBW-TV. Th en,
in 1975, his career took him
and his family to Philadelphia.

He started there as vice pres-
ident and general manager
for WPVI-TV, then became
president and general manager.

In 1991, Pollock was
appointed president of Capital
Cities/ABC station group. He
retired in 2000.

“He believed very strongly
in doing the right thing, and
that getting ahead in business
and life had to be done the
right way or it wasn’t worth
doing,” son David Pollock said.

Pollock was also involved in
civic organizations and philan-
thropy. He was a longtime fan
of the Buff alo Bills and Buff alo
Sabres. His family knew him as
a good storyteller.

Much of his philan-
thropy was focused on the
Jewish community, particu-
larly the Jewish Federation of
Greater Philadelphia and the
Abramson Center for Jewish
Life. He served as president of
the Jewish Publishing Group,
on the board of trustees of
the Jewish Federation and as
a board member of Main Line
Reform Temple.

“When you hear about what
leading a Jewish life is — hon-
esty and integrity and being
philanthropic and mitzvahs
and stuff — he had a strong
sense of ethics,” Kane said. “He
really did. He was generous.”
Pollock is survived by his
brother Michael Plancher and his
wife Marilyn Plancher; sister-in-
law June Hirsh; daughter Jackie
Kane and her husband David
Kane; daughter Debbi Lindenberg
and her husband Howard
Lindenberg; son David Pollock
and grandchildren Michael Kane,
William Kane, Jessica Lindenberg
and Nicky Lindenberg. ●
szighelboim@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0729
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