Nancy Callaway Fyffe

Stations

The Media School at Indiana University

A Broadcast Pioneer

After graduating from University High School in Bloomington, Indiana, Nancy Callaway went on to attend Indiana University studying Radio-TV Mass Communications. She was hired by WLWI-TV in Indianapolis right out of college in 1972. She was a broadcast pioneer, the first woman to direct television in the Indy market, which was then dominated by men.

WLWI-TV, Indianapolis

During her three years with WLWI-TV (now WTHR), Nancy produced and directed documentaries for the Peabody winning series, Issues in the Light. Her prime-time program “Female Criminals, the Double Standard “was the first documentary ever focused on the lives of women in prison, in their own words. It revealed the inferior conditions of their incarceration compared to those of men imprisoned. The program was also the first on that subject to be produced and directed by a woman.

Each week at WLWI Nancy also produced fourteen local public service programs for air. She hosted a talk show focusing on the city’s effort to curb drug abuse and directed live evening newscasts.

KMBC-TV, Kansas City

In 1974, Nancy Callaway moved to Kansas City, where once again she was the first female to direct television in the Kansas City market. At KMBC-TV she directed prime time live newscasts, special remote broadcasts, daily talk shows and commercials. She also was the TV 9 Cartoon Fairy character in the station’s promos for their Saturday children’s program schedule.

The first computerized graphic promotions aired in Kansas City were created by Nancy. KMBC TV sent her to New York City to produce them using the new technology. She worked for the networks that came to broadcast the Chiefs football games, operating graphic character generators and in the tape trucks.

KMBC TV was an ABC affiliate station and in 1976 the Republican Convention came to Kansas City. ABC hired Nancy to be a floor director the network, working with Sam Donaldson on the floor of the convention.

WLS-TV, Chicago

ABC Network recruited Nancy to move to Chicago to be the first woman director for their owned and Operated Station WLS-TV, Channel 7. Nancy was the first female director for any ABC Owned Station. Nancy joined the Directors Guild of American as a full director. Her assignments included directing live primetime newscasts, network news specials out of Chicago, primetime documentaries and local talk shows. She directed weather cut-ins from Chicago in ABC’s Good Morning America show. Nancy also was the assistant director for many weekend ABC Network Sports remotes. She also married Bill Fyffe and added his name to hers.

ABC News

In 1981, Nancy Callaway Fyffe moved to New York City to direct for ABC Network News. Along with World News Tonight and Nightline broadcasts, she was an assistant director for election night coverages, primary election coverages, national political conventions, and other live special broadcasts. She also directed segments for Good Morning America. While in New York she developed and directed the award winning “Signature” series for CBS. It was a groundbreaking 30-minute interview program, known for its unique visual style. Guests on the program included celebrities, artists, politicians and authors.

Fyffe, Callaway & Associates

Nancy and her husband established a news consulting business, Fyffe Callaway & Associates and moved to Los Angeles where one of their clients, KCBS-TV was located. Their work included detailed critiques of each client station’s newscasts, providing strategic thinking for management, promotional materials, set and graphic design. FCA served stations around the nation including KCBS-TV, several Sinclair Broadcast Group stations and River City Broadcast stations. VH1 in New York, part of the MTV Network, hired Nancy as the Supervising Producer for studio broadcasts and the hosting segments with Video Jockeys, as well as overseeing the daily broadcast schedule.

WTIU-TV, Bloomington, IN

In 1998 Callaway Fyffe was approached by Indiana University to be the Station Manager of WTIU-TV. Accepting the position with a mandate to create original programming for the PBS Network showcasing the Midwest, she and her husband relocated to Bloomington, Indiana. There she oversaw local programs, created programs for syndication, started a local newsroom to offer on-air newsbreaks in the broadcast schedule. Her documentary “Different by Design, Columbus, Indiana” told the story of the collection of modern architecture in Columbus and of the National Historic Landmarks of Modern Architecture located there.

Callaway Fyffe also worked part-time as a script scout for Gannaway Films of Los Angeles, traveling to meet with authors, playwrights, and hopeful film script writers in search of original material for theatrical films.

Other Activities

In 2004 Callaway Fyffe assumed the presidency of Fyffe Callaway & Associates and broadened the business into a consultancy for all forms of media.

Nancy served on the Board of Conner Prairie Museum, the Sarah Lawrence College Alumni Board, the Dean’s Advisory Board of the Media School at IU, and served in several non-profit organizations. In 2023 she received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Media School at Indiana University. She established the James E Callaway Sr Memorial Scholarship at the Media School to honor her father who taught Journalism at IU.

She attended Sarah Lawrence College and the University of Southern California as well as Indiana University.

October 2025, last update

Information provided by Nancy Callaway Fyffe