Peper interviewed Sanford last week when the governor was in town for President Bush's visit. "NewsMakers" is a 15-minute program that Peper compared to the Charlie Rose interview show on public TV.

"There's no real razzle dazzle to it. It's just a sit-down interview with a newsmaker," Peper said. Peper said Channel 5 approved him working as the host of "NewsMakers" as long as it didn't interfere with his job at WCSC, where Peper is a sports anchor and hosts the popular news call-in program "Talkback."

Peper said Comcast approached him about hosting "NewsMakers" on Channel 28, an 18-month-old local cable channel.

"I told them that I would have to have permission from Channel 5 to even think about it. The only thing Channel 5 told me is I needed to do it on my own time, and I couldn't do it if it conflicted with any of my other duties during the day."

Last fall, WCSC offered Peper a year-long contract after 30 years at the station. In the TV business, being offered a year-long contract is like being told to look for work elsewhere. When word of Peper's situation became public, there was an outpouring of public support for him from his many fans. Peper said he is sending out tapes to potential employers, but he hasn't completely ruled out the possibility of staying at Channel 5 when his contract expires. "There really is nothing else to say. I'm just doing some other stuff that they've allowed me to do," he said.

Peper is a color commentator for Comcast Channel 28 coverage of College of Charleston basketball games. He is paired with former Cougar basketball coach John Kresse, who does play-by-play coverage.

Comcast Channel 28 Manager Charlie Thompson said he hopes to make "NewsMakers" topical. "We'll try to tape on Mondays and Tuesdays for airing on Wednesday," he said. Having the governor on tonight is a way to get some quick attention to the channel, which focuses on local issues and happenings, he said. He said he's not sure who next week's guest will be.

"The governor is a little higher profile than we will probably be having on a regular basis. The show will just be local people in the news. And that could be someone who rescues a puppy. It's not necessarily going to be politicians or police chiefs or mayors or whatever. It's going to be people who are in the news. And I'd like to be able to get some good news stories out there that wouldn't ordinarily take the limelight from some of this stuff you see on broadcast stations here," Thompson said.

The weekly show can be seen in re-runs at 5 p.m. weekdays on Comcast Channel 28.

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