The plan was masterminded by Nick Perry (1916–2003), "The Daily Number"s announcer. Perry was born Nicholas Pericles Katsafanas in the Morningside neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He attended Peabody High School and Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. After serving in the U.S. Navy in World War II, Perry began a career as a radio broadcaster in Charleston, West Virginia, then entered television broadcasting on Pittsburgh's WDTV, the forerunner of KDKA-TV. Perry later moved over to rival WTAE-TV in 1958, as a staff announcer. Later, he became a news and weather reporter and was the host of local sports shows like "Bowling for Dollars" and "Championship Bowling". In 1977, Perry became the host of the live nightly broadcast of the Pennsylvania Lottery, held in the studios of WTAE.