Rich King (sportscaster)

Last updated

Rich King (born 1947 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American sports journalist who worked for CW affiliate and national cable superstation WGN-TV in Chicago, Illinois. He served as sports anchor for the station's 9 p.m. newscast on Saturday and Sunday evenings, and filed sports reports for the station's Sunday through Thursday evening newscasts. He retired on June 15, 2016, after 48 years in the business.

Contents

Career

King was born and raised on the South Side of Chicago, near Comiskey Park. He attended the De La Salle Institute and is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago. [1]

King started his broadcast career in 1968 as an intern for WGN, who hired him as a writer and producer the following year. [2] In 1970, Rich moved to radio station WBBM (AM) as a writer and producer, before becoming the assistant news director and managing editor two years later in 1972. In 1974, King became an on-air sportscaster along with being a color commentator and play-by-play announcer for the Chicago White Sox baseball club for the 1980 and 1981 seasons. In January 1985, he was promoted to sports director at WBBM radio and remained in that position until he joined CBS owned-and-operated station WBBM-TV. [3] King returned to WGN-TV in an on-camera position as a sports reporter and anchor in August 1991. [4] [5] After a 1994 reader poll, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that viewers appreciated the "down-to-earth, no-hype styles" of King and his fellow WGN sports anchor Dan Roan. [6]

Other work

King has served on the Board of Directors for the Chicago Lighthouse for the Blind and the communications committee of the American Cancer Society.

"My Maggie"

King also authored a novel entitled My Maggie, which was published in October 2007 under King Books. [7] The book centers on the story of King's late wife and childhood sweetheart Maggie Smith, who was diagnosed with hearing loss at the age of four, and whom he referred to as "an awkward tomboy with hearing aid wires tangled in her dress at the play lot" and later "a blossoming beauty." King and Smith married in 1970, they and were married for 32 years until she died as a result of cancer in 2002, [8] after having fought the disease two previous times. 75% of royalties from the book went to the American Cancer Society and the Chicago Lighthouse for the Blind.

Back in the Game

In 2015, King's second book, Back in the Game, was published by Eckhartz Press. [9] The book is about his second wife and life after Maggie.

Awards and recognition

King was recognized for his achievement in sportscasting. In 1989, he had the highest approval rating (75%) among local television and radio sports reporters in a Chicago Sun-Times readers poll. [10] He was named "Sportscaster of the Year" by the Illinois Broadcasters Association in 1991. He also won awards from the Illinois chapters of the Associated Press and United Press International for his sportscasts. In 1998, King was honored with a Regional Emmy for his coverage of the Chicago Bulls basketball team. [11]

Related Research Articles

WGN-TV Independent TV station in Chicago

WGN-TV, virtual channel 9, is an independent television station licensed to Chicago, Illinois, United States. Owned by Irving, Texas–based Nexstar Media Group, it is sister to the company's sole radio property, news/talk/sports station WGN. WGN-TV's studios are located on West Bradley Place in Chicago's North Center community ; its transmitter is located atop the Willis Tower in the Chicago Loop.

WLS-TV ABC TV station in Chicago

WLS-TV, virtual channel 7, is an ABC owned-and-operated television station licensed to Chicago, Illinois, United States. The station is owned by the ABC Owned Television Stations subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. WLS-TV's studios are located on North State Street in the Chicago Loop, and its transmitter is located atop the Willis Tower.

WBBM-TV CBS TV station in Chicago

WBBM-TV, virtual channel 2, is a CBS owned-and-operated television station licensed to Chicago, Illinois, United States. The station is owned by the CBS News and Stations subsidiary of Paramount Global. WBBM-TV's studios are located on West Washington Street in the Loop district, and its transmitter is located atop the Willis Tower.

WFLD Fox-owned television station in Chicago, Illinois

WFLD, virtual channel 32, is a Fox owned-and-operated television station licensed to Chicago, Illinois, United States. Owned by the Fox Television Stations subsidiary of Fox Corporation, it is part of a duopoly with Gary, Indiana–licensed MyNetworkTV owned-and-operated station WPWR-TV. Both stations share studios on North Michigan Avenue in the Chicago Loop, and transmitter facilities atop the Willis Tower.

WCIU-TV CW affiliate in Chicago

WCIU-TV, virtual channel 26, is a CW-affiliated television station licensed to Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is the flagship television property of locally based Weigel Broadcasting, which has owned the station since its inception, and is sister to two low-power stations: independent outlet WMEU-CD and MeTV/Heroes & Icons flagship WWME-CD. The stations share studios on Halsted Street in the Greektown neighborhood, while WCIU-TV's transmitter is located atop the Willis Tower in the Chicago Loop.

NewsNation is an American subscription television network owned by the Nexstar Media Group, and is the company's only wholly owned, national cable-originated television channel. The channel runs a mixture of entertainment programming for most of the broadcast day and a straight-news format during the evening and early overnight hours. Known for most of its history as Superstation WGN and WGN America, on March 1, 2021, the channel was relaunched from WGN America into NewsNation, a cable news network named after its flagship news program, as part of a planned expansion of its news programming.

WMAQ-TV NBC TV station in Chicago

WMAQ-TV, virtual channel 5, is an NBC owned-and-operated television station licensed to Chicago, Illinois, United States. Owned by the NBC Owned Television Stations subsidiary of NBCUniversal, it is part of a duopoly with Telemundo owned-and-operated station WSNS-TV, and also sister to regional sports network NBC Sports Chicago. WMAQ-TV and WSNS-TV share studios at the NBC Tower on North Columbus Drive in the city's Streeterville neighborhood and share transmitter facilities atop the Willis Tower in the Chicago Loop.

WBBM (AM) Radio station in Chicago, Illinois

WBBM – branded WBBM Newsradio 780 and 105.9 FM – is a commercial all-news radio station licensed to serve Chicago, Illinois. Owned by Audacy, Inc., its studios are located at Two Prudential Plaza in the Chicago Loop, while the station transmitter—diplexed with sister station WSCR—resides in the nearby suburb of Bloomingdale.

Walter David Jacobson is a former Chicago television news personality and a current Chicago radio news personality. He currently provides opinion segments for WGN Radio AM 720. From 2010 until 2013, he was an anchor of the 6 p.m. news on WBBM-TV in Chicago, where he also had worked from 1973 until 1993. From 1993 until 2006, he was principal anchor on WFLD-TV's FOX News at 9 and the host of FOX Chicago Perspective, a one-hour news and political show that aired Sunday mornings on WFLD.

Robert "Bob" Sirott is an American broadcaster. He is the morning host at WGN-AM in Chicago. He is also a former television news anchor, most recently working in that role at Chicago's WFLD.

The WGN Morning News is an American morning television news program airing on WGN-TV, an independent television station and national superstation in Chicago, Illinois owned by Nexstar Media Group. The program broadcasts each weekday morning from 4:00 to 10:00 a.m. and each weekend morning from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Central Time.

John Drury (television anchor) American journalist

John Richard Drury was an American television news anchor from Chicago, Illinois. Drury is most known for serving as anchor on Chicago news broadcasts which included: WGN-TV from 1967 to 1970 and again from 1979 until 1984; WLS-TV from 1970 to 1979 and 1984 until his retirement in 2002. Upon his retirement came the news that he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, otherwise known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Drury was a leading activist for ALS research and was a spokesperson for the Brain Research Foundation. Drury died from motor neurone disease in 2007 at age 80.

Mike Barz is an American broadcaster who was weekday morning news anchor at WFOX-TV and WJAX-TV in Jacksonville, Florida. He was a morning news anchor at WFLD, the Fox affiliate in Chicago, Illinois from 2007-2009.

Andy Masur is an American sportscaster who was formerly the radio play-by-play announcer for the Chicago White Sox Radio Network for WGN (720).

Bruce Wolf is a veteran Chicago broadcaster and sports anchor who has been on both TV and radio for more than 20 years. He formerly hosted a politics-themed talk show weekday mornings on WLS (AM) radio in Chicago. He also fills in as a sportscaster on WMAQ-TV in Chicago and works part-time as a divorce attorney.

Sue Castorino is founder and president of The Speaking Specialists, a communications company specializing in public speaking and media training services, located in Chicago. She was an American broadcast journalist, news anchor and reporter in Cleveland and Chicago.

Robert Howard (Bob) Jordan, Jr. is a retired American television news journalist, author and former weekend anchor of the WGN News at Nine, which broadcasts on WGN-TV in Chicago, Illinois, and co-anchored the weekend newscast alongside Jackie Bange from 1995 until his retirement in 2016. He also produced, wrote, and served as a general assignment reporter for the weekday newscasts.

Jim Williams is a weekday news anchor for WBBM-TV in Chicago.

WSNS-TV Telemundo TV station in Chicago

WSNS-TV, virtual channel 44, is a Telemundo owned-and-operated television station licensed to Chicago, Illinois, United States. Owned by the Telemundo Station Group subsidiary of NBCUniversal, it is part of a duopoly with NBC owned-and-operated station WMAQ-TV, and also sister to regional sports network NBC Sports Chicago. WSNS-TV and WMAQ-TV share studios at the NBC Tower on North Columbus Drive in the city's Streeterville neighborhood and transmitter facilities atop the Willis Tower in the Chicago Loop.

WGN Sports is the programming division of WGN-TV, an independent television station located in Chicago, Illinois, United States—which is owned by the Nexstar Media Group—that is responsible for all sports broadcasts on the station, some of which were previously also broadcast on its former national superstation feed, WGN America.

References

  1. ↑ Mark Liptak. "Flashing Back...with Rich King". White Sox Interactive. Retrieved on November 13, 2012.
  2. ↑ Robert Feder. "WGN sportscaster Rich King announces retirement". robertfeder.com. January 17, 2016. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
  3. ↑ John Ruane. "Sports TV weekend". Chicago Sun-Times. March 11, 1988. 98.
  4. ↑ Robert Feder. "Cubs in prime time boost Ch. 9 ratings". Chicago Sun-Times. July 29, 1991. 29.
  5. ↑ Rich King Bio, WGN-TV. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  6. ↑ Mark Gaffney. "Sportscasters We Love to Love . . . And Hate - Weigel, Jiggets, Larrivee Win Poll Position". Chicago Sun Times. November 13, 1994. Sports Sunday, 22.
  7. ↑ My Maggie
  8. ↑ Janet Rausa Fuller. "Finding solace in memories: Filling book with reflections on wife a labor of love for WGN's King". Chicago Sun-Times. March 14, 2007. 10.
  9. ↑ http://eckhartzpress.com/shop/back-in-the-game/ [ dead link ]
  10. ↑ Barry Cronin. "Masters of the mike - Fans pick best (and worst) sportscasters". Chicago Sun-Times. June 5, 1989. Sports, 6.
  11. ↑ "1997 to 1998 Chicago/Midwest Emmy Winners". National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Chicago/Midwest. Retrieved on November 13, 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.