Tony Parsons (presenter)

Last updated

Tony Parsons
Tony Parson (6244479405) (cropped).jpg
Born
Anthony Parsonage

1939 (age 84–85)
Gosport, Hampshire, England
NationalityCanadian
Occupation(s)News anchor for CHAN-DT, CBUT-DT and CHEK-DT
Known forTelevision news anchor / reporter

Tony Parsons (born 1939) is a Canadian broadcaster whose career has spanned more than 50 years, and he has anchored the second most-watched local evening Television newscast in North America, the News Hour on Global BC in Vancouver, British Columbia. He was the co-anchor of CBC News: Vancouver on CBUT-DT with Gloria Macarenko, and the 10:00 pm (22:00 military) newscast on CHEK-DT.

Parsons' father was a flight-lieutenant in the Royal Air Force. His mother was of Italian descent. His family immigrated to Canada from England in 1948, settling in Feversham, Ontario. After a year studying radio and television arts at the Ryerson Institute in Toronto, he looked for work at Ontario radio stations and eventually shortened his name from Parsonage to Tony Parsons. His first broadcasting job was as a country and western DJ at CJCS in Stratford, Ontario. He worked at various radio jobs in Stratford, Guelph, and Hamilton, before landing in Toronto. After a brief stint with CHUM radio, he took his first television job as a reporter at CFTO-TV, a CTV affiliate.

Parsons advanced to become the late evening anchor at CFTO until 1975, when he accepted the opportunity to fill the 6:00 anchor spot on CHAN-TV (better known as BCTV) in Vancouver, where he remained for more than 30 years. He was also the anchor of the national edition of Canada Tonight, a CHAN-produced newscast which aired outside of BC on stations owned by Western International Communications until that company was acquired by the Global Television Network. (Bill Good anchored the BC version seen on BCTV.) In 2004, his career achievements were recognized by his being awarded the Bruce Hutchison Lifetime Achievement Award by the Jack Webster Foundation.

Parsons had a cameo in the 2001 film Saving Silverman (also known as Evil Woman) as a TV anchor. The same year he appeared, once again as a news anchor, in the Jack Nicholson film The Pledge.

In 2002, Parsons was named Italo-Canadian of the year by the Confratellanza Italo-Canadese.

In May 2007, Parsons announced his intention to phase himself out of the anchor chair at the News Hour, [1] with plans to work Tuesdays and Wednesdays until the 2010 Winter Olympics, after which he had stated his intention to retire and make documentaries.

However, on December 16, 2009, Parsons anchored his final newscast at Global BC after 35 years as anchor of the News Hour. [2] A day earlier he had confirmed his rather sudden departure in an email to radio station CKNW. It had been expected that he would remain until after the Olympics, but for unknown reasons, Parsons left the station much earlier than expected. He was replaced by Chris Gailus. [3] Parsons went to CHEK-TV in Victoria to anchor the 10 pm newscast starting on March 15. [4]

On April 12, 2010, it was announced that Parsons would co-anchor CBUT's evening newscast, CBC News: Vancouver, replacing co-anchor Ian Hanomansing who left to work as a reporter and substitute anchor for CBC News: The National . Parsons would continue to host the 10 PM newscast for CHEK-TV. [5] After his CBC evening broadcast, he would fly to Victoria (where he also resides with his wife), often by helicopter, to anchor the 10 pm news on CHEK-TV. [6] On December 20, 2013, Parsons retired as co-anchor on CBC News: Vancouver .

Parsons has written a book on his journalistic career, called A Life in the News. [7] On November 23, 2009, he opened a Vancouver restaurant, the Poor Italian in which he has a part-ownership stake. [8] [9]

Related Research Articles

CIVI-DT is a television station in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, part of the CTV 2 system. It is owned and operated by Bell Media alongside Vancouver-based CTV station CIVT-DT. Although the two stations nominally maintain separate operations, the Victoria station's newscasts have been anchored from the CIVT-DT studios since 2023. CIVI-DT's offices are located at the corner of Broad Street and Pandora Avenue across from the McPherson Playhouse and the Victoria City Hall in downtown Victoria, and its transmitter is located on the roof of Camosack Manor near Rockland. The station operates a rebroadcaster (CIVI-DT-2) on virtual and UHF channel 17 in Vancouver, with transmitter atop Mount Seymour in the district municipality of North Vancouver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CKVU-DT</span> Citytv station in Vancouver

CKVU-DT is a television station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, serving as the West Coast flagship of the Citytv network. It is owned and operated by network parent Rogers Sports & Media alongside Omni Television station CHNM-DT. Both stations share studios at the corner of West 2nd Avenue and Columbia Street in the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood of Vancouver, while CKVU-DT's transmitter is located atop Mount Seymour in the district municipality of North Vancouver, with additional transmitter link facilities on the roof of the Century Plaza Hotel in Downtown Vancouver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CBUT-DT</span> CBC Television station in Vancouver

CBUT-DT is a television station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, serving as the West Coast flagship of CBC Television. It is part of a twinstick with Ici Radio-Canada Télé station CBUFT-DT. Both stations share studios at the CBC Regional Broadcast Centre on Hamilton Street in downtown Vancouver, while CBUT-DT's transmitter is located atop Mount Seymour in the district municipality of North Vancouver.

CBET-DT is a CBC Television station in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The station's studios are located on Riverside Drive West and Crawford Avenue in Downtown Windsor, and its transmitter is located near Concession Road 12 in Essex.

CBLT-DT is a television station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, serving as the flagship station of the English-language service of CBC Television. It is part of a twinstick with Ici Radio-Canada Télé outlet CBLFT-DT. Both stations share studios at the Canadian Broadcasting Centre on Front Street West in downtown Toronto, which is also shared with national cable news channel CBC News Network and houses the studios for most of the CBC's news and entertainment programs. CBLT-DT's transmitter is located atop the CN Tower.

CFQC-DT is a television station in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, part of the CTV Television Network. Owned and operated by network parent Bell Media, the station has studios on 1st Avenue North and 23rd Street East in the Central Business District neighbourhood of Saskatoon, and its transmitter is located near Highway 41 and Burgheim Road, northeast of the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CHAN-DT</span> Global TV station in Vancouver

CHAN-DT, branded on-air as Global BC, is a television station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, serving as the West Coast flagship of the Global Television Network. Owned and operated by network parent Corus Entertainment, the station has studios on Enterprise Street in the suburban city of Burnaby, which also houses Global's national news headquarters. Its transmitter is located atop Mount Seymour in the district municipality of North Vancouver.

CFCF-DT is a television station in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, part of the CTV Television Network. It is owned and operated by network parent Bell Media alongside Noovo flagship CFJP-DT. Both stations share studios at the Bell Media building, at the intersection of Avenue Papineau and Boulevard René-Lévesque Est in downtown Montreal, while CFCF-DT's transmitter is located atop Mount Royal.

CHEK-DT is an independent television station in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, serving Vancouver Island and Greater Vancouver. The station is owned by the CHEK Media Group, a consortium made up of station employees and local investors. CHEK-DT's studios are located on Kings Road in Victoria, and its transmitter is located atop Mount Warburton Pike on Saturna Island.

<i>Global National</i> Canadian national television newscast

Global National is the English language flagship national newscast of Canada's Global Television Network. Editorial and production staff are based out of Global's national news centre at Global BC in Burnaby, British Columbia, with Dawna Friesen presenting from the Global BC studios Mondays to Thursdays, and Farah Nasser presenting from the Global Toronto studios Fridays to Sundays. From 2008 to 2010, the program was the only Canadian network newscast to be regularly anchored from the nation's capital, Ottawa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CIVT-DT</span> CTV television station in Vancouver

CIVT-DT is a television station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, serving as the West Coast flagship of the CTV Television Network. It is owned and operated by network parent Bell Media alongside Victoria-based CTV 2 station CIVI-DT. Although the two stations nominally maintain separate operations, the Victoria station's newscasts have been produced at CIVT-DT since 2023. CIVT-DT's studios are located at 969 Robson Street at the intersection of Robson Street and Burrard Street in downtown Vancouver, which also houses the British Columbia operations of the CTV network itself, including the CTV National News Vancouver bureau. The station's transmitter is located atop Mount Seymour in the district municipality of North Vancouver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CHBC-DT</span> Global TV station in Kelowna, British Columbia

CHBC-DT is a television station in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, part of the Global Television Network. It is owned and operated by network parent Corus Entertainment, and maintains studios on Leon Avenue in Downtown Kelowna; its main transmitter is located near Lambly Creek Road in Central Okanagan.

<i>Canada Tonight</i> Canadian national television newscast

Canada Tonight is a Canadian television newscast which aired on stations owned by Western International Communications (WIC) from 1993 to 2001. It was produced out of the studio of CHAN-TV (BCTV) in Burnaby, British Columbia. There were two versions of the newscast; the one seen outside BC was anchored by Tony Parsons, and the one seen in that province was anchored by Bill Good. The BC version, seen only on BCTV, featured more stories related to Vancouver and BC, as well as local weather and some national news reports sourced from CTV, which WIC's other stations were unable to use.

CBC News produces a variety of local newscasts for CBC Television's owned-and-operated stations (O&Os) throughout Canada. On most stations, the local news operation is branded with standard, regional titles such as CBC Toronto News. However, there are variations to this naming convention for northern Canada and certain markets where the CBC has historically been strong in local news, such as Here & Now in Newfoundland, Compass on Prince Edward Island, and Northbeat on CBC North.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CKPG-TV</span> Citytv affiliate in Prince George, British Columbia

CKPG-TV is a television station in Prince George, British Columbia, Canada, affiliated with Citytv. The station is owned by the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group, and maintains studios on 3rd Avenue in Prince George; its transmitter is located atop Pilot Mountain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Good</span> Canadian radio and television personality

Bill Good Jr. is a Canadian television personality and host of talk radio shows, all in the province of British Columbia. After 21 years with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, first doing radio before moving to Television news, he hosted talk radio at CKNW for 26 years. He also anchored evening news broadcasts on BCTV and CIVT between 1993 and 2010.

In 2001, the Vancouver/Victoria, British Columbia, television market saw a major shuffling of network affiliations, involving nearly all of the area's broadcast television stations. This was one of the largest single-market affiliation realignments in the history of North American television, and had a number of significant effects on television broadcasting across Canada and into the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Global News</span> Canadian news network, division of Global Television Network

Global News is the news and current affairs division of the Canadian Global Television Network. The network is owned by Corus Entertainment, which oversees all of the network's national news programming as well as local news on its 21 owned-and-operated stations.

Global News Hour at 6 is the name of local newscasts that air on Global, each city has a different edition of the program. The show debuted in 1968, originating at CHAN-TV Vancouver. GlobalNews Hour at 6 airs on CHAN-DT Vancouver, CICT-DT Calgary, and CITV-DT Edmonton. CHBC-DT Kelowna's flagship newscast is the hour-long Global News at 5. CIII-DT Toronto and CKMI-DT Montreal both air newscasts known as Global News at 5:30. CFRE-DT Regina, CFSK-DT Saskatoon, CKND-DT Winnipeg, CISA-DT Lethbridge, CHNB-DT Saint John, and CIHF-DT Halifax all air half-hour newscasts known as Global News at 6. CHAN, CITV, and CICT, CFRE, and CFSK also air a 5PM newscast known as Global News at 5, which airs before Global National.

References

  1. ↑ Anchor Tony Parsons easing into retirement Archived November 4, 2012, at the Wayback Machine . By Kevin Griffin. The Vancouver Sun, A3. Published on May 12, 2007. Retrieved on May 12, 2007.
  2. ↑ Tony Parsons and Global News part ways - Vancouver Sun
  3. ↑ Chris Gailus profile. Retrieved Sept 3,2010
  4. ↑ Tony Parsons pulls up anchor at Global, sails on to CHEK - Vancouver Sun Archived December 19, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ "Tony Parsons joins CBC News Vancouver". CBC News . April 12, 2010. Archived from the original on December 11, 2022.
  6. ↑ Tony Parsons to host CBC newscast, remains on with CHEK too
  7. ↑ "Harbour Publishing - A Life in the News". www.harbourpublishing.com. Archived from the original on May 28, 2009.
  8. ↑ BREAKING NEWS: Tony Parsons leaving Global TV on Wednesday Dec. 16th, 2009
  9. ↑ Restaurant Review. Poor Italian. Globe & Mail. Retrieved Sept 3,2010
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.