Fred Roggin, the longtime KNBC-TV sports anchor, whose quippy-titled, light-hearted segments and shows became fixtures in the L.A. sports media market, has stepped down from his daily on-air broadcast television duties after 42 years.
Roggin will keep up with Roggin & Rodney, the AM 570 radio show he co-hosts each weekday from 12 p.m - 3 p.m. with former USC and NFL quarterback Rodney Peete. But on Thursday evening, he signed off from his KNBC local news sports segment for the final time. He'll also hang up his mic for KNBC's half-hour sports commentary show, Going Roggin, as well as the station's post NFL show The Challenge, on which he co-hosted with local sports personality Petros Papadakis and other well-knowns.
"I'm stepping away from local TV news, but I'm not stepping away from television." Roggin said in an interview with LA-ist-produced public affairs-themed radio show AirTalk. "I just don't want to go on every day anymore."
With the help of KNBC's production staff, Roggin also produced a cool career retrospective that he posted Thursday on Twitter. You can see that here.
Known over the years for segments like "Roggin's Hereos," which showcased the exploits of local high school athletes, Roggin's endurance can be tied to his astute understanding of the changes happening to local broadcast news.
For example, the emergence of ESPN diluted the value of sports highlights airing after 11 p.m. Finding ways to develop a loyal constituency of local sports families, showcasing their kids' exploits in a forum unavailable anywhere else, provided an innovative audience development hedge.
Likewise, by also incorporating blooper segments, Roggin recognized that many modern local news watchers like sports ... but maybe not at the tonally serious level that had previously been delivered to them in the straight-ahead, old-school way of his KNBC predecessor, the late and also revered Stu Nahan, and others of Nahan's more traditionally trained ilk.
Born in Detroit but spending his school years in Arizona, Roggin joined KNBC from Phoenix's KPNX-TV in 1980, at the age of 23 -- and at a time when Wheel of Fortune hosting legend Pat Sajak was still doing weather for the channel.
Roggin lives with his wife, Richel, and three kids in Calabasas, Calif.
