Eric Johnson (news and sports reporter)
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| Eric Johnson | |
| Occupation | Sports Director and Co-anchor for KOMO-TV |
|---|---|
Eric Johnson is an American television news sports director, as well as news anchor.
[edit] Early life
He was raised in Spokane (East Valley High School), and majored in broadcasting in the Edward R. Murrow School of Communications at Washington State University. He also played baseball at WSU as a pitcher (he says with very limited success).
[edit] Broadcasting career
Eric Johnson began his broadcasting career in 1984 at KTVB in Boise, Idaho, serving as the station's weekend news anchor. Two years later he was promoted into the role of sports director at rival station KBCI-TV. From 1987 to 1989 he served in the same capacity at Spokane's KREM-TV, then he moved to sister station KGW-TV in Portland, Oregon, where he remained until 1993.
Upon arriving at KOMO in 1993, he initially started out as the station's weekend sports anchor, replacing longtime KOMO sportscaster Rick Meeder and fill-in sports anchor Bob Rondeau. In 1994, he created a popular segment titled "Eric's Little Heroes", which focuses on the athletic plight of Seattle-area children in little league games across the area, and is presented in an off-the-wall and humorous fashion. (In 2006, Eric's Little Heroes was discontinued, until strong viewer support brought the feature back in early 2008)
In September, 1995, longtime KOMO sports director Bruce King retired from broadcasting the eleven o'clock evening sportscasts, leading the way for Eric Johnson to assume the role of KOMO sports director. In July of 1996, Bruce King retired from KOMO-TV after a career spanning more than 30 years, and in his retirement he named Eric Johnson as the new sports director for all weeknight editions of KOMO News 4.
In his 15 years at KOMO, Eric has been awarded more than 25 Regional Emmy Awards, and in 2007 was given the highest prize in local television news, a National Edward R. Murrow Award for best feature story in the country. His career at KOMO has seen him cover nearly every major sports event in Seattle, and in some cases abroad. He produced an award-winning documentary about a group of American children who traveled to Cuba to play a series of baseball games against Cuban teams. And in 2005 he led coverage of the Seattle Seahawks trip to the Super Bowl. He can frequently be seen reporting live on location wherever the Mariners, Sonics, or Seahawks are playing.
In the second half of 2007, Johnson began anchoring the news for the first time. He took over the reigns of KOMO 4 News at 5 o'clock from longtime news anchor Dan Lewis, when KOMO underwent a broadcast schedule change involving their evening newscast lineup. Lewis and Goertzen remain at the helm of the 6PM and 11PM newscast editions, while Johnson now anchors the half-hour 5PM newscast with Kathi Goertzen.
