Jim Donovan | |
---|---|
Born | James Francis Donovan III July 17, 1956 (age 67) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
Occupation(s) | TV sports anchor TV news anchor NFL radio announcer |
Awards | Three-time Lower Great Lakes Emmy Award winner |
James Francis Donovan III (born July 17, 1956) is an American radio and television personality who serves as sports director and news anchor for WKYC channel 3 (NBC) in Cleveland, Ohio, and has been the radio voice of the Cleveland Browns Radio Network since 1999. [1]
Donovan was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He is a 1978 graduate of Boston University and began his career as a sports director for WJON radio in St. Cloud, Minnesota. From Minnesota, he moved to Vermont, providing play-by-play basketball and hockey coverage for the Satellite News Channel in Burlington, Vermont. He also did play-by-play and sports anchoring at WVMT radio and WEZF-TV.
He also served for one season as play-by-play announcer for the Vermont Reds, a Cincinnati Reds minor league baseball team (which coincidentally is now the Akron RubberDucks, a Cleveland Guardians minor league team). [1]
Following the death of WKYC weeknight sports anchor Jim Graner in 1976, the Channel 3 sports director job became something of a "revolving door," as at least six replacements (among them Don Schroeder, Tom Ryther, Joe Pelligrino, Jim Mueller and Wayland Boot) came and went over the next decade – this was until Donovan, who had joined the station in 1985 as weekend sports anchor, finally took over in 1986. He has held the post ever since. [2]
In 2006, channel 3 and SportsTime Ohio - now known as Bally Sports Great Lakes (BSGL) - acquired the local TV rights to the Cleveland Browns. So in addition to his duties on WKYC, Donovan also hosts several Browns themed programs on BSGL.
On the national level Donovan had called play-by-play for NBC Sports' NFL coverage from 1987 to 1997. He also handled swimming and soccer play-by-play in the 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympics for NBC, and World Cup Soccer in 1994.
In 1999, when the Cleveland Browns returned to the NFL, Donovan was named as radio play-by-play voice of the team.
After WKYC acquired the local, over-the-air television rights to the Cleveland Indians, Donovan served as play-by-play announcer from 2006–2008.
Run William Run! - in reference to William Green 64 yard touchdown run during a Cleveland Browns vs. Atlanta Falcons game in 2002.
Is this how it feels? - when the Browns defeated the New York Jets in Week 3 of the 2018 season, their first victory in 635 days. [3]
Chubba Wubba Hubb! - in reference to Nick Chubbs 92 yard touchdown run during an Atlanta Falcons vs Cleveland Browns game in 2018. [4]
On May 25, 2011, during the 11 pm newscast, Donovan announced he had been battling leukemia for the last ten years, and that he would be taking a leave of absence to undergo a (what would be a successful) bone marrow transplant.
On September 11, 2011, Donovan returned to the Browns broadcasting booth in time for their opener against the Cincinnati Bengals. The next night, he returned to the sports anchor chair at WKYC, as well as his hosting duties on STO. [5]
Donovan met with his bone marrow donor on Thanksgiving night in 2013, when Dallas Gentry from Wise, Virginia, visited the Donovan family. [6]
Donovan announced on May 31, 2023 that his leukemia had relapsed and would be once again undergoing treatment. [7] On September 10, following his broadcast of the opening game of the 2023 season for the Browns, Donovan announced he would step away from announcing Browns games to undergo leukemia treatment. [8]
On January 16, 2012, Donovan expanded his duties at WKYC as he became the anchor of channel 3's 7 p.m. newscast. He continues in his role as sports anchor at 6 and 11 p.m. [9]
Donovan, his wife, and daughter live in Hinckley, Ohio.
WOIO is a television station licensed to Shaker Heights, Ohio, United States, serving the Cleveland area as an affiliate of CBS. It is owned by Gray Television alongside low-power Telemundo affiliate WTCL-LD and Lorain-licensed CW affiliate WUAB, the latter station transmitting over WOIO's full-power spectrum via a channel sharing agreement. WOIO, WUAB and WTCL-LD share studios on the ground floor of the Reserve Square building in Downtown Cleveland, with WOIO and WUAB sharing transmitter facilities at the West Creek Reservation in Parma.
Christopher Rose is an American sportscaster for the NFL Network, and the interim radio play-by-play announcer for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL).
WKYC is a television station in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Tegna Inc. Its studios are located on Tom Beres Way, and its transmitter is located in suburban Parma, Ohio.
WTAM is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, United States, and carries a news/talk and sports radio format commonly known as "Newsradio WTAM 1100". Owned by iHeartMedia, WTAM serves Greater Cleveland and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio, and is a clear-channel station with extended nighttime range. WTAM is also Northeast Ohio's primary entry point station in the Emergency Alert System.
WJW is a television station in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, WJW maintains studios on Dick Goddard Way just northeast of downtown Cleveland near the shore of Lake Erie, and its transmitter is located in the Cleveland suburb of Parma, Ohio.
Jason "Jay" Crawford is an American TV news and sports anchor, who is best known nationally for his time at ESPN. Crawford anchored the live 11 p.m. edition of SportsCenter with Chris McKendry until April 2017. Prior to that, Crawford spent nine years hosting ESPN's morning show Cold Pizza, its successor ESPN First Take, and First Take spinoff 1st and 10. He is currently a news anchor for NBC affiliate WKYC-TV 3 in Cleveland, seen on the station's 5 p.m. newscast since January 2020.
Joseph Tait was an American sports broadcaster who was the play-by-play announcer on radio for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and both TV and radio for the Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball. With the exception of two seasons in the early 1980s and illness during his final season, he was the Cavaliers' radio announcer from the team's inception in 1970 through the 2010–11 season. He won the Basketball Hall of Fame 2010 Curt Gowdy Media Award.
Bruce Drennan is an American sportscaster based in Cleveland, Ohio.
Michael Joseph Reghi is an American television play-by-play announcer and radio sports talk show host. He was the television play-by-play announcer for the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball from 1997 to 2004, as well as the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association from 1993 to 2006. As of 2022, he is the play-by-play television announcer for Akron Zips men's basketball home games carried by ESPN+ and ESPN3. He also calls play-by-play for MAC football on those same networks along with select other games.
Jim Donovan may refer to:
Robert Neal was an American sportscaster who worked primarily in Cleveland, Ohio.
Joseph Albert Finan was an American radio show host.
Gib Shanley was an American sportscaster, most prominently known as sports director for ABC affiliate WEWS-TV, Channel 5 in Cleveland, Ohio, and as the longtime play-by-play announcer for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL).
James R. Graner was the weeknight sports anchor for Cleveland NBC affiliate KYW-TV beginning in 1957. He also served as color commentator for the Cleveland Browns Radio Network, most notably alongside Cleveland sportscaster Gib Shanley.
Andrew David Siciliano is an American sports television anchor, reporter and radio broadcaster. He is the play-by-play announcer for the National Football League's Los Angeles Rams on pre-season games. He was the sole host of NFL Sunday Ticket Red Zone, airing on DirecTV. During the week, he served as a host for NFL Total Access on the NFL Network until he was released by NFL Network in April 2024. He has also hosted coverage of the Olympic Games in 2014 and 2016 for NBC Sports's coverage, mainly for the online-only events network "Gold Zone", which features a format which is equivalent to that of Red Zone.
Jeff Phelps is a Cleveland, Ohio sportscaster who currently works as the television pregame/postgame host for Cleveland Cavaliers telecasts on Fox Sports Ohio, the pregame/postgame host for Cleveland Browns radio broadcasts, and is a midday co-host on WKRK-FM in Cleveland.
Robin Swoboda is an American television news anchor, talk show host, and actress in Cleveland, Ohio, best known for her career on various television and radio stations primarily in Cleveland, as well as hosting national television programs.
The University Hospitals Cleveland Browns Radio Network is an American radio network composed of 24 radio stations which carry English-language coverage of the Cleveland Browns, a professional football team in the National Football League (NFL). Jim Donovan has been the lead announcer since the team's return in 1999, but went on medical leave to undergo treatment for leukemia following the 2023 season opener; various broadcasters, including Chris Rose, Andrew Siciliano and Paul Keels have served as interim play-by-play announcers in his absence. Nathan Zegura serves as commentator and Je'Rod Cherry is the sideline analyst/reporter.
James F. Mueller was an American sportscaster. He was a radio announcer for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) from 1975 to 1995, and was a sports anchor on Cleveland TV newscasts through most of the 1970s and 1980s.