NBC4/KNBC is pleased to celebrate legendary sports anchor Fred Roggin on his 40th year with the station. His anniversary coincides with the new season premiere of his popular live post-game football show, “The Challenge,” on Sunday, September 13 following Sunday Night Football.
With four decades of local and national sports coverage, countless memorable interviews with sports legends, unique humor and satire reporting, and national Olympics coverage, Roggin’s extraordinary career has become a model which many sportscasters emulate today. He has enjoyed decades of success with the longest-running news anchor teams in the industry alongside co-anchors Colleen Williams and Chuck Henry and retired weathercaster Fritz Coleman.
“Life is luck and timing. I’m the luckiest guy in the world. Lucky to be at a place that has allowed me to be creative and create many different things," said Roggin. "The timing has always been perfect because I’m blessed to be on the best and most encouraging team in local TV.”
As the leading sports anchor in Southern California, he has earned more than 30 L.A. Emmy Awards, 22 Golden Mike Awards, three prestigious Associated Press Awards and numerous Los Angeles Press Club awards for his reports, specials and series.
Roggin was bestowed the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Radio and Television News Association of Southern California in 2020 and inducted into the California Sports Hall of Fame in 2019 and the Southern California Sports Broadcaster’s Hall of Fame in 2014. He also earned the prestigious Joseph M. Quinn Award for Lifetime Achievement from The Los Angeles Press Club in 2013. This year, TheAthletic.com ranked Roggin among the top 25 most iconic sportscasters in Los Angeles history -- in good company alongside Vin Scully, Chick Hearn and Dick Enberg.
“There’s no one in this industry like Fred Roggin, and NBC4 has been lucky to have him on the team for 40 years and counting,” said Steve Carlston, President and General Manager of NBC4. “He’s been L.A.’s good luck charm for decades and is synonymous with L.A. sports.”
Roggin is the sports anchor of NBC4’s weeknight sportscasts and creator/host of ‘Going Roggin,’ a weekly 30-minute sports commentary program that is in its seventh season. He’s also the creator/host of the aforementioned “The Challenge” with co-host Petros Papadakis. In addition, Roggin also has his own radio show on The Dodgers radio station AM 570 with co-host and former NFL athlete Rodney Peete.
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Roggin is one of very few local sportscasters nationwide who also works for the NBC Network during the Olympic Games. He has been a network host and reporter for every Game since 1984, including in Los Angeles, London, Vancouver, Beijing, Athens, Turin, Sydney, and Salt Lake, to name a few.
“It’s a pleasure to watch Fred work his magic in every newscast and shepherd two successful sports shows year after year, he’s a true professional,” added Renee Washington, Vice President of News at NBC4. “Can’t wait to see what he does next as we forge ahead together.”
Roggin joined NBC4 in 1980 as the weekend sports anchor and weekday reporter, and by 1986, he became the station's primary sports anchor and reporter. He expanded his role in 1985 when he created and became host and executive producer of “Sunday Night Sports.”
His signature “Roggin’s Heroes” and its Hall of Shame segments, highlighting remarkable plays in the world of sports, was a successful nationally syndicated show in the 1990s and continues today in newscasts, spotlighting high school athletes.
Roggin began his broadcasting career in 1976 as a sports anchor, reporter and play-by-play announcer for KIKO Radio in Globe, Arizona. In 1977, he became the sports anchor for KBLU Radio and KYEL-TV in Yuma, Arizona. The next year, he went to KVUE-TV in Austin, Texas, and that same year moved to Phoenix to become the sports anchor at KPNX-TV.
Originally from Detroit, Roggin was raised in Phoenix and attended Phoenix College, where he studied broadcasting.
Tune in to NBC4 on Wednesday, September 16 during all newscasts to salute Roggin’s achievements, and visit nbcla.com/community to watch an extended video on his life and work.
