TV: Sports anchor Radnich retiring from KRON
Gary Radnich, one of the Bay Area’s most visible and enduring sports broadcasters, announced his retirement Tuesday from KRON-TV.
Radnich, also a sports-talk radio host at KNBR since 1992, will continue in his role at that station. He and Larry Krueger host a daily show airing from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Radnich, 68, told The Chronicle he plans to stay on the radio “until people are tired of listening.”
“It’s a younger, more funloving audience,” he said of his KNBR listeners. “On TV, you’re talking to Marge in Pleasant Hill. The big questions I got in recent years were, ‘Why are you insulting the anchors?’ and ‘Why aren’t you wearing a tie?’ ”
Radnich, who joined KRON in February 1985, plans to remain with the TV station through August.
His sometimes flippant, off-the-cuff style did not always endear him to viewers (or listeners). But Radnich was difficult to ignore, which helps explain his uncommon longevity of 33-plus years on local television.
KRON was the Bay Area’s NBC affiliate for much of Radnich’s
time there, and that gave him the platform to interview athletes and local sports personalities. He and colleague Pete Liebengood co-hosted the successful “Sports Final” show on Sunday nights (and Radnich then hosted by himself ), before ESPN’s “SportsCenter” became wildly popular.
The formula changed in recent years, without the NBC ties, so Radnich spent more time riffing on sports.
“That’s what I’m most proud of — we had absolutely no sports on the station for the last 17 years, and I was able to keep rolling,” he said.
Asked why his style worked in the Bay Area market, Radnich recalled this advice he once received: “If people who don’t like sports like you, then you’ll make it.”
“I could kind of wing it,” he said. “Never insult the sports fans, but make sure the people who don’t like sports like you.”
Radnich announced the news of his KRON retirement earlier Tuesday on Twitter, writing in part, “It’s time .... after 34 years of unprecedented fun and freedom time to retire from KRON.”
Radnich grew up in San Jose, where he was a standout basketball player at Branham High. He also worked at television stations in Las Vegas, Sacramento and Columbus, Ohio.
As for Radnich focusing on his radio gig, KNBR program director Jeremiah Crowe said, “Gary is one of the cornerstones of the station, so we’re glad he’s sticking around.”