Mark Thompson (newscaster)
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Mark Thompson | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Hosting, journalist |
Mark Thompson is an American newscaster and a two-time Emmy award winner for writing, hosting and producing specials for the Fox Broadcasting Company stations.
Television news
In the 1980s, he reported on science and environmental issues for KRON-TV in San Francisco then an NBC affiliate in San Francisco before getting upped to a nightly weather anchor at that station to add to those duties.
He was the on-air nightly weather anchor, science and even lifestyle reporter for KTTV FOX 11 in Los Angeles. Since he started appearing on Channel 13 (the Fox owned sister station of Channel 11 in L.A.) Thompson pioneered Neighborhood Weather where Thompson would read weather forecasts from various cities in the Bay Area, which was then turned into Neighborhood Watch when at KTTV.[1] Thompson was known for dancing during the weather reports on the 11 PM newscasts. Thompson said he did it on a whim but when email reaction was so enormously positive he kept it going. It quickly gained not only a local following but nationwide attention as well. He was featured on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on October 5, 2006 and on Brit Hume's program on Fox News Channel among others. He left both stations as of June 3, 2011. He made no on-air announcements of his future plans as a weather anchor.
He previously served as an on-air weather anchor and science/environmental reporter at KMGH-TV, the ABC affiliate in Denver, Colorado, and worked at WKBW-TV, the ABC affiliate in Buffalo, New York.
Mr. Thompson ended his roughly twenty years on KTTV FOX 11 in Los Angeles on June 3, 2011.
Radio news and talk
Thompson regularly appeared on The Tim Conway Jr. Show on Tuesdays. On February 10, 2014, Thompson and CNN Latino anchor Elizabeth Espinosa began hosting an early afternoon weekday talk program on KFI in Los Angeles. The program was cancelled October 9, 2015.[2] Thompson then transitioned as Conway's permanent news anchor and sidekick, and also occasionally does reporting for KFI and the other stations in the iHeartMedia Los Angeles group.
Television hosting and announcing
No stranger to live TV, Mark Thompson is a regular hosting television shows of high drama and even life and death.
Mark has hosted high-profile "event" shows like Celebrity Daredevils Live (FOX) with Dennis Rodman and Angie Everhart, all the Robbie Knievel jumps since 1990 (building to building in Las Vegas, over a portion of the Grand Canyon, and over an oncoming train). He even was hosting a live Knievel jump during which the weather prevented the jump and Thompson was asked to "fill" for the entire hour. There was no jump and the show registered a 25 share.
New Year's Eve viewers know Mark as a regular New Year's Eve host for FOX Television as well. In those shows he has presided over everything from building implosions to musical acts.
Then with a different kind of drama and a bit of glamour, Mark Thompson hosted the "red carpet" arrival show for the most recent Emmy Awards on Fox Television (Sept. 2011). It was his second time hosting an Emmy red carpet show.
Mark also hosted Hole in the Wall along with Brooke Burns for Fremantle Television. The show aired on Fox during 2008-2009.
For three successful seasons Mark hosted Guinness World Records Primetime on the Fox network and those familiar with the genre will remember him as the host of When Good Pets Go Bad and the voice of many of the edgy Fox primetime reality shows at the time.
Thompson was the host of the weekly entertainment program That's So Hollywood and was one of the primary fill-in hosts on Good Day L.A., Fox's highest rated Los Angeles morning show.
Career as a producer
Mark Thompson was formerly a creative partner in NEXT entertainment with Mike Fleiss. Together they were responsible for a number of successful specials for Fox and Mark was the first person to pitch The Bachelor to ABC, though he credits Fleiss, with the idea itself.
Currently he is managing partner in Santa Maris Entertainment.
Other work
Thompson has been seen as a reporter, an anchorman and even a moderator of presidential debates in feature films like Set It Off, The Day After Tomorrow and The American President to television shows like 24 and Ghost Whisperer.
Thompson has been one of the leading voices in reality television as his voice-overs were heard in the earliest days of reality TV and are still heard on shows like American Idol, Paradise Hotel and Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? to The Simple Life, and Don't Forget the Lyrics. He was also the announcer on former Fox game shows Greed and It's Your Chance of a Lifetime.
Thompson is also the musical vocalist for the So You Think You Can Dance television show theme song for all versions of the show worldwide, and he is also the announcer for the US version of the show.
As of December, Thompson is the narrator on Conspiracy Theory on TruTV as well as Top 20 and Most Daring on TruTV. Also he can be heard narrating for TruTV's Most Shocking Videos. At times on holiday weekends, these shows are shown in a mini-marathon session. Thompson is also a regular guest panelist on The Young Turks.
Personal
He is a native of Washington, D.C., graduated from Colgate University. He also studied at Oxford University in the United Kingdom.
Thompson is a regular on the charity and fundraising circuit. He is an active supporter of many philanthropic enterprises with a concentration in the areas of advocacy for animals, education and environmental charities.
References
- ^ Mark Thompson pioneered Neighborhood Weather where Thompson would read weather forecasts from various cities in the Bay Area.
- ^ http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/146522/kfi-los-angeles-changes-thompson-and-espinosa-exit