Roger Thompson

[AJClementeFan69 477]

Has he retired/semi-retired? You look at his NMSA listings...and the only station it looks like he's currently heard on anymore is KUSA.

 

(WBMA replaced him with Ratner, WJLA with Steve Stone and KRDO with Al Vanik[!])

[Samantha 2906]

I'm sure he's been slowly retiring, but you might want to see this, too... I don't think any of us had an idea!

 

https://www.abqjournal.com/901312/recognizing-2.html

 

(Yes, he served in Vietnam and apparently was a radio announcer there. He also lives in ABQ, so that's gotta be him.)

[CircleSeven 1963]

My theory is they're dropped him so stations (like WJLA/WBMA, since they're now Sinclair stations) can save money. Otherwise they probably would've kept him.

[C Block 1574]

Yes, he's still on KUSA. The voiceover in the open was changed to simply "This is 9News" when this batch of graphics debuted, though the 6pm and 10pm shows use no voiceover. I think he reads the closed captioning plugs which change regularly, so he must still do work for them.

 

Edit: He does not do the closed captioning anymore. Just the open and I think occasionally some promos.

[AJClementeFan69 477]

Retiring or not, he still sounds sharp in his more recent work.

[AJClementeFan69 477]

My theory is they're dropped him so stations (like WJLA/WBMA, since they're now Sinclair stations) can save money. Otherwise they probably would've kept him.

 

I doubt Bill Ratner is cheap though...

[Jess 1115]

Retiring or not, he still sounds sharp in his more recent work.

Completely disagree. In Charles' YouTube post he included a promo voiced by Thompson

[ToriElectra 292]

Completely disagree. In Charles' YouTube post he included a promo voiced by Thompson

Just like what happened to Jeff Kaye.... his final set of opens for Action News were so dire, they got pulled off in a week, I think (fastest PVI has backtracked on something since the MCTYW revamp of 96).

[TSSZNews 1053]

Completely disagree. In Charles' YouTube post he included a promo voiced by Thompson

 

I'm willing to chalk that promo up to bad producer direction rather than Roger's voice going. They probably wanted something "somber" given the story content and I don't think Roger's is particularly good at that style to begin with.

[Rusty Muck 4426]

Completely disagree. In Charles' YouTube post he included a promo voiced by Thompson

Just like what happened to Jeff Kaye.... his final set of opens for Action News were so dire, they got pulled off in a week, I think (fastest PVI has backtracked on something since the MCTYW revamp of 96).

It's starting to happen to Charlie Van Dyke, too, and that saddens me.

[24994J 5667]

It's starting to happen to Charlie Van Dyke, too, and that saddens me.

Yeah, his voice is just barely holding on. Next set of opens for any of his clients could be interesting. Makes me feel lucky that my ABC-owned station opted for Bill Ratner instead of Van Dyke. Of the voiceover artists of a certain age and era, I think Ratner's held up well (

versus

, for comparison).

[AJClementeFan69 477]

Completely disagree. In Charles' YouTube post he included a promo voiced by Thompson

 

Roger doesn't sound that bad...especially when you compare him to Charlie Van Dyke...whose voice has, unfortunately, turned into more of a growl (see above -- and this)

 

[NewsMaster 226]

I agree about Charlie Van Dyke. It's sad but KPNX needs to dump him. They did promos with Jeff Laurence and Harry Schultz recently, but CVD still does most of the VO's for 12.

[TheRolyPoly 2652]

I agree about Charlie Van Dyke. It's sad but KPNX needs to dump him. They did promos with Jeff Laurence and Harry Schultz recently, but CVD still does most of the VO's for 12.

 

Unfortunately, CVD is, dubbed unofficially by me, "The Voice of KPNX." He's been their VO for a long time and according to NMSA, it's since the "Hello News" days.

[Samantha 2906]

Unfortunately, CVD is, dubbed unofficially by me, "The Voice of KPNX." He's been their VO for a long time and according to NMSA, it's since the "Hello News" days.

 

You might be surprised to learn, as I would have been years ago, that there was a five-year gap (1992-97) in that run.

 

A female voiceover was used by KPNX in that time...

 

 

And then there's this...

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id=3AXJTHMQEjE;t=464

[ctmajka 115]

...Makes me feel lucky that my ABC-owned station opted for Bill Ratner instead of Van Dyke. Of the voiceover artists of a certain age and era, I think Ratner's held up well.

 

Another one who's held up equally as well is Beau Weaver. Had WLS gone with anyone else, I would have loved to see them use him.

 

Is there any new-school voiceover artists that come to mind that could even come close to fill Van Dyke's shoes?

[CircleSeven 1963]

Another one who's held up equally as well is Beau Weaver. Had WLS gone with anyone else, I would have loved to see them use him.

 

Is there any new-school voiceover artists that come to mind that could even come close to fill Van Dyke's shoes?

 

Beau Weaver has been used a few times in this market, including twice at WFLD. Never was a fan of Paul Turner, don't know why 32 picked him. But he was "alright" at WSVN. Wished we had Scott Chapin back, since he's back doing VOs for WSVN. But he's probably not doing the heavy load he had before his sabbatical.

[oklahomanewsman 210]

Thompson was a V/O guy for 2 Hearst stations (KOCO in Oklahoma City and WISN in Milwaukee) I know KOCO dumped Thompson for Chris Corley (Who does V/O work for KCNC BTW) and then dumped Corley for Paul Turne, Turner was a pretty good V/O guy for KOCO, I wish KOCO would've kept him when KOCO went to the current Hearst graphics in 2013, just my opinion.

[Conrad 113]

Thompson was a V/O guy for 2 Hearst stations (KOCO in Oklahoma City and WISN in Milwaukee) I know KOCO dumped Thompson for Chris Corley (Who does V/O work for KCNC BTW) and then dumped Corley for Paul Turne, Turner was a pretty good V/O guy for KOCO, I wish KOCO would've kept him when KOCO went to the current Hearst graphics in 2013, just my opinion.

A third Hearst station, WAPT in Jackson, used Thompson. However, WAPT dumped him for Eric Gordon in 2008. Speaking of KOCO, their current voiceover, Steve Stone, replaced Turner in 2013. You might already know that, but this is only for the sake of completion.