Al Meltzer (June 26, 1928June 12, 2018), nicknamed "Big Al", was an American sportscaster. Born in Syracuse, New York, Meltzer worked for Channel 10 and Channel 3 in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, and

Comcast SportsNet NBC Sports Regional Networks is the collective name for a group of regional sports networks in the United States that are primarily owned and operated by the NBCUniversal division of the cable television company Comcast. The networks were origin ...

(as sports director). He also worked for WPHL-17 where he called play-by-play of

Big 5 Big Five may refer to: Animals * the Big Five, large African wild animals said to be most difficult to hunt: lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant and Cape buffalo * Big Five animals of the Kaziranga National Park, Assam, India: Indian rhinocero ...

and

76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Ea ...

basketball. He has also covered the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

, Philadelphia Phillies, and

Temple Owls The Temple Owls are the athletic teams that represent Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The current athletic director is Arthur Johnson. The owl has been the symbol and mascot for Temple University since its founding in the 1 ...

. Previously, he worked in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

WEBR WEBR (1440 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station. Licensed to Niagara Falls, New York, United States, the station serves the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area from studios in Buffalo. The station is currently owned by William Yuhnke, ...

. He is a member of the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, Big 5 Hall of Fame, the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame and Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia Hall of Fame. During the 1970s, Meltzer, while still living in Philadelphia, commuted to Buffalo to serve as the

Buffalo Bills Radio Network The Buffalo Bills Radio Network is a broadcast radio network based in Buffalo, New York. Its primary programming is broadcasts of Buffalo Bills home and away games to a network of 24 stations in upstate New York, the Northwestern and Northern Ti ...

play-by-play announcer, serving on a team with Rick Azar and Ed Rutkowski. He died at the age of 89 on June 12, 2018.Philadelphia sports broadcasting icon Al Meltzer dies at 89
NBC Sports Philadelphia, June 14, 2018 Meltzer occasionally did voice-over work for

NFL Films NFL Productions, LLC, doing business as NFL Films, is the film and television production company of the National Football League. It produces commercials, television programs, feature films, and documentaries for and about the NFL, as well as ...

and was a substitute host for NFL Films' weekly wrapup, ''This Week in Pro Football ''(''This Week in the NFL ''starting in 1974).

References

1928 births 2018 deaths People from Newtown Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania Television personalities from Syracuse, New York St. Lawrence University alumni American Jews American television sports announcers American radio sports announcers Buffalo Bills announcers College football announcers College basketball announcers in the United States Major League Baseball broadcasters National Basketball Association broadcasters National Football League announcers Philadelphia 76ers announcers Philadelphia Phillies announcers North American Soccer League (1968–1984) commentators {{US-radio-bio-stub