Jon Kelley (born August 5, 1965) is an American sports journalist, author, producer, and television personality. Born and raised in

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United Sta ...

, Kelley played four seasons as a running back for the University of Nebraska before graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in

broadcast journalism Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are broadcast by electronic methods instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. It works on radio (via air, cable, and Internet), television (via air, cable, ...

. He signed as a free agent with the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

in 1988 before embarking on a broadcasting career. He served as the host of the fifth season of

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's reality television show '' The Mole''.

Television work

Chicago sports anchor

During his eight years in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Kelley was widely regarded as one of the region's top sports anchors and directors, covering the World Championship

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January ...

in all six of the team's title seasons. In addition to his nightly sportscasts, Kelley hosted the number one rated "Sports Sunday," WMAQ-TV's half-hour, expanded sports highlights program. There he shared the anchor desk with some of the city's most dynamic sports and entertainment personalities, including NBA star

Dennis Rodman Dennis Keith Rodman (born May 13, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player. Known for his fierce defensive and rebounding abilities, his biography on the official NBA website states that he is "arguably the best reboundin ...

and "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno among others. Kelley joined WMAQ-TV as a sports reporter and weekend anchor in April 1991.

WMAQ-TV

While at WMAQ-TV, Kelley was part of a sports team that earned such prestigious awards as the Chicago/Midwest Emmy award for producing and anchoring his hour-long special highlighting the Chicago Bulls' quest for a fifth championship. Kelley also received the Peter Lisagor Award for Sports Journalism and an Illinois Broadcasters Association Silver Dome Award for Best Sportscast.

Early broadcast career

During his early years in broadcasting, Kelley did stints as a sports reporter and weekend sports anchor at WDAF-TV, Channel 4, the Fox affiliate in Kansas City, Missouri, and worked as a news reporter at KMTV-TV in Omaha, Nebraska. He began his career as a weekend sports anchor and reporter at KTIV-TV in Sioux City, Iowa.

Fox Sports Network

Kelley served as the main anchor for the Fox Sports Network's "The National Sports Report," and the lead anchor for the weekly series "Baseball Today."

Extra

Kelley co-hosted " Extra's" one-hour weekend edition and was the show's primary correspondent from 2001 through 2007.

ABC and The Mole

Kelley co-hosted ABC's "Holiday with the Stars" and ABC's "All-Star Tribute to Movies" on Oscar Sunday. His diverse broadcast career has spanned over 15 years in news, sports, and entertainment. He hosted the summer 2008 revival of the reality TV series '' The Mole'', the show previously hosted by Anderson Cooper and Ahmad Rashad.

KNTV-TV

On July 8, 2011, it was announced that Kelley would join the NBC affiliate in San Francisco as co-anchor of the morning show.

WFLD

In November 2013, Kelley left San Francisco and returned to Chicago to join the

FOX Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

owned and operated station in Chicago to co-anchor ''Good Day Chicago''.

Entertainment Studios

In June 2016, Kelley teamed up with media mogul

Byron Allen Byron Allen Folks (born April 22, 1961) is the founder of the U.S. entertainment company Entertainment Studios which includes The Weather Channel. He is also a television producer, philanthropist, and comedian in his younger years. Notable s ...

, joining Allen's

Entertainment Studios Entertainment Studios, Inc., also known as Allen Media Group, is an American media and entertainment company based in Los Angeles. Owned and founded in 1993 by businessman Byron Allen, the company was initially involved in the production and ...

. Kelley assumes hosting and producing duties on several of Allen's television properties, including the revival of the late 1960s game show '' Funny You Should Ask'', launching in syndication in the fall of 2017; the celebrity interview series ''

Entertainers Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousand ...

'' and the sports profile series ''

The American Athlete ''The American Athlete'' is an American sports and interview television series created, owned, and previously hosted by Byron Allen. The series aired its first episode on June 1, 1996. It is filmed primarily at the Entertainment Studios Culver Cit ...

''. Additionally, Kelley takes on a role with Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures, working with Freestyle Releasing, acquired by Allen in 2015. Kelley also produces content for Entertainment Studios’ video news platform, TheGrio.com.

Writings

Kelley is the co-author of the book "Breaking Into Broadcasting," a guide to landing one's first (or next) on-air job in television.

References

External links

"The Mole" Page on ABC.com (Official)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelley, Jon 1965 births American television reporters and correspondents African-American players of American football American football running backs Denver Broncos players American game show hosts Living people Writers from Lincoln, Nebraska American sports announcers Participants in American reality television series African-American game show hosts 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople