Patrick "Pat" Finn (born July 24, 1956) is an American television presenter and
game show
A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, ...
host. He is the owner of the production company Rubicon Entertainment. Finn's first national gig was hosting the 1990 remake of the classic
Jack Barry show ''
The Joker's Wild
''The Joker's Wild'' is an American television game show that aired at different times between 1972 and 2019. In the show, contestants answer questions based on categories determined randomly by a mechanism resembling a slot machine. The show's ...
''. In 1991, he became host of ''
Shop 'til You Drop
''Shop 'til You Drop'' is an American game show that was on the air intermittently between 1991 and 2005. Four different series were produced during that time, with the first premiering on Lifetime on July 8, 1991, and the fourth series airing it ...
'', the #1 rated cable game show in America at the time, where he remained for 11 years, and from 1999–2009 he became the host of the
California State Lottery's weekly game show, ''
The Big Spin
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
''.
Finn was born in
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Wilkes-Barre ( or ) is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Luzerne County. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. It is the s ...
, the first of five sons also born to William and Celia Mae Finn, who was a Sunday School teacher and a telephone operator. Finn attended
James M. Coughlin High School
James M. Coughlin High School was an urban school located in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. It served grades 9-12 in the Wilkes-Barre Area School District.
History
Established in 1890 as Wilkes-Barre High School, the current school structure was ...
, from which he graduated in 1974. Prior to entering national television, Finn was a local
weatherman, first on
WBRE
WBRE-TV (channel 28) is a television station licensed to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, United States, serving Northeastern Pennsylvania as an affiliate of NBC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which provides certain services to Scranton-licens ...
(Channel 28) in Wilkes-Barre, PA;
WPXI
WPXI (channel 11) is a television station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Cox Media Group. The station's offices and studios are located on Evergreen Road in the Summer Hill neighborhood of Pittsbur ...
(Channel 11) in
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
, where he also served as an entertainment correspondent;
KPNX (Channel 12) in Phoenix; and
KRON
KRON-TV (channel 4) is a television station licensed to San Francisco, California, United States, serving the San Francisco Bay Area as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, KRON-TV maintains studios on Front Street in the c ...
(Channel 4) in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
.
In the mid-1980s, while in Phoenix, Finn also hosted ''Finn and Friends'', a number one-rated local variety show that aired weeknights after the local news.
In the 1990s, Finn formed his own production company, Rubicon Entertainment (formerly InFinnIty Productions). He's since been the creator and Executive Producer of TV shows for
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
,
Lifetime,
MTV,
VH1,
FX,
GSN and Prime Video.
Finn is also Executive Producer of Results Producers, a leading Direct Response production company.
Finn is very active in his church, the Agape International Spiritual Center and has helped raise over $5 million for charities, including his favorite, The US Foundation For the Children of Haiti at
Hope Hospital in
Port-au-Prince.
He was a Forum Leader for Landmark Worldwide and is currently the founder and head coach for Rubicon Results an international peak performance coaching business.
Finn has twin daughters, Sienna Mae and Sofia Rae, born on February 7, 2008. He also has a son Corey (born in 1989) and a daughter Kaitlyn (born in 1993).
References
External links
Results Producers (Pat's company) website*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finn, Pat
1956 births
American game show hosts
Living people
People from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania