Tony Parsons (born 1939) is a Canadian broadcaster whose career has spanned more than 50 years, and he has anchored the second most-watched local evening Television newscast in North America, the ''News Hour'' on

Global BC CHAN-DT (channel 8), branded on-air as Global BC (formerly British Columbia Television or BCTV), is a television station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, serving as the West Coast flagship of the Global Television Network. Owned and ope ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. He was the co-anchor of '' CBC News: Vancouver'' on

CBUT-DT CBUT-DT (channel 2) is a television station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, serving as the West Coast flagship of CBC Television. It is part of a twinstick with Ici Radio-Canada Télé station CBUFT-DT (channel 26). Both stations sh ...

with

Gloria Macarenko Gloria Macarenko, is a Canadian television and radio journalist. From 1989 until 2014, she was the longtime host or co-host of CBC Vancouver's supper-hour television newscast at 5:00 or 6:00. She later hosted the CBC Radio One local program '' B ...

, and the 10 PM newscast on

CHEK-DT CHEK-DT (channel 6) is an independent television station in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, serving Vancouver Island and Greater Vancouver. The station is owned by the CHEK Media Group, a consortium made up of station employees and local inv ...

. Parsons' father was a flight-lieutenant in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

. His mother was of Italian descent. His family immigrated to Canada from England in 1948, settling in Feversham, Ontario. After a year studying radio and television arts at the Ryerson Institute in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, he looked for work at Ontario radio stations and eventually shortened his name from Parsonage to Tony Parsons. His first broadcasting job was as a country and western DJ at CJCS in Stratford,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

. He worked at various radio jobs in Stratford,

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...

, and

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

, before landing in

. After a brief stint with CHUM radio, he took his first television job as a reporter at

CFTO-TV CFTO-DT (channel 9) is a television station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, serving as the flagship station of the CTV Television Network. It is owned and operated by network parent Bell Media alongside Barrie-based CTV 2 outlet CKVR-DT, channel 3 ...

, a CTV affiliate. Parsons advanced to become the late evening anchor at CFTO until 1975, when he accepted the opportunity to fill the 6:00 anchor spot on CHAN-TV (better known as BCTV) in

, where he remained for more than 30 years. He was also the anchor of the national edition of ''

Canada Tonight ''Canada Tonight'' is a Canadian television newscast which aired on stations owned by Western International Communications (WIC) from 1993 to 2001. It was produced out of the studio of CHAN-TV (BCTV) in Burnaby, British Columbia. There were two ...

,'' a CHAN-produced newscast which aired outside of BC on stations owned by

Western International Communications WIC Western International Communications Ltd. (or WIC) was a Canadian media company that operated from 1982 to 2000, with operations including broadcast and specialty television, radio, and satellite distribution via a majority interest in Can ...

until that company was acquired by the Global Television Network. (

Bill Good Bill Good Jr. (born 1945) is a Canadian television personality and host of talk radio shows, all in the province of British Columbia. After 21 years with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, first doing radio before moving to Television news, ...

anchored the BC version seen on BCTV.) In 2004, his career achievements were recognized by his being awarded the

Bruce Hutchison William Bruce Hutchison, (5 June 1901– 14 September 1992) was a Canadian writer and journalist. Born in Prescott, Ontario, Canada, Hutchison was educated in public schools in Victoria, British Columbia. He married Dorothy Kidd McDiarmid ...

Lifetime Achievement Award by the Jack Webster Foundation. Parsons had a cameo in the 2001 film ''

Saving Silverman ''Saving Silverman'' (internationally titled ''Evil Woman'') is a 2001 American comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan and starring Jason Biggs, Steve Zahn, Jack Black and Amanda Peet. Neil Diamond has a cameo role playing himself. In the film, Da ...

'' (also known as ''Evil Woman'') as a TV anchor. The same year he appeared, once again as a news anchor, in the

Jack Nicholson John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. In many of his films, he played rebels against the social structure. He received numerous ...

film ''The Pledge''. In 2002, Parsons was named Italo-Canadian of the year by the Confratellanza Italo-Canadese. In May 2007, Parsons announced his intention to phase himself out of the anchor chair at the ''News Hour'', with plans to work Tuesdays and Wednesdays until the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gret ...

, after which he had stated his intention to retire and make documentaries. However, on December 16, 2009, Parsons anchored his final newscast at

after 35 years as anchor of the ''News Hour''. A day earlier he had confirmed his rather sudden departure in an email to radio station

CKNW CKNW is a news/ talk formatted radio station in Vancouver, British Columbia, owned by Corus Entertainment. It broadcasts on an assigned frequency of AM 980 kHz, and is unusual in that it is a 50,000-watt, Class A station broadcasting on a regi ...

. It had been expected that he would remain until after the Olympics, but for unknown reasons, Parsons left the station much earlier than expected. He was replaced by Chris Gailus. Parsons went to

CHEK-TV CHEK-DT (channel 6) is an independent television station in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, serving Vancouver Island and Greater Vancouver. The station is owned by the CHEK Media Group, a consortium made up of station employees and local in ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

to anchor the 10 pm newscast starting on March 15. On April 12, 2010, it was announced that Parsons would co-anchor CBUT's evening newscast, ''CBC News: Vancouver'', replacing co-anchor

Ian Hanomansing Ian Harvey Hanomansing is a Canadian television journalist with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)."Hanomansing's future is anchored in star potential: Pacific Rim host could be next Mansbridge". ''Vancouver Sun'', June 16, 1997. He form ...

who left to work as a reporter and substitute anchor for '' CBC News: The National''. Parsons would continue to host the 10 PM newscast for CHEK-TV. After his CBC evening broadcast, he would fly to Victoria (where he also resides with his wife), often by helicopter, to anchor the 10 pm news on CHEK-TV. On December 20, 2013, Parsons retired as co-anchor on '' CBC News: Vancouver''. Parsons has written a book on his journalistic career, called ''A Life in the News''. On November 23, 2009, he opened a Vancouver restaurant, the ''Poor Italian'' in which he has a part-ownership stake.Restaurant Review. Poor Italian. Globe & Mail. Retrieved Sept 3,2010
/ref>

References

External links

In-depth audio interview on memoir
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parsons, Tony Living people 1939 births Canadian television news anchors People from Gosport People from Grey County Toronto Metropolitan University alumni English emigrants to Canada Canadian people of Italian descent English people of Italian descent Bruce Hutchison Lifetime Achievement Award winners