Frank Somerville (born March 19, 1958) is an American television

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

. During his three decades at KTVU in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the ...

, Somerville received three

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

, including one for best on-camera news anchor.

Early life and education

Somerville was born on March 19, 1958, in

San Luis Obispo, California San Luis Obispo (; Spanish for " St. Louis the Bishop", ; Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, in the U.S. state of California. Located on the Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly hal ...

, but was raised in Berkeley. He was named after his father's childhood friend, Frank Patty, and his paternal grandfather, William Somerville. He attended Berkeley High School, graduating in 1976. He then attended

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different ...

Broadcast career

Somerville was an intern at KTVU in 1981, while attending San Francisco State. After graduation he worked at local stations in

Santa Rosa, California Santa Rosa ( Spanish for " Saint Rose") is a city and the county seat of Sonoma County, in the North Bay region of the Bay Area in California. Its estimated 2019 population was 178,127. It is the largest city in California's Wine Country and ...

;

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origi ...

; and

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...

, before returning to the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area G ...

. He became co-anchor of KTVU's morning news program in 1992 and was the first anchor of the 5 p.m. newscast when it launched in 2005. In 2008, he was named co-anchor of the 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts, replacing 40-year veteran Dennis Richmond. In 2013, Somerville apologized on behalf of KTVU for an incident in which racist pilot names were read out in a broadcast on

Asiana Airlines Flight 214 Asiana Airlines Flight 214 was a scheduled transpacific passenger flight originating from Incheon International Airport near Seoul, South Korea. On the morning of July 6, 2013, the Boeing 777-200ER operating the flight stalled and crashed on ...

. In June 2021, Somerville took a personal leave of absence from KTVU following an on-air incident during which he struggled to read the script for several stories and appeared to slur his words. He returned to the anchor chair on August 4 without addressing the incident that saw his brief departure. In September 2021, he was suspended for disobedience after seeking to keep a "tag" concerning

domestic violence Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for '' intimate partn ...

and "

missing white woman syndrome Missing white woman syndrome is a term which is used by social scientists and media commentators in reference to the media coverage, especially on television, of missing-person cases involving young, attractive, white, upper middle class women ...

" in a story on the Gabby Petito case. In November 2021, he said in an interview with the

Bay Area News Group Bay Area News Group (BANG) is the largest publisher of daily and weekly newspapers in the San Francisco Bay Area, including its flagship ''The Mercury News''. A subsidiary of the Denver-based MediaNews Group, its corporate headquarters is in San ...

that KTVU had not contacted him and that "All indications are that I’m never going to anchor at Channel 2 again." On December 30, 2021, Somerville was arrested on suspicion of

driving under the influence Driving under the influence (DUI)—also called driving while impaired, impaired driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating vehicle under the infl ...

after an automobile collision. Somerville's suspension from KTVU would become permanent in January 2022 when his contract expired and KTVU would decide not to re-sign him. He believes that his automotive collision that happened the month before did not play a role, instead, he believes management had already decided to cut him loose months earlier. In December 2022, Somerville went public about his dismissal from the station on a Facebook post.

Personal life

Somerville was married to television producer Donna Wright Somerville for more than 20 years; the couple has two daughters. A picture of him styling his Black, adopted daughter's hair went viral on the Internet. Somerville has been a vegetarian since the age of 12. He works out and practices the

Israeli Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli (b ...

martial art Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preserv ...

Krav Maga Krav Maga ( ; , ; ) is an Israeli martial art. Developed for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), it is derived from a combination of techniques used in aikido, judo, karate, boxing, and wrestling. It is known for its focus on real-world situation ...

References

External links

KTVU Channel-2 official web site
and link to hi
KTVU mini-biography

Facebook page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Somerville, Frank Television news anchors from California American television reporters and correspondents Journalists from Oakland, California San Francisco State University alumni Berkeley High School (Berkeley, California) alumni People from San Luis Obispo, California 1958 births Living people

Early life and education

Broadcast career

Personal life

See also

References

External links