Ron Magers (born August 27, 1944) is a former American news anchor. Magers worked for

WLS-TV WLS-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, airing programming from the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station maintains studios on North State S ...

, the

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 ...

owned-and-operated station In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an affiliate ...

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

, where he co-anchored the top-rated 5:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. broadcasts with

Cheryl Burton Cheryl Annette Burton (born December 25, 1962) is an American news anchor who has been working for WLS–TV, an American Broadcasting Company-owned and operated television station in Chicago, Illinois since 1992. Burton anchors the station's 5 p.m ...

and

Kathy Brock Kathy Brock (born July 24, 1959) is a former news anchor at WLS-TV, Chicago, Illinois, Chicago's American Broadcasting Company, ABC affiliate. She was a co-anchor of the station's 6 pm and 10 pm news broadcasts alongside Alan Krashesky. Personal ...

, respectively. Magers is the brother of

Paul Magers Paul Magers (born May 15, 1954) is a former American news anchor and reporter, most recently at KCBS-TV in Los Angeles, California. Magers was born in Santa Maria, California and spent the majority of his childhood in Ellensburg, Washington. He ea ...

, a former television anchor and reporter for

KCBS-TV KCBS-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside independent outl ...

, the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Early life and career

Born in

San Bernardino, California San Bernardino (; Spanish for "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 cen ...

, Magers grew up in

Cordova, Alaska Cordova ( ) is a city in Chugach Census Area, Alaska, United States. It lies near the mouth of the Copper River, at the head of Orca Inlet on the east side of Prince William Sound. The population was 2,609 at the 2020 census, up from 2,239 in ...

and

Ellensburg, Washington Ellensburg is a city in and the county seat of Kittitas County, Washington, United States. It is located just east of the Cascade Range near the junction of Interstate 90 and Interstate 82 Interstate 82 (I-82) is an Interstate Highway in th ...

. Magers gained early broadcasting experience as a high school student in

Toppenish, Washington Toppenish () is a city in Yakima County, Washington. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 8,854. It is located within the Yakama Indian Reservation, established in 1855. Toppenish calls itself the city of Murals, as it has more than 75 ...

, when he began to host radio shows as a part-time job. He began his professional career in television in 1965, when he joined

KEZI-TV Kezi may refer to: * Kezi, Iran * Kezi, Zimbabwe See also * KEZI Kezi may refer to: * Kezi, Iran * Kezi, Zimbabwe See also * KEZI Kezi may refer to: * Kezi, Iran * Kezi, Zimbabwe Khezi is a village in Matobo District, Matabeleland South provin ...

in Eugene,

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

as a reporter and news contributor. He later produced and anchored the 11 p.m. newscast at

KGW-TV KGW (channel 8) is a television station in Portland, Oregon, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Tegna Inc. The station's studios are located on Jefferson Street in southwestern Portland, and its transmitter is located in the city' ...

in Portland, Ore. (1967–68). From 1968-74, Magers worked as a reporter and anchor at

KPIX-TV KPIX-TV (channel 5) is a television station licensed to San Francisco, California, United States, serving as the San Francisco Bay Area's CBS network outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside CW ...

in San Francisco, Calif. He also hosted a Group W 30 minute weekly the nationally syndicated program in 1971 titled, "Ron Magers Electric Impressions".

Minneapolis – Saint Paul

After moving to

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, Magers was hired as the principal anchor for

KSTP-TV KSTP-TV (channel 5) is a television station licensed to Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, serving the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities area as an affiliate of American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It is the Flagship (broadcasting), flagsh ...

, the

(formerly

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

) affiliate in

Minneapolis – Saint Paul 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 origins ...

from 1974 to 1981. He was later joined by co-anchor

Cyndy Brucato Cyndy Brucato (born August 13, 1951) is a journalist, public relations consultant and former longtime Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota, news anchor. She was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, and was educated there through graduate school at ...

. This popular anchor team led the top-rated Twin Cities newscasts at that time.

Chicago

From 1981 to 1997, Magers co-anchored the 5, 6, and 10 p.m. newscasts of

WMAQ-TV WMAQ-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, airing programming from the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Telemundo outlet WSNS-TV (chan ...

. Magers and then co-anchor

Carol Marin Carol Marin (pronounced "''marine''") (born October 10, 1948) is a television and print journalist based in Chicago, Illinois. Career Marin began her journalism career in 1972 at WBIR-TV in Knoxville, Tennessee working as a reporter, anchor, and ...

made national headlines in early May 1997 when they left Channel 5. The decision to leave was in protest of the station's hiring of

Jerry Springer Gerald Norman Springer (born February 13, 1944) is a British-American broadcaster, journalist, actor, producer, former lawyer, and politician. He hosted the tabloid talk show ''Jerry Springer'' between September 30, 1991 and July 26, 2018, an ...

as commentator for the 10:00 p.m. newscasts. WMAQ management allowed both anchors an early release from their contracts. Both thought that the addition of Springer would have given the broadcast an unnecessary tabloid feel. Springer only made two commentaries before he too left his position as contributor. Magers joined WLS in 1998 as a 5:00 p.m. anchor alongside

Diann Burns Diann Burns (born September 29, 1958 in Cleveland, Ohio) is a former television news anchor and a nine-time Emmy Award-winner. She is best known for her years as a prime-time weekday anchor for two different Chicago television stations. She has ...

. He became co-anchor of the 10:00 p.m. newscasts in 2002, after the retirement of long-time anchor John Drury. Magers has appeared in a feature segment and was a commentator on '' The Roe Conn Show'' on

WLS (AM) WLS (890 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Chicago, Illinois. Owned by Cumulus Media, through licensee Radio License Holdings LLC, the station airs a talk radio format. WLS has its radio studios in the NBC Tower on North Columbus Drive i ...

since 1997, with a gap of several months in 2009/10 because of the bankruptcy of WLS's parent company. He was rehired following the station's sale. On May 25, 2016 Magers retired from ABC with a final late evening newscast with tributes from staff and colleagues. ABC7 anchor Alan Krashesky succeeded Magers at 5:00 p.m. alongside Cheryl Burton and alongside Kathy Brock at 6:00 and 10:00 p.m.

Awards

Magers has won numerous awards including six Chicago

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 ...

, a Peter Lisagor Award and a National Press Club citation. In addition, he has won an Associated Press award, an Illinois Broadcasters Association award, the Ohio State Award, and an Ethics Award from the Society of Professional Journalists.

References

External links

Bio at abc7chicago.com
at wayback.archive.org/web * http://abc7chicago.com/tag/ron-magers/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Magers, Ron American television journalists Living people Television anchors from Chicago Television anchors from San Francisco 1944 births American male journalists Television anchors from Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Minnesota People from San Bernardino, California People from Cordova, Alaska People from Ellensburg, Washington