Jim Donovan (sportscaster)
Encyclopedia
Jim Donovan is an American radio and television personality who serves as sports director for WKYC channel 3 (NBC
) in Cleveland, Ohio
, a post he has held since 1986.
He has been the radio voice of the Cleveland Browns
since 1999, was the TV voice of the Cleveland Indians
(for games broadcast on Channel 3) from 2006 - 2008.
, Donovan began his career as a sports director for WJON
radio in St. Cloud, Minnesota
. From Minnesota
, he moved to Vermont
, providing play-by-play basketball and hockey coverage for the Satellite News Channel
in Burlington, Vermont
. He also did play-by-play and sports anchoring at WVMT
radio and WEZF-TV
.
He also served for one season as play-by-play announcer for the Vermont Reds
, a Cincinnati Reds
minor league baseball team (which coincidentally is now the Akron Aeros
, a Cleveland Indians minor league team).
Jim Graner
in 1976, the Channel 3 sports director job became something of a "revolving door," as at least six replacements came and went over the next decade until Donovan — who had joined the station in 1985 as weekend sports anchor — finally took over in 1986, and has remained ever since.
In 2006, channel 3 and SportsTime Ohio
(STO) acquired the local TV rights to the Cleveland Browns. So in addition to his duties on WKYC, Donovan also hosts several Browns themed programs on STO, such as The Berea
Report (Berea being the home of the Browns practice facility), Browns Red Zone, and Sunday Strategy.
' NFL
coverage from 1987 to 1997. He also handled swimming and soccer in the 1992
and 1996
Summer Olympics for NBC, and World Cup Soccer in 1994.
In 1999, when the Cleveland Browns
returned to the NFL, Donovan was named as radio play-by-play voice of the team.
After WKYC acquired the local, over-the-air television rights to the Cleveland Indians
, Donovan served as play-by-play announcer from 2006-2008.
with a clear path to the end zone
.
for the last ten years, and that he would be taking a leave of absence to undergo a (what would be a successful) bone marrow
transplant.
On September 11, 2011, Donovan returned to the Browns broadcasting booth in time for their opener against the Cincinnati Bengals
. The next night, he returned to the sports anchor chair at WKYC, as well as his hosting duties on STO.
winner.
In 1995, Donovan won a local Emmy award for Best Sportscaster. In 1992, he received an Emmy for "Browns '92; The Next Step," and in 1990, for his report on Bob Golic's farewell to the Cleveland Browns. In 1988, he was named all-Ohio Best Sportscaster by the Cleveland Press Club.
In 2009 he was inducted into the Press Club of Cleveland’s Journalism Hall of Fame.
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
) in Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
, a post he has held since 1986.
He has been the radio voice of the Cleveland Browns
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
since 1999, was the TV voice of the Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...
(for games broadcast on Channel 3) from 2006 - 2008.
Brief biography
A native of Boston and a 1978 graduate of Boston UniversityBoston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
, Donovan began his career as a sports director for WJON
WJON
WJON is a radio station in St. Cloud, Minnesota airing a News/Talk format. The station is owned by Townsquare Media. Its main competitors are Leighton Broadcasting's KNSI of St. Cloud and WCCO and KTLK-FM of Minneapolis....
radio in St. Cloud, Minnesota
St. Cloud, Minnesota
St. Cloud is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the largest population center in the state's central region. The population was 65,842 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Stearns County...
. From Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, he moved to Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
, providing play-by-play basketball and hockey coverage for the Satellite News Channel
Satellite News Channel
Satellite News Channel was a joint venture of the American Broadcasting Company and Westinghouse Broadcasting . Designed as a satellite-delivered cable TV network, SNC used footage from ABC News and seven Washington DC based crews, in addition to stories from other overseas networks to provide...
in Burlington, Vermont
Burlington, Vermont
Burlington is the largest city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the shire town of Chittenden County. Burlington lies south of the U.S.-Canadian border and some south of Montreal....
. He also did play-by-play and sports anchoring at WVMT
WVMT
WVMT is an English-language American radio station located in Burlington, Vermont.Owned and operated by local businessman Paul S. Goldman, it broadcasts on 620 kHz with a power of 5,000 watts as a class B station, using a directional antenna with slightly different daytime and nighttime directional...
radio and WEZF-TV
WVNY
WVNY is the ABC-affiliated television station for Vermont's Champlain Valley and Upstate New York's North Country. Licensed to Burlington, Vermont, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 13 from a transmitter on Vermont's highest peak Mount Mansfield. The station can also be...
.
He also served for one season as play-by-play announcer for the Vermont Reds
Vermont Reds
The Vermont Reds are a defunct minor league baseball team. They played in the Eastern League at Centennial Field in Burlington, Vermont from 1984 to 1987...
, a Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....
minor league baseball team (which coincidentally is now the Akron Aeros
Akron Aeros
The Akron Aeros are a minor league baseball team based in Akron, Ohio, USA. The team, which plays in the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians.The Aeros play in Canal Park, located in downtown Akron, which seats 9,097 fans...
, a Cleveland Indians minor league team).
WKYC and SportsTime Ohio
Following the death of WKYC weeknight sports anchorSports commentator
In sports broadcasting, a commentator gives a running commentary of a game or event in real time, usually during a live broadcast. The comments are normally a voiceover, with the sounds of the action and spectators also heard in the background. In the case of television commentary, the commentator...
Jim Graner
Jim Graner
James R. "Jim" Graner was the weeknight sports anchor for Cleveland NBC affiliate WKYC TV-3 beginning in 1957, and also the color commentator for the Cleveland Browns radio network — twice — most notably alongside Cleveland sportscaster Gib Shanley...
in 1976, the Channel 3 sports director job became something of a "revolving door," as at least six replacements came and went over the next decade until Donovan — who had joined the station in 1985 as weekend sports anchor — finally took over in 1986, and has remained ever since.
In 2006, channel 3 and SportsTime Ohio
SportsTime Ohio
SportsTime Ohio is a regional sports network in Cleveland and northern Ohio, launched in 2006. It was created to air Cleveland Indians games, and is owned by the family which owns the team. It is also the cable television home of the Cleveland Browns...
(STO) acquired the local TV rights to the Cleveland Browns. So in addition to his duties on WKYC, Donovan also hosts several Browns themed programs on STO, such as The Berea
Berea, Ohio
- History :The first European settlers were originally from Connecticut. Berea fell within Connecticut's Western Reserve and was surveyed and divided into townships and ranges by one Gideon Granger, a gentleman who served as Postmaster General under President Thomas Jefferson...
Report (Berea being the home of the Browns practice facility), Browns Red Zone, and Sunday Strategy.
Play by Play
On the national level Donovan had called play-by-play for NBC SportsNBC Sports
NBC Sports is the sports division of the NBC television network. Formerly "a service of NBC News," it broadcasts a diverse array of programs, including the Olympic Games, the NFL, the NHL, MLS, Notre Dame football, the PGA Tour, the Triple Crown, and the French Open, among others...
' NFL
NFL on NBC
NFL on NBC is the brand given to NBC Sports coverage of National Football League games until 1998, when NBC lost the NFL American Football Conference rights to CBS...
coverage from 1987 to 1997. He also handled swimming and soccer in the 1992
1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in 1992. The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same...
and 1996
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....
Summer Olympics for NBC, and World Cup Soccer in 1994.
In 1999, when the Cleveland Browns
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
returned to the NFL, Donovan was named as radio play-by-play voice of the team.
After WKYC acquired the local, over-the-air television rights to the Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...
, Donovan served as play-by-play announcer from 2006-2008.
Signature calls
Ten...Five...Touchdown Browns! - when a Browns player scores a touchdownTouchdown
A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...
with a clear path to the end zone
End zone
In gridiron-based codes of football, the end zone refers to the scoring area on the field. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on an opposite side of the field...
.
Medical Leave
On May 25, 2011 during the 11 p.m. newscast, Donovan announced he had been battling leukemiaLeukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
for the last ten years, and that he would be taking a leave of absence to undergo a (what would be a successful) bone marrow
Bone marrow
Bone marrow is the flexible tissue found in the interior of bones. In humans, bone marrow in large bones produces new blood cells. On average, bone marrow constitutes 4% of the total body mass of humans; in adults weighing 65 kg , bone marrow accounts for approximately 2.6 kg...
transplant.
On September 11, 2011, Donovan returned to the Browns broadcasting booth in time for their opener against the Cincinnati Bengals
Cincinnati Bengals
The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the AFC's North Division in the National Football League . The Bengals began play in 1968 as an expansion team in the American Football League , and joined the NFL in 1970 in the AFL-NFL...
. The next night, he returned to the sports anchor chair at WKYC, as well as his hosting duties on STO.
Accomplishments and awards
Donovan is a three-time Emmy AwardEmmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
winner.
In 1995, Donovan won a local Emmy award for Best Sportscaster. In 1992, he received an Emmy for "Browns '92; The Next Step," and in 1990, for his report on Bob Golic's farewell to the Cleveland Browns. In 1988, he was named all-Ohio Best Sportscaster by the Cleveland Press Club.
In 2009 he was inducted into the Press Club of Cleveland’s Journalism Hall of Fame.