Todd Donoho is a radio and television sportscaster

Sportscaster

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...

, who hosts the post-game show for Missouri Tigers

Missouri Tigers

The Missouri Tigers athletics programs include the extramural and intramural sports teams of the University of Missouri, located in Columbia, Missouri, United States...

 basketball on the statewide Tiger Radio Network. He led sports news reporting in the 1990s for Los Angeles television station KABC-TV

KABC-TV

KABC-TV, channel 7, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, licensed to Los Angeles, California. KABC-TV's studios are located in Glendale, California...

 after working for stations across the country and later became a sports news anchor for Fox Sports West.

Personal life and early career

Donoho was born in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

 and, as a child, lived briefly in Africa, before completing most of his childhood in Munster, Indiana

Munster, Indiana

Munster is a town located in North Township, Lake County, in Northwest Indiana in the United States. This bedroom community lies in the Chicago metropolitan area, approximately southeast of the Chicago Loop, and shares municipal boundaries with Hammond to the north, Highland to the east, Dyer and...

. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri

University of Missouri

The University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...

, earning a Bachelor of Journalism

Bachelor of Journalism

The Bachelor of Journalism degree is a professional degree awarded at some universities to students who have studied journalism in a three or four year undergraduate program. In the United States, some schools that do not award the B.J...

 degree..

Prior to joining KABC, Donoho worked for WOTV

WOTV

WOTV is the ABC-affiliated television station for Southwestern Michigan that is licensed to Battle Creek. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 20 from a transmitter in Orangeville Township. The station can also be seen on Charter and Comcast channel 4. There is a high...

 in Grand Rapids, Michigan

Grand Rapids, Michigan

Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River about 40 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, Grand...

; WLWT

WLWT

WLWT, virtual channel 5 , is an NBC-affiliated television station in Cincinnati, Ohio, the station is owned by Hearst Television...

, NBC's Cincinnati affiliate, alongside anchorman Jerry Springer

Jerry Springer

Gerald Norman "Jerry" Springer is a British-born American television presenter, best known as host of the tabloid talk show The Jerry Springer Show since its debut in 1991...

; and FNN Score

SCORE (television)

SCORE was a joint venture with Financial News Network which aired sports-themed programming in the 1980s. It began in 1985 and shut down six years later. It was renamed FNN Sports in 1990 when FNN decided to go with a 24-hour feed on weekdays. SCORE was forced to dissolve after CNBC bought out FNN...

, the sports arm of the Financial News Network

Financial News Network

The Financial News Network was a television network that operated throughout the United States during the 1980s.-Founding:Financial News Network was founded in 1981 by two men: Rodney Buchser, who had been general manager of KWHY, Channel 22 in Los Angeles and Glenn Taylor. The concept originated...

 cable service, for five years as host of "Time Out For Trivia". He also did occasional play-by-play for NBC Sports

NBC 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...

, in addition to freelance work for ABC Sports, Turner Sports

Turner Sports

Turner Sports is the division of Turner Broadcasting System responsible for sports broadcasts on Turner channels including TBS, TNT, and TruTV, and for operating the interactive properties , , , and...

, and Fox Sports Midwest.

While living in the Los Angeles area, Donoho was a resident of Valencia, California

Valencia, California

Valencia is an affluent planned community located in the City of Santa Clarita, California and Los Angeles County, California, U.S. in the northwestern corner of the Santa Clarita Valley, adjacent to Interstate 5. In 1987, it was one of the four unincorporated communities that merged to create the...

 and an amateur golfer. For a number of years, Donoho served as a host of a charity golf tournament in Valencia Country Club to benefit the Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital

Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital

Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital is a 221-bed not-for-profit community hospital and trauma center in Valencia, California in the Santa Clarita Valley. It was founded in 1975...

. He also was an honorary booster for Jordan High School in South Los Angeles

South Los Angeles

South Los Angeles, often abbreviated as South L.A. and formerly South Central Los Angeles, is the official name for a large geographic and cultural portion lying to the southwest and southeast of downtown Los Angeles, California. The area was formerly called South Central, and is still widely known...

.

Upon moving to Columbia, Missouri, Donoho continued his community involvement, at West Boulevard Elementary School. Donoho's wife, Paula (nee Gerber), was his college sweetheart and they married in 1979. They have three sons, including a son Kevin who was a star wide receiver

Wide receiver

A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...

 at Hart High School

Hart High School

William S. Hart High School, also known as Hart High School, is the oldest high school in the Santa Clarita Valley in California. The school has been educating students in the 9th through 12th grades since 1945. Hart was named for local cowboy actor William S. Hart.-Academic achievement:The school...

 in Newhall. After the move to Missouri, Paula taught English at Jefferson Junior High School, Kevin was sales representative for Nestle

Nestlé

Nestlé S.A. is the world's largest food and nutrition company. Founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé originated in a 1905 merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company, established in 1867 by brothers George Page and Charles Page, and Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé, founded in 1866 by Henri...

 in Oklahoma City

Oklahoma city

Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...

, son Jeff studied journalism and was a law student at the University of Missouri School of Law

University of Missouri School of Law

University of Missouri School of Law is the law school of the University of Missouri, a state university in the U.S. State of Missouri. It is located on the university's main campus in Columbia, forty minutes from the Missouri State Capitol and Supreme Court in Jefferson City...

, and son Scott studied engineering at Mizzou.

KABC stint

During his time at KABC, Donoho was known in the Los Angeles media market for beginning and ending his sports anchor segments with sports trivia questions and for his trademark phrase, "take a hike". During Donoho's time on air, KABC's 11 p.m. newscast's ratings approached those of long-time regional leader KNBC

KNBC

KNBC, channel 4, is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC Television Network, licensed to Los Angeles, California, USA. KNBC's studios and offices are located within the NBC Studios complex in Burbank, California, and its transmitter is located on Mount Wilson...

.

Donoho also anchored the station's post-Monday Night Football

Monday Night Football

Monday Night Football is a live broadcast of the National Football League on ESPN. From to it aired on ABC. Monday Night Football was, along with Hallmark Hall of Fame, and the Walt Disney anthology television series, one of the longest running prime time commercial network television series...

 program, titled "Monday Night Live."

In Los Angeles, the similarity of Todd Donoho's name to that of UCLA football coach Terry Donahue

Terry Donahue

Terry Donahue is a former American football, player, coach, and executive and, currently, a football analyst. He served as the head football coach at the University of California, Los Angeles from 1976 to 1995, compiling a record of 151–74–8. From 2001 to 2005, Donahue served as...

 was occasionally the source of humor for critics and viewers.

Critical reception

Prior to joining KABC in July 1989, Donoho received nearly all favorable reviews for his work. Early in his tenure at KABC, Donoho was criticized by local columnists and viewers for being "too cornball." Former LA Times columnist Jim Healy

Jim Healy

Jim Healy was a longtime Los Angeles, California, sports commentator , whose daily solo radio show featured a number of sound effects and audio clips of famous sports personalities, which he played repeatedly to affect an acerbically humorous tone.Excerpting from his entry on the...

 referred to Donoho as "Dorkoho". Early on, Donoho was rated by the LA Times and the TV Times

TV Times

TVTimes is a television listings magazine published in the United Kingdom by IPC Media, a subsidiary of Time Warner. It is known for its access to television actors and their programmes. In 2006 it was refreshed for a more modern look, increasing its emphasis on big star interviews and soaps...

's Steve Harvey as the worst sports broadcaster in Los Angeles.

Two weeks into his time at KABC, on the day of former Angels reliever Donnie Moore

Donnie Moore

Donnie Ray Moore was an American relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Chicago Cubs , St...

's suicide, Donoho led the segment with his usual trivia question; a number of Los Angeles sports media critics lambasted him.

Donoho adjusted his style and developed a following for his work and community service.

In 1999, Donoho complained to station management when the time alloted for sports reporting was cut from 4.5 minutes to 2.5 minutes. After insisting that the sports report had to include game scores, Donoho was fired from the station. Donoho was unable to join another broadcasting entity immediately, because KABC continued paying him his salary through the end of the year.

By the time Donoho left Los Angeles to return to Missouri, he had earned five regional Emmys, three Associated Press Awards, and several Golden Mike Awards for sportcasting.

Other work

Donoho portrayed himself in the movie Blue Chips

Blue Chips

Blue Chips is a 1994 drama film about basketball, directed by William Friedkin, written by Ron Shelton and starring Nick Nolte as a college coach and real-life basketball stars Shaquille O'Neal and Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway as talented finds....

. During his time in between work for KABC and FSN West, he also assisted with research for a best-selling book-CD project of great calls in sports broadcasting history, "And the Crowd Goes Wild." Donoho was also written two children's books, "Hello, Truman!" and "Hello, Truman! Show Me Missouri", in addition to "MizzouRah! Memorable Moments in Missouri Tiger Football History."

Beginning in early 1988, Donoho was also a regular guest on local radio station KLOS

KLOS

KLOS is an FM rock music radio station based in Los Angeles, California, that debuted in 1969. The station is owned by Cumulus Media. It is home to the nationally broadcast Mark & Brian radio show, and Off The Record host Uncle Joe Benson.-History:...

's weekday morning drive time show, The Mark & Brian Show, during their "Stump the Commissioner" segment. He continued this work through at least 2009. In the early 2000s, Donoho was a radio sports anchor for KLOS sister station, KSPN (AM)

KSPN (AM)

KSPN is an all-sports radio station based in Los Angeles, California. It is owned by Disney. It is an ESPN Radio owned-and-operated station.-Play-by-play:...

.