Television HOF

Howard DeMere – 2011

Howard DeMere began his career in broadcasting working as an office boy at a cousin’s Texas radio station during the Great Depression. After serving in the army he returned to Wichita Falls, TX, and ended up announcing at his school’s radio station. He transferred to the U. of Oklahoma journalism school where one of his professors helped him get a job at Oklahoma’s signature radio station, WKY. Later, in October 1949, he sought and got a job in St. Louis at KSD Radio and the fledgling KSD-TV where he worked until retiring in 1979. A true St. Louis television pioneer, he is remembered as a weather broadcaster at Channel 5 and signature sign-off “That’s all from here…Howard DeMere.”

Dan Dierdorf – 2008

From 1971 to 1983, Dan Dierdorf had a stellar career with the St. Louis Football Cardinals. He was named all-pro six times, selected as the National Football League’s top offensive lineman three times and was voted to the NFL Team of the Decade for the 1970s. Dierdorf’s broadcasting career began at KMOX radio, serving in a variety of capacities, including host of the nationally-acclaimed “Sports Open Line” program, St. Louis Blues hockey coverage and St. Louis Cardinals football broadcasts. Dierdorf joined CBS sports as a play-by-play announcer for the NFL telecasts in 1985 before switching to color analysis in 1986. In 1987, Dierdorf joined ABC Sports as an analyst of field events during the network’s exclusive coverage of the United States Olympic Trials. He returned to CBS Sports in 1999.

Frank Eschen – 2006

Frank Eschen began working at WIL in 1933, moving to KSD in 1935, so he was already a market broadcast veteran when Pulitzer signed on the market’s first television station. He was tapped to broadcast the TV station’s first news report February 8, 1947. He was appointed the station’s first news director. During his time working at KSD-TV, his work on KSD Radio continued, both as a news broadcaster and often as a dramatic player on broadcasts of “The Land We Live In.” Eschen was narrator for TV coverage of the Veiled Prophet Ball, U.S. Open Golf Championship, Little Symphony and Municipal Opera broadcasts, and even provided voice reports on KSD-TV of the elevation to Cardinal of Archbishop John Glennon from Rome, as well as Glennon’s death in Ireland a short time later.

Dick Ford – 2007

His 55-year television career began in Plattsburgh, NY, but when Dick Ford moved to St. Louis, he found his professional home. He spent 34 years as a news anchor here at KMOX-TV, KSDK and KTVI, during which he went to the White House to interview the president and to the Middle East to cover Desert Storm. He began at Channel 4 as a reporter/anchor in 1965. In 1969 he went to Channel 5, where his work included co-hosting “Newsbeat” with John Auble. He moved to Channel 2 in 1999. Ford retired in 2005.

Karen Foss – 2007

Karen Foss occupied the anchor’s chair for the late evening news at a local TV station longer than any other woman in America. Her television career began in Kansas City as a film editor. In 1979 she began her job as news anchor at KSDK-TV, retiring from Channel 5 in 2006. During her tenure on the market’s highest-rated newscast Foss was an active participant in community activities. In 1985 she received the St. Louis Ambassadors’ Spirit of St. Louis Award. She was given a Woman of Achievement Award in 1989 and the local NAACP gave her its Roy Wilkins Freedom Award in 1992.

Joe Garagiola – 2006

The Midwestern roots of Joe Garagiola helped propel him into the national television spotlight, eventually hosting the Today Show on NBC. Joe grew up on Elizabeth Street on The Hill, St. Louis’ storied neighborhood. Signed to a professional baseball contract at age 16 by Branch Rickey, Garagiola played five seasons for the Cardinals, including the 1946 championship year. When his baseball career ended in 1954, he joined KMOX Radio and broadcast Cardinals’ games. He later moved to the Yankees’ broadcast booth, which led to Garagiola’s play-by-play assignment for NBC that lasted 27 years. Two stints with the “Today Show” capped his illustrious broadcast career. A 1973 winner of television’s Peabody Award, Joe Garagiola entered the broadcasters’ wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991.