James Francis Donovan III (born July 17, 1956) is an American radio and television personality who serves as sports director and news anchor for
WKYC
WKYC (channel 3) is a television station in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Tegna Inc. Its studios are located on Tom Beres Way (a section of Lakeside Avenue in Downtown Cleveland named after the station's lon ...
channel 3 (
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
) in
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
, Ohio, and has been the radio voice of the
Cleveland Browns Radio Network
The University Hospitals Cleveland Browns Radio Network is an American radio network composed of 24 radio stations which carry English-language coverage of the Cleveland Browns, a professional football team in the National Football League (NFL ...
since 1999.
[Donovan bio - WKYC.com](_blank)
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Early life and career beginnings
Donovan was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He is a 1978 graduate of Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...
and began his career as a sports director for WJON
WJON (1240 AM kHz) 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 of Minneapolis.
The stati ...
radio in St. Cloud, Minnesota. From 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 ...
, he moved to Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
, providing play-by-play basketball and hockey coverage for the Satellite News Channel
Satellite News Channel (SNC) was an American short-lived news-based cable television channel that was operated as a joint venture between the ABC Video Enterprises division of American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. (a.k.a. ABC) and the Group W S ...
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 RubberDucks
The Akron RubberDucks are a Minor League Baseball team based in Akron, Ohio. The team, which plays in the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They play in Canal Park, located in downtown Akron, which seats 7,630 ...
, a Cleveland Guardians minor league team).
WKYC and SportsTime Ohio
Following the death of WKYC
WKYC (channel 3) is a television station in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Tegna Inc. Its studios are located on Tom Beres Way (a section of Lakeside Avenue in Downtown Cleveland named after the station's lon ...
weeknight sports anchor
In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio wa ...
Jim Graner
James R. Graner (February 21, 1919 – January 15, 1976) was the weeknight sports anchor for Cleveland NBC affiliate KYW-TV (later WKYC) beginning in 1957. He also served as color commentator for the Cleveland Browns Radio Network, most notab ...
in 1976, the Channel 3 sports director job became something of a "revolving door," as at least six replacements (among them Don Schroeder, Tom Ryther, Joe Pelligrino, Jim Mueller and Wayland Boot) came and went over the next decade – this was until Donovan, who had joined the station in 1985 as weekend sports anchor, finally took over in 1986. He has held the post ever since.SportsTime Ohio
Bally Sports Great Lakes is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group, and operates as an affiliate of Bally Sports. The channel, which is a sister network to Bally Sports Ohio, broadcasts statewide coverage of professiona ...
- now known as Bally Sports Great Lakes (BSGL) - 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 BSGL.
Play-by-play
On the national level Donovan had called play-by-play for NBC Sports' NFL coverage from 1987 to 1997. He also handled swimming and soccer play-by-play in the 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympics for NBC, and World Cup Soccer in 1994.
In 1999, when the Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...
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
The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...
, Donovan served as play-by-play announcer from 2006–2008.
Signature calls
''Ten...Five...Touchdown Browns!'' – when a Browns player scores a touchdown
A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron 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. In Amer ...
with a clear path to the end zone
The end zone is the scoring area on the field, according to gridiron-based codes of football. 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. ...
.
''Run William Run!'' - in reference to William Green 64 yard touchdown run during a Cleveland Browns vs. Atlanta Falcons game in 2002.
''Is this how it feels?'' - when the Browns defeated the New York Jets in Week 3 of the 2018 season, their first victory in 635 days.
''Chubba Wubba Hubb!'' - in reference to Nick Chubbs 92 yard touchdown run during an Atlanta Falcons vs Cleveland Browns game in 2018.
Medical leave
On May 25, 2011, during the 11 pm newscast, Donovan announced he had been battling leukemia
Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...
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.
Donovan met with his bone marrow donor on Thanksgiving night in 2013, when Dallas Gentry from Wise, Virginia
Wise is a town in Wise County, Virginia, United States. The population was 3,286 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Wise County. It was originally incorporated as the town of Gladeville in 1874. The town's name was changed to Wise in ...
, visited the Donovan family.
News anchor
On January 16, 2012, Donovan expanded his duties at WKYC as he became the anchor of channel 3's 7 p.m. newscast. He continues in his role as sports anchor at 6 and 11 p.m.
Personal life
Donovan, his wife (Cheryl), and daughter (Meghan) live in Hinckley, Ohio Hinckley is an unincorporated community in Medina County, in the U.S. state of Ohio.
History
A post office called Hinckley has been in operation since 1825. The community has the name of Judge Samuel Hinckley, a land speculator from Massachusetts. ...
.
Awards and honors
*Three-time Lower Great Lakes Emmy Award
The NATAS Lower Great Lakes Chapter is one of 19 regional chapters of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The Lower Great Lakes Chapter (formerly Cleveland Chapter) was founded in 1969. In addition to granting Emmy® Awards to pro ...
winner.
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References
External links
Cleveland Browns official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Donovan, Jim
Major League Baseball broadcasters
National Football League announcers
Living people
1956 births
American television reporters and correspondents
Cleveland Browns announcers
Cleveland Indians announcers
Television anchors from Cleveland
Olympic Games broadcasters
American television sports anchors
American soccer commentators
People from Hinckley, Ohio