Doug McConnell is a

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

who has focused on

environmental Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...

issues, with programs on the air continuously since 1982. He has created, produced and hosted many series, special programs, and news projects for local, national and international distribution. His broadcast awards include multiple

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

s, an Iris, and a Gabriel. McConnell is co-founder and managing partner of ConvergenceMedia Productions (CMP) in Sausalito, California. One of CMP's principal products is OpenRoad with Doug McConnell, Exploring the West for Public Television nationally. OpenRoad on Public Television is closely linked to www.OpenRoad.TV, The Traveler's Video Guide to the West. McConnell is co-executive producer and managing editor for both ventures. McConnell also develops and oversees other media projects undertaken by CMP. From 1993-2009 McConnell was the host and senior editor of the ''Bay Area Backroads'' television series on

KRON KRON-TV (channel 4) is a television station licensed to San Francisco, California, United States, serving as the San Francisco Bay Area's outlet for The CW. Owned and operated by The CW's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, KRON-TV has studios ...

Television in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

. ''Bay Area Backroads'' was one of the longest-running regional television series in American broadcast history, and was consistently the highest-rated locally produced, non-news program in the nation's sixth-largest market. During his ''Backroads'' years, McConnell co-authored two best-selling travel publications for Chronicle Books.

Television programs

''OpenRoad with Doug McConnell, Exploring the West''

''OpenRoad with Doug McConnell, Exploring the West'' began on San Francisco Public Television station KQED and its sister station in San Jose, KTEH, in April 2009.

''Bay Area Backroads''

The ''Bay Area Backroads'' program aired for 23 years in the

, from 1985 through 2008. In 1985, Jerry Graham (born Gerald Granowsky in Indianapolis) a former TV announcer,

WNEW-FM WNEW-FM (102.7 FM broadcasting, FM, ''NEW 102.7'') is a hot adult contemporary-Radio format, formatted radio station, City of license, licensed to New York, New York and owned by Audacy, Inc. The station's studios are located at the Audacy faci ...

employee, WGRG (AM Pittsfield, Massachusetts) co-owner, KSAN (1968 to 1980) general manager (1975—1977), and

KPIX KPIX-TV (channel 5), branded on-air as CBS Bay Area, is a television station licensed to San Francisco, California, United States, serving as the CBS network outlet for the San Francisco Bay Area. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS ...

"Pacific Currents" show host, was cast by Bob Klein,

Executive Producer, who developed the travel show for locals, as "Bay Area Backroads". Its first segment profiled, by Jerry Graham, a local eccentric who carved

tiki In Māori mythology, Tiki is the first man created by either Tūmatauenga or Tāne. He found the first woman, Marikoriko, in a pond; she seduced him and he became the father of Hine-kau-ataata. By extension, a tiki is a large or small woo ...

statues in his front yard. At age 60, Graham retired and moved to Santa Cruz. In 1993, McConnell was hired to complete the 1993 season after Graham's retirement, and remained as host for 15 years, until 2008. The show's theme was to highlight offbeat individuals from the Bay Area, creating the impression that the production crew was simply encountering them on a recreational driving tour (when in fact, there was a small research team that had planned every show). * * *

Other programs

In addition to ''Bay Area Backroads'', McConnell's TV programs include: *''Mac and Mutley'', producer and host,

KPIX-TV KPIX-TV (channel 5), branded on-air as CBS Bay Area, is a television station licensed to San Francisco, California, United States, serving as the CBS network outlet for the San Francisco Bay Area. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS ...

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It init ...

USA, Discovery International, and Westinghouse International *''The Adventurers'', host, Discovery USA and Discovery International *''Wild Things'', host, Discovery USA *''Wild Guide'', narrator, Westinghouse International and Discovery’s

Animal Planet Animal Planet (stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American multinational pay television channel focusing on the animal kingdom owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. First established on June 1 ...

Channel *''Petline'', co-host, Discovery’s Animal Planet Channel *''Preview Vacation Bargains'', co-host,

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

stations in eight cities *''Pacific Currents'', producer and host, KPIX-TV *''KING 5 Magazine'', producer and reporter, KING-TV in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

McConnell’s national specials and mini-series include: *''Discoveries of a Lost Voyage'', co-host, Discovery USA *''Secrets of

Alcatraz Alcatraz Island () is a small island about 1.25 miles offshore from San Francisco in San Francisco Bay, California, near the Golden Gate Strait. The island was developed in the mid-19th century with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fo ...

'', producer and host, Discovery USA *''Secrets of Alcatraz: Return to the Rock'', producer and host,

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

*''Secrets of the

Gold Rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, ...

'', producer and host, PBS *''Secrets of the

Wine Country Wine Country is a region of California, in the northern San Francisco Bay Area, known worldwide as a premier wine-growing region. The region is famed for its wineries, its cuisine, Michelin star restaurants, boutique hotels, luxury resorts ...

'', producer and host, PBS *''Big Cat Tales'', host, Discovery USA *''Prime Time

Primates Primates is an order of mammals, which is further divided into the strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and lorisids; and the haplorhines, which include tarsiers and simians ( monkeys and apes). Primates arose 74–63 ...

'', host, Discovery USA *''The Crusaders, Pilot'', producer and reporter, Buena Vista Television

Personal life

McConnell received a bachelor's degree in Government from

Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists ...

(1967), and a master's degree in Political Science from the Eagleton Institute of Politics at

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

(1968). Since 1983, McConnell has lived in the

with his wife, two sons, and a bevy of pets. He maintains a busy schedule of community activities, including serving on the Advisory Board of the local environmental watchdog San Francisco Baykeeper, and has been honored recently by the Marin Humane Society as "Humanitarian of the Year," by the San Francisco Bay Trail Project as "Volunteer of the Year," by California State Parks as "Honorary Ranger of the Year," and by the National Park Service as "Honorary National Park Ranger." McConnell has received many regional Emmys and other broadcast awards during his long career in television. In addition, McConnell has been given the prestigious Harold Gilliam Award for environmental reporting and storytelling in Northern California. Beyond his television work, McConnell has managed significant communications programs for the President's Commission on Coal, the Governor of Alaska, the University of Alaska, The Institute of Ecology, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and many other institutions. McConnell's most recent venture is the creation of an online travel community called "OpenRoad.TV with Doug McConnell - The Traveler's Video Guide to the American West". OpenRoad.TV will be stocked with all the video, knowledge and insights that McConnell has compiled over the years and continues to collect. The professionally produced video content will be organized into easily accessible geographical and categorical contexts, with users being invited to vastly enrich it by adding their own stories, photographs and videos. The goal of OpenRoad.TV is to provide a website that's extensive, deep, entertaining and informative, and becomes a valuable resource to help people imagine, plan and book travels and get to know intriguing fellow travelers in the process.

References

External links

Bay Area Backroads Home Page
*
OpenRoad.TV with Doug McConnell Home Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:McConnell, Doug Pomona College alumni Television anchors from San Francisco Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Television in the San Francisco Bay Area