Frederick Hickman (October 17, 1956 – November 9, 2022) was an American sports broadcaster with
CNN
Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
YES Network
The Yankee Entertainment and Sports Network (YES) is an American pay television regional sports network owned by Yankee Global Enterprises (the largest shareholder with 26%), Main Street Sports Group (which owns 20%), Amazon (which owns 15% ...
, and
ESPN
ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
. He was later an anchor and managing editor for the evening newscast of the African-American cable news channel
Black News Channel
The Black News Channel (BNC) was an American pay television news channel, targeting the African American demographic. The channel was based in Tallahassee, Florida, and launched on February 10, 2020.''Sports Tonight'' in 1980. He received CableACE awards in 1989 and 1993, and was a New York
Sports Emmy Award
The Sports Emmy Awards, or Sports Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), the Sports E ...
Winner in 2004.
Early life and education
Hickman was born on October 17, 1956, in
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its population was 114,394 at the 2020 United States census, which makes it the state's List of cities in Illinois, seventh-most populous cit ...
Coe College
Coe College is a private liberal arts college in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It was founded in 1851 and is historically affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). The college is a member of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest and the Associati ...
in
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Cedar Rapids is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 137,710 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Iowa, second-most populous city in Iowa. The city lies o ...
from 1974 to 1978, where he earned a B.S. in
sociology
Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...
. While there he worked at the low power KCOE-FM radio station.
Career
In 1977, Hickman began his professional radio broadcasting career as a
news anchor
A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...
at KLWW-AM in
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Cedar Rapids is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 137,710 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Iowa, second-most populous city in Iowa. The city lies o ...
. After leaving Coe College, Hickman moved back to his hometown of
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its population was 114,394 at the 2020 United States census, which makes it the state's List of cities in Illinois, seventh-most populous cit ...
to work at the radio station WFMB-AM, where he was responsible for playing
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
. In February 1978, at age 21, Hickman became an anchor and sports director of the Springfield television station WICS-TV. He stayed there until May 1980.
CNN and TBS
In 1980 Hickman joined the young cable television company
Turner Broadcasting System
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. was an American television and media conglomerate founded by Ted Turner in 1965. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it merged with Time Warner (later WarnerMedia) on October 10, 1996. As of April 2022, all of its asse ...
(TBS) in
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
, working with Nick Charles as part of a four-person sports department for the company's Cable News Network (
CNN
Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
). The duo took to the air on June 1, 1980, as hosts of ''CNN Sports Tonight'', a nightly sports wrap-up show in which Hickman and Charles reported scores and events, showed highlights of college and professional games, and selected a "Play of the Day". The show was a nightly rival to ESPN's ''
SportsCenter
''SportsCenter'' (SC) is an American television sports news broadcasting show broadcast by ESPN. Originally anchored by Chris Berman, George Grande, Greg Gumbel, Lee Leonard, Bob Ley, Sal Marchiano and Lou Palmer, it premiered on Septem ...
'', which Hickman later joined.
In 1984, Hickman briefly left CNN to serve as a sports anchor for
WDIV
WDIV-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, affiliated with NBC. It serves as the flagship broadcast property of the Graham Media Group subsidiary of Graham Holdings Company. WDIV-TV maintains studio facilit ...
, the
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 ...
affiliate in
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
. He served as an anchor, a
beat reporter
Beat reporting, also known as specialized reporting, is a genre of journalism focused on a particular issue, sector, organization, or institution over time.
Description
Beat reporters build up a base of knowledge on and gain familiarity with t ...
for
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
's
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...
, and a boxing specialist from June 1984 to May 1985.
In November 1986, he returned to TBS to serve as a co-anchor with Charles for CNN/''
Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...
''. He remained with CNN until September 2001, and while there served as host for both the
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
and
NFL
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...
pre-game and post-game shows, a commentator on the
Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...
, and a co-host of the
Olympic Winter Games
The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held in ...
in
Albertville
Albertville (; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile'') is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Savoie Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in Southeastern France.
It is best k ...
, France in 1992, the Olympic Winter Games in
Lillehammer, Norway
Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the municip ...
in 1994, and the
1994 Goodwill Games
The 1994 Goodwill Games was the third edition of the multi-sport event, created by Ted Turner, which was held in Saint Petersburg, Russia between July 23 and August 7, 1994. The event – designed to improve Soviet Union – United States relatio ...
in St. Petersburg, Russia.
In 1999, Hickman was part of a news story when he reported on the millennium celebrations in New York during CNN's coverage of the event.
Hickman also served as a Master of Ceremonies, speaker and guest panelist at the
Butkus award
The Butkus Award, instituted in 1985 by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, is given annually to the top linebackers at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of football. The award, named in honor of College Football Hall of Fame ...
Bob Ballard
Robert Duane Ballard (born June 30, 1942) is an American retired Navy officer and a professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island who is noted for his work in underwater archaeology (maritime archaeology and archaeology of sh ...
’s
National Geographic
''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...
specials, including the recovery of the ''
Titanic
RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...
''.
Hickman caused a controversy in 2000 when he cast his first place vote for the
NBA Most Valuable Player Award
The NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1955–56 season to the best performing player of the regular season. Since the 2022–23 season, winners receive the Michael Jor ...
for
Allen Iverson
Allen Ezail Iverson ( ; born June 7, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "The Answer", he played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as both a shooting guard and point guard. As an NBA rook ...
. Hickman was the sole voter who did not cast his first place vote that year for
Shaquille O'Neal
Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), commonly known as Shaq ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. He is a and Center (basketball), center ...
, preventing O'Neal from becoming the first unanimous MVP in NBA history. Iverson finished seventh in the voting.
YES Network
Hickman left Atlanta in October 2001 to join the New York City-based
YES Network
The Yankee Entertainment and Sports Network (YES) is an American pay television regional sports network owned by Yankee Global Enterprises (the largest shareholder with 26%), Main Street Sports Group (which owns 20%), Amazon (which owns 15% ...
for its 2002 launch. He was their original anchor, hosting the pre-game and the post-game shows for
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...
telecasts. While there he hosted pre-game and post-game shows for
New Jersey Nets
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995
* "New" (Daya song), 2017
* "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...
cablecasts, as well as the weekly '' Yankees Magazine''. He remained at YES until November 2004.
ESPN
In late 2004, after the completion of three baseball seasons and two NBA seasons with the YES network, Hickman left to join
ESPN
ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
in
Bristol, Connecticut
Bristol is a suburban city located in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, southwest-west of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. The city is also 120 miles southwest from Boston, and approximately 100 miles northeast of New York City. The ...
. During his tenure at ESPN, Hickman hosted ESPN's flagship shows including ''
SportsCenter
''SportsCenter'' (SC) is an American television sports news broadcasting show broadcast by ESPN. Originally anchored by Chris Berman, George Grande, Greg Gumbel, Lee Leonard, Bob Ley, Sal Marchiano and Lou Palmer, it premiered on Septem ...
ESPN Classic
ESPN Classic was an American multinational pay television television network, network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which controlled an 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which had 20%).
The channel was ...
ESPNEWS
ESPNews (pronounced "ESPN News," stylized ESPNEWS) is an American multinational digital cable and satellite television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hear ...
''. Hickman left the network in May 2008.
Fox Sports
Hickman joined as host of the ''Braves Live'' pre & post game show for the 2009 and 2010 seasons on
Fox Sports South
FanDuel Sports Network South is an American regional sports network owned by Main Street Sports Group (formerly Diamond Sports Group) and operated as an affiliate of FanDuel Sports Network. The network carries regional coverage of professional a ...
, based in Atlanta, Georgia. He hosted the ''In My Own Words'' interview show.
Other
In September 2010, Fred Hickman formed Fred Hickman Communications, Inc. The company provides broadcaster training for retired athletes and media training services for athletes, coaching staff and sports industry front office personnel. Hickman also worked as a speaker, spokesperson, event host, voice over artist and narrator.
WVUE
In August 2011, Fred Hickman resigned from Fox Sports South to become the new sports director for WVUE, a Fox affiliate in
New Orleans
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
.
WVLA
In August 2015, Hickman joined
WVLA-TV
WVLA-TV (channel 33) is a television station in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by White Knight Broadcasting, which maintains joint sales and shared services agreements (JSA/SSA) with Nexstar Media Group ...
,
Nexstar
Nexstar Media Group, Inc. is an American publicly traded media company with headquarters in Irving, Texas, Midtown Manhattan, and Chicago. The company is the largest television station owner in the United States, owning 197 television stations ...
's NBC affiliate in
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...
as a news anchor. He stayed there until his departure in July 2018.
WDVM
In August 2018, Hickman came over from WVLA-TV to join sister independent station WDVM-TV in
Hagerstown, Maryland
Hagerstown is a city in Washington County, Maryland, United States, and its county seat. The population was 43,527 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Hagerstown ranks as Maryland's List of municipalities in Maryland, sixth-most popu ...
. According to the station's Website, he was a news anchor and producer.
Death
Hickman died of
liver cancer
Liver cancer, also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy, is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary in which the cancer starts in the liver, or it can be liver metastasis, or secondar ...
at a hospital in
Kissimmee, Florida
Kissimmee ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Osceola County, Florida, Osceola County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 79,226. It is a principal city of the Greater Orlando, O ...
, on November 9, 2022, at the age of 66.
Honors
Hickman was nominated for CableACE awards (Award for Cable Excellence) for best sports host every year from 1988 to 1993, winning in 1989 and 1993. In 1993, he was named "sexiest sportscaster" by the U.S. Television Fan Association. He was a New York
Sports Emmy Award
The Sports Emmy Awards, or Sports Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), the Sports E ...
Winner in 2004, and was added to the Springfield Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.