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Mark Thompson is an American newscaster and a two-time Emmy award winner for writing, hosting and producing specials for the
Fox Broadcasting Company Fox Broadcasting Company, LLC (commonly known as Fox; stylized in all caps) is an Television in the United States, American commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast television broadcaster, television network serving as the flagship proper ...
stations.


Television news

Thompson reported on science and environmental issues for
KRON-TV 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 ...
, then an
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
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
, before getting upped to the nightly weather anchor on the 5, 6 and 11:00 p.m. editions of ''NewsCenter 4'', in addition to those duties. Mark Thompson pioneered ''Neighborhood Weather'', where he would read letters from viewers who’d requested a live remote broadcast from their neighborhood in the Bay Area. This was known as “Neighborhood Weather”, a popular and enduring franchise. Thompson was the on-air nightly weather anchor, science, and even occasional lifestyle reporter for
KTTV KTTV (channel 11) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast of the United States, West Coast flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network. It is owned a ...
's ''Fox 11 News''
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
. When he started appearing on
KCOP-TV KCOP-TV (channel 13), branded Fox 11 Plus, is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship station of MyNetworkTV. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alongside Fox outlet K ...
Channel 13 (the Fox-owned sister station of KTTV), Thompson became known for dancing during the weather reports on KCOP-TV's 11 PM newscasts, which he originally did on a whim. However, when email reaction was so enormously positive, he kept it going, quickly gaining not only a local following but nationwide attention as well. He was featured on ''
Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', sometimes shortened to ''JKL'', is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show tapes and is based out of the Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywo ...
'' on October 5, 2006, and on
Brit Hume Alexander Britton Hume (born June 22, 1943), known professionally as Brit Hume, is an American journalist and political commentator. He had a 23-year career with ABC News, where he contributed to '' World News Tonight with Peter Jennings'', ''N ...
's program on
Fox News Channel The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American multinational conservative news and political commentary television channel and website based in New York City, U.S. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is ow ...
, among others. He left both stations as of June 3, 2011. He made no on-air announcements of his future plans as a weather anchor. Thompson previously served as an on-air weather anchor and science/environmental reporter at
KMGH-TV KMGH-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Denver, Colorado, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Sterling-licensed independent station KCDO-TV, channel 3 (and its Denver-based translator ...
in
Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
, and also worked at
WKBW-TV WKBW-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Buffalo, New York, United States, affiliated with ABC. Owned by the E. W. Scripps Company, the station maintains studios at 7 Broadcast Plaza in downtown Buffalo and a transmitter on Center Stree ...
in
Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...
.


Radio news and talk

Thompson hosted a daily 10 AM-to-noon radio show on
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
talk station KGO until October 6, 2022; his show ended on that station due to a sudden change in format, and he, in fact, was the final host on the format, being notified immediately before his show of the change and being notified mid- monologue to end the broadcast at approximately 10:16 AM that day. He would promptly give a final
station identification Station identification (ident, network ID, channel ID or bumper (broadcasting), bumper) is the practice of radio and television stations and broadcast network, networks identifying themselves on-air, typically by means of a call sign or brand na ...
before abruptly ending his show. It was later moved to
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
and thru
podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...
. The show concentrated on politics and pop culture and featured calls from listeners across the Bay Area and California. Thompson had originally done fill-in talk show hosting on KGO when he first worked in San Francisco as a news person. Thompson also regularly appears on '' The Tim Conway Jr. Show'' on
KFI KFI (640 AM) is a radio station in Los Angeles, California, owned and operated by iHeartMedia, Inc. It began operations in 1922 and became one of the first high-powered, clear-channel Class A stations. It was the first U.S. station west of ...
in Los Angeles. Thompson and CNN Latino anchor Elizabeth Espinosa hosted an early afternoon weekday talk program from early 2014 to late 2015.


Television hosting and announcing

Thompson was a regular hosting live television shows of high drama and even life and death. He has hosted high-profile "event" shows like Celebrity Daredevils Live (FOX) with Dennis Rodman and Angie Everhart, all the Robbie Knievel jumps since 1990 (building to building in Las Vegas, over a portion of the Grand Canyon, and over an oncoming train). Mark Thompson hosted a live Knievel jump during which the weather prevented the jump and Thompson was asked by the network to "fill" for the entire hour. Building drama about the dangerous weather conditions but without saying that Knievel would jump or would not jump, the show still registered a 25 share. Thompson has been a regular New Year's Eve host for FOX Television as well. In these shows, he has presided over everything from building implosions to musical acts. Thompson hosted the red carpet arrival show for the Emmy Awards on Fox Television (Sept. 2011). It was his second time hosting an Emmy red carpet show. Thompson also hosted '' Hole in the Wall'' along with
Brooke Burns Brooke Elizabeth Burns (born March 16, 1978) is an American fashion model, game show host, actress, and television personality. Burns began her television career in 1995, portraying the supporting character Peg in the Spanish- American teen ...
for Fremantle Television. The show aired on
Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...
during 2008-2009. For three successful seasons, Thompson hosted ''
Guinness World Records Primetime ''Guinness World Records Primetime'' (AKA ''Guinness Primetime'') is a TV show based on the ''Guinness World Records'', and aired on the Fox television network from 1998 to 2001. It was hosted by Cris Collinsworth Anthony Cris Collinsworth ...
'' on the Fox network, and those familiar with the genre will remember him as the host of ''When Good Pets Go Bad'' and the voice of many of the edgy Fox primetime reality shows at the time. Thompson was the host of the weekly entertainment program ''That's So Hollywood,'' and was one of the primary fill-in hosts on ''
Good Day L.A. ''Good Day L.A.'' is an American morning television news and entertainment program airing on KTTV (channel 11), a Fox owned-and-operated television station in Los Angeles, California, owned by the Fox Television Stations subsidiary of Fox Corp ...
'', Fox's highest rated Los Angeles morning show.


Career as a producer

Thompson was formerly a creative partner in NEXT entertainment with
Mike Fleiss Mike L. Fleiss (born April 14, 1964) is an American television producer and writer. Early life Fleiss was raised in Fullerton, California. He attended the University of California, Berkeley. Career He was the creator, producer, and writer of ...
. Together they were responsible for a number of successful specials for Fox, and Thompson was the first person to pitch '' The Bachelor'' to ABC, though he credits Fleiss with the idea itself.


Other work

Thompson is a frequent panelist on political and cultural issues on
The Young Turks ''The Young Turks'' (''TYT'') is an American progressive and left-wing populist sociopolitical news and commentary program live streamed on social media platforms YouTube and Twitch, and additionally selected television channels. ''TYT'' se ...
network, and fills in for host, Cenk Uygur. His regular weekly podcast, The Edge with Mark Thompson, featured conversations on politics, show business, and popular culture. Thompson does a daily YouTube show, The Mark Thompson Show, which is a radio show come to life on YouTube. Thompson has been seen as a reporter, an anchorman, and even a moderator of presidential debates in feature films such as '' Set It Off'', ''
The Day After Tomorrow ''The Day After Tomorrow'' is a 2004 American science fiction disaster film conceived, co-written, co-produced, and directed by Roland Emmerich, based on the 1999 book '' The Coming Global Superstorm'' by Art Bell and Whitley Strieber, and ...
'' and ''
The American President ''The American President'' is a 1995 American political romantic comedy drama film directed and produced by Rob Reiner and written by Aaron Sorkin. The film stars Michael Douglas as President Andrew Shepherd, a widower who pursues a romanti ...
'', and television shows such as '' 24'' and ''
Ghost Whisperer ''Ghost Whisperer'' is an American supernatural television series, which ran on CBS from September 23, 2005, to May 21, 2010. The series follows the life of Melinda Gordon ( Jennifer Love Hewitt), who has the ability to see and communicate w ...
''. Thompson has been one of the leading voices in reality television, as his voiceovers were heard in the earliest days of
reality TV Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 199 ...
and are still heard on shows such as ''
American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...
'', ''
Paradise Hotel ''Paradise Hotel'' is an American reality television program. In the show, a group of singles live in a luxurious hotel resort, competing to see who can stay in the hotel the longest. Each week, the contestants pair off into couples, and must s ...
'', ''
Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? ''Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?'' is a game show franchise that was co-created and produced by Mark Burnett, Barry Poznick and John Stevens. Adult contestants answer questions, as if they came from an elementary grade school quiz. The orig ...
'', ''
The Simple Life ''The Simple Life'' is an American reality television series starring Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. It depicts the two wealthy socialites, as they struggle to do menial, low-paying jobs such as cleaning rooms, farm work, serving meals in fa ...
'' and ''
Don't Forget the Lyrics ''Don't Forget the Lyrics!'' is an international music game show. The original American show aired on Fox from July 11, 2007, to June 19, 2009, and after a year off the air, a third overall season, and first as a syndicated show, began on June ...
''. He was also the announcer on former Fox game shows ''
Greed Greed (or avarice, ) is an insatiable desire for material gain (be it food, money, land, or animate/inanimate possessions) or social value, such as status or power. Nature of greed The initial motivation for (or purpose of) greed and a ...
'' and ''
It's Your Chance of a Lifetime ''It's Your Chance of a Lifetime'' is an American game show that aired on Fox in June 2000. Gordon Elliott hosted the show, with Mark Thompson serving as announcer (only to do the opening intro and contestant call-in at the end). The show was a ...
''. Thompson is the vocalist for the ''
So You Think You Can Dance ''So You Think You Can Dance'' is a franchise of reality television shows in which contestants compete in dance. The first series of the franchise, created by '' Idols'' producers Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe, premiered in July 2005 and has ...
'' television show theme song for all versions of the show worldwide, and he is also the announcer for the US version of the show.


Personal

A native of
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, Thompson graduated from
Colgate University Colgate University is a Private university, private college in Hamilton, New York, United States. The Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York ...
. He also studied at
Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...
in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. A regular on the charity and fundraising circuit, Thompson is an active supporter of many philanthropic enterprises with a concentration in the areas of veganism and advocacy for animals, education, and environmental charities. Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine


References


External links


Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Mark Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American reporters and correspondents American television journalists Game show announcers Television anchors from San Francisco Television anchors from Los Angeles Television anchors from Denver American male journalists