For a generation of San Francisco Bay Area TV viewers, tuning to the news at 10pm meant turning the channel to Dennis Richmond. For four decades, Richmond, one of the nation’s first Black television news anchors, attracted legions of viewers to KTVU-2.
Today, an anchor still associated with the station, years after his retirement, is being mourned.
KTVU shared the news that its former longtime anchor died on Wednesday (2/5) at the age of 81, in Grass Valley, Calif.
“Dennis was a strong presence in the KTVU newsroom for decades, guiding the team and setting high standards for himself and his colleagues in everything they did,” KTVU General Manager Mellynda Hartel said. “His impact is still felt in the KTVU newsroom today.”
KTVU Assistant News Director Darren Zulberti paid tribute to Richmond as a mentor while he started his career. “He always reminded me and those around him to treat the viewer with respect, reporting oftentimes difficult news in uncertain times with clarity, context and straightforward delivery.”
For Richmond’s longtime co-anchor, Julie Haener, “He was a fighter. He held on for as long as he could. He was so respected. This news is going to hit people really, really hard.”
Haener retired last year. She told KTVU that she visited Richmond in December while he was in the hospital, recovering from a heart attack and fall.
Richmond joined KTVU as a clerk. He became an anchor in 1976 and held the job until 2008, when he retired five days before he turned 65. Over the years, he shared the anchor desk with Barbara Simpson, Elaine Corral and the late Leslie Griffith, who died in 2022.
How popular was Dennis Richmond in Northern California? A 2008 San Francisco Chronicle article proclaimed him “bigger than Oprah [Winfrey].” In 2016, a comedy troupe featured Richmond’s face on limited edition wallpaper.
Richmond was raised in Rossford, Ohio, served in the U.S. Army from 1961 to 1964 with the 82nd Airborne Division, and later graduated from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1969 on a scholarship, which he was offered while working at KTVU.
Upon his retirement, Richmond said that the proudest achievement of his whole career was staying at one station, developing a special rapport with his audience, KTVU reported on Thursday.
