Frank Somerville
Somerville currently co-anchors the weekday editions of "KTVU Channel 2 News at 5," "KTVU Channel 2 News at 6" and "The Ten O'Clock News on KTVU Channel 2." While at KTVU, Somerville helped make "Mornings on 2" the number one morning newscast in the Bay Area. He has also won three Emmy Awards, including one for best anchor.Among the stories Somerville has covered while at KTVU, he says his reports on the death penalty in California were some of the most memorable. "I witnessed two executions at San Quentin," he said. "A lot of people wondered why I wanted to do that. It's because a good anchor is all about experiences. The debate over the death penalty is going to be with us for a long time, and I now have personal knowledge of what an actual execution is like."Before coming to KTVU, Somerville worked as an anchor-reporter at WJAR in Providence, R.I.. Among the stories he covered there were two prison riots and Rhode Island's first building implosion. The implosion did not work as planned and turned into an all-day live television event, which Somerville anchored from the field.While in Rhode Island, Somerville's station sent him to San Francisco to cover the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. He reported live for several days, recalling, "It was the hardest I have ever worked, but I loved every minute of it. It was just unfortunate it was such a tragic story."He wrote and produced a half-hour special on the quake, and the program was nominated for an Emmy award. He also won an Associated Press Award for Best Spot News for his coverage of a fire in downtown Providence, and an award for a Best Feature story about an 87-year-old hockey player.Somerville also worked as an anchor-reporter at KSTP-TV in Minneapolis and at KFTY-TV in Santa Rosa.He earned his B.A. in Broadcast Communications Arts at San Francisco State. While there, he was named Outstanding Broadcast Student.His wife, Donna, is a former producer of the Phil Donahue show. Frank's proposal to Donna was "an event" on "Mornings on 2." It was broadcast live on KTVU, with Donna's surprised reaction transmitted via satellite hookup to the Donahue studios. "I caught her totally by surprise," Frank recalled. "Thank God she said yes!"Somerville, who raised baby chickens beginning when he was 5, has been a vegetarian since he was 12. "I told my mom I didn't want to eat chicken because we had chickens as pets, and I didn't want to eat my pets," he said.He eventually cut out all meat because he decided he didn't want to kill any animals. However, he adds: "Even though I don't eat meat, fish or poultry, I don't judge people who do. I just hope that people respect that an animal gave up its life for their meal."Frank's hobbies include working out at a gym at least three or four times a week and creating abstract bright colored paintings and other artwork."What keeps me charged up about what I do is news," he says. "I am a pure news junkie. I listen to and watch whatever news programs I can. Besides newspapers, I read Newsweek, Time, and U.S. News and World Report cover to cover every week, plus I always try to have a good nonfiction book by my bed. I live for being on the anchor desk or in the field during a breaking story. When all hell breaks loose, I am at my best."
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