6 PM Anchor, Content Manager
I became Newsline 9's Content Manager in 2011 and I anchor Newsline 9 at 6 with Melissa Langbehn.
Prior to making the move to news, I was the WAOW-TV Sports Director for 7 1/2 years. I joined Newsline 9 from our sister station, WXOW-TV in La Crosse, where I was their weekend sports anchor and reporter.
It's been a good transition from sports to news but I do miss hearing the national anthem several times a week and getting some exercise outside while catching many, many games. I have to tell you some of the best renditions of the national anthems are performed at the WIAA State Basketball Tournaments. I've been lucky to be able to continue to do play-by-play on statewide television for the WIAA Basketball Tournaments. I'm also a host/reporter for the WIAA State Hockey Championships.
Baseball is a passion of mine and it's been my pleasure to mc the Central Wisconsin Baseball and Merrill Baseball Hall of Fame banquets.
My move into news means I've come full-circle in the tv business. I started in 1996 as a news reporter at KFXB-TV in Dubuque, Iowa. From there, I moved into the sports as the sports director for two years. In 1999, my wife and I moved to Kearney, Nebraska where I went to work for KHGI-TV as a weekend sports anchor/reporter. We loved our time in Nebraska. After that it was time to move back to our home state of Wisconsin. With relatives in the La Crosse area, it was an easy decision to join WXOW-TV in September of 2000. Our first son was born in La Crosse. That's exciting news in itself but it was also on that day I received a call from the WAOW-TV news director, saying "I know you're busy today but we have an offer for you." Within a month our family of three was living in Wausau. Our household has since grown to five. And the Wausau area is top notch for families.
In 2012 I won a Wisconsin Broadcasters Assocation 1st place award for a special I produced and anchored on a Never Forgotten Honor Flight trip to Washington, DC. What an amazing trip for those World War II veterans! It was a day I'll never forget.
I grew up in the Milwaukee area. I graduated from UW-Platteville, where I was the only broadcasting major in a house that included three roommates studying engineering. One item of note from my UWP days. I spent a summer working for the Chicago Bears. No, it had nothing to do with television or video or any sort of broadcasting. Rather, I washed their uniforms. Not the most glamorous job for someone who grew up cheering for the Packers. But it was a unique way to get to know some NFL players and coaches.
If you have any story ideas or would like to get in touch with me, email bgraff@waow.com or you can follow on Twitter @bgraff_waow
Bryon Graff
