As a wee tot, I knew I wanted to be in broadcasting…but it took quite a while to narrow that down to the field of radio. My earliest ideas of a career in broadcasting were all over the map. I wanted to be the host of “Bowling For Dollars.” I wanted to be Johnny Olson, who announced tons of game shows. And I wanted to be the guy who said what show was coming on next.
Each of the big three networks had their Official Voice. And if you are in my demographic, each of these voices will be familiar to you.
Danny Dark. The voice of NBC. And a bunch of other stuff. He is the perfect representation of something I tell everybody who comes into my studio to record for the first time: if you smile, people can hear the difference in your voice. In those NBC promos, you can hear his smile.
Mark Elliott. The voice of CBS–another smiley, energetic voice with great versatility.
Mark Elliott’s voice may also be recognized by many for his years of voice work for Disney:
Ernie Anderson. The legendary (and inimitable) voice of ABC.
So, the thing that amazes me about these old school voice guys is the way they did promo sessions. You might figure they would sit down, rattle off the script, and once they got a good take on each line, boom! Out the door.
Well, that’s what I figured. But that’s not it at all. Watch this…and keep in mind that by 1989, a national TV network would have the budget and resources to do this a lot simpler. But as I have found out over the years, a lot of things are done in broadcasting the way they’ve always been done… (There may be some salty language in this. But honestly, if I had to make commercials this way I’d use salty language too.)
And now, last but not least, the Ernie Anderson outtakes. By the early ’90s Ernie was not doing promos for ABC anymore, but he was still very busy doing radio imaging, and announcing ABC’s Sunday night hour of “America’s Funniest Home Videos” and “America’s Funniest People”. These outtakes show what delightful, even-keeled, warm-hearted people announcers can be, even when they’re faced with poorly written scripts. I don’t want anybody to be shocked or offended so I’m putting this in large print: